The Ambassador's Mission


Trudi Canavan - 2010
    Though she is now part of the establishment, she comes to find that the past is not so easily left behind... Lorkin, Sonea's rebellious son, has volunteered to join the formidable Lord Dannyl in his new post as Guild Ambassador to Sachaka - a land ruled by cruel, slave-owning black magicians. There is suspicion that some of the Sachakans still harbor dreams of conquest, so when word comes that Lorkin has gone missing, Sonea is desperate to find him. However, Guild law states that if a Black Magician leaves the city he or she will be exiled forever. As she fears for her missing son, Sonea dedicates herself to helping her old friend Cery. For some time, there has been fear and paranoia on the streets of Imardin. Leading thieves have been dying under irregular circumstances. The need to discover who has been picking off the leading thieves of the city is now a very personal crusade - one that Sonea must aid, for the killer appears to be using magic. Either a member of the Guild is leading a double life as a hired killer, or there is - once again - a rogue magician on the streets of Imardin . . .

Midnight Rose


Dani Hart - 2017
    Vampires. Supernaturals. And love. It’s my world, and I have to save it, but not from the monsters. Abigail Rose’s life was as predictable as the tides rising and falling, until Wes Hunter returned to Sandpoint. Then, the impossible became possible, the predictable became unpredictable, and those monsters became more than friends. Wes would do anything to keep Abigail safe, and Abigail would leave everything behind to save everyone she loves. A suspenseful romance, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality.

West of January


Dave Duncan - 1989
    Because it takes a lifetime for each region of the planet to experience dawn, midday and dusk, the planet's population does not remember the catastrophes that occur as the sun moves across the sky - entire civilizations have been scorched into oblivion. The only people who remember the dangers of the past are the planet's "angels" - a people who have tried to preserve past technologies to save the planet. This action-filled story of a very strange planet showcases Duncan's remarkable ability to create unique worlds.

The North and South Trilogy: North and South / Love and War / Heaven and Hell


John Jakes - 1988
    In the years leading up to the Civil War, one enduring friendship embodies the tensions of a nation. Orry Main from South Carolina and George Hazard from Pennsylvania forge a lasting bond while training at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Together they fight in the Mexican-American War, but their closeness is tested as their regional politics diverge. As the first rounds are fired at Fort Sumter, Orry and George find themselves on different sides of the coming struggle. In John Jakes’s unmatched style, North and South launches a trilogy that captures the fierce passions of a country at the precipice of disaster.In Love and War, the Main and Hazard families clash on and off the Civil War’s battlefields as they grapple with the violent realities of a divided nation. With the Confederate and Union armies furiously fighting, the once-steadfast bond between the Main and Hazard families continues to be tested. From opposite sides of the conflict, they face heartache and triumph on the frontlines as they fight for the future of the nation and their loved ones. With his impeccable research and unfailing devotion to the historical record, John Jakes offers his most enthralling and enduring tale yet.In Heaven and Hell, the battle between the Mains and Hazards—and Confederate and Union armies—comes to a brilliant end. The last days of the Civil War bring no peace for the Main and Hazard families. As the Mains’ South smolders in the ruins of defeat, the Hazards’ North pushes blindly for relentless industrial progress. Both the nation and the families’ long-standing bond hover on the brink of destruction. In the series’ epic conclusion, Jakes expertly blends personal conflict with historical events, crafting a haunting page-turner about America’s constant change and unyielding hope.

Paracosm - Bleath: The Hauntings


Anya Allyn - 2015
     The mayor of Bleath provides Zoe with accommodation at the empty Wilmont house. It's not the friendly farmhouse Zoe was picturing, and worse, the house seems to change day by day. The walls change and strange objects appear. Late at night, scratching noises scrape along the staircase banister and inside the trinket box under her bed. And out in the wheat field below her bedroom window, ghostly figures wait . . . . Is Zoe slipping into an imaginary world of her own? Or are the things she's experiencing terrifying real? PARACOSM is a standalone novel. It is part of a wider world, having a deep connection to The Dark Carousel series.

A Latent Dark


Martin Kee - 2012
    As one of the Gutter District’s nameless destitute, it has gone undiscovered that she has a unique talent: when Skyla looks at a person’s shadow she sees through it and into another world. She can see people’s fears, desires, their past sins--all as swimming, living creatures.Her mother has never told her the real reasons why they must remain hidden, never explained the true dangers that exist outside the city walls. But when her mother’s past catches up with them both, Skyla finds she must flee out of the city and into a world still recovering from a second Dark Age, a world of adults with secrets only she can see.For a stranger has recently moved into Bollingbrook, a man some call the Pope of the South, a witch hunter to some and a hero to others. When more children begin to disappear, suspicions are raised and an unlikely search party is formed to find Skyla in the hopes that they aren’t already too late.

Just Evil


Vickie McKeehan - 2011
    No one cared. But a stranger, bent on revenge, is out to change all that. Kit Griffin has finally overcome a painful childhood at the hands of her mother, former actress Alana Stevens. No longer living in the grasp of the cold, tyrannical woman, Kit has found a new life tucked away in little San Madrid, California, running a business she loves, surrounded by friends she considers family. For the first time her life is on track. That is, until Alana is found brutally murdered on Mother’s Day, pulling Kit back in to the dark horrors of her past. To make matters worse, the police consider her the prime suspect.Jake Boston, an old family friend and the man Kit has loved since she was a teen, is fighting his own demons as a suspect in his wife’s murder two years earlier. Despite his past, he’s determined to win Kit over once and for all. But before that can happen they need to convince the police there’s a killer working his way down a list with cold-hearted vengeance in mind. Forced to delve into Alana’s dark past, it becomes clear someone is out to settle a score. When Jake and Kit uncover a forty year old double murder that leads them straight to the door of a legal dynasty, they soon find out just how far the heirs will go to keep the past buried and eliminate all the loose ends to protect their empire. Will Jake and Kit become the next victims or will they find an unexpected guardian angel?

Bound by a Dragon


Linda K. Hopkins - 2014
    Keira is content in her small, medieval village - well, sort of. Her mother is pressing her to marry, but her suitors are less than desirable. So when handsome Aaron Drake arrives in the village and focuses his attention on Keira, she cannot help but be interested. But Aaron is not the only new arrival in the area - a fire-breathing dragon has also taken up residence in the mountains, not far from the remote alpine castle that Aaron calls home. What exactly is the connection between Aaron Drake and the dragon? Why is his arrival coincident with the arrival of a beast? And when the dragon rescues her from the unwanted attentions of some village boys, who will set out to rescue her from the huge, scaly, fire-breathing monster? Bound by a Dragon sweeps the reader far from the modern world into a world of castles, medieval markets and fantastical romance.

Slayers


C.J. Hill - 2011
    They're ferocious. And they're smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it – these "Slayers" are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator's daughter who didn't sign up to save the world.The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?

Touched by Magic


Doranna Durgin - 1996
    Almost gone from Keland when he was born, there is no trace of it left by the time he patrols the Keep lands as an elite King's Wolf. Magic has never been a part of Reandn's life . Until the people under his care start dying. Until the threat extends to his family--and then turns on him. Someone, somewhere, is trying to draw magic back into Keland, and they don't care what--or who--is destroyed in the process. But Reandn does.

Evensong


Krista Walsh - 2014
    He is within his own novel—summoned into the fictional world of Feldall’s Keep by a spell he didn't write. One the House enchantress hasn't figured out how to reverse.When the villain he's been struggling to write reveals himself, unleashing waves of terror and chaos, Jeff must use more than his imagination to save the characters he created—and the woman he loves.Trapped within a world of his own creation, he must step outside the bounds of his narrative to help his characters defeat an evil no one anticipated, even if he must sacrifice his greatest gift. In the end, he has to ask: are novels really fiction, or windows into other worlds?The Meratis Trilogy centres around author Jeff Powell, who wakes up in his sword-and-sorcery fantasy world. Initially an arrogant and close-minded character, Jeff has his eyes opened to a world of dragons, magic, and assassins. Faced with an evil he could never have imagined, Jeff is pushed to his limits and forced to rise to the most unusual challenges.

Artificial Evil


Colin F. Barnes - 2012
    Gerry Cardle reluctantly runs the Death Lottery. It's a job he despises, yet one which keeps his name off the list. Until one day, despite his agreement with The Family, his name is inexplicably drawn next.With his world crashing down around him and with just seven days left to live, Gerry realises that the system has been breached by a malicious artificial intelligence. In order to save his life and preserve the safety of those within the city, he must do the unthinkable: flee to the abandoned wastelands outside the dome. Bitter, resolute, and with nothing left to lose, Gerry will have to do whatever it takes to survive--even if it means sacrificing his freedom, and possibly worse--his life.

Cornerstone


Misty Provencher - 2011
    Nalena desperately wants something to change in her life, but when she receives a sign (and it's the wrong dang one) inviting her into a mysterious, ancient community, too much changes. What she knew of her family, what she thought of her life and what she believed about her future, is no longer applicable. Seventeen years worth of family skeletons come crashing into Nalena's life and it is the boy...the one that smiles at her like he wants to hear everything she'll ever say...that already knows her powerful secrets. But it is only Nalena that can choose between protecting the life that is already crumbling beneath her feet and the one that might sacrifice everything she could ever have.

Demon Kissed


H.M. Ward - 2011
    By surviving, Ivy is drawn into the conflict between the Martis and the Valefar. The war between these two immortal forces has raged for millennia without distraction. Until now. Ivy is an anomaly-she is the only person who has ever walked away from a demon kiss alive. Her survival gives her unique and deadly abilities. Too powerful to ignore, Ivy is a threat to both armies. These two ancient enemies will stop at nothing to kill the seventeen-year-old. Surviving is nothing new for headstrong Ivy, but her survival has never depended on another person before. This time it does. And if she misplaces her trust, she's dead. To her horror, she starts falling in love at the worst possible time-with the enemy. He appears to be protecting her. But she can't be certain if he is trying to help her, or help himself to her power. For Ivy, trusting the right person is the difference between love and survival, or a deadly demon kiss.

Redemption's Blade


Adrian Tchaikovsky - 2018
    His armies of monsters issued from the pits of the earth, spearheaded by his brutal Yorughan soldiers. He won every battle, leaving burnt earth and corruption behind. Thrones toppled and cities fell as he drove all before him. And then he died. A handful of lucky heroes and some traitors amongst his own, and the great Kinslayer was no more.Celestaine was one such hero and now she has tasked herself to correct the worst excesses of the Kinslayer and bring light back to her torn-up world. With two Yorughan companions she faces fanatics, war criminals and the monsters and minions the Kinslayer left behind as the fragile alliances of the war break down into feuding, greed and mistrust.The Kinslayer may be gone, but he cast a long shadow she may never truly escape.