The Rise of Endymion

      Dan Simmons
     The Rise of Endymion

The magnificent conclusion to one of the greatest science fiction sagas of our time The time of reckoning has arrived. As a final genocidal Crusade threatens to enslave humanity forever, a new messiah has come of age. She is Aenea and she has undergone a strange apprenticeship to those known as the Others. Now her protector, Raul Endymion, one-time shepherd and convicted murderer, must help her deliver her startling message to her growing army of disciples. But first they must embark on a final spectacular mission to discover the underlying meaning of the universe itself. They have been followed on their journey by the mysterious Shrike--monster, angel, killing machine--who is about to reveal the long-held secret of its origin and purpose. And on the planet of Hyperion, where the story first began, the final revelation will be delivered--an apocalyptic message that unlocks the secrets of existence and the fate of humankind in the galaxy. From the Paperback edition.

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    Sweet Reckoning

      Wendy Higgins
     Sweet Reckoning

It’s time. Evil is running rampant and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody knows when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anything necessary to rid the earth of the demons and their oppressive ways. The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forces proves to be perilous—especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust sends Anna’s great love, Kaidan Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she’s prepared to risk. In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.

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    Thirst No. 3: The Eternal Dawn

      Christopher Pike
     Thirst No. 3: The Eternal Dawn

Alisa has spent the past five thousand years as a vampire, living alone and fighting for survival. In her loneliness, Alisa cannot resist bringing Teri—a descendant of her human family—into her life. But Alisa is surrounded by death and destruction, and just by knowing Alisa, Teri’s life is at risk. Alisa’s guilt grows when she becomes involved in a dangerous conspiracy. A top-secret group knows Alisa’s secret and will stop at nothing to use her powers for their cause. As Alisa desperately tries to protect herself and Teri from the unknown enemy, she discovers a force more powerful and more lethal than anything she has ever seen. Alisa doesn’t know who to trust, who to challenge, or who she will become….

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    Mute

      Piers Anthony
     Mute

Mute is science fantasy of mutation and psi: special mental powers. The protagonist, Knot, is a double mutant: he has a physical deformity, and the psi power to make others forget him. He's satisfied with his life--until the lovely Finesse walks into his life to recruit him for a dangerous galactic mission. She is aided by two small animal mutants: a telepathic weasel and a clairvoyant crab. Knot tries to resist, aided by his psi, but the woman's beauty and the animals' powers doom him to a phenomenal adventure. The prior edition was cut; this is the complete version.

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    Bleeding Violet

      Dia Reeves
     Bleeding Violet

Love can be a dangerous thing... Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna’s tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home. But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she’s far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

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    The Wide-Awake Princess

      E. D. Baker
     The Wide-Awake Princess

In this new stand-alone fairy tale, Princess Annie is the younger sister to Gwen, the princess destined to be Sleeping Beauty. When Gwennie pricks her finger and the whole castle falls asleep, only Annie is awake, and only Annie-blessed (or cursed?) with being impervious to magic-can venture out beyond the rose-covered hedge for help. She must find Gwen's true love to kiss her awake. But who is her true love? The irritating Digby? The happy-go-lucky Prince Andreas, who is holding a contest to find his bride? The conniving Clarence, whose sinister motives couldn't possibly spell true love? Joined by one of her father's guards, Liam, who happened to be out of the castle when the sleeping spell struck, Annie travels through a fairy tale land populated with characters both familiar and new as she tries to fix her sister and her family . . . and perhaps even find a true love of her own.

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    Awakening

      William Horwood
     Awakening

Born of the Hyddenworld but living in our reality – Jack knows that he has a foot in both worlds but doesn't wholly belong to either. Even his relationship with his wife can't convince him that this is the place where he truly belongs. He has to decide – is he human, or hydden? Leaving everything he loves behind, including his daughter Judith, Jack travels back to the Hyddenworld to try to find the missing gem of summer. Judith is also a child of two worlds with her human mother and giant-born hyddenworld father. She knows her destiny, she knows who she is supposed to be – but she's tortured. She feels just like a normal teenage girl, with typical teenage angst. How could she possibly be the legendary Shield-Maiden? While Judith tries to come to term with her future, the world around her is starting to deteriorate. The weather is changing and destruction and upheaval follow in its wake. Jack knows that the four gems need to be reunited soon and that the Shield-Maiden needs to be ready to wield them. And if Judith can't accept her destiny, or the gems can't be found, then both the Hydden world and the human are threatened with extinction.

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    Lifeblood

      P. N. Elrod
     Lifeblood

Jack Fleming was an investigative journalist in Prohibition-era Chicago until he got shot by an unknown assassin, bitten by his vampire girlfriend, and became one of the undead. Now, this nice-guy nosferatu has a bunch of crazy vampire hunters on his trail armed with crosses, silver bullets, and sharp wooden stakes. He doesn't know how they found out about him or why they are "out for his blood," but it's not a problem for this street-wise gumshoe, until someone starts shooting. Jack himself may be bulletproof, but his friends are not. And Jack is determined to get some answers, even if it kills him-again. It's a case of the living versus the undead. But who's hunting whom?

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    Werelove #1: Dusk Conspiracy

      Lakisha Spletzer
     Werelove #1: Dusk Conspiracy

Laylah Le Croix has everything and nothing. After an attempted kidnapping, she is rescued by Donil. Angry at her life, she makes a defiant choice that plunges her into the heart of a conspiracy.Seventeen-year-old Laylah Le Croix has a rich father, mansion, and servants. Yet she is lonely and neglected. Her father would rather work than speak to her. At the academy she is bullied and mistreated. When Weres attempt to kidnap Laylah, she is saved by the mysterious Donil Silentshadow. Donil rouses feelings in Laylah that make her question her life and her father’s animosity toward her handsome rescuer. Confused by these emotions, she seeks answers from those closest to her and is rebuffed. She must make a choice. Obey her father’s edicts or follow her heart to learn the truth about her past.

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    The Waiter

      Ginger Voight
     The Waiter

An old, dying woman makes one last visit to her favorite restaurant, a place once used as a refuge for a painful period in her life. Awash with memories of a time long past, she gets the surprise of a lifetime when she catches a glimpse of a familiar face that, unlike her own image, had not been marred by time.Apollo is an orphan in the walled farming community of Alcazar. Everyone else his age is eagerly awaiting their apprenticeships that proceed the ritual that will determine their place in society, the Ceremony of Ascension. Without a heritage, Apollo knows it's something he can never have. But then the last week of school is canceled and Apollo's dread is turned into surprise when he's summoned by the leader of their community. The boy soon learns of the unique bond they both share, that's also littered with a long trail of deceit and genetic manipulations.

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    The Last Rose

      Meghann McVey
     The Last Rose

To become a bard in an elite, chauvinist school, a young woman seeks a famous bard’s lost instrument in a haunted ruin.This is a tale of life inside a home computer, as seen from the viewpoint of one of its tiny components - Billy the Bit. He and the other inhabitants of the computer do the actual work of making things happen for its human user.If you have ever wanted to understand how a computer operates - without studying electronics and microcircuits - this story explains how, by telling the story of how one tiny element nearly brings the system to a halt.A painless way to learn the workings of a PC, which will enable readers to understand the basics of what is going on under the covers whilst enjoying an amusing tale. Although originally aimed at children, adult experts in the field may enjoy the author's visualisation of the functions of a computer's elements.

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    Dry Spell

      Beth Madden
     Dry Spell

Empty clouds and drought weigh on Paul’s soul as an inner voice torments him. It will stop at nothing to force an act of violence from the powerful teenager.Paul Fields has had a rough few years: elfin mother assaulted, well-known father arrested, and unfairly turned away from his rugby club. Now, the weight of the clouds is upon him. And as Paul sits unwillingly through his younger brother’s school play, intrusive thoughts of violence assail him, demanding he act. His brother in his arms, will Paul break him to ease the suffering of all?

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    Snowbabies

      Victor Storck
     Snowbabies

In cold and snow covered southeast Montana, a fifteen year old hunter has a young deer, his first "one shot, instant kill", lined up squarely in his sights. But by a twist of some unknown fate his shot misses, and so begins the hunter's incredible journey. "Snowbabies" is a fantasy/adventure story for ages twelve and up.More thrilling short stories written by independent publishing’s rising stars. In this third SF collection of short fiction, The Indie Collaboration delves into the vaults of speculative fiction once more, bringing you original and innovative Science Fiction and Fantasy stories.Here you will find stories about Space Pirates and Barbarians, Survivors of plagues, a man doomed by time and an epic tale about Giants and Monsters.So done your space suit and come join us in exploring more ‘Spectacular Tales’.

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    The High Mountains of Portugal

      Yann Martel
     The High Mountains of Portugal

**With this highly anticipated new novel, the author of the bestselling Life of Pi returns to the storytelling power and luminous wisdom of his master novel.** *The High Mountains of Portugal* is a suspenseful, mesmerizing story of a great quest for meaning, told in three intersecting narratives touching the lives of three different people and their families, and taking us on an extraordinary journey through the last century. We begin in the early 1900s, when Tomás discovers an ancient journal and sets out from Lisbon in one of the very first motor cars in Portugal in search of the strange treasure the journal describes. Thirty-five years later, a pathologist devoted to the novels of Agatha Christie, whose wife has possibly been murdered, finds himself drawn into the consequences of Tomás's quest. Fifty years later, Senator Peter Tovy of Ottawa, grieving the death of his own beloved wife, rescues a chimpanzee from an Oklahoma research facility and takes it to live with him in his ancestral village in northern Portugal, where the strands of all three stories miraculously mesh together.      Beautiful, witty and engaging, Yann Martel's new novel offers us the same tender exploration of the impact and significance of great love and great loss, belief and unbelief, that has marked all his brilliant, unexpected novels.

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