Magical Realism Fantasy

Listening to John Crowley's stories is to see almost-familiar lives running parallel to our own, secret histories that never quite happened, memories that might be real or might be invented. In the 13 stories collected here, Crowley sets his imagination free to roam from a 20th-century Shakespeare festival to spring break at a future Yale in his Edgar Award-winning story "Spring Break". And in the previously unpublished "Anosognosia", the world brought about by one John C.'s high-school accident may or may not exist.

I put out fires. He ignites them. When a naked man stumbled out of the wildfire we'd been battling for over a week, I figured he'd escaped from some psych ward in the middle of nowhere. We all did. Who else walks barefoot through hell with a grin on his face? But then Kaspian did the impossible. He stopped the fire—snapped his fingers, and it died. You save a firefighter’s life, and you become more than a mystery. You become family. After that, I didn’t care if he was a lunatic, an alien, or the Dragon he claimed to be. Family is family. So I brought the naked man home. And slowly, ...

Among the ashes, you can find an ember. After I lost Ara, it felt as if my world had been burned to ash. But among those ashes, I found an ember—myself. I'm now more determined than ever to end this war. I'm going to free Aranren from Death's cage and that will free us all. No more fighting. No more fearing for the lives of my friends and loved ones. Peace. It's the reward every warrior deserves. And I'm going to get it for all of Varr. All I need is one more lover to give me the strength to conquer Death. I've even chosen him. But Lord Vexen is true to his name and is being difficult. I ...

A cursed violin, a witch with a shattered past, and the enemy sworn to silence her magic. Isadora Valen hides her power behind sugared pastries and enchantments whispered into the crust. But when forbidden magic flares during the Veil Festival, she’s marked by the realm’s most sacred relic—and by the man ordered to destroy her. Lachlan Daeven is a royal warden bound by duty and scarred by betrayal. Hunting rogue mages is what he does best. But when Isadora’s magic intertwines with his own, a soulbond sparks—violent, undeniable, and impossible to sever. She’s a fugitive with a ...

Five years ago, Nora Wilder disappeared. The older of her two daughters, Zadie, should have seen it coming, because she can literally see things coming. But not even her psychic abilities were able to prevent their mother from vanishing one morning. Zadie’s estranged younger sister, Finn, can’t see into the future, but she has an uncannily good memory, so good that she remembers not only her own memories, but the echoes of memories other people have left behind. On the afternoon of her graduation party, Finn is seized by an “echo” more powerful than anything she’s experienced before.

Magic most definitely resides in the Maine summerhouse where the mysterious Madame Zoya has granted the innermost wishes of its visitors. Now, three women have come to this special place with one thing in common: a painful past they would each like to rewrite. Amy, who hides a heartbreaking loss behind her seemingly perfect marriage and family...Faith, a widow in her 30s whose deepest grief is for a man from years ago...and Zoe, an artist shunned by her hometown for reasons she doesn’t know after a traumatic night erased her memory.

Cursed. Maisie Cothay has never known the feel of human flesh: born with the power to kill or resurrect at her slightest touch, she has spent her childhood sequestered in her family’s manor at the edge of a mysterious forest. Maisie’s father, an anthropologist who sees her as more experiment than daughter, has warned Maisie not to venture into the wood. Locals talk of men disappearing within, emerging with addled minds and strange stories.

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 ...

The fate of the world hangs on my heart. The planet of Varr has been at war for centuries. A mage known as the Corrupter magically enslaves humans and uses them as his soldiers against the immortal races. As a human, I should be mortal, magicless, and susceptible to the Corrupter's Death Magic. I am none of those things. I was born with magic, making me immune to corruption, and I recently discovered that I'm also immortal. I was also born with a destiny. I'm supposed to unite and empower Wraith Lords—the magical warriors blessed by the Goddess to fight the Corrupter. You wouldn't think ...

Being dead isn't all it's cracked up to be, and nobody knows that better than Cora Hart. All it took was one wrong move, and she was on the wrong side of mortality. But a coven of ancient witches offers her a deal she can't refuse—temporary life in exchange for solving a murder—so she finds herself reluctantly breathing again. Cora has been fighting monsters all her life, so finding one bad guy in her hometown of Leap Point should be easy. She'll have to crack the case of Florence Whitaker, a peculiar librarian found dead in her cottage, clutching a cursed locket that's steeped in dark ...

Orphaned young, Ming Tsu, the son of Chinese immigrants, is raised by the notorious leader of a California crime syndicate, who trains him to be his deadly enforcer. But when Ming falls in love with Ada, the daughter of a powerful railroad magnate, and the two elope, he seizes the opportunity to escape to a different life. Soon after, in a violent raid, the tycoon's henchmen kidnap Ada and conscript Ming into service for the Central Pacific Railroad. Battered and yet defiant, Ming partners with a blind clairvoyant. Together the two set out to rescue his wife and to exact revenge.

Cosmopolitan Magazine calls Addison's books..."easy, frothy fun!" Addictive from start to finish! The Celestra series has been optioned for film by 20th Century Fox! A halfbreed angel who can read minds, one too many love interests, and an entire faction of angels who are out to kill her—living on Paragon Island can be deadly. From NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Addison Moore. From New York Times Bestseller Addison Moore comes a story of a girl who leads the most powerful angelic faction of them all and her fight to hang onto both her power and the ...

In the Old Country, they called them the Gentry: ancient spirits of the land, magical, amoral, and dangerous. When the Irish emigrated to North America, some of the Gentry followed...only to find that the New World already had spirits of its own, called manitou and other such names by the Native tribes. Now generations have passed, and the Irish have made homes in the new land, but the Gentry still wander homeless on the city streets. Gathering in the city shadows, they bide their time and dream of power.

In the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an, an amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. These creatures live alongside humans in near-inconspicuousness - save their greenish skin, serrated earlobes, and strange birthmarks. Aided by her elusive former professor and his enigmatic assistant, our narrator sets off to document each beast and is slowly drawn deeper into a mystery that threatens her very sense of self.

In the town of St. Hilaire, most make their living by talking to the dead. In the summer, the town gates open to tourists seeking answers while all activity is controlled by The Guild, a sinister ruling body that sees everything. Dec Hampton has lived there his entire life, but ever since his parents died, he's been done with it. He knows he has to leave before anyone has a chance to stop him.

Having a superpower is ordinary. Your power determines your entire life. But 17-year-old Ugene is powerless. He can’t read minds or enhance his strength. He can’t manipulate natural matter or heal injuries. Determined to find out why he is different, Ugene submits himself as a test subject at Paragon. But nothing is as it seems. All exits from the testing floor are sealed. Subjects endure brutal and sometimes deadly injuries. No amount of power can save them.

A Captivating Short Story Inspired by Innuit Legend and The Modern Day Plight of The Polar Bear. Journey into a world where an ancient spirit walks among mortals, and the balance of nature hangs by a delicate thread. Immerse yourself in a mesmerizing narrative that weaves together the captivating stories of Nanuk, the Polar Bear Shapeshifter Goddess, and the clash of cultures in the icy realms of Greenland. Witness the legacy of a young Inuit hunter chosen by destiny, the intricate magic of totems holding ancestral power, and the plight of the Arctic bears facing extinction at the hands of ...

There are two sides to every story, but they can’t both be true, can they? In the second book of the Birthright Series, Bridget E. Baker weaves a tale of bad things done for very good reasons and an unexpected chance at redemption. Judica’s worst nightmare becomes a reality when her twin sister Chancery steals the throne. Her life is over, all her efforts a waste. Judica should be furious, but strangely, she’s relieved. The freedom from her former responsibilities leaves her time to pursue her mother’s killer.

When secrets are deadly, how far would you go to protect them? A century ago, my family stood at the pinnacle of the magical world, the cornerstone of the mage community. But then came the plague and war, ravaging the world. When the dust settled, the mage Houses emerged from hiding and divided the remaining resources. Now, I live on the fringes of society, stealing to support my aunt and brother. But today, everything is about to change. With the end of the term and a chance to work for the best firm not controlled by supernaturals, life is finally looking up. Except when things seem too ...

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm - and the mysterious curse that has haunted them for generations. The madness that led to Susanna Farrow's disappearance left her daughter, June, to be raised by her grandmother. Everyone in Jasper is certain it's only a matter of time before she finds the same end, but June has kept secret that her unravelling has already begun.