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After surviving Skyhold's deadly labyrinth, Hugh and his friends are looking forwards to an uneventful summer. Their teacher Alustin has chartered a sandship for a training expedition into the vast sea of sand known as the Endless Erg, aiming for the wealthy and powerful desert city of Theras Tel. Hugh's happier than he's been in a long, long time, and he's quite excited for the fresh air, sunshine, and quiet. Of course, given Hugh's luck, their summer is going to be anything but quiet. They're about to be plunged into a morass of pirates, monsters, warring cults, flesh-tearing sandstorms, and a conspiracy against Indris Stormbreaker, the dragon queen of Theras Tel herself. At least Hugh's going to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine.

When True Night Falls; Or, How Gerald Vryce Finally Learned to Stop Worrying and Love That Hunky Bombshell & Immortal Vampire Damian TarrantI don't have any issues with plus-sized people; several of my friends including people I've dated have been plus-sized and they are all compelling and adorable. same goes for plus-sized books. I like something sturdy to put my arms around, I love getting lost in them, and they are also often compelling although maybe not "adorable" per se. but with this book I've realized that I have a serious issue with a lithe and svelte novel of ideas that for some reason has decided to put on an enormous fatsuit and pretend that it is a big fat adventure and that it has always been this way. it's an insult to genuine plus-sized books!there is much to applaud in the book. vampire-sorcerer Tarrant remains an entirely intriguing creation. the various fae forces remain fascinating. there is a new city explored in some depth and that is well-done too. and the continual discussion of faith and God and religion is an absorbing topic to me and Friedman brings both emotion and intellect to the table whenever the topic is on hand - which is a lot of the time. best of all are those creepy "children" who capture and torment our band of adventurers mid-way through the book.but sweet Jesus this book is about 5 times as big as it should be! there is a tiny cast of characters engaged in a pretty straightforward quest (on a less than straightforward world); the novel would have been so much more powerful if the narrative wasn't wrapped in so many layers of flab. this could have been an eerie and disturbing adventure set in a frightening dreamscape while exploring the power of faith. I would have loved that! instead I got fascinating ideas lost in a big fat fatsuit.the most egregious contributor to all of the bloat is the constant, constant, CONSTANT moaning & mewling of this warrior-priest Vryce over poor sadistic vampire Tarrant. not a page passes without Vryce obsessing over him in every which way. what Tarrant could be thinking, where Tarrant is now, what that expression on Tarrant's face means, why his clothes are always so clean, how Vryce is so very put out by him and how it is such a challenge to be around him and how he puts his morals to the test and so on and so forth, ad nauseum. was Friedman cognizant of how extremely gay she was making this relationship out to be? I think not. at one point I literally couldn't believe my eyes as I read how Vryce was worried about what Tarrant would think about his unclean body and unkempt clothes. dude come out of the fookin closet already! and stop being such a bitch - you know you love that uptight vampire. old school closet types just really drive me up the wall.

With his duel fast approaching, Lindon is locked away in prison. As a Blackflame, he is too dangerous to remain free. The Skysworn, protectors of the Empire, have imprisoned him to keep him under control until the day of his promised fight arrives. When it does, he will face Jai Long. But a new danger approaches the Empire, closer every day. Only the Skysworn stand between the people of the land and total annihilation. And Lindon may be forced to join them.

I felt it only fitting that my 100th title to read for the year, and the culmination of my year's reading goal (though it's only 3/4 of the way through the year), be the prologue to the book I have been waiting to read for over 15 years - A Memory of Light, the concluding volume to the Wheel of Time. Judging by this prologue, it looks to be everything I have been hoping it will be. Giving this title 5 stars is, of course, a given. All other book series I read are but second-rate, in the grand scheme of things. If I ever find a series I'll enjoy so much, which has impacted my life so much, I will be shocked. Though I would welcome such a discovery, I know with almost certainty that it will never again happen. Here's to the final volume of the definitive fiction saga of our time - the ultimate fantasy saga - The Wheel of Time. Thank you, Robert Jordan.

Locke Lamora, thief, con-man, pirate, political deceiver is back, and now he must become a soldier.A new chapter for Locke and Jean and finally the war that has been brewing in the Kingdom of the Marrows flares up and threatens to capture all in its flames. And all the while Locke must try to deal with the disturbing rumours about his past revealed in The Republic of Thieves. Fighting a war when you don't know the truth of right and wrong is one thing. Fighting a war when you don't know the truth of yourself is quite another. Particularly when you've never been that good with a sword anyway...

The complete First Law trilogy from New York Times bestseller and master of grimdark fantasy, Joe Abercrombie. "The finest epic fantasy trilogy in recent memory." - Junot Diaz Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood. Unpredictable, compelling, wickedly funny, and packed with unforgettable characters, the First Law trilogy is noir fantasy with a real cutting edge. This boxed set includes: THE BLADE ITSELF, BEFORE THEY ARE HANGED, THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS For more from Joe Abercrombie, check out:Novels in the First Law worldBest Served ColdThe HeroesRed Country

Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

Young Fitz is a bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the court of the Six Duchies by his father's gruff stableman. He is ignored by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill--and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. For longer than anyone remembers, the Farseers have ruled the storm swept kingdoms of the Six Duchies--using the wild and perilous magic of the Skill. But now, as the barbarous Red Ship Raiders ravage the coasts and sleepwalkers prowl the heartland, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. For Fitz is a threat to the throne ... but he may also be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies. Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules. Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it. Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult. Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

Isak is a white-eye, feared and despised in equal measure. Trapped in a life of poverty, hated and abused by his father, Isak dreams of escape, but when his chance comes, it isn't to a place in the army as he'd expected. Instead, the Gods have marked him out as heir-elect to the brooding Lord Bahl, the Lord of the Fahlan. Lord Bahl is also a white-eye, a genetic rarity that produces men stronger, more savage and more charismatic than their normal counterparts. Their magnetic charm and brute strength both inspires and oppresses others. Now is the time for revenge, and the forging of empires. With mounting envy and malice the men who would themselves be kings watch Isak, chosen by Gods as flawed as the humans who serve them, as he is shaped and moulded to fulfil the prophecies that are encircling him like scavenger birds. The various factions jostle for the upper hand, and that means violence, but the Gods have been silent too long and that violence is about to spill over and paint the world the colour of spilled blood and guts and pain and anguish . . .

Now a student at Wurthaven, Will is confronted with the truth of the present. The powerful magic embodied by wizards like his grandfather is but a distant memory, while the practice of the current day is timid and uninspired, and yet he needs the knowledge still preserved and managed by the college. At every turn he finds that sorcery is supreme, while wizards are trained merely to assist and support those who hold the real power—a power based on an evil so deep that few living know the truth of its foundation. As a student of wizardry, he’s expected to know his place and stay in it, but Will isn’t like the other students. His grandfather’s teaching has made him into something different, something forgotten—something they will learn to fear. If he can grow into his power. With every choice, every refusal to submit, Will creates more enemies, enemies who aren’t content to let him live in peace. Without friends or support, Will must survive the knives in the dark, for Cerria is no place for those who refuse to follow the rules.

A novel of vast scope, detail, and complexity, To Green Angel Tower is the momentous tour-de-force finale of a ground-breaking series. Replete with war, deception, adventure, sorcery, and romance, To Green Angel Tower brings to a stunning and surprising conclusion Tad Williams' monumental tale of a magical conflict which fractures the very fabric of time and space, turning both humans and Sithi against those of their own blood.As the evil minions of the undead Sithi Storm King prepare for the kingdom-shattering culmination of their dark sorceries and King Elias is drawn ever deeper into their nightmarish, spell-spun world, the loyal allies of Prince Josua desperately struggle to rally their forces at The Stone of Farewell. And with time running out, the remaining members of the now-devastated League of the Scroll have also gathered there to unravel mysteries from the forgotten past. For if the League can reclaim these age-old secrets of magic long-buried beneath the dusts of time, they may be able to reveal to Josua and his army the only means of striking down the unslayable foe.But whether or not the League is successful in its quest, the call of battle will lead the valiant followers of Josua Lackhand across storm tossed seas brimming with bloodthirsty kilpa...through forests swarming with those both mind- and soul-lost... through ancient caverns built by legendary Dwarrows...to the haunted halls of Asu'a itself—the Sithi's greatest stronghold!

In Oathbringer, the third volume of the New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive, humanity faces a new Desolation with the return of the Voidbringers, a foe with numbers as great as their thirst for vengeance.Dalinar Kholin's Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. While on a desperate flight to warn his family of the threat, Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with the fact that the newly kindled anger of the parshmen may be wholly justified.Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. And Dalinar realizes that his holy mission to unite his homeland of Alethkar was too narrow in scope. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar's blood-soaked past and stand together--and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past--even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilization.

Well, here we are—11,100 pages read in 3 months, but who’s counting!Now I can finally say that I have read the Wheel of Time cover to cover, a work of Fantasy that's been more than 23 years in the making. As many of you WoT fans out there know, the first book in the series entitled The Eye of the World came out in 1990, and, unless I’m mistaken, it was a huge success, and deservedly so. While heavily influenced by The Lord of the Rings (sailing too close to plagiarism for comfort at times), Robert Jordan managed to veer off that slippery road as soon as book 2 (The Great Hunt) came out, creating as a result a juggernaut of a Fantasy world of amazing depth and detail (too much detail, some might say) peopled by just as deep and detailed characters, many of whom will forever live in many a Fantasy-loving heart.I believe everyone is or should be familiar with the story by now—that of Rand Al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, whose destiny is to save the world from destruction, thwarting in order to do so all attempts by the Dark One and his minions and eventually defeating them. You can’t get more traditional Fantasy-esque than that, and I love it. Page after page, Robert Jordan manages effortlessly to take us readers on an amazing adventure full of plot twists, action and magic, and truth be told I couldn’t get enough of it…that is, until I got to book 7, A Crown of Swords, and everything fell apart. The plot began to meander and go nowhere, the amount of useless description and detail of this or that dress, shawl, jewelry and whatnot simply became indigestible, the characters and especially the female characters became downright obnoxious verging on sexist, and all in all the reading experience became a chore reaching outright torture in book 10, Crossroads of Twilight. At this point, I believe that even the most hardened reader would just call it quits and move on to something else. I think I vented my frustration loud and clear about this in my review of book 6, Lord of Chaos, so I won’t bother you guys with a rehash here.Anyway, long story short, the thought of quitting was real, but then one day I found myself picking up book 11, Knife of Dreams… and, miracle of miracles, it was so good that I simply could not put it down! Robert Jordan really penned an amazing book with this one, proving to the world (or, at least, to me) that he was back at the top of his game. Unfortunately we all know what happened next: Jordan became sick with an incurable disease and in no time he was gone, leaving behind the WoT unfinished. But then, as fate would have it, Jordan’s readers and fans were blessed with Brandon Sanderson as the young Fantasy writer accepted to finish the Wot series, releasing the first of the last three books, The Gathering Storm, in 2009.Now we all know that it can be a risky business for an author to pick up the baton and continue another author’s series. People will invariably compare him/her to the original author and more often than not find him/her wanting. Not so here. Sanderson was the perfect choice to accomplish such a feat, and the fact that he himself is a huge fan of the series is nothing but icing on the cake. While managing to blend to perfection both his own voice and that of Robert Jordan, Sanderson injects not only a breath of fresh air into the WoT, but a much needed dose of action and resolution to many questions that were both sorely missing in books 7 through 10. The ending, while somewhat predictable, was masterfully written, totally satisfying, and, after more than 23 years, could not have come soon enough.Best passage of the whole series (and quite possibly the most well-known!):The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third age by some, an Age yet to come, an age long pass, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.OLIVIER DELAYEAuthor of the SEBASTEN OF ATLANTIS series\ \

The natural heir to Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series hit No.1 in the US and No.2 in the UK with the hardback release of the massive second volume, WORDS OF RADIANCE. Split into two volumes for paperback this is Part One of that second volume.WORDS OF RADIANCE takes the reader even deeper into the lives of its characters as they fight for power, freedom and their lives on the extraordinary, hurricane swept world of Rosharr.Famed for his plotting, his wonderful characters and his intricate magic systems Brandon Sanderson is poised to take up the crown of Robert Jordan as the creator of the keynote epic fantasy series of its time with the Stormlight Archive.

Title In This Collection:- Princeps'' Fury: A compulsively fast-paced fantasy adventure, set in a world where courage and ingenuity vie with magic and power. Captain''s Fury A compulsively fast-paced fantasy adventure, set in a world where courage and ingenuity vie with magic and power. Cursor''s Fury: A compulsively fast-paced fantasy adventure, set in a world where courage and ingenuity vie with magic and power. Academ''s Fury: Book two of this compulsively fast-paced fantasy adventure, set in a world where courage and ingenuity may yet triumph over magic and power. Furies Of Calderon A compulsively fast-paced fantasy adventure, set in a world where courage and ingenuity may yet triumph over magic and power. First Lord''s Fury The aging First Lord of Alera has fallen in battle. Yet his people must continue to resist an invading inhuman army. Desperate Alerans even pledge fealty to the Vord Queen to survive, turning the incredible power of Aleran furies back on their own people. And despite all efforts, the Alerans are being ground into dust and pushed to the farthest reaches of their own realm. However, Tavi has returned with vital insights from the Canim Blood Lands. He knows how to counter the Vord and, more importantly, believes human ingenuity can equal fury-born powers. Now events are rushing towards a last stand, where Tavi and the last Aleran legions must formulate a dangerous new strategy, together. For a civilisation is on the brink of extinction

On the night of the new moon, the demons rise in force, seeking the deaths of two men both of whom have the potential to become the fabled Deliverer, the man prophesied to reunite the scattered remnants of humanity in a final push to destroy the demon corelings once and for all.Arlen Bales was once an ordinary man, but now he has become something more—the Warded Man, tattooed with eldritch wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. Arlen denies he is the Deliverer at every turn, but the more he tries to be one with the common folk, the more fervently they believe. Many would follow him, but Arlen’s path threatens to lead him to a dark place he alone can travel to, and from which there may be no returning.The only one with hope of keeping Arlen in the world of men, or joining him in his descent into the world of demons, is Renna Tanner, a fierce young woman in danger of losing herself to the power of demon magic.Ahmann Jardir has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army and proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer. He carries ancient weapons--a spear and a crown--that give credence to his claim, and already vast swaths of the green lands bow to his control.But Jardir did not come to power on his own. His rise was engineered by his First Wife, Inevera, a cunning and powerful priestess whose formidable demon bone magic gives her the ability to glimpse the future. Inevera’s motives and past are shrouded in mystery, and even Jardir does not entirely trust her.Once Arlen and Jardir were as close as brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals. As humanity’s enemies rise, the only two men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all--those lurking in the human heart.

A volume of short stories by the bestselling author of THE BROKEN EMPIRE series, Mark LawrenceThis is a collection of fourteen stories of murder, mayhem, pathos, and philosophy, all set in the world of the Broken Empire.Within these pages, you will find tales of men such as Red Kent, Sir Makin, Rike, Burlow and the Nuban, telling of their origins and the events that forged them. There is Jorg himself, striding the page as a child of six, as a teenage wanderer and as a young king. And then there is a tale about Prince Jalan Kendeth – liar, cheat, womaniser and coward.To the new reader, welcome to a lawless world where wit and sword are the most useful weapons, and danger lurks as much in candle-lit palaces as in dark alleys and dense woodland. To those who have already journeyed with Jorg, we hope you will enjoy renewing old acquaintances with your favourite characters.