Showing results by publisher "----RM Alexander" in Dark Fantasy

After years of clearing out the initial floors of dungeons so that famous teams could take the real prizes, I was around about ready to call it quits. But after getting myself dragged into the final floors of a legendary dungeon by a team of equally-legendary morons, I found myself as the only survivor – and the only one to claim the legendary prize on the dungeon’s final floor.

Over the course of two award-winning collections and a critically acclaimed novel, The Croning, Laird Barron has arisen as one of the strongest and most original literary voices in modern horror and the dark fantastic. Melding supernatural horror with hardboiled noir, espionage, and a scientific backbone, Barron's stories have garnered critical acclaim and have been reprinted in numerous year's best anthologies and nominated for multiple awards, including the Crawford, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, Theodore Sturgeon, and World Fantasy awards.

Vitus Adamson is falling apart. As a pre-deceased private investigator, he takes the prescription Atroxipine hourly to keep his undead body upright and functioning. Whenever he is injured, he seeks Niko, a bombshell mortician with bedroom eyes and a way with corpses, to piece him back together. Decomposition, however, is the least of his worries when two clients posing his most dangerous job yet appear at his door looking for their lost son.

Montana Coggeshall, duke of Coggeshall, defeater of dungeons, he of far fewer intelligence points than is probably recommended, is finally ready to start building his dukedom. He just needs one more thing before he can leave Osterstadt: a few hardworking friends to join him on this adventure. Well, and some lumber. And nails and whatnot. And enough food to get through the winter. And probably some more gold.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose - to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in order to save her kingdom. Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again. But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood - and her world - will be lost forever.

Steve and his companions have been offered a chance, the slimmest of hopes, that the UC—whatever that is—will protect the earth. That protection, offered as it is with the full knowledge that it could embroil billions in a new war? It's never going to come cheap. The UC wants something, and it's down to Steve to figure out how to pay that debt or survive without their sheltering hand. The greater galaxy is a harsh place, and in the eyes of those who battle to keep the flame of freedom alive another day, anyone who would give up their freedom to gain a little security?

In the wake of a crushing defeat, Tisaanah and Maxatarius have been ripped apart. Tisaanah is desperate to rescue Max from his imprisonment, even as her people's fight for freedom grows more treacherous. But within the walls of Ilyzath, Max's mind is a shadow of what it once was . . . leaving his past a mystery and his future at the mercy of Ara's new, ruthless queen. Meanwhile, in the Fey lands, Aefe has been dragged back into this world by a king who vows to destroy civilizations in her name. But even as her past returns to claim her, her former self is a stranger.

Even if I could forgive Florian, love is not what I need. I need him to finish what he started and destroy his enemy - my father. But now that Molkan has been exposed as a monster, something far deadlier creeps across Folkyn. To stop it, Molkan must be overthrown, and the journey provides Florian ample opportunity to sink deeper than my scars.

In the aftermath of the war between Pendrath and its neighbors, peace has finally come to Camelot. For Morgan Le Fay and her friends, the calm is short-lived. A storm grows on the horizon. As a terrible evil that has been waiting hundreds of years begins to sweep through the land, Morgan and Draven must race to the aid of their allies, leaving their youngest and most vulnerable new family member in the care of trusted friends.

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.

In the fifth and final novel in the Five Crowns of Okrith romantasy series from bestselling author A.K. Mulford, a young fae warrior is hellbent on winning the Eastern Court crown. But when her fated lover—and hated nemesis—Ersan enters the trials, she struggles to balance the competition and the chance at love. The crown is calling her name, but can her head bear the weight when passion sets her heart racing?

At a glance, the dwarves and gnomes of the Horkensaft Kingdom are two peoples who are worlds apart. The former are seen as hardcore traditionalists hell-bent on maintaining the status quo, while the latter only look ever forward and upward as they grasp at the future with both hands. And yet, these two seemingly opposing cultures serve as a counter-balance to each other, creating a civilization that draws upon the wisdom of the past to face new challenges.

The world is changing, and it needs a new Alpha. It needs me. I was doing well enough before the Apocalypse, but fast cars and penthouses mean nothing when the world changes into a wasteland filled with parasite-infested mutants. Now, the iron will that made me king of the boardroom is going to make me king of this new world. I am going to unlock my true power, I’m going to cultivate it, and I am going to dominate!

Cahan du Nahare is known as the forester - a humble man who can nonetheless navigate the dangerous Deepforest like no one else. But once he was more. Once he was a warrior. Udinny serves the goddess of the lost, a goddess of the small and helpless. When she ventures into the Deepforest to find a missing child, Cahan will be her guide. But in a land at war, in a forest full of monsters - Cahan will need to choose between his past life and the one he leads now - and his choice will have consequences for his entire world.

Growing up within the walls of Grave's Orphanage, Nica's imagination burned with fantastical stories. Including that of The Tearsmith, a mysterious craftsman, guilty of having forged all the fears and anxieties in the world. When at seventeen, she's adopted by Mr and Mrs Mulligan, Nica thinks she's leaving her world of dark fairy tales behind her. But the Mulligans also adopt Rigel, an orphan who is as mesmerising and handsome as he is troubled. They share a past filled with grief and isolation, and the ever-gentle Nica starts to fall for her forbidden love.

Young Rhea is a miller's daughter of low birth, so she is understandably surprised when a mysterious nobleman, Lord Crevan, shows up on her doorstep and proposes marriage. Since commoners don't turn down lords - no matter how sinister they may seem - Rhea is forced to agree to the engagement. Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding.

Arwen Valondale never expected to be the brave one, offering her life to save her brother's. Now she's been taken prisoner by the most dangerous kingdom on the continent, and made to use her rare magical abilities to heal the soldiers of the vicious Onyx King. Arwen knows better than to face the ancient, wicked woods that surround the castle on her own, which means working with a fellow prisoner might be her only path to freedom. Unfortunately, he's as infuriating as he is cunning-and seems to take twisted pleasure in playing on Arwen's deepest fears.

Since the 1970s, FantasticLand has been the theme park where "Fun is Guaranteed!" But when a hurricane ravages the Florida coast and isolates the park, the employees find it anything but fun. Five weeks later, the authorities who rescue the survivors encounter a scene of horror. Photos soon emerge online of heads on spikes outside of rides and viscera and human bones littering the gift shops, breaking records for hits, views, likes, clicks, and shares.

Silla Nordvig survived the Road of Bones. In the aftermath of her journey, her dreams of a simple life have been shattered. Beaten, betrayed, and reeling from the revelation of her true name, she flees Kopa with Reynir Galtung, the ruthless leader of the Bloodaxe Crew. Silla soon discovers Rey has been keeping secrets of his own, and they're forced into hiding together. Stuck in a shield-home with the murderous man she thought she knew, Silla forms a new plan: master the magic flowing through her veins to save her sister.

The surface world is a strange place for a young man who grew up in hell. Darren was just a boy when he and his mother were betrayed by paladins and chased beneath the Earth. There, with only his paladin's sigil and his quests to guide him, Darren grew from boy to man. Born in fire and blood, hell itself sculpted the perfect paladin.