An Unkindness of Ravens

      JT Pearson
     An Unkindness of Ravens

Jeff has been locked up in solitary confinement for nearly five years when the warden offers him an opportunity to reduce his sentence by joining crews that are repairing the country's energy grid, which has been rupturing and blowing up buildings and people, the unexpected and unfortunate result of changing the nation's fuel. He is added to a crew loaded with the nation's most notorious killers.Malver turns to his father."You must stay hidden son. For if she sees you, she will be frightened off," his father says as both of them divert their eyes back to the young female sitting by the river.His heart sings out to hers. A longing he has never felt before. He feels the need to touch her. It builds as her face turns more his way. His father lightly taps his shoulder. He turns and notices the leader guards walking towards them. The one stops beside Malvar.Did you mate her yet?He drifts his eyes back to the young beauty. His sigh tells the guards his answer.You have been coming here for four months now, yet you have not sedduced her to mate you.

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    Ice-Ghost

      Gilbert Pangelina
     Ice-Ghost

Thirteen-year-old Christy, a figure skater, is lured into the world of Hene, an icy, cold place of harsh realities and disbelief. Her only friend is her newest acquaintance, a pale boy named Ice-Ghost. Her figure skating dreams are put on hold when she encounters the ice dwarf, Gloo, the ice witch’s henchman. Trapped in this icy world, her eyes are opened to one of life’s harshest lessons.Thirteen-year-old Christy, a figure skater, is lured into the world of Hene, an icy, cold place of harsh realities and disbelief. Her only friend is her newest acquaintance, a pale boy named Ice-Ghost. Her figure skating dreams are put on hold when she encounters the ice dwarf, Gloo, the ice witch’s henchman. Trapped in this icy world, her eyes are opened to one of life’s harshest lessons: “Things are not always what they seem.”

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    Paging Doctor Wolf

      Rebecca Royce
     Paging Doctor Wolf

Trauma surgeon Dr. Dallas Olson is too busy to date. Signing up with Madame Eve’s 1Night Stand service seems like a good plan, but his plans are sidelined when he’s nearly killed by a wolf attack. While still recovering and dealing with unexplainable side effects, he nevertheless agrees to meet the woman Madame Eve found for him. Looking forward to her 1Night Stand date, werewolf shifter Cara Johnson is disappointed when it’s canceled unexpectedly. When Madame Eve lets her know that the man she should have met has suffered a wolf attack, Cara fears he’ll become a rogue werewolf himself during the next full moon. Unless she finds him and brings him home to her pack before that happens, her Alpha will have no choice but to kill him. With only days left before the full moon, Cara and Dallas meet. He thinks it’s a one-night stand. She thinks it’s a mission to save his life. Madame Eve has other ideas.

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    The Return of the Indian

      Lynne Reid Banks
     The Return of the Indian

It's been over a year since Omri discovered in The Indian in the Cupboard that, with the turn of a key, he could magically bring to life the three-inch-high Indian figure he placed inside his cupboard. Omri and his Indian, Little Bear, create a fantastic world together until one day, Omri realizes the terrible consequences if Little Bear ever got trapped in his "giant" world. Reluctantly, Omri sends the Indian back through the cupboard, giving his mother the magic key to wear around her neck so that he will never be tempted to bring Little Bear back to life. But one year later, full of exciting news, Omri gives way to temptation when he finds that his mother has left the magic key lying on the bathroom sink. A whole new series of adventures awaits Omri as he discovers that his Indian has been critically wounded during the French and Indian Wars and desperately needs Omri's help. Now, helplessly caught between his own life and his cupboard life of war and death, Omri must act decisively if he is to save Little Bear and his village from being completely destroyed. What began as a harmless game has tumed into a horrible nightmare, a nightmare in which Omri is irrevocably involved, and from which he may never escape. From the Hardcover edition.

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    Marked by the Alpha Wolf; Part 1

      Scarlett Grove
     Marked by the Alpha Wolf; Part 1

Cassandra Kline is taken in by Pyramid Corporation in the midst of global nuclear war. For the next five years, she lives safely inside a protective domed city. Working in The Program, a virtual reality simulation, she is confronted by her dead mother who tells Cassie she is in danger. After a shocking revelation about the people who she believed had saved her, the hologram of her mother leads her out of the dome and into a toxic, dead world. Rafe, the alpha of a mutant werewolf pack, takes her in and helps her come to terms with the new world they share. With zombie attacks, alien spaceships paroling the skies, and the ever-present struggle to survive, will Cassie and Rafe realize their budding attraction? Or will they be torn apart, body and soul.

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    Witch Catcher

      Mary Downing Hahn
     Witch Catcher

When her widower father inherits a castlelike estate in the mountains of West Virginia, 12-year-old Jen is thrilled. It seems like a wish come true. But she quickly realizes that not all change is positive. Her dad has a mysterious new girlfriend, Moura, who slowly drives a wedge between Jen and her father. Furthermore, Moura has an unusually strong—almost obsessive—interest in the antiques that fill the mansion, especially a beautiful glass globe that Jen finds hanging in a window. When Jen’s cat accidentally breaks the globe, which Moura calls a “witch catcher,” strange things begin to happen. . . .    An odd-looking girl wearing a torn dress appears, seemingly out of nowhere, and Moura’s behavior becomes more sinister, leading Jen to believe that her father is a pawn in an evil scheme. Soon Jen finds herself caught in the midst of a supernatural war, with the fate of an enchanted race—and her family—at stake.    Inspired by the age-old legend of witch catchers, Mary Downing Hahn brings a magical cast of characters to life in this compelling fantasy adventure. Author’s note.

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    The Quest of the Cubs

      Kathryn Lasky
     The Quest of the Cubs

For generations, the noble polar bears have ruled the Northern Kingdoms. But now, their society is on the brink of collapse. A group of power-hungry bears has seized control, and darkness is creeping across the snow. Cubs First and Second don't know any of this. Although they're twins, they couldn't be more different. First loves imagining stories, while his daring sister, Second, wants to live them. When their mother is taken prisoner, the cubs' world falls apart. They know they have to rescue her, but how can two cubs who've barely learned to hunt survive a treacherous journey across the ice? Their only chance is to learn to trust each other and--even more important--trust themselves. But survival is only the beginning. And soon, these two unlikely heroes find themselves at the heart of a battle unlike anything Ga'hoole has ever seen.

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    The Royal Succession

      Maurice Druon
     The Royal Succession

'No woman shall succeed in Salique land' Louis X is dead, poisoned, murdered, by the hand of Mahaut d’Artois. Her plan is simple – to clear the path to the throne for her son-in-law Philippe. However, there is the small matter of Queen Clemence and her unborn child. As the country is thrown into turmoil, Philippe of Poitiers must use any means necessary to save his country from anarchy. However, how far is he willing to go to clear his path to the throne and become King in his own right?

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    Chronicles of the Black Company

      Glen Cook
     Chronicles of the Black Company

Contains the first three Black Company novels: THE BLACK COMPANY, SHADOWS LINGER and THE WHITE ROSE The series that brought grittiness to Fantasy and became a bestseller in the US finally comes to the UK. Darkness wars with darkness as the hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must. They bury their doubts with their dead. Then comes the prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more . . . This is fantasy for all fans of Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie and David Gemmell. Available for the first time in a UK edition. 'With the Black Company series, Glen Cook single-handedly changed the face of fantasy - something a lot of people didn't notice, and maybe still don't. He brought the story down to a human level, dispensing with the cliche archetypes of princes, kings and evil sorcerers. Reading his stuff is like reading Vietnam fiction on Peyote' STEVEN ERIKSON

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    The Surface Breaks

      Louise O'Neill
     The Surface Breaks

Deep beneath the sea, off the cold Irish coast, Gaia is a young mermaid who dreams of freedom from her controlling father. On her first swim to the surface, she is drawn towards a human boy. She longs to join his carefree world, but how much will she have to sacrifice? What will it take for the little mermaid to find her voice? Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tale is reimagined through a searing feminist lens, with the stunning, scalpel-sharp writing and world building that has won Louise her legions of devoted fans. A book with the darkest of undercurrents, full of rage and rallying cries: storytelling at its most spellbinding.

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    The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf

      Martin Millar
     The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf

Now eighteen, Scottish teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is settling in London, though she still struggles with anxiety, depression, and self-abuse. Her new friends support her - and all is fine until the Guild of Werewolf Hunters start picking off her clan, one by one. Most of the Scottish Werewolf Clan have a very low opinion of Kalix Macrinnalch, youngest daughter of the Thane. There is little sympathy for her illiteracy, her substance abuse, her self-harming, her eating disorder, her anxiety and depression and her propensity for extreme violence. Safe from her clan in London, and living with two friendly students, she's been much calmer. If only she were allowed to live quietly, she might get on top of her problems. Unfortunately, that's difficult for the young werewolf. She's still the number one target for the werewolf hunters, and they're stepping up their efforts to find her. And no matter how Kalix tries to make her life more normal, there will always come a time when, under threat, her insanity and battle-madness will descend on her, and the skinny young girl will again transform into the most feared and ferocious werewolf in the country.

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    Stalking the Nightmare

      Harlan Ellison
     Stalking the Nightmare

An Ellison potpourri: rewrites of tales 1st appearing in 50s pulp magazines (one a Joe L. Hensley collaboration), recent tales & four excellent nonfiction items. The nonfiction: some witty autobiographical sketches: an in-person account of events at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as data from Voyager I's Saturn fly-by arrives; the full story behind his acrimonious battle with Hollywood over the short-lived TV series The Starlost; & the story of how he ran away from home at age 13 to join a carnival, learning "more about the darker side of human nature than any kid should ever know." The fiction, alas, pales by comparison. There are several dressed-up variations on the Quest for the Grail. The sf tales offer so-so variations on familiar notions (Earthlings discovering their roots on an alien planet; robot megalomania; Adam & Eve; teeny weeny alien invaders). An Ellisonian satire is aimed at a TV show devoted to humiliating its guests--plus two other, more effectively humorous pieces on Aladdin's lamp & the Nativity. Less vivid than Ellison's best, with too many tired old variations & flabby retreads--but sparkling in spots.--Kirkus (edited)

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    Brownies and Bogles

      Louise Imogen Guiney
     Brownies and Bogles

FAIRY is a humorous person sadly out of fashion at present, who has had, nevertheless, in the actors' phrase, a long and prosperous run on this planet. When we speak of fairies nowadays, we think only of small sprites who live in a kingdom of their own, with manners, laws, and privileges very different from ours. But there was a time when "fairy" suggested also the knights and ladies of romance, about whom fine spirited tales were told when the world was younger. Spenser's Faery Queen, for instance, deals with dream-people, beautiful and brave, as do the old stories of Arthur and Roland; people who either never lived, or who, having lived, were glorified and magnified by tradition out of all kinship with common men. Our fairies are fairies in the modern sense. We will make it a rule, from the beginning, that they must be small, and we will put out any who are above the regulation height. Such as the charming famous Melusina, who wails upon her tower at the death of a Lusignan, we may as well skip; for she is a tall young lady, with a serpent's tail, to boot, and thus, alas! half-monster; for if we should accept any like her in our plan, there is no reason why we should not get confused among mermaids and dryads, and perhaps end by scoring down great Juno herself as a fairy! Many a dwarf and goblin, whom we shall meet anon, is as big as a child. Again, there are rumors in nearly every country of finding hundreds of them on a square inch of oak-leaf, or beneath the thin shadow of a blade of grass. The fairies of popular belief are little and somewhat shrivelled, and quite as apt to be malignant as to be frolicsome and gentle. We shall find that they were divided into several classes and families; but there is much analogy and vagueness among these divisions. By and by you may care to study them for yourselves; at present, we shall be very high-handed with the science of folk-lore, and pay no attention whatever to learned gentlemen, who quarrel so foolishly about these things that it is not helpful, nor even funny, to listen to them. A widely-spread notion is that when our crusading forefathers went to the Holy Land, they heard the Paynim soldiers, whom they fought, speaking much of the Peri, the loveliest beings imaginable, who dwelt in the East. Now, the Arabian language, which these swarthy warriors used, has no letter P, and therefore they called their spirits Feri, as did the Crusaders after them; and the word went back with them to Europe, and slipped into general use.

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    Raven's Key: A Novel

      Siomonn Pulla
     Raven's Key: A Novel

A fast-paced new age adventure with a most unlikely cast of characters. An ancient Sumerian King has hired a shape shifting Raven to steal sacred objects from museum's around the world. Follow the journey to discover the key to unlocking humanity's shift into the new consciousness of 2012.Siomonn Pulla's first e-novel is a fast-paced new age adventure with a most unlikely cast of characters. This book is quirky and probably unlike anything you've ever read before. An ancient Sumerian King has hired a shape shifting Raven to steal sacred objects from museum's around the world. A Museum curator and her assistant, a young anthropology graduate student, discover that they are running out of time in this quest to restore the ancient balance of light and dark forces. Together with members from the ancient Council of Light, they must track down the shape shifting Raven, locate the stolen objects and return them to the council. Nearly out of time, they must journey to discover the key to unlocking humanity's shift into the new consciousness of 2012.As a new fiction writer Siomonn is having fun testing out ideas and working on his technique with this novel. He enjoys receiving constructive comments and his dream is to one day work with an agent and a team of talented editors to help him shape his numerous far-out creative ideas into great fiction!

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    Two Zeros and The Library of Doom!

      Eric Bonkowski
     Two Zeros and The Library of Doom!

Welcome to the strange and wild world of the Zeros.In this novella, follow two men as they agree to a favor only to find themselves locked in a haunted mansion, battling for their lives against mythological beasts and murderous madmen.Ghosts, magical texts, and sea monsters fill the pages of this tale, where not all is as it appears to be...Written as a short introduction to the wild world of the Zeros, "Two Zeros and The Library of Doom!" is a novella of two heroes who took a job that sounded so easy.Gil Abercrombie and his new partner Dylan accept a simple job rescuing an aged caretaker at an abandoned sanatorium called Callowleigh. Soon, their quick task becomes a nightmare as our heroes find themselves trapped and fighting for their lives. Alone in a haunted mansion, Gil and Dylan struggle against otherworld forces as they search for the old caretaker who may be caught in something far beyond his understanding.Forced to team up with a master thief to battle dangers from man and beast, our Zeros dig deeper into buried secrets, pursuing the terrible secrets of the old hospital and the ancient books held within a very strange library.Ghosts, demons, and mythological beasts fill the pages of this novella, where not all is as it appears to be.Welcome to the world of Gil's Grimoire...

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