One man's sorrow is the key against the greatest evil Laria has ever seen. Joshua Owen, a guard in the tiny village of Angeli, discovers the body of a local tavern owner. After learning about the man's missing daughter, Joshua abandons his post against his superior's orders in an attempt to rescue her. His desperate journey to find her leads him on the trail of an even more sinister plot. Joshua doesn't know that the killer wants to end the global conflict known as the Eternal War, but in order to do so, there must be thousands of sacrifices, one of which is innocence. The killer, masked and under the impression he is being led by Gods, wants to rule all of Laria. Joshua, armed only with a warped sense of duty and honor born of vengeance, must confront his nightmares and his past before Laria's fate can be saved.Laria is the first book in the Laria Saga. It is continued in book 2, Laria's Shadows

Six years following the Eternal War's caustic end, Laria finds itself with the four races unified under the banner of a new High King. Seeking to prove the Doream legend's authenticity once and for all, the search for the holy Adelpha Epsilian becomes an obsession. Faced with scattered demons, opposing religious cults, and the ever-present, ever-threatening Sions, Doream's decrees affect the entire world as another global war blazes on the horizon. Although not along the lines of ethnicity, the new conflict is founded on religious tension between Doream's young faith and the Sion's old dogmas. To make matters worse, Doream's wife carries the heir to the throne when a strange illness befalls her. Many, including the king's closest allies, wonder if he can balance his personal trials as well as the needs of his people as Laria collapses. All secrets are revealed as the High King confronts his greatest fear; doubt.

Peace claims the Eternal War. The races withhold militant relations, but that doesn't stop King Gorlath from mobilizing the greatest host of knights in known history. Anstin Lorice, a young man living in the north, has been accepted as one of Gorlath's new recruits and has impressed the court so highly that he is granted a bride and a place in the succession of the crown. His friend Doream, a farmer not as skilled as Anstin, yearns for a simple life free of Oilic. Oilic has plagued Laria for nearly two decades, and still there is no cure for the dark legacy Foresythe left. After tragedy strikes, Anstin and Doream are thrust unwillingly into the chaos that lurks in the shadows, and they must forsake their old lives in order to find an escape. Greedy men build Machines against royal decrees, nobles struggle for power, Sion priests deceive their patrons, and secrets and lies become close companions as the frozen war threatens to ignite once more. Unless the hero of prophecy appears, Laria is set to shatter.

After being forced to retreat from Yuthor Hall, Doream and his allies spend two years training and preparing for battle in the isolation provided by the Isle of Meris. The Human and Junitsu empires have grown into beastly war machines, and leading them is the dark knight Foresythe, threatening to rain chaos and plagues across Laria if he doesn't find the sacred scrolls. The Merisians and faulty, haphazard rebel groups stand in his way, but none have the power to defeat him, especially since the sorceress Sephoa stands at his side. Hope is nothing but a dim ember, as friends and comrades perish in Foresythe's tyrannical surge for power. To challenge the masked monster, Doream must decide whether or not to take on the mantle of the Doream legend, but the Human seeks more than just the defeat of Foresythe and Sephoa; he seeks the truth behind Laria's long-held mysteries. He discovers the truth, but it is a truth neither he nor the people of Laria can readily believe.

In the days of yore, legends and heroes were born and magic thrived. Fairies and nymphs intermingled with human lives. At the Great Gathering in the epicenter of the vast dense forest, the fairy council and Elders meet. There they meet to plot and plan and manipulate the destinies of kings and royalty. They judge their sins and decide their fates. The young hunter Alexander, strides through the forest, stirring the mists as he strolls. A hooded sorceress, Hannah, slinks through the forest and enters a dark cave to visit her sister, Katarina, chained to the cave's slimy walls. Sade, the fairies' protege, emerges from the forest to fulfill the fairies' plan to end the rule of unjust kings. In a circular clearing deep within the forest, Drakkar, the Man-Beast, is raised from the dead to continue his quest for revenge. They are linked by blood and magic. They are the descendants of nymph goddesses--Avani, wood goddess, associated with the forest and trees; Layla, goddess of darkness and night; Marisol, goddess of sun, water, and light; Adara, goddess of wind and fire; Sarika, goddess of earthly pleasures and desire. It's an epic tale of princesses and kings, a tale of secrets, betrayal, misplaced love, and loyalty; a story of heartbreak, lust, greed, and revenge. And the forest, alive with eyes, sees and knows all!

Firekeeper has always believed that her heart is a wolf’s heart. Now the time has come for her to prove it. Blind Seer’s search for a teacher of the magical arts brought him and Firekeeper to Rhinadei, a land rich in magical lore, but intolerant of those who would rebel against its core precepts. Now, eager to aid Wythcombe, his new teacher, Blind Seer agrees to lend his keen senses to the hunt for Kabot—Wythcombe’s childhood rival and leader of a band of fanatical blood mages. In this hunt, Firekeeper runs as ever at Blind Seer’s side. Rounding out their pack are Laria and Ranz, two young humans with potent magical gifts of their own; Farborn, a yarimaimalom falcon; Wythcombe himself, and the ever enigmatic Meddler. Yet, despite the versatility of this pack, Kabot’s blood mages miraculously elude them, leaving behind the tantalizing scent of more power than they should possess. Suspicion builds that Kabot has acquired a new ally: an ally who may be one of their own pack turned traitor. “A beautiful and complex book.” Publisher’s Weekly on Through Wolf’s Eyes “Thrilling.” Publisher’s Weekly on Wolf Hunting “Intricately plotted, A thought-provoking tale of magic and politics, enlivened by Firekeeper’s wry and wolfish point-of-view.” Publisher’s Weekly on Wolf’s Blood

Let Anne McCaffrey, storyteller extraordinare and New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, open your mind to new worlds and new concepts: alien nations, psychic powers, telepathy and planetary systems. Perfect for fans of David Eddings, Brandon Sanderson and Douglas Adams. 'Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants' - THE TIMES 'A GREAT read' -- ***** Reader review 'Anne McCaffrey at her best' -- ***** Reader review 'Just brilliant' -- ***** Reader review 'I couldn't put it down!' -- ***** Reader review ********************************************************************************** The survival technique of the Hivers was terrifying -- and brilliant. Their huge Sphere ships surged out into space. When an appropriate planet was found, the Hivers destroyed any and every variety of indigenous life, the queens propagated, and when the new world was full, more ships were sent out. The colonization was repeated until no planet, no species, least of all Man and Mrdini, was safe. The furry and courageous Mrdini had fought the Hivers for centuries. Now Mrdini and Man combined to form the Alliance -- and Humankind had their own weapons to offer -- the power and might of the Talents who could not only communicate silently with each other, but could project cargoes, ships and themselves across the deeps of space. The four children of Damia -- Laria, Thian, Rojer and Zara -- were Primes amongst the Talents, and all their skills were desperately needed, for the Hivers' terrible Sphere ships were still thrusting through space, unfathomable, impenetrable, and carrying death in their labyrinthine depths.

After receiving a mysterious coded message, Zen Starling abandons his life of luxury and, with the help of sentient trains, goes in search of android Nova, who plans to reawaken the Railmaker.

HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century; SCIENCE / History; TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / History.

James Joyce's near blindness, his peculiar gait, and his death from perforated ulcers are commonplace knowledge to most of his readers. But until now, most Joyce scholars have not recognized that these symptoms point to a diagnosis of syphilis. Kathleen Ferris traces Joyce's medical history as described in his correspondence, in the diaries of his brother Stanislaus, and in the memoirs of his acquaintances, to show that many of his symptoms match those of tabes dorsalis, a form of neurosyphilis which, untreated, eventually leads to paralysis. Combining literary analysis and medical detection, Ferris builds a convincing case that this dread disease is the subject of much of Joyce's autobiographical writing. Many of this characters, most notably Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, exhibit the same symptoms as their creator: stiffness of gait, digestive problems, hallucinations, and impaired vision. Ferris also demonstrates that the themes of sin, guilt, and retribution so prevalent in Joyce's works are almost certainly a consequence of his having contracted venereal disease as a young man while frequenting the brothels of Dublin and Paris. By tracing the images, puns, and metaphors in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, and by demonstrating their relationship to Joyce's experiences, Ferris shows the extent to which, for Joyce, art did indeed mirror life.