Book picks similar to
The Starling God by Tanya Sousa
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Annihilation
Alex Garland - 2018
Following on from the success of his thriller, Ex Machina, Alex Garland returns to cerebral sci-fi with his adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer's cult novel -a tale of a biologist attempting to uncover the mystery of her husband's disappearance into a restricted zone.What she and her fellow scientists discover is a world populated by mysterious life forms that might offer answers, but which exposes them to madness and death.Beside the screenplay, the book also includes 20 pages of behind-the-scenes photos.
Immortal Merlin, Books 1-4: Ignition, Winded, Floodgates, Buried
Emma Shelford - 2020
Read the first four Musings of Merlin books here! "A marvelous modern take on the legendary Merlin... A definite must-read!" - Readers' Favorite "Ignition is... a unique take on [Merlin's] life without Arthur." - Bibliophilic Book Blog "Highly recommended for lovers of fantasy and the Merlin legends." - Amazon Reviewer Ignition, Book 1: Merlin, the legendary King Arthur’s mysterious magician, is immortal. As Arthur lay dying he promised to return. Merlin is holding him to his word. Forever young, forever waiting, Merlin lives an unassuming life in the city, keeping his identity and abilities secret from his friends. It's a long and lonely road, but Merlin is a patient man. It's now the 21st century and when the earth begins to groan with earthquakes, Merlin knows the situation is anything but natural. An eruption is imminent, but something—or someone—is forcing this volcano to erupt. Merlin must use his concealed talents and practiced charisma to save a town of innocent people before disaster strikes. He has the power to thwart a catastrophe—if time doesn’t run out first. Winded, Book 2: Merry Lytton, or Merlin as he was once known, has been waiting for the return of his friend King Arthur for centuries. It's an eventful wait: only weeks ago, he stopped a wicked plot to magically erupt a nearby volcano. Merry's latest worry is the revelation of his immortality—his modern-day friends are a little too curious. They do not need to know he has a history that could fill a library. Unknown to Merlin, the organization Potestas is furious at his geologic meddling, and an enraged member of the group is determined to wreak vengeance. For the first time in Merlin's ancient life, he must confront an enemy vastly more powerful than himself. Battling high in the skies and over mountain peaks, will Merlin's foe leave him breathless—forever? Floodgates, Book 3: Merlin the magician from centuries past now lives in Vancouver as an unremarkable young professor known as Merry Lytton. Merry keeps his secrets from friends and foes alike while infiltrating the nefarious organization known as Potestas, whose goal is to gain unimaginable power. Potestas' charismatic leader has welcomed Merry into the group, but for what purpose? Merry soon discovers that Potestas must recover King Arthur's holy grail to complete its plans, but the grail is firmly fused to the seafloor by magical means. As Merry is threatened by hostile spirits and hallucinations, will he succeed in stopping Potestas before they unleash the full fury of the ocean's power? Buried, Book 4: Immortal Merlin, known as Merry Lytton to his twenty-first century friends, is in a battle of wits with the powerful Potestas organization. Potestas is determined to gain unimaginable powers for its members, and Merry holds the key to unlocking this ambition. In exchange, Potestas promises to reveal crucial information on Merry’s heritage and answer questions he’s had for centuries. But when Merry learns that Potestas plans a human sacrifice, he is in a race against evil. Can he save an innocent life before a destructive new reality is thrust upon an unsuspecting world?
EVE: Source
Ccp Games - 2014
* A beautifully designed resource chronicling one of gaming's most massive, dynamic universes! * MMORPG.com's Game of the Year 2009–2011! * 2014 marks the entry of EVE Online into its second decade!
The Grasslands
Kenneth Tam - 2010
After returning from a campaign in the Third Afghan War, Major Thomas Waller and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment are assigned to escort two mysterious ladies into the unknown lands of the new world. With the help of an American drifter named Smith, Waller and his men must face daunting hordes of 'savages' that roam the steppes of the alien planet, and help to uncover the ladies' secrets - and the secrets of the new world itself. A dangerous mission awaits on the Grasslands...
Another Rainy Night
Patrick Goodman - 2013
Every day blood is spilled. Every place that rain falls, it washes away some of the red that stains the streets.Eliminating every killer in the Sixth World is as impossible as drying up every raindrop in a storm, but Thomas McAllister doesn’t want to get rid of all of them. Just one. He’s been on this killer’s trail for a while, and he knows he’s getting closer. The only question is if he’ll be able to handle getting as close as he’s about to be, or if his blood will join the stream that regularly flows into the gutters of the sprawls.
The Forbidden Spacemage
Dan Oakley - 2018
Tomas longs for adventure. Rejected by the villagers of Terrano all his life for his magical abilities, he knows peasants like him are not permitted to serve aboard the Seven Kingdom’s Starships. But when someone reports him for practicing the dark art of magic and Tomas has to run from his accusers, he finds himself caught up in a world of starships, alien worlds and mutant creatures. Join Tomas on his adventure through space!
The Rain Heron
Robbie Arnott - 2020
High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading—and forgetting.But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a local myth, Ren is inexorably drawn into her impossible mission. As their lives entwine, unravel and erupt—as myths merge with reality—both Ren and the soldier are forced to confront what they regret, what they love, and what they fear.The Rain Heron is the dizzying, dazzling new novel from the author of Flames.
Dark Eden
Chris Beckett - 2012
Beyond the Forest lie the mountains of the Snowy Dark and a cold so bitter and a night so profound that no man has ever crossed it. The Oldest among the Family recount legends of a world where light came from the sky, where men and women made boats that could cross the stars. These ships brought us here, the Oldest say—and the Family must only wait for the travelers to return. But young John Redlantern will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family and change history. He will abandon the old ways, venture into the Dark…and discover the truth about their world.Already remarkably acclaimed in the UK, Dark Eden is science fiction as literature; part parable, part powerful coming-of-age story, set in a truly original alien world of dark, sinister beauty--rendered in prose that is at once strikingly simple and stunningly inventive.
The Exceptionals
Erin Cashman - 2012
But everything changes the night of the Spring Fling, when her parents decide it's high time she transferred to Cambial Academy--the prestigious boarding school that her great-grandfather founded for students with supernatural abilities.Just as she is settling in, one by one the most talented students – the Exceptionals – go missing. In an attempt to find out what happened to them, Claire uncovers a dark prophecy involving a plot to destroy Cambial and a mysterious girl who can communicate with a hawk. Could she be that girl? Does the gorgeous but secretive boy she meets in the woods know more than he is letting on? After years of ignoring her special gift, Claire decides the time has come to embrace her ability . . . before it’s too late.
Caesar: The Life Story of a Panda-Leopard
Patrick O'Brian - 1930
When he was fourteen years old and beset by chronic ill health, Patrick O'Brian began creating his first fictional character. "I did it in my bedroom, and a little when I should have been doing my homework," he confessed in a note on the original dust-jacket. Caesar tells the picaresque, enchanting, and quite bloodthirsty story of a creature whose father is a giant panda and whose mother is a snow leopard. Through the eyes and voice of this fabulous creature, we learn of his life as a cub, his first hunting exploits, his first encounters with man, his capture and taming. Caesar was published in 1930, three months after O'Brian's fifteenth birthday, but the dry wit and unsentimental precision O'Brian readers savor in the Aubrey/Maturin series is already in evidence. The book combines Stephen Maturin's fascination and encyclopedic knowledge of natural history with the narrative charm of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. It was published in England and the United States, and in translation in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Japan. Reviews hailed the author as the "boy-Thoreau." "We can see here a true storyteller in the making....a gripping narrative, which holds the reader's attention and never flags."—The Spectator
If Pigs Could Fly (West Kensington Paranormal Detective Agency #1)
Jonny Nexus - 2015
Doctor Ravinder Shah speaking. No case too weird, no problem too bizarre. Strangeness a speciality. How can I help you?” London Social Worker Rav Shah moonlights as a paranormal detective, aided by one of his clients and a Border Collie he rents by the hour. It was supposed to be a bit of fun: a search for truths out there; a quest for a life more interesting than the one that fate, destiny, and personal apathy had granted him. But then a case involving a Yorkshire farmer and a herd of flying pigs leads him into a world darker and more dangerous than he’d ever dreamed. The truth is indeed out there. And it’s got Rav square in its sights.
Can You Find My Shoe?: A Zoo Adventure for Ages 3-7
Patty Lennox - 2019
After committing the story to memory as a child, life went on. Years were filled with work, children, and sushi; memories were made from adventuring, hobbies, and sailing.An animal lover from way back, Patty has never lost a shoe in the zoo! Have you?
Chrystal Bones
Billie Jo Hanlin - 2014
Born of legend with the ability feel the emotions of those around her and to hear their every thought with a touch. She was destined to save her dying planet. When she was nine the unthinkable happened and she was presumed dead in a fiery explosion on her first trip into space. Thrown across the universe, her escape pod landed on a hostile planet where she was captured and held prisoner for two years before she escaped. Hiding among the street kids of Seattle she grew into a strong woman who didn't trust anyone but her friend and partner Riley and the tiger who had become her constant companion. Together with their unique abilities she and Riley find and return lost and kidnapped children to their loving parents. All hope was gone for Shillidon until a bizarre series of events led the space ship Trilleion to Earth. Among the crew was her brother Idris, and the man destined to be hers. Jayden led a small but elite group of men that were called in as a last resort to solve the problems that others created, by any means necessary. Join Blue and Jayden on their journey to learn to love and trust each other. With danger behind every star will they make it to Shillidon in time to save the dying planet from the Ragillians or will the Ragillians succeed in making sure that this time she stay dead?
This Tower of Ashes
George R.R. Martin - 1976
R. Martin's "The Thousand Worlds" setting.
Red Rising
Pierce Brown - 2014
"That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.""I live for you," I say sadly.Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.