Fantasy Realism

They've shared our planet with us since the dawn of History, but they want us out. To reclaim lordship over the Earth, they mean to steer us into self-annihilation. As the secret War of the Shadows unravels under our very noses, we who are mere flesh and blood cannot fathom the real causes behind our many wars and the economic powers that would senselessly lead the world into an environmental apocalypse. Nevertheless, we’re here, and we have our part to play in this multi-millennial conflict that began before recorded History. Understand me when I say that every time you’ve heard of ...

Moonlight Bay is a magical place—or it was once. After a tragic death mars the town, the pink and lavender waters in the bay turn gray, and the forest that was a refuge for newcomers becomes a scourge to the townspeople. Almost overnight, the entire town seems devoid of life and energy. The tourists have stopped coming. And the people in the town are struggling.

This Audible production expertly brings to life Salman Rushdie’s postcolonial masterpiece Midnight’s Children, available for the first time unabridged in audio. Written in the magical-realist style that Rushdie is renowned for, Midnight’s Children follows Saleem Sinai - a child gifted with extraordinary powers after being born at the exact moment India becomes independent. The captivating events that unfold act as an allegory for India’s transition from colonialism to independence as Saleem finds himself 'handcuffed to history', with his fate entwined with that of his newly independent state.

Even a Gargoyle can't soften a heart of stone. Eilener Tanager is one of the most notorious men in the Beneath—the only male Spellsinger in existence, able to make music into magic. They call him the Sinker of Continents and, perhaps not so loudly, a coldhearted killer. His looks are just as deadly and his appetite for life is ravenous. Entire civilizations have fallen prey to his whims. And I've been assigned the task of looking after him during his visit to the Oregon Zone. I'm a Gargoyle. I play rough and love rougher. But Eilener has been around for thousands of years. He has skills ...

To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. Roses grow out of Miel's wrist, and rumors say that she spilled out of a water tower when she was five. Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in the trees and for how little anyone knows about his life before he and his mother moved to town. But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches.

I’d never played a game before, I’d never seen the point. On the first day, I leveled up. It was an intense feeling of euphoric pleasure. By the end of the week, I’d forgotten about my other life. My name is Alexa Drey. This game has become my world. I fight for Barakdor.

A killer has come to Isle, and suddenly the grand reopening of Tilly Hudgins' family hotel has gone from celebration to crime scene. Tilly Hudgins has poured her heart and soul into restoring her family's historic beachfront hotel. With her sassy familiar, Smudge, offering commentary at every turn, and her well-meaning but meddlesome Aunt Pearl "helping" in her own chaotic way, Tilly's grand reopening weekend should be perfect. That is, until a local real estate developer turns up face-down on the hotel’s lawn—very much dead and very much on Tilly's property. With the local paper ...

Jordan is a step closer to uncovering the mystery of her mother's disappearance. When the locket with her mother's portrait inside begins to behave strangely, she learns that what seems a simple family heirloom is actually a magic compass. Following the locket means there is no turning back. Jordan finds herself running for her life from someone she expected would welcome her with open arms.

A magical novel, based on a Japanese folk tale, that imagines how the life of a broken-hearted man is transformed when he rescues an injured white crane that has landed in his backyard. George Duncan is an American living and working in London. At 48, he owns a small print shop, is divorced, and lonelier than he realizes. All of the women with whom he has relationships eventually leave him for being too nice. But one night he is woken by an astonishing sound - a terrific keening, which is coming from somewhere in his garden. When he investigates he finds a great white crane....

Happily ever after is just another beginning. Five years after the birth of her children, Queen Seren Firethorn is enjoying life as a wife to four amazing men and a mother to four beautiful children. But this fairy queen was never meant to sit idly on a throne. Her work may be done with the Goddess Danu, but Seren is part human and as such, she's also bound Danu's twin brother, Anu. The God of Earth is far from done with the Twilight Princess. Anu calls upon the ex-Ambassador to take up her sword again and fight for his people. A thief has stolen a Fey relic, one that grants wishes, but ...

Cat got your tongue? When Elaria's friend rescues a nymph from one of the most powerful crime families in the Beneath, the Spellsinger and her men are compelled to help. To free her cat-shifter friend from the vengeance of the Demos Family, Elaria will have to navigate the corrupt circles of the crime syndicate but what she finds along the way may lead to her own corruption. Can the Spellsinger stay true to who she is or will she lose herself entirely? Spellsing in order:1.The Last Lullaby 2. A Symphony of Sirens 3. A Harmony of Hearts 4. Primeval Prelude 5. Ballad of Blood 6. A Deadly Duet...

Beneath the serene facade of Twin Pines, an ancient evil waits in the shadows. For Emma Flowers, a troubled teenager grappling with her father's mysterious disappearance and her mother's overbearing nature, life has become a labyrinth of bad moods and unanswered questions. Then, after a night of bad storms, Emma finds her neighbor’s dog dead in the middle of the street. As the mystery intensifies, teenagers around town begin falling into coma-like, nightmare states. As the creature moves in on Emma, she begins to uncover the evil’s origins, discovering dark parts of her own past in the ...

Kendis – Hear no evil I was fired in front of a client for being late for a meeting. The client happens to be my dream-worthy one-night stand who I ditched. As despair sets in, he hires me. Although it happened in high school, Jason hasn’t forgiven me. He controls and owns the company. And anything he touches. Including me. Jason’s intense eyes watch me like he can see my secrets. I’m not immune to the way his chocolate muscles ripple. Electricity tickles my spine when he touches my hand. But we must work together and keep our hands and lips off each other. His words are dirtier ...

What does it mean to be other? What does it mean to love in a world determined to keep us apart? These questions murmur in the heart of each of Brenda Peynado’s strange and singular stories. Threaded with magic, transcending time and place, these stories explore what it means to cross borders and break down walls, personally and politically.

What if your own death gave you the power to create anything you wanted? Amidst the fire and bullets of World War 2, a young soldier finds himself transported to a mysterious place, Given the power to create a new world for himself and his loved ones, Rael must grapple with being torn being torn between the idyll he has been gifted and the conflict ravaged world he has left behind. Feeling both unimaginable joy and tragedy, Rael is also burdened with the knowledge that he can rescue innocent people from terrible fates - but the cost may be more than he can bear. How can Rael overcome his ...

Better the enemy you know than the enemy you don't. Queen Morgana presents me to her people as the heiress to the throne. Meanwhile, my earthly friends and I are settling into the day-to-day life of this world. But we all know what is coming. King Auberon is hellbent on replacing Morgana on the Avalonian throne. As the key component in a desperate bargain for peace, I’m the only one who can stop the impending war. A war I fear will tear the magical realm of Gwyn Fanon to shreds. Auberon is not the only threat, however, and I can hardly separate friend from foe anymore, as invisible ...

Happily Ever After College has been churning out fairy godmothers for centuries. But their outdated curriculum can’t keep up with the modern world. They need something edgy. Something new - something to keep true love alive. They need Paris Beaufont. However, this fairy loses her lunch if she watches a romantic comedy. Love songs give her hives. She punched the last guy who tried to flirt with her. Needless to say, Paris Beaufont isn’t the romantic type. But, she’s going to have to learn how to create budding love for others, or she’s going to jail.

Paul Armstead is your average American senior citizen and electrical engineer. He's 61 years old, unremarkably unattractive, and a self-proclaimed science fiction nut. He's lived the American dream in drab, typical fashion. So how does he end up fleeing from one end of the world to the other, dodging government dragnets; evil, nightmarish monsters known as the Oni; good wizards; bad wizards; beautiful women; spies; and wizardly spells? Well, it is entirely the genie's fault....

There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest or her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world - and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands.

We first met the Owens in the glorious novel Practical Magic. We discovered the tragedy of the Owens siblings in Rules of Magic. Now we learn how it all began...with a baby abandoned in a snowy English field in the 1600s. Under the care of gentle Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the 'Unnamed Arts'. Maria has a gift for them - a gift that may well prove her undoing. When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she invokes the curse that will haunt her family for centuries. Because magic has rules, and they must be followed.