Showing results for "Brilliance" in Dark Fantasy

In the centuries-long battle between humans and changelings, those who are taken by the changelings do not live. They do not return. They are simply gone. And for the humans left behind, there is only the brutal reign of the Irskan king. Having spent her life in the castle, Fionna has protected herself and her younger sister by securing a position as a servant. But when the rebels mistake Fionna for the Irskan princess, she becomes a hostage of Helio, the cruel changeling leader whose mismatched eyes haunt her dreams.

The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock. Nym, a healer and beekeeper, is the sole provider for her family of seven now that her younger brother has been sent to the war front. But when a letter comes from the queen, summoning Nym to the palace to heal Prince Renn, the kingdom’s ailing shut-in, Nym finds herself making the tumultuous journey from her family’s apiary to the capital city.

For the three years since the Reveal, when monsters rose from the shadows, I’ve been just another human trying to maintain normalcy in a world where life is short and brutal. Coexisting with werewolves, zombies, and vampires—each alarmingly true to their myths—isn’t easy. Now I’ve been summoned by Ariel Skinner, the charismatic king of the vampires, who holds my missing brother’s life in his hands. To save him, I must do everything Ariel says.

Thirty years ago, the Iron Wolves held back mud-orc hordes at the Pass of Splintered Bones, and led a brutal charge that saw the sorcerer Morkagoth slain. Now, a new terror stalks the realm. Orlana the Changer has escaped from the Chaos Halls and is building an army, twisting horses, lions and bears into terrible, bloody hunters, summoning mud-orcs from the slime and heading north to battle the mighty region of Vagandrak where, it's said, the King has gone insane.

Southmarch Castle is about to be caught between two implacable enemies, the ancient, immortal Qar and the insane god-king, the Autarch of Xis. Meanwhile, its two young defenders, the king’s children Princess Briony and Prince Barrick, are both trapped far away from home and fighting for their lives. Barrick is lost behind the Shadowline, facing all the terrible dangers and mysteries of that magical twilight land.

Once upon a time, the stories that came to be known as "fairy tales" were cultivated to entertain adults more than children; it was only later that they were tamed and pruned into less thorny versions intended for youngsters. But in truth, they have continued to prick the imaginations of audiences at all ages.

Brothers and gods, Karak and Ashhur created Dezrel to be a paradise of ageless humans. But mortal hubris aroused one god’s wrath, and forced the other to shield the young world’s rebellious denizens from his brother’s murderous retribution. Now, the bloody war between mortal nations and their immortal overlords has reached its tipping point. The city of Mordeina, under siege by the brutal Karak and his armies, fights valiantly against impossible odds. Bardiya - Ashhur’s loyal servant - and his people face a shackled death march across the desert.

On the young world of Dezrel, brother gods Karak and Ashhur, fleeing their own failed world, recreate mankind in an attempt to make amends. The fledgling race of humanity is guided by the First Families, men and women who will not age so long as their hearts remain devoted to their deities. But quickly the realms are thrown into chaos by the construction of the Temple of the Flesh, built by exiled children of Karak in the unclaimed land of Haven that lies between the two kingdoms.

In this second volume of the sprawling dark fantasy epic The Breaking World, gods and armies are on the move as all of Dezrel prepares for war…and nothing short of total subjugation will suffice. In the east, Karak invades Paradise with an army 20,000 strong. Meanwhile, Ashhur travels west along the Gods’ Road, gathering as many of his people as he can against the coming onslaught. In Mordeina, the Wardens raise a massive wall around their settlement with the assistance of spellcasters from the north. And in Dezerea, the Quellan elves move secretly to join the fray.

Layla Cassidy has always wanted a normal life, and the chance to put her father's brutal legacy behind her. And in her final year of university she's finally found it. Or so she thinks. But when Layla accidentally activates an ancient scroll, she is bestowed with an incredible, inhuman power. She plunges into a dangerous new world, full of mythical creatures and menace - all while a group of fanatics will stop at nothing to turn her abilities to their cause.

It is 1164, and for a hundred years England has been ruled by the Normans. A young Saxon boy named Durwin, crippled by a childhood accident, had caught the eye of a Norman sage teaching at a rural school of magic. Realizing that the boy had promise, Durwin was made stable boy, and eventually allowed to attend classes. Now twenty, Durwin is proficient enough that he is assigned to teach, but the other sages refuse to promote him and he is hassled by the Norman juniors for his disability.

In a desolate orphanage in what remains of post-Communist Romania, a desperately ill infant is given the wrong blood transfusion - and flourishes when he's supposed to die. The discovery of his unique immune system may hold the key to the long-awaited cure for cancer and AIDS - and a link to a clan of vampires.

Aileen Henderson is still finding her bearings among the vampires. After a nightmarish introduction to their world through death, then the Auction, she’s finally found favor—and more carnal pleasures—with Lord Ragnor Rayne. But not even the head of the Rayne League can stave off the dark brutality of this place. Fearful of sharing her Sacred status, Aileen passes for a Common, deep beneath the city where she took her last breath. After the Hecatomb is announced, it’s harder to hide her secret.

Avalon is under siege. A shadowy cabal, headed by a mysterious figure known only as "My Liege", has launched a series of deadly attacks across the globe, catching innocent human bystanders in the crossfire. Emerging from the debris of battle, Nate Garrett, the 1600-year-old sorcerer also called Hellequin, and his friends must stop My Liege once and for all. But powerful forces stand in their way. To save Avalon, they will need to enlist the help of Mordred, once Nate's greatest nemesis.

Harmony Black is much more than your average FBI special agent. In addition to being a practicing witch, she's also an operative for Vigilant Lock, an off-the-books program created to battle occult threats - by any means necessary. Despite her dedication to fighting the monsters threatening society, Harmony has become deeply conflicted about her job. Her last investigation resulted in a pile of dead bodies, and she suspects the wrong people are being punished for it.

As a devastating hurricane approaches, as the benighted creations of Victor Helios begin to spin out of control, as New Orleans descends into chaos and the future of humanity hangs in the balance, the only hope rests with Victor's first, failed attempt to build the perfect human. Deucalion's centuries-old history began as the original manifestation of a soulless vision - and it is fated to end in the ultimate confrontation between a damned creature and his mad creator. But first they must face a monstrosity not even Victor's malignant mind could have conceived.

King Henry, campaigning in France, receives a muddled warning of a treasonous conspiracy in Lincoln Castle, his great fortress in the center of England. His enchanters report that the letter contains both truth and lies, but cannot determine which is which. Putting little stock in the warning, he sends an eager young knight to lead a troop of men and investigate, and since the letter includes hints of magic, Henry orders him to enlist the help of Durwin, the young Saxon whose education he has been financing these last two years.

Brynja spent her childhood as a captive performer in Tenebris, the imposing mountain palace of King Kallias. Every night she risked death for the king’s entertainment until his rebellious son, Prince Ballast, helped her escape. Now twenty, Brynja has never forgotten the brutal king. Or forgiven him. Under the cloak of a three-month-long Winter Dark, Brynja is returning to Tenebris for revenge.

After losing his powers in an epic battle between good and evil, former sorcerer Nate Garrett finds himself living as a humble human in Clockwork, Oregon. While the world thinks Nate is dead, his friends continue to fight against Avalon and the evil it’s intent on spreading. Avalon’s forces turn up in Clockwork, and Nate’s frustration grows with every passing day his magic doesn’t return. He finds himself trying to stop Avalon’s plans while hiding from enemies who would destroy everything in their path to see him dead.

After solving a crime blamed on Vodou in New Orleans’s French Quarter, Vodou priestess turned amateur detective Reina Dumond has returned to her benevolent work as a healer. But when her friend and enigmatic client Evangeline “Vangie” Stiles comes to her for a spell, Mambo Reina quickly realizes what Vangie really needs is a sleuth.