Science For Adults

A letter for Rudeus arrives out of the blue, bearing an invitation to enroll at the Ranoa University of Magic. The admissions exam is a cakewalk, but once Rudeus is accepted, a far less straightforward challenge awaits him—getting to know his eccentric new classmates!

Kiernan Dunne abandoned his family ties to help Kate fight the Cyrists, and he's never regretted that for one moment. But he doesn't understand why Kate can't remember that night in 1893 Chicago, when she turned back to face the killer chasing them through the smoky corridors of the World's Fair Hotel. Kate placed the CHRONOS key around his neck and made his eight-year-old self promise to wear it always, and that's a promise Kiernan has never broken.

What magical beings inhabit Earth’s waters? Some are as almost-familiar as the mer-people; some as strange as the thing glimpsed only as a golden eye in a pool at the edge of the Great Desert Kalarsham, where the mad god Geljdreth rules; or the unknowable, immense Kraken, dark beyond the darkness of the deepest ocean, who will one day rise and rule the world. Here are seven tales from the remarkable storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson. Vividly imagined and written, they transform the simple element of water into something very powerful indeed.

After their scary adventure, Bex and Charlie have sworn never to play Monsters Unleashed again. Then Veratrum Games Corp releases a new augmented reality game featuring aliens instead of monsters, and the best friends just can't resist. After all, everyone loves it, even their science teacher, because it includes real star charts. But when they go to an observatory on a class trip, and open the game near a radio telescope, they get more than they bargained for: real aliens.

The long-awaited tournament has finally begun, and, under Lumina's tutelage, Teacher and Fran are ready to claim their rightful spot as champions. There's just one problem, though--as they advance through the rounds, they find themselves facing off against old friends and A-rank adventurers Amanda and Forlund!

The otters of Green Isle have long been enslaved to the Wildcat Riggu Felis and his catguards, who torture the otters at every opportunity. The otters trudge on, waiting for the day their savior will arrive, the prophesized High Rhulain, who will lead them in battle and a return to glory. Meanwhile, young Tiria Wildlough, an ottermaid at Redwall Abbey, pines for her chance to learn the ways of the warrior, much against the wishes of her father.

I've always been told I was the anomaly, the fluke, the only black bear they'd ever seen. Somehow, I know that's not true. The wolves have told me the Alpha over all the bears is headed this way. But they've sent me away so he won't see me. I'm a burden, a hindrance to the grizzlies, yet they keep a shock collar around my neck so I can't escape. On the wolf pack lands, I see someone approaching. A male - and he smells like home. Has someone come to save me?

Scyth, known in the Inferno as the tiefling Hakkar, decanus in the worst legion of them all, must gain an audience with Prince Belial to get his hands on the Coals of Hellflame. Alex Sheppard faces the most stressful week of his life, and if he can't handle the pressure, then it might be his last.

An ordinary boy encounters the paranormal when a photo of the same girl starts inexplicably showing up in every book he opens. One day, the girl reaches out and pulls him into the photo to her location: a cell in a top-secret facility belonging to the SCP Foundation, an organization dedicated to the research and containment of people, objects and phenomena that defy reality!

Aliens? Someone get her out of here! The strange storms that have been raging all over the world have only intensified in the past months. Some say the end of the world is coming, but Mikaela doesn’t believe in such nonsense. Although she’d like nothing more than to curl up in front of the TV when it rains, she has her small dog to take care of. Taking Tremor out for a walk, a lightning suddenly strikes her. She wakes up in a completely different world with hulky, purple alien barbarians. When one of them tries to grab poor Tremor, she fights back. Hell no, they’re not taking her dog!...

Princess Cordelia is used to being overshadowed by her many brothers and sisters. So when she's offered the chance to attend her brother's wedding in a faraway kingdom, she leaps at it. In Northhelm, she'll finally have the chance to stand out. And maybe, just maybe, she'll even find romance. But not everything in the Northhelmian court is as it appears. With her brother distracted by the wedding, only Ferdinand, the ugliest man at court, will listen to Cordelia's concerns.

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don't. As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

The Faerie Race has proven more grueling and deadly than Jacqueline thought possible. With one trial down and two to go, it seems the reality show's producers will stop at nothing to get their ratings - even murder. It will take all of Jacq's cunning to get through the next trial unscathed, but all she can think about is her discovery that her sister is alive. Too bad her search for answers has only left her with more questions, and more enemies.

Veteran video-game designer Dustin Hansen takes YA listeners on a fun and fascinating trip through the brief but intensely innovative history of video games. Find out about the fast and furious growth and evolution of video games (including how they are quickly taking over the world!) by looking at some of the most popular, innovative, and influential games ever, from Pong, the very first arcade game ever, to modern hits like Uncharted.

They called him Sven, the Shatterfist. And they will again. An S-Ranked Adventurer who lost his way. His journey will take him far and wide. Back to the places he used to know. He's not alone. Friends, comrades. Ash. Memories found and memories gained. Answers give rise to other questions. The Shatterfist moves on.

Charles Dickens meets Firefly in this tale of an orphan destined for the stars. Steampunk with a twist! Enter a fantastical world filled with alien spacecraft and Victorian sensibilities, ball gowns and travel to the stars - where a pickpocket with a particular gift yearns for the stars.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites. The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Morgan Stockhour knows getting too close to the edge of Internment, the floating city in the clouds where she lives, can lead to madness. Even though her older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. If she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in her best friend, Pen, and in Basil, the boy she's engaged to marry. Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially once she meets Judas.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding. It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans - except Katniss.

No one prepared Haynes to be a king. The previous king committed treason against the Imperium. Only a mage who works for a higher being can be trusted by the Imperium leaders to be king. And only Haynes is such a person from his planet.