Showing results by narrator "Shiromi Arserio" in All Categories

But the Empire's military leaders are fiercely divided on what to do. Should they conduct aggressive offensives in hopes of a break through, or should they weather the winter and use that as a chance to reorganize, restructuring the lines of battle? In the end, they decided that while they gather supplies for a theoretical offensive, they would conduct an investigation to collect intelligence. Naturally, Tanya's Salamander Unit was the first candidate for the mission. Should they push ahead, or should they hold their ground? There's no time to hesitate.

It's a prick of blood, the bite of an apple, the evil eye, a wedding ring, or a pair of red shoes. Curses come in all shapes and sizes, and they can happen to anyone, not just those of us with unpopular step-parents.... Here you'll find unique twists on curses, from fairy tale classics to brand-new hexes of the modern world - expect new monsters and mythologies as well as twists on well-loved fables. Stories to shock and stories of warning, stories of monsters and stories of magic.

Grayson Hale, the most infamous murderer in Scotland, is better known by a different name: the Devil’s Advocate. The twenty-five-year-old American grad student rose to instant notoriety when he confessed to the slaughter of his classmate Liam Stewart, claiming the Devil made him do it. When Hale is found hanged in his prison cell, officers uncover a handwritten manuscript that promises to answer the question that’s haunted the nation for years: was Hale a lunatic, or had he been telling the truth all along?

Once, a shadow dragon ravaged the Island-World. Insatiable. Unstoppable. A dragon-killer. Now the shadow dragon has reappeared, on a collision course with Aranya and King Beran's campaign to liberate the islands from the scourge of Sylakian tyranny. He is dark, beautiful and deadly, a predator of untold power.

Lucy Clairmont's family treasured the magic of the past, and her childhood fascination with stories of the high seas led her to become a marine archaeologist. But when tragedy strikes, it's Dashel, an American forensic astronomer, and his knowledge of the stars that may help her unearth the truth behind the puzzle she's discovered in her family home.

Life in the undersea Kingdom of Mayim is even more brutal than the one Mel has lived on land. Worse, her sisters are still at the mercy of Madame while she is trapped a world away. Helpless. Ari may be her only hope, if she can get past the lies he tells and the secrets he keeps. Meanwhile, Aika and Zaina are headed to take down the monster who raised them, but there are no good choices where Madame is concerned. They might be able to plan the perfect attack, but not without a price. After all, can you really slay a beast without becoming one yourself?

The lost land of the Aoi has returned to the earth from which it was cast forth millennia ago. And though the battle for survival must be the primary focus, there are always those eager to seize power. Though King Henry demanded that Prince Sanglant accept his crown, many may refuse to honor the dying king's wish. Liath, Sanglant's wife, has been excommunicated and unless he agrees to put her aside, his own aunt, Mother Scholastica, is threatening to interdict Sanglant.

The bustling city-state of Marchen borders the seats of the Three Queens, represented by the spindle, the slipper and the apple. But it’s been a hundred years since the rule of the Three Queens. The time of the godmothers has passed. If you want access to magic you either have to be one of the few who are born with it and live in hiding. Or extremely wealthy. Samara Dawa is a former assassin, stolen from her family and sold to the assassin’s guild when she was a child. When the opportunity to destroy the man who sold her comes up, she doesn’t hesitate.

Everyone's convinced the hottest guy in school's going to ask me out - that Mason and I would be the perfect couple, that he's my John Cusack. Except, he hasn't. On holidays, I find myself hanging out with the resident underachiever, and he surprises me. With Roman, I don't have to pretend that little Piper Barlow is perfect; even if we're both in a foul mood, just sitting in silence together is perfectly enough. Until it becomes more. But, Roman doesn't do more...does he? What do you do when you accidentally find perfection with the wrong guy? You fight for it.

When Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beach in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales might shed light on the condition of our seas. How do whales experience environmental change? Has our connection to these fabled animals been transformed by technology? What future awaits us, and them? And what does it mean to write about nature in the midst of an ecological crisis? In Fathoms, Giggs blends natural history, philosophy and science to explore these questions with clarity and hope.

The wheels are coming off in America. Opioid addictions accelerate unstoppably. Environmental collapse can be read in every weather report. Vigilante bands take over streets at night, wearing clownface makeup. The very idea of government, of citizenship, is challenged daily. And something is happening to teenagers across the country, spreading through memes only they know.

Once upon a time, there was a king and queen in a land called Love's Keep who once loved one another, but alas, no more. Without love, they were doomed to be ousted from their kingdom at the end of a year and a day. A year and a day passed. This is where their story starts. Imelda and Ambrose can't remember why they got married. A year and a day ago, Ambrose consulted a witch, trading their love to save Imelda's life - and they've been stuck with one another ever since.

A marriage that could save them both. A truth that might destroy them. And a choice that will break her heart. All Aika ever wanted was a family—until hers was standing on opposite ends of a war. Trapped between her loyalty to a monster and her love for a man who despises her, she must decide who she's willing to lose. And who she's willing to betray.

Tommy Beresford and Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley are broke. What are two young people in post-WWI London to do in such a situation except start up a new and exciting business: Young Adventurer’s Ltd. Almost as soon as they make the leap into self-employment a case falls into their lap. A mysterious man wishes to hire Tuppence for a job. All she has to do is impersonate a young American woman in Paris. Easy!

The long-dreaded cataclysm is about to descend on the world as the lost land of the Aoi returns to the Earth from which it was cast forth millennia ago. And though Liath has found her way back to Earth, she knows disaster will soon follow her. Yet just how little time remains to avert humanity's destruction she discovers to her horror only when she learns that her brief stay in the bespelled land has actually kept her from her family and allies for nearly four years.

In the frigid woods at the edge of a storm, I'm going to find myself or die trying. I'm a fugitive of the fae city of Windhelm, framed for a murder I didn't commit. I only made it out of their dungeons by luck, and now I'm on the run - but so is the Prince.

The great poetic tradition of pre-Christian Scandinavia is known to us almost exclusively though the Prose Edda, a collection of narrative literature, and its companion, the Poetic Edda. The poems originated in Iceland, Norway, and Greenland between the ninth and 13th centuries, when they were compiled in a unique manuscript known as the Codex Regius. The poems are primarily lyrical rather than narrative.

Having survived the harrowing experience of her courtship, Isla must now make a decision - a decision that will affect the course of her life and that, if she chooses unwisely, indeed might end that life before it's truly begun. But before she can take control of her future, there are things she needs to know about the lover who remains so much a stranger. Is this dark, tormented man merely misunderstood? Or is he, in fact, the Devil made flesh? What truly motivates him - and what does he want from her?

Her name is Emerson Hart and she is the love of his life. Unfortunately, he's not the only love of hers. And therein lies the problem.

Are you worried about the effects of climate change on our environment? Want to help but don't know where to start? Environmental activist Natalie Fee's new handbook to green living will help you to make small lifestyle changes that will make a big difference to our planet.