Showing results for "Cruel" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Just hours after humans are born, the gods take what little power we have. In return, they protect our borders from the vicious, merciless fae. The humans who manage to keep their power are known as the corrupt. And they are burned. When my forbidden power is discovered, I’m forced to flee my tiny village and the life I adore. To survive, I make a desperate bargain with the mercenary who abandoned me at my weakest moment. Our deal is simple: I’ll help him and his mysterious friends sneak into the city, and he’ll help me learn to wield the strange, dark power I’ve always kept hidden.

I thought I was ordinary Rory Franco: college student, artist, and over-protected daughter. Then, mages barge into my family’s home, murder my parents, and whisk me off to a university known as Villain Academy. It turns out I’m Persephone Bloodstone, the long lost heir to one of the five royal families of dark magic. I’m destined to learn how to manipulate the world with fear—and to stand beside the four other scions: the scorching-hot, arrogant young men who rule this school. The four of them crush anyone who doesn’t kowtow.

Quinn Darkova, freed from the chains of slavery, wants nothing more than vengeance against those who sold her. But with her dark powers on the rise and her ascension nearing, Quinn's blood retribution will have to wait in favor of her immediate survival. Lazarus Fierte is a nobleman without equal. He's as controlling as he is stubborn, and for the last six years, he's been waiting for a woman to appear - but not just any woman. A Maji of great power, capable of terrible things. She could be the key to everything he holds dear.

I didn't choose to attend the Royal Academy, an elite school full of vicious Fae. I never wished for an arranged marriage to a nasty Shadow prince. I especially never wanted to meet Aidan Summers—the most beautiful man I've ever laid eyes on—the one who broke my heart beyond repair. He was the fire to my ice. Our relationship was forbidden, and the fallout almost cost me my life.

Betrayed at the altar by the man I love, I don’t have the luxury to mourn my broken heart. The Blood Brotherhood Clan is under attack and dark secrets from my past begin to claw their way to light. Now I must fight beside the man who almost destroyed me. As the merciless prince leads his army on the battlefield, I wage my own war in the treacherous court, where smiles are sharper than blades and words can change the fate of a dynasty. If either of us falters, both of our Clans will be doomed.

They stole my throne and stood by while I was taken captive. To reclaim my crown, I must trust my worst enemy. When I wake up in a coffin after the worst Clan wedding in Malhaven’s history, vengeance is the only thing keeping me alive. But the world I claw back into is colder than death. My father, the leader of the Protectorate Clan, is dead. My uncle sits on the throne meant for me. I’ve been taken to a brutal, frozen land ruled by the ruthless Commander, a man as terrifying as he is magnetic.

Get ready for the explosive sequel to the “action-packed, electrifying fantasy” (Good Morning America) The Last One by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Howzell Hall!

Fight like a man...or a girl disguised as one. I'm a princess disguised as a boy at a supernatural academy. But this isn't any normal school. We're training to be assassins. All I have to do is survive.

Hidden away from the world by his famous father, Quinn Kelly strives to find meaning in his life while struggling with a deformity that has kept him from leaving the only home he has ever known. On the eve of his departure a sudden and deadly virus sweeps across the nation, killing nearly all it touches. Within days Quinn is left to fend for himself in an empty world. But there is something still very much alive beyond the walls of his sanctuary.

When my father, the King of Neverra, forced my hand into the Cauldron to cement a political alliance with the Farrows, I thought my night couldn’t get any worse. But lo and behold, it did. On top of being engaged to Remo Farrow, the rudest fae in my kingdom, I now have to repay a bargain I struck to get out of trouble. A bargain that sends me hurtling into a world of trouble. A world I didn’t even know existed, unwelcoming and wicked, and forever changing; a world where my powers—all of them—fail me.

The Royal Navy never expected to fight a full-scale interstellar war. Everyone knew the Great Powers would never risk everything on armed conflict when there was plenty of room for everyone in outer space. But when a hostile alien force stumbles across humanity's handful of colony worlds, the Great Powers must set aside their differences and fight to preserve humanity from utter destruction.

In the Empire, cultivation is restricted. Weapons are forbidden. Tyranny reigns. When disaster strikes for Oren and his family, there is only one choice: flee the local magistrate and his arrogant son who wants to destroy their family. But to leave the empire means heading to the north: a land of barbaric tribes and monsters. Oren and his family embark on a long and hard, danger-filled journey to escape the Empire, but politics are at play, and the shadow of the empire is cruel, cold, and long.

Aphrodite has never flinched at getting her perfectly manicured hands dirty, and she's not about to start now—even if that means marrying Olympus's enemy number one, the new Hephaestus. She has a wicked plan to keep her deadly new husband off-balance, seducing the one person he seems to care about most in this world: Pandora, a woman as beautiful as she is sweet.

There is a curse on his blood, an ailment that, if revealed, could destroy his kingdom. The only one who can help him is me, a human with average healing abilities. It's what the Envoy told him, and her word is law. I'm his only hope. He sends his blue-blooded friends to kidnap me so I can join their quest to Mount Ruin, the only place where I can heal him. The path is terrifying, and the prince is lying, hiding things from me. To make matters worse, he isn't always nice. A Fae prince isn't supposed to lust for a human, especially when she's his prisoner.

This fourth volume in Orson Scott Card's five-volume anthology of short stories features six tales with religious and spiritual themes, exploring the mysteries of ritual, sacrifice, faith, and death. Discover why immortal beings seek mortal gods, witness the consequences of a vengeful spirit, enter behind the scenes of the lives of television faith healers, and more.

The Deathlands companions have been cast asunder through time. But fortune smiles on one of their number, the time-trawled Doc Tanner, who finally finds himself back in his own era of the 1890s accompanied by Mildred Wyeth, an African-American woman from the twentieth century whose skin color makes her stand out for all the wrong reasons. This could be Doc’s chance to repair the mess his abrupt disappearance through time left, if he and Mildred can survive long enough to reach his family.

Death slays me, and I let him . . . Kingdoms are broken. The world has shifted. We are not the same as we once were. The queen is no longer the queen, but I am expected to take her place. The tricky part is I'm not sure I want that responsibility. My heart screams for Death while he stays as far away as possible, believing in the prophecy, whereas I believe in us. But sometimes, that simply isn't enough. The real question now is . . . what do I do?

They want to break her. But you can't break what's already broken. Just wait until they uncover her secrets. She'll have them on their knees. In this epic installment, Aran will compete with Sadie and her mates. May the best woman win.

After the North loses the War of Southern Secession, money buys power in the Magnocracy, and people can disappear in a blink. War veteran Donovan Schist's specialty is finding these missing persons. There isn't much money in it, but he sleeps a little better. This time, Donovan is looking for a girl named Bridget Cleary. Her family's had no word from her for months. Donovan's certain he'll find her belly-up, but it seems her talent for analytical machines has made her a valuable asset to the powers that be.

"Жестокая сказка" - фантастический роман Александра Сапегина, третья книга цикла "Дороги сказок", жанр боевое фэнтези, попаданцы. Приключения Андрея - Керра продолжаются. Новый мир продолжает испытывать Андрея на прочность, который раз за разом убеждается на собственной шкуре, что магическая вселенная совсем не похожа на сказки, прочитанные в детстве, а если и похожа, то на истории Братьев Грим....