Tengel Zły przygotowuje się do objęcia władzy nad światem. Powoli, lecz stanowczo zbliża się do miejsca, gdzie została ukryta ciemna woda mogąca dać mu nieograniczoną siłę. Tymczasem wybrani z Ludzi Lodu, na czele z Natanielem, których wysłano, by powstrzymali Tengela Złego, zostali zepchnięci do Wielkiej Otchłani – miejsca, z którego jeszcze nikt nigdy się nie wydostał…

At first, there's not a lot to distinguish the world of The Black Company. It's a medieval fantasy set in a realm ruled with an iron first by The Lady, the bride of the defeated dark overlord (and a pretty good dark lord herself). You don't get a lot of heavy world description, but that's mainly because the narrator doesn't find scenery important unless it's relevant to what's happening. That being said, there's some pretty damn cool stuff in the world, like giant floating sky whales and ancient trees that can imprison gods. The magic system is loosely defined, so pretty much anything is possible.I really liked the way that "true names" were handled in this series, and it's a major factor towards why very few characters use their birth names. Characters The main character is Croaker, the physician/annalist of the Black Company. In addition to his medical duties, he is responsible for recording all of the significant events that the company takes part in, and the book is the compilation of his writings. There's a pretty big cast of side characters in the company, but two of my favorite are Goblin and One-Eye. They are some of the company's wizards, and though they can be pretty formidable if they want to be, most of the time they just dick around and compete in ever-escalating prank wars. The Lady is an intimidating villain, though we see more of The Ten Who Were Taken, her incredibly powerful sorcerer lieutenants. These guys are seriously bad news, but they don't get along with each other. Plot The story, as recorded by Croaker, follows The Black Company as they enlist in the service of The Lady. That's right, the main characters work for the bad guys! The first 50-100 pages of book 1 can be pretty confusing. Each scene is somewhat disconnected and the overarching plot can be hard to follow. Part of this is intentional because Croaker is new as an annalist and is still learning how to tell a compelling story. If you can make it past this, the rest of the first trilogy is tightly plotted and full of memorable moments

Anna Brzezińska zdążyła przyzwyczaić swoich czytelników do dwóch charakterystycznych cech swojej fantastyki – po pierwsze, do oszałamiającego rozmachu, z jakim tworzy wyimaginowane światy, po drugie, do bardzo pesymistycznego, wręcz okrutnego spojrzenia na ludzką naturę. Można to było obserwować już w jej debiutanckim "Zbójeckim gościńcu", którego akcja działa się w wyjątkowo ponurej krainie, luźno wzorowanej na polsko-sarmackim średniowieczu. Najnowszy zbiór opowiadań "Wody głębokie jak niebo" przenosi czytelnika do zupełnie innego świata – tym razem przypominającego późnośredniowieczne Włochy. Jeśli jednak ktoś liczył na to, że w tej scenerii okrucieństwo i pesymizm prozy Brzezińskiej ustąpią temu, co kojarzy nam się z pocztówkami znad Adriatyku, spotka go srogie rozczarowanie. Zawarte w tym cyklu opowiadania pokazują inny wariant średniowiecza, w którym upadek antycznej cywilizacji nie był spowodowany najazdami barbarzyńców, tylko przeciwnie, nadmiernym tejże cywilizacji rozkwitem. Sprawił on, że magowie opanowali umiejętność podporządkowania sobie demonów żyjących gdzieś w innych warstwach rzeczywistości. Pozwoliło to ludziom na dokonywanie cudów, przy których blednie nawet technika dwudziestego pierwszego wieku. Skąd więc upadek? Stąd, że ludzie zawsze jednak będą ludźmi. Bez względu na to, jak potężne narzędzia będą mieć w swoich rękach – zawsze będą jednakowo bezbronni wobec pożądania, zdrady, zawiści, gniewu, namiętności. Potęga magów upadła w świecie tych opowiadań pod swoim własnym ciężarem. "Demony" mają więc tutaj chyba dwa znaczenia. Można je potraktować dosłownie, to przecież opowiadania fantasy. Ale można je też potraktować jako metaforę ludzkich uczuć, z których czasem rodzą się demony, nad którymi zapanować musi każdy z nas. Opowiadania z tego tomiku są ze sobą powiązane w szczególny sposób. Ich akcja rozgrywa się w tej samej krainie, ale na dużej rozpiętości czasowej. Wydarzenia z poprzednich opowiadań wracają w następnych, jako echo zapisane w legendach czy jako pośrednie skutki w rzeczywistości. Oprócz refleksji na temat uczuć jako demonów mamy tu więc refleksję na temat historii, jej roli jako kapryśnej pocieszycielki i zwodniczej nauczycielki (legendy te oczywiście po kilku pokoleniach często daleko odbiegają już od rzeczywistości). Chociaż centralnym tematem większości tych opowiadań jest śmierć i cierpienie, lektura wcale nie jest przygnębiająca – Brzezińska pokazuje w tych opowiadaniach, co to znaczy "godnie odejść", jak przeżyć swoje życie tak, by okazało się czegoś warte, jak pozostawić na tym świecie po sobie dobrą legendę czy przynajmniej dobre wspomnienia. To paradoksalne, że w dzisiejszej kulturze masowej takie nauki najłatwiej odnaleźć w literaturze fantasy…

Begun in the 1980s and worked on until the author’s death in 2003, Woes of the True Policeman is Roberto Bolaño’s last, unfinished novel. The novel follows Óscar Amalfitano — an exiled Chilean university professor and widower — through the maze of his revolutionary past, his relationship with his teenage daughter, Rosa, his passion for a former student, and his retreat from scandal in Barcelona. Forced to leave Barcelona for Santa Teresa, a Mexican city close to the U.S. border where women are being killed in unprecedented numbers, Amalfitano soon begins an affair with Castillo, a young forger of Larry Rivers paintings. Meanwhile, Rosa, Amalfitano’s daughter, engages in her own epistolary romance with a basketball player from Barcelona, while still trying to cope with her mother’s early death and her father’s secrets. After finding Castillo in bed with her father, Rosa is forced to confront her own crisis. What follows is an intimate police investigation of Amalfitano that involves a series of dark twists, culminating in a finale full of euphoria and heartbreak. Featuring characters and stories from his other books, Woes of the True Policeman invites the reader more than ever into the world of Roberto Bolaño. It is an exciting, kaleidoscopic novel, lyrical and intense, yet darkly humorous. Exploring the roots of memory and the limits of art, Woes of the True Policeman marks the culmination of one of the great careers of world literature

Straszliwe imperium tyranów Shaa przestało istnieć, wszechświat znalazł się na łasce bezlitosnych, spragnionych władzy gadopodobnych Naksydów. Wszędzie zapanował krwawy chaos. Jednak dalecy potomkowie Terry cenią sobie wolność, a ich bohaterscy wojownicy nie poddają się. Lord Gareth Martinez i tajemnicza Caroline Sula, która prowadzi walkę w podziemiu, oddzieleni są latami świetlnymi, ale dążą własnymi drogami do decydującej bitwy o przyszłość, gdyż nowy porządek może się okazać jeszcze bardziej przerażający od starego. Jedyna nadzieja w tym, że powiedzie się ostatni desperacki plan, który scali rozbitą galaktykę

Nikt nie chciał tej wojny — ani Thomas Theisman, ani Królestwo Manticore, ani Imperium Andermańskie. A już na pewno nie Honor Harrington. Mimo to wybuchła, i to na kilku frontach równocześnie. Teraz zaś nie było już szans na ucieczkę w ciągnące się latami negocjacje pokojowe. Co gorsza, wszystko zaczęło wskazywać na to, że zwiększy się zarówno jej skala, jak i liczba uczestników. Tymczasem kolejna próba pozbycia się admirał Harrington spełzła na niczym za sprawą jej wiernych przyjaciół i nieprzeciętnych zdolności taktycznych

Sześciokrotny laureat Nagrody Hugo prezentuje wspaniały cykl powieści o eksploracji przez człowieka Układu Słonecznego, o pionierskiej walce z przeciwnościami losu, eksperymentalną technologią i grozą pustki kosmicznej. Baza Księżycowa nie może się obejśc bez nanotechnologii — dzięki niej rozrasta się, otrzymuje tlen, wodę i diament, z którego budowane są rakietowe klipry. Ale nanotechnologia zostaje zakazana przez Ziemię i ruch bigotów, zwany Nową Moralnością. Sterowana przez nich ONZ postanawia wysłać na Księżyc siły „pokojowe”, celem zamknięcia Bazy. Lunonauci odpowiadają ogłoszeniem niepodległości

Wojna polsko-ruska… to pierwsza polska powieść dresiarska. W głównej warstwie narracyjnej opowiada o przygodach dresiarza Silnego z pięcioma kolejnymi dziewczętami. Jednocześnie stanowi nadrealistyczną alegorię polskiej tożsamości narodowej w rzeczywistości małego miasta w województwie pomorskim. Wątki kryminalne przeplatają się w niej z nadzwyczaj dojrzałą egzystencjalną refleksją. Trzeba tu dodać, że jest to utwór dość brutalny, uświadamiający jak wielkim zagrożeniem jest dla człowieka narkotyk (w tym wypadku amfetamina), niszczący osobowość i generujący niebezpieczne urojenia. Uwagę zwraca zwłaszcza doskonale stylizowany język podkultury marginesu społecznego. Książka ukazuje się z rekomendację znanego poety Marcina Świetlickiego, który podsumował ją następująco: Podejrzewam, że Masłowska jest ruskim szpiegiem. Książkę tę napisała po to, by bezkarnie poruszać się w naszej polskiej rzeczywistości i zamydlić nam, Polakom, oczy. Nigdy w życiu nie chciałbym się z nią osobiście spotkać, albowiem obawiam się, że wyssie ze mnie wszystko co najcenniejsze i na swój szpiegowsko-rosyjski sposób przetworzy to dla siebie. Z drugiej jednak strony, jeżeli chodzi o tę książkę, to jestem bardzo zadowolony. Tutaj nie nasuwa się pytanie, czy jest to proza kobieca, czy męska. Jest to kawał lekko nadpsutego literackiego mięsa i, zdaje się, warto było żyć 40 lat, aby wreszcie coś tak interesującego przeczytać

W dniu swoich siedemdziesiątych piątych urodzin John Perry zrobił dwie rzeczy. Najpierw odwiedził grób swojej żony. A potem wstąpił do armii. Ludzkość w końcu znalazła drogę do międzygwiezdnej przestrzeni — to dobra wiadomość. Zła wiadomość jest taka, że w kosmosie jest niewiele nadających się do zamieszkania planet – za to aż roi się tam od obcych, którzy chcą o nie walczyć. Wychodzi na to, że wszechświat jest dla człowieka wrogim miejscem. A więc — walczymy. Żeby obronić Ziemię (która może stać się celem ataku dla naszych nowych wrogów, jeśli dopuścimy ich zbyt blisko); walczymy również o nasz planetarny stan posiadania. Z dala od Ziemi, ta wojna trwa już od dziesiątków lat: jest brutalna, krwawa i nieubłagana. Sama Ziemia jest zaściankiem. Większa część zasobów ludzkości znajduje się w rękach Kolonialnych Sił Obrony, które chronią Ziemię przed zbyt dokładną wiedzą na ten temat. Ogólnie wiadomo tylko jedno — kiedy osiągnie się wiek emerytalny, można się zaciągnąć do KSO. Oni nie chcą młodych ludzi; chcą ludzi, którzy mają wiedzę i doświadczenia zebrane w ciągu długiego życia. Zostaniesz zabrany z Ziemi, żeby już nigdy nie móc na nią powrócić. Będziesz musiał odsłużyć swoje na froncie. A jeśli uda ci się przeżyć, wspaniałomyślnie pozwoli ci się osiedlić na jednej z ciężko wywalczonych planet. John Perry zgadza się na te warunki. Praktycznie nie ma pojęcia o tym, co go czeka. Prowadzona w odległości wielu lat świetlnych od domu wojna okazuje się o wiele cięższa, niż mógł sobie wyobrazić — i, jak się przekona, o wiele dziwniejsza

Ewolucja we wszechświecie powieści Brina nie jest tylko siłą naturalną — rozwinięte gatunki istot inteligentnych przyspieszają rozwój innych, „niższych” ras w ramach galaktycznego porządku wspomagania. Wiąże się z tym także system powiernictwa planet — Ziemianie otrzymali Garth w celu przyspieszenia odbudowy jego zniszczonego ekosystemu. Jednak ptasiopodobni Gubru szykują inwazję na Garth. Chcą nie tylko przejąć planetę, ale także wykorzystać ją w szantażu, mającym na celu ujawnienie miejsca stacjonowania odkrytej przez ziemski statek „Streaker” kosmicznej floty starożytnej rasy. Rozpoczęta wojna toczy się nie tylko na powierzchni Garth, gdzie pozbawione ludzkich zwierzchników neoszympansy organizują partyzantkę, ale i na poziomie galaktycznego systemu wspomagania, w ramach którego Ziemianie walczą o swoje prawo do planety

Thurlow Dan is the founder of the Helix, a cult that promises to cure loneliness in the twenty-first century. With its communes and speed-dating, mixers and confession sessions, the Helix has become a national phenomenon — and attracted the attention of governments worldwide. But Thurlow, camped out in his Cincinnati headquarters, is lonely. And his ex-wife, Esme, is the only one he wants. They were a family once; they had a child together. For Esme’s part, she’s a covert agent who has spent her life spying on Thurlow, mostly in an effort to protect him from the law. Now, with her superiors demanding results, Esme recruits four misfits to botch a reconnaissance mission in Cincinnati. But when Thurlow abducts them, he ignites a siege of the Helix House that could keep him and Esme apart forever. With fiery, ecstatic prose, Maazel takes us on a ride through North Korea’s guarded interior, a city of vice beneath Cincinnati, and a commune housed in a Virginia factory, while Thurlow, Esme, and their daughter search for a way to be a family again. Woke Up Lonely is a sprawling and original novel that reminds us our Nation's deepest problems cannot be fixed by the simple formulas that so frequently beguile us

This is high action, ideas driven noir SF of the highest order. Morgan has already established himself as an SF author of global significance. Takeshi Kovacs has come home. Home to Harlan's World. An ocean planet with only 5 per cent of its landmass poking above the dangerous and unpredictable seas. Try and get above the weather in anything more sophisticated than a helicopter and the Martian orbital platforms will burn you out of the sky. And death doesn't just wait for you in the seas and the skies. On land, from the tropical beaches and swamps of Kossuth to the icy, machine-infested wastes of New Hokkaido the hard won gains of the Quellist revolution have been lost. The First Families, the corporations and the Yakuza have a stranglehold on everything. Embarked on a journey of implacable retribution for a lost love, Kovacs is blown off course and into a maelstrom of political intrigue and technological mystery as the ghosts of Harlan's World and his own violent past rise to claim their due. Quellcrist Falconer is back from the dead, they say, and hunting her down for the First Families is a savage young Envoy called Kovacs who's been in storage

The U.S. has been devastated by worldwide financial collapse. Civilization as readers know it has disappeared. Marauding bands are terrorizing the countryside, killing and looting. Jeremy Bellamy Walthers’ goal is to cross 2,000 miles of ravaged countryside to reach the security of his brother’s Montana ranch. En route he befriends a wolf who becomes a partner and companion via verbal and nonverbal communication. The story deals with Jeremy’s interaction with the wolf and the other human survivors of the economic collapse. Dickson has created another superior novel; it’s colorful, well written, and peopled with well-developed, multidimensional characters. The wolf is especially fascinating. YAs who have cut their teeth on such works as George’s Julie of the Wolves (Harper, 1972) or Mowatt’s Never Cry Wolf (Little, 1963) will enjoy this survival story in sci/fi clothing

The U.S. has been devastated by worldwide financial collapse. Civilization as readers know it has disappeared. Marauding bands are terrorizing the countryside, killing and looting. Jeremy Bellamy Walthers’ goal is to cross 2,000 miles of ravaged countryside to reach the security of his brother’s Montana ranch. En route he befriends a wolf who becomes a partner and companion via verbal and nonverbal communication. The story deals with Jeremy’s interaction with the wolf and the other human survivors of the economic collapse. Dickson has created another superior novel; it’s colorful, well written, and peopled with well-developed, multidimensional characters. The wolf is especially fascinating. YAs who have cut their teeth on such works as George’s Julie of the Wolves (Harper, 1972) or Mowatt’s Never Cry Wolf (Little, 1963) will enjoy this survival story in sci/fi clothing

Fate turned nurse Carol Woods into a wolf, but she refuses to let being a lupus garou define her life. Ordered by her pack leader to find a mate and commit to shifting, there is only one gray wolf that catches Carol's interest; but Chaz McKinley makes it very clear that unless she's willing to accept what she is, he wants nothing to do with her. When a virus outbreak leaves local pack members trapped in their wolf form, will Chaz and Carol learn to trust each other before it's too late for the pack and their one chance at true love?

An untriggered werewolf. A runaway Omega. It’s not easy fighting destiny. Tad Maxwell’s workaholism serves to keep his bush pilot company in the air, and his inner werewolf in check. In the two years since he discovered his heritage, he’s resisted the longing to test the power of his wolf side. It would mean compromising his human principals. Then Missy Leason re-enters his life. Ten years ago, their teenage attraction never went beyond hand-holding. Now their chemistry is off the charts, pushing him closer to the step he’s not sure it’s safe to take, especially with a human. But Missy is more like Tad than he realizes. She’s wolf too, and a wolf pack is a dangerous place to have secrets. Missy’s alpha has sniffed out her carefully hidden Omega powers. Her first response: run from the corrupt alpha’s plan to make her his mate. Step two: get to Tad, and hope like hell his untapped powers are strong enough to negate her own. Every touch with Missy is hot, hot, hot, but even finding out she’s pure wolf doesn’t solve Tad’s dilemma. Is she using him, or are they truly destined mates? Only one thing is certain. He will defend her to his last breath—on his terms. Even if it means losing his life. Warning: Contains nasty Alphas, secret Omegas and werewolves acting raunchy on the dance floor. Sarcasm, wilderness cabins, and hot nookie back by popular demand

True love’s path never did run smooth. Granite Lake Wolves, Book 3 After seven years of total denial, Maggie Raynor’s body—and her inner wolf—are in full revolt. Weak and shaky, she literally falls into the very large and capable arms of the Granite Lake Beta, Erik Costanov. The last thing she wants is a mate, particularly when just looking at another wolf scares her to death. And one as big and sexy as Erik? Really bad idea, no matter what her libido says. Erik expected to meet Maggie in Whitehorse to escort her to the home of her sister, his pack’s Omega. Sheer chance puts him in the right place at the right time to catch her, but the realization that hits him with the force of a full body shot is no accident. She’s his mate. An even bigger shock? She wants no part of him—not until she resolves her issues. She’ll have to work fast, because they’re both selected to represent the pack during the premier sporting event for wolves in the north. Not only will she have to work as a team with Erik, she’ll have to face down her fear of wolves. Let the Games begin. Warning: Contains uber-sexy werewolves of Russian descent, reluctant mates and exotic travels through the Yukon wilderness. Includes sarcasm and hot nookie under the Midnight Sun

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

In 1809, the forces of Napoleon’s Grande Armée are in Austria. For young Lieutenant Lukas Relmyer, it is hard to return to the place where he and fellow orphan Franz, were kidnapped four years previously. Franz was brutally murdered and Lukas has vowed to avenge his death. When the body of another orphan is found on the battlefield, Captain Quentin Margont and Lukas join forces to track down the wolf that is prowling once more in the forests of Aspern

A woman is accused of a murder she had every reason to commit

John Shannow, The Jerusalem Man, lived in a world that had toppled on its axis. Civilization had been replaced by ruthlessness and savagery. Relentless in his quest for peace, Shannow followed a path that led only to bloodshed and sorrow. Abaddon, the Lord of the Pit, sought to plunge mankind into a new Satanic era. His Hellborn army spewed forth from the Plague Lands with an unholy force stemming from human sacrifice. For it was the blood of innocents that fueled the corrupted Sipstrassi Stones of Power-the source of Abaddon's might. But the Hellborn made a fatal mistake-they took the woman who had stolen Shannow's heart. He would move Heaven and Earth to save her or he would die trying

Welcome to Trace Italian, a game of strategy and survival! You may now make your first move. Isolated by a disfiguring injury since the age of 17, Sean Phillips crafts imaginary worlds for strangers to play in. From his small apartment in Southern California, he orchestrates fantastic adventures where possibilities, both dark and bright, open in the boundaries between the real and the imagined. As the creator of Trace Italian — a text-based, roleplaying game played through the mail — Sean guides players from around the world through his intricately imagined terrain, which they navigate and explore, turn by turn, seeking sanctuary in a ravaged, savage future America. Lance and Carrie are high school students from Florida, explorers of the Trace. But when they take their play into the real world, disaster strikes, and Sean is called to account for it. In the process, he is pulled back through time, tunneling toward the moment of his own self-inflicted departure from the world in which most people live. Brilliantly constructed, Wolf in White Van unfolds in reverse until we arrive at both the beginning and the climax: the event that has shaped so much of Sean’s life. Beautifully written and unexpectedly moving, John Darnielle’s audacious and gripping debut novel is a marvel of storytelling brio and genuine literary delicacy

As the mysterious Shadow builds an army of demons, Grubbs Grady and his team search desperately for answers. But when they follow up a new lead, it takes them to an old, unexpected foe — the Lambs

Jared s not sure how his quiet morning coffee near the harbour ended with him on a cruise ship impersonating one of his pack mates. Well, it might have something to do with a woman, but who can blame him? The female of the species was made to love, and he s more than willing to share his considerable skills in that area. Especially since he figures the chances of meeting his own one-and-only are slim. Keri Smith is positive the last-minute recruit sneaking aboard the Arctic Wolf Cruise Lines tour is her mate. Ix-nay on confirming that, though, at least for the next ten days. She s promised her best friend to be overall troubleshooter for the shifter-only cruise. Getting tangled up in mating lust would reduce her skills to nil. Avoidance of the sexy wolf for the duration of the cruise, followed by jumping his bones, seems the logical solution. But when libidos are on the line, logic and wolves don t go together. Throw in suspicions of wrongdoing, and these two virtual strangers will need a lot more than luck to find their way through to forever. Warning: Really? You need to be warned about the hot nookie and sarcasm? Yeah, it s in here. Also colourful cat shifters, lupine royalty, and wild adventures in cabins like you ve never seen before

Cat got your tongue? Tessa Williams is looking to make her mark outside the family business, and the unusual landlocked paddle wheeler she spots in Haines, Alaska, strikes her as the perfect location. Only the owner is being difficult, refusing to sell. Still, she’s sure that replacing her written queries with a little in-person charm is all she’ll need to shortly have her Eco-tour B&B on the road to success. Local wolf-slash-owner of said vessel, Mark Weaver, isn’t hanging on to the landmark building out of spite. There are more reasons for holding back the sale than are easily explained on paper. A face-to-face meeting to resolve the matter only confounds it—when Mark recognizes Tessa as his mate. But she’s a cat…and cats don’t do insta-mates. The sexual attraction between them isn’t in question, just everything else. He wants her. She wants twue wuv. His wolf can’t figure out what the holdup is. Her cat thinks the entire situation, and the pack, are rather amusing. Somewhere in here is the beginning of a beautiful relationship—if they don’t drive each other mad. Warning: One hyper cat, one laid-back wolf. Inappropriate use of permanent markers, and a heaping side dish of cat/dog jokes. Shenanigans (read: nookie) in front of a roaring fire. Spiced liberally with sarcasm. Enjoy!(

A lone wolf is a dangerous creature, until he meets his mate. Then he'll become lethal to protect her. Faith Anderson never asked to be a wolf shifter, but one strange encounter with the Westervelt Wolves and she suddenly has a past she knows nothing about and a future wrought with danger. No one is more disappointed than she to discover that the island does not hold a mate for her...that is, until she collides with Theo Kane, the missing prince of the Westervelt Wolves who has chosen isolation to save his pack from what he believes are his insane tendencies. Theo couldn't imagine anything worse than the near death experience that left him scarred and forever changed. Until some of the same things start happening to Faith. Now he has no choice but to face what he has avoided for over a year if he doesn't want the past to repeat itself, this time taking Faith along for the ride. Together they will battle demons, invisible wolves, and worst of all his father to find their eternal love. But if the price is eternity, are they willing to risk it all?

Talk about getting your signals crossed… Robyn Maxwell doesn’t care that her brother has to cancel out on WolfSigns300their backcountry ski trip. She can do it alone. The fact she’s deaf doesn’t make her survival skills any weaker. The chance to get away from it all and relax in the Yukon wilderness is just what she’s been craving. Meeting wilderness guide Keil at the cabin starts cravings of another kind. Keil’s one hot hunk of ripped, tasty male. Now she has to deal with raging hormones as well as strange questions about wolves and mates and challenges to the death. Keil was trying for a nice reflective retreat before challenging for the Alpha position of his Alaskan pack. He wasn’t planning on meeting the woman destined to be his mate, or finding out she’s not aware she has the genes of a wolf. Between dealing with his accident-prone younger brother, a deaf mate with an attitude and an impending duel to the death, his week—and his bed—is suddenly full. Far from the relaxing getaway any of them had in mind… Warning: Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘talking with your hands.’ Includes dangerous use of sarcasm and hot nookie in a remote wilderness sauna

An epic Chinese tale in the vein of The Last Emperor, Wolf Totem depicts the dying culture of the Mongols-the ancestors of the Mongol hordes who at one time terrorized the world-and the parallel extinction of the animal they believe to be sacred: the fierce and otherworldly Mongolian wolf Published under a pen name, Wolf Totem was a phenomenon in China, breaking all sales records there and earning the distinction of being the second most read book after Mao's little red book. There has been much international excitement too-to date, rights have been sold in thirteen countries. Wolf Totem is set in 1960s China -the time of the Great Leap Forward, on the eve of the Cultural Revolution. Searching for spirituality, Beijing intellectual Chen Zhen travels to the pristine grasslands of Inner Mongolia to live among the nomadic Mongols-a proud, brave, and ancient race of people who coexist in perfect harmony with their unspeakably beautiful but cruel natural surroundings. Their philosophy of maintaining a balance with nature is the ground stone of their religion, a kind of cult of the wolf. The fierce wolves that haunt the steppes of the unforgiving grassland searching for food are locked with the nomads in a profoundly spiritual battle for survival-a life-and-death dance that has gone on between them for thousands of years. The Mongols believe that the wolf is a great and worthy foe that they are divinely instructed to contend with, but also to worship and to learn from. Chen's own encounters with the otherworldly wolves awake a latent primitive instinct in him, and his fascination with them blossoms into obsession, then reverence. After many years, the peace is shattered with the arrival of Chen's kinfolk, Han Chinese, sent from the cities to bring modernity to the grasslands. They immediately launch a campaign to exterminate the wolves, sending the balance that has been maintained with religious dedication for thousands of years into a spiral leading to extinction-first the wolves, then the Mongol culture, finally the land. As a result of the eradication of the wolves, rats become a plague and wild sheep graze until the meadows turn to dust. Mongolian dust storms glide over Beijing, sometimes blocking out the moon. Part period epic, part fable for modern days, Wolf Totem is a stinging social commentary on the dangers of China 's overaccelerated economic growth as well as a fascinating immersion into the heart of Chinese culture

Score one for the underdog…er…wolf. Granite Lake Wolves, Book 4 TJ Lynus is a legend in Granite Lake, both for his easygoing demeanor—and his clumsiness. His carefree acceptance of his lot vanishes, though, when his position as best man brings him face to face with someone he didn’t expect. His mate. His very human mate. Suddenly, one thing is crystal clear: if he intends to claim her, his usual laid-back attitude isn’t going to cut it. After fulfilling her maid-of-honor duties, Pam Quinn has just enough time for a Yukon wilderness trip before returning south. The instant attraction between her and TJ tempts her to indulge in some Northern Delight, but when he drops the F-bomb—“forever”—she has second thoughts. In her world, true love is a fairytale that seldom, if ever, comes true. Okay, so maybe staging a kidnapping wasn’t TJ’s best idea, but at least Pam has the good humor to agree to his deal. He’ll give her all the northern exposure she can stand—and she won’t break his kneecaps. Now to convince her that fairytales can remake her world—and that forever is worth fighting for

Ricky Lee has no plans of getting serious about anyone, but he will protect Toni Jean-Louis Parker. Not just because he’s been hired to do so, but because it’s the right thing to do. And if that means traveling around the country with one complicated She-jackal, dealing with chocolate-eating wild dogs, instigating trouble between his brothers, and having the most amazing sex he’s ever had…well, who said his job didn’t have perks? Toni doesn’t know how she keeps getting herself into these situations. But even she has to admit there’s something about Ricky Lee Reed that she finds kind of interesting…and downright sexy. Now they just have to survive long enough to figure out if what they have is worth fighting for…

A wild child of the bayous, Leon Grosvenor is a two-legged freak show of shaggy hair and talons with an insatiable hunger for raw flesh. His unique abilities as a bona fide loup-garou have earned him gainful employment as a contract killer for Cajun mafia boss Armand "Big Crawdaddy" Fortier. Remo's not buying this werewolf business, but when he gets a glimpse of good ol' Leon§s wet work, well, he's still not a believer, but he is certain that Leon needs to be put out of everybody's misery. And damn soon. The swamps stink, Mardi Gras is giving him a headache and all this talk about silver bullets is getting tedious. But as Leon and his pack circle ever closer to the Destroyer, the question remains: Who is the hunter... and who is dog meat?

The compelling sequel to The Reindeer People , a saga of magic and triumph in an ancient world. Kerlew stared at the immense stone that jutted up from the tundra. Power radiated from it like heat from a fire. It attracted the boy and filled him with fear. And then he was alone. There was a brush of sound, of dark moving shadows and then the sudden flash of a glistening eye. He pressed his palms back against the stone’s rough surface and faced the night creatures that surrounded him. The magic is strong in Kerlew. Every day it grows, reaching out to the Wolf spirit that will be his guide. But the magic in Kerlew that calls to the beasts and to the spirit world also calls to Carp, the evil old shaman, who follows Kerlew and his mother, Tillu, across the frozen wastes. When he finds them, he will bind them to him, and shape Kerlew’s powers for his own uses

Westervelt Wolves -3.5 Jana thought she was through with Westervelt. Fleeing for her life thirty years ago, she's hidden as a human ever since. But a strangely worded Valentine delivered to her desk at work has given her pause. Malcolm never expected to find his mate working for a crooked company he was sent to investigate in New York City. But there she is. Now, on Valentine's Day, the two will battle their attraction for each other while taking down a conglomerate built for the sole purpose of destroying the Westervelt Wolves. Will love win the day?

In the wake of the Cataclysm, conflict has engulfed every corner of Azeroth. Hungering for more resources amid the turmoil, the Horde has pressed into Ashenvale to feed its burgeoning war machine. There, acting warchief Garrosh Hellscream has employed a brutal new tactic to conquer the region and crush its night elf defenders, a move that will cripple the Alliance’s power throughout the... Unaware of the disaster brewing in Ashenvale, the night elves’ legendary leaders, High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind and Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, conduct a summit near Darnassus in order to vote the proud worgen of Gilneas into the Alliance. However, resentment of Gilneas and its ruler, Genn Greymane, runs deep in Stormwind’s King Varian Wrynn. His refusal to forgive Genn for closing his nation off from the rest of the world years ago endangers more than just the summit: it threatens to unravel the Alliance itself. Varian’s animosity is only one of many unsettling developments in Darnassus. An uneasiness creeps over the once-immortal night elves as the first of them fall victim to the infirmities of age. While they cope with their mortality, tensions flare over the reintroduction of the Highborne, formerly the highest caste of night elf nobility, into their society. Many night elves are unable to pardon the Highborne for the destruction unleashed on Azeroth millennia ago by their reckless use of magic. When a murdered Highborne is discovered on the outskirts of Darnassus, Malfurion and Tyrande move to stop further bloodshed and unrest by appointing one of the night elves’ most cunning and skilled agents to find the killer: the renowned warden Maiev Shadowsong. Yet with all that is transpiring In Darnassus, the Alliance might be powerless to stop the relentless new warchief Garrosh from seizing the whole of Ashenvale

Раныль пытается убедить себя в том, что ещё не тронулась умом. Ну и что, что она время от времени бегает на «свиданки» с тем, кто мало внушает доверия? Это ведь только с виду он такой! А внутри — мягкий и пушистый. И словно в подтверждении её слов неподалёку слышится протяжно-призывный волчий вой. Раныль улыбается в предвкушении, поудобнее обхватывает лямку рюкзака и бесстрашно шагает в глубь лесной чащи

Investigator Vissarion Lom has been summoned to the capital in order to catch a terrorist --- and ordered to report directly to the head of the secret police. A totalitarian state, worn down by an endless war, must be seen to crush home-grown insurgents with an iron fist. But Lom discovers Mirgorod to be more corrupted than he imagined: a murky world of secret police and revolutionaries, cabaret clubs and doomed artists. Lom has been chosen because he is an outsider, not involved in the struggle for power within the party. And because of the sliver of angel stone implanted in his head. “Sentient water, censored artists, mechanical constructs, old-fashioned detective work, and the secret police are all woven together in this rich and fascinating tapestry.” “An amazing, fast-paced story in a fantasy world poised dangerously on the edge of quantum probability, a world where angels war with reality.” “I absolutely loved WOLFHOUND CENTURY. Higgins’s world is a truly original creation, Russian cosmism and Slavic mythology filtered through steampunk and le Carré. What really captured me was his beautiful style and language: his metaphors and associations flow smoothly like the waters of the Mir, and, like Lom without his angel stone, make you see the world in a new way.” “Like vintage Mieville or Vandermeer, but with all the violent narrative thriller drive of Fleming at his edgiest. I fell into Wolfhound Century and devoured it in three days flat. Peter Higgins is a great discovery, a gifted writer with a route map to some fascinating new dark corners of the imagination, and a fine addition to the contemporary fantasy canon.” The book trailer: http://youtu.be/9LhRbXG3Rt8 Peter Higgins read English at Oxford University and Queen’s, Ontario. He was a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford and worked in the British Civil Service. His short stories have appeared in Fantasy: Best of the Year 2007, Best New Fantasy 2, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, Zahir and Revelation, and in Russian translation in the St. Petersburg magazine Esli. He lives with his family in South Wales

Earth was only a primitive outpost, its people dubbed primitive “wolflings” by the rulers of the galactic empire. James Keil was sent to the High-Born rulers’ Throne World, with orders only to observe—until he cast away his orders from Earth and proved himself a Wolfling indeed

Wolf’s Magic is the story of Azriel Kane, fifth brother in the royal Westervelt wolf pack. Always different from his siblings, Azriel prefers to spend his time underground in a lab than out fighting battles to save the pack from destruction. In his own way, he feels he is contributing to the pack’s success. However, when fate plants his destined mate in a cage where he can’t ignore her, Az will be forced to face up the demons that have plagued him since childhood and be the shifter she needs him to be. Leah St. James has no idea who she is or how she came to be trapped in a cage in Azriel’s lab. The only thing she is certain about is that she is not a wolf and that she wants out of her false wolf body as soon as possible. Counting on Az to save her from the same doomed fate as the other wolves Az is given to study, from the distance of her cage she can see Az for who he really is and not the false front he presents to the world. But Kendrick Kane is not done with Westervelt and when he steps up his game to eliminate the Kanes from Westervelt, Az and Leah will need each other to discover the truth behind his evil plans, that is if Azriel can finally reveal the secret he has been keeping since he was a child. With Leah’s help, can Azriel finally take his place in the pack hierarchy or will they fail and lose Westervelt forever?

For the last ten years, shapeshifting mercenary Aralorn has led a dangerous existence — a far cry from her noble upbringing. Now she must return home under the most unfortunate circumstances. Her father, the Lyon of Lambshold, has passed away. But when Aralorn and her companion Wolf arrive, the combination of their magic uncovers something wonderful yet alarming — her father is not actually dead, but only appears so. Yet a dark mist is also very much alive within him... The Lyon of Lambshold has been ensorcelled by the ae'Magi, who's using him as a conduit to finally destroy Aralorn and Wolf. With her father as the pawn, can Aralorn overcome this mysterious sorcery? Or will she finally fall to the blackest of magic, losing not only her one true companion but also her life...?

The editors of Many Bloody Returns deliver the perfect howl-iday gift, with new tales from Patricia Briggs, Carrie Vaughn, and many more. New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur, and Carrie Vaughn — along with eleven other masters of the genre — offer all-new stories on werewolves and the holidays, a fresh variation on the concept that worked so well with birthdays and vampires in Many Bloody Returns. The holidays can bring out the beast in anyone. They are particularly hard for lycanthropes. Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner have harvested the scariest, funniest and saddest werewolf tales by an outstanding pack of authors, best read by the light of a full moon with a silver bullet close at hand. Whether wolfing down a holiday feast (use your imagination) or craving some hair of the dog on New Year's morning, the werewolves in these frighteningly original stories will surprise, delight, amuse, and scare the pants off readers who love a little wolfsbane with their mistletoe

Na farmie Dokuczliwych coś dziwnego zaczyna się dziać — z rzeki wyskakuje potwór, na ścieżce pojawia się jeździec bez głowy, a na wzgórzach postacie z koszmarów. I na dodatek Królowa kradnie małego braciszka Akwili — Bywarta (ale może był on wart ukradzenia). Akwila postanawia go odzyskać (choć bez małego płaksy w domu mogłoby być nieco spokojniej). Do walki posłuży jej patelnia, książka z magicznymi przepisami, która niegdyś należała do jej babci (tak naprawdę "Choroby owiec"), chyba przydałaby się jej jeszcze jakaś pomoc... — Na litość! A o nas nic nie powiesz, głupku?! ... no tak, oczywiście. Ma jeszcze pomoc Fik Mik Figli, czyli Wolnych Ciutludzi, bitnych złodziejaszków, małych błękitnych praludzików, którzy zostali wyrzuceni z Krainy Baśni za niestosowne zachowanie... Prześmiewcza mądra powieść czerpiąca pełnymi garściami ze świata wyobraźni, by wzbogacić Świat Dysku

They dive so humanity survives. Now they take to the sea. In the fourth installment of the award-winning and USA Today bestselling Hell Divers series, the Sea Wolf sets out to search for the Metal Islands. Leading the expedition is legendary Hell Diver Xavier Rodriguez. After enduring for a decade on the poisoned surface, his survival skills will be put to the test on the dangerous open seas. But storms, sea monsters, and the cannibalistic Cazadores aren’t the only threat to X and his small crew. Their mission will uncover hard truths about the history of the war that left humankind stranded in the air for centuries. And the fate of those still living on the airships might very well rest on this fragile and perilous journey to find a new home. Hell Divers IV: Wolves by Nicholas Sansbury Smith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAz1N8YmHa0

Amazon.com Review "Why would anyone jump out a window with a saltshaker?" A good question, especially when the suicide victim is Pasha Ivanov, a Moscow physicist-turned-billionaire businessman-a "New Russian" poster boy, if ever there was one-with several homes, a leggy 20-year-old girlfriend ("the kind [of blonde] who could summon the attention of a breeze"), and every reason to be contented in his middle age. So, wonders Senior Investigator Arkady Renko, in Martin Cruz Smith's Wolves Eat Dogs, what provoked Ivanov to take a header from his stylish 10th-floor apartment? And how does it relate to the shaker clutched in his dead hand or the hillock of table salt found on his closet floor? Renko, introduced in Smith's 1981 bestseller, Gorky Park, is a cop well out of sync with rapidly changing Russian society, "a difficult investigator, a holdover from the Soviet era, a man on the skids" whose determination to do more than go through the motions of criminal inquiries inevitably exasperates his superiors. Thus, when this saturnine detective declines to accept the verdict that Ivanov did himself in-who peppered that salt around the capitalist's premises, Renko still wants to know, and what about rumors of a security breach at Ivanov's apartment building?-he is exiled to the Ukrainian Zone of Exclusion, the "radioactive wasteland" surrounding Chernobyl, site of a notorious 1986 nuclear disaster and the place where, only a week after Ivanov's demise, his company's senior vice-president is found with his throat slit. There, among cynical scientists, entrepreneurial scavengers, and predators both two- and four-legged-an exclusive coterie of the rejected-Renko chews over the crimes on his plate. Unfortunately, the dosimeter that warns him of radiation exposure at Chernobyl does not also protect him from a pair of malevolent brothers, or a "damaged" woman doctor offering him mutually assured disappointment. Smith has a keen eye for the comical quirks of modern-day Russia -its chaotic roadways, voracious appetite for post-communist luxuries, and evolving ethics ("Russians used to kill for women or power, real reasons. Now they kill for money"). And this story's bleakly beautiful Ukrainian backdrop nicely complements the desperate hope of Renko's task. Still, the greatest strength of Wolves Eat Dogs (Smith's fifth series installment, after Havana Bay) is its characters, especially Arkady Renko, who despite his lugubrious nature continues to show a heart as expansive and unfathomable as the Siberia steppe. From Publishers Weekly Smith's melancholy, indefatigable Senior Investigator Arkady Renko has been exiled to some bitter venues in the past-including blistering-hot Cuba in Havana Bay and the icy Bering sea in Polar Star-but surely the strangest (and most fascinating) is his latest, the eerie, radioactive landscape of post-meltdown Chernobyl. Renko is called in to investigate the 10-story, plunge-to-the-pavement death of Pasha Ivanov, fabulously wealthy president of Moscow 's NoviRus corporation, whose death is declared a suicide by Renko's boss, Prosecutor Zurin. Renko, being Renko, isn't sure it's suicide and wonders about little details like the bloody handprints on the windowsill and the curious matter of the closet filled with 50 kilos of salt. And why is NoviRus's senior vice-president Lev Timofeyev's nose bleeding? Renko asks too many questions, so an annoyed Zurin sends him off to Chernobyl to investigate when Timofeyev turns up in the cemetery in a small Ukrainian town with his throat slit and his face chewed on by wolves. The cemetery lies within the dangerously radioactive 30-kilometer circle called the Zone of Exclusion, populated by a contingent of scientists, a detachment of soldiers and those-the elderly, the crooks, the demented-who have sneaked back to live in abandoned houses and apartments. The secret of Ivanov and Timofeyev's deaths lies somewhere in the Zone, and the dogged Renko, surrounded by wolves both animal and human, refuses to leave until he unravels the mystery. It's the Zone itself and the story of Chernobyl that supplies the riveting backbone of this novel. Renko races around the countryside on his Uralmoto motorcycle, listening always to the ominous ticking of his dosimeter as it counts the dangerous levels of radioactivity present in the food, the soil, the air and the people themselves as they lie, cheat, love, steal, kill and die

Lexi Weller’s vacation in England doesn't exactly start off all that great when she almost ends up getting into a car accident. But when the driver of the car she almost hits steps out to speak with her, she finds herself practically drooling over him. And before it's all over, Mr. Tall, Muscular and Good-looking asks Lexi out on a date Raedwald he hopes he hasn’t made a mistake by asking the sexy American out to dinner. Charged by the Anglo-Saxon god, Tiw, to protect mortals from the werewolves sired by Fenris the wolf, Raed knows he can’t put Lexi before his duty. But when Lexi comes to mean more to him than he ever imagined, Raed must find a way to explain what he is without scaring off the woman he never wants to let go

Wolves of the Calla continues the adventures of Roland, the last gunslinger and survivor of a civilized world that has "moved on." Roland's quest is ka, an inevitable destiny-to reach and perhaps save the Dark Tower, which stands at the center of everywhere and everywhen. This pursuit brings Roland, with the three others who've joined his quest, to Calla Bryn Sturgis, a town in the shadow of Thunderclap, beyond which lies the Dark Tower. Before advancing, however, they must face the evil wolves of Thunderclap, who threaten to destroy the Calla by abducting its young. With the recent mainstream success of the Harry Potter books, Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, and the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, serial fantasy is bigger than ever-and the exciting, action-packed Wolves of the Calla, delivered in a beautiful, illustrated edition, is sure to be an enormous treat for fans both new and old