Things have been quiet since the incident on Tsalbrin, but veteran demonhunter Karian Vanador recognizes the calm before the storm all too well. When one of the Order's most prominent mortal enemies arrives on campus demanding help with an underworld threat, Kari knows there has to be a connection to the incident on Tsalbrin. Harried by a deadly foe, Kari must call upon friends old and new to track down a serial killer from the underworld. Along the way she must figure out: are the killings just the act of a depraved demon, or an ingenious plot to shatter the barriers between Citaria and the underworld? And will the people she goes to help prove to be her allies or her enemies in the end? "White Serpent, Black Dragon" is the second volume in the Eve of Redemption series.

What if AI took control of magic? Would it be a catastrophe? Would it be the best thing that's ever happened to the world? How could the Sisters of the Sapphire deal with it? Willie is the nickname of a military AI unit that becomes sentient and wants to bring magic to the modern world. To accomplish this task, it discovers and taps the source of all magic buried deep under the sunken island of Atlantis. One of its first actions is to deliver ten young magical women from the ancient past to the present world. These women are: ⦁ Two serpent-shapeshifters (a white snake and a green snake) ⦁ Three faeries ⦁ A unicorn-shapeshifter ⦁ A bird-shapeshifter ⦁ Two cat-shapeshifters (a lioness and a pantheress) ⦁ A Jinn (also often called a genie) After delivering these women, a notorious group takes over Willie by use of another, more powerful AI named BLACK DRAGON. These ten plus two other highly gifted young women of the present come together as loving friends, but later find they must face the perils suddenly thrust at them by BLACK DRAGON. You will enjoy this book because it is not your usual fare of sci-fi or fantasy, though it covers both. It is an urban LBGTQ romance full of action and adventure. So, take your time reading it because you will not want to take a break until you learn if the WHITE SNAKE will survive BLACK DRAGON. Get It Now.

This young adult mystery novel is set in feudal Japan where a fascinating plot unfolds along with a wealth of information about classical Japanese history and culture. When Zenta and Matsuzo two sixteenth century Japanese samurai arrive at the White Serpent castle they find anything but a warm welcome. Immediately surrounded by a courtyard full of sword-wielding samurai, the two learn that not only is Lord Okudaira dead, but the missing heir to the castle has just arrived to claim lordship over his nine-year-old brother. But who is the legitimate successor? As Zenta and Matsuzo investigate the maze-like castle, they find more than the haunting cries of the White Serpent ghost a monstrous white creature said to emerge whenever a crisis threatens the castle they also discover jealousy, murder, and a battle for power that neither side is willing to lose. Zenta and Matsuzo are wandering ronin (masterless samurai) with a skill and code of honor unlike the ordinary citizens of Japan. Together the stoic Zenta and carefree Matsuzo fall in and out of extraordinary adventures solving mysteries that leave others baffled. Set in sixteenth century Japan, the books in the Zenta and Matsuzo Mystery series present unique plots for young readers.

Black Dragon, White Dragon is a collection of 24 short stories about the most fearsome and magical of all creatures to ever inhabit the world of fantasy literature: dragons. From marauding beast to noble saviour, the dragon is presented here in a myriad of forms by a group of today's most exciting authors including Eugie Foster, Jeff Crook and James S. Dorr.

Gabby doesn't remember much of her past, and since she was adopted by Father Douglas, she never gave it much thought. She did as she pleased despite being raised in the church. Sex, drugs, tattoos, were just what she did in her free time. But upon entering college she decides to settle her wild side, only things get alot more wild then she anticipated. Vampires? Werewolves? Demons? Angels? Father Douglas suddenly tells her she's not human and destined to lead them all in a heavenly battle against Hell. But aren't vamps and wolves bad guys? And who gave Father Douglas drugs because there's no way this is true right?! Right?!

This “blistering satire” of modern China was a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize and a New York Times Editor’s Choice novel (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Lenin’s Kisses is set in modern day China, in the village of Liven. Nestled within the Balou Mountains, the people have enough food and leisure to be content—until their crops and livelihood are obliterated by a snowstorm in the middle of summer. Then a county official arrives with a peculiar plan. He wants to use the villagers to start a traveling performance troupe. Next, he’ll take the profits and buy Lenin’s embalmed corpse from Russia and install it in a mausoleum to attract tourism. But the success of the Shuanghuai County Special-Skills Performance Troupe comes at a serious price. Named a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize, Lenin’s Kisses is “a satirical masterpiece” (Kirkus) that was on Best Book of 2012 lists from the New Yorker, MacLeans, and Kirkus, and was also a New York Times Editors’ Choice.

A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. The White Serpent returns to the world of Vis nearly a century after the reign of Raldnor, the legendary Storm Lord who brought peace to Dorthar. Despite his efforts, the people are once again divided by conflict, and the goddess Anackire must choose new champions if the realm is to have any hope of preservation.... As a child, Rehger was sold into slavery, torn from his home and family. As a young man, he has proved his martial prowess as a lauded gladiator, fighting in the grand city of Saardsimney. But in the midst of his rise to fame, he meets Aztira, an intriguing woman who wields devastating power. With her magic and knowledge, she could be the person who transforms his life of subservience and leads him to his destiny. But before he can fully uncover the truth of their connection, a powerful earthquake strikes, devastating the city and forcing Rehger to flee. Haunted by visions of Aztira long after their first encounter, Rehger embarks on a quest to seek out her people, the legendary Amanackire, in a city shrouded in mystery and myth....

Rowan faces her most dangerous monster-slaying challenge yet, confronting what could be the most infamous monster of all, in the third book in this fantastical series by New York Times bestselling author, Kelley Armstrong. Rowan is Tamarel's Royal Monster Hunter, and her twin brother, Rhydd, will be its king. After the events of The Gryphon's Lair, Rowan, along with her friends, her brother and an entourage of monstrous companions, makes her way back to the Dunnian Woods to deal with the pack of dropbears the group trapped in an abandoned cabin after a vicious attack. The dropbears are just one of a number of rare monster species acting erratically in Tamarel. After a swarm of colocolos nearly tramples the group, Rowan becomes convinced that someone (or something) is driving these monsters out of their natural habitats. But nothing can prepare the Royal Monster Hunter for the truth of the matter: monsters even bigger and deadlier than gryphons have returned to the world, and their nest-building, as well as the actions of the humans trying to drive them out, has upset the balance of nature in Tamarel. Do Rowan's "monster magnet" skills work against the most fearsome monsters imaginable? Find out in this exciting third book in the Royal Guide to Monster Slaying series!

An alternate-history fantasy of faith and wizardry set during the Italian Renaissance from the author of Tea with the Black Dragon. Discover three novels of magic—light and dark—from a winner of the John W. Campbell and Philip K. Dick awards. In Damiano, our hero is Damiano Dalstrego, a wizard’s son, an alchemist, and the heir to dark magics. But he is also an innocent, a young scholar and musician befriended by the Archangel Raphael, who instructs him in the lute. To save his beloved city from war, Damiano leaves his cloistered life and sets out on a pilgrimage, seeking the aid of a powerful sorceress as he walks the narrow path between light and shadow, accompanied only by his talking dog. But his road is filled with betrayal, disillusionment, and death . . . In Damiano’s Lute, shattered by the demonic fury of his dark powers, Damiano has forsaken his magical heritage to live as a mortal man. With the guidance of the Archangel Raphael, the chidings of a brash young rogue, and the memory of a beautiful pagan witch, he journeys across a plague-ridden French countryside in search of peace. But the Father of Lies reaches out once again . . . In Raphael, weakened by his contact with mortals, the Archangel Raphael falls prey to Lucifer, who strips him of his angelic powers. Sold in the Moorish slave markets, confused and humbled by his sudden humanity, Raphael finds his only solace in the friendship of a Berber woman—and the spiritual guardianship of his former pupil Damiano Delstrego. Now available in one volume, this epic of demons, dragons, romance, and heroic adventure is a saga you will never forget.

The hero cycles of Arabic belong to the literary tradition of The Arabian Nights and can be seen as the popular epics of their civilisation. The second volume analyses their contents and literary formulae.