Book picks similar to
The Cursed by Dave Duncan
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The Aware
Glenda Larke - 2003
A halfbreed's search for a mysterious slave woman leads her to a lawless land of dark dunmagic and an evil that poses a threat to all the Isles of Glory.
The Kingless Land
Ed Greenwood - 2000
The only hope for peace lies in the legend of the Sleeping King: destined to rise and restore peace when the Dwaerindim stones are recovered.Lady Embra Silvertree is the sorceress daughter of a bellicose baron with an eye towards world domination. She has been imprisoned by her father who hopes to use her as a magical battery to fortify his castle. When a pair of good natured rogues attempt to steal one of her jewel encrusted gowns, they are quickly enlisted as allies to help her escape and, with the aid of a shape-shifting cleric, to seek out the Dwaerindim.
Pay Me, Bug!
Christopher B. Wright - 2011
It was every smuggler's dream, the "Big Score," and they find themselves filthy rich as a result. But their good fortune attracts exactly the wrong kind of attention: the Alliance of Free Worlds has been trying to infiltrate Ur Voys without success, so they conscript the only man who has: Grif Vindh. The Radiant Throne, desperate to know how their security was so easily thwarted, send one of their best to track him down and learn the truth... by any means necessary. Grif and his crew must perform the impossible a second time: break into Ur Voys, steal something so secretive their employers don't really know what it is, and get away clean. Along the way they'll have to deal with deadly spies, psychotic telepaths, vicious cyborgs, inconvenient family ties... and a hyperintelligent bug who always bets against its captain.
Between Worlds: The Collected Ile-Rien and Cineth Stories
Martha Wells - 2015
This collection of short stories and novelettes includes the previously published stories “The Potter’s Daughter” (a prequel to the novel The Element of Fire), “Holy Places,” “Rites of Passage,” “Houses of the Dead,” “Reflections” (the Giliead and Ilias stories, prequels to the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy), as well as “Night at the Opera” (a Nicholas and Reynard story original to this collection, set before the Nebula-nominated novel The Death of the Necromancer).
One for the Morning Glory
John Barnes - 1996
For a year and a day later, four Mysterious Strangers appeared, and, as Amatus grew to manhood, they guided him on a perilous quest to discover his true identity--not to mention adventure, danger, tragedy, triumph, and true love.John Barnes has been heralded as "one of the most able and impressive of SF's rising stars" (Publishers Weekly) for his widely praised novels including Orbital Resonance and A Million Open Doors.Now, in One for the Morning Glory, John Barnes has crafted an artful and immensely entertaining fable that takes its place as a modern fantasy classic beside such enduring works as William Goldman's The Princess Bride and T.H. White's The Once and Future King.
The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
Harry Turtledove - 1993
-- unless he can stop it.
The Queen's Necklace
Teresa Edgerton - 2001
But hidden in the shadows, the vengeful remnants of the Goblin master race recall their former glory all too vividly. And their dread re-ascendance is at hand.The ensorceled gems that once held all humans in sway now power a hundred small kingdoms, but the monarchy of Mountfalcon is suddenly in dire peril. For the Queen has unwittingly lost the realm-sustaining, jeweled Chaos Machine -- a castastrophe that could tear the kingdom apart. Captain of the Queen's Guard, Wilrowan Blackheart has been entrusted with the Machine's recovery -- an undertaking that slowly reveals a horrific conspiracy spreading far beyond Mountfalcon's borders, as the deposed Maglore plot to reduce the unsuspecting human world to rubble and flames. But unbeknownst to him, another has also embarked on the same mission: a determined crusader of strength and substance...the only woman Blackheart has ever loved, but can never possess.
Once Walked With Gods
James Barclay - 2010
A desperate last stand in their own dimension saved the race, at the cost of 100,000 elves lost to the Garonin. The elf who led that fight, Takaar, is blamed for the losses and has gone into hiding. Now the weakened elf race is tearing itself apart in civil war, human mercenaries have arrived in Calius and are ripping the continent apart. Only one elf can unite the elves. And only one elf believes in him. A young warrior named Auum sets out to bring back the shamed hero and save the elven race. James Barclay's ELVES trilogy will tell the whole story of his immortal elven race, and will appeal to all fans of Tolkien and fantasy - this is a uniquely entertaining take on a fantasy staple perfect to bring new readers to Barclay. And old readers of James Barclay will welcome a return to one of their favourite creations and will also love seeing one of their favourite characters again - the Tai Gethan warriror Auum destined to be one of the Raven.
The Improbable Rise of Singularity Girl
Bryce C. Anderson - 2012
Once her neural paths were scanned and the pattern uploaded to an enormous bank of computers, she could be happy and carefree. No more aging, dandruff, fear of death, or any of the other drawbacks of hauling her own squishy meatsack hither and yon.But her new life is a troubled one. As she learns to enhance her own intelligence, she grows alienated from her old life. She has no legal rights, and the government is trying to shut her down and steal her research.But when a nuke detonates over Manhattan, Helen devotes her growing power to bringing the culprit to justice. She uncovers a force bent not on geopolitical power, but on the extinction of all humankind.Will our heroine be enslaved or deleted by the Feds? Can she avert an impending war with China? How will she find time to finish her doctoral thesis? And (hey, we're trying not to judge) isn't Dr. Mellings way too old for her?Alternately goofy and dark, The Improbable Rise of Singularity Girl tells the story of a singular woman, and a life lived at an exponential pace.
The Pattern Scars
Caitlin Sweet - 2011
When her mother realizes that Nola has the Othersight and can foretell the future, she sells her to a brothel seer, who teaches the girl to harness her gift. But she will soon learn a harsh lesson: that being able to predict the future has nothing to do with preventing it.
Mad Tinker's Daughter
J.S. Morin - 2014
She didn’t listen.Madlin Errol is heiress to the greatest fortune in Tellurak. Her father, the Mad Tinker, has built an empire by crafting devices that no one else in the world could match. Madlin grew up spoiled, given everything she could wish for: the finest tools, all the raw metals she could ask for, and a workshop of her very own. Yet in her sleep, she lives another life, in another world.Korr...a world where humans are subjugated, working menial jobs or even enslaved. The ruling kuduks treat them like talking animals. In that world, Madlin is known as Rynn, a girl who grew up without her parents, mired in the depths of an underground city, sleeping in a boiler room. But unlike so many of her fellow humans, she has seen a world where there are no limits. She, and a growing number of human rebels, have begun to fight back.
The Seer King
Chris Bunch - 1997
But their enemies underestimated the amazing power of the seer and the bravery of the soldier. As this unlikely team begins to outwit usurpers and necromancers, word spreads that theirs is a path of destiny. Military adventure, magic, and romance mix in this exciting fantasy adventure.
Undermountain
Eric Kent Edstrom - 2011
. .Danny Michaelson, sixteen, just wants a little time away from his troubled home in Nashville. So when he joins a group of teens in the Canadian Rocky Mountains for a ten day hiking excursion, he's primed for adventure.Breyona Lewis, sixteen, is a beautiful rich girl from Chicago. Outwardly cheerful, she conceals a dark secret. One she denies even to herself.. . . the encounter of a lifetime . . .Danny and Breyona come face to face with a creature of legend--an eight foot tall beast they tag as "bigfoot." But it's no missing link, no mere animal. And it does not want humans knowing its secrets. Because there are thousands of them here on Earth, living in a hidden city deep beneath the mountains, waiting for the day humans are "ready.". . . friendship, love, and loyalty . . .Separated from each other and told they may never return home, Danny, Breyona, and the others race to escape. To survive.One is made more than human, one is made less.One must fight, one must surrender.Both must face the truth of who they are.
The Stone of the Stars
Alison Baird - 2004
Conquering and enslaving entire nations, these worshippers of the dark arts seek a legendary talisman, the Stone of the Stars, that will give Khalazar unfathomable power. But the only clues to the Stone’s location are contained in an ancient scroll, which rests in the hands of four young fugitives.Now this quartet of innocents—Ailia Shipwright, a storyteller from a small fishing village; Damion, a devoted yet troubled priest; Jomar, a runaway slave; and Lorelyn, a fearless orphaned visionary—must find and uncover the real nature of the Stone. Pursued and attacked by Khalazar and his fanatic warriors, these four travelers will journey to a long-vanished mystical isle where humans once dwelt alongside dragons. And it is here, amid the haunted ruins of a city built by a forgotten race, that their quest—and their destinies—will truly begin…
When the Changewinds Blow
Jack L. Chalker - 1987
But Charley knew it was more than a dream---for her friend Sam shared her vision.SUDDENLY, THE DREAMS BECOME A REALITY...as a raging storm sweeps Charley and Sam to the fantastic land of Akahlar, where unicorns and griffins run free, an enchantress commands a den of unearthly pleasures, and a wizard warns of a terrifying inescapable event:THE CHANGEWINDS ARE COMING...savage, purple-tinged storms that alter the shapes of man and beast alike. Soon, all creatures must look to the skies---and beware...