Showing results for "Literature" in Paranormal & Urban

With accomplished precision and gentle eloquence, Jhumpa Lahiri traces the crosscurrents set in motion when immigrants, expatriates, and their children arrive, quite literally, at a cultural divide. The nine stories in this stunning debut collection unerringly chart the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations.

The delicate balance between the realms of human and monster is shattered. Reality is unravelling and cosmic forces are rising from the dark. Aleks Kercheval has come into his true power, and unwittingly unleashes an ancient, chaotic deity that threatens to consume everything. His sister Vaira, corrupted by the Void and driven by her thoughts of revenge, returns with an army at her back.

The dead do not rest till they get what they want. You have arrived in the hills. In here, you are surrounded by dense, menacing forests, enveloped in a deadly silence... You never know what lurks here in the cold, dark night. Do not walk alone after sunset in the hills. A beautiful woman in white haunts the Lonely pathways, looking to enchant and ensnare men... All the people who died in accidents here... They say you hear their screams at night. And the deserted lodges sitting amidst lush greenery and calm streams...

It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil. He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants.

A teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, Zorian is attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. A driven and quiet young man, he is consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, resenting the Kazinskis for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, Zorian has no time for pointless distractions, much less other people's problems.

Six mois se sont écoulés depuis que la reine des vampires s'est tue, et le monde est au bord du gouffre. Rejoignez les courageuses sœurs Dunraven, Darcy et Hope, alors qu'elles traversent l'apocalypse vampire dans un hiver sans soleil et sans fin qui devient chaque jour plus meurtrier. Préparez-vous à découvrir un royaume glacial rempli de poignards sacrés, d'épées puissantes, de grottes secrètes en bord de mer, d'incroyables fermes à sang humain et d'un vampire maléfique doté de super-pouvoirs à la recherche de ses proies. Darcy sortira-t-elle de sa cachette pour sauver sa sœur ?

Est-ce que j'ai touché le fond ? Je suis au chômage technique, obligée de jouer les colocs avec ma mère et les centaures alors que ni Wayne ni la magie n'ont refait surface. Les Hextrémistes nous traquent, la juridiction fait la sourde oreille… et accessoirement, Bell, ma traîtresse de sœur, me saute à la gorge dès qu'elle en a l'occasion. Mais tout va changer, j'en fais le serment. Je ne peux faire confiance à personne ? Tant pis. Les Containers ont besoin de moi, et même si je dois passer maître dans l'art des manipulations, j'obtiendrai ce dont mon quartier a besoin.

Jin Rou wanted to be a cultivator. A man powerful enough to defy the heavens. A master of martial arts. A lord of spiritual power. Unfortunately for him, he died, and now I’m stuck in his body. Arrogant Masters? Heavenly Tribulations? All that violence and bloodshed? Yeah, no thanks. I’m getting out of here. Farm life sounds pretty great. Tilling a field by hand is fun when you’ve got the strength of ten men—though maybe I shouldn’t have fed those Spirit Herbs to my pet rooster.

"No killing Goblins." So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours. It's a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn't belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.

Fifteen-year-old Maya and Arjun find their placid world suddenly overturned, when their favourite history teacher is found brutally murdered. The death shocks the students at the school and baffles the police. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger’s reappearance after 5000 years strikes fear into the hearts of powerful members of a secret society, called the Sangha. Who is he and what is he after? What secrets are Arjun’s uncle and mother hiding, and why do they inexplicably decide to leave town for an unknown destination?

Lukas Aguilar does not believe in gods. Despite—or perhaps because of—his deep knowledge of mythology and lore, Lukas has always valued what is practical, factual, and verifiable, eschewing faith for what he can see right in front of him. That is, until an earthquake destroys his home, and he wakes up in a dark cavern infested with bloodthirsty and unearthly creatures, wielding strange powers and hearing an even stranger voice in his head claiming to be a goddess.

As a vampyr who was born to fulfill a prophecy, my life was planned before I was created. I obeyed every rule, and I became the perfect vampyr, but one night changed everything. Rejected by the man who was destined for me, who was supposed to love me forever, I do the only thing I can. I flee into the night, nursing my broken heart. Being a rejected mate corrupts the soul, however, and in this game of Courts and Kings, nobody wins. Nobody except the monsters in the shadows.

Temp worker David Evans has been dreaming of Dr. Alun Kendrick ever since that one transcription job for him, because holy cats, that voice. Swoon. So when his agency offers him a position as Dr. Kendrick’s temporary office manager, David neglects to mention that he’s been permanently banished from offices. Because, forgiveness? Way easier than permission. But cheeky David isn’t intimidated, and despite himself, Alun is drawn to David in a way that can only spell disaster: When fae consort with humans, it never ends well. And if the human has secrets of his own?

Magic has been outlawed for almost a century, and anyone caught wielding it or bearing its mark is executed. Which is why I know every day could be my last. I'm marked for death. My skin bears the branding of the moon. I just thank the stars that it's not somewhere visible. For one night, I willingly put myself in danger, picking a stranger to lose myself in before I begin my life of servitude to the crown as a member of the King's Guard. But the man I thought was a stranger turns out to be the Blade of the King, Thorn, my new boss.

Rune Tellarus always wanted to become a Guardian: a powerful warrior bonded to a magic-wielding woman known as an Adeptal Mage. Except he failed the test as a youth. He thought he would never get the chance to study at their Academy nor learn magic. But after a terrible tragedy in a nobleman's home, he finds himself suddenly bonded with the nobleman's daughter, Narcissa. This bonding is an irrevocable merging of two spirits that grants both Mage and Guardian magical gifts.

The system came. The apocalypse ended. Now new worlds have merged with Earth. For Bain Lee, it means leveling his Ocularist class beyond its previous limits. With this strange class and the ability to see into the inner workings of the system, he may find the magic skills needed to earn his redemption. Not only that, but he might discover the secret behind the system itself.

The wall just didn’t look right. Alex has been trying to cope. Life after his deployment had been rough. His ex-wife thought he needed to stop disappointing their daughter. She was right. He would try harder. With six hours before his little girl’s fourth birthday party, he saw the anomaly. One wall was too short. Plenty of time to tear out a panel and look behind it. He found a brick wall. His house wasn’t made of brick. Behind that was another just like the first. He still had time. When the second wall came down, Alex stood and stared at the shining doorway.

Alex is broke. He's pretty much always been broke. A misspent youth led to mistakes that led to convictions and plea deals. No career, no education, no hope. Now he has a chance to make things right for him and his family when the newest immersive MMO comes with the ability to convert money earned in the game into real currency. Well, it's cryptocurrency, but that's real-ish, right?

Victor can’t wait to get the hell out of high school, go to the local community college on a sports scholarship, and start his own life. But that’s all put on hold when he enters his abuela’s house and somehow ends up stepping into a world unlike anything he’s ever known, filled with fantastical meta-humans; walking, talking devils; and other creatures one usually needs some serious pharmaceuticals to see. Fanwath is no dream, though. In fact, it’s a nightmare.

The Worldwalkers of legend are beings touched by Fate and transported from another realm, tasked with a grand destiny. Traditionally, they prevent great cataclysms or the fall of empires. Whatever their undertaking, their appearance brings about momentous change. It’s been some two hundred years since the last Great Game, but the time has come again. Seven are chosen, and the game begins once more . . .