Book picks similar to
The Muse of Music by Enrico Toro
italy-fiction
music-fiction
series-assiti-shards
sf-fantasy
Elemental Magic: All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters
Mercedes LackeySamuel Conway - 2012
This book began a series of novels set in an alternate Britain where certain gifted individuals wield the powers of the elements: earth, air, fire, and water, for good or ill. The headquarters of this secret organization is London's White Lodge, and it is led by the aristocratic and powerful David Alderscroft, a Fire Master of unrivaled abilities known to insiders as "The Wizard of London." From his seemingly traditional men's club in the city, Lord Alderscroft and his fellow Masters monitor the magical doings in their realm, and find, guide, protect, and train all those in the British Isles who are born with the ability to control the elements. Be they commoners, women, or those not completely human, these Masters set aside the rigid customs of their day to help those gifted with magic.Inspired by this magically parallel turn-of-the-century Britain, other time travelers have followed Mercedes Lackey to this universe to add their gifts to this rich world. Join Tanya Huff, Diana Paxson, Fiona Patton, Elisabeth Waters, and others in the very first anthology of the Elemental Masters, including a never before published story by the real head of the White Lodge — Mercedes Lackey.
American Hippo
Sarah Gailey - 2018
Now readers have the chance to own both novellas in American Hippo, a single, beautiful volume.Years ago, in an America that never was, the United States government introduced herds of hippos to the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This plan failed to take into account some key facts about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.By the 1890s, the vast bayou that was once America's greatest waterway belongs to feral hippos, and Winslow Houndstooth has been contracted to take it back. To do so, he will gather a crew of the damnedest cons, outlaws, and assassins to ever ride a hippo. American Hippo is the story of their fortunes, their failures, and his revenge.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Fire Watch (Oxford Time Travel, #0.5)
Connie Willis - 2010
The story, first published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in February 1982, involves a time-traveling history student who goes back to the Blitz in London, to participate in the fire lookout at St. Paul's Cathedral.This is the first work in Willis' Oxford Time Travel series. A minor character in this story, Kivrin Engle, is the protagonist of the Oxford Time Travel novel "Doomsday Book".
Orsinian Tales
Ursula K. Le Guin - 1976
a land of medieval forests, stonewalled cities, and railways reaching into the mountains where the old gods dwell. A country where life is harsh, dreams are gentle, and people feel torn by powerful forces and fight to remain whole. In this enchanting collection, Ursula K. Le Guin brings to mainstream fiction the same compelling mastery of word and deed, of story and character, of violence and love, that has won her the Pushcart Prize, and the Kafka and National Book Awards.
Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
Kelly LinkDylan Horrocks - 2011
Where tinkerers and dreamers craft and re-craft a world of automatons, clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels that never were. Where scientists and schoolgirls, fair folk and Romans, intergalactic bandits, utopian revolutionaries, and intrepid orphans solve crimes, escape from monstrous predicaments, consult oracles, and hover over volcanoes in steam-powered airships.
Joyful Noise: The Hot Mess Choir
She Nell - 2018
She must pull together four choirs that hate each other for her husband, Pastor Myron Jones’ Pastor’s Anniversary Celebration. The Holy Missionary Mass Choir is filled with characters like Shonda, a single mother of six trying to keep her oldest son alive. Then there’s Donnell, the church playboy who is torn between three women. And no one can forget Mother Willie Mae Odell; whose sole mission in life is to take down Lady Deidra and the choir. First Lady Deidra Jones has a Hot Mess on her hands but will God be able to bring them all together or will they crash and burn like fire and brimstone?
Dying by Numbers
Sam Kates - 2018
The heaviest burden. An old man has for many years borne a weight that runs deeper than survivor’s guilt. He is a survivor, of humanity’s darkest hour, but wouldn’t have lived through it if not for the actions of another. Now he has the opportunity for which he has long yearned: to meet his saviour’s daughter and tell her about her father’s supreme act of selflessness. And maybe, in the telling, one of them will find release.
Tales of the Weird
Tom Slemen - 2014
Welcome to Tom Slemen’s Tales of the Weird, a journey into the chilling sphere of the supernatural where you will encounter, vampires, werewolves, and even the Devil himself… Here are just some of the things you will read about in Tales of the Weird:* A centuries-old Demonic Royal Rapist…* A happily-married woman who became possessed by three strange personalities – including that of a nymphomaniac… * The terrifying power of the Evil Eye, which could be upon YOU at this moment…so how do you deflect its lethal powers?*The unearthly figures from a tapestry who abduct people…* The many well-documented visits of a Reaper-like being who comes to collect those who have an appointment with death…will he be coming for you soon?* The bizarre and creepy entity that latches onto people it sees in cafes…* The spinechilling story of a clown doll that returned from its little cemetery grave…* Peculiar reports of Tardis-like time machines, apparently from the future…* The amazing case of the man who travelled four thousand miles to meet a soul mate – all because of a strange dream…* The sinister vampire stalking Hollywood – who is he?* The gifted child who could create terrifying wild animals through sheer willpower…* The stomach-churning execution and detainment of an evil witch in Knowsley…* The eerie beings from beyond that are out to snatch children…* The catastrophic weather-control experiment which involved the British Army and Stonehenge…* The Orgisher – the nightmarish entity which has driven thousands of people to commit suicide…Just SOME of the unearthly, horrifying but fascinating stories unearthed by the unrivalled master of the supernatural – Tom Slemen, in Tales of the Weird!
The Litany of Earth
Ruthanna Emrys - 2014
They took her history, her home, her family, her god. They tried to take the sea. Now, years later, when she is just beginning to rebuild a life, an agent of that government intrudes on her life again, with an offer she wishes she could refuse. "The Litany of Earth" is a dark fantasy story inspired by the Lovecraft mythos.
Izanami's Choice
Adam Heine - 2016
Heine does a great job of building a world replete with rules and history and uses both to construct a mystery with an awful lot of intrigue and surprise." - Nerds on EarthSamurai vs. robots. In 1901, the Meiji Restoration has abolished the old ways and ushered in a cybernetic revolution. Androids integrate into society at all levels, following their programming for the betterment of every citizen, as servants, bodyguards, and bureaucrats. Jinzou are the future. Japan is at the threshold of a new tomorrow!As a ronin steeped in the old ways, Itaru wants nothing more to do with the artificial creations posing as human. But when a jinzou is suspected of murder, he's pulled into a mystery that could tear the nation apart.Malfunction or free will? When is a machine more than just a machine?IZANAMI'S CHOICE is an alternate history sci-fi novella set in Meiji Era Japan. It's samurai vs. robots as the author explores how Japan might grapple with the rise of artificial intelligence.
Yesterdays War
Gerald Hall - 2017
When one of his research projects opened a portal into Earth’s past, he had no idea that he would be using it less than a day later to escape a world doomed by a cataclysmic nuclear war. Now, James has had to assume a new identity on an Earth nearly a hundred years before he was even born. His quest is to somehow try to change history and prevent the devastating future war that only happened yesterday for him.
Immortal Stories: Eve
Gene Doucette - 2015
“…if your next question is, what could that possibly make me, if I’m not an angel or a god? The answer is the same as what I said before: many have considered me a god, and probably a few have thought of me as an angel. I’m neither, if those positions are defined by any kind of supernormal magical power. True magic of that kind doesn’t exist, but I can do things that may appear magic to someone slightly more tethered to their mortality. I’m a woman, and that’s all. What may make me different from the next woman is that it’s possible I’m the very first one…” For most of humankind, the woman calling herself Eve has been nothing more than a shock of red hair glimpsed out of the corner of the eye, in a crowd, or from a great distance. She’s been worshipped, feared, and hunted, but perhaps never understood. Now, she’s trying to reconnect with the world, and finding that more challenging than anticipated. Can the oldest human on Earth rediscover her own humanity? Or will she decide the world isn’t worth it?
Asimov's Science Fiction, September/October 2017
Sheila WilliamsJames E. Gunn - 2017
Garcia y Robertson"Books of the Risen Sea" by Suzanne PalmerShort Stories"Riding the Blue Line with Jack Kerouac" by Sandra McDonald"Disturbance in the Produce Aisle" by Kit Reed"Dead Men in Central City" by Carrie Vaughn"Arriving at Terminal: Xi's Story" by James Gunn"The Ganymede Gambit: Jan's Story" by James Gunn"Zigeuner" by Harry Turtledove"The Fourth Hill" by Dennis E. Staples"The Cabinet" by William Preston"An Incident in the Literary Life of Nathan Arkwright" by Allen M. Steele"Squamous and Eldritch Get a Yard Sale Bargain" by Tim McDaniel"First Contact" by Stuart GreenhousePoetry"Jump-Point Failure" by John Richard Trtek"Poaching Country" by Bethany Powell"Your Clone Finds Her Stray" by Robert Frazier"Locked in Amber" by Jane Yolen"X Marks the Spot" by Robert Borski"Sleeping Beauty Attains Bliss" by Leslie J. AndersonDepartments"Editorial: Thirty-First Annual Readers' Awards' Results" by Sheila Williams"Reflections: The Last Hittite" by Robert Silverberg"On the Net: Remembering Bertie!" by James Patrick Kelly"On Books: Outside America" by Norman Spinrad"SF Conventional Calendar" by Erwin S. StraussAsimov's Science Fiction, September/October 2017, Vol. 41, Nos. 9-10 (Whole Nos. 500-501)Sheila Williams, editorCover art by Cynthia Sheppard
New Amsterdam
Elizabeth Bear - 2007
She makes scandalous liaisons with inappropriate men, and if in her youth she was a famous beauty, now she is both formidable--and notorious. She is a forensic sorceress, and a dedicated officer of a Crown that does not deserve her loyalty. She has nothing, but obligations.Sebastien de Ulloa is the oldest creature she has ever known. He was no longer young at the Christian millennium, and that was nine hundred years ago. He has forgotten his birth-name, his birth-place, and even the year in which he was born, if he ever knew it. But he still remembers the woman who made him immortal. He has everything, but a reason to live.In a world where the sun never set on the British Empire, where Holland finally ceded New Amsterdam to the English only during the Napoleonic wars, and where the expansion of the American colonies was halted by the war magic of the Iroquois, they are exiles in the new world--and its only hope for justice.
Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci
Diana Wynne Jones - 2000
4 The Sage of Theare - Great Zond and gods try to outwit prophecy of Dissolution and dump troublesome babe in Chrestomanci's world.