Gabrielle de Cuir
The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: the Pequeninos, a large colony of humans, and the Hive Queen, who was brought there by Ender Wiggin. But now, once again, the human race has grown fearful; the Starways Congress has gathered a fleet to destroy Lusitania. Ender's oldest friend, Jane, an evolved computer intelligence, can save the three sentient species of Lusitania. She has learned how to move ships outside the universe, and
...2) The lioness
3) Leaving
7) Riven
Augum, Bridget, and Leera want only to study new spells and make their legendary mentor proud. But when she unexpectedly departs on a crucial quest, they run afoul of a devious old witch and are forced to make a hasty getaway—straight into the hands of a notorious maniac known as the Blade of Sorrows.
Prisoners of the Blade and his sadistic apprentice, the trio must face their greatest challenge yet: escape using nothing but an ancient
...When tsarist soldiers fire at a group of peaceful village protestors and kill his young bride, Pavel dedicates his life to overthrowing the Romanovs. Pavel's underground group assassinates the Grand Duke, changing the life of the Grand Duchess Elisavyeta forever.
Grief-stricken, Elisavyeta gives up her wealth and becomes a nun dedicated to the poor people of her country. When revolution finally sweeps Russia, she is the last Romanov captured,
...11) Old Jules
Louis L'Amour said the West was no place for the frightened or the mean. It was a "big country needing big men and women to live in it." The two stories in this collection provide a good sample of the kinds of people he had in mind.
"Ride, You Tonto Raiders"
Matt Sabre is a young and experienced gunfighter—but not a trouble seeker. However, when Billy Curtin calls him a liar and goes for his gun, Matt has no choice but to draw
...14) Take one
An ongoing, episodic "prose comic" from which the pictures are summoned by the magic of words, Goon Squad is set in a version of modern-day Manchester. Its biggest divergence from the real city is that it—along with most other large urban centers—has a team of superheroes to protect it against unusual threats with which the conventional forces of law and order would have problems.
Goon Squad, Volume 1: Special Talents
...16) Ender's shadow
The War is over, won by Ender Wiggin and his team of brilliant child-warriors. The enemy is destroyed, the human race is saved. Ender himself refuses to return to the planet, but his crew has gone home to their families, scattered across the globe. The battle school is no more.
But with the external threat gone, the Earth has become a battlefield once more. The children of the Battle School are more than heroes; they are potential weapons that
18) Enchantment
The moment ten-year-old Ivan stumbled upon the clearing in the Carpathian forest, his life was forever changed. Atop a pedestal encircled by fallen leaves, a beautiful princess lay still as death, but a malevolent presence nearby sent Ivan scrambling for safety.
Years later, Ivan is an American graduate student, engaged to be married. Yet he cannot forget that long-ago day in the forest nor convince himself it was merely a frightened boy's
...By the author of the critically acclaimed international hits The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon and The Warsaw Anagrams, this novel proves Richard Zimler's mastery of the "riveting literary murder mystery" (Independent on Sunday).
Berlin, 1932. Sophie is a smart and sexually precocious fourteen-year-old coming of age during Hitler's rise to power. Forced to lead a double life when her father and boyfriend become Nazi collaborators, she reserves
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