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A A Gill

Andrew Swanston read law at Cambridge, but was inspired to write by his lifelong interest in early modern history. His Thomas Hill novels – The King’s Spy, The King’s Exile and The King’s Return – are set against the backdrops of the English Civil War, Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early Restoration respectively. He is also the author of Waterloo: The Bravest Man and Beautiful Star and Other Stories. His first historical thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth I – Incendium (published in paperback as The Incendium Plot) – introduced readers to the academic, lawyer and intelligencer Dr Christopher Radcliff, whose adventures continue in Chaos. Andrew Swanston lives in Surrey.

A D Swanston

A E Langsford

A G Hopkins

A. J. BAIME is the New York Times best-selling author of The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War and Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans. Both books are in development for major motion pictures. Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Popular Science, and Men’s Journal. He lives in Granite Bay, California. Visit him at facebook.com/ajbaime and trumanbook.com.

A J Baime

A J Jacobs

A J P Taylor

Anthony James Pollard is a British medieval historian, specialising in the fifteenth century and in particular the Wars of the Roses. A leading authority in the field, he is profesor emeritus of Teesside University. His books include North-Eastern England during the Wars of the Roses, Richard III and the Princes in theTower, Imagining Robin Hood: the Late Medieval Stories in Historical Context and Warwick the kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame.

A J Pollard

A J Rochester

A K Benjamin is a clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Let Me Not Be Mad: A Story of Unravelling Minds.

A K Benjamin

A. L. Berridge read English at Oxford, and taught for ten years before moving into television, where her production credits range from period drama and thrillers to long-running soaps. She has written two previous novels, Top Ten besteller Honour and the Sword and In the Name of the King. Into the Valley of Death is her third novel.

A L Berridge

Alison Gaylin's first job was as a reporter for a celebrity tabloid, which sparked a lifelong interest in writing about people committing despicable acts. More than a decade later, she wrote and published her Edgar-nominated first novel, HIDE YOUR EYES. 
 
She's since published nine more books, including the USA Today and international bestselling Brenna Spector suspense series, which has been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Thriller awards and won the Shamus award. 
 
She lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, cat and dog.

A L Gaylin

A Maxwell-Hyslop

A McArthur

A P Wavell

A.S. Webb is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Daughter of Chaos, the first instalment of The Dark Pantheon Trilogy. She is inspired by stories rooted in history and mythology, that push the boundaries of imagination and urge us to reflect on what it means to be human.

A S Webb

A. A. Dhand is the author of six previous novels, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger Award. His DI Harry Virdee novels are currently being adapted for TV by the BBC. He was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford to start his own business and begin writing. The history, diversity and darkness of the city have inspired all his novels. For more information about A. A. Dhand and his books, follow him on X @aadhand, and on Instagram @aa_dhand.

A. A. Dhand

A. A. Gill

A. A. Milne

A. Anatoli

A. B. Poranek grew up sharing her time between Ontario, Canada and rural Poland, and eventually completed a veterinary degree at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. A lover of mythology and history, she enjoys exploring both in her writing. Her debut novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, an instant New York Times bestseller, is an ode to Poland's folktales, while A Treachery of Swans transports readers to a world inspired by 17th century France.

A. B. Poranek

A. Bradley

Professor A. C. Grayling is Principal of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy, history, science and current affairs. For several years he wrote columns for the Guardian newspaper and The Times and was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

A. C. Grayling

A.D. Miller is the author of Snowdrops, The Earl of Petticoat Lane and The Faithful Couple. Snowdrops was a bestseller and was shortlisted for many prizes including the Man Booker and the CWA Gold Dagger. It was translated into 25 languages. As Moscow Correspondent of The Economist A.D. Miller has travelled across the former Soviet Union and covered the Orange Revolution in Ukraine; he is now the magazine’s Culture Editor based in London. 
 
admillerbooks.com

A. D. Miller

A. E. Ellis

A. Humphreys

A. Igoni Barrett was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 1979 and lives in Lagos. He is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. His short story collection, Love is Power, or Something Like That, was published in 2013. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of sub-Saharan African writers under 40. Blackass is his first novel.

A. Igoni Barrett

The short life of A.J.A. Symons (1900-41) was described by his biographer as an intricate and largely harmless confidence trick. His many interests included the collection of musical boxes and rare books as well as the study and practice of forgery; they left him time to edit an anthology of Edwardian verse and compose studies of H.M. Stanley and other notable figures. He is remembered for The Quest for Corvo, one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, and for co-founding the Wine and Food Society.

A. J. A. Symons

A. J. Liebling, born in Manhattan in 1904, joined the staff of the New Yorker in 1935 and contributed innumerable articles to the magazine throughout his lifetime, on subjects ranging from food to boxing and France to horse racing. As a war correspondent during the Second World War, he reported from France, England and Algeria, and participated in the Normandy landings. In later life he married the writer Jean Stafford, his third wife. He died in 1963.

A. J. Liebling

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Heba Al-Wasity

'Leena didn't believe in monsters until she saw Weavingshaw.' 
 
The Saint of Silence trades coins for every sordid divulgence uttered to him. The darker the secret, the higher the price. 
 
Leena has a secret, one that has haunted her since she was seventeen – she can see the dead. When her brother falls ill, she knows what she must do: seek the Saint. 
 
But Leena's secret is more valuable to him that she could have imagined. To save her brother, she must make a deal with him to find the ghost he's searching for. 
 
All paths lead to Weavingshaw, a cursed estate on the moors. As Leena grows closer to the Saint, and is plunged into his world of danger, deceit and desire, she learns that he is hiding his own secrets – ones that have the power to destroy them all.

Weavingshaw

Liza Anderson

Vic Wood’s ordinary life crumbles when her younger brother is accepted into the Acheron Order, a secret society of witches tasked with keeping the world of the dead at bay. While Henry inherited their absent mother’s magical abilities, Vic did not. So she is stunned when the Order’s mysterious leader invites her to join the other initiates at Avalon Castle, to prove his controversial hypothesis – that magic can be taught. 
 
But outsiders aren’t welcome at Avalon, and Vic has to fight for the chance to stay. Scouring archives and libraries for anything she can use to her advantage, Vic uncovers a dangerous truth: the Order is on the brink of war, and her own mother might have started it. 
 
And then there is Xan, the Order’s imposing, ruthless, frustrating head Sentinel. Xan makes no secret that he wants Vic gone. But even the cavernous castle can feel cramped and claustrophobic amidst their electric connection . . . 
 
As simmering tension gives way to violence, Vic must choose whether to leave the preternatural behind, and risk losing her family, or stay, and remain powerless in a world where power is everything.

We Who Have No Gods

Samantha Sotto Yambao

Raya is a lost soul, going through the motions of life without a dream of her own. 
 
One night, on her subway ride home, Raya’s thoughts wander too far. She wakes on the Elsewhere Express, a magical train that offers its passengers a sense of purpose, peace, and belonging. The train’s endless journey is a chance for Raya to reimagine her life – but only if she finds her compartment before time runs out. 
 
On board, Raya meets a charming, handsome artist named Q and together they race to find their place on the train, through a boarding car carpeted in meadow grass and along a dining carriage where passengers picnic on lilypads. 
 
But a mysterious stowaway has boarded with them, and with it a dark, malignant magic that threatens to destroy the train and everything in it. The closer Raya comes to uncovering the stowaway's identity, the nearer she draws to the ultimate question: what is her life's true purpose – and might Q be connected to it?

The Elsewhere Express

Steven Erikson

A goddess awakens to a new world, only to find that some things never change. 
 
Amidst the ashes of a failed rebellion in Seven Cities, new embers are flaring to life. 
 
There are furrowed brows at the beleaguered Malazan Legion headquarters in G’danisban for it would appear that yet another bloody clash with the revived cult of the Apocalyptic is coming to a head. 
 
Seeking to crush the uprising before it ignites the entire subcontinent, Fist Arenfall has only a few dozen squads of marines at his disposal, and many of those are already dispersed - endeavouring to stamp out multiple brush-fires of dissent. But his soldiers are exhausted, worn down by the grind of a simmering insurrection and the last thing Arenfall needs is the arrival of the new Adjunct, fresh from the capital and the Emperor's side. 
 
The man's mission may be to lend support to Arenfall’s efforts . . . or stick a knife in his back. 'Twas ever thus, of course. That a popular commander should inevitably be seen as a threat to the Emperor - such is the fatal nature of imperial Malazan politics. 
 
And what of the gods? Well, as recent history has proved, their solution to any mortal mess is to make it even messier. In other words, it's just another tumultuous day in the chequered history of the Malazan Empire.Acclaim for The God is Not Willing: 
 
'Awe-inspiring. Prepare to fall in love with epic fantasy all over again.' ANNA SMITH SPARK, author of The Court of Broken Knives 
 
'As good as I expected it to be . . . Erikson continues to showcase his talents as an impressive wordsmith . . . mesmerising and memorable. Add to this intense battles, witty banter, advanced warfare, new curses, new gods, and escapades with warrens and this world's supernatural and you'll see why I had such a good time.' GRIMDARK magazine 
 
'It is beautiful, it is captivating and utterly enthralling . . . Erikson is unparalleled in both the scope of his imagination and the talent of his prose, but more importantly, he is as insightful and funny as Terry Pratchett ever was.' FANTASY BOOK REVIEW 
 
'Erikson at the top of his game, a lean, sharply honed and powerful addition to what is already in my mind the pre-eminent fantasy universe of the last few decades.' TOR.COM 
 
'Determined, focused, well-paced and immensely rich novel of war, peace, hubris, consequence, sorcery and compassion . . . this is Erikson bringing his A-game, turned up to 11, and delivering what is comfortably one of his three or four best novels to date.' THE WERTZONE 
 
'Could be Erikson's most accessible novel to date . . . a must for all Malazan fans.' FANTASY HOTLIST 
 
'Erikson burnishes his reputation as a superior epic fantasy world-builder . . . a treat both for his returning readers and lovers of George R.R. Martin-style epic fantasy who have yet to discover his work.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *starred review

No Life Forsaken

The Second Tale of Witness

C. K. McDonnell

‘Fiendishly clever and monstrously funny, C K McDonnell's latest will steal your soul and eat your brain. In the nicest possible way, of course.’ TOM HOLT, author of The Portable Door and The Eight Reindeers of Christmas 
 
It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . . 
 
For most people, that means a time of celebration, relaxation and inebriation, but not for the staff of The Stranger Times. While a book club meeting ending in a triple murder isn’t unprecedented, it is at least noteworthy. It quickly emerges that this is no ordinary book-club-triple-murder either, as it features a librarian possessed by a chaotic entity who has broken through from another dimension and is hellbent on vengeance. He’s made a list, but he’s not checking it twice as the whole of humanity is on it. Who would want to summon such a thing? And how is anyone going to be able to send it back? 
 
As if that wasn’t enough to be dealing with, a shocking revelation about a member of The Stranger Times team’s past brings family together, but not in a way that’s ever going to make it into a Hallmark movie. 
 
Featuring demonically possessed Santas, blood-thirsty books and the ghost of a legendary nightclub, it’s beginning to look a lot like a Christmas apocalypse . . . 
 
Ring the Bells is the fifth book in the award-winning, critically acclaimed and laugh-out-loud funny The Stranger Times series. 
 
The reviewers loved Relight My Fire: 
 
'McDonnell's world is transgressively hilarious, grimly banal and beguilingly warm. Of course there's a story that the intrepid journalists of The Stranger Times have to tease out: grave-robbing, cryogenics, a very angry witch, and a washed-up indie legend looking for a lost album, but the real joy lies in the pitfalls and pratfalls of getting there.' DAILY MAIL 
 
'An absolute riot of a read.' DAILY EXPRESS 
 
'Laugh-out-loud funny and full of colourful characters.' DAILY MIRROR 
 
'It’s no secret that here at SciFi Towers we’re massive fans of the Stranger Times series by C. K. McDonnell.' SciFiNOW 
 
'I loved the dry and embedded humour of this book, it's the stuff of life . . . the whole thing is great fun.' SFCROSWNEST 
 
'Relight My Fire is perhaps the best since the original.' STARBURST

Ring the Bells

(The Stranger Times 5)

Harper L. Woods

The living do not belong here with the damned 
 
An uneasy truce exists between the witches of Hollows Grove University and the archdemons who now walk among them. 
 
Unlike her fellow Red witches, Margot Erotes has never embraced her true power to draw magic from her own sensuality and desire. Instead, her magic finds a release through music, weaving a spell that can bind anyone who hears it to her. 
 
So when Beelzebub, Lord of Gluttony, comes upon Margot singing to herself in the University’s courtyard, he instantly falls prey to her song – and doesn’t hesitate to follow her when she is thrown through the gates to Hell. 
 
Caught under Margot’s spell, the archdemon is forbidden to her touch, and yet he is the only one she can trust to get her back to Hollow’s Grove. They just have to make it through the Nine Circles of Hell first. 
 
No matter what they lose along the way.

The Damned

Morgan Ryan

'Prime Minister Churchill, the Witches of Britain are at your service . . .' 
 
1940, and war rages across Europe. The future looks bleak. But now, emerging from the shadows, the Royal Academy of Witches offers its help. And so it is tasked with finding an ancient artefact that, were it to fall into Nazi hands, would help Hitler fulfil his twisted Aryan dream . . . 
 
Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be chosen to work under Isadora Goode, the Grand Mistress of the Royal Academy of Witches. 
 
Now, three years into her apprenticeship, and with Hitler’s armies rampaging across Europe, the Witches of Britain have joined the war effort – but not without some resistance from within, the British government having originally forced the witches into hiding. 
 
As Lydia’s power grows, she too joins the cause, tracking down magical relics in order to keep them out of Nazi hands. But a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences and suddenly Lydia’s mission becomes even more urgent . . . Somewhere out there, hidden amidst the chaos of war, is the Grimorium Bellum - an ancient book that Hitler craves, a book so steeped in dark magic that it has the power to wipe out civilisations - an artefact that Lydia must find and secure at all costs. 
 
Dropped into the heart of Occupied France, Lydia finds allies in Rebecca Gagne, a French resistance fighter with a secret, and Henry Boudreaux, a Haitian-American art historian who seems to possess a little magic of his own. But tracking down this book is only half the battle - for the Grimorium Bellum seems to have a dark agenda all of its own . . .

A Resistance of Witches

Steven Pressfield

In the Sunday Times bestseller Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield tells the breathtaking story of the legendary Spartans: the men and women who helped shaped our history and have themselves become as immortal as their gods. 
 
 'Breathtakingly brilliant . . . this is a work of rare genius. Savour it!' DAVID GEMMELL 
 
 'A tale worthy of Homer, a timeless epic of man and war, exquisitely researched and boldy written. Pressfield has created a new classic' STEPHEN COONTS 
 
 'A really impressive book - imaginatively framed, historically detailed and a really gripping narrative' ***** Reader review 
 
 'Beautifully written and a great joy to read' ***** Reader review 
 
 ************************** 
 
 Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, 
 That here, obedient to their laws, we lie. 
 
 480 BC: At a bleak pass in a far-flung corner of eastern Greece, three hundred Spartan warriors faced the army of King Xerxes of Persia, a massive force rumoured to be over a million strong. 
 
 Their orders were simple: to delay the enemy for as long as possible in order to buy time for the main Greek armies to mobilize. For six days the Spartans held the invaders at bay. In the final hours - their shields broken, swords and spears shattered - they fought with their bare hands before being overwhelmed . . . 
 
 It was battle that would become synonymous with extraordinary courage, heroism and self-sacrifice. 
 
 It was a battle called Thermopylae.

Gates Of Fire

One of history’s most epic battles is brought to life in this enthralling and moving novel

Christopher Fowler

In Which Mr May Makes A Mistake And Mr Bryant Goes Into The Dark 
 
Three deaths, seemingly unconnected but for one thing: each happened at precisely four a.m. - the lonely hour . . . 
 
At four in the morning outside a run-down nightclub in the wrong part of London, four strangers meet for the first time. A few weeks later a body is found on Hampstead Heath, hanging upside down and surrounded by the paraphernalia of black magic. Then a young man is killed on a London bridge and a woman is attacked in her modern (and secure) luxury apartment. 
 
To catch this killer, Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit switch to working nights. While John May takes a technological approach, Arthur Bryant calls upon sundry eccentrics and misfits for help solving what seems an impossible case. 
 
But impossible is what the PCU does best. As they draw back the curtain on a city at night, Bryant and May follow a trail of murder, arson, blackmail, kidnap, loneliness and . . . bats. 
 
‘The most consistently brilliant, entertaining and educational voice in contemporary British crime fiction’ 
CATHI UNSWORTH 
 
‘One of our most unorthodox and entertaining writers’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 
 
‘I love the wit and playfulness of the Bryant &amp; May books’ ANNE CLEEVES

Bryant & May - The Lonely Hour

(Bryant & May Book 17)

Ian C Esslemont

Esslemont's Path to Ascendancy series takes us back to the majestic and mystical Malazan Empire. This is the much anticipated origin story, chronicling the troubled continent's early history from a time when it was a land ravaged by war, with minor city states, baronies and principates fighting for supremacy.

Fantastic world-building meets spellbinding storytelling in this must-read fan-favourite from Esslemont. Ideal for fans of Steven Erikson, David Gemmell and Brandon Sanderson. 
 
'This book hits all the right notes at all the right times' -- FANTASY BOOK REVIEW 
'Highly entertaining . . . streamlined, tightly-plotted and structured' -- TOR.COM 
'Incredible storytelling' -- ***** Reader review 
'What a treat' -- ***** Reader review 
'A fantastic end to a wonderful trilogy' -- ***** Reader review 
'OMG - amazing. What more can I say' -- ***** Reader review 
*********************************************************************************** 
The incessant war between the bickering city states of Quon Tali rages. So engrossed are the warring lords and princes in their own petty feuds that few notice that an upstart mage from Dal Hon has gained control of the southern seas. But some powers are alarmed. 
 
And in the meantime, as Purge and Tali indulge in what seems like a never-ending game of war. Simultaneously, a pair of escapees from Castle Gris make their way across this ravaged landscape of flame and butchery. Their intention is to seek out the legendary Crimson Guard. 
 
And then there's Kellanved, who could not care less about any of this petty politicking or strategy or war. Something other and altogether more mysterious has caught his attention and he - together with a reluctant and decidedly sceptical Dancer - traverse continents and journey through the Realms in pursuit . . . But this ancient mystery that has so captivated Kellanved is neither esoteric nor ephemeral. No, it is of an altogether darker and more dangerous hue. It involves the Elder races themselves, and more specifically - certainly more alarmingly - the semi-mythic, and universally dreaded, Army of Dust and Bone. 
 
Surely no one in their right mind would be so foolish as to embark on a journey from which none have returned? Well, no one except Kellanved that is . . .

Kellanved's Reach

(Path to Ascendancy Book 3): full of adventure and magic, this is the spellbinding final chapter in Ian C. Esslemont's awesome epic fantasy sequence

____________________ 
 
The necromancers Bauchelain and Korbal Broach - scourges of civilization, raisers of the dead, reapers of the souls of the living, devourers of hope, betrayers of faith, slayers of the innocent and modest personifications of evil - have a lot to answer for and answer they will, but first they must lie, murder and cheat their way through three more escapades in some of the more deprived fringes and impoverished communities of the Malazan Empire. Much to the shame of their long-suffering general factotum, Emancipoor Reese... 
 
Here then - for readers' delectation and entertainment - are those escapades, namely the novellas The Crack'd Pot Trail, The Wurms of Blearmouth and The Fiends of Nightmaria . . .

The Second Collected Tales of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach

Three Short Novels of the Malazan Empire

Fantastic world-building meets spellbinding storytelling in this must-read fan-favourite from Esslemont. Ideal for fans of Steven Erikson, David Gemmell and Brandon Sanderson. 
 
'The world building is truly impressive . . . the action scenes well written . . . Esslemont's writing style addictive and engaging . . .' -- RISING SHADOW.NET 
'Esslemont . . . seamlessly weaves great characters, action sequences and genuine humour into a fascinating narrative . . .' -- THE CRITICAL DRAGON.COM 
'Never really slows down and the book is so engrossing I finished it within a week' -- ***** Reader review 
'Ian C Esslemont strikes again!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Another winner' -- ***** Reader review 
'Absolutely brilliant' -- ***** Reader review 
 
************************************************************************************************* 
 
After the disappointments of Li Heng, Dancer and Kellanved wash up on a small insignificant island named Malaz. Immediately, of course, Kellanved plans to take it over. To do so they join forces with a small band of Napans who have fled a civil war on their own home island. The plan, however, soon goes awry as Kellanved develops a strange and dangerous fascination for a mysterious ancient structure found on the island... 
 
The chaos in the region extends to the metaphysical planes also as a young priest of D'rek starts to question the rot at the heart of the worship of the god of decay. And back in Li Heng, Dassem, now the proclaimed Sword of Hood, finds himself being blamed for a plague which leads him to a crisis of faith - and searching for answers. 
 
During all this, war with the neighbouring island of Nap threatens, recruited allies wonder at Kellanved's sanity, and powerful entities take more of an interest in the little mage from Dal Hon. Dancer faces a hard choice: should he give up on his partnership? Especially when the fellow's obsession with shadows and ancient artefacts brings the both of them alarmingly close to death and destruction. 
 
After all, who in his right mind would actually wish to enter an Elder mystery known to everyone as the 'Deadhouse'?

Deadhouse Landing

(Path to Ascendancy: 2): the enthralling second chapter in Ian C. Esslemont's awesome epic fantasy sequence

Robert Newcomb

'Only the four Mistresses remained from the hundreds she had loved, lost and left behind. "Soon, my dear Sisters," she thought. "So many shall pay. Pay for the sins of their ancestors . . ."' 
It is three centuries since the devastating war that all but destroyed the kingdom of Eutracia. Those who masterminded the bloodshed - four powerful, conquest-hungry sorceresses -- were banished and sent into exile beyond the feared Sea of Whispers, with return all but impossible, death all but inevitable. Since those dark days, Eutracia has flourished, protected and guided by its council of wizards. Now a land of peace and plenty, it is about to crown a new king and the spirit of celebration fills every heart. Except one. Prince Tristan is a reluctant monarch-to-be. Though born with the endowed blood that will enable him to master magic, and destined to succeed his father as ruler of this land and its people, he is a rebel soul. 
But more than tradition compels Tristan to ascend the throne. The very survival of Eutracia depends upon it. For after these long years of peace, dreadful omens have begun to appear, heralding something too unspeakable to ponder. It seems an ancient evil, nurtured over centuries of darkness, has returned and is thirsting for blood, for domination and, above all, for revenge. Tristan's fate is to fulfil a role chosen for him by an ages-old prophecy - to face an adversary whose hatred knows no bounds and whose greatest weapon is the person he loves most... 
 Not since Terry Goodkind unsheathed the Sword of Truth has such a tale of heroism and magic so captured the imagination. Brimming with excitement and wonder, dark intrigue and dread enchantments, THE FIFTH SORCERESS marks the beginning of a magnificent fantasy adventure by a remarkable new storyteller.

The Fifth Sorceress

Erika Johansen

Kelsea Glynn returns as this unforgettable trilogy full of magic and adventure is drawn to a thrilling close. 
 
Since ascending to the throne, Kelsea Glynn has grown into a powerful monarch and a visionary leader. 
 
But in her quest to end corruption and restore justice within the Tearling, she has made many enemies. Chief amongst them is the evil and feared Red Queen, who now holds Kelsea – and her magical sapphires – captive in her castle in Mortmesne, a deal brokered to protect the Tearling from a Mort invasion. 
 
But the Tearling needs its Queen, and the Mace, head of Kelsea’s personal guards, will not rest until he and his men rescue their sovereign from her prison. 
 
Now it is time for the fate of Queen Kelsea – and the Tearling itself – to be revealed . . .

The Fate of the Tearling

(The Tearling Trilogy 3)

Before the Malazan Empire, there was a time that set the stage for all those tales yet to be told . . . 
 
The winter is bitter. Civil war threatens Kurald Galain for the warrior Urusander’s army has begun its march on the city of Kharkanas. Led by the ruthless Hunn Raal, it intends to cast aside Mother Dark’s consort, Draconus, and set Urusander himself on the throne beside the Living Goddess. Those who would stand in the way of the rebels lie scattered and weakened – leaderless since Anomander went in search of an estranged brother. In his stead, Silchas Ruin resolves to gather the Houseblades of the Highborn families to him, and to resurrect the legendary Hust Legion, but time is not on his side. 
Far to the west, an unlikely army musters. It seeks an enemy without form, in a place none can find. And yet Hood’s call has been heard and the long-abandoned city of Omtose Phellack is now home to a rabble of new arrivals: Dog-Runners from the south, Jheck warriors, and blue-skinned strangers from across the Western Sea have come to offer Hood their swords. From the distant mountains and isolated valleys of the North, Thel Akai arrive to pledge themselves in this seemingly impossible war. Soon, they will set forth with weapons drawn under the banners of the living in pursuit of Death itself. 
 Such events presage chaos, and now magic bleeds into this realm. Unconstrained, mysterious and savage, it begins to run loose and wild and following its scent, seeking the places of wounding and hurt – new and ancient entities gather. 
In a world becoming rotten with sorcery, can honour truly exist?

Fall of Light

The Second Book in the Kharkanas Trilogy

Fantastic world-building meets spellbinding storytelling in this must-read fan-favourite from Esslemont. Ideal for fans of Steven Erikson, David Gemmell and Brandon Sanderson. 
 
'This book hits all the right notes at all the right times' -- FANTASY BOOK REVIEW 
'Highly entertaining . . . streamlined, tightly-plotted and structured' -- TOR.COM 
'An awesome read' -- ***** Reader review 
'Esslemont at his best' -- ***** Reader review 
'Totally absorbing' -- ***** Reader review 
'You'll find this hard to put down' -- ***** Reader review 
*********************************************************************************************************** 
 
It was once a land ravaged by war, minor city states, baronies and principates fighting for supremacy. But when the rival cities of Tali and Quon formed an alliance, Quon Tali came into being. 
 
However that was generations ago, that dynasty has collapsed and the regional powers are now clawing at each others throats once more. But at the heart of Quon Tali lies the powerful city state of Li Heng which has for centuries enjoyed relative stability under the guidance of the powerful sorceress known as the "Protectress". 
 
She is not someone likely to tolerate the arrival of two particular young men into her domain: one is determined to prove he is the most skilled assassin of his age; the other is his quarry - a Dal Hon mage who is proving annoyingly difficult to kill. 
 
And now, under a new and ambitious king, the forces of Itko Kan are marching on Li Heng from the south. His own assassins, the Nightblades, have been sent ahead into the city, and rumours abound that he has inhuman, nightmarish forces at his command. So as shadows and mistrust swirl and monstrous beasts run rampage through Li Heng's streets, it seems chaos is come - but in chaos, as a certain young Dal Hon mage would say, there is opportunity . . .

Dancer's Lament

(Path to Ascendancy: 1): an ingenious and imaginative fantasy from a master of the genre

Epic fantasy from a superb storyteller (Path to Ascendancy 1)

With each passing day, Kelsea Glynn is growing into her new responsibilities as Queen of the Tearling. By stopping the shipments of slaves to the neighbouring kingdom of Mortmesne, she crossed the Red Queen, a brutal ruler whose power derives from dark magic, who is sending her fearsome army into the Tearling to take what is hers. And nothing can stop the invasion. 
But as the Mort army draws ever closer, Kelsea develops a mysterious connection to a time before the Crossing, and she finds herself relying on a strange and possibly dangerous ally: a woman named Lily, fighting for her life in a world where being female can feel like a crime. The fate of the Tearling – and that of Kelsea’s own soul – may rest with Lily and her story, but Kelsea may not have enough time to find out. 
In this dazzling sequel to her bestselling debut The Queen of the Tearling, Erika Johansen brings back favourite characters, including the Mace and the Red Queen, and introduces unforgettable new players, adding exciting layers to her multidimensional tale of magic, mystery and a fierce young heroine.

The Invasion of the Tearling

(The Tearling Trilogy 2)

Paul Witcover

In the seventh year of its war against France, England faces threats from abroad and at home, from above - and below. Buoyed by a series of military victories on land and at sea, French forces are gathering for their final push across the Channel. In Scotland, Jacobites loyal to Bonnie Prince Charlie plot to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne. Beneath the bustling streets of London, a subterranean race prepares to rise. And in the realm known as the Otherwhere - home to dragons, demons and gods - civil war has erupted, causing a great and powerful weapon to be cast into the world. That weapon is a clock - a watch, to be precise, of a size to fit comfortably in a man's hand...a watch with a taste for blood - a mechanism that contains the doom of all that lives. 
Daniel Quare, of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, was sent by his masters to find that deadly time- piece. But he was not alone in his pursuit: both the mysterious thief Grimalkin and the ruthless French spy and assassin Thomas Aylesford were on its trail. But with the help of Lord Wichcote - an aristocrat of many talents and more disguises - Quare succeeded in seizing the watch. But not for long: Aylesford took it from him - and with it, Quare's hand. And now the French spy is on his way back to his masters, Lord Wichcote lies gravely wounded and Daniel Quare has vanished . . . which would seem to mean that all hope for the world is lost...

The Watchman of Eternity

These are the voyages of the starship, A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life life-forms, to boldly blow the... 
 
And so we join the not-terribly-bright but exceedingly cock-sure Captain Hadrian Sawback - think James T Kirk crossed with ‘American Dad' - and his motley crew on board the Starship Willful Child for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through ‘the infinite vastness of interstellar space’... 
 
The bestselling author of the acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen sequence has taken a life-long passion for 'Star Trek' and transformed it into a hugely entertaining spoof on the whole mankind-exploring-space-for-the-good-of-all-species-but-trashing-stuff-with-a-lot-of-hi-tech-kit-along-the-way type over-blown science fiction adventure. The result is smart. inventive, occasionally OTT and often very funny - a novel that both deftly parodies the genre and pays fond homage to it.

Willful Child

Jasper Kent

In 1812, at the height of Napoleon's invasion, Russia is at her darkest hour. Yet this might not be the worst danger out there . . . A new threat emerges, one which will haunt the Danilov family for generations to come.

Russia – 1917. Zmyeevich, king of all vampires, is dead. 
History records that the great voordalak – known across Europe as Dracula – perished in 1893 beneath the ramparts of his own castle, deep in the mountains of Wallachia. In Russia, the Romanov tsars are free of the curse that has plagued their blood for two centuries. 
But two decades later and Tsar Nicholas II faces a new threat – a threat from his own people. War has brought Russia to her knees and the people are hungry for change. Revolution is in the air. 
Mihail Konstantinovich Danilov – who himself carries Romanov blood – welcomes the prospect of a new regime. Like his ancestors he once fought to save the Romanovs from the threat that Zmyeevich brought them. Fought and won. But now he sees no future for a Russia ruled by a tyrant. He is joined in the struggle by his uncle, Dmitry Alekseevich - a creature born in a different era, over a century before. For more than half his existence he has been a vampire, and yet he still harbours one very human desire; that his country should be free. 
But the curse that infects the blood of the Romanovs cannot be so easily forgotten and Mihail soon discovers that it – that he – may become the means by which a terror once thought eradicated might be resurrected . . .

The Last Rite

(The Danilov Quintet 5)

Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret after her mother – a monarch as vain as she was foolish – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. 
 
For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s nineteenth birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard - each pledged to defend the queen to the death - arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding... 
 
And so begins her journey back to her kingdom’s heart, to claim the throne, win the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother’s legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. 
 
But Kelsea's story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance - it's about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive...

The Queen Of The Tearling

(The Tearling Trilogy 1)

Tens of thousands of years of ice is melting, and the land of Assail, long a byword for menace and inaccessibility, is at last yielding its secrets. Tales of gold discovered in the region’s north circulate in every waterfront dive and sailor’s tavern and now adventurers and fortune-seekers have set sail in search of riches. And all they have to guide them are legends and garbled tales of the dangers that lie in wait - hostile coasts, fields of ice, impassable barriers and strange, terrifying creatures. But all accounts concur that the people of the north meet all trespassers with the sword - and should you make it, beyond are rumoured to lurk Elder monsters out of history’s very beginnings. 
Into this turmoil ventures the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard. Not drawn by contract, but by the promise of answers: answers that Shimmer, second in command, feels should not be sought. Also heading north, as part of an uneasy alliance of Malazan fortune-hunters and Letherii soldiery, comes the bard Fisher kel Tath. With him is a Tiste Andii who was found washed ashore and cannot remember his past and yet commands far more power than he really should. It is also rumoured that a warrior, bearer of a sword that slays gods and who once fought for the Malazans, is also journeying that way. But far to the south, a woman patiently guards the shore. She awaits both allies and enemies. She is Silverfox, newly incarnate Summoner of the undying army of the T’lan Imass, and she will do anything to stop the renewal of an ages-old crusade that could lay waste to the entire continent and beyond. Casting light on mysteries spanning the Malazan empire, and offering a glimpse of the storied and epic history that shaped it, Assail brings the epic story of the Empire of Malaz to a thrilling close.

Assail

inventive and original. A compelling frontier fantasy epic

Laurell K Hamilton

I am Princess Meredith NicEssus. Legal name Meredith Gentry, because Princess looks so pretentious on a driver's license. I was the first faerie princess born on American soil, but I wouldn’t be the only one for much longer... 
 
Merry Gentry, ex-private detective, now full-time princess, knew she was descended from fertility goddesses, but when she learned she was about to have triplets, she began to understand what that might mean. Infertility has plagued the high ranks of faerie for centuries. Now nobles of the both courts of faerie are coming to woo Merry and her men at their home in exile in the Western Lands of Los Angeles, because they will do anything to have offspring of their own. 
 
Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, is a more dangerous problem. He tried to seduce Merry, and failing that, raped her. He's using the human courts to sue for visitation rights, claiming that one of the children is his. And though Merry knows she was already pregnant when he took her, she can't prove it. 
To save herself and her babies from Taranis Merry will use the most dangerous powers in all of faerie: a god of death, a warrior known as the Darkness, The Killing Frost, and a king of nightmares. They are her lovers, and her dearest loves, and they will face down the might of the high courts of faerie - while trying to contain the war, to keep it from spreading to those innocent humans who are in very real danger of becoming collateral damage...

A Shiver of Light

(Merry Gentry 9)

The Devil Delivered: In the breakaway Lakota Nation, in the heart of a land blistered beneath an ozone hole the size of the Great Plains of North America, a lone anthropologist wanders the deadlands, recording observations that threaten to bring the world’s powers to their knees. 
 
Revolvo: In the fictitious country of Canada, the arts scene is ruled by technocrats who thrive in a secret, nepotistic society of granting agencies, bursaries, and peer review boards, all designed to permit self-proclaimed artists to survive without an audience. 
 
Fishing with Grandma Matchie: A children’s story of a boy tasked with a writing assignment becomes a stunning fantastical journey with his tale-spinning grandmother.

The Devil Delivered and Other Tales

The next moment he was upon him, his eyes blazing, his mouth open to reveal his fangs. 
Osokin began to pray, not that he would live but that he would truly die . . . 
 
Turkmenistan 1881: the fortress city of Geok Tepe has fallen to the Russians. Beneath its citadel sits a prisoner. He hasn’t moved from his chair for two years. Neither has he felt the sun on his face for more than fifty . . . although for that he is grateful. 
 
Into this subterranean gaol marches a Russian officer. He has come for the captive. Not to release him, but to return him to St Petersburg – to deliver him into the hands of an old, old enemy who would visit damnation upon the ruling family of Russia: the great vampire Zmyeevich. But there is another who has escaped Geok Tepe and followed the prisoner. He is not concerned with the fate of the tsar, or Zmyeevich or the officer. All he desires is revenge. 
 
And other forces have a part to play. A group of revolutionaries has vowed to bring the dictatorship of Tsar Aleksandr to an end, and with it the entire Romanov dynasty. They call themselves The People’s Will . . .

The People's Will

(The Danilov Quintet 4)

Tempus Rerum Imperator: Time, Emperor of All Things 
 
1758. England is embroiled in a globe-spanning conflict that stretches from her North American colonies to Europe and beyond. Across the Channel, the French prepare for an invasion — an invasion rumored to be led by none other than Bonnie Prince Charlie. It seems the map of Europe is about to be redrawn. Yet behind these dramatic scenes, another war is raging - a war that will determine not just the fate of nations but of humanity itself... 
 
Daniel Quare is a journeyman in an ancient guild, The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. He is also a Regulator, part of an elite network within the guild devoted to searching out and claiming for England's exclusive use any horological innovation that could give them an upperhand, whether in business or in war. 
 
Just such a mission has brought Quare to the London townhouse of eccentric collector, Lord Wichcote. He seeks a pocket watch rumoured to possess seemingly impossible properties that are more to do with magic than with any science familiar to Quare or to his superiors. And the strange 
timepiece has attracted the attention of others as well: the mysterious masked thief known only as Grimalkin, and a deadly French spy who stop at nothing to bring the prize back to his masters. Soon Quare finds himself on a dangerous trail of intrigue and murder that leads far from the world he knows into an otherwhere of dragons and demigods, in which nothing is as it seems . . . time least of all.

The Emperor of all Things

Lee Carroll

Garet James is the watchtower – the last in a long line of powerful women sworn to protect our world from evil... 
 
She once defeated the malign sorcerer Dr Dee, but her pursuit of the man she loves – the centuries-old vampire Will Hughes – has unleashed another ages-old entity into our time – a being that threatens everything and everyone. 
 
His name is Marduk and he is the descendant of a demonic Babylonian deity. Now abroad in Paris, he has sought out the villainous John Dee and they have hatched a plan together that will create chaos and ensure ruin. 
 
And it will fall to Garet to confront this new threat. Around her she gathers a band of modern-day knights – a brotherhood dedicated to preserving the sanctity of the time-line. But there are others out there who would see Garet fail and who will stop at nothing to bring an end to everything she – and we – hold dear . . .

The Shape Stealer

Urban Fantasy

Seth Grahame-Smith

It's one of the most iconic vignettes in history: three men on camels, arriving at a manger, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. An impossibly bright star is suspended in the vast desert sky above. It's a moment of serenity and grace. A holy night... 
But what do we really know about the Three Kings of the Nativity? The Bible says little about this enigmatic trio. Not even their names are mentioned. The historical record is vague at best. How doe know that they were three kings from the East? What if they were petty, murderous thieves - led by a mercurial individual called Balthazar - on the run, escaping through Judea under cover of night who stumble upon the famous manger, its newborn child and his earthly parents? Here, the brilliant and slightly warped mind behind Pride and Prejudice and Zombies takes a little mystery, plays fast and loose with a bit of history to weave an epic tale. It's an adventure that will see these thieves fight the last magical creatures of the Old Testament, cross paths with historical figures such as Pontius Pilate and John the Baptist, and deliver the family - as the Bible tells us - to the safety of Egypt. 
Indeed, this may just be the greatest story never told...

Unholy Night

Fantastic world-building meets spellbinding storytelling in this must-read fan-favourite from Esslemont. Ideal for fans of Steven Erikson, David Gemmell and Brandon Sanderson. 
 
'Esslemont's best yet' - FANTASYBOOK REVIEW 
 
'The Malazan franchise is fighting fit in the hand of its co-creator' - SFX 
 
'His best novel so far.' - ***** Reader Review 
 
'Just gets better and better with each book. Love it.' - ***** Reader Review 
 
******************************************************** 
 
A BITTER WILDERNESS. A BITTER CONFLICT. 
 
On the continent of Jacuruku, the Thaumaturgs have mounted another expedition into the neighbouring wild jungle. Yet this is no normal wilderness. It is called Himatan, half of the spirit-realm and half of the physical, ruled by a powerful entity who some name the Queen of Witches and some a goddess: the ancient Ardata. 
 
Saeng grew up knowing only the rule of the magus Thaumaturgs - but it was the voices from that land's forgotten past that she listened to. And when her rulers launch their invasion of this jungle, those voices send her and her brother on a desperate mission. 
 
To the south, the desert tribes are united by the arrival of a foreign warleader, a veteran commander in battered ashen mail men call the Grey Ghost. This warrior leads these tribes on a raid unlike any other, deep into the heart of Thaumaturg lands. 
 
While word comes to K'azz, and mercenary company the Crimson Guard, of a contract in Jacuruku. 
 
And their employer? Could it be the goddess herself... 
 
******************************************************** 
 
Further praise for Esslemont's Malazan series: 
'Everything you expect of a Malazan story, being both epic and relevant... nail-biting and anything but obvious.' - SFF WORLD 
'Terrific... impossible to put down and highly recommended for all fans of The Malazan Book of the Fallen.' - FANTASY HOTLIST 
'Hugely promising... a contained, concise romp that's also dense with fan-pleasing information... an entertaining romp.' - DEATHRAY 
'Maybe I'm prejudiced since I love the Malazan books so much, but I had a blast reading Night of Knives... I highly recommend it to anyone.' - FANTASY BOOKCRITIC 
'Esslemont handles action and brooding atmosphere equally well.' - STARBURST 
'Extremely readable... All credit to Esslemont and Erikson. They have created a wonderfully energetic world that is just crying out for adventures.' - ETERNAL NIGHT

Blood and Bone

(Malazan Empire: 5): an ingenious and imaginative fantasy. More than murder lurks in this untameable wilderness

Now is the time to tell the story of an ancient realm, a tragic tale that sets the stage for all the tales yet to come and all those already told... 
 
It's a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, the realm of Darkness, where Mother Dark reigns. But this ancient land was once home to many a power… and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners' great hero, Vatha Urusander, is being promoted by his followers to take Mother Dark's hand in marriage, but her Consort, Lord Draconus, stands in the way of such ambitions. The impending clash sends fissures throughout the realm, and as the rumors of civil war burn through the masses, an ancient power emerges from the long dead seas. Caught in the middle of it all are the First Sons of Darkness, Anomander, Andarist, and Silchas Ruin of the Purake Hold... 
 
Steven Erikson entered the pantheon of great fantasy writers with his debut Gardens of the Moon. Now he returns with the first novel in a trilogy that takes place millennia before the events of the Malazan Book of the Fallen and introduces readers to Kurald Galain, the warren of Darkness. It is the epic story of a realm whose fate plays a crucial role in shaping the world of the Malazan Empire.

Forge of Darkness

Epic Fantasy: Kharkanas Trilogy 1

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. Discover the 1Q84 Trilogy by Haruki Murakami.

1Q84

365 Days of Art

A BBC Christmas

A Black Book Thriller

A Box Full of Murders

A Cal Leandros Novel

A Christmas Mystery

The intelligent and capable police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice.

A Commissario Brunetti Mystery

A DC Smith / Kings Lake Investigation Series

A Daisy Story

Chronicling the lives of over three hundred characters, unrivalled for its scope and humour, this is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England.

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