NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BUZZFEED * ALEX AWARD WINNER * New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie's thrilling series continues in the follow-up to Half a King, which George R. R. Martin hailed as "a fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go.""The Shattered Seas trilogy has worked its way into a very exclusive group of my favorite fantasy novels of all time." - James Dashner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maze RunnerSometimes a girl is touched by Mother War. Thorn is such a girl. Desperate to avenge her dead father, she lives to fight. But she has been named a murderer by the very man who trained her to kill. Sometimes a woman becomes a warrior. She finds herself caught up in the schemes of Father Yarvi, Gettland's deeply cunning minister. Crossing half the world to find allies against the ruthless High King, she learns harsh lessons of blood and deceit. Sometimes a warrior becomes a weapon. Beside her on the journey is Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill, a failure in his eyes and hers, but with one chance at redemption. And weapons are made for one purpose. Will Thorn forever be a pawn in the hands of the powerful, or can she carve her own path?Praise for Half the World"An excellent page-turner . . . full of drama and energy." - New York Daily News "Another entertaining burst of battle, magic and political machinations from the always reliable Joe Abercrombie . . . a thoroughgoing blast, a violent, beautiful rabbit hole of craft that is well worth disappearing into." - Shelf Awareness "Compelling . . . [Thorn] makes Katniss Everdeen look like Dorothy Gale." - Chicago Tribune "Splendid . . . Abercrombie has a knack for building characters with pathos and wit. . . . The fast-paced story draws readers along while setting up what promises to be an explosive final showdown." - Publishers Weekly "Clever, exciting and unexpected." - SFF World Praise for Joe Abercrombie's Half a King "Half a King is my favorite book by Joe Abercrombie so far, and that's saying something." - Patrick Rothfuss "As in all Abercrombie's books, friends turn out to be enemies, enemies turn out to be friends; the line between good and evil is murky indeed; and nothing goes quite as we expect. With eye-popping plot twists and rollicking good action, Half a King is definitely a full adventure." - Rick Riordan "Enthralling! An up-all-night read." - Robin Hobb "Polished and sharp, perhaps his most technically proficient novel yet . . . I dare you to read the first chapter and try not to turn the next page." - Brent Weeks "Half a King can be summed up in a single word: masterpiece. It's a coming-of-age story. It's a Viking saga. It's a revenge tale and family drama and the return of the prodigal son. But most of all, it's this: a short time alongside people as weak and blundering as we are and, in the midst of it all, as heroic. Far too short a time, as it turns out. What a wonderful book." - Myke Cole "Half a King is full of all the adventure I've come to expect from Abercrombie and a tenderness I never knew he had." - Sam Sykes
Del Rey
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9780804178426
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Print book
The Melody
By Crace, Jim
Alfred Busi lives alone in his villa overlooking the waves. Famed in his tiny Mediterranean town for his music, he is mourning the recent death of his wife and quietly living out his days. Then one night, Busi is viciously attacked by an intruder in his own courtyard - bitten and scratched. He insists his assailant was neither man nor animal.. Soon, Busis account of what happened is being embellished to fan the flames of old rumor - of an ancient race of people living in the surrounding forest. It is also used to spark new controversy, inspiring claims that something must finally be done about the towns poor, whose numbers have been growing.. In trademark crystalline prose, Jim Crace portrays a man taking stock of his life and looking into an uncertain future, while bearing witness to a community in the throes of great change.
Nan A. Talese
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9780385543712
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Hardcover
The Black Elfstone
By Brooks, Terry
The first book of the triumphant and epic four-part conclusion to the Shannara series, from one of the all-time masters of fantasy. Across the Four Lands, peace has reigned for generations. But now, in the far north, an unknown enemy is massing. More troubling than the carnage is the strange and wondrous power wielded by the attackers - a breed of magic unfamiliar even to the Druid order. Fearing the worst, the High Druid dispatches a diplomatic party under the protection of the order's sworn guardian, Dar Leah, to confront the mysterious, encroaching force and discover its purpose. But another crucial journey is being undertaken. Exiled onetime High Druid Drisker Arc has been living in quiet seclusion, far from the politics and power struggles of his former life, until two brutal attacks by would-be assassins force him to seek out an infamous murder-for-hire guild - and find the hidden enemy who has marked him for death. At his side is Tarsha Kaynin, a young woman gifted with the wishsong and eager to be schooled in its formidable power by a master. She, too, is pursuing a mission: to locate her wayward brother, whose own magic has driven him to deadly madness and kindled his rage for vengeance . . . against his sister. In their darkest hours, facing dangerous adversaries, the lives and quests of Dar Leah, Drisker Arc, and Tarsha Kaynin will be inextricably drawn together. And the challenges each confronts will have resounding consequences for the future of the Four Lands.Praise for The Black Elfstone "Epic scope, heroic characters, and so much heart . . . proof that the Shannara series can still reach new heights." - Tordotcom "A strong opening book . . . The Four Lands face a new threat." - Fantasy Book Review "Fantastic . . . one of the best books in this saga." - SFRevu
DEL REY
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9780553391480
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Hardcover
The Eternal World
By Farnsworth, Christopher
If you could live forever, what would you die for?Five hundred years ago, a group of Spanish conquistadors searching for gold, led by a young and brilliant commander named Simon De Oliveras, land in the New World. What they find in the sunny and humid swamps of this uncharted land is a treasure far more valuable: the Fountain of Youth. The Spaniards slaughter the Uzita, the Native American tribe who guard the precious waters that will keep the conquistadors young for centuries. But one escapes: Shako, the chief's fierce and beautiful daughter, who swears to avenge her people - a blood oath that spans more than five centuries. . .When the source of the fountain is destroyed in our own time, the loss threatens Simon and his men, and the powerful, shadowy empire of wealth and influence they have built.
William Morrow & Company
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9780062282927
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Hardcover
Christmas Shopaholic
By Kinsella, Sophie
Celebrate Christmas with the ultimate Shopaholic! #1 New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella is back with a new laugh-out-loud adventure featuring Becky Brandon (ne Bloomwood) .
The Dial Press
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9780593132821
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Hardcover
She Who Became the Sun
By Parker-chan, Shelley
Two-time British Fantasy Award WinnerAstounding Award WinnerLambda Literary Award FinalistHugo Award FinalistLocus Award FinalistOtherwise Award Finalist. "Magnificent in every way." -- Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree. "A dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal." -- Zen Cho, author of Black Water Sister. She Who Became the Sun reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynastys founding emperor.. To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything. "I refuse to be nothing ... ". In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness ... . In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu familys eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the familys clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brothers identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.. After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brothers abandoned greatness.
Tor Books
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9781250621801
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Hardcover
Sonora
By Assadi, Hannah Lillith
Ahlam, the daughter of a Palestinian refugee and his Israeli wife, grows up in the arid lands of desert suburbia outside of Phoenix. In a stark landscape where coyotes prowl and mysterious lights occasionally pass through the nighttime sky, Ahlam's imagination reigns. She battles chronic fever dreams and isolation. When she meets her tempestuous counterpart Laura, the two fall into infatuated partnership, experimenting with drugs and sex, and watching helplessly as a series of mysterious deaths claim high school classmates.The girls flee their pasts for New York City, but as their emotional bond heightens, the intensity of their lives becomes unbearable. In search of love, ecstasy, oblivion, and belonging, Ahlam and Laura's drive to outrun the ghosts of home threatens to undo them altogether.
Soho Press
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9781616957926
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Print book
American War
By Akkad, Omar El
"Powerful . . . As haunting a postapocalyptic universe as Cormac McCarthy [created] in The Road, and as devastating a look as the fallout that national events have on an American family as Philip Roth did in The Plot Against America. . . . Omar El Akkad's debut novel, American War, is an unlikely mash-up of unsparing war reporting and plot elements familiar to readers of the recent young-adult dystopian series The Hunger Games and Divergent." - Michiko Kakutani, The New York TimesAn audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle - a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself. Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be. Eventually Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. The decisions that she makes will have tremendous consequences not just for Sarat but for her family and her country, rippling through generations of strangers and kin alike.
ALFRED A KNOPF
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9780451493583
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Hardcover
Daughter of Redwinter
By Mcdonald, Ed
Those who see the dead soon join them.From the author of the critically-acclaimed Blackwing trilogy comes Ed McDonald's Daughter of Redwinter, the first of a brilliant fantasy series about how one choice can change a universe.Raine can see - and speak - to the dead, a gift that comes with a death sentence. All her life she has hidden, lied, and run to save her skin, and she's made some spectacularly bad choices along the way.But it is a rare act of kindness - rescuing an injured woman in the snow - that becomes the most dangerous decision Raine has ever made.Because the woman is fleeing from Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians who answer to no king, and who will stop at nothing to reclaim what she's stolen. A battle, a betrayal, and a horrific revelation force Raine to enter the citadel and live among the Draoihn.
Tor Books
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9781250811714
|
Hardcover
Nettle & Bone
By Kingfisher, T.
From Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an original and subversive fantasy adventure.*A very special hardcover edition, featuring gold foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.*This isn't the kind of fairytale where the princess marries a prince.It's the one where she kills him.Marra never wanted to be a hero. As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, she escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn't so fortunate -- and after years of silence, Marra is done watching her suffer at the hands of a powerful and abusive prince. Seeking help for her rescue mission, Marra is offered the tools she needs, but only if she can complete three seemingly impossible tasks: -- build a dog of bones -- sew a cloak of nettles -- capture moonlight in a jarBut, as is the way in tales of princes and witches, doing the impossible is only the beginning.
Half the World
By Abercrombie, Joe
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BUZZFEED * ALEX AWARD WINNER * New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie's thrilling series continues in the follow-up to Half a King, which George R. R. Martin hailed as "a fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go.""The Shattered Seas trilogy has worked its way into a very exclusive group of my favorite fantasy novels of all time." - James Dashner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maze RunnerSometimes a girl is touched by Mother War. Thorn is such a girl. Desperate to avenge her dead father, she lives to fight. But she has been named a murderer by the very man who trained her to kill. Sometimes a woman becomes a warrior. She finds herself caught up in the schemes of Father Yarvi, Gettland's deeply cunning minister. Crossing half the world to find allies against the ruthless High King, she learns harsh lessons of blood and deceit. Sometimes a warrior becomes a weapon. Beside her on the journey is Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill, a failure in his eyes and hers, but with one chance at redemption. And weapons are made for one purpose. Will Thorn forever be a pawn in the hands of the powerful, or can she carve her own path?Praise for Half the World"An excellent page-turner . . . full of drama and energy." - New York Daily News "Another entertaining burst of battle, magic and political machinations from the always reliable Joe Abercrombie . . . a thoroughgoing blast, a violent, beautiful rabbit hole of craft that is well worth disappearing into." - Shelf Awareness "Compelling . . . [Thorn] makes Katniss Everdeen look like Dorothy Gale." - Chicago Tribune "Splendid . . . Abercrombie has a knack for building characters with pathos and wit. . . . The fast-paced story draws readers along while setting up what promises to be an explosive final showdown." - Publishers Weekly "Clever, exciting and unexpected." - SFF World Praise for Joe Abercrombie's Half a King "Half a King is my favorite book by Joe Abercrombie so far, and that's saying something." - Patrick Rothfuss "As in all Abercrombie's books, friends turn out to be enemies, enemies turn out to be friends; the line between good and evil is murky indeed; and nothing goes quite as we expect. With eye-popping plot twists and rollicking good action, Half a King is definitely a full adventure." - Rick Riordan "Enthralling! An up-all-night read." - Robin Hobb "Polished and sharp, perhaps his most technically proficient novel yet . . . I dare you to read the first chapter and try not to turn the next page." - Brent Weeks "Half a King can be summed up in a single word: masterpiece. It's a coming-of-age story. It's a Viking saga. It's a revenge tale and family drama and the return of the prodigal son. But most of all, it's this: a short time alongside people as weak and blundering as we are and, in the midst of it all, as heroic. Far too short a time, as it turns out. What a wonderful book." - Myke Cole "Half a King is full of all the adventure I've come to expect from Abercrombie and a tenderness I never knew he had." - Sam Sykes
The Melody
By Crace, Jim
Alfred Busi lives alone in his villa overlooking the waves. Famed in his tiny Mediterranean town for his music, he is mourning the recent death of his wife and quietly living out his days. Then one night, Busi is viciously attacked by an intruder in his own courtyard - bitten and scratched. He insists his assailant was neither man nor animal.. Soon, Busis account of what happened is being embellished to fan the flames of old rumor - of an ancient race of people living in the surrounding forest. It is also used to spark new controversy, inspiring claims that something must finally be done about the towns poor, whose numbers have been growing.. In trademark crystalline prose, Jim Crace portrays a man taking stock of his life and looking into an uncertain future, while bearing witness to a community in the throes of great change.
The Black Elfstone
By Brooks, Terry
The first book of the triumphant and epic four-part conclusion to the Shannara series, from one of the all-time masters of fantasy. Across the Four Lands, peace has reigned for generations. But now, in the far north, an unknown enemy is massing. More troubling than the carnage is the strange and wondrous power wielded by the attackers - a breed of magic unfamiliar even to the Druid order. Fearing the worst, the High Druid dispatches a diplomatic party under the protection of the order's sworn guardian, Dar Leah, to confront the mysterious, encroaching force and discover its purpose. But another crucial journey is being undertaken. Exiled onetime High Druid Drisker Arc has been living in quiet seclusion, far from the politics and power struggles of his former life, until two brutal attacks by would-be assassins force him to seek out an infamous murder-for-hire guild - and find the hidden enemy who has marked him for death. At his side is Tarsha Kaynin, a young woman gifted with the wishsong and eager to be schooled in its formidable power by a master. She, too, is pursuing a mission: to locate her wayward brother, whose own magic has driven him to deadly madness and kindled his rage for vengeance . . . against his sister. In their darkest hours, facing dangerous adversaries, the lives and quests of Dar Leah, Drisker Arc, and Tarsha Kaynin will be inextricably drawn together. And the challenges each confronts will have resounding consequences for the future of the Four Lands.Praise for The Black Elfstone "Epic scope, heroic characters, and so much heart . . . proof that the Shannara series can still reach new heights." - Tordotcom "A strong opening book . . . The Four Lands face a new threat." - Fantasy Book Review "Fantastic . . . one of the best books in this saga." - SFRevu
The Eternal World
By Farnsworth, Christopher
If you could live forever, what would you die for?Five hundred years ago, a group of Spanish conquistadors searching for gold, led by a young and brilliant commander named Simon De Oliveras, land in the New World. What they find in the sunny and humid swamps of this uncharted land is a treasure far more valuable: the Fountain of Youth. The Spaniards slaughter the Uzita, the Native American tribe who guard the precious waters that will keep the conquistadors young for centuries. But one escapes: Shako, the chief's fierce and beautiful daughter, who swears to avenge her people - a blood oath that spans more than five centuries. . .When the source of the fountain is destroyed in our own time, the loss threatens Simon and his men, and the powerful, shadowy empire of wealth and influence they have built.
Christmas Shopaholic
By Kinsella, Sophie
Celebrate Christmas with the ultimate Shopaholic! #1 New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella is back with a new laugh-out-loud adventure featuring Becky Brandon (ne Bloomwood) .
She Who Became the Sun
By Parker-chan, Shelley
Two-time British Fantasy Award WinnerAstounding Award WinnerLambda Literary Award FinalistHugo Award FinalistLocus Award FinalistOtherwise Award Finalist. "Magnificent in every way." -- Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree. "A dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal." -- Zen Cho, author of Black Water Sister. She Who Became the Sun reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynastys founding emperor.. To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything. "I refuse to be nothing ... ". In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness ... . In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu familys eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the familys clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brothers identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.. After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brothers abandoned greatness.
Sonora
By Assadi, Hannah Lillith
Ahlam, the daughter of a Palestinian refugee and his Israeli wife, grows up in the arid lands of desert suburbia outside of Phoenix. In a stark landscape where coyotes prowl and mysterious lights occasionally pass through the nighttime sky, Ahlam's imagination reigns. She battles chronic fever dreams and isolation. When she meets her tempestuous counterpart Laura, the two fall into infatuated partnership, experimenting with drugs and sex, and watching helplessly as a series of mysterious deaths claim high school classmates.The girls flee their pasts for New York City, but as their emotional bond heightens, the intensity of their lives becomes unbearable. In search of love, ecstasy, oblivion, and belonging, Ahlam and Laura's drive to outrun the ghosts of home threatens to undo them altogether.
American War
By Akkad, Omar El
"Powerful . . . As haunting a postapocalyptic universe as Cormac McCarthy [created] in The Road, and as devastating a look as the fallout that national events have on an American family as Philip Roth did in The Plot Against America. . . . Omar El Akkad's debut novel, American War, is an unlikely mash-up of unsparing war reporting and plot elements familiar to readers of the recent young-adult dystopian series The Hunger Games and Divergent." - Michiko Kakutani, The New York TimesAn audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle - a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself. Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be. Eventually Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. The decisions that she makes will have tremendous consequences not just for Sarat but for her family and her country, rippling through generations of strangers and kin alike.
Daughter of Redwinter
By Mcdonald, Ed
Those who see the dead soon join them.From the author of the critically-acclaimed Blackwing trilogy comes Ed McDonald's Daughter of Redwinter, the first of a brilliant fantasy series about how one choice can change a universe.Raine can see - and speak - to the dead, a gift that comes with a death sentence. All her life she has hidden, lied, and run to save her skin, and she's made some spectacularly bad choices along the way.But it is a rare act of kindness - rescuing an injured woman in the snow - that becomes the most dangerous decision Raine has ever made.Because the woman is fleeing from Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians who answer to no king, and who will stop at nothing to reclaim what she's stolen. A battle, a betrayal, and a horrific revelation force Raine to enter the citadel and live among the Draoihn.
Nettle & Bone
By Kingfisher, T.
From Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an original and subversive fantasy adventure.*A very special hardcover edition, featuring gold foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.*This isn't the kind of fairytale where the princess marries a prince.It's the one where she kills him.Marra never wanted to be a hero. As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, she escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn't so fortunate -- and after years of silence, Marra is done watching her suffer at the hands of a powerful and abusive prince. Seeking help for her rescue mission, Marra is offered the tools she needs, but only if she can complete three seemingly impossible tasks: -- build a dog of bones -- sew a cloak of nettles -- capture moonlight in a jarBut, as is the way in tales of princes and witches, doing the impossible is only the beginning.