Can Mike battle back from the final outcome? Now that the world needs him the most. New and old threats emerge to claim a war-ravaged world on the verge of collapse. Lana, Bailey and Azile the Red Witch have assembled all that remains of man in one final battle that could determine the fate of mankind forever. And it just might not be enough.

A popular monster from the Philippines, known as an aswang, terrorizes the island of Oahu. It's up to one little girl to put a stop to the beast's reign of panic. A dark fantasy novella.Screaming Machinery are a power-trio from Manchester, playing gigs to rapturous crowds. But what their fans don't realise is that they are also mighty heroes, regularly saving the world with magic and sword.They are called upon again when Manchester comes under dire threat. Eighteen murders take place, each a node in a vast rune drawn across the city in blood. Something very large and powerful is coming through and it's up to Screaming Machinery to try and stop it ...

**There’s always more beneath the surface.** Once, Hope Payne was a mermaid, performing at the local theme park and captivating audiences young and old. Today, she’s married to a pragmatic marine biologist who has filled the pool in their backyard with flounder for a special study. Before he begins, the fish vanish—echoing a loss Hope alone can understand. She senses there’s something underwater, something alive and hungry for more, but is she in too deep to ever resurface? *New York Times* bestselling author Jodi Picoult’s “Mermaid” is a spellbinding short story about the sacrifice it takes to swim again.

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders... but her father isn't a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife's dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers' pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed--and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold. But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it's worth--especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand.

In Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle, Matthew Stover created a new kind of fantasy novel, and a new kind of hero to go with it: Caine, a street thug turned superstar, battling in a future where reality shows take place in another dimension, on a world where magic exists and gods are up close and personal. In that beautiful, savage land, Caine is an assassin without peer, a living legend born from one of the highest-rated reality shows ever made. That season, Caine almost single-handedly defeated–and all but exterminated–the fiercest of all tribes: the Black Knives. But the shocking truth of what really took place during that blood-drenched adventure has never been revealed . . . until now. Thirty years later, Caine returns to the scene of his greatest triumph–some would say greatest crime–at the request of his adopted brother Orbek, the last of the true Black Knives. But where Caine goes, danger follows, and he soon finds himself back in familiar territory: fighting for his life against impossible odds, with the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance. Just the way Caine likes it. From the Trade Paperback edition.

For years, tales of DRAGONS from another world kidnapping and enslaving humans have been circulating in Jason Masters’ world, while for a slave girl named Koren, the stories of a human world seem pure myth. Together, these two teens will need to bridge two planets in order to overthrow the draconic threat and bring the lost slaves home. What if the Legends Are True? Jason Masters doubted the myths that told of people taken through a portal to another realm and enslaved by dragons. But when he receives a cryptic message from his missing brother, he must uncover the truth and find the portal before it’s too late. At the same time, Koren, a slave in the dragons’ realm, discovers she has a gift that could either save or help doom her people. As Jason and Koren work to rescue the enslaved humans, a mystic prophecy surrounding a black egg may make all their efforts futile.

The cons get craftier and the stakes rise ever higher in the riveting sequel to White Cat—now in paperback! After rescuing his brothers from Zacharov’s retribution, Cassel is trying to reestablish some kind of normalcy in his life. That was never going to be easy for someone from a worker family that’s tied to one of the big crime families—and whose mother’s cons get more reckless by the day. But Cassel is coming to terms with what it means to be a worker, and he’s figuring out how to have friends. Except normal doesn’t last very long. Soon Cassel is being courted by both sides of the law and is forced to confront his past—a past he remembers only in scattered fragments, and one that could destroy his family and his future. Cassel will have to decide whose side he wants to be on, because neutrality is not an option. And then he will have to pull off his biggest con ever to survive….

A short story that comes after Hostage to Pleasure and before Branded by Fire.

'A foot on the neck is nine points of the law' There are many who say that the art of diplomacy is an intricate and complex dance. There are others who maintain that it's merely a matter of who carries the biggest stick. The oldest and most inscrutable (not to mention heavily fortified) empire on the Discworld is in turmoil, brought about by the revolutionary treatise What I did on My Holidays. Workers are uniting, with nothing to lose but their water buffaloes; warlords are struggling for power - and what the nation wants, to avoid terrible doom for everyone, is a wizard. Rincewind is not the Disc’s premier wizard – in fact, he can’t even spell ‘wizard’ – but no-one specified whether competence was an issue. And they do have a very big stick… Mighty Battles! Revolution! Death! War! (And his sons Terror and Panic and daughter Clancy).  

Book 1 in a series of 4 - The Long Journey of Agymah Chahine: A story that spans the ancient globe, filled with danger, adventure, hope and endurance. It tells of Agymah Chahine, a simple carpenter from the city of Abydos in Ancient Egypt, of his adventures in the Army of the Pharaoh, and of battles with the ferocious Lion of the Sands. The story chronicles the journey of Agymah and his friendsBook 1 in a series of 4 - The Long Journey of Agymah Chahine: A story that spans the ancient globe, filled with danger, adventure, hope and endurance. It tells of Agymah Chahine, a simple carpenter from the city of Abydos in Ancient Egypt, of his adventures in the Army of the Pharaoh, and of battles with the ferocious Lion of the Sands. The full story chronicles the journey of Agymah and his friends from the souqs of Egypt to the far side of the world. It tells of the perils they faced, the dangers they shared, the tragedies they endured and, finally, of their journey home, through a Land of Golden Peonies, beneath Pavilions of Ice, across Seas of Sand and Blood, and so unto their homeland. This is Agymah’s story."The cohorts ran ten wide, each with twenty men across its front. We moved quickly to the head of the valley and turned as one onto the flat ground between the hillsides. Ahead we could see the boiling clouds of the battle and glimpse strange shapes, enormous shapes, that seemed to fly through the dust. We saw the flash of weapons in the sun, and heard the roars of the men and the screams as they were destroyed. And for the first time, we heard, louder and more terrible than before, the howl of the Beast. The Centurions shouted, and for a moment the line slowed, then the drums began to beat more quickly until, with a roar of pride and anger, the line surged forward, and in that final moment as the dust cleared, before us opened the maw of hell."

A MODRONS REPORT: DOMINIONS OF DEITIES WORSHIPPED BY THE INHABITANTS OF REALMSPACE AND THE PRIME MATERIAL CONTINENT OF FAERUN.VOLUME #1: EVIL DIETIES A- L-1st Edition, 1335x catalog of prime material research from The Great Modron March & by modrons serialized 856,223.043 – 900,103Commissioned by The One and the Prime.Coded by Quinton #7,601,342,695 Planar Alias = “Scribbles”A MODRONS REPORT: -DOMINIONS OF DEITIES WORSHIPPED BY THE INHABITANTS OF REALMSPACE AND THE PRIME MATERIAL CONTINENT OF FAERUN.VOLUME #1: EVIL DIETIES A- L-1st Edition, 1335x catalog of prime material research from The Great Modron March & by modrons serialized 856,223.043 – 900,103Commissioned by The One and the Prime.Coded by Quinton #7,601,342,695 Planar Alias = “Scribbles”Published in accordance with dmsguild Forgotten Realms Licensing Agreement.

In MIDNIGHT JEWEL, Richelle Mead goes beyond the glitz and glamour of the Glittering Court, delving into the dark, political underbelly of Cape Triumph through the eyes of one girl who dares to fight for her freedom. A refugee of war, Mira was cast out of her home country and thrust into another, where the conditions were inhospitable at best. In a life-altering twist of fate, she is given the chance to escape once more, and she takes it, joining the Glittering Court. Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. There, Mira finds herself subjected to persecution, not only from her fellow Glittering Court jewels, but from her suitors, as well—men she would potentially be expected to give her life to. By day, she goes through the motions, learning the etiquette and customs that will help to earn her anonymity, even making a couple true friends in the process, the forthright ladies’ maid Adelaide and the ambitious laundress Tamsin. But by night, Mira hatches a different plan entirely—one that, if exposed, could get her hanged in the highest court of Adoria. MIDNIGHT JEWEL is the extraordinary story of a girl with few options who courageously forges a new path, finding love, passion, lifelong friendships, and maybe even a way to freedom.

In a world beset by magic waves, Kate Daniels works as a mercenary. She is tired, hungry, and there is foul-smelling blood on her boots. All she wants to do is to go home, but when Mercenary Guild offers her a job she can't refuse, she finds herself protecting a man against Russian wizards. This story was originally published in the anthologies * Dark and Stormy Knights * and Magic Graves.)

The title doesn't lie: This is a story about a young writer and an old witch who meet on a lonely road that winds towards the New Capital. Actually, they meet there twice. The first time, there's a curse involved. The second time--you'll have to read and find out. It all adds up to about 4,000 words--perfect as a train read or an after-dinner fable. (Didn't you hear? Doctors recommend after-dinner fables.)