Epic Magic

Hot on the heels of Gardner Dozois's acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf... and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda... and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore... and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped - or misshaped - by the potent magic they seek to wield.

Finn Harris should have been the one to die. But he wasn't - his wife took his place. What was worse, he only had himself and his company to blame. They let their passion outpace their prudence, determined to revolutionize the world. While all innovation comes with a price, he never imagined it would cost him Rachael. Nearly a decade later, Finn is content to hole himself up and wait out the rest of his life. That is, until his daughter intervenes, forcing him out of his grief and into a new virtual reality game developed by his old employer. They're calling it Awaken Online.

Nora knows she needs to move on. And forget about magic. She's back in graduate school, and her life is going surprisingly well. She doesn't need to think about other worlds, about enchantments and demons, or about magicians - even though she once aspired to become one herself. Most of all, she really should forget the magician Aruendiel, who shared the secrets of magic with her but fiercely guarded the deepest secrets of his heart. Then a chance encounter gives Nora the opportunity to slip between worlds again - and the next phase of her magical education begins.

Wizardwood, a sentient wood. The most precious commodity in the world. Like many legendary wares, it comes only from the Rain River Wilds. But how can one trade with the Rain Wilders, when only a liveship, fashioned from wizardwood, can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain River? Rare and valuable, a liveship will quicken only when three members, from successive generations, have died on board. The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening, as Althea Vestrit’s father is carried on deck in his death-throes.

Sixteen-year-old Augum Stone is a warlock prodigy suffocating under the weight of expectations. Students idolize him. Nobles plot to exploit him. Commoners think he's a miracle-maker. And with invasion looming, his already war-weakened kingdom expects him to be its champion. But Augum doesn't want to be a pawn in someone else's game. He'll forge his own path: that of the Arcaner - not a warlock or a knight, but a lethal combination of both.

Death was just the beginning. In a world where dragons blacken the skies and ancient magic runs deep, one man holds the key to salvation—but he can't remember who he is. Stone awakens in a grave with no memory, in a realm being torn apart by the tyrannical King Arken Shadowborn and his army of dragon riders. But Stone is more than just another lost soul in the war-ravaged Worforgon. He is the prophecy made flesh, the one destined to end Shadowborn's reign of terror. Haunted by fragments of memories he can't piece together and powers he barely understands, Stone joins forces with the ...

Kullen is the emperor’s assassin. The sharp hand of justice. The Black Talon. Gifted a soul-forged bond with his dragon, Umbris, Kullen is tasked with hunting any and all who oppose the empire. But when the secretive Crimson Fang murders two noblemen before his very eyes, Kullen must discover the truth of who they are and what they want. What he uncovers is a web of lies and deceit spiraling into the depths of Dimvein.

Landover was a genuine magic kingdom, with fairy folk and wizardry, just as the advertisement has promised. But after he purchased it, Ben Holiday learned that there were a few details the ad had failed to mention. The kingdom was in ruin. The Barons refused to recognize a king, and the peasants were without hope. A dragon was laying waste the countryside, while an evil witch plotted to destroy everything.

Kyrus had lived a quiet life as a scribe until his dreams begin seeping into his waking life. Fanciful tales of magic and battle turn out to be real. In his sleep, he witnesses the adventures of his twin. Kyrus is swept up in the intrigues of those who already know of this connection between worlds. As his knowledge of the two worlds grows, so does his entanglement in the intrigues between them. Kyrus discovers friends, lovers, and adversaries among the twinborn. His knowledge of magic grows until he becomes a valuable pawn for masterminds of plots that threaten empires.

Tad doesn't have any memory before waking up on the beach, apparently the sole survivor of a shipwreck. All he has from his past is a necklace with a symbol no one recognizes. After growing up in the orphanage, he takes a job managing inventory for a merchant catering to adventurers. He knows he's a bit off, the world just smells different to him. When he's confronted by a group of adventurers with more power than ethics, he learns that it's been magic he is smelling all along.

Jonathan Thomas Meriweather is a typical college student, interested in girls, music, and an occasional taste of reefer. But when a journey through an interdimensional portal lands him in a world of talking animals and ominous sorcery, he finds he is on a very different trip indeed. Here, when he plays a strange instrument called a duar, peculiar things happen: powerful magic that may be the only way to stop a dark force that threatens his new world - and his old one.

The brutality of war was all Ian Troy had ever known. Peace was all he ever wanted. Fate had other plans when it placed the Crown of Stones, an ancient artifact of untold power, into his battle-weary hands. With one reckless wish, he ended a conflict that had been tearing the realms apart since before he was born—and paid a terrible price. A decade later, Ian is still haunted by that tragic day. Running from the blood in his veins and on his hands, he struggles to forget—what he’s done and what he is.

Even before our heroes discovered a portal to other realms, Jak Freedar wanted to seek out powerful allies to help overthrow the tyrannical wizard rulers of his home world. Instead, he chanced across a dragon egg and is now the surrogate father of a hatchling. Since he found the egg, taking care of the young dragon is his responsibility. Even as King Uthari forces the team to prepare for another mission, Jak must do his best not only to care for the hatchling, but to keep it safe from those who want to use it for their own gain.

Selene’s absence has raised suspicion among her friends and Will’s father-in-law, the king, is now directing his ire at the obvious culprit: his daughter’s new husband. Meanwhile, the citizens of Cerria have begun disappearing and a shadowy figure is stalking Will’s sister, Laina.

The battle grows dire. The death toll rises. The end is nigh. Natisse, believing Kullen has fallen to a traitor’s blade, fights on to honor his memory and to complete his final mission: to save their Empire from the enemy fleet threatening destruction. Together with Golgoth, she must stand before the very fires of Hell to protect the city and people she has come to love.

When Zareth was first reborn into a strange new world of magic and wonder, he was ecstatic. He’d expected to go on to live an exciting life filled with danger and adventure. Instead, Zareth spends much of his new life on the streets of Tal’Qamar before eventually becoming a Cultist to Cerebon, God of Flesh and Transformation, where he spends most of his time helping rich women smoothen their skin.

I thought I understood power. My parents taught me that magic attracts equal danger, and everything I've seen since becoming a demon contractor confirms it. I've witnessed how power twists and corrupts - and I've tasted power no human should wield. I thought I knew greed. Ambition and avarice drove my family into hiding. My parents died for someone else's greed. I've never hunted anything in my life, but now I'm hunting their killer - with my demon's help. I thought I'd seen evil. But with each step closer to my parents' murderer, I'm uncovering a different sort of evil.

The Empire’s ancient foes have come to destroy, bringing with them threats new and old. The Blood Clan pirates and the savage Hudar Horde cavalry are joined by the magic of the Vandil, long believed lost to the ages. Kullen and Natisse must fight to preserve the threads that hold Dimvein together. Only together can they and their allies both high and low keep the enemy from burning everything they’ve built to the ground. It’s a race to the end, blades slashing and fire raging.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

She dares not reveal her powers. He desperately needs her aid. Together, will they spark a war between good and evil? Princess Rella is desperate to free her brother from the citadel. So she roams the streets disguised as a boy in search of the human warrior she needs to complete her plan. But when the light fae royal agrees to also rescue a knight's family in exchange for his help, she triggers a cascade of disaster that could destroy their realm. Dagstyrr of Halfenhaw will do anything to spring his three siblings from the vizier's ugly prison. But he's shocked when the dirty waif he ...