Mostrando resultados por autor "Jeff Wheeler" en Todas las categorías

All roads lead to Ecbatana, as the trading masters say. This ancient fortress with its multi-colored interlocking walls, vibrant bazaars, and powerful sorcerers who use a mysterious magic called metamorphistry lies in the path of the rag-tag group of refugees from fallen Clairvaux. But as Cimree, Azra, Trinati, and the others soon learn, there is a tradition in Ecbatana both perilous and promising—Ecbatana is periodically ruled by a tyrant queen, chosen to wield absolute power while the scheming nobles react to drastic changes in fortune.

A bargain was struck beyond memory, sealed by an immortal covenant that promised either peace or extinction for humanity. The Aesir will uphold this covenant, whatever the outcome, but the Erlking will do everything in his power to ensure their victory. Two people hold the key to defeating him, but only one of them remembers who they are.

Stories with depth, strong protagonists, and high tension are told while pulling at your heartstrings or making you smile with understanding. Go on adventures with heroes old and young, and visit many new worlds.

After a pilgrimage to the East Kingdoms seeking a blessing from the Fountain, source of the land’s magic, Sir Ransom Barton returns home in search of two dreams: Claire de Murrow, the heiress he loves, and a patron for his warrior skills. Unexpectedly, Ransom finds himself in the favor of Devon, the notorious Elder King. Brought into the ruler’s mesnie and given two wards of his own, Ransom is devoted to his privileged new position. He’s also privy to the running of the realm and to all its courtly intrigues.

Millennia ago, a magical race called the Aesir found a new home on a distant world. Attracted to the cold during an ice age, they hibernated for hundreds of years at a time. With each awakening, however, they saw their world changed by ever-evolving mortals encroaching on their territory and way of life. Two civilizations with opposing magic, poised to clash over and over. Now, the Aesir are awakening to wage a new war—this time to exterminate their enemy once and for all.

The best of Deep Magic: Volume 1—fantastical worlds of space adventures, changelings, and dragons await—stories with depth, strong protagonists, high tension, all told while pulling at your heartstrings, or making you smile with understanding. In this volume, you'll find twenty-two stories, including many novelettes. Go on adventures from deep space to ancient Rome (with magic), to Mars, and many other new fantasy worlds.

Survivor of a combat school, the orphaned Bingmei belongs to a band of mercenaries employed by a local ruler. Now the nobleman, and collector of rare artifacts, has entrusted Bingmei and the skilled team with a treacherous assignment: brave the wilderness’s dangers to retrieve the treasures of a lost palace buried in a glacier valley. But upsetting its tombs has a price.

For three years, Sera Fitzempress has been a pawn in a gilded prison. Disgraced and exiled from society, she has been isolated from the downtrodden she’s determined to liberate. Cettie Pratt has grown into an independent young woman, although she continues to be tested by the high society of the clouds. Advancing in the magic of the Mysteries, Cettie is also a useful tool of defense during turbulent times. The fog of war is drawing in, and with it comes a startling new enemy who may unravel secrets that both women would prefer stay hidden.

Eilean is rising. A foundling raised in an abbey, she was entrusted by its imprisoned druid, Mordaunt, with an ancient tome. Its magical words can change the world. Eilean’s first mission: translate it. Her second: rescue a benevolent Aldermaston sentenced to death as a heretic by the high seer. But wielding power, knowledge, and ambition has now made Eilean the hunted.

A devastating disaster has left the Forbidden Court in ashes, its fountains destroyed, and its magic at risk. It was destined as the site of Trynne Kiskaddon’s coronation as empress. Now, all Trynne can imagine is the roar of flames, the cries of Gahalatine’s people, and the smell of cinders in a city gone dark. Tragic as the threat to Kingfountain is, it’s nowhere near as foul as the treachery posed by Morwenna.

Rumors stir of a hidden child who can stop the devastating plagues — and the race to find her has begun. The ruthless ruler of Kenatos, the Arch-Rike, and the people pledged to stopping him will do anything to make sure they’re the ones to reach her first. Because even though young Phae may be unaware that she is the long-lost daughter of Tyrus — the Arch-Rike’s rival — there is no mistaking her gift.

Ransom Barton has served three Argentine kings. The new successor to the throne is the ruthless Jon-Landon, a fallible strategist when it comes to war. After losing against the Occitanian armies, the king forces Ransom to bear the blame and removes him from the council. But Jon-Landon isn’t yet through with humbling the honorable knight of Ceredigion.

Rescued from a world of poverty, Cettie Pratt has avoided a bleak destiny—until now. Deceived and manipulated, she has been groomed for the ultimate betrayal: to destroy her best friend and stop peace from uniting two war-torn worlds. Her path leads her to a mysterious underworld where appearances can be deceiving. Sera Fitzempress knows the value she has to her enemies. As heir to the empire, she must keep her foes at bay and prevent them from unleashing a being of unspeakable evil upon the world while fighting a brutal war.

In a world full of magic and mystery, eighteen-year-old Maia is the exiled princess of Comoros and rightful heir to the throne. Forced to live as a servant in her enemy’s home, Maia flees her captors and begins a perilous quest to save her people. To survive, she must use magic she has learned in secret—despite the fact that women are forbidden to control it.

Though relations between Princess Seraphin Fitzempress and her father have been strained, Sera’s royal position has remained unchallenged. Filled with self-doubt, she struggles to grasp the Mysteries - her greatest trial yet. An education in the enigmatic magic is a necessary one, should Sera plan to rise in her station and invoke her powers during war. But the emperor’s death now leaves both Sera and her ambitious father eligible for the throne - a contest the prince regent intends to win. Even if it means an alliance with a rival empire.

What humankind feared the most has come to pass: the Awakening of the Aesir, an ancient race who rose with an implacable vengeance to wage war on mortals through bombardments and plague. Two people gifted with magic and ingenuity strive to stop them. Professor Robinson Hawksley, an elocutionist in the Invisible College, prepares to exhibit his invention to the world. Using sound to defeat the enemy could change the course of the war. It’s invaluable to the military. Even more so to a conniving rival who’ll do anything to prove its patent as her own.

Ransom Barton and his wife, Claire de Murrow, have arrived in Legault to reclaim the title that was Claire’s birthright. Claire intends to rebuild a war-ravaged palace to its former glory and to teach Ransom about the magical history of their new home. But when Ransom is summoned to return to King Benedict, his loyalty to Claire is tested. Fealty prevails, however questionable the king’s motives.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. A brutal war of succession has plunged the court of Kingfountain into a power struggle between a charitable king who took the crown unlawfully and his ambitious rival, Devon Argentine. The balance of power between the two men hinges on the fate of a young boy ensnared in this courtly intrigue. A boy befittingly nicknamed Ransom.

Deep in the mountains lies a valley with a secret to immortality—Clairvaux—where the Queen Mother reigns supreme. Hidden within the cliffs and rocky paths and shrouded by waterfalls, the Gallows Tree grows immortal fruit. But only the loyal angel sworn can partake and live forever, weaving magic with grafting wands and bonding to animals to borrow their powers while balancing the good in all living things.

Before she befriended a frightened young boy in the palace of Kingfountain, Ankarette Tryneowy grew up during the shattering civil war that raged between members of the Argentine family. This is the story of how the only daughter of a lawyer and a midwife became the famed Queen's Poisoner.