Showing results by publisher "Blackstone Audio, Inc." in Epic

Is there more than one history of the world? This is the question Pierce Moffett is seeking to answer when, jilted and newly jobless, he gets off a bus by chance in the Faraway Hills and steps unawares into a story that has been awaiting him there. His search will bring him into contact with Rosie Rasmussen, another seeker marked by loss. And it will lead them both on a path toward the longed-for country of our oldest dreams and most unanswerable desires, toward a magnificent discovery.

In a world where magic has disappeared, rival nations vie for power in a continent devastated by war. So when a young farm girl named Livia demonstrates magical powers for the first time in a century, there are many across the land that will kill to obtain her power. Duke Gothelm's tallymen, the blood-soaked Qeltine Brotherhood, and cynical mercenary Josten Cade: All are searching for Livia and the power she wields. But Livia finds that guardians can come from the most unlikely places and that the old gods are returning to a world they abandoned.

Prince Gaborn, the Earth King, has defeated the forces arrayed against him each time before: the magical and human forces marshaled by Raj Ahten, who seeks immortality at any cost and has given up his humanity in trade; and the inhuman, innumerable, insectile hordes of the giant Reavers from under the Earth, whose unknowable motives are inimical to human life.

In 1524, in what is now Germany, hundreds of thousands of peasants revolt against the harsh treatment by their aristocratic overlords. Agnes, the daughter of one of these overlords, is not a typical 16th-century girl. She refuses to wear dresses and spends more time with her pet falcon than she does trying to attract potential suitors. In fact there is only one man who interests her: Mathis, a childhood friend whom she can never marry because of his lowly birth.

In the aftermath of the War with No Name, the Colony has been defeated, its queen lies dead, and the world left behind will never be the same. In her madness, the queen used a strange technology to uplift the surface animals, turning dogs and cats, bats and bears, pigs and wolves into intelligent, highly evolved creatures who rise up and kill their oppressors. And now, after years of bloodshed, these sentient beasts must learn to live alongside their sworn enemies - humans.

The sadistic Empress Porcia rules over a shattering empire. Risen from misty forests, a barbarian horde sweeps toward her capital. Across the southern sea, her brother builds an armada to slay her. In the cold north, young Princess Valentina seeks allies to destroy the Empire and rebuild the Republic. As the noose tightens around Porcia's neck, the empress musters her armies, willing to burn the world to protect her throne.

Alissa is steadily advancing in her magical studies with the last surviving Master at the legendary Hold. But she’s haunted by dreams - dreams revealing that other Masters have survived. Alissa’s dreams lead her to a distant island where she and a rescue party discover countless Masters, alive and part of a flourishing magical society. But instead of being welcomed, Alissa finds that she herself may need to be rescued. The Masters’ leader, Keribdis, believes that she should be Alissa’s teacher, whether Alissa likes it or not.

Aelar, a mighty nation, spreads its tentacles. Its oared galleys storm the seas, and the waters run red with blood. Its legionaries swarm desert ruins, smiting barbarian hordes. Its crosses line the roadsides, displaying the dying flesh of heroes. The powerful Sela family has avoided the empire until now. The family has carved out an idyllic life between sea and desert, ruling a bustling port, a thriving city, and lush vineyards.

A noble leader is dead. His five children, once heirs to a bustling port, are scattered around the Encircled Sea. Their kingdom, the ancient land of Zohar, has fallen to the cruel Aelarian Empire. As the dust settles, new fires kindle. In a shattering world, the pieces are up for grabs. Here fleets clash at sea, and desert warriors battle among dunes and ancient ruins; cloaked conspirators gather in shadowy alleyways, vowing to slay their emperor; and a girl seeks the magic of light beyond guardians of shadow.

Set in the world of Larry Niven’s popular The Magic Goes Away, The Burning City transports listeners to an enchanted and ancient city bearing a provocative resemblance to our own modern society. There, Yangin-Atep, the volatile and voracious god of fire, alternately protects and destroys the city’s denizens. In Tep’s Town, nothing can burn indoors, and no fire can start - except when the Burning comes upon the city. At that time the people, possessed by Yangin-Atep, set their own town ablaze in a riotous orgy of destruction that often comes without warning

The old emperor is dead. His daughter, the sadistic Porcia Octavius, has won a bloodthirsty battle for the crown. But she will not rest easy on her throne. Already her brother sails to foreign lands, seeking to build an army and dethrone her. In a southern savanna province, a young queen rises up against the Empire. In northern misty forests, barbarian tribes gather for war. In Zohar, the eastern desert, the hero Epher Sela joins a rebellion against the vicious empress.

Former house cat turned war hero Mort(e) is famous for taking on the most dangerous missions and fighting the dreaded human bioweapon EMSAH. But the true motivation behind Mort(e)'s recklessness is his ongoing search for a pretransformation friend - a dog named Sheba. When he receives a mysterious message from the dwindling human resistance claiming Sheba is alive, he begins a journey that will take him from the remaining human strongholds to the heart of the Colony.

As the plum blossom winds herald spring in the Empire of Wa, Initiate Brother Shuyun, spiritual advisor to Lord Shonto, the military governor of the northernmost province of Seh, receives a shocking message from the barbarian lands. The massive army of the Golden Khan is poised at their border. Forced to retreat south, Lord Shonto is caught between the pursuing barbarian hordes and his own hostile emperor’s Imperial Army.

Enter the city of Hart's Hope, ruled by gods both powerful and indifferent, riddled with sorcery and revenge. The city was captured by a rebellious lord, Palicrovol, who overthrew the cruel king, Nasilee, hated by his people. Palicrovol, too, was cruel, as befitted a king. He took the true mantle of kinghood by forcing Asineth, now Queen by her father's death, to marry him, raping her to consummate the marriage.

Plague and warfare have swept across the Orient, ravaging the ancient kingdom of Wa, devastating the royal line, and leaving a new dynasty on the throne—a new emperor, Akantsu, filled with fear of all who might seek to wrest the empire from his grasp. Among those out of favor with the new liege is the Order of the Botahist Monks, whose mystical powers have enabled them to hold positions as spiritual advisors to the imperial court for nearly ten centuries.

Zohar, an ancient land of sand and splendor, rallies for its last stand. The genocidal Aelarian Empire sends its legions to destroy the small desert kingdom. King Epher and his band of rebels stand against a fire they cannot extinguish. And it is Claudia herself, once Epher's paramour, who leads the legions tasked with killing him. Across the sea, in the Empire's capital, a cruel new emperor has seized power. Atalia Sela, once the leader of a barbarian horde, now fights in the arena as a gladiator. Ofeer Sela, once a concubine and now a rebel, seeks to free her sister.

The world reels from the assassination of the Mad Empress. The Aelarian Empire is cracking. From the ashes of a burnt world, warlords, barbarians, and rebels emerge to claim the remains. Outside the walls of Aelar, different factions converge. Tribal warriors prepare to shatter the gates. Valentina, a senator's daughter, seeks to enter the city and rebuild the Republic. Prince Seneca, the last scion of a mighty house, battles his rivals to the throne and strives to hold the Empire together. Meanwhile, within the walls, dark magic and conspiracies brew.

The Beladors finally have a fierce leader in Daegan, their new dragon king, but life is far from secure now that they've inherited his enemies. Quinn, Evalle, Storm, and friends race to stop a group of vigilantes killing nonhumans before the preternatural world erupts into war - if they can't prove Beladors aren't guilty of the crimes. The team soon discovers someone is trying to turn the entire VIPER preternatural coalition against the Beladors, but who? Or is this all about setting an elaborate trap for Daegan?

A fragile period of peace between the eternally warring kingdoms of Oakharn and Langmyr is shattered when a surprise massacre fueled by bloodmagic ravages the Langmyrne border village of Willowfield, killing its inhabitants—including a visiting Oakharne lord and his family—and leaving behind a scene so grisly that even the carrion eaters avoid its desecrated earth.

Return to the “vivid and unusual” ( Kirkus Reviews) world of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s The Burning City, where the fire god has retreated into myth, leaving the residents of Tep’s Town unprotected for the first time in their history. Unfortunately, a fiery fate isn’t the only danger Tep’s Town is facing. Monsters are coming forth from the desert - great birds with blades instead of wings, driven by some unknown force. Although they can be killed, the threat these “terror birds” pose is worse than death.