The Budding Rose Trilogy - Have Sword & Sorcery: Will Travelª


Book Description

Delve into intrigue, penetrate a fortified palace, recruit warriors, sail to a foreign land, experience a foreign culture, battle an evil cult, stumble upon a conspiracy, join a false flag operation, and eliminate traitors. All this and more await you inside this second compilation volume of the the HS&S: WT series, including an exclusive short story that tells of one way how mercenaries can become famous




Cinema of Swords


Book Description

Cinema of Swords is a history, guide, and love letter to over four hundred movies and television shows featuring swashbucklers: knights, pirates, samurai, Vikings, gladiators, outlaw heroes like Zorro and Robin Hood, and anyone else who lives by the blade and solves their problems with the point of a sword. Though swordplay thrives as a mainstay of current pop culture—whether Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings or Star Wars—swashbuckling was if anything even more ubiquitous during Hollywood’s classic period, from its foundations in the Silent Era up through the savage bursts of fantasy films in the ‘80s. With this huge cinematic backlist of classics now available online and on-demand, Cinema of Swords traces the roots and branches of this unruly genre, highlighting classics of the form and pointing fans toward thrilling new gems they never knew existed. With wry summaries and criticism from swordplay expert Lawrence Ellsworth, this comprehensive guidebook is perfect as a reference work or as a dazzling Hollywood history to be read end-to-end.




Child of a Mad God


Book Description

A thrilling and dark new epic fantasy adventure begins, perfect for fans of Glen Cook and Joe Abercrombie. When Aoleyn loses her parents, she is left to fend for herself among a tribe of vicious barbarians. Bound by rigid traditions, she dreams of escaping to the world beyond her mountain home. The only hope for achieving the kind of freedom she searches for is to learn how to wield the mysterious power used by the tribe’s coven known as the Song of Usgar. Thankfully, Aoleyn may be the strongest witch to have ever lived, but magic comes at price. Not only has her abilities caught the eye of the brutish warlord that leads the tribe, but the demon of the mountain hunts all who wield the Coven’s power, and Aoleyn’s talent has made her a beacon in the night. Child of a Mad God is the first book in bestselling author R. A. Salvatore's The Coven series.




Kings of the Wyld


Book Description

A retired group of legendary mercenaries get the band back together for one last impossible mission in this award-winning debut epic fantasy. "Fantastic, funny, ferocious." -- Sam Sykes Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best, the most feared and renowned crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld. Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk, or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help -- the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for. It's time to get the band back together.




The Witch & the Wolfwood


Book Description

Helena Birch is no stranger to the weird and unexplainable. In fact, it's part of the reason she became a private eye: to turn questions into answers. But Helena's latest job is unusual enough to leave even a seasoned skeptic like her a little unnerved.While tracking down straying spouses is pretty typical P.I. work, tailing a woman who left her husband for a magic-worshipping cult is new. And something about this case hasn't felt right from the start.From the moment she arrives in Cambria, Helena is haunted by déjà vu and inexplicable dread. Only the promise of a big paycheck at the end of this strange journey keeps her from dropping the case altogether.But when Helena is abducted by one of the cult's members and barely escapes with her life, she's willing to grudgingly admit that she might be in over her head.With the police on her trail after the death of her kidnapper, the cult hunting her down, and her only ally an unassuming waitress at the local café, Helena knows she'll need every bit of skill and luck she can muster to get away alive.Hell, maybe she could even use a little bit of magic...




Chomp


Book Description

In this hysterical #1 New York Times bestseller, one kid has to wrangle gators, snakes, bats that bite, and a reality show host gone rogue! This is Carl Hiaasen's Florida—where the creatures are wild and the people are wilder! When Wahoo Cray’s dad—a professional animal wrangler—takes a job with a reality TV show called Expedition Survival!, Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself to keep his father from killing Derek Badger, the show's inept and egotistical star. But the job keeps getting more complicated: Derek Badger insists on using wild animals for his stunts; and Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her father and needs a place to hide out. They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun . . . It's anyone's guess who will actually survive Expedition Survival. . . “Only in Florida—and in the fiction of its native son Carl Hiaasen—does a dead iguana fall from a palm tree and kill somebody.” —New York Post “Chomp is a delightful laugh-out-loud sendup of the surreality of TV that will be enjoyed by readers of all ages.” —Los Angeles Times




Sword and Sorceress XIV


Book Description

Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Sword & Sorceress" series has always presented the best in contemporary women's fantasy, and this new volume carries on the tradition! In this volume, 26 original stories of bold, talented, and heroic women lead readers through enchanted realms of the imagination into danger both physical and sorcerous, where power and courage lie in a woman's hands.




Shadowland


Book Description

“As if Harry Potter was written for grown-ups, Peter Straub’s Shadowland delivers carnage, blood, pain, fairy tales, and flashes of joy and wonder, just like real magic.”—Grady Hendrix You have been there...if you have ever been afraid. Come back. To a dark house deep in the Vermont woods, where two friends are spending a season of horror, apprenticed to a Master Magician. Learning secrets best left unlearned. Entering a world of incalculable evil more ancient than death itself. More terrifying. And more real. Only one of them will make it through.




The Fantasy Collection of Robert E. Howard


Book Description

The Fantasy Collection of Robert E. Howard is a compilation of some of the most iconic works by the renowned author. Howard is widely regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery genre, and this collection showcases his masterful storytelling skills and vivid imagination. Filled with action-packed adventures, mythical creatures, and dark magic, this book immerses readers in a fantastical world unlike any other. Howard's writing style is characterized by its fast-paced narrative and vivid descriptions, drawing readers into a world of heroes and villains battling for supremacy. The literary context of the collection highlights Howard's influence on modern fantasy writers, making this a must-read for fans of the genre. Robert E. Howard's life experiences, love for history, and interest in mythology greatly influenced his writing. His exploration of ancient civilizations and folklore is evident in the depth of his world-building and character development. As a prolific writer, Howard's dedication to his craft shines through in the fantastical worlds he creates, leaving a lasting impact on the genre. I highly recommend The Fantasy Collection of Robert E. Howard to readers who enjoy epic tales of bravery, magic, and adventure. Howard's timeless stories continue to captivate audiences with their enduring themes of heroism and struggle against evil, making this collection a true classic in the realm of fantasy literature.




The Last Graduate


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The specter of graduation looms large as Naomi Novik’s groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling trilogy continues in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education. “The climactic graduation-day battle will bring cheers, tears, and gasps as the second of the Scholomance trilogy closes with a breathtaking cliff-hanger.”—Booklist (starred review) HUGO AWARD FINALIST • LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Polygon, Thrillist, She Reads In Wisdom, Shelter. That’s the official motto of the Scholomance. I suppose you could even argue that it’s true—only the wisdom is hard to come by, so the shelter’s rather scant. Our beloved school does its best to devour all its students—but now that I’ve reached my senior year and have actually won myself a handful of allies, it’s suddenly developed a very particular craving for me. And even if I somehow make it through the endless waves of maleficaria that it keeps throwing at me in between grueling homework assignments, I haven’t any idea how my allies and I are going to make it through the graduation hall alive. Unless, of course, I finally accept my foretold destiny of dark sorcery and destruction. That would certainly let me sail straight out of here. The course of wisdom, surely. But I’m not giving in—not to the mals, not to fate, and especially not to the Scholomance. I’m going to get myself and my friends out of this hideous place for good—even if it’s the last thing I do. With keen insight and mordant humor, Novik reminds us that sometimes it is not enough to rewrite the rules—sometimes, you need to toss out the entire rulebook. The magic of the Scholomance trilogy continues in The Golden Enclaves