But when they murdered his parents and enslaved his sister and his sweetheart, they left him no choice. Brion of Wexford is the son of a crippled trapper living a quiet life on the edge of the vast and unruly heathland. But when Salassani raiders destroy his world, he must venture into the heathland to attempt the impossible task of finding the girls, rescuing them, and conveying them safely home across hundreds of miles of enemy territory. Now Brion finds himself pursued by men bent on his destruction, deprived of his protectors, and haunted by the knowledge that his murdered father has hidden a dark secret that could reshape Brion’s entire identity. Brion must find a way to stay alive long enough to get the girls safely home. This is an adventure series perfect for fans of John Flanagan’s Ranger's Apprentice, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series, and George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire series.

    In the span of one day, Judian goes from the burden of farm chores to a crushing responsibility for the lives of his family. With his father and brother gone to war, he must keep the others safe and evade the enemy. If only he can trust the guides which appear, seemingly unbidden, he may succeed. Yet, he has so much to learn, and so little time. He struggles to keep to the fringes of the conflict, but the magic he discovers draws him deeper, toward the truth of the war. Mages from a distant land are driving the enemy forces. To what end? Follow Judian as he comes of age in a world of portents and spellcasting. Though life as a farm boy left him longing for more adventure, he must be careful with his wishes during the fateful year he becomes a man.

    Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures, the City of Dreaming Books, Der Schrecksenmeister, Flowergrazer, Ensel and Krete. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: The 13 Lives of Captain Bluebear is a 1999 fantasy novel by German writer and cartoonist Walter Moers which details the numerous lives of a human-sized bear with blue fur. The novel was originally written in German, but an English translation was published in the United Kingdom in 2000 and in the United States in 2005. The 13 Lives of Captain Bluebear follow the adventures of the character Bluebear in the first half of his 27 lives. The novel intersperses Bluebears narrative with excerpts from The Encyclopedia of Marvels, Life Forms and Other Phenomena of Zamonia and its Environs by Professor Abdullah Nightingale, who bacterially transmits it into Bluebears brain. The plot is set in the fictional continent of Zamonia (location of several other novels by Walter Moers) on Earth before the "great descent" in which Zamonia and many other continents sink beneath the waves. Many of the creatures encountered by Bluebear in the novel are taken from myths, folktales, prehistory, and Moers' imagination, among them Gryphons, Maenads, Trolls, Yetis, and Pterodactyls. Nearing the end of the novel, the mythical city of Atlantis disappears from Earth, an event witnessed by Bluebear. In Bluebear's Life 1, where he is a tiny baby, he is floating in a walnut shell in the north Zamonian sea, next to the Malmstrom, a mysterious and giant whirlpool that all the world's sailors take care to avoid. Bluebear is saved by a diminutive crew of Minipirates, who are very mysterious, adopt the bear as their good-luck charm. Aboard their tiny craft he learns mu...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=676340

    Captain Aisen, a military officer in the newly re-founded Sigil Order, is returning home where his life will be altered forever.His grandfather, Duke Kyreth Edorin, has died, and his body lies in preparation for a burial in the family crypts. As the heir to House Edorin, Aisen will be forced to leave his life as a solider behind and assume the role of the next leader of his house. With help from his younger brother, Beonen, and his allies within the Sigil Corps, Aisen hopes to build relationships with the other noble houses and gain the respect of the people entrusted to his care.Confronted by betrayal, Aisen will be shaped in ways which will give rise his reputation as the feared Blood Prince, and threaten to throw the nation of Nar Edor into a deadly internal conflict. The Blood Prince serves as an introduction to a larger story told in the full length novels of the trilogy.

    

    Arbitrating judgments for horse breeders in Isfaridesh can't compare to his journeymen circuit riding the disputed Nabosian border, and his partner, Gisa Protz, can't stand him. His thoughts are with his troubled sister Ella as he arrives in the small town of Keman, but what awaits him in a luthier's shop will change his life forever."The Luthier of Keman" is a short story that takes place twenty years before Shatter (The Children of Man, #1).

    The fire brigade have been doing their best, as have the other emergency services, but whoever is behind the fires has been systematically running them ragged. Whitehall is worried. Something doesn’t add up, so they’ve dispatched a warlock – a former illegal mage, pressed into service of the government to deal with matters of the arcane – to look things over. Jameson Parker is that warlock, and he’s pretty okay with that. His freedoms might be heavily restricted, and any unauthorised use of magic means he’ll be struck down dead instantly, but it could be worse. He gets more or less free rein to swan around Humberside like the big I am, and it gives him a way to atone for his less than stellar past. He’s better off without magic, and he knows it. But is magic better off without him? The warlocks of Humberside don’t seem to think so, and there are rumblings that, as well as the fires, something big is about to go down. Jameson is not best pleased.

    If the boy next door is secretly a sorcerer who hunts and kills nightmarish creatures the world doesn’t know exist. Aerick works for MAGE (Mind and Aetheric Government Enforcers), a centuries old organization that keeps humans oblivious to the existence of magic. It also protects the Barrier, a metaphysical wall that separates this realm from one of wild magic and things of dreams and darkness.But now the Barrier is failing. As Aerick is sent on his most dangerous assignment yet, he begins to suspect MAGE’s reasons for protecting the Barrier may not be all they seem. A partnership with an exiled fae princess and a visit from the legendary Merlin put Aerick on a path to discover he is more than what he knows.Aerick’s blood might very well be the key to the Barrier’s destruction. MAGE convinced him that protecting the Barrier was the only way to save the world. Now Aerick isn’t so sure. The only way to save the world may be to pull the Barrier down and hope humanity can survive the aftermath.Note: this book was previously published with Kindle under the same title. This is a 2nd Edition revision of that book.

    Their way of life comes to a shocking halt with the smell of smoke. Ott's life plunges down a new path shared with a dragonet possessing a razor wit, a new master cloaked in secrets and mystery, and a destination that will change the world.If Ott can survive....Travel with Ott, Pat, Stain, Mophar, and others as they wander through a world of adventure, magic, and life lessons learned the hard way.

    Of course, nicking what doesn’t belong to you is a whole lot easier when you possess a magic jewelry box with the power to make anything disappear.When a supernatural being with mysterious powers and suspect motives comes calling, however, it turns out Jen’s once dull, ordinary life is actually just window dressing—and that behind the curtain lies a whimsical world rife with wizards, wereskunks, and pot-smoking garden gnomes.In time and with the “aid” of her newfound acquaintance, Jen will find answers to questions she never thought to ask. Questions like “why can’t my mother talk about my father?” or “why is my rocker boyfriend never around when the full moon is out?” or “how suicidal do you have to be to rip off a wizard cabal on a dare?”The answer? Very.But then you know what they say...ask not what magic can do for you, but what you can do for magic.

    Join the O'Reilly family once again as they meet around the Jack O'Lantern on Halloween night and share ghost stories that will make you shiver and have you looking over your shoulder to see if there is "a little something extra" wandering through your home tonight.

    Casey, author of Stygian Doorways

    With the help of David Tushingham, he has adapted Salman Rushdie's classic children's novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories for the stage. Set in an exotic eastern landscape peopled by magicians and fantastic talking animals, Rushdie's novel inhabits the same imaginative space as Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. Haroun sets out on an adventure to restore the poisoned source of the sea of stories. On the way he encounters many foes, intent on draining the sea of all its storytelling powers.