A sword, a stone and a deadly legacy. The theft of a whetstone from a Welsh museum and the murder of a curate during a grave robbery seem, at first, like random crimes. But the troubling deeds are linked by a precarious thread. An unusual collection of rare and scattered British antiquities has become a target - and the relics’ value lies in something much more dangerous than money. Annja Creed, archaeologist and host of television’s Chasing History’s Monsters, is in the U.K. when her mentor, Roux, interrupts her sojourn with news of the thefts. He’s certain that the thirteen Treasures of Britain are wanted for their rumored power. Roux tasks Annja with locating and protecting the treasures before the wrong person finds them, meaning she must stand against a woman fueled by madness and the fires of her ancient Celt blood - and a sword as powerful and otherworldly as Annja’s own.

A utopia where the most privileged get to do whatever they want to do with their lives, indulging their slightest whims via the bodies whose wombs they occupy; a soldier's wife tries to love a husband who is little more than backup memory; a society in which the citizens all make merry for nine remarkable days, and on the tenth get a taste of hell; the last ragged survivors of an expedition to a savage backwater world hunt down an infamous war criminal; a divorcing couple confront their myriad troubles to gain resolution, reason, respect - but not without sacrifice. Introducing these stories (and more) from Adam-Troy Castro, whose short fiction has been nominated for two Hugos, three Stokers, and eight Nebulas.

The much-anticipated new work from the author of The Golden Compass is coming at last! Renowned storyteller Philip Pullman returns to the parallel world of Lyra Belacqua and His Dark Materials for a thrilling and epic adventure in which daemons, alethiometers, and the Magisterium all play a part. The Book of Dust will be a work in three parts, like His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass). The title and cover of this first story will remain under wraps until a later date, but it can be revealed that the book is set ten years before The Golden Compass and centers on the much-loved character Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon. Philip Pullman offers these tantalizing details: "I've always wanted to tell the story of how Lyra came to be living at Jordan College, and in thinking about it, I discovered a long story that began when she was a baby and will end when...

History has a way of hiding its secrets... He was one of Russia's most infamous rulers, and he alone held the key to a legendary Byzantine collection of books, given to him in the dowry of Princess Sophia of Constantinople. Ivan Vasilyevich - otherwise known as Ivan the Terrible - owned a library filled with rare and priceless tomes that men would kill for. Would die for. But the czar carried the knowledge of its whereabouts to his grave. And it falls to archaeologist Annja Creed, almost five hundred years later, to discover the secrets of the Library of Gold. When the opportunity to unravel the mystery of this so-called eighth wonder of the world lands in Annja's lap, she can't resist. Armed with a diary of cryptic clues, she embarks on a journey to Russia, where she must somehow find her way into the very heart of the country, beneath the Kremlin. But Annja soon discovers she's racing a ruthless KGB agent driven by sinister motives. She finds herself deep beneath the Russian soil in a dangerous game of cat and mouse... Will she be the next to mysteriously disappear from history?

Queen's Hunt is the second title in Beth Bernobich’s River of Souls novels, following her startling debut, Passion Play. Filled with dark magic and sensual images, this is fantasy writing at its best.Ilse Zhalina has left to start a new life in a garrisoned fort, leagues from her estranged lover, Raul Kosenmark. The violent quarrel that ended Ilse and Raul's relationship was quite public. And also, quite fake. They hope to mislead Kosenmark's enemies so that he can continue to influence the politics of the kingdom in an attempt to stave off an ill-advised war, while keeping Ilse safe from royal assassins who would kill anyone Raul is close to. Ilse longs for Raul, but is set on her own quest to find one of the three fabled jewels of Lir. One of the jewels is held by King Dzavek, sworn enemy of Veraene, who has used the jewel's power to live for centuries. Ilse seeks one of the other stones to counterbalance Dzavek's efforts to destroy her country. In her search, she encounters a shipwrecked prisoner from another land, a woman who has a secret of her own...and the second jewel in her keeping. The two women become allies in their quest for the third jewel, because finding and controlling these stones could mean salvation for both of their nations. And their failure the ruin of their peoples.ReviewPraise for Passion Play“Readers will be impatient for a sequel.” —Publishers Weekly“Bernobich’s debut is a rich, compulsively readable fantasy.” —Booklist"Passion Play immediately plunges you into a deep world of past lives and magic...the layers are crafted so masterfully that you can't put the book down to climb out of the story."—L. A. Banks, author of The Vampire Huntress Legends series“Passion Play, indeed. Passionate, articulate, clever, this book sings right along. Desperate measures and hope bundled together in a daring adventure. Byzantine politics seldom combine so well with great characters. A marvelous debut novel.” —Patricia Briggs, New York Times bestselling author About the AuthorBETH BERNOBICH's short fiction has been published in Asimov's, Interzone, Postscripts, Strange Horizons, and Sex in the System. Two pieces appeared on the Locus Recommended Reading Lists for 2006 and 2008. Queen’s Hunt is Bernobich’s second novel in her River of Souls series. She lives with her husband and son in Connecticut.

"Fire Above, Fire Below" is about the crisis that the dying of a dragon living below a major city causes, and the pact made many years earlier to deal with such a situtation.At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Jill Kismet. Dealer in Dark Things. Spiritual Exterminator. Demon Slayer. Not everyone can take on the things that go bump in the night. Not everyone tries. But Jill Kismet is not just anyone. She's a Hunter, trained by the best - and in over her head. Welcome to the night shift...

The starship Earthling, filled with thousands of hybernating colonists en route to a new world at Tau Ceti, is stranded beyond the solar system when the ship’s three Organic Mental Cores—disembodied human brains that control the vessel’s functions—go insane. An emergency skeleton crew sees only one chance for survival: to create an artificial consciousness in the Earthling’s primary computer, which could guide them to their destination . . . or could destroy the human race. Frank Herbert’s classic novel that begins the epic Pandora Sequence (written with Bill Ransom), which also includes The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor.**

National bestselling author Benedict Jacka returns to the world of Alex Verus... I thought I'd escaped my past. But my old master is back and making a new play for power. And he's not the only one targeting me... Diviner Alex Verus and the Council that governs the magical community have never gotten along. But with his former teacher back in Britain, Alex is in desperate need of allies, and he'll do whatever it takes to get them—even if it means accepting a job with the Keepers, enforcing magical law. Alex forms an uneasy alliance with his new partner, Caldera, but his attempt at legitimacy quickly turns lethal when a mission puts him in possession of an item that factions both inside and outside of the Council would kill to get their hands on. Once again caught in the middle of a deadly conflict, Alex will need all his abilities to figure out who his friends are—especially when enemies are hiding on all sides...