Showing results for "Urban Life" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

"[Narrator Julia] Whelan's performance is unforgettable in this darkly romantic fantasy about one young woman cursed always to be forgotten...Her depiction of the darkness is smooth with a low cadence, capturing listeners' attention and their heart strings." –Booklist In the vein of The Time...

When Salem gets a new lead on a magical disappearance she’s been investigating for years, Clay is eager to offer his help. Yet their investigation in Gemma’s missing sister will take them to dark places neither wants to go...and even with Thea as their guide, they may not easily find their way out again.

As a plague ravages America and leaves chaos in its wake there's no time to prepare, no chance for last words, messages home, or tearful goodbyes. For the men and women immune to the virus, they have two options: survive or die trying.

A nameless narrator awakens to the muddle of middle age, no longer certain who or what he is. He finds himself at a party talking to a woman he doesn't know who proves to be his wife. Soon separated but still living in the same apartment, he is threatened by a litigious dachshund and saddled with a stubborn case of erectile dysfunction in a world that seems held together by increasingly mercurial laws and elusive boundaries.

Now no longer that wide-eyed child, Gabe is fresh out of prison, a leather-clad biker answering Grandaddy’s peremptory summons to, of all places, a cowboy bar in Northern Arizona. He is about to find out just how different he is from “most people” - and to meet the stranger with whom he will be sealed: life and limb, blood and bone, conscripted to fight an unholy war unlike any other.

No warning. No explanation. Few survivors. Now we're all trying to get by as society collapses around us. Survival is a battle and it's getting worse every day. Food is scarce and the shelves are all bare. Finding medication for my little brother is impossible, and my desperation is growing as my options narrow.

Working as overnight tech support, James Lyle has long said he’d do anything to escape the boredom. But his commitment to excitement is tested when a slight coincidence one shift sends him to a different part of his office building . . . and he discovers a stairwell that contains not stairs but rather a landscape of seemingly infinite cubicles against a distant horizon. Unwilling (and unable) to stay away, James and a few of his trusted friends begin to explore this endless maze of supernatural business ennui.

Leonard Dunning was supposed to be the comic-relief best friend of the hero in a supernatural harem-comedy narrative. Instead, his rebellious attitude, flirtatious nature, and downright bravado have placed him in a starring role in a fantasy simulation where he possesses superhuman abilities, fights otherworldly creatures, and has won the hearts of two high school girls—Eleanor Dracis, a noble family’s princess, and Judy Sennoma, a “placeholder” character awakened by Leo’s interactions. And his antics have brought him the attention of four powerful cabals.

Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and not long after entering Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz's most promising young citizens. But Elphaba's Oz is no utopia. The Wizard's secret police are everywhere.

Life sucks. Gabe Harris has been clued into this fact for a long time now. In his mid-twenties, life has been nothing but low paying jobs, petty power-tripping bosses, and the worst roommates mankind has to offer. Bills, debt, and misery have haunted him for his entire adult life and, to make matters worse, it feels like his dream of being a writer is dead on arrival. One fateful night, he decides to take control of his life and make his dream a reality.

With new supernatural creatures popping up at every turn (Ghouls? Really?), the city divided, and a long-lost cousin blazing into town, Violet Jordan has a lot on her mind. Oh, not to mention she’s supposed to be planning a wedding. Chaz has got to be the best, most patient (and probably clinically insane) fiancé around.

This bundle includes books seven, eight, and nine in the Nine Lives Magic Mysteries: Stray Spells, Mystic Meow, and Catnip Charms. Mystic Meow: It’s the dog days of summer and Winterspell is going through town psychics faster than a werewolf sheds its fur after a full moon. Catnip Charms: Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something … cursed? Catnip Charms: Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something … cursed?

Having saved Thea from being enslaved by an evil sorcerer, Clay hoped his problems were over. Yet his victory has drawn more interest, not less. As he tries to build a life with Thea and Gemma, the lovely barista who helped him save Thea, sorcerers from other worlds seek Clay’s power for themselves.

In a realm where magical professions tend to align within family trees, Lyra Treble is an unusual ingredient. Everyone expected her to follow in her parents' footsteps and become a bard, but she's gained entrance to the Royal Academy of Magical Baking, the most exclusive, prestigious institution of its kind in all the land. The academy is everything Lyra dreamed of and more. She loves the rigorous curriculum, the strict but fair professors, and her new friends-turned-family. But with a limited number of slots open for next year, her culinary future isn't guaranteed.

Imagine a city bathed not in the golden glow of sunrise but in the shimmering embrace of the ocean. A futuristic metropolis, not chained to the constraints of land, but buoyant and free, dancing with the tides and whispering secrets to the waves. This isn't the stuff of science fiction; it's the ambitious vision of the Oceanix project, the world's first prototype for a sustainable floating city poised to redefine our relationship with the water. Nestled off the vibrant shores of Busan, South Korea, Oceanix isn't your typical concrete jungle. No towering skyscrapers pierce the sky, no endless ...

Eizo Tanya is now living a quiet life as a blacksmith in another world. Well, maybe not so quiet... Tales of his cheat-smithing abilities and overpowered blades have started to spread. Alongside his companions, Eizo tries to earn a modest living while avoiding political intrigue. However, intrigue finds him anyway when he saves Diana, the daughter of a comital family. With the nobility embroiled in conflict about the line of succession and the fate of a family heirloom, the safest place for Diana turns out to be with Eizo

Leonard Dunning insists he’s not the heroic leader his friends—and enemies—think he is. Originally an amnesiac assigned the role of the goofy best friend of the hero in a paranormal/harem comedy/battle school storyline, Leo’s meddling with predetermined events has inadvertently caused the narrative to acknowledge him as a protagonist . . . and prepare a new set of challenges tailor-made for him to grapple with.

My summer at the perfect oasis of Oyster Cove couldn’t have gone any better. I’ve enjoyed the beaches and boardwalk, and that’s not even mentioning all the beautiful women that have come into my life. As great as it’s been, the last thing I expected was to reunite with an old flame. When my first summer fling Natalie comes walking back into my life, I realize that I’m still owed some answers. We don’t have long to figure it out though, as everyone will soon be going back to their old lives as autumn approaches.

Everyone with the gift is going to the academy. Not me. I'll master magic my own way. School was a chore. All I wanted was to become a magus, enter the academy, and train my chosen affinity. But I didn't pass the test. They said I didn't have it in me. Years later, a run-in with a sassy goth mage named Misty revealed I could do magic. Those damn monocle-wearing pseudo-Victorians at the academy locked me out! Screw them.

Our retro-tech towns might seem idyllic, yet go beyond the arcades and coffee shops and you'll reach the danger zones roamed by bionic bots. Me? I ran a video store with my cute friend Emiko. She's always been a little different, so I had to look out for her—we usually just watched movies and played games together. One day, a suspicious pink-haired chick burst into the store, warning me not to watch a tape labeled Property of Steelheart—Do Not Watch! So obviously, I did, and a terrifying ghost crawled out of the screen.