Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Epic

The sequel to Bound in Blood and exciting sixth entry in the Godstalker Chronicles by epic fantasy world-builder extraordinaire, P. C. Hodgell. A droll heroine born to one day battle a world-destroying god fights her way through deadly plots and challenges at a warrior's academy to graduate and move forward to her destiny. Jame is one of the last of the Kencyrath line, born to battle a world-destroying Lord of Darkness and resuscitate her ancestral heritage. Jame's youth was spent hard and low in a desert wasteland.

Obedience. Self-restraint. Endurance. Silence. These are the duties of a Highborn lady, and like the veils, masks, and tight-fitting underskirts female Kencyr students are obliged to wear, Jame finds them damnably constricting. Sent here by her brother Torisen, Highlord of the Kencyrath, she has tried valiantly to fit in, but throws the quiet Women's Halls into an uproar. It's not entirely Jame's fault, though. While Tori's vain and vicious consort treats her like an underling, the Kencyr Matriarchs, determined to winnow out her secrets, scheme to use her to their own advantage.

Nothing ever goes easily for Jame, least of all this journey. As hints of the past she has forgotten - of dark and horrid years in the house of Gerridon, betrayer of her people, the Kencyrath, and her god-come to the surface, she encounters changers from the house of Gerridon, wanting to bring her back into that dark place. Arrin-ken, catlike creatures who are nevertheless a part of her own people, find and judge her.

Lyonesse: a world formed by magic, where a dark power struggle is underway between an ancient sorceress with her shadow army and the human subjects of Lyonesse's power-mad wizard. The only spark of hope is a prophecy that tells of a Defender who will one day come and set things to right. Young Meb doesn't think she's obligated to be the prophesied Defender of Lyonesse, but she is adept at the universe-folding skill of Planomancy and has been trained by a world-walking troubleshooter of the multiverse, the great Dragon Fionn himself.

In the wake of the events of Black Tide Son, Hart flees into pirate-infested waters to shelter on the island where former rogue James Demery and the Fleetbreaker, Anne Firth, now rule. Reeling from their discoveries about the truths of the Mereish-Aeadine war, Mary and Sam hover on the precipice of a terrible, world-altering choice—they can stay silent and maintain their good names, or they can speak out, and risk igniting total war across the Winter Sea.

The tiny Norwegian town was meant to offer answers. Instead, Liv arrives to find a tale older than time—eerily familiar, filled with ancient secrets and perilous desire. In this new adult fantasy that fuses the mythic mystery of American Gods with the achingly impossible romance of The Cruel Prince, the legends of the past are never truly dead and buried.

Emrael Ire saved his brother and thwarted the Fallen God once, but in so doing has put himself and his followers in peril. Their daring rescue has ignited a war with the United Provinces and their sinister Malithii allies. Facing vastly superior numbers, Emrael launches a bold military offensive, striking at the heart of the provinces. If his people are to avoid annihilation, they must first liberate his ancestral homeland of Iraea and convince the people to fight at his side. Emrael’s true battle is against the Fallen God himself. But how does one fight a god with seemingly limitless power?

For years, Thom Darkfell has used his cartography skills to advise Lomair's king of the country's shifting borders. A valued academic, Thom is excluded from the military drafts until whispers of dark abominations and mass casualties reach the king's ears. The resulting conscription thrusts Thom into Lomair's losing army. A realist, Thom ignores the wild myths circling through the ranks-until a monster's jaws snap through the folds of reality and crush a man before Thom's eyes. With his dying breath, the Realm Walker passes an impossible task to Thom.

Jamethiel Knorth, Priest’s Bane and Dream-Weaver, has returned victorious from Tai-tastigon, but trouble dogs the Kencyrath. There is intrigue among the Highborn. The Randir and his allies want the larger houses to decide for all nine, which would strip the Highlordship from the Knorth. At Omiroth, a senile king struggles against his venal son-in-law—but if neither of these can rule, the next in line is a mother-dominated child.

After surviving the schemes of a vengeful goddess and learning some shattering truths about her former life, the warrior Tyn feels estranged from her role guarding her ruler. Grappling with knowledge of her identity, she unleashes her frustration on all the wrong people. When an old enemy returns wielding an unstoppable, realm-crushing weapon and Tyn is swept up in the path of destruction, she must make a choice about who she is and who she wants to be.

Masks, the first novel in a mesmerizing new fantasy series, draws readers into a world in which cataclysmic events have left the Autarchy of Aygrima - the one land blessed with magical resources - cut off from its former trading partners across the waters, not knowing if any of those distant peoples still live. Yet under the rule of the Autarch, Aygrima survives. And thanks to the creation of the Masks and the vigilance of the Autarch’s Watchers, no one can threaten the security of the empire.

In Masks, Mara Holdfast's life changed forever. As the daughter of the Autarch’s Master Maskmaker, she had a clearly defined future: a quiet, ordered life in the capital, making Masks with her father and doing work important to the ruling Autarch. But when her Mask, specially made by her own father, cracked and fell to pieces during her Masking ceremony, Mara was exiled from everything she once knew.Now she has become part of an underground rebellion, rejecting the unjust rules of a Masked society.

The Acrasian army has swept through Eledore, nearly massacring the entire race in fear and hatred of the magic they possess. This same magic is all that was keeping the demon incursion at bay, but now the great evil that was banished is seeping into the world. Watchers are formed to warn of any sightings of the demons, but little can be done if one encounters them in shadow or at night.

The great Stormhawk - Bourshkanya's paranoid, fascist leader - is seemingly unkillable, but for the rebellion to succeed, he must die. Celka Prochazka uses magic in ways no one believed possible. She could be the perfect resistance assassin - if she can avoid being discovered as a traitor. Gerrit Kladivo, the Stormhawk's son, is determined to end his father's tyrannical rule. But to get Celka close enough to his father, he must first prove unflinching loyalty to the regime.

Cadrith Elanis has returned to Tralodren, picking up where he left off centuries before. And while Cadrissa isn't sure how she fits into his plans, her abduction has left her with little hope of escape. Meanwhile, the other mercenaries have scattered. They did their job, received their pay, and now just want to live their lives. But events start pulling them back to each other for something grander than their own imaginations and fears can envision. But that's just the start of still more revelations and trials to come.

Ruling with an iron hand, the church has eliminated the ancient pagan ways. Yet demonic gheists terrorize the land, hunted by the Inquisition, while age-old hatreds rage between the North and the South. Three heroes - Malcolm and Ian Blakeley and Gwendolyn Adair - must end the bloodshed before chaos is unleashed.

In the ancient moors of Scotland, the king of Calidon lies on his deathbed, cursed by a ring that cannot be removed from his finger. When a mysterious fey stranger appears to save the king, he also carries a secret that could tear the royal family apart. The kingdom's only hope will lie with two young men raised worlds apart. Aric is the beloved heir to the throne of Calidon; Albaric is clearly of noble origin yet strangely out of place. The Oddling Prince is a tale of brothers whose love and loyalty to each other defies impending warfare, sundering seas, fated hatred, and the very course of time itself.

Lady Shona, the newly crowned queen of the realm, is a leader without a throne. Pursued relentlessly by a dark force, her small contingent of loyal followers must make a difficult choice - flee or fight. Determined to save her land from nefarious threats, Lady Shona decides that she must seek out the enemy and attack them head-on - a strategy that leads back to the region of the Three Valleys, where Hyam was born.

Life for Hyam is bittersweet. Admired by the citizens of Falmouth for his heroic rescue mission, he cherishes these peaceful days with Joelle by his side. Yet grief over the loss of his magical skills during the great Battle of Emporis threatens to engulf him. Sometimes he even wishes he had never known magic at all. When Hyam comes into possession of an ancient Milantian scroll, he is thrilled to feel the surge of power that courses through him whenever he touches it. But what he discerns in the text could mean war.

Ruling with an iron hand, the church has eliminated the ancient pagan ways. Yet demonic gheists terrorize the land, hunted by the Inquisition, while age-old hatreds rage between the north and the south. Three heroes - Malcolm and Ian Blakeley and Gwendolyn Adair - must end the bloodshed before chaos is unleashed.