Sardelle Terushan wakes from three hundred years in a mage stasis shelter, only to realize that she is the last of the Referatu, the sorcerers who once helped protect Iskandia from conquerors. Their subterranean mountain community was blown up in a treacherous sneak attack by soldiers who feared their power. Everyone Sardelle ever knew is dead, and...Colonel Ridge Zirkander isn’t the model of military professionalism—he has a tendency to say exactly what’s on his mind, and his record has enough demerits to wallpaper the hull of an airship—but as the best fighter pilot in the Iskandian army, he’s used to a little leniency from his superiors. Until he punches the wrong diplomat in the nose and finds himself issued new orders: take command of a remote prison mine in the inhospitable Ice Blades Mountains. Ridge has never been in charge of anything larger than a flier squadron—what’s he supposed to do with a frozen fortress full of murderers and rapists? Not to mention the strange woman who shows up right before he arrives…Sardelle Terushan wakes from three hundred years in a mage stasis shelter, only to realize that she is the last of the Referatu, the sorcerers who once helped protect Iskandia from conquerors. Their subterranean mountain community was blown up in a treacherous sneak attack by soldiers who feared their power. Everyone Sardelle ever knew is dead, and the sentient soulblade she has been bonded to since her youth is buried in the core of the mountain. Further, what remains of her home has been infested by bloodthirsty miners commanded by the descendants of the very soldiers who destroyed her people.Sardelle needs help to reach her soulblade—her only link to her past and her last friend in the world. Her only hope is to pretend she’s one of the prisoners while trying to gain the commander’s trust. But lying isn’t her specialty, especially when the world has changed so much in the intervening centuries, and if Colonel Zirkander figures out who she truly is, he’ll be duty-bound to sentence her to the only acceptable punishment for sorcerers: death.The Dragon Blood series reading order:Book 1: Balanced on the Blade's EdgeBook 2: DeathmakerBook 3: Blood Charged

This is an original short story from my fantasy world, "The Light of Epertase: Legends Reborn."Rasi hates his mountainous exile almost as much as he hates the man who banished him there. "Love, Death, and Loneliness" takes a peek into one of Rasi's days in his brutal solitude. His memories of a time gone by is all he has left to survive the loneliness. And now, even those memories are more than he can take.

When she arrives on the remote Greek island of Thaxos, Kate Langley quickly learns about the mysterious Edgar Le Compte. Having just returned to the island himself, Le Compte seems determined to reclaim his family's traditional position at the heart of local life, but many of the residents are terrified. Le Compte's grandfather was a powerful tyrant who killed anyone who stood in his way.When she arrives on the remote Greek island of Thaxos, Kate Langley quickly learns about the mysterious Edgar Le Compte. Having just returned to the island himself, Le Compte seems determined to reclaim his family's traditional position at the heart of local life, but many of the residents are terrified. Le Compte's grandfather was a powerful tyrant who killed and tortured anyone who stood in his way, and now Edgar seems torn between his own thoughts and the life his grandfather used to lead, as well as his feelings for the one woman who ever believed in his soul.Originally published in thirteen weekly installments, the first thirteen books in the Dead Souls serials are available together for the first time in this omnibus edition. As Kate begins to learn more about Edgar, other stories on the island are also explored. Inspector Cavaleri of the local police discovers a horrifying secret about her dead sister, while local girl Alice Marco is drawn closer to Edgar. Meanwhile, the mysterious Doctor Young arrives on the island and quickly sets about trying to discover the truth about Edgar's activities. Has the infamous Impaler of Thaxos returned to spread horror across the island?Total word count is approximately 240,000. Ends on a cliffhanger. Contains violence and mild adult language.

Sandrena has been chosen for an impossible task: to kill an ancient god bent on consuming the world. Armed only with a magical spear whose power she can't unlock and plagued by memories of a life she never lived, Sandrena must bind her companions together if any of them hope to survive. She must become Spear Mother.Sandrena of the Mist Clan has been chosen for an impossible task: to kill an ancient god bent on consuming the Fourth World. Failure leads to the destruction of mankind. Yet even success could end in true death for Sandrena and her five companions.Armed only with a magical spear whose power she can't unlock and plagued by memories of a life she never lived, Sandrena must bind her group together if any of them hope to survive.She must become Spear Mother.

She is the goddess Hera: beautiful, powerful, and married to Zeus. She is Cassandra: a single mother of one living a quiet life in the suburbs who is keeping more than one secret.The two of them will be drawn together by their love and hatred of Zeus. Their explosive encounter will be spoken of for years to come.Beautiful and dangerous, Hera has become a figure of legend: a powerful goddess gifted with terrible powers known for being trapped in a marriage with the sly, despicable Zeus. In this short story, Zeus and Hera’s relationship has become so volatile and toxic they have not spoken or seen each other in centuries. Hera wanders the Earth alone and Zeus spends his time bedding human women and getting them pregnant and then leaving them. It has become a twisted game between them. He doesn't try to hide his actions from Hera. He wants her to find out about his lovers. He wants to shame her. Or, at least, that is what Hera thinks as she raises her hand to knock on the door of Cassandra White.

Following the events of Sol-Acrima and the loss of four of her friends, Stefi, the Final Fieretsi, finds herself drifting ever westwards to the land of Alzandia aboard a crippled airship. Yet even in that lost, fog-wreathed place, Cédes's original homeland, there just may be some small hope, some glimmer of the light of dawn, to stand against the looming war and coming eternal twilight.Gemmie and Maya are dead. No, worse than dead. Sansonis and Ifaut, gone. Now with only two of her companions left, Stefi, the Final Fieretsi, is left drifting ever westwards aboard a crippled airship. There she finds Alzandia, home of the Alzandian Furosans, an isolated land wreathed in perpetual fog. It may once have been Cédes’s home, but there is no warm welcome from the people who were once glad to be rid of her and her destructive tendencies long ago. And yet even as war looms for the Furosans, Stefi discovers there may still be a place for love in her world.With the coming confluence of all five elemental guardians and the encroaching eternal twilight, Feregana looks set to change forever. And beyond the bounds of the world, on a little island of flowers lost to time beneath an unchanging sky, two wandering souls may be the only ones who can prevent the past from repeating...

As one of the dragons' Chosen Warriors, Miya holds a sacred duty to defend and serve the Emperor. But when a storm blows her into the Demons' Realm, her loyalties will be tested by a foe she can scarcely imagine. Miya’s sacrifice might bring hope to her people, but can she keep any for herself?A father tells his two young daughters that a horrible monster will come out of the closet and eat them if they don't go to sleep. He thinks he made it up; but did he?

A fully illustrated epic dark fantasy adventure, written by Alaskan authors, Kari L. Ronning and A.M. Gagnon, exploring the world of Solenweir, its enigmatic exorcists related professions and the mysterious Haunting Weir, the door to the soul, that keeps the carnivorous demons from consuming you.Only your Haunting Weir, the door to your mind’s eye, can hold the demons at bay. Once the Weir is breached, only a Weiriman can save your soul from the devouring.  The weirs of the world are guarded by the Weirimen Guild, specially trained hunter exorcists, who turn back the forces of invading evil that threaten the inhabitance of Solenweir. The Weirimen Seminary is about to graduate one of its finest students, Art Storygrove, when something horrific is discovered within the man’s own Haunting Weir. A demon, unlike anything the Guild has encountered, emerges and threatens Art’s life, which would lead to unleashing of the fiend, bringing destruction on an unfathomable level.  Weakened by his cracked Weir and sent alone to purge the demon from himself, Art bands together with an unusual set of allies, a dreamcatcher construct youth to a demon hunting Knight and his ghostly tethered companion. Together, they race against the strength of the malignance breaking free from Art’s soul. Facing carnivorous demonic forces, hunting parties of his own kind, and battling the darkness invading his mind seeking to undo his abilities and resolve, Art hunts for the name of the demon. Only with the power of the creature’s name and the truth of his curse’s origins will Art Storygrove be able to free himself of the impending destruction of his soul and the future he worked so tirelessly to accomplish.  Join Art Storygrove and his makeshift band of the most unique Haunted Weir Working professionals on a sojourn of twisted fates and demonic revelations. Even the light of a Weiriman’s soul lantern only exposes the true depth of the darkness therein.  

A literary phenomenon, Jean M. Auel’s prehistoric odyssey is one of the best-loved sagas of our time. Employing meticulous research and the consummate artistry of a master storyteller, Auel paints a vivid panorama of the dawn of modern humans. Through Ayla, an orphaned girl who grows into a beautiful and courageous young woman, we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world, home to the Clan of the Cave Bear. Now, for the first time, all six novels in the Earth’s Children® series are available in one convenient eBook bundle: THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR THE VALLEY OF HORSES THE MAMMOTH HUNTERS THE PLAINS OF PASSAGE THE SHELTERS OF STONE THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES A natural disaster leaves a young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind. To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly—she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become the Clan’s next leader sees Ayla’s differences as a threat to his authority. He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge. Praise for the Earth’s Children® series   “Auel is a highly imaginative writer. She humanizes prehistory and gives it immediacy and clarity.”—The New York Times Book Review   “Storytelling in the grand tradition . . . From the violent panorama of spring on the steppes to musicians jamming on a mammoth-bone marimba, Auel’s books are a stunning example of world building. They join the short list of books, like James Clavell’s Shogun and Frank Herbert’s Dune, *that depict exotic societies so vividly that readers almost regard them as ‘survival manuals.’ ”—Vogue “Jean Auel has established herself as one of our premier storytellers. . . . Her narrative skill is supreme.”—Chicago Tribune* “Pure entertainment at its sublime, wholly exhilarating best.”—Los Angeles Times “Readers who fell in love with little Ayla will no doubt revel in her prehistoric womanhood.”—People “Lively and interesting, enhanced greatly by the vividly colored backdrop of early humanity . . . Auel is a prodigious researcher.”*—The Washington Post Book World “Among modern epic spinners, Auel has few peers. . . . She deftly creates a whole world, giving a sense of the origins of class, ethnic, and cultural differences that alternately divide and fascinate us today.”—Kirkus Reviews *(starred review)

What does it mean when your school is voted the most dangerous in America? It's time to kick some hellion butt... After not really surviving her junior year (does "undead" count as survival?), Kaylee Cavanaugh has vowed to take back her school from the hellions causing all the trouble. She's going to find a way to turn the incarnations of Avarice, Envy and Vanity against one another in order to protect her friends and finish this war, once and forever. But then she meets Wrath and understands that she's closer to the edge than she's ever been. And when one more person close to her is taken, Kaylee realizes she can't save everyone she loves without risking everything she has....

Earth's demon. They call him Sos - a man mightier in strength and spirit than the greatest warriors of post-Blast legend. His past is shrouded in enigma, but now he wanders the earth, writing a heritage in blood and bravery. To some, he is savior; to others, agent of cataclysm. One man alone bears the terrible curse of his friendship. Two mortal women share his doom-driven love. Yet only Sos knows thee ultimate purpose of his strange, violent mission on earth: save mankind - or destroy it forever. Vivid, dramatic, and compelling in its blending of adventurous narrative and specualtion, SOS THE ROPE was the unanimous choice of the judges to receive the $5000 Pyramid Publications/Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Novel Award. Piers Anthony is one of the brightest new names in the field of science fiction, and has won considerable notice with his recent novel CHTHON.

Tracker is the sixteenth installment of CJ Cherryh's acclaimed Foreigner series. It’s been a year of upheaval, since Bren Cameron’s return from space—a year when he and the aiji-dowager, one of his most powerful atevi allies, returned home from their two-year interstellar mission to find the government over­thrown and their world in chaos. Now, at last, things are calming down; the Assassins’ Guild is functioning again, working out its internal difficulties, and Bren is settling back into his routine: not as Lord of the Heavens; not—to his regret—as Lord of Najida peninsula, where his leisure estate is located; but as paidhi-aiji, an official in the atevi court. His current ambition is to keep himself and his bodyguard out of harm’s way, and to shepherd the aiji-dowager’s daring new trade agreement through the appropriate legislative committees. Combined with Tabini-aiji’s recent appointment of his young son Cajeiri as his official heir, Bren’s workload is challenging, but at least things on the atevi world seem to be on the right track. Something is coming, however, quietly, stealthily, just the first ominous twinkle of a new star in the heavens…

Meri, Sudi, and Dalila are three girls who live in Washington, D.C., but have little else in common. Or so they think. When an ancient magic is revealed, so are their true identities as Sisters of Isis. The Summoning After receiving an anonymous invitation to dinner at the Sky Terrace, Sudi meets a mysterious guy named Abdel, and two other girls, both strangers. Sudi doesn't know whether to laugh or run when Abdel claims that she and the other girls are the descendants of Egyptian pharaohs, powerful ancestors who have given them magical gifts and powers of transformation. But when evil forces begin to threaten her world, Sudi has no choice but to believe. Divine One It's bad enough that Meri had to leave her laid-back life in California for a snobby prep school in Washington, D.C. Now her mom, Senator Stark, has decided to run for her party's presidential nomination, and Meri is being forced into the spotlight more than ever. But while Meri dodges the paparazzi, the Sisters' newest enemy--Apep, the Egyptian god of darkness and chaos--is on the loose, devouring innocent people and bringing unnatural storms. Meri knows he must be stopped. But have things already spun too far out of her control?

I'd lived alone for so many centuries that I'd had enough, and so I'd decided to end it that night, and I prayed to whatever gods might exist that there was no such thing as the immortality of the soul, or that if there was, I had lost mine long ago. I had no desire to go on. Not then. Not in any form.

Ten stories recount the Devil's exploits, successes and failures, in Hell and in the world above.