Download or read book Prophecy of Convergence A Slow Burn LGBTQ Romantic Fantasy written by Shannon Pemrick and published by Shannon Pemrick. This book was released on 2024-07-23 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The twisted dragon queen stirs… As an Oracle, I am no stranger to prophecies. With a strong connection since birth to the dragon god, Akorith, the dissonant whispers of fate have followed me from the beginning. And when an ominous warning foretelling of the destruction of my clan comes my way, I’m not sure what to make of it. Then when my younger sister needs to be prepared for her proving trial—a task that will test the woman’s fortitude and innocence—I am the one tasked with showing her the world outside our secluded town. My hands full with my sister’s childish nature, a foreboding prophecy is the last thing I need on my mind. The signs of the prophecy, however, appear: pirate attacks, a fight with a dragon, and crossing paths with a cheerful dwarf and a stunted, lecherous elf—and I can’t ignore them. Things go from bad to worse, and I’ll have to trust my intuition and the most unlikely of allies to make it through, or the world will be plunged into chaos… Readers who enjoy epic adventures, fantasy with a healthy dose of romance, and a strong heroine who defies all odds, won’t be able to put down Prophecy of Convergence, leaving you reading long into the night. Buy Prophecy of Convergence and discover for yourself whether one determined Oracle can create her own fate, or whether she’ll be lost in the threads of prophecy…

Download or read book The Unspoken Name written by A. K. Larkwood and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2020-02-11 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A. K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about a young priestess sentenced to die, who at the last minute escapes her fate; only to become an assassin for the wizard who saved her. What if you knew how and when you will die? Csorwe does—she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice. But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard's loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power. But Csorwe will soon learn—gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due. “In the vein of Le Guin's magnificent Tombs of Atuan—if Arha the Eaten One got to grow up to be a swordswoman mercenary in thrall to her dubious wizard mentor. I love this book so much."—Arkady Martine, author of A Memory Called Empire "I cannot recommend it enough." -- Tamsyn Muir, author of Gideon the Ninth At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book There Will Come a Darkness written by Katy Rose Pool and published by Henry Holt and Company (BYR). This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows meets Kristin Cashore's Graceling, with a dash of Winter is Coming, in this showstopping debut YA fantasy--and recipient of FOUR starred reviews! A Morris Award Finalist for best debut young adult novel! A Kirkus Best Book of the Year! A Tor.com Best YA SFF/Horror Book of the Year! "One of the most stunning debuts of the year." —Seventeen The Age of Darkness approaches. Five lives stand in its way. Who will stop it . . . or unleash it? For generations, the Seven Prophets guided humanity. Using their visions of the future, they ended wars and united nations—until the day, one hundred years ago, when the Prophets disappeared. All they left behind was one final, secret prophecy, foretelling an Age of Darkness and the birth of a new Prophet who could be the world’s salvation . . . or the cause of its destruction. With chaos on the horizon, five souls are set on a collision course: A prince exiled from his kingdom. A ruthless killer known as the Pale Hand. A once-faithful leader torn between his duty and his heart. A reckless gambler with the power to find anything or anyone. And a dying girl on the verge of giving up. One of them—or all of them—could break the world. Will they be savior or destroyer? Perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Children of Blood and Bone, and An Ember in the Ashes. Praise for There Will Come a Darkness “A can’t miss debut from an exciting new talent.” –Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of Slayer “Even in a world filled with graces and prophets, the real magic of There Will Come a Darkness is in how Pool has crafted her heroes—messy, flawed, and so beguilingly human. I dare you not to fall madly in love with all of them.” —Laura Sebastian, New York Times bestselling author of Ash Princess * "A well-crafted, surprising, and gripping start to a new trilogy." —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review

Download or read book The Warrior Prophet written by R. Scott Bakker and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2008-09-02 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a vast Holy War begins, a powerful new force emerges in the second book of this “violent, passionate, darkly poetic” fantasy series (SFSite.com). The first battle against the heathen has been won, but while the Great Names squabble over the spoils, Kellhus draws more followers to his banner. The sorcerer Achamian and his lover, Esmenet, submit entirely—only to face an unimaginable test of faith. The warrior Cnaiur falls ever deeper into madness. The skin-spies of the Consult watch with growing trepidation. And across the searing wastes of the desert, a name—a title—begins to be whispered among the faithful. Who is the Warrior-Prophet? A dangerous heretic who turns brother against brother? Or the only man who can avert the Second Apocalypse? With the fate of the Holy War hanging in the balance, the great powers will have to choose between their most desperate desires and their most ingrained prejudice. Between hatred and hope. Between the Warrior-Prophet and the end of the world . . .

Download or read book Black Sun written by Rebecca Roanhorse and published by Gallery / Saga Press. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NOMINATED FOR THE 2021 HUGO AWARDS AND THE 2020 NEBULA AWARDS FOR BEST NOVEL From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic. A god will return When the earth and sky converge Under the black sun In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain. Crafted with unforgettable characters, Rebecca Roanhorse has created an epic adventure exploring the decadence of power amidst the weight of history and the struggle of individuals swimming against the confines of society and their broken pasts in the most original series debut of the decade.

Download or read book Luck in the Shadows written by Lynn Flewelling and published by Spectra. This book was released on 2010-11-03 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A new star is rising in the fantasy firmament...teems with magic and spine-chilling amounts of skullduggery."–Dave Duncan, author of The Great Game When young Alec of Kerry is taken prisoner for a crime he didn’t commit, he is certain that his life is at an end. But one thing he never expected was his cellmate. Spy, rogue, thief, and noble, Seregil of Rhiminee is many things–none of them predictable. And when he offers to take on Alec as his apprentice, things may never be the same for either of them. Soon Alec is traveling roads he never knew existed, toward a war he never suspected was brewing. Before long he and Seregil are embroiled in a sinister plot that runs deeper than either can imagine, and that may cost them far more than their lives if they fail. But fortune is as unpredictable as Alec’s new mentor, and this time there just might be…Luck in the Shadows.

Download or read book The Cult of Smart written by Fredrik deBoer and published by All Points Books. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named one of Vulture’s Top 10 Best Books of 2020! Leftist firebrand Fredrik deBoer exposes the lie at the heart of our educational system and demands top-to-bottom reform. Everyone agrees that education is the key to creating a more just and equal world, and that our schools are broken and failing. Proposed reforms variously target incompetent teachers, corrupt union practices, or outdated curricula, but no one acknowledges a scientifically-proven fact that we all understand intuitively: Academic potential varies between individuals, and cannot be dramatically improved. In The Cult of Smart, educator and outspoken leftist Fredrik deBoer exposes this omission as the central flaw of our entire society, which has created and perpetuated an unjust class structure based on intellectual ability. Since cognitive talent varies from person to person, our education system can never create equal opportunity for all. Instead, it teaches our children that hierarchy and competition are natural, and that human value should be based on intelligence. These ideas are counter to everything that the left believes, but until they acknowledge the existence of individual cognitive differences, progressives remain complicit in keeping the status quo in place. This passionate, voice-driven manifesto demands that we embrace a new goal for education: equality of outcomes. We must create a world that has a place for everyone, not just the academically talented. But we’ll never achieve this dream until the Cult of Smart is destroyed.

Download or read book Albion s Seed written by David Hackett Fischer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1991-03-14 with total page 981 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.

Download or read book Any Way the Wind Blows written by Rainbow Rowell and published by Wednesday Books. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times bestselling author Rainbow Rowell's epic fantasy, the Simon Snow trilogy, concludes with Any Way the Wind Blows. In Carry On, Simon Snow and his friends realized that everything they thought they understood about the world might be wrong. And in Wayward Son, they wondered whether everything they understood about themselves might be wrong. Now, Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha must decide how to move forward. For Simon, that means choosing whether he still wants to be part of the World of Mages — and if he doesn't, what does that mean for his relationship with Baz? Meanwhile Baz is bouncing between two family crises and not finding any time to talk to anyone about his newfound vampire knowledge. Penelope would love to help, but she's smuggled an American Normal into London, and now she isn't sure what to do with him. And Agatha? Well, Agatha Wellbelove has had enough. Any Way the Wind Blows takes the gang back to England, back to Watford, and back to their families for their longest and most emotionally wrenching adventure yet. This book is a finale. It tells secrets and answers questions and lays ghosts to rest. The Simon Snow Trilogy was conceived as a book about Chosen One stories; Any Way the Wind Blows is an ending about endings—about catharsis and closure, and how we choose to move on from the traumas and triumphs that try to define us.

Download or read book Fever Crumb written by Philip Reeve and published by Scholastic UK. This book was released on 2011-07-07 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long before the days of Mortal Engines, London is poised on the brink of apocalypse. Huge armoured fortresses are advancing across the wastelands - a new and terrifying kind of enemy. The city is days away from ruin. Buried in London's past is a secret that may save it. But only one key can unlock it - an odd-looking orphan named Fever Crumb. Set centuries before the events of Mortal Engines, Fever Crumb's paralysing mission will make your heart stop.

Download or read book Ghostwritten written by David Mitchell and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Clocks and Cloud Atlas A gallery attendant at the Hermitage. A young jazz buff in Tokyo. A crooked British lawyer in Hong Kong. A disc jockey in Manhattan. A physicist in Ireland. An elderly woman running a tea shack in rural China. A cult-controlled terrorist in Okinawa. A musician in London. A transmigrating spirit in Mongolia. What is the common thread of coincidence or destiny that connects the lives of these nine souls in nine far-flung countries, stretching across the globe from east to west? What pattern do their linked fates form through time and space? A writer of pyrotechnic virtuosity and profound compassion, a mind to which nothing human is alien, David Mitchell spins genres, cultures, and ideas like gossamer threads around and through these nine linked stories. Many forces bind these lives, but at root all involve the same universal longing for connection and transcendence, an axis of commonality that leads in two directions—to creation and to destruction. In the end, as lives converge with a fearful symmetry, Ghostwritten comes full circle, to a point at which a familiar idea—that whether the planet is vast or small is merely a matter of perspective—strikes home with the force of a new revelation. It marks the debut of a writer of astonishing gifts.

Download or read book The Ruin of Kings written by Jenn Lyons and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Kirkus Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy pick for 2019! A Library Journal Best Book of 2019! An NPR Favorite Book of 2019! "Everything epic fantasy should be: rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it."—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians When destiny calls, there's no fighting back. Kihrin grew up in the slums of Quur, a thief and a minstrel's son raised on tales of long-lost princes and magnificent quests. When he is claimed against his will as the missing son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds himself at the mercy of his new family's ruthless power plays and political ambitions. Practically a prisoner, Kihrin discovers that being a long-lost prince is nothing like what the storybooks promised. The storybooks have lied about a lot of other things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, and how the hero always wins. Then again, maybe he isn't the hero after all. For Kihrin is not destined to save the world. He's destined to destroy it. Jenn Lyons begins the Chorus of Dragons series with The Ruin of Kings, an epic fantasy novel about a man who discovers his fate is tied to the future of an empire. "It's impossible not to be impressed with the ambition of it all . . . a larger-than-life adventure story about thieves, wizards, assassins and kings to dwell in for a good long while."—The New York Times A Chorus of Dragons 1: The Ruin of Kings 2: The Name of All Things 3: The Memory of Souls

Download or read book Seeing Like a State written by James C. Scott and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “One of the most profound and illuminating studies of this century to have been published in recent decades.”—John Gray, New York Times Book Review Hailed as “a magisterial critique of top-down social planning” by the New York Times, this essential work analyzes disasters from Russia to Tanzania to uncover why states so often fail—sometimes catastrophically—in grand efforts to engineer their society or their environment, and uncovers the conditions common to all such planning disasters. “Beautifully written, this book calls into sharp relief the nature of the world we now inhabit.”—New Yorker “A tour de force.”— Charles Tilly, Columbia University

Download or read book The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps written by Kai Ashante Wilson and published by Tordotcom. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of Wired's Twenty-Five All-Time Favorite Books Critically acclaimed author Kai Ashante Wilson makes his commercial debut with this striking, wondrous tale of gods and mortals, magic and steel, and life and death that will reshape how you look at sword and sorcery. Since leaving his homeland, the earthbound demigod Demane has been labeled a sorcerer. With his ancestors' artifacts in hand, the Sorcerer follows the Captain, a beautiful man with song for a voice and hair that drinks the sunlight. The two of them are the descendants of the gods who abandoned the Earth for Heaven, and they will need all the gifts those divine ancestors left to them to keep their caravan brothers alive. The one safe road between the northern oasis and southern kingdom is stalked by a necromantic terror. Demane may have to master his wild powers and trade humanity for godhood if he is to keep his brothers and his beloved captain alive. PRAISE FOR THE SORCERER OF THE WILDEEPS "The unruly lovechild of Shakespeare, Baldwin, George RR Martin and Ghostface Killah -- this was a book I could not put down." - Daniel José Older, author of Half-Resurrection Blues "Lyrical and polyphonous, gorgeous and brutal, THE SORCERER OF THE WILDEEPS is an unforgettable tale of love that empowers." - Ken Liu, multiple Hugo Award-winning author of The Grace of Kings "Wilson is doing something both very new and very old here: he's tossing aside the traditional forms of sword and sorcery in favor of other, older forms, and gluing it all together with a love letter to black masculinity. The result is powerful and strange and painful in all the right ways." -N.K. Jemisin, author of The Fifth Season and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms "THE SORCERER OF THE WILDEEPS reads like Gene Wolfe and Samuel R Delany trying to one-up each other on a story prompt by Fritz Leiber. That means it's good. Read it." - Max Gladstone, author of the Craft Sequence "Seamlessly knots magic and science in a wholly organic way... THE SORCERER OF THE WILDEEPS will catch you by the throat and hold you fast until the last searing word." - Alyssa Wong, Nebula-nominated author of "The Fisher Queen" At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Download or read book Magic s Pawn written by Mercedes Lackey and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 1989-06-06 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Groundbreaking epic fantasy series in Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar universe • Lambda-Award winning novels with heartfelt high adventure and magic Though Vanyel has been born with near-legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wanted no part in such things. Nor does he seek a warrior’s path, wishing instead to become a Bard. Yet such talent as his, if left untrained, may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the fame Herald-Mages of Valdemar. But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil cannot master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land. And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shin’a’in Adept, Vanyel’s wild talent may have already grown beyond anyone’s ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar itself in desperate peril.

Download or read book Young Mungo written by Douglas Stuart and published by Picador. This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selected as one of The Oprah Daily's Best Books of 2022From Booker-prizewinner Douglas Stuart an extraordinary, page-turning second novel, a vivid portrayal of working-class life and a highly suspenseful story of the dangerous first love of two young men: Mungo and James.Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently sectarian world of Glasgow's housing estates. They should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they find themselves falling in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo works especially hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold.But the threat of discovery is constant and the punishment unspeakable. When Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in literary fiction, Douglas Stuart's Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by so many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA INTERNATIONAL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023PRAISE FOR YOUNG MUNGO'I wasn't sure Young Mungo could live up to Shuggie Bain, but it surpasses it. Deeply harrowing but gently infused with hope & love. And so exquisitely written. It's a joy to watch, in real time, as Douglas Stuart takes his place as one of the greats of Scottish literature.' Nicola Sturgeon'Few novels are as gutsy and gut-wrenching as Young Mungo in its depiction of a teenage boy who finds love amid family dysfunction, community conflict and the truly terrible predations of adults. Vividly realised and emotionally intense, this scorching novel is an urgent addition to the new canon of unsung stories.' Bernardine Evaristo'I can honestly say that the second novel from the author of Shuggie Bain... surpassed my (high) expectations. Stuart makes you care deeply about all of his characters but none more than Mungo, Mo-Maw's beloved, "the softest, sweetest boy she had ever known".' - Bookseller, 'Fiction Book of the Month''Prepare your hearts, for Douglas Stuart is back... Another beautiful and moving book' -Observer'Again this author creates characters so vivid, dilemmas so heart-rending, and dialogue so brilliant that the whole thing sucks you in like a vacuum cleaner... Romantic, terrifying, brutal, tender, and, in the end, sneakily hopeful. What a writer.' - Kirkus Reviews'There are wonderful stories in publishing, but the story of Douglas Stuart is pure magic... With Young Mungo... more magic is all but guaranteed... The book is a literary wonder and a suspenseful page-turner.' - Publishers' Weekly

Download or read book Bad Religion written by Ross Douthat and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-04-16 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the decline of Christianity in America since the 1950s, posing controversial arguments about the role of heresy in the nation's downfall while calling for a revival of traditional Christian practices.