Showing results for "The Star" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: To escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four.

Kyran Loyal is the last heir to the lost throne of a forgotten planet, the figurehead of a nomadic people fleeing the galactic tyranny of a brutal regime. Davia Sifane is the unrecognized daughter of an imperial despot. When happenstance pits them against each other in battle, neither expects the outcome: they are the only two people to survive. Marooned on a barren moon, their only hope of survival is to rely on each other, but what they learn will either kill them or change the galaxy forever.

The story of a truly galactic civilization with more than 6,000 inhabited worlds. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is a science-fiction masterpiece, an essay on the inexplicability of sexual attractiveness, and an examination of interstellar politics among far-flung worlds. First published in 1984, the novel's central issues - technology, globalization, gender, sexuality, and multiculturalism - have only become more pressing with the passage of time.

Oxfordshire 1362. When Lily Barden discovers her best friend Johanna’s hand in marriage is being awarded as the main prize at a tournament, she is determined to stop it. Disguised as a knight, she infiltrates the contest, preparing to fight for Jo’s hand. But her conduct ruffles feathers, and when a dangerous incident escalates out of Lily’s control, Jo must help her escape. Finding safety with a local brewster, Lily and Jo soon settle into their new freedom, and amongst blackberry bushes and lakeside walks an unexpected relationship blossoms

The great city of Tova is shattered. The sun is held within the smothering grip of the Crow God’s eclipse, but a comet that marks the death of a ruler and heralds the rise of a new order is imminent. The Meridian: a land where magic has been codified and the worship of gods suppressed. How do you live when legends come to life, and the faith you had is rewarded?

After the long, despotic reign under the evil sorceress, Sawyn, life in the Golden Court is finally rebuilding. New leadership means new beginnings, and Sadie Rauxtide—now a royal guard—has been grappling with how she’ll fit into her new home. But when a rival Wolf king, Nero, kidnaps the Queen’s friend and mentor Ora, any hopes for peace are lost. The Golden Court springs into action, and Sadie is tasked with an important mission: travel with Navin and Maez to try to win new allies and uncover Nero’s hidden secrets.

Nearly a year ago, blinded by grief and betrayal, Sam of Wilds made a desperate decision to follow the Great White into the Dark Woods. Now, he emerges to a world changed. The City of Lockes is a prison. The King has been locked away in the dungeons. The Kingdom of Verania has fallen, and the Dark wizard Myrin sits on the throne. But soon after his return, Sam learns of a resistance fighting in his name, led by a courageous knight, a defiant prince, a pissed-off unicorn, and a half-giant who wants to smash everything in sight.

Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter - and he always works alone. But when he is engaged to find a child who disappeared three years ago, he must break his own rules, joining a group of eight very different mercenaries working together to find the boy. Following the lost boy's scent from one ancient city to another, into dense forests and across deep rivers, Tracker starts to wonder: who is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And, most important of all, who is telling the truth and who is lying?

Nox and Amaris learn their dreams of reunion come at an unspeakable cost. Passion and politics collide as the two young women learn to navigate an unknown future in the kingdom of Raascot. With new titles thrust upon them, Nox and Amaris find themselves more uncertain than ever of who they are meant to become—both to their people and to each other. Humans, fae, and monsters are on the precipice of war, and time is running short in their search for answers. Victory will take more than just battles as alliances shift and new threats emerge.

Elfreda Raughn will avoid pregnancy if it kills her, and one way or another, it will kill her. Though she's able to stomach the gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Order's magical bloodline horrifies her, but the Sisters of Aytrium have sworn to pay a price for the safety of their nation. Elfreda wants out, whatever the cost. So when a shadowy cabal approaches her with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Order....

Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they perform small miracles and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters. Hannah, bookish and calm, can coax plants to grow even when the weather is bitterly cold. Sarah, defiant and strong, can control the impulsive nature of fire. And Levana, the fey one, can read the path of the stars to decipher their secrets.

Beyond the stars, two gods vie for rule of the world. One stands for Nature - the belief that everything is stamped in flesh from the start. The other, Nurture - the belief that all is potential, that the true self is coaxed out through love and living. And so, they take a bet. Each immortal selects a set of twins as their champions. The twins that prevail in contest will decide which immortal rules.

My name is Storm Redfield: Navy Commander, still kicking ass at 161 years old. So far, I've had a good time in the twenty-third century. I discovered space travel and fought evil creatures in a distant star system. Made friends with a one-eyed Cyclopean who sounds like a British lord, discussed romance novels with a blushing AI therapist . . . And the cherry on the cake: had kinky sex with a gorgeous alien warrior. When a quiet return to Earth turns into an almost deadly mission, my universe is tipped upside down all over again.

All are equal in death. Tallora’s world ends in a single, bloodstained night, and all the world will fall in line, unless the gods interfere. But divine aid comes at a price no mortal can pay, except in death, and perhaps Death, herself, has a few tricks of her own. From the author of Fallen Gods comes a tale of redemption and sacrifice - and the true power of forgiveness.

Duty before love; legacy before life. Six months have passed, and Tallora’s nightmares are haunted by memories of Solvira and the woman she loves - Empress Dauriel Solviraes, seated on a throne a thousand miles away. But war waits on the horizon, and when rumors of her kingdom’s coalition with Moratham surface, Tallora fears her small kingdom will be destroyed between the two warring empires. With the help of new friends - a merfolk prince and a mysterious sea witch - Tallora must return to Solvira in order to stop the rising tides of war.

James Patterson is a gay accountant living in Keyes, Oklahoma - deep in the Bible Belt - the religious heartland of America. He's also the first person to make contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence seeking to understand our world, and that makes him the most important person on the planet.

Five years after the events in Volume One, life is good for the Cassidys. Aiyana is perfecting her teleporters while running the Heavy Lift Corporation. Kendra is overseeing her ambitious starship project in her own, inimitable way. They want nothing more than to live their lives and raise their girls.

In this genre hybrid between historical fiction and sci-fi, Naavalah, a scrupulous mechanic aboard the starship Reynolds, crash-lands on the Lost Colony of Arciel, where she must choose between signaling for help—thereby bringing the imperialistic Federation to conquer this unsuspecting world—or trying to survive on her own. Before she can decide, she is found by a local genderfluid clothier named Melis-te, who rushes her away from her crash site to avoid capture by the local feudal lord.

Since she was a child, Azura has been consumed with the need for power. The world is divided into those lucky few born as Vessels for Elemental Spirits, and those like Azura, who practice Dark Magic. Her powers are fueled by the lives of supernatural creatures, but the fuel is finite, the Mystical Woods not replenishing it fast enough to satisfy her needs. In order to complete her spells, she must marry into a royal bloodline.

Seit der Tod seines Zwillingsbruders sein Leben aus den Angeln gehoben hat, ist Jahmez, erster Wächter von Vastar, vom Gedanken an Rache getrieben. Das Ziel scheint zum Greifen nahe, als das verfeindete Königreich ihm den jungen Kämpfer Seymon ausliefert. Doch dann erschüttert die Bedrohung eines bevorstehenden Krieges von ungeheurem Ausmaß ihr Land und Jahmez sieht sich gezwungen, Seymon zu heiraten - ausgerechnet den Mann, der für all sein Leid verantwortlich ist...