High Medieval

Power is never granted… it can only be seized. BLOOD AND EMPIRE begins best-selling author James Maxwell’s long-awaited new epic fantasy series, THE GATEWAY SAGA—a gripping tale of ambition, sacrifice, and defiance in the face of destiny. Young seamstress Bethany dreams of becoming a diviner, one of the select few able to navigate the mysterious gateways that unite the empire. But without wealth or education, and only her mother to raise her, she is on a path to disappointment. Then Bethany meets Charlton, a cleric, who offers her books and guidance, and she glimpses a life she had ...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER An up-close portrait of the mind of an addict and a life unraveled by narcotics—a memoir of captivating urgency and surprising humor that puts a human face on the opioid crisis. Tiffany’s story continues in the New York Times bestseller A Clean Mess, available now!...

A big Irish knight, much beloved by his English men, faces his biggest challenge when an injury nearly claims his life...and his confidence as a warrior.

Just like us, medieval men and women worried about growing old, got blisters and indigestion, fell in love, and had children. And yet their lives were full of miraculous and richly metaphorical experiences radically different from our own, unfolding in a world where deadly wounds might be healed overnight by divine intervention, or where the heart of a king, plucked from his corpse, could be held aloft as a powerful symbol of political rule.

War is a forge that melts the strongest steel. The saga continues in WRATH AND RUIN, where destinies collide and empires tremble, leading to a breathtaking climax that will change the world forever. As Bethany steps into her role as house diviner to the powerful Conways, long-buried secrets resurface, threatening not only her new life but the fragile balance of power. She will have to choose—between her growing bond with Xander and her desire to keep her two lives separate, while the backdrop of war thrusts her into the spotlight and a realm of battles and mortal danger. With Queen Zhuana...

It was an age of hope and possibility, of accomplishment and expansion. Europe's High Middle Ages spanned the Crusades, the building of Chartres Cathedral, Dante's Inferno, and Thomas Aquinas. Buoyant, confident, creative, the era seemed to be flowering into a true renaissance - until the disastrous 14th century rained catastrophe in the form of plagues, famine, and war. In Europe in the High Middle Ages, William Chester Jordan paints a vivid, teeming landscape that captures this lost age in all its glory and complexity. 

In the year of grace 1345, as Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville is gathering an army to join King Edward III in the war against France, a most astonishing event occurs: a huge silver ship descends through the sky and lands in a pasture beside the little village of Ansby in North East Lincolnshire...

‘Fantasy as it ought to be written’ George R.R. Martin The kingdom of the Six Duchies is on the brink of civil war when news breaks that the crown prince has fathered a bastard son and is shamed into abdication. The child’s name is Fitz, and he is despised. Raised in the castle stables...

Stephen R. Lawhead, the critically-acclaimed author of the Pendragon Cycle continues his Eirlandia Celtic fantasy series with In the Land of the Everliving. Conor and his sword companions must leave the safety of the faéry kingdom for the barbarian Scálda threaten to overrun Eirlandia. As he...

In a 2010 terrorist plot, Al-Qaeda hid a bomb in a FedEx shipment addressed to Reynald de Chatillon, a knight who had died centuries ago in the Crusades. A reviled figure in Islamic history, often portrayed as the very epitome of brutality, Reynald remains as controversial - and as vividly present in the minds of many in the Middle East - as the story of the Crusades themselves.

Chaucer wrote about everyday people outside the walls of the English court-men and women who spent days at the pedal of a loom, or maintaining the ledgers of an estate, or on the high seas. In Chaucer's People, Liza Picard transforms The Canterbury Tales into a masterful guide for a gloriously detailed tour of medieval England, from the mills and farms of a manor house to the lending houses and Inns of Court in London.  In Chaucer's People, we meet, again, the motley crew of pilgrims on the road to Canterbury.

Embark on a journey beyond worlds. For years, the master sorceress Niri has lived in exile, hiding from a single terrible choice that shattered her world. But now the wind brings a warning she cannot ignore. The moment Niri dreaded has finally come: the Mistress Witch, an ancient evil long thought vanquished, is rising once more, threatening to plunge the Shadow World into unending darkness. Bound by a blood oath she cannot break, Niri must embark on a desperate journey into the heart of the growing darkness. But with dark mages and demonic creatures at her heels, her only hope is to turn ...

A Kirkus Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy pick for 2019! A Library Journal Best Book of 2019! An NPR Favorite Book of 2019! "Everything epic fantasy should be: rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it."—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians...

Edwin Salamand thought running a bookshop for beginners was complicated enough. But now that he's settled into his role as Starwick's most unlikely shop owner, winter brings a new challenge: his skill tomes are failing. When customers start returning books with fading magic and blurred text, Edwin discovers it's not just his shos. It's happening across the entire city. Even worse, the earthquakes shaking Starwick's foundations might be connected to the magical blight affecting everyone's abilities. Armed with his Shopkeeper skills and a frost-breathing salamander named Cricket, Edwin must ...

In Forbidden Love in the Highlands, Astrid Eiriksdottir, a healer with a dangerous past, saves the life of Highland chieftain Callum MacKinnon; igniting a bond neither expected. As enemies threaten his clan, Astrid’s secrets could unravel everything. But working together to expose a poisoning plot forces them to confront passion, betrayal, and trust. Set in the wild beauty of rugged Scotland, this sweeping romance blends danger, desire, and redemption in a love story as fierce as the Highlands.

London. July, 1399. As rumors spread that his ambitious cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, has returned from exile in France, King Richard's grip on the English throne grows ever more precarious. Meanwhile, the body of a young woman is discovered at Dowgate sluice. When it's established that the dead woman was a novice from nearby Barking Abbey, the coroner calls in his friend, Brother Chandler, to investigate. Who would cut the throat of a young nun and throw her remains in the river? And what was she doing outside the confines of the priory in the first place? 

Here, National Book Award winner Richard Winston explores life in the Middle Ages - from the fifth to the 15th centuries - beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire and ending with the dawn of the Renaissance. In both countryside and cities, from the peasants to the bourgeoisie to the nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.

What can a condemned man teach us about happiness? Boethius wrote The Consolation of Philosophy while imprisoned, disgraced, and awaiting execution. He had lost his power, his reputation, his freedom, and the life he thought was secure. Yet from that dark place came one of the most enduring works of wisdom ever written—a searching conversation about suffering, Fortune, happiness, providence, free will, and the highest good. The Consolation of Philosophy for Beginners makes this classic work clear, accessible, and deeply relevant for modern readers. Written for those new to Boethius, this ...

He’s a beast who kills without mercy. My kidnapper. My enemy. My mate. All I want is a simple life, but any chance of peace is stolen from me by a winged warrior prince. He sweeps through my village, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake—and taking me with him. Born of battle, Marcellus is unstoppable. A storm of obsidian wings and steel who’s turned killing into an art form. He says my visions hold the key to the hidden Elven kingdoms that his father’s vowed to conquer. Kingdoms I’ve vowed to protect with my life. We’re on opposite sides of this war, and yet the dark and ...

For fans of Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss, The House of Always is the fourth epic fantasy in Jenn Lyons' Chorus of Dragons series that began with The Ruin of Kings. What if you were imprisoned for all eternity? In the aftermath of the Ritual of Night, everything has changed. The Eight...