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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

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Tedious Joys

- Chapter 1/8 - Ao3 link -

By the time Lao Nie wrote to Lan Qiren under personal cover to ask for his assistance, they hadn’t spoken in nearly seven years.

Oh, they’d spoken – it was rather impossible to avoid speaking, acting sect leader to sect leader. They attended the same discussion conferences, and of course the Lan and Nie sects were close allies, insofar as the Great Sects were anything to each other; their alliance, martial and moral, tended to balance out the riches and clever tricks brought to bear by the Jin and Jiang sects, and of course the Wen sect was large and powerful enough that it didn’t need or want any allies that it couldn’t subject to its dominion. An alliance meant constant contact, checking in, and ideally would call for a good relationship between the leaders of the two sects, which they had once had.

They had once been very close, even.

Lan Qiren had idolized Lao Nie from a young age, admiring his fierceness and his passion for life, his ruthless logic and his practicality and his thoughtful sense of judgment, all the more admirable given that he was from a sect known for being a bunch of hotheads. When Lan Qiren’s older brother – older by nearly ten years, with a middle brother that had died before Lan Qiren’s birth and several miscarriages in between as his parents struggled to provide the sect with the requisite spare – had continuously tried to leave his irritating younger sibling at home when going on night-hunts, Lao Nie had cheerfully interjected himself more than once, volunteering that he would be happy to take him along, and at that point Lan Qiren’s brother, who admired the older man nearly as much as Lan Qiren did, would generally yield, even if he grumbled about it.

Unlike Qingheng-jun, who ought to have been more considerate for his own family, Lao Nie had never minded having to slow down the pace of his hunts in order to accommodate a sickly child, a pedantic one that needed to understand things thoroughly before he was comfortable trying something new. He had often allowed Qingheng-jun to rush ahead and win glory that ought in all fairness to have been his, something Lan Qiren only discovered when he reviewed his history in retrospect.

Lao Nie hadn’t minded how clumsy Lan Qiren was, or how picky he was, refusing to eat even common foods if the texture didn’t appeal to him; he had only laughed at his excessive formality, the harshness of his tone, his tendency to repeat himself or to become caught on little details. He’d indulged him, wasting copious amounts of his time listening to Lan Qiren talk enthusiastically about the Lan sect rules, which he’d fallen in love with at an early age and, when young, rarely missed the chance to bring into any given conversation no matter how irrelevant.

He’d always been very kind to him.

If you had asked Lan Qiren ten years ago, he would have confidently asserted that Lao Nie was one of his dearest friends.

And yet – it had been Lan Qiren, who was short on friends, and not Lao Nie, who had many, that had cut off their relationship. Lan Qiren hadn’t truly spoken to Lao Nie in seven years, limiting their conversations to the subject of sect business and keeping their meetings as short as could be allowed by etiquette, ignoring the way Lao Nie looked at him with sadness and regret in his eyes. Even when Lan Qiren’s anger had finally died down from a raging flame to a simmering anger he suspected would never leave him entirely, he had thought to himself that it was too late, that the fire had burnt everything out, that there were only ashes left behind.

And yet – on the seventh year, apparently apropos of nothing, Lao Nie wrote to him, requesting his presence.

As a friend, he wrote. Come as a friend, or not at all. I have no use for a sect leader.

Lan Qiren struggled with the request, which did not obey any of the unwritten rules he had forced himself to learn on top of the many that were written. He did not know if he was still enough of a friend to Lao Nie to answer such a request.

He did not know himself whether he would go until the moment that he went.

Lao Nie met him at the gateway to the Unclean Realm, relief written in every line of him.

“Thank you,” he said, and Lan Qiren shifted uncomfortably from side to side.

“I didn’t even do anything yet,” he said stiffly, instinctively reaching up to stroke his beard. It was a more acceptable social tic than others that he had been discouraged from employing; losing access to it, however temporarily, had been one of the reasons he had been so upset with Cangse Sanren when she’d shaved it off while he was asleep. She’d tracked him down later to apologize when she’d realized how badly he’d taken it, serious for perhaps the only time he’d known her, and they’d ended up as something almost like friends out of the whole debacle. He hadn’t heard from her in years, either, but that was no breach; it was only that she was busy with her husband and the little child she had once shoved into his arms with that deep, echoing laugh of hers. “Don’t thank me until I’ve determined if I can do anything for you, or will.”

Lao Nie nodded and showed him inside, leading him to his private chambers rather than the sect leader’s study. This suggested that the issue was private, although Lan Qiren supposed he’d already known that, based on the letter.

They sat in silence while Lao Nie personally served the tea, his brow still creased in concern, and Lan Qiren stared at him – too intently, as always – and wondered what private issue could have caused such an upset, and moreover what he could possibly need Lan Qiren for. Lao Nie was a private man, in the custom of his clan and sect; Lan Qiren didn’t know his birthdate or even his age, only the approximates, and many of the details of his life escaped him. It made it difficult to guess what the matter might be, if it were personal and not political.

Although…

“My condolences regarding your second wife,” he said, watching, and Lao Nie jerked his head in a tight nod, acknowledging the loss. Lao Nie’s first wife had been a mysterious figure, appearing and disappearing as suddenly as an unexpected burst of rain on a sunny day – the stories in Qinghe enthusiastically claimed she was a goddess that descended from the heavens to dally with moral race, who’d ended up marrying Lao Nie to legitimize the child he’d unexpectedly planted in her belly, only to be summoned back to the heavens on important duties, although of course it was commonly understood that she was more than likely just some powerful rogue cultivator who had decided after a short interval that being married was not for her. Lan Qiren had never met her, although he had had the fortune to meet Lao Nie’s second wife, who had been much more down-to-earth, an innkeeper’s daughter.

(Lan Qiren had rather liked her the few times they’d met. She was a little self-absorbed, in a harmless sort of way. She liked beautiful things and good food and talking about them, and was happy to carry on entire conversations while he responded only with nods and grunts; to his relief, she had never expected anything more from him. She was very beautiful herself, both delicate and seductive with her fox’s face and long and narrow eyes; some cruel people spread rumors that she was a demon or a yao in disguise, sent to wreak havoc through the seduction of men. She had never tried anything like that on Lan Qiren, unless her attempt at seduction consistent of sharing a plate of snacks and occupying him enough to prevent him from having to listen to the more boring parts of the social parts of certain discussion conference meetings. At any rate, he’d been truly saddened to hear that she had died.)

Still, Lao Nie had not yet begun to speak.

That meant that the problem was not in relation to that aspect of his life, which in all honesty was a relief. Lan Qiren could not imagine a world in which Lao Nie confided his marital problems in a prematurely old bachelor like him.

Perhaps…

“Your sons?” he asked, and this time Lao Nie flinched, so he’d guessed right. “Ah. The younger one?”

The younger one would be about A-Zhan’s age, surely, or even younger. Little more than a toddler, not yet quite old enough to be taken away from the mother – or nurse, in the case of Lao Nie’s second son – and they were so terribly fragile at that age…

“No,” Lao Nie said, and sighed, a long exhale. “Forgive me, it’s a difficult subject. A-Sang is fine. The issue is with A-Jue.”

Nie Mingjue would now be around eight or nine years old, Lan Qiren thought, or perhaps even older – it was so hard to tell with these secretive Nie, and he only knew enough to make the guess at all because of their former friendship. Most sects were only vaguely aware that there were heirs to the Nie sect, and had certainly never seen hide nor hair of Nie Mingjue, during discussion conferences or otherwise.

He’d been a toddler the last time Lan Qiren had seen him, young and energetic, running around anywhere, but he had something of his father’s kindness – he’d actually listened to Lan Qiren telling him about rules that didn’t apply to him, and even proudly repeated some of them back to his father, much to Lan Qiren’s embarrassment – without having yet grown into his father’s occasional callous ruthlessness.

Perhaps it made a certain amount of sense that Lao Nie would ask for help with his children. Since his life plans had been irrevocably altered, Lan Qiren had taken over teaching at the Cloud Recesses, and to his surprise, was apparently making something of a name for himself.

It hadn’t been intentional: he’d been desperate for something to do with himself that wasn’t just for the sect, so much of his time consumed by the business of sect leadership, and he’d always planned to become a teacher eventually, although he’d always assumed it would be much later in life. He’d volunteered to teach, only to look at the small handful of obedient, well-trained Lan sect disciples that he would be in charge of instructing and quickly realized that such ‘teaching’ wouldn’t occupy his time at all.

Accordingly, he had demanded that the sect elders allow him to accept disciples from other sects as well. The request was highly irregular, but strictly abided by all Lan sect rules on the subject – it was Lan Qiren putting together the proposal, after all – and the elders had granted it with surprisingly little debate. To this day, Lan Qiren wasn’t sure if it was pity for his circumstances or simply an assumption that no outside students would bother attending, but he would not let the approval, once granted, be so easily retracted: he had sent out letters asking for students at once, and to everyone’s surprise but his own they actually came.

(He’d been clever about it, at the start. He’d reached out first to those smaller sects that would not have access to resources even a quarter as good as the Cloud Recesses, asking specifically for those children that seemed troublesome – the ones it took time and attention to teach, the ones who didn’t seem to be getting what they were supposed to learn. The slow, the stupid, the angry, the ones who disappointed their parents most of all. Lan Qiren might not have answers for those children, but at least he could give them his time and attention and he found, for most of them, that was all they wanted.)

Recently, though, they’d started getting more requests to join from the slightly larger subsidiary sects, more people, even murmurs about sending him their sect heirs rather than their burdens – people were saying that his teaching could make a gentleman even out of a waste, which Lan Qiren didn’t really understand. After all, putting aside a few students that were too arrogant to be willing to learn anything, he hadn’t encountered a single one he’d characterize as a waste.

“How can I help A-Jue?” he asked, expecting Lao Nie to finally give in and explain.

But Lao Nie shook his head.

“There’s some background I need to tell you first,” he said. “Without which the problem won’t make much sense. You have one of the finest analytical minds I’ve ever met, Qiren, and a way of thinking that doesn’t match up to conventional wisdom – I’m hoping you can help me where expertise has failed.”

Lan Qiren frowned, embarrassed. “I can try,” he said, already mentally rearranging his plans to account for a longer stay. He disliked sudden changes and had planned out three possible lengths of time for his visit – one short, one medium, one long – so that he would be able to select whichever one would be most appropriate. He hoped that the issue would not require any more time than the longest period he had allotted. “What is the subject?”

“Saber,” Lao Nie said, and smiled at Lan Qiren’s confusion. “My sect’s cultivation style. Let me explain…”

Lao Nie’s explanation was fascinating.

The cultivation style of the Nie sect – and the Nie clan in particular, especially the main branch – was unlike anything Lan Qiren had ever heard before, completely different in both substance and philosophy. It was a rough trade, a difficult road, heartbreaking in its sacrifice, impressive in its results…

It wasn’t the road for everybody, but one couldn’t help but admire those that walked it.

“Doesn’t it get close to demonic cultivation, using resentful energy like that?” he asked at one point, and Lao Nie had explained to him how they had drawn the distinction – using beasts, never humans, and channeling the worst of the effects into their sabers rather than themselves. How much they strived to cultivate morality into their sabers as well as power.

Lan Qiren thought that it was a fine line, but after some thought concluded that they fell on the right side of it, if just barely. The primary dangers of demonic cultivation were in the way it increased the amount of evil in the world, whether through the inevitable madness and violent rampages of its wielders or through the simple side effects of using other people’s corpses as your playthings, increasing their own resentment, breaking the hearts of their loved ones, and causing their ancestors to curse you; that sort of vile conduct was an offense to the Heavens. The Nie sect’s cultivation avoided that, and if through their sabers they added a little bit of evil to the world then it could not be denied that they took much, much more of it out.

“I think I understand now,” he said, brushing his fingers along his beard. “But…why tell me? Isn’t it one of your clan secrets?”

“It is,” Lao Nie agreed. “As a general principle, we do not tell outsiders unless we must.”

The Nie sect preferred principles over rules, which Lan Qiren begrudgingly accepted even if he himself preferred having rules, clear and precise and equal even if they sometimes weren’t quite fair. But situation-dependent or not, the Nie held to those principles just as tightly as any Lan did to their sect rules, and that was worthy of respect.

“So you felt that you must,” Lan Qiren observed. “But why? And what does it have to do with A-Jue? Is he not taking to your sect’s teachings…?”

“I would almost prefer that,” Lao Nie said, and rubbed his eyes. “We’ve always had those that didn’t follow our ways – those that refused to train the saber, or refused to cultivate a spirit despite all their training. No. It’s actually…A-Jue’s very good.”

Lan Qiren had been a teacher for seven years. He was accustomed to parents who needed to praise their child before getting to the point, though he wouldn’t have expected it of Lao Nie. He waited.

“He’s too good,” Lao Nie said, and abruptly covered his face with his hands. “He’s already cultivated a spirit in Baxia.”

Lan Qiren’s whole body jerked. “Lao Nie!” he exclaimed. “You’ve already given him a saber? He’s too young!”

Under the age of ten, Nie Mingjue should still be building his strength, shaping the muscles that would serve him in the future; he should be wielding only a practice saber made of wood, heavy and slow as he etched the forms of his sect style into his bones. Even if he was a true prodigy, a once-in-a-generation genius, he should at most bear a weapon of dulled steel, and never an actual spiritual weapon, much less the one that would be the companion of his future life.

“He took it himself,” Lao Nie said. “A little over a year ago – we had a surprise attack, right in the middle of the summer hunts. Supposedly bandits, but actually mercenaries, supported by traitors from the inside; they had a map to lead them straight inside our home, and attacked at the moment when most of us were gone. When everyone else ran for cover, A-Jue went to the armory and picked up a saber, freshly forged, and he took his first blood the same day. What was I supposed to do? Take it away from him?”

Lan Qiren felt a stab of sympathy for Lao Nie’s impossible dilemma.

Taking the saber away just when A-Jue had started bonding with it, right after he’d shed blood with it for the first time – yes, that would have been far worse. It might have crippled his confidence, introduced hesitation that would damage his cultivation forever, hinder his future growth…

“And he already developed a saber spirit?” he said instead. “Within a year?”

That wasn’t genius. That was insane.

“I know,” Lao Nie said. “The faster we cultivate, the sooner we die, but how am I supposed to say that to a child? And there’s how fast he’s picked up our cultivation style, how fast he’s going – what if he introduces some flaw into it and it sinks in before anyone notices? Even a minor disruption to his qi, at this age –”

Lan Qiren scowled. “Stop panicking,” he ordered. “That won’t help anyone at all, least of all him.”

Unexpectedly, Lao Nie smiled at him, although the smile was full of regret.

“It’s easy to say and hard to do,” he said. “Don’t you know I always lose my head when it comes to love?”

Lan Qiren knew.

Lao Nie had always been reckless in matters of the heart, as seen by his decision to marry some stranger for his first wife and a nobody for his second, and to thereafter refuse a third, more sensible arrangement with some sect leader’s daughter or sister that could care for the children as a mother while acting as a useful political tool, even if no other children were forthcoming. Even though his life had been beset with later tragedy, he had been happy with his wives – happy and in love, and unwilling to trade a single moment with them for anything.

Lan Qiren knew this. He even understood it.

He just had trouble excusing it.

Lao Nie had been friend to Lan Qiren’s brother long before he’d been friend to him, and so when Qingheng-jun had fallen in love in that sudden, shocking, irrevocable manner that the Lan sect had, Lao Nie had been the first to support him in it, delighted to think that his friend would find the same happiness he had himself found. He’d encouraged him not to be shy in presenting his courtship, in presenting himself as a possible match; he’d reassured him that some disinterest to begin with was reasonable, given that they were still strangers, and advised him to enjoy the feeling of falling in love, to be reckless and bold and daring with it…and he did it all in writing, from a distance.

Lao Nie had been occupied at the time with issues in his own sect – probably the scandals relating to his first wife, in retrospect, though of course he said nothing of it back then – and had unwisely trusted in Qingheng-jun’s description of the events, rather than seeing the circumstances for himself. It was understandable that he would not comprehend how fiercely his friend’s heart had been gripped by love, or how truly disinterested He Kexin was in her ardent suitor, not when Qingheng-jun described her resistance as mere coquetry. It was impossible for Lao Nie to have predicted that his well-meant advice that love was worth anything, even defiance of sect rules and the counsels of the elders, would be interpreted in such a terrible way.

Still less, of course, could he have predicted what happened next, the tragedy of He Kexin and the friend that deceived her, that tried to use her and Qingheng-jun through her through false rumors and twisted stories, and in so doing underestimated how unbridled He Kexin could be when pressed. It was all part and parcel of the same underlying calamity: if Qingheng-jun had not been so persistent in his courtship, He Kexin wouldn’t have had such a bad impression of the Lan sect; if she hadn’t had such a bad impression of the Lan sect, she might not have been so ready to believe her friend’s lies about their teacher’s conduct, to allow herself to be indirectly used to manipulate Qingheng-jun’s love-madness to the advantage of another sect; if He Kexin had been a little less arrogant or a little less blindly trusting or had bothered to ask a single question before taking upon herself the duty of executioner as well as judge, if she’d only held back her sword and not gone so far as to kill a man over baseless rumor – if only – if only – if, if, if –

If Qingheng-jun had not decided that his love mattered more to him than his sect.

There was no way Lao Nie could have known what would happen.

It was understandable.

One might even say that it was forgivable, except Lan Qiren had not yet gotten around to forgiving him.

Lan Qiren had dreamed of travel, not teaching; he’d wanted to play music in all the forgotten places, to learn all the things that could not be simply deduced from inside the safety of the Cloud Recesses. He’d wanted to help people, to use that vast store of knowledge that seemed irrevocably stuck in his brain to solve problems and suggest solutions. But the Lan sect needed a leader, and with Qingheng-jun in permanent seclusion, disinterested in sect matters, choosing instead to obsess endlessly over his broken heart…

The duty had fallen to Lan Qiren instead.

(He Kexin had eventually grown rather fond of her husband, even if love wasn’t the word for it. Lan Qiren didn’t know if she was simply salvaging what she could out of an unsalvageable situation or if she just enjoyed the exercise, but he had two nephews now, to raise as if they were his own. Because that was just what he needed, another chain binding him to his home, another duty that shouldn’t have been his – he loved his nephews more than anything, so he couldn’t be angry at them, couldn’t blame them for being born, and so he had to be angry at everyone else instead.)

Lan Qiren lowered his head and pursed his lips. He knew Lao Nie wanted his forgiveness. He even knew, according to the sect rules he valued so highly, that he should grant it. Seven years was surely long enough to pay for any innocent mistake, wasn’t it?

Come as a friend, or not at all.

That was the invitation Lao Nie had extended, and Lan Qiren had come. That was very nearly a decision, if he wanted it to be.

“Let me see him,” Lan Qiren proposed, and Lao Nie’s smile warmed at once.

#mdzs #lan qiren #sect leader nie #my fic #my fics #tedious joys #LQR and the power of research

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arbiterofthedead · 3 years

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The Sorrow of Werlyt

While I know there are some who disagree, I loved the Sorrow of Werlyt questline...it really struck a major cord with me, which doesn’t usually happen to me for most MMORPG stories that I’ve run into. Which was mostly from WoW which I found caring about less and less as the story became far to large for me to even care about.

Below are my thoughts, this is by no means a thought that everybody should share, that’s the beauty of this. I know Ishikawa had a hand in this storyline, as far as what I could find online about the matter, I adore her work and the direction she takes with characters so I am naturally biased in that regard.

Enjoy my ramblings!

What the story meant to me is that Gaius knows where he went wrong, how his actions resulted in the deaths of countless people as he marched onward to take over new lands. We see this as an inherently bad thing, considering the toll such conquest takes on the people who were unfortunate enough to live under Imperial rule. We’ve seen how brutal Imperial rule has been, it takes a massive toll on the people as we’ve seen with the likes of Doma, Ala Migho and other regions that were subjected to the Iron curtain of Garlemald.

I would argue that Gaius as we encountered him in ARR and even before ARR, where he let the information leak that Nael van Darnus planned to bring Dalamund upon Eorzea to purify it from the beast tribes and bring an end to their summoning of primals. Is by far one of the more ‘human-like’ Garlean characters that we’ve been given so far. I put forward this notion because most of the Imperial characters we’ve encountered are downright evil or deeply misguided individuals.

We see how his methods differed from his contemporary in that aspect but we also see it in an echo flashback (for those who played the game before ARR) where Gaius saw the bringing down of the moon as a senseless act of genocide.

I would put forth the idea that Gaius was perhaps one of the more reasonable of the Garleans as the other military leaders, and even the Emperor, seem to want to crush everything and everyone. We see how grisly some of these leaders can be when Valens used one of the children to effectively make the Diamond weapon functional. For us as outsiders looking in, we can see completely that this act is horrendous and that Valens deserved punishment for what he did and for what he put the children though, which was 100% very abusive in every single sense of the word..

We see that many of the Garlean leaders, at various points of the game, are more or less psychopaths who wish to cause the most amount of destruction as possible. I believe this is intentional placement as I believe, as some lore theorists point to this, that the Garlean Empire was but a machine to bring about rejoining's and that that the Empire needed to put into place people who were ruthless in all aspects of their lives. I see that most of these Imperial leaders are highly unstable, in my assessment, as many of them engage in severely reckless behavior and also engage in war crimes that make us as outsiders cringe.

We see this time and time again with the leaders of the Empire seemingly being uncaring and ruthless oppressors, and I would completely agree with that assessment given what we see the Empire doing in various points of the game.

This is becoming longwinded but I wanted to give some idea of who Gaius is and why he turned against the Empire and seeks to better himself. He doesn’t run from his past, he knows that he is responsible for a great deal of suffering. I refuse to damn him for all eternity because the world isn’t as simple as that.

He may never be fully redeemed for what he’s done, and I believe the writers recognize that fully. I see his openness to help Terncliff recover, as well as his desire to help the remaining children move beyond their horrific ordeal as a genuine attempt to set himself upon the path to make a future where the Black Wolf isn’t seen as an irredeemable villain.

What is done is done and Gaius knows this...but his future remains unwritten and he wants to make it a future where he honors the memory of the children he lost, and to honor the ones he can yet save.

I know this story isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I wanted to work through my own thoughts about this. You are free to agree or disagree, my main goal was to add a bit more nuance to this conversation that I’ve seen going around on Tumblr and Twitter to some degree.

If you got to the end, thank you for reading the ramblings of a nerd with too much free time on their hands!

Much love and I hope you have a lovely day!

#Just my thoughts #by no means universal #But this is what I took from it #5.5 spoilers

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shorkbrian · 3 years

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Ask Answering

Ask answering time!

As always, if you don’t see your ask answered, it just means I’m saving it to attach it to a fic, Drabble, or HC.

If you’d prefer to not see these types of posts from me, block the tag “shorkbrian answers a lot of asks”

CAn I be one of those pies that has birds in it? Goth pie. But ty dude, and you aren’t pathetic lol. we’re all in this boat together.

Me sitting in class all the time just like

but I wish you luck as well man! collemge edumakashun here we cum

Hello black heart anon (: You’re always in my inbox and I love it so so so much, you don’t even know

lub u black heart anon

thank u luv <3

(legitimately I see this ask every time I go to fill a req and askuhkdk it makes me wheeze)

Guess what Awaso?

In Love With You. This is such a genuine and heartfelt message, I would let you bite my ear whenever you wanted, let me be the Van Gogh to ur knife bby.

forrreal, I know logically that a lot of the feelings I have are normal and are part of being a teenager. Fun story but for like the first 16-17 years of my life I was convinced there was something wrong with me because I didn’t feel the need to express emotions. I could count on one hand how many times I’d cried in the past two years. Then I went to therapy and talked about stuff and my therapist taught me how to cry. I still can’t really cry, but at least it happens lol. So while it’s kinda embarrassing and stupid, a little part of me is glad I’m able to express my emotions instead of just stuffing them down my shirt like a little kid stuffing a pillow down their shirt trying to emulate a pregnant woman.

Okay I'm done lol, anyways, thank you for this message. I’ve read and re-read it many, many times.

It’s not stupid!!!!!! Do not apologize!!!!!! fantasies are fantasies, I get it bro (:

still cannot believe there are people out there who genuinely enjoy my stuff... like y’alll... I thought it was a joke...

But I would be willing to write a second part! I just need help coming up with like an idea cause idek how to go from there lol.

could you guys pls stop giving me compliments I am genuinely going to cry like a little bitch and I have to uphold the image of being the funniest person in my household and If I start crying then I cannot do that. Pls. My Image

Listen, she can be whoever you want her to be! long lost sister, adopted sister, the kid he used to babysit that coincidentally loves horror movies and the same stuff he likes. Could be the kid that came over to help clean his father’s gigantic house, could be the bagger at the grocery store. You get to control who it is! That’s the cool bit!

You have thus been dubbed “Iced Chocolate Anon” (What is that btw? is that a thing?). Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry that you had to go through that experience, I can’t imagine that it was easy or fun or even fruitful. I’m glad you’re looking at life through a different lens, and that you’re down to share that lease with other people. I’ve been trying to be better, to get better.

What did I just say about not making me cry it’s gonna Ruin My Image man. DOn’t be nice to me PLEASE I'm asjfshkgkfs

me every time I open my page/look at my pfp

do you-do you wanna share the medicine I take

Thank you! He’s always fun to write for lol

ty for the draca-snoop. He was and is much appreciated (:

I get what you’re saying, and you make really checking good points. I guess I just get too caught up with how I should try to be, because I don’t know what to do on this site and so I just kinda follow everyone else? and try to make sure I'm following the unwritten rules. Like I don’t want people getting mad cause I don’t answer asks right away or anything, yanno? idk, stuff is hard lol amirite

I owe myself the care and attention to make time to do things I enjoy. I enjoy writing, I enjoy seeing what people send me. I enjoy the experience. Y’all are rad as heck!

WHAT KIND OF REQUEST IS THAT

the first request I’ll ever be denying sorry luv

well I do not know what to do cause other people say

so I’m just standing here idek anymore

why inhale my posts when you could be inhaling this di-

Thank you kind stranger! although pls don’t admire my hands, I need new ones. hand donations are open ! I can only type like 70(?) wpm and I have an essential tremor and so I’m shaking like it’s -42 degrees at all times. please, I want different hands. I mean if you wanna we can trade. But essentially lol the point was THANK YOU you’re super nice

ik this was back before I set up my master list and I was crying and whining and being annoying about it. You worded this so nicely! I think I’m only going to be uploading actual fics and one shots there, because the thirst posts and drabbles don’t fit the ao3 format lol.

I feel like I need to accept that Kirishima is my comfort character lol. I love him sm. I think of him and just

“Or just post anything, really.” have fun watching me post about Kirishima 2465972658729 before even thinking about any other character loooooool

AO3 Anon!!!! This message made me feel so warm and loved and ugh, you’re literally too sweet and too kind and a literal angel on earth. You rock. I hope YOU have a lovely day/night.

thank u bby (wink wonk wink)

gahfdsgkdh KIDDING but lol my intent was that Sero is a GIANT perv, but in the process of being a giant perv, he fell in love with u mwuah

I’m sorry lol

Okay, I will be 100% hoenest here.... I rlly don’t like Enji. writing for him is like an impossible task for me, I have no Simp Sauce for him. But you know who does, and who is really cool, and would love to explore these ideas with you? @implexedactions

Enji is THEIR man and ONLY their man lol.

It’s not over-stepping, and it’s not weird, no worries. Remember folks, I don’t kink shame or character shame here (I do admit when something isn’t my particular jam, but just cause I don’t froth for it doesn’t mean others shouldn’t, yanno? Like what you like), and there is very little I see as weird lol.

thank you for the concern though, I appreciate it.

And with that, we have ended. TY for coming to my (Shorky) ask answering session. Have a good night and drink some freakin water, right now. Finish reading this and get up and go get water. It’s good for you. TY

#shorkbrian answers a lot of asks #also hey guys #A friend called me #Shorky #and I exploded #so that's my nickname now thx

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romeulusroy · 4 years

Text

Looking For God (Finn Shelby Oneshot)

Character/s: Finn

Word Count: 1,356

Inspired By: Starsick by Maude LaTour

Tag List: @dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt @myriadimagines @lilyswritings @encounterthepast @death-of-a-mermaid @lotsoffandomimagines @woahitslucyylu @obsessedunicorn24 @thedarkqueenofavalon @fangirlsarah16

A/N: My loves, I've missed writing so much!!! I have to admit, this wasn't really supposed to be anything? I've had fic ideas I've been struggling to properly put into words for weeks, agonizing over them, but this was just mindless writing to a song until I connected a few dots and made a plot :) I'm also *so close* to 200 fics and it’s just really exciting!!! Anyways, I hope you like this my loves! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💖💜

FIC MASTERLIST PART ONE. / PART TWO.

WANNA BE ADDED TO THE TAG LIST?

You tried to find God in him. Bits and pieces shining through that rare smile of his. Dusted in the freckles kissed across his skin. Flashed across his eyes when he was trying to figure the world out all by himself. You caught yourself staring at him a little too long, a little too often. Maybe God sat in the blush of his cheeks, the raise of his eyebrow, in the questions he spoke, wondering why you were watching with such intent. Maybe not God, not exactly, but something greater than yourselves, something bigger, someone to look over you with a plan. There had to be something, someone. You hoped so, at least. Otherwise there was no course for what this big thing everyone called "life". All of you rats in a maze with no one to direct you, no one to change your course, to set it for you. The thought of infinite ideas, plans, choices, outcomes, the thought of an infinite in itself suffocating, but freeing. Part of you wished you'd caught a glimpse, a hint of something under the surface. The other part feared whatever it was you might see, wanting things to stay exactly as they are now, in this breath, this very second of time.

To rewrite it all, that's all you ever wanted. A small request. Your futures already set in stone whether or not you agreed. Set by your blood, your roots, the people who raised you, with a God complex of their own. The older you grew, the greater that cloud darkened. You made the mistake of growing up at all. A young adult. Expected to nod, smile, shoo the same way a child would, the same way you used to. Expected to carry yourself as an adult, to be proper, well behaved. All the things you ever loved, you ever wanted from the world with the time you had left on it, washed away in the rain, left in the garden to rot, become part of the soft Earth. A ring. A vow. A martial bed and a partner til you were thrown into your inevitable grave, where you shared a plot. Arranged as a child. Every birthday, every new year, every passing day, hour, minute, second inching, crawling closer to the unstoppable. Inescapable. Certain as the day you were born and the day you would die, written in a history willing to leave your mind behind with billions of others.

It didn't matter to him though, because he couldn't read.

A revolution. Four letters, powerful enough to cause wars. L. O. V. E. Was this what that is? The running around, the fumbling, stumbling, sick feeling every time you thought about him. Is this what it looked like? Felt like? Was this what too many spent their lives pining after? To them, it was light, fluffy, warm, a hug that would never let go, a pair of arms that caught you every time you fell. They knew. Yours was full of guilt, excitement, rebellion, it was hands pressed against your back, pushing you out of the nest before you learned to fly. It left questions unanswered, stirred you from a restful night sleep on his chest in a fit of worry, of regret. A burden. It made his touch burn, setting your skin on fire, your head so full of doubt you forgot how to breathe. He was always there to calm you, hold you when you felt yourself slipping away, hush you when your screams were too loud. Uncontrollable. Surely this couldn't be that kind of love. It wasn't simple, it wasn't magical, it didn't fix all the broken parts of yourselves, slowing down the things you tried so desperately to run away from. It was the opposite. Complicated, messy, bringing all your worries, your regrets, to the forefront of your mind.

Whatever it was though, you never wanted it to stop.

You weren't dating. You couldn't, you were already engaged, but it was close. If there was ever a word for it, that's what you were. He was different from the rest. There was something about him, in him, something that made his eyes see the world as you did. It was a rare find, and you weren't willing to let go so easy. Spirited, stubborn, a cynical, sarcastic boy you couldn't help but find yourself drawn to. Lazy smiles, sideways grins, to understand him was effortless, painless, simple. He was uncomplicated. Despite his family, his name, all the expectations that followed behind him like a shadow, like a neglected dog following its first source of security, all someone had to do was listen to find out there was someone beneath the gunpowder and cap. You warned him, from the beginning, from the start, before he could get a second look at you, that the rest of your life had been decided. That was a fate he was aware of. Still, he pushed it away, pretending you could be kids for a little while longer. When you brought it up, laying together under the stars, stumbling home after a night of drinking, even quietly in the early morning, under the sheets, waiting for the house to grow quiet before he could sneak out, he didn't want to hear it.

You weren't his. He knew that, but he didn't have to he reminded.

Everything fell apart, though. A spring wedding, as your families planned, the date growing closer. He'd been more distant, looking for any distraction, his mind lost in bottles, in snow, in mindless bloodshed. He couldn't show you how hurt he really was, not when he'd been warned, not when he knew it was his fault for letting himself get burned playing with fire. He couldn't help it, though. You weren't sure you'd see him before the wedding, understanding when he avoided you. Pretending to be kids, pretending life wasn't so tangled, it was all in your imagination. There was no stopping the ticking of the clock. Time was never on your side, it wasn't on anyone's, turning generations to dust for the fun of it. Staggering, his eyes playing games, the cobblestone closer than he remembered. By the time he made his way to your house, his palms were raw, red, scraped up from his drunken falls. Throwing rocks against your window the night before you walked down the aisle. It was stupid, impulsive, reckless, he was being thoughtless and inconsiderate, but if he didn't say it now, if he couldn't spit it up, he'd never fucking forgive himself.

Pen in hand, he was going to rewrite the future. Revise it.

You looked for God in his hands, palms bandaged, wrapped around the steering wheel. Searched in the bags beneath his eyes. Watched for a sign in the smile lines beginning to set in his face, ones that deepened with every light laugh and chuckle he offered on the drive. Sober now, but just as foolish. Your mother would knock on the door, address you with their last name, her dreams of your big day coming true. When the bed was empty, nothing left but a note and a ring, she'd cry for your father. Search your room. As much as you could pack stuffed inside a suitcase, it slept in the back seat beneath his own. A stolen car, a letter of his own, the two of you leaving behind all the projections put on your shoulders. You weren't sure where you were going. First stop, London, after that, the story went unwritten. You could go anywhere, do anything, be anybody, and you could do it with him. Windows down, the air warm, insects buzzing, trees swaying. It was all too inviting, reminding you it was a time of new, of healing.

You weren't sure if this was love.

You weren't sure everything would work out.

You weren't sure what life would look like now.

But you knew, whatever was out there, whatever source or power was watching over you, it knew you were happy with Finn. This was it's plan all along, he was part of your plan all along.

#writing #finn shelby #finn shelby drabble #peaky blinders #peaky blinders drabble #peaky blinders oneshot #finn shelby x reader #finn x reader #x reader #drabble #oneshot #finn shelby fic #peaky blinders fic #gender neutral #gender neutral reader #x gender neutral reader

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littlefangirlfantasy · 5 years

Text

This kind of fear Ch.1

Summary: Odette, an 18-year-old college student, finds herself in a difficult situation because of her roommate who constantly vanishes for reasons she only gets to know when it's already too late. But, too late for what exactly? The wrong people don't take it lightly when they don't get back what is originally theirs. Now Odette has to figure out how not to become another target on the deadly list of the most powerful mafia in Korea. Only that her daring attitude and feeling of righteousness can get the best of her and cause unneeded trouble. How did the unwritten rule go again?

Never talk about Bangtan. Especially, if it is with the intention of badmouthing them.

So, what if Odette doesn't stop at talking?

EXO, BTS, Got7, Monsta X BLACKPINK, Red Velvet, Mamamoo

General Information: In this Mafia Alternative Universe, North Korea and South Korea are one country. The school system is also "unique" (aka a mix between the college system and my own imagination.) It's a very chill ystem for sure. Please don't forget that this story is fiction and is clearly only written for entertainment. In no way does this fanfiction reflect the truth about Kpop idols in any way. They are like actors playing in a movie—a very dark and vicious one. Everything is based on my own messed up imagination. It's a Mafia AU, so it has a general dark theme and is certainly not for the light-hearted. If you're looking for a cute fluff story in which the bad boy falls in love with the main protagonist you may look somewhere else. In a world full of hate and anger, love rarely finds its place.

Only proceed on reading if you're...

...not triggered by the usage of Kpop Idols in more mature fanfictions ...understanding of multiple sexualities ...okay with all kinds of relationship statuses (Mono, polyamorous) ...you're generally open to the topic of sex and nudity ...understanding of humane weirdness and that nobody is perfect ...accepting the fact that the world isn't just black and white ...not triggered by Kpop stars acting in a controversial role ...comfortable with strong language ...mentally prepared for reading about kidnapping, violence, abuse, torture, and death ...open to various religious beliefs ...not triggered by more detailed scenes written about the usage and abuse of drugs ...prepared to be confronted by toxicity and non-consensual elements of any kind

Chapter 1

chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 1

Jeon Jeong-guk [Kookie] (BTS)

Jackson Wang [Oldie] (Got7)

Lalisa Monoban [Lisa] (BLACKPINK)

🍋

Bangtan was the most known gang in Korea of all time. They had gained many followers and such a high profile over the years that it was a miracle if someone hadn't heard of them yet. It had become an unwritten rule among civilians to never actually talk about the mafia, especially if intending to badmouth them. You never knew who was listening. Even your closest friends could be involved with Bangtan without you knowing about it.

It was kind of funny to me. An organization that was worldwide known was still treated as if it was hidden and very much a myth. Just that I couldn't laugh about it. Not while the country's laws, especially human rights were ignored now. And not only by Bangtan and other unnecessary smaller gangs. Even the government didn't seem to make any efforts in changing anything about the clear madness that was slowly becoming a big problem in Korea. Violence, robbery, drug abuse, and human trafficking; there was no way that the politicians hadn't come in contact with these crimes already.

After all, there was a pretty high chance at night to witness one suspicious person selling cocaine in a dead-end to all the businessmen and businesswomen who quickly became regulars after finding themselves addicted to the dangerous relief drugs gifted them. And if they didn't pay up, their organs would be a good input in the black market later.

Everybody was somehow involved with Bangtan. And if not Bangtan, then some other suspicious stuff that was still connected to the underground business. I was too kind-hearted and unsocial to fool around like all the other young kids in my class, so I didn't deal with gangsters and drugs. Well, as young as you could be with 18 years anyway.

"Have you seen the news?" asked one of my fellow studebts as he took the empty seat next to me without bothering to ask for permission first. Jeong-guk didn't seem to mind that up until that moment I was trying my hardest to focus on doing the task our English professor had given us before leaving the lecture room. The rest of our class didn't seem to mind as well and talked to each other rather than do their work. Sometimes going to college felt like attending high school. It didn't seem like a lot of young people cared about studying nowadays although they attended schools of their own will.

"Oh, now that you've mentioned it," I started, "No, I haven't. I don't remember the last time I've turned on the television." I hung on social media more often.

Jeong-guk rolled his dark eyes. Why did he even bother acting friendly when he was annoyed by me?

"But I bet you have?" I asked him while I tried to read the next task, but the boy's voice distracted me from actually taking in the written words.

"Yes, I have," he yet again began talking. "You do remember our last argument about that one police officer who you guessed to be involved with Bangtan?"

I simply nodded and looked up to meet his eyes, already guessing that I had been right about my theory judging by Jeong-guk's facial expression.

Just like me this guy also didn't show much interest in any unwritten rules. He wasn't afraid of naming the most feared gang in the country and had no problems talking about famous or even average people who may or may not be involved with the mafia.

"Maybe, just maybe, I owe you a cup of coffee," he admitted putting his left elbow on my desk and leaning his head on his hand. His eyes looked straight into mine, probably trying his hardest not to glare.

"I hate coffee", I truthfully stated.

Jeong-guk snorted. His emotionless facial expression crumbled into frustration. I liked those negative expressions a lot more on him. It was more honest if anything which made him more real.

"What about hot chocolate then?" he asked annoyed by my pickiness.

I smiled sweetly at him.

"Oh, don't be so grumpy," I began, slightly smirking. "Maybe you'll make a good bet and win next time." It wasn't a real attempt at reassuring him. Having other people pay for my meal or drink wasn't that bad.

Besides all that forced social activity between us, I had no idea what that guy wanted from me. Nothing romantic, I was pretty confident about that one. Jeong-guk just seemed to like having something—or in this case someone—around. Probably to irritate him even more than he already was. If I hadn't known any better I would have said that he was a masochist.

It was no secret to anyone that he was involved in some shady things. The biggest giveaways were new bruises and injuries that were often displayed on his pretty face. Now, one would say not to drop to conclusions and that he might be abused at home. Well, no, not in his case. He had told me that his parents were dead the first time he had asked me out to one of the game rooms nearby. I didn't even really like him which had made the situation even stranger and he also seemed to be fed up with me. Though that didn't stop him from talking to me and always inviting me to random places. And from time to time I had to get up with new excuses because I didn't trust him at all to be completely honest.

"Do you want to come over to my place after school?"

What? Now that was a first, inviting me to his home out of all locations.

"I have to learn," I told him, quickly bringing my attention back to the paper sheet in front of me. It wasn't an actual lie. I had to learn because I couldn't allow myself to slack on all the classes I took. It had been my choice to continue further education, so I needed to take college seriously.

"How can somebody be so annoying?" he asked irritated that his offer got rejected.

"The feeling's mutual," I let him know, giving him a forced smile.

What was even the point with hanging out if we weren't enjoying the company of each other?

My last class was quickly over; the bell signalizing me to get the hell out of school. At least that was the actual reaction of most of my fellow students who ran out of the classroom to get to wherever they were planning on going. May it be another class, a quick break, or a party. I had always taken my time putting my stuff into my backpack and never rushed. Stress wasn't something I could handle very well.

"I get sleepy seeing you move so slowly," Jeong-guk commented, grabbing the notebook he always carried with him. Nothing more or less. He borrowed pencils and other useful utensils from others in the class. He didn't ask for anything, he just took others' belongings without batting an eyelash.

"Then stop looking," I said, genuinely finding humor in his bitter remark, showing off my teeth. One of my proudest assets since I had dealt with braces back when I was 15. All the pain I had ever felt in my gum was worth it though. Now I had straight teeth which I never missed display. Of course, I hadn't been the only one. Most of the kids had braces nowadays, trying to desperately fit into the beauty standards of society.

The black-haired boy growled at my comment and exited the classroom, leaving me all alone. He was such a sweetheart. I sighed and swung one strap of my black backpack over my right shoulder. My eyes roamed over the empty classroom, stopping at the seat beside mine. Originally, it had been Lisa's, my roommate's, chair.

Finally exiting the room, I went straight in the direction of the entrance and left school.

Lalisa had gone missing for two whole weeks this time, so I was beginning to get worried. It had happened many times before of course, but she would always let me know if she was away. I sincerely hoped she was okay wherever she was staying at.

Walking home alone sucked big time. Especially since I was living on the more active side of SM Town. And active sure did equal to dangerous sometimes. It could be called a miracle that nothing bad had occurred to me yet. Not only once had I heard college students talking about some gangsters trying to rob them or just simply threaten them on the streets even early in the morning. It was crazy how towns you should normally feel safe in changed so drastically into war zones with drug lords fighting against each other. Only the thought of my hometown also turning into such a dark place made me seriously angry. How dare such filths destroy places that should be filled with love and sweet memories rather than guns and gang fights?

So funny.

Someone had a very dark humor. And that someone, I knew for sure, was the one on the top ruling over this mess he must have called his kingdom. A fucked-up kingdom may I add. What a sad life the king must have had, only finding joy in destroying the lives of others.

🍋

Arriving at the small apartment complex, I noticed a man dressed in all black leaning on the wall next to the door that led into my home. I had almost forgotten about this person who had started turning up at my front door for two days now. Simply ignoring him, I calmly went up the stair and opened the zip of my backpack while I walked in his exact direction. It wasn't long until I finally grasped my silver key.

"Where's she?" the male asked me in his usual rough voice as I unlocked the door to my apartment. He gazed at me from under his black cap which covered the upper half of his face since he had always kept his head slightly tilted forward. I guessed that he wanted to hide his identity.

"Not here as you can see," I simply answered. Just about to close the door behind me, the thug caught the edge with his hand. He held so much strength in his grip that I couldn't shut him out.

"Listen, I wouldn't want us to be on bad terms with each other. You can bet that it's not exactly my favorite thing in the world going around asking people to pay up the debts they have by me. However, a deal is a deal, so could you co-operate with me on this and just tell me where your precious little friend is?" He towered over me since he was taller than me and I couldn't help but notice how well-groomed his face looked for a thug. I always imagined the gangsters with dried blood, dirt, and scarring on their skin. This particular gangster had bright skin, strong eyebrows, rosy small, pouty lips, and a nicely shaped nose. His Asian eyes were downturned and gifted with double eyelids that a lot of people in Korea tried to achieve.

"I am already co-operating with you if you haven't noticed by now. I have no idea where Lisa is. You can ask me as many times as you want to but I still won't know," I replied truthfully and was about to close the door again, but he still held against it which made me let out an irritated huff.

Why couldn't this guy just back off already?

"You know, there will be consequences if she won't pay up at the end of this week," he announced, his brown eyes fixating me intensely. Just how many times did he want to tell me that?

"I bet she knows that, too, wherever she's right now. Can you please stop bothering me and move on?" I asked him in a fake nice tone and pulled at the door handle again.

"Listen here, kiddo," he began, anew. He pushed the door with his strong hand so it was wide open and pointed his forefinger on all the different buildings around the apartment complex while explaining, "There are some other people here in this area who are taking things a little bit more seriously than I do. They aren't scared of using more than simple threats to get to people. You get what I'm saying, right?"

"Look, oldie," I spoke up. He didn't seem to appreciate his new nickname since he narrowed his eyes at me. Not that I cared. This dude should have seen it coming. Calling me 'kiddo' was not a good choice to make. "I have nothing to do with all of this, therefore, you can't just pull me into this bullshit. I'm not the one in your dept. And you can freely go cry to your gangster friends about it because it doesn't matter how many times you'll be asking me: I have no clue where Lisa is. She never tells me."

Oldie was taken aback by my statement. I didn't know I was capable of surprising a gangster who must have seen much crazier things than a college student educating him on his behavior. Maybe I had gone too far.

"All right," he agreed, finally letting go of the door.

Now it was my turn to be stunned. Not wasting any time I automatically closed it shut and turned the lock. Then I breathed deeply in and out. What was that? I could hear a faint snicker from outside which slowly turned into silence after the young man had stridden away, his steps softly tapping on the concrete.

I felt my knees getting weak so I just leaned my body against the cold doorframe as a support and then slowly slid into a sitting position. My whole body was shaking.

Fuck!

Everybody was either involved with Bangtan or if not then other shady things. I was no exception after all. Why the fuck did I have to argue with thugs all the time?

🍋

The vibrant buzzing of my phone woke me up. Being irritated by the disturbance, I sat up from my bed and grabbed the loud electronics that had been placed on top of the nightstand beside my bed. I couldn't tell who called at first because my vision was kind of blurry and eye-rubbing hadn't helped my vision either. It took a lot longer for me to adjust to reality. Not really caring who wanted to talk to me anyway, I pressed the green button and held the phone up to my right ear.

"Hello?" I greeted the person, still trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes. Glancing in the direction of my window, I noticed how it was still dark outside. What time was it again?

"Hey, it's me," a very familiar feminine voice greeted me over the line.

Now that woke me up for real.

"Gosh! Lisa! I thought you were dead by now! Where are you? And why are you calling me in the middle of the night?" I couldn't help bombarding her with questions. I had been worried for a whole week after all.

"Has Jackson been bothering you?" she quickly changed the subject, totally ignoring my concerns.

"Jackson?" I repeated very confusedly. But then it clicked in my head. "Oh, you mean that one irritating thug who's constantly nagging me about the money you owe him?"

I walked over to my window, pulling the dark curtains in place, so the sun wouldn't bother me in my sleep until late in the morning. My class would only start at 10 a.m., so there was no problem with napping a little bit longer than usual.

"Shit," she cussed. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

I could imagine her tense form in the payphone booth, going through her long blonde hair and closing her brown eyes tightly, trying to think of a good solution to my current situation which was a shark annoying the hell out of me.

"Relax, I can handle it. He agreed not to bother me until the end of the week. I shall be good in that timespan."

"I'm sorry, Odette," she then whispered, her voice cracking at my name. "It was not my intention to drag you into this mess. You shouldn't even know that his name is Jackson. I'm an idiot."

I stopped fidgeting with the smooth material of the curtain. She had never once called me by my full name until that moment. Most of the times she had gone with Odi or just plainly a too overly dragged, but lovely 'girl'. More like 'gurl' to get the spelling right.

"It's okay, I'm okay. I would rather have you be more careful with these types of people. However, if you'd needed some money that desperately, I could have lent you some."

Lisa sighed. She'd never been this tense on me before. Usually, she had a hyper, bubbly and loving personality, always spreading happiness and love around her.

"I know, and I appreciate your concern but please stop worrying. I'll be back on Saturday night if everything goes by plan. Then I'll have the money and Jackson won't bother you anymore."

"Are you sure? Listen, I can cover for you. Just tell me the amount and I can work on that."

"No!" she immediately refused. "I am very much able to solve my problems! Seriously! Don't do anything, Odi! Don't get tangled up in all this mess. Please, I beg you, try to ignore the whole situation and act as if it's nothing."

Suddenly the hang-up sound filled my right ear. Well, shit. And here I thought I could talk to her a little longer after she had been absent for over a week. I couldn't call her back. Firstly because she only called me at payphone booths and secondly because she had told me from the very beginning to never dial her phone number. Only if I was in serious trouble I should do so. And I had to always delete every form of contact we had on my smartphone. There were many different reasons for that probably but she had never bothered to explain them, and I had never interrogated her in that matter.

Weird. That would most likely be the term one would use to describe her behavior and I couldn't agree more. But I knew very well that she only acted this way to protect me from whatever was around to harm me. The rest was up to me, acting as if I didn't care in front of thugs, as if it wouldn't scare me to death talking to potential killers. As if I wasn't aware of my position and Jeong-guk's role every time he invited me to places and now even to his own. Any moment they could hold up their guns to my head, pulling the trigger and letting me fall into complete darkness just to have another check on their list of murders. It must be normal not wanting to die at such a young age, to generally be afraid of the end; of death. I hated them. I hated all the gangsters for playing around with the weaknesses of others. Didn't they have anything better to do with their lives?

After standing some more time at the window, my phone still clutched tightly in my hand, I strode back to my bed. I let myself fall onto the mattress and snuggled with my pillow under the warm blanket.

On that night, rather than Jackson and Lisa, I thought about Jeong-guk. As I laid there, my ears filled with the piercing silence, I grabbed my smartphone after some time again and wrote my fellow student a quick message. I needed hot chocolate desperately.

🍋

"Good morning, bunny!" I greeted the dark-haired Korean boy, walking up to him on the street. He was waiting in front of the coffee shop for me, his hands buried in the pockets of his black ripped jeans. He seemed to like that color, or shade if you will. Most notably because of the cap, his loose t-shirt, and his leather jacket which three were also black. Only his timberlands remained in their original light brown color.

"Don't call me that," Jeong-guk muttered the moment I halted in front of him.

"Why not? Bunnies are cute just like you when you're annoyed," I teased him some more. I had no idea how that nickname even occurred to me. If he wanted to be my friend he needed to have a nickname. A cute one preferably. Something sweet that could overplay his annoying behavior.

He'd shot me a death glare before he turned around and went through the entrance of the coffee shop.

It was a cute building with lots of colorful flowers on the black window banks and neatly organized seating booths next to them. Little lamps and other beautiful decorations hung from the ceiling, giving the shop a very welcoming and cozy atmosphere. The ground was made of dark wood, complimenting the red brick walls and I couldn't help but notice that this place wasn't Jeong-guk's style at all. Those café was very much light-hearted, unlike his dark persona.

"Find a place where you want to sit. I'll order your drink", Jeong-guk said.

"But I thought we wanted to go to school after you'd buy it for me."

"I changed my mind."

I sighed. "Whatever you say," I finally gave in. "bunny."

He shot me another sour look which I gladly ignored and went on searching for the best seats which were in the middle right at one of the windows. I put my backpack beside me after I let myself fall onto the cushioned seat. There weren't that many people around. Most likely because the majority was at work or school of any kind. My classes started later that day so it was all good. I wasn't sure if Jeong-guk was skipping his ones or could enjoy his free time just like me. I didn't even notice when he had appeared at the table at first. I only became aware of his presence when a big glass was set in front of me. It didn't look like it was hot chocolate at all.

"What's this?" I asked him as he took a seat across from me. The drink wasn't even steaming, so it was probably not hot.

"Well, what does it look like? Your drink, of course."

"Didn't we agree on hot chocolate?"

"Isn't that boring after some time, drinking the same shit? Why don't you experiment more? Try new things, woman."

I scrunched my nose. Comparing hot chocolate to shit out of all things, he had very defined humor. And his choice of nicknames was also awful. This friendship would be a hard piece of work.

"Really? Woman? You couldn't come up with something more creative?"

He raised one eyebrow, looking deeply into my eyes. I surrendered and just put the pink straw in my mouth before sipping from the drink. It was almost freezing off my taste buds, as I swallowed the fruity liquid. At first, it tasted very sweet, but the lemon flavor that came after was a bit sour.

"And how is it?" he asked after a while as I had only stared at him without saying anything and reflected on the drink.

"Not bad, I suppose," I mumbled.

And then there it was. A smile which I had never seen before spread his rosy lips and showed off his white teeth. Now, that took me aback. He looked like a bunny when he smiled. What was with this sudden attitude change though? His mood swings were seriously worrying.

"Stop gawking at me. It's seriously getting annoying," he scolded me after some time which made his smile disappear into a frown yet again. It didn't matter what I did, I would always be annoying to him.

"Sorry, it's just that you acting this friendly is a bit new to me." I didn't even know why I had to point it out to him. Not that it had mattered.

"You know I didn't have to buy you a drink," he stated, clearly irritated by my uncalled-for comment. There was nothing left of that bright smile that he had on a couple of seconds before.

"Well, it was a bet after all. It would have been a jerk move if you'd backed out just because you've lost," I replied, my eyes wandering to the dark hickey he had on his neck. Or was it? It could have been a bruise. Jeong-guk was good-looking, so him having affairs or simple hookups weren't exactly unrealistic thoughts.

"A jerk move, huh?" he repeated while looking out of the window. I hummed, taking another long sip from the cold drink, and joined him in gazing at the display of the outside. It was good weather. The sun shone and there were hardly any clouds in the blue sky, however, it wasn't particularly warm outside.

"Be honest: did you know that this police officer we've talked about the first time was a member of Bangtan?" I asked him out of the blue.

I was probably a bit too forward. I probably took all the silent rules of this world too lightly for my good. But I wanted to prove—even if only to myself—that there was nothing to fear. It was just a stupid mob with stupid people doing stupid things. And although I wanted to desperately prove it to myself, I couldn't help noticing my left hand forming into a fist while I held the pink straw between my fingers with my right one.

It was my freedom to have my own opinions. So why? Why was it so wrong to speak my mind, to let other people know about my feelings? Wasn't that what made us humans? Trying to understand people and letting them understand you by interacting.

I hated how I wasn't capable of looking up to see the dark brown eyes of a guy who I could never understand. Because no matter how many times we interacted, he wasn't speaking his mind. He didn't have his own opinions. Jeong-guk lived a life full of pressure and violence rather than trying to become a better version of himself. He let the darkness take over him. And anyone who wasn't blind could see it. The way his smile never really reached his eyes, the way new bruises formed on his sun-tanned skin, the way he was never himself. Because whoever Jeong-guk was, I had no idea at all. He was more of a stranger to me than anything, always hiding his real intentions. It was more than clear that he didn't like me, and it was more than clear that I didn't like him, so why the heck was I sitting with a person I didn't like in a coffee shop, talking and drinking as if it was nothing; as if we were something like friends? I knew that I had wanted to get to know him, to give us a chance at building a friendship. But how could it ever work out if we irritated each other?

"I did," he finally answered after a very long time. I almost forgot that I had asked him a question. "I was just curious if you'd be willing to talk about something that is said to be taboo. And you were, much to my surprise. Think of that drink as a gift for being this brave."

He was mocking me. I was pretty sure that his last sentence was meant to be sarcastic. Jeong-guk leaned forward on the table and put his hands on the wooden surface. A silver ring was on the middle finger of his right hand. The symbol of a vest was carved into the surface.

"I also have a question for you, Odette," he told me, my name easily rolling off his tongue although he had never once used it until that moment. Jeong-guk's eyes seemed darker than usual and his serious expression became blank and unnerving. His whole posture reminded me of a hunting animal as if it had spotted its next prey which it planned on devouring.

"And what is it?" I breathed out, sounding just as insecure on the outside as I was on the inside.

"Why are you talking about Bangtan so openly if you're scared of the outcome?" he asked. Not waiting for me to answer, he continued speaking. "But why wouldn't you be talking about them, right? It's not an actual rule that says to keep quiet about their existence just like it doesn't say to openly discuss them. But if you'd actually turn on the television or just did a small research on the internet you'd know better. Yet you refuse to do so. Do you know why?"

I couldn't escape his intimating stare.

"Now, do you?" he repeated his question since I hadn't made any effort in replying to him. Why was he talking as if he knew all my intentions as if he knew me?

I sipped from my drink again, the sour taste was even more powerful this time. This guy was fairly arrogant, thinking he knew all about me. But wasn't I the same? I also tried my best to understand him. Only that I didn't tell him about my thoughts involving him, my truth of him. Hell, I could have told him all about my interpretation of his depressing lifestyle and his hidden personality, but I refused to do so. Nevertheless, I could make him understand me.

I finally opened my mouth and let my voice out, so it broke the silence.

"I want to believe," I started, while playing with the pink straw between my fingers. My gaze was only on the cold drink, never wavering. "I want to believe that there is no reason to fear something that could be easily destroyed if we'd just try."

"Easily destroyed?" he taunted me.

I looked up, only to be greeted by an unnerving side smirk and emotionless eyes daring me to speak further.

"Yes, we could prevent all this underground bullshit! We could set up new rules, have stricter police controls and find the one who caused all of this mess and put him behind bars!" I told him.

Jeong-guk snickered which took me aback. That guy had never made any other sounds than sighs and annoyed grunts before.

"You think that capturing the boss would automatically be the end of all the gangs?" Jeong-guk leaned back onto his seat, his eyes not even once leaving mine. "I knew you were naïve, but I would never have guessed that you were this dumb," he spat.

"You're right. Maybe I'm dumb, maybe I'm too naïve. But, is it wrong to believe? I'm just tired of our minds being controlled by the sick normality of gangs nowadays. They smuggle, make money out of selling drugs, increase prostitution, involve in robbery and cause violence and start unneeded fights."

"And you do realize that there would be no such dirty business if normal citizens like you wouldn't buy into it? You have no idea how many students just at our college can't keep their hands off cocaine."

The glass was empty now. I didn't even notice that I had already finished drinking the fruity creation Jeong-guk had bought me.

"Well, of course, you would know. I can't believe that I'm wasting my time on a thug like you," I said, my tone a bit too harsh for my liking. My hurtful words were created out of sudden anger, only really sinking into my brain when it was already too late to take them back.

There was a very long and uncomfortable silence taking over the whole room. I caught the female worker at the counter staring in disbelief at us. She quickly averted her gaze after I had looked at her and went back doing whatever she'd been doing before my sudden outburst.

The unwritten rule; why couldn't it be standing in the book of law so I could shut the fuck up?

Suddenly Jeong-guk rose from his seat and slid out from the booth. He dug a small pack of cigarettes out of the pockets of his leather jacket, pulling one straw out and placing it on his lower lip. Every likable aspect I had ever found in him vanished with the blink of an eye. His eyes caught mine after he had looked up for the last time that day, almost as if he was capturing this moment in his head so he would never forget it. A slight smirk took over his rosy lips as he stared back at me.

I felt bad for telling him off but at the same time, I felt like I wasn't in the wrong. Pretending as if we were friends as if we tried to get to know each other. I didn't believe in it, at all. And I didn't need another broken person in my life who would only bring me more trouble than I was already in.

"So you're not willing to waste your time on a thug like me," he repeated, his mind seemingly wandering off for a moment. His dark eyes locked with mine for a very long time before he spoke again. "But you're more than willing wasting your time on someone who profits from the things a thug like me provides?"

And then he left me. Just like the empty glass in front of me: I couldn't help feeling like I'd lost something to grasp on when Lisa wasn't around. I sighed yet again and took the pink straw between my lips although there was no liquid anymore to suck through.

I didn't take his words seriously. I didn't take him seriously. And maybe, but only maybe, if I had done differently, we could have been more than just strangers.

chapter 2

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wclfwest · 4 years

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(TOM HARDY / 40 / HE/HIM) – ( wolfgang west ) has been spotted in the castle. they said to originally be from ( brooklyn. new york ) and is often seen to be ( aggressive ) but seemingly ( ambitious ). After being in Wolfenstein for ( four years ), they’ve come to ( quietly rebel against ) the council in their own way. They work as ( commander of sector three ) and are known around these parts as ( the miscreant ). better watch your back with that one around.

A LIST OF (AT LEAST) 6 AESTHETICS FOR THIS CHARACTER: twin desert eagles, bloody knuckles, heavyweights, broken whiskey bottles, handcuffs, mommy issues.

THE SONG YOU SEE AS THIS CHARACTERS THEME: maniac by kid cuddi

Sup? Names Ryan and this is my boy Wolfgang or Wolf as he prefers to be called. I’ve had him for a couple years now and he’s one of my favorite characters so I’m super hype to be able to bring him here. Personality-wise, as you can probably guess from the headcanon’s I’ll be posting below, he’s a bit of a dick. He has no qualms about killing those that may get in his way so I don’t expect him to be liked by everyone. I don’t expect him to be liked, period. While I usually play him as the big man in charge, for this one, I’ve changed it up a bit. He’s not currently the big man up top but he’s looking to be which means despite being part of the council, he’s looking to overthrow it and get the ‘ole general out. He likes Wolfenstein but he thinks it could improve drastically, under his care of course. That said, the main thing I’ll be working on with him will be finding like-minded people who share his views and just have him work behind the scenes to reach his goals.

Lovers? He’s straight and if your character is up to get dicked down by the wolf then he’s not saying no but’s honestly, not huge on love interests unless there’s chemistry involved and even then it’s all just eh to me. Friends? He’s been at the compound for over four years so I’m sure he’s known. If you want to plot a friendship between my boy and your character then I’m up for it, just remember that he’s an asshole. Enemies? Sure, he’ll have a lot of those. In time, I do want someone to discover his former mob connections and his discharge and attempt to use it against him but that’s in time. After all that, open to anything and everything.

(AT LEAST) THREE HEADCANON:

TW: abuse, gore, violence

+ Integrity. It was a thing every soldier was supposed to have, an unwritten code they were all expected to follow. Soldiers were supposed to have integrity but when it came down to it, integrity didn’t pay the bills. When he’d first signed up, he’d gone into it with nothing but good intentions. He would proudly serve. He would bring honor to the job and serve it with the dignity it deserved. He would show everyone just how much he deserved the insignia he had pinned to his chest. He had planned to hold onto those values. He had planned on doing right but then life happens. The woman you care for gets tired of waiting around so she leaves you. The bills stack up while you’re on tour and once the tour ends you’re assed out cause while everyone says they want to help, there’s no one actually doing it. When it came down to it, Wolf had a choice. He could continue severing a country that didn’t give a damn about him when he wasn’t wearing their uniform or he could serve himself. Wolf chose to serve himself.

Finding willing clients the minute he went looking, it wasn’t hard to get his team roped into his act as they too were sick and tired of being paid pennies. Working their side hussle for a couple years, the jobs ranged from extortion, gun running, and even drug trafficking. If the client was willing to pay, Wolf was willing to do it. Nothing was ever too taboo. So into the money was he that if the offer was too good to pass up, even purposely botching a government-sanctioned mission was something the man was willing to do. In the end, it was his greed that got caught. While he himself would blame it on working too many missions back to back, the truth was you could fuck up but so many times before people started paying attention. He’d forgotten just how hard it was to get to where he’d been. A SEAL screwing up a mission? Unprecedented. A SEAL botching multiple missions? Either the man in charge was wildly incompetent or something was up and since a man in the SEAL’s wouldn’t be wildly incompetent, the powers that be deemed something to be up. Having been watching Wolf for up to a year, it was when the latest mission went up in smokes and earned not only the man himself a bullet in the stomach but his teammate’s various wounds as well that they decided to step in.

Waking up in a hospital surrounded by his superiors, Wolf was given two options. He could accept a dishonorable discharge, spend five years behind bars and allow them to sweep all of his bad deeds under the rug or they could go along with their year-long investigation into his dirty deeds, they could air all of his dirty laundry to the press and while they themselves would get dragged through the mud so would he, so would his family, so would his friends and so would their families and in due time not only would he wind up in jail but so would his team as well. Seeing no other way out of it, Wolf decided to get hauled off to jail. Why drag everyone else down when it could just be him?

+ The mob was easy enough to fall into. He had the skills necessary, and he was willing. After jail, the majority of his assets had been seized. Left with nothing and no way to rebuild, the money they offered him was more than welcome. At first, it had started with extortion. Knock a few people on their ass, collect your money owed. Easy work and an easy way to build up trust. As time went on he went from simple beat ‘em up jobs, to the real pay. Turns out being a killer for hire wasn’t much different from being a soldier. You get your orders, you shoot who you need to shoot and then you get the hell out of dodge and leave your mess for others to clean up. For Wolf, it was simple. Kill and get paid. Don’t kill and don’t get paid. Needing to make a living for himself, he wasn’t about to not be paid. In time, having proved himself to be a loyal enough man, he went from being an occasion associate of the mob to being hired full time. Taken on as the personal bodyguard to one of the big boys, work for Wolf became a hell of a lot easier and a lot more lucrative.

Following the family around and basically acting as a glorified babysitter, it was while on a so-called ‘family’ vacation with his charge that the world ended. Zombies became a thing, his charge had his neck ripped out in front of him, and the family he was supposed to be protecting? They wound up having their innards torn out. With no one left to protect and no reason to stick around, Wolf got the hell out of dodge. Having read enough comics back in his youth to put two and two together, knowing he had a better chance of surviving if he stayed out of civilized places, Wolf used the skills he’d learned while serving to survive out in the wilderness. Keeping himself away from civilized places, it was pure luck that Wolf came upon Wolfstein. Though the castle was hard to miss, he had believed it to be abandoned and as such, he’d avoided it. It wasn’t till times had grown particularly hard that he thought to give it a chance and upon doing so, he then found his new home.

+ Momma’s boy. You’d expect a guy like Wolf to have a tough life. You take a look at the guy and you’d expect the hard-ass father or absent father story. You’d glance at him and expect the dead mommy cliche or the druggie mom background. Whether he likes it or not, he’s got the face of a guy that’s had it hard. The type of face you’d see and automatically know you couldn’t push some sob story onto cause they’ve already seen it and lived it. To some extent, people’s assumptions of Wolf aren’t wrong. He did have a hard life. While his father was around, the man did have a habit of knocking his son around. It was expected. People don’t willingly sign up for an elite military program at the age of eighteen unless they’re running from something. Mr. West? He was certainly worth running away from. However, it wasn’t all bad. After every hit, after every bruise or black eye came a soothing hand to make it all better. Every time his father knocked him down, there was always someone there to pick him back up,

She was his world. She’s his only regret. When the deal came there was no chance to say goodbye, He’d been away from home and they weren’t going to take him back to say his goodbyes. He got some cuffs, and then he was placed behind bars. From there it was shame that kept her from visiting. He needn’t assume that it was that, she’d told him so herself. Gracing him with but one phone call during the five years he was locked behind bars, it was in that call that she aired all of her grievances. Perhaps she’d known her time was drawing near and she hadn’t wanted to leave the world without having said her piece but his mother had made sure to let her child no just how she felt before she’d taken her last breath. Losing her while locked up, he couldn’t even attend the funeral. When he got out and attempted to pay his respect what remained of his family snubbed him and refused to tell him her location. His mother had left the world ashamed of him, and hating him. It’s that thought that haunts him. He can never make it right. He can never fix that wrong.

+ Living in a broken world there’s a lot of things people crave. Good food, shelter, good sex, maybe some booze but above all it’s companionship. Wolf wanted a friend. A true friend. A true companion and it was by pure chance that he found it in Surge. Finding the Dogo Argentino was in his eyes pure luck. Blessing’s from God weren’t a thing in his book. No god would allow the world to turn to such shit and no god in their right mind would do him a solid so finding Surge? Luck. Sooner or later he was just bound to have his coin land on heads and finding Surge just happened to be that moment. If there’s anything in this world the former SEAL has come to love, whose life holds just as much value to him as his own it’s Surge. The dog eats before him, he gets pampered first, and if there’s ever a situation where his pup’s life was in danger, Wolf wouldn’t hesitate to jump in front just to save that dog’s life. The apocalypse is hard. It’s easy enough to survive once you get the hang of it but Wolf wasn’t truly living too he met his dog.

+ Everyone has something that defines them. Everyone has something or another other’s use to identify them with and for Wolf, it’s his classic desert eagles. They were his weapon of choice before the apocalypse and even now when most are using the same firearms as a way to make things easier, he continues to use his pair of eagles. They’re a comfort to him. The hefty weight in his hand. The general feel. He couldn’t see himself using anything else. He’d prefer to never have to use anything else and as long as he continues to secure his own ammunition for the gun, he sees no other reason to stop using what’s most comfortable for himself.

#wolfen:intro

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claire-starsword · 5 years

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Homestuck Epilogue Spoilers under the cut because I felt like giving my opinion on this I guess

i wish i could just hate this thing and move on with my life but I loved a lot about Roxy there can we like, keep just him and nothing else

(and Calliope too but Calliope didn’t get nearly as much attention i wish we could have gotten more than ‘yup they’re a them’ but sure that was still very good)

extreme conflicting feelings on Dirk because he makes a hell of a good villain and his takeover of the narrative started as kinda the only interesting meta thing so far, since it makes sense that heart powers gives you access to others’ feelings, but... it went too far. It basically negates everything he went through in the original story, which is the worst thing an epilogue can do. The whole ending for Dirk was “you have terrible manipulative tendencies and your alternate selves are jerks but you can still be different” and then the epilogue just toss it out for the ultimate self thing. Like, we’re basically reading Bro. That’s what happened.

also to be honest hs’ writing is just too exhausting to engage with. The writers want to be polemic and want fans to be angry so that they can acknowledge that anger in their next jokes. They wanna throw in all buzzwords like ‘character development’ and ‘problematic’ to make it look like a parody but 99% of the time they’re misrepresenting the criticism towards them to make it seems more illogical than it is. Pretty gross honestly.

Like, i can’t see what was the point of the meat/candy thing. The meat part may be the plot heavy part but it also contains the exact kind of not plot revelant “fluff” people like for the characters. Gender issues and characters coming out. Dave and Karkat’s ridiculous banters. Romance everywhere. That is what people like reading when they don’t wanna heavy things, that is what i’d call ‘candy’, and that represents a lot better the fics i’ve read in this fandom. The epilogue’s candy on the other side was just the kind of zany hell Hussie writes as jokes. It reminds me a billion times more of the Skaianet files than fic tropes.

Also, other thing HS has been tiring about recently: your deep fandom trope analysis means jack shit in a parody if you can make it funny. It took me all the way to Candy 28 to like, chuckle. I almost gave up on reading it like 10 times. It’s a drag, it’s boring, it’s a bunch of buzzwords, it’s literally just taking a piss on, everything I guess. On Meat I can have conflicted feelings on, but Candy was pretty much all trash, expect for a bit of Terezi and John’s development I guess.

And my main point that I forgot halfway this post, the writers are incapable of making the character and the meta commentary coexist. Dunno about everybody else but my love of meta stuff is to see how the characters deal with it. Discussions about purpose or lack thereof, about being a creation, about what is creation itself, and what meaning does it have or not. That’s when this stuff shines, hs has plenty of scenes like this. But the epilogue pretty much ruined everything by tying the characters too much to the literal words. Making it so that the unwritten years of their life don’t matter, making mind control possible through the narration. Like, it’s impossible to care about these characters. Words can be put in their mouths words can be put in their brains, the writer just wants to completely destroy any immersion or heart in the series

haha destroy heart it’s that it hussie it’s a fucking classpect thing cause guess what

it’s clever but not enjoyable

So yeah already talked way more than I wanted but as someone who loves meta stuff for the characters this rubbed me in all wrong ways, and i hate that that’s the intention. That a guy made a series that got much more popular than expected and have people invested as hell in the characters and instead of trying to make a good impact with it he just decided to make everything about his image of a troll author. Just, became this worldwide bully and thinks it’s clever. You’re no genius of meta commentary dude you just say the word canon a lot.

#homestuck #homestuck epilogue

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thisisatestsff-blog · 5 years

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Newsletter #99 September — November, 2012

RECENTLY RECEIVED AND FORTHCOMING SCIENCE FICTION

Already Received

Doctor Who Magazine #447

(The Doctor must face every Dalek ever; Steven Moffat interview; more) $8.99

Doctor Who Magazine #448

(William Russell on being Doctor Who's first action hero; interview with Neil Gaiman; more) $8.99

Doctor Who Magazine #449

(First look at the 2013 series; casting director Andy Pryor talks about his work; more) $8.99

Fantasy & Science Fiction July / August 2012

(New fiction, reviews, more) $7.50

Locus #617 June 2012

(Interviews with William F. Nolan and Genevieve Valentine; Nebula Awards; forthcoming books; industry news, reviews, more) $6.95

Locus #618 July 2012

(Young adult fiction special issue; interviews with Holly Black, Tamora Pierce, and Rae Carson; Locus Awards; Ray Bradbury tributes; industry news, reviews, more) $6.95

Locus #619 August 2012

(Interviews with Jack Vance and Ann and Jeff VanderMeer; award news; industry news, reviews, more) $6.95

Abraham, Daniel

Shadow and Betrayal: A Shadow in Summer / A Betrayal in Winter

(Long Price #1 / #2: Omnibus reprint; 2 fantasy novels) $17.99

Adams, John J. (ed)

Other Worlds Than These

(PBO; Anthology; reprints 31 stories of parallel worlds) $16.99

Asaro, Catherine

Aurora in Four Voices

(Collection; 2 novellas and 3 short stories (1 original to this volume), all sf, plus an essay on how she uses math to craft her alien worlds) $30.00

Baker, L-J

Promises, Promises

(After making a series of improbable predictions about Princess Beryl's future, Sandy, a mediocre witch, is commanded to make them all come true within a year - or face the executioner. Luckily, her dyke friends are willing and able to join her on her quest) $15.00

Bedford, K.A.

Paradox Resolution

(Spider Webb #2: PBO; Spider Webb fixes time machines for a living, and hates it. The time machine biz has changed. But one machine - an illegal, radically overclocked hotrod built by Spider's boss - has been stolen, and Spider is the only one who might be able to find it) $14.95

Beukes, Lauren

Zoo City

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Bradbury, Ray

Fahrenheit 451

(Reissue; Guy Montag is a fireman, his job to burn that most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. He never questions this destruction, until he meets a young neighbor who introduces him to a past where people didn't live in fear, and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television. When she suddenly disappears, Montag starts hiding books in his home; when this is discovered, he must run for his life) $11.99

Broderick, Damien

Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985-2010

(PBO; Nonfiction; discusses each novel and its author(s) in the context of popular literature, as well as providing a plot synopsis and mini review) $14.99

Carey, Mike/Gross, Peter

On to Genesis

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Carroll, Jonathan

The Woman Who Married a Cloud

(Collection; 37 fantasy stories, some original to this volume) $45.00

Chen, Haiyan/Li, Fang (ed)

Eight Dragons on the Roof and Other Tales

(Kids; Anthology; 34traditional dragon stories from China) $12.95

Conley, Darby

Survival of the Filthiest

(Get Fuzzy: PBO; Black & white daily strips, color Sunday strips) $12.99

Cox, Greg

The Dark Knight Rises

(PBO; Novelization of the film) $7.99

Cronin, Justin

The Passage

(Passage #1: A security breach at a secret facility unleashes the monstrous product of a military experiment. As civilization breaks down to predators and prey, FBI agent Brad Wolgast flees with 6-year-old Amy, a refugee from the project, whose odyssey will lead her towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun) $7.99

Dick, Philip K.

Now Wait for Last Year

(Reissue; Earth is trapped in the crossfire of an unwinnable war between two alien civilizations. Its leader is perpetually on the verge of death. And a new drug that haphazardly sends its users traveling through time has just entered circulation. Caught up in all of it, Dr. Eric Sweetscent has questions. Is Earth on the right side of the war? Is he supposed to heal Earth's leader or keep him sick? And can he change the harrowing future that the drug has shown him?) $13.95

Dick, Philip K.

The Simulacra

(Reissue; On a ravaged Earth, fate and circumstances bring together a disparate group, including a fascist with dreams of a coup, a composer who plays his instrument with his mind, a First Lady who calls all the shots, and the world's last practicing therapist. And they all must contend with an underclass that is beginning to ask a few too many questions, aided by a man called Loony Luke and his very persuasive pet alien) $13.95

Dick, Philip K.

Ubik

(Reissue; Glen Runciter and his teams of anti-psychics protect corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. When he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing strange phenomena, such as Runciter's face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time. As consumables deteriorate and technology gets ever more primitive, the group needs to find out what is causing the shifts, and what a mysterious product called Ubik has to do with it all) $13.95

Duncan, Dave

Wildcatter

(PBO; An independent starship heads to Cacafuego, intent on beating the larger corporations to the exoplanet's resources. Will a yellow warning flag planted in orbit stop them? Or, if their prospectors venture to the surface anyway, will they survive?) $9.95

Egan, Greg

The Clockwork Rocket

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Fies, Brian

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?

(Full color graphic novel. Depicts an optimistic and ambitious era fueled by industry, engines, electricity, rockets, middle-class popular culture, and the atom bomb, from the 1939 World's Fair to the last Apollo space mission in 1975) $14.95

Gaiman/Bealer et al (ed)

Neil Gaiman and Philosophy

(PBO; Nonfiction; essays on Gaiman's writing) $19.95

Grant, Maxwell

Prince of Evil / Messenger of Death / Room 1313

(Shadow #60: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Grant, Maxwell

The Triple Trail / Murder Genius

(Shadow #61: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Grant, Maxwell

Cyro / The Man Who Died Twice

(Shadow #62: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Grant, Maxwell

The Devil's Paymaster / The Wasp Returns

(Shadow #63: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Hand, Elizabeth

Glimmering

(PBO; Revised from the 1997 edition. Jack struggles to keep his life afloat and his loved ones safe while battling AIDS. A former lover gifts him with a mysterious elixir rumored to cure AIDS. But soon, the side effects become apparent, and Jack gets mixed up with a bizarre entourage of rock stars, Japanese scientists, corporate executives, AIDS victims, and religious terrorists, all competing to control mankind's fate in the 21st century) $14.95

Hearn, Lafcadio

Kwaidan: Weird Tales from Japan

(Reissue; Collection; 29 traditional tales of ghosts and monsters, collected and translated by Hearn during his 14-year stay in Japan) $15.95

Hodgson, William Hope

Horrors from Haunted Seas

(Collection; 17 stories of nautical mystery and horror, originally published between 1905 and 1923) $16.95

Holt, Tom

The Better Mousetrap

(Insurance is indeed the force that binds the universe together. Frank Carpenter, one of the foremost magical practitioners of our age, felt himself irresistibly drawn to it - until he met Jane, with her annoying habit of falling out of trees and getting killed. Repeatedly. Soon they find themselves face to face with the greatest enigma of our times: When is a door not a door?) $15.95

Hopkinson, Nalo

Report from Planet Midnight

(PBO; Collection; transcript of a speech tackling sexism and racism in publishing, plus 2 short stories, an interview, and a bibliography) $12.00

Kane/O'Regan (ed)

The Mammoth Book of Body Horror

(Anthology; reprints 25 stories) $13.95

King, Stephen

11/22/63

(On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Al reveals that the storeroom of his diner is a portal to 1958, and enlists his friend Jack on a mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination) $19.99

Koch, G.J. (Gini)

Alexander Outland: Space Pirate

(PBO; Alexander and his crew - which includes an engineer of dubious sanity, a deposed planetary governor, and an annoyingly unflappable sexbot - get in trouble with the military, the Mob, mad bombers, and would-be conquerors) $14.99

Lundoff, Catherine

Silver Moon

(Becca Thornton, middle-aged and recently out of the closet, discovers that menopause has turned her into a werewolf. And a number of other women in Wolf's Point have had the same experience. As the newest member of the pack, Becca figures her nights will be spent protecting the town and running through the woods howling at the moon. But there are werewolf hunters in town, and they've got Becca in their sights) $15.00

Maas, Sarah J.

Throne of Glass

(YA; Celaena the assassin must defeat 23 other criminals in a competition at the castle in order to be released from prison. But something evil dwells in the castle. When her competitors start dying, her fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival) $17.99

Mandelo, Brit (ed)

Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction

(Anthology; reprints 17 stories that question the ways in which gender and sexuality have been rigidly defined) $20.00

Marmell, Ari

The Abomination Vault

(Darksiders: PBO; Based on the videogame. Ages before the events of Darksiders and Darksiders II, Death and War are tasked with stopping a group of renegades intent on locating the Abomination Vault) $15.00

Martin, George R.R. et al

A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook

(Song of Ice and Fire: Nonfiction; the authors of a popular food blog based on Martin's epic fantasy provide over 100 recipes, plus a guide to dining and entertaining in Seven Kingdoms style) $35.00

Matthews, Hugh

Song of the Serpent

(Pathfinder Tales: PBO; Novel based on the game) $9.99

McMann, Lisa

The Unwanteds

(Kids; In a society that purges 13-year-olds who are creative, identical twins Aaron and Alex are separated, one to attend University while the other, supposedly Eliminated, finds himself in a wondrous place where youths hone their creativity and learn magic) $6.99

Merciel, Liane

Nightglass

(Pathfinder Tales: PBO; Novel based on the game) $9.99

Moorcock, Michael et al

Elric: The Balance Lost Volume 2

(PBO; Full color graphic novel; reprints issues 5-8 of the comic book) $14.99

Payton, T. Aaron

The Constantine Affliction

(London, 1864: A malady that kills some and transforms others into the opposite sex has spread upheaval throughout society. When Pimm, an investigator, and Skye, a journalist, stumble onto a plot that links a criminal overlord with the Queen's new consort, they find the forces of both high and low society arrayed against them) $26.99

Pinkwater, Daniel

Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears

(Bad Bears #1: Kids; Full color picture book; Officer Bunny is the law in Yellowtooth. But can he protect the town's Blueberry Muffin Festival from muffin-loving polar bears Irving and Muktuk?) $6.99

Pinkwater, Daniel

Bad Bears in the Big City

(Bad Bears #2: Kids; Full color picture book; Irving and Muktuk have a new home at the lovely Bayonne, NJ, zoo. But with a muffin factory right next door, can mischief be far behind?) $6.95

Pratt, Tim

City of the Fallen Sky

(Pathfinder Tales: PBO; Novel based on the game) $9.99

Quinn, Seabury

The Devil's Bride

(Jules de Grandin: Reissue; French occult detective Jules de Grandin tackles a case involving black magic, murder and mutilation, rape and torture, and genocidal race war. Plus bonus story 'House of Golden Masks', pitting de Grandin against white slavers) $14.95

Rankin, Robert

The Mechanical Messiah and Other Marvels of the Modern Age

(1897: The British Empire encompasses Mars, and an uneasy peace exists between the peoples of Venus, Jupiter, and Earth. In Whitechapel, a monster is once more committing hideous acts of murder, and it may take nothing less than the Mechanical Messiah Himself to save London, the Empire, and all of the solar system from impending apocalypse) $14.95

Riordan, Rick

The Lost Hero

(Heroes of Olympus #1: Kids; Percy and his friends have rebuilt their beloved Camp Half-Blood, where a new group of demigods must prepare for a chilling prophecy of their own. But to survive the quest they've inherited, they'll need some help) $9.99

Roberts, Adam

By Light Alone

(In a world where people have been genetically engineered so that they can photosynthesize sunlight with their hair, the poor grow their hair, while the rich affect baldness and flaunt their wealth by eating. The young daughter of an affluent family is kidnapped, but the ransom demands are refused. A year later a young woman arrives at the family home claiming to be their daughter. She has changed so much, she has lived on light, can anyone be sure that she has come home?) $14.95

Robeson, Kenneth

Murder on Wheels / The Three Gold Crowns / Death to the Avenger

(Avenger #7: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Robeson, Kenneth

The Pirate's Ghost / The Green Eagle (Bama cover)

(Doc Savage #50: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Robeson, Kenneth

The Derrick Devil / The Spotted Men

(Doc Savage #58: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Robeson, Kenneth

Pirate Isle / The Speaking Stone

(Doc Savage #59: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Robeson, Kenneth

He Could Stop the World / The Laugh of Death

(Doc Savage #60: Pulp reprints) $14.95

Salvatore, R.A.

Charon's Claw

(Forgotten Realms: Neverwinter #3: Drizzt draws his sword once more to aid his friends, assisting the elf Dahlia as she enacts revenge, and helping an old foe break the bonds that have held him hostage for over a century $27.95

Scott, M/Barnett, L

Point of Hopes

(Astreiant #1: Reissue; In the great city of Astreaint, magic is real, stars guide lives, and Nicolas Rathe and his colleagues are attempting to establish a police force. Rathe and Eslingen work together to halt an astrological and alchemical conspiracy against the queen, and rescue scores of kidnapped children) $18.00

Scott, Melissa

Point of Knives

(Astreiant #1.5: Novella. Rathe and Eslingen work together to solve the murders of father-and-son pirates. When pirate treasure proves a threat to the throne, they must make uncomfortable choices) $13.00

Shepard, Lucius

The Dragon Griaule

(Collection; 6 tales, 1 original to this volume) $45.00

Smith, Jeff

The Drift

(RASL #1: PBO; Black & white graphic novel. Not for kids. A dimension-jumping art thief races through space and time searching for his next big score - and trying to escape his past) $13.00

Smith, Jeff

The Fire of St. George

(RASL #2: PBO; Black & white graphic novel. Not for kids. A dimension-jumping art thief races through space and time searching for his next big score - and trying to escape his past) $15.00

Smith, Jeff

Romance at the Speed of Light

(RASL #3: PBO; Black & white graphic novel. Not for kids. A dimension-jumping art thief races through space and time searching for his next big score - and trying to escape his past) $15.00

Stauber, Katy

Spin the Sky

(PBO; After years away at war, Cesar Vaquero returns to Ithaca, an orbital colony that boasts the only cattle in space, to find his wife and son don't recognize him. Penelope swore off men after her husband disappeared, and has been busy running the ranch, raising her son, and fending off suitors. But something about the war-weary man stirs forgotten feelings in her, even as sabotage, rustlers, and a space stampede threaten to tear Ithaca apart) $14.99

Swift, E.J.

Osiris

(Osiris Project #1: Osiris has been cut off from the land since the Great Storm 50 years ago. Adelaide is a jaded socialite. Vikram is a third-generation refugee, who sees his people dying of cold and starvation. As a brutal winter brings the city closer to riot and revolution, these two will try to bridge the gap dividing the city) $26.99

Szathmari, Sandor

Voyage to Kazohinia

(A dystopian classic in Hungary, available in the U.S. for the first time. A shipwrecked surgeon finds himself among the Hins, who live a technologically advanced existence without emotions, desires, arts, money or politics. Unhappy amid the bleak perfection, he asks to be admitted to the closed settlement of the Behins, beings with souls and atavistic human traits) $16.95

Tan, Charles (ed)

Lauriat: A Filipino-Chinese Speculative Fiction Anthology

(14 original stories) $18.00

Tobin, Paul (ed)

White Cloud Worlds

(Full color art book showcasing the work of 27 established and emerging sf and fantasy artists from Aotearoa New Zealand) $29.99

Walton, Evangeline

The Mabinogion Tetralogy: Prince of Annwn / The Children of Llyr / The Song of Rhiannon / The Island of the Mighty (alternate title: The Virgin and the Swine)

(Omnibus reprint; 4 classic fantasies based on Welsh mythology) $24.95

Watson/Whates (ed)

The Mammoth Book of SF Wars

(Anthology; 24 stories (3 original to this volume) of war in the future) $13.95

Whitehead, Colson

Zone One

(After a pandemic devastates the planet, a team of civilian volunteers is tasked with clearing out feral zombies from lower Manhattan. Mark is occupied with the mundane mission of zombie mop-up, the rigors of Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, and the impossible tasks of coming to terms with a fallen world. Then things start to go wrong) $15.00

Williams, Mazarkis

The Emperor's Knife

(Tower & Knife #1: When the Cerani Empire is devastated by a strange plague, long-planned conspiracies boil over into violence, and an invincible evil intelligence known as the Pattern Master appears from the deep desert. Only three people stand in his way: a lost prince, a world-weary assassin, and a young girl from the steppes who saw a path in a pattern once, among the waving grasses - a path that just might save them all) $14.99

Williams, Tad

A Stark and Wormy Knight

(Collection; 11 stories, novellas, and scripts) $40.00

Wilson, N.D.

The Dragon's Tooth

(Ashtown Burials #1: Kids; Cyrus and Antigone Smith join an ancient order of explorers who search for lost cities and powerful artifacts, and act as jallers to unkillable criminals who have terrorized the world for millennia) $7.99

Wingrove, David

Son of Heaven

(Chung Kuo Prequel #1: Dorset, 2085: Chinese airships are in the skies, and Jake finds himself forcibly incorporated into a global city of some 34 billion souls, where a resurgent China is seeking to abolish the past and bring about world peace through rigidly enforced order. But a civil war looms, and Jake will find himself at the heart of the struggle) $12.95

Wrede, Patricia C.

Shadow Magic

(Lyra #1: Reissue; Her kingdom's ancient enemies have kidnapped 20-year-old Princess Alethia, carrying her off through the forest. These are magic woods, home to fabled creatures whose existence she has always doubted. To find her way home, Alethia will have to learn to trust the old tales, which hold the only hope of saving her kingdom; Signed copies) $14.99

Wrede, Patricia C.

Daughter of Witches

(Lyra #2: Reissue; After her parents were executed for practicing magic, Ranira became indentured servant to a brutal innkeeper. While attempting to protect her from her master's cruelty, three guests reveal magical powers. Now she must unleash her own magical powers to save her new friends from certain death; Signed copies) $14.99

Wrede, Patricia C.

The Harp of Imach Thyssel

(Lyra #3: Reissue; Emereck, a minstrel, and Flindaran, a nobleman masquerading as a tramp, have found an abandoned castle, and in it, one of Lyra's most sought-after treasures. Emereck must learn to harness its strength to create and destroy, with the fate of the kingdom hanging in the balance; Signed copies) $22.99

Wrede, Patricia C.

Caught in Crystal

(Lyra #4: Reissue; When a sorceress asks for a room at Kayl's country inn, Kayl is sure the woman has come to take her back to the life she renounced. To save her family and her world, Kayl will have to unlock a side of herself she buried long ago; Signed copies) $24.99

Wrede, Patricia C.

The Raven Ring

(Lyra #5: Reissue; Learning that her mother has died far from home, of wounds sustained in an attack, Eleret sets out to reclaim her mother's belongings - especially a ring etched with a raven. She doesn't know what's special about the ring, but someone was willing to kill for it. To make it home in one piece, she will have to unlock the mysteries of the ring; Signed copies) $23.99

Zeltserman, Dave

Monster: A Novel of Frankenstein

(19th-century Germany: When his beloved is murdered, a young man is accused of the crime. Broken on the wheel and left for dead, he awakens on a lab table, transformed into an abomination. He finds his tormentor, Victor Frankenstein, in league with the Marquis de Sade, creating something much more sinister) $23.95

Expected Early September

Aguirre, Ann

Endgame

(Sirantha Jax #6: PBO; The planet La'heng is occupied by foreign conquerors, but Jax means to liberate it as part of a grass-roots resistance movement) $7.99

Aiken, G.A.

How to Drive a Dragon Crazy

(Dragon Kin #6: PBO; Izzy is trying to fulfill a ridiculous quest for a pushy god; sexy dragon warlord Eibhear the Blue is determined to come along to protect her) $7.99

Allston, Aaron

Conviction

(Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi #7: Abeloth is on the run, but has not given up its plans to destroy the galaxy, even as the Jedi and the Sith abandon all pretense of cooperation and make plans to rout each other) $7.99

Almasi, G.T.

Blades of Winter

(Shadowstorm #1: Rather than risk another war, the four superpowers - the U.S., the Soviet Union, Greater Germany, and the Nationalist Republic of China - have poured their resources into creating superspies known as Levels. Alix is one of the best U.S. Levels. But when a decision explodes - literally - in her face, she uncovers a conspiracy that could upset the balance of power) $9.99

Anderson, K/Peart N

Clockwork Angels

(Companion novel to the newest Rush album; a young man travels across a steampunk world of lost cities, pirates, anarchists, carnivals, and a Watchmaker who imposes precision on daily life) $24.95

Anderson, Kevin J.

Death Warmed Over

(Dan Shamble #1: PBO; A resurrected mummy is suing the museum that put him on display. Two witches, victims of a curse gone wrong, are seeking restitution from a publisher for not using 'spell check' on magical tomes. It's all in a day's work for zombie P.I. Dan Chambeaux. And he's got to figure out a very personal question: Who killed him?) $15.00

Anthony, Piers

Well-Tempered Clavicle

(Xanth #35: Picka Bones and his sister Joy'nt are off in search of adventure with three creatures newly arrived from Mundania - and not the sort of creatures you might expect!) $7.99

Archer, Alex

The Matador Crown

(Rogue Angel #38: PBO; Invited to the Museum of Cadiz to assess some coins, Annja soon finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation that leads her to an illegal - and deadly - collection of Visigoth votive crowns) $6.99

Axler, James

Crimson Waters

(Deathlands #106: PBO; Stranded in a gutted redoubt in the West Indies, Ryan and his friends must escape before they are wiped out by pirates) $6.99

Baggott, Julianna

Pure

(Pressia barely remembers the Detonations, when the world turned to ash, dust, and damaged bodies. Having reached the age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia - to be trained as a soldier, or used as a live target - she is on the run. Those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked are inside the Dome. Partridge - whose father is an important man in the Dome, and whose mother never made it inside their shelter - feels isolated. When he learns that his mother might still be alive, he risks his life to leave the Dome to find her. And when Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again) $9.99

Ballantine, Philippa

Wrayth

(Book of the Order #3: PBO; Sorcha is still unable to move or speak; even her partner Merrick cannot reach her through their shared bond. But when Sorcha is abducted by men seeking her lover Raed, only Merrick can find and rescue her) $7.99

Base, Graeme

Little Elephants

( Kids; Full color picture book; a boy living on a farm in Texas gets a big surprise when he discovers tiny flying elephants under his bed) $16.95

Battersby, Lee

The Corpse-Rat King

(Battlefield looter Marius is mistaken for a dead monarch by one of the dead soldiers, and transported to the Kingdom of the Dead. The dead need a King to remind God where they are. To recover his life, Marius must return to the surface and find them a King. Which he fully intends to do - just as soon as he stops running) $7.99

Bell, Alex

Lex Trent versus the Gods

(Lex Trent #1: Lex Trent's world is inhabited by magicians, crones, and a menagerie of gods and goddesses. And while Lex is seemingly dedicated to his legal studies, he leads a double life as a notorious cat burglar who has been evading capture for years. But Lex's luck is about to run out, because the Goddess of Fortune has selected him to be her player in the highly dangerous Games) $11.95

Beyer, Kristen

The Eternal Tide

(Star Trek Voyager: PBO; The fleet continues its exploration of the Delta Quadrant, investigating the current status of sectors formerly controlled by the Borg) $7.99

Blaylock, James P.

Zeuglodon

(Pursued by kidnappers, three junior members of the Guild of St. George must descend into the depths of the hollow earth to return the Sleeper to his ancestral home. But awakening him might mean the end of the dream, the closing of the passage, and three intrepid explorers marooned in a savage land) $35.00

Bond, Gwenda

Blackwood

(YA; 114 modern-day people have disappeared from Roanoke Island. Miranda, from the island's most infamous family, and Phillips, who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony) $9.99

Bornikova, Phillipa

This Case Is Gonna Kill Me

(Linnet comes from an affluent human family. When she begins her career at a vampire law firm, she discovers that, in a workplace where some humans will eventually achieve immense power and centuries of extra lifespan, office politics can be vicious beyond belief) $14.99

Brockmann, Suzanne

Born to Darkness

(Determined to end the scourge of a designer drug that can make anyone a superpowered Greater-Than, but exacts a lethal toll, operative Michelle Mackenzie is knocked for a loop when she meets the new test subject: former Navy SEAL Shane Laughlin, her latest one-night stand) $7.99

Brook, Meljean

Riveted

(Iron Seas #3: PBO; Five years ago, Annika unwitting endangered the secret of her Iceclandic community. Now she serves on an airship - and her home is again threatened when David comes aboard, looking to expose her secrets. Disaster leaves them stranded on a glacier, pursued by a madman - with heat rising between them) $16.00

Buehlman, Christopher

Those Across the River

(When Frank Nichols returns to his Georgia hometown to write a history of his family's plantation, he soon learns there is a presence there that demands sacrifice - and has been waiting for Frank's homecoming) $15.00

Buettner, Robert

Undercurrents

(Orphan's Legacy #2: Sent to bring down the local politicos of a politically quarantined giant habitat, Lt. Jazen Parker finds himself inclined to abandon the place to its ways - until he uncovers a plot to throw a 500-hundred-planet alliance into anarchy) $7.99

Carroll, Lee

Black Swan Rising

(Garet James #1: New York City shopkeeper John Dee offers jeweler Garet James a generous sum of money to open a vintage silver box. The symbol of the swan on the box matches a ring Garet's mother gave her, and when she opens the box, otherworldly things start happening) $7.99

Carson, Rae

The Girl of Fire and Thorns

(Elisa #1: YA; Andre Norton Award finalist. Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness. Elisa is the chosen one. She could be everything to those who need her most - if the prophecy is fulfilled, if she finds the power deep within herself, if she doesn't die young. Most of the chosen do) $9.99

Cassidy, Dakota

Accidentally Dead

(Accidentally Paranormal #2: After a patient bites her, dental assistant Nina Blackman ends up with a set of fangs, a taste for blood - and an irresistible attraction to the patient) $7.99

Charlton, Blake

Spellbound

(Nicodemus #2: The demon behind his curse has hatched a plot to force Nicodemus to change language and ultimately use it to destroy all human life. Nico faces challenges from all sides as he struggles to thwart the demon's plan) $7.99

Christopher, Adam

Seven Wonders

(PBO; Tony lives in a city under siege by hooded supervillain The Cowl. When Tony develops superpowers and acts to take down The Cowl, he finds that the local superheroes aren't as grateful as he thought they'd be) $12.99

Ciruelo

The Book of the Dragon

(Reissue; Full color. Reveals the secrets of the dragons, illuminating a culture filled with poetry, magic, and art) $17.95

Cook, Glen

A Path to Coldness of Heart

(Dread Empire #8: King Bragi Ragnorson is the captive of Lord Shih-kaa and the Empress Mist at the heart of the Dread Empire. Bragi's queen and what remains of his army seek to find and free their king, hampered by the loss or desertion of their best warriors. Dane, Duke of Greyfells, seeks to seize the rule of Kavelin. And in the ancient castle Fangdred, the sorcerer Varthlokkur waits, using his arts to spy on the world at large, and observing the puppet strings that control kings and empires alike) $15.99

Correia, Larry

Legion

(Monster Hunter #4: When hunters from around the world gather in Las Vegas for a conference, a creature left over from a WWII weapons experiment wakes up and goes on a rampage across the desert. A wager between rival companies turns into a race to see who can bag the creature first. But there's more to this case than meets the eye: the crew from MHI will have to stop an ancient god from turning Sin City into hell on earth; Signed copies; signing at Uncle Hugo’s Tuesday, September 18, 5-6 pm) $25.00

Crane, Carolyn

Head Rush

(Justine Jones #3: As Midcity cowers under martial law, sleepwalking cannibals, and a mysterious rash of paranormal copycat violence, Justine's search for answers leads her into the most dangerous mind game yet) $16.00

Curran, Kim

Shift

(YA; 16-year-old Scott learns he's a Shifter, with the power to undo any decision he's ever made. Pretty cool, until his world starts to unravel around him, and he realizes that using his power has terrible consequences) $9.99

Daniells, Rowena Cory

Sanctuary

(Outcast #3: With winter storms brewing and raiders drawn by rumors of wealth, tension grows on the overcrowded ships of the mystics. And although Imoshen sent the Sagora Scholars a request for sanctuary, they haven't replied) $8.99

De Grave, Kathleen

The Hour of Lead

(Kansas, 2039: An earthquake that has slowed down time forces two people to confront their pasts in order to repair their broken lives in the present) $14.95

Dick, Philip K.

Upon the Dull Earth

(Collected Stories #3: Collection; 23 stories and novellas written in 1953 and 1954, plus extensive story notes) $40.00

Dick, Philip K.

Solar Lottery (alternate title: World of Chance)

(Reissue; In 2203 anyone can become the ruler of the solar system - it all comes down to the random turns of a giant wheel. But when a new Quizmaster takes over, the old one still keeps some rights, namely the right to hire assassins to attempt to kill the new leader. After the most recent change in leadership, employees of the former ruler scurry to find an assassin who can get past telepathic guards. But when one employee switches sides, troubling facts about the lottery system come to light, and it just might not be possible for anyone to win) $13.95

Dick, Philip K.

We Can Build You

(Reissue; When Louis Rosen's electronic organ company builds a pitch-perfect robotic replica of Abraham Lincoln, they are pulled into the orbit of a shady businessman, who is looking to use Lincoln for his own profit. Meanwhile, Rosen seeks Lincoln's advice as he woos a woman incapable of understanding human emotions - someone who may be even more robotic than Lincoln's replica) $13.95

Dick, Philip K.

The World Jones Made

(Reissue; Floyd Jones has always been able to see exactly one year into his future, a gift and curse that began one year before he was born. As a fortune-teller at a post-apocalyptic carnival, Jones is a powerful force, and may just be able to force society away from its paralyzing Relativism - if he can avoid the radioactively unstable government hitman on his tail) $13.95

Doctorow, C/Stross, C

The Rapture of the Nerds

(At the dusk of the 21st century, Earth has a population of roughly a billion hominids happily living in a preserve at the bottom of a gravity well. Those who weren't happy have emigrated to the densethinker clades that fog the inner solar system. The metaconsciousness of the solar system occasionally spams Earth's networks with plans for cataclysmically disruptive technologies. A sane species would ignore these get-evolved-quick schemes, but there's always someone who will bite. So there's Tech Jury Service: random humans charged with assessing dozens of new inventions and ruling on whether to let them loose. Young Huw, a technophobic, misanthropic Welshman, has been selected for the latest jury) $24.99

Doctorow, Cory

For the Win

(YA; In electronic sweatshops, countless 'gold farmers', trapped by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay. A mysterious woman called Big Sister Nor will use her experience, knowledge of history, and connections to real-world organizers to build group of young people into a movement that can challenge the status quo) $10.99

Douglas, Ian

Bloodstar

(Star Corpsman #1: PBO; Navy Corpsman Elliot Carlyle and Bravo Company's Black Wizards are en route to the colony planet of Bloodworld, where the alien Qesh have made violent first contact) $7.99

Egan, Greg

The Eternal Flame

(Orthogonal #2: When a fuel shortage threatens the generation ship's voyage, Tamara the astronomer sees a risky solution in a meteor whose trajectory will bring it within range. Meanwhile, Carlo the biologist searches for a better way to control the ship's population explosion) $26.99

Elliott, Kate

Cold Fire

(Spiritwalker #2: Cat and Bee are caught in an intricate web of subterfuge and politics. Everyone seems to want something from them: the warlord who wants to conquer Europa, the Cold Mages who stand against him, and the dangerous Master of the Wild Hunt) $7.99

Flanagan, John

The Outcasts

(Brotherband #1: Kids; Skandians are known for their size and strength. Not Hal, Stig, and their friends. But that doesn't mean they don't have skills, or courage. And they'll need both to do battle at sea against the Wolves and the Sharks in the ultimate race) $8.99

Flavin, Teresa

The Blackhope Enigma

(Kids; Blackhope Tower is shrouded in intrigue, centering on a labyrinth and painting in the Mariner's Chamber. When 14-year-old Sunni visits the tower and sees her stepbrother Dean disappear, seemingly into the painting itself, she sets out to find him) $6.99

Flint, Eric (ed)

Ring of Fire III

(Ring of Fire: Anthology; 20 original alternate history tales set in the world of

1632

, by Flint, Lackey, and more) $7.99

Friedman, C.S.

Legacy of Kings

(Magister #3: With the Magisters hunting her for killing one of their own, Kamala's only hope of survival lies in the northern Protectorates. There spells are warped by a curse, originally intended to protect the lands of men from the souleaters. But the curse appears to be weakening - and the threat of the souleaters is once more falling across the land) $7.99

Froud, Brian & Wendy

Trolls

(Art book; new and classic work by the Frouds, revealing the world of trolls) $35.00

Gaider, David

The Stolen Throne

(Dragon Age: Prequel to video game

Dragon Age: Origins

) $7.99

Gear, W.M. & Kathleen

The Broken Land

(First North Americans #19: Dangerous sorcerer Atotarho has set in motion a cataclysmic battle that threatens to destroy the Iroquoian world. To stop him, Jigonsaseh, Hiyawento, and Sky Messenger must find a way to unite five warring nations) $7.99

Gibson, William

Distrust That Particular Flavor

(Collection; 25 essays and articles on technology, popular culture, writing, and more) $16.00

Gilman, Laura Anne

The Shattered Vine

(Vineart War #3: As conditions worsen throughout the Lands, Jerzy returns to the Berengia to delve into the magic that has been growing within him, knowing that his god-forbidden knowledge may be the only thing that can save the Lands Vin) $9.99

Golden, Christie

Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War

(World of Warcraft: When a beloved peacekeeper is pressed to the limit by an inconceivable horror, will it change her forever? Break her? Or redefine her role on Azeroth?) $26.00

Goonan, Kathleen Ann

In War Times

(1941: After his brother is killed at Pearl Harbor, Sam promises that he will do anything he can to stop the war, and is selected to study code breaking, electronics, and physics. He is seduced by a mysterious female physicist, and given the plans for a device that will end the war, perhaps even end the human predilection for war. But the device does something less, and more, than that) $15.99

Gorey, Edward

A Halloween Treat

(In a previously unpublished vignette, kids and cats go trick-or-treating, gathering loot that might be tricks - or their very own monsters. Plus a collection of ghastly ghost illustrations) $13.00

Green, Simon R.

Ghost of a Dream

(Ghost Finders #3: PBO; Renovations at the long-abandoned Haybarn Theater have been thrown off schedule by some peculiar incidents. The team figures investigating a haunted theater will be a walk in the park - until they encounter the Phantom of the Haybarn, an ancient evil with the ability to alter reality) $7.99

Greenwood, Ed

Elminster Enraged

(Forgotten Realms: Sage of Shadowdale #2: Inhabiting the body of a fallen dark elf, Elminster begins to rally Cormyr's Wizards of War. Manshoon has plans as well: to conquer Cormyr and be the new Emperor, and hunt down the Sage's clones) $25.95

Grimes, Linda

In a Fix

(Ciel Halligan #1: Aura adaptor Ciel Halligan takes on her clients' appearances and slips into their lives to handle situations they don't want to deal with themselves. Her current job, snagging a marriage proposal for her client during an island vacation, is pretty enjoyable - until her resort bungalow is blown up and her client's date is snatched by modern-day Vikings) $14.99

Grinti, Mike & Rachel

Claws

(Kids; Emma's family lives in a trailer park that's home to down-and-out harpies, hags, trolls - and Jack, a one-eyed, smooth-talking cat. He becomes Emma's friend, and she discovers that she, too, has cat magic - claws. She's going to need them to rescue her sister from the powerful faeries who stole her) $16.99

Harris/Kelner (ed)

An Apple for the Creature

(Anthology; urban fantasy stories of unnatural education, including a new Sookie Stackhouse story) $26.95

Hartley, A.J.

Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact

(Kids; When he's forced to move from his tiny English town to Atlanta, Georgia, Darwen knows things will be different - but he wasn't expecting to discover that the old mirror in his new closet leads to another world - or that there are creatures there who are after something that only human children possess) $8.99

Hatke, Ben

Legends of Zita the Spacegirl

(Zita #2: PBO; Kids; Full color graphic novel; Zita is determined to make it home to Earth, but her robot doppelganger is wreaking havoc, and Zita is being blamed) $12.99

Herbert, James

The Secret of Crickley Hall

(Would you live in a place where ghostly things keep happening? Where hushed whimpering is heard? Where the presence of evil is all around you? The Caleighs did, but they had their reasons. They should have known better) $9.99

Hinks, Darius

Orion: The Vaults of Winter

(Warhammer: The forest-king Orion awakens from his winter slumber to discover he has been cursed. As the corruption spreads to the woodland realm around him, he must rely upon his loyal subjects to help him unmask a traitor) $11.99

Holkins, J/Krahulik, M

Magical Kids in Danger

(Penny Arcade #8: Full color. Collects the 2007 strips of the popular webcomic starring geeky heroes Gabe and Tycho, plus creator commentary) $14.99

Hughes, Alex

Clean

(Mindspace #1: PBO; Adam used to work for the Telepath's Guild. Now he works for the cops. His ability to get inside the twisted minds of suspects makes him their best interrogator. A serial killer is stalking the city, and Adam needs to solve the case, because he's just had a vision of the future - and he's the next to die) $7.99

Hunter, Erin

The Empty City

(Survivors #1: Kids; The humans are gone, and a new animal is ready to rule the world. Which animals are brave enough to take control when disaster strikes? And what enemies will stand in their way?) $16.99

Jacka, Benedict

Taken

(Alex Verus #3: PBO; Mage apprentices have been vanishing without a trace, and someone on the Council might be involved. Alex has no evidence, no witnesses, and no suspects, but he sees that he doesn't know the half of it - and that he could be the next to disappear) $7.99

Johnson-Shelton, Nils

The Invisible Tower

(Otherworld Chronicles #1: Kids; A mysterious message appears in Artie Kingfisher's favorite video game, leading him to a game store where a centuries-old wizard named Merlin holds the key to his destiny) $6.99

Johnson, Mat

Pym

(A failed academic acquires an old slave narrative manuscript confirming that Edgar Allan Poe's

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

is a true story. He sets out for Antarctica to discover the land of black people that Poe describes, but instead he and his fellow adventurers are enslaved by the white ice creatures from the novel. Now this black crew must try to escape slavery all over again) $15.00

Kadrey, Richard

Devil Said Bang

(Sandman Slim #4: While ruling the denizens of darkness does have perks, James Stark isn't exactly thrilled with the course of his career. He has to hold off a host of killers while working on his escape plan. Meanwhile, a serial killer ghost is running wild in LA, and Slim's angelic alter ego is hiding in the lost days of time with a cabal who can rewrite reality) $24.99

Kibuishi, Kazu

Prince of the Elves

(Amulet #5: Kids; Full color graphic novel. The Elf King has forged new amulets which will allow him to invade Cielis and destroy it; Emily and her friends make desperate preparations to defend Cielis) $12.99

Kittredge, Caitlin

Soul Trade

(Black London #5: PBO; Crow-mage Jack Winter and former detective Pete Caldecott face formidable new enemies as they continue their quest to save Black London from destruction) $7.99

Kostic, Conor

Edda

(Epic #3: YA; In the virtual world of Edda, Scanthax the ruler decides he wants to invade another virtual world. This move embroils the universes of Edda, Saga, and Epic in all-out war - with three teenagers determined to try to restore peace) $9.99

Krentz/Castle, Jayne

The Lost Night

(PBO; Psychic Rachel Bonner has found peace and quiet on Rainshadow Island - until Harry Sebastian arrives to investigate strange events in the Preserve. She can sense the heart of darkness within him - and the stirrings of desire within her) $7.99

Lackey, M/Edghill, R

A Host of Furious Fancies: Beyond World's End / Spirits White as Lightning

(Bedlam's Bard #3 / #4: Omnibus reprint; 2 fantasy novels) $13.00

LaValle, Victor

The Devil in Silver

(On his first night in New Hyde Hospital's psych ward, Pepper is visited by a terrifying creature who nearly kills him before being hustled away by the hospital staff. It's no delusion; Pepper rallies three other inmates in a plot to fight back) $27.00

Laws, Robin D.

Blood of the City

(Pathfinder Tales: PBO; Novel based on the game) $9.99

Lee, Sharon/Miller, Steve

Dragon Ship

(Liaden: Theo Waitley #4: Theo has a trade route to run for Clan Korval while she convinces the ghost ship

Bechimo

- and herself - that she wants to commit herself to being the human side of their immensely powerful symbiosis. While her former lover battles a nano-virus that's eating him alive, Theo faces the unexpected challenge of rescuing hundreds of stranded pilots and crewmen from an explosive situation in near orbit around a suddenly hostile planet; Signed copies) $23.00

Lore, Pittacus

The Rise of Nine

(Lorien Legacies #3: YA; The stakes are higher than ever as John, Number Six, and Number Seven desperately try to find the rest of the Lorien Nine before it's too late) $17.99

Maltin, Leonard

Leonard Maltin's 2013 Movie Guide

(PBO; Revised and updated guide with thousands of capsule movie reviews, DVD and video listings, mail-order and online resources for buying and renting DVDs and videos, and more) $9.99

Mandanna, Sangu

The Lost Girl

(YA; Eva was cloned to replace Amarra if she ever died. So when Amarra dies in a car crash, Eva moves to India to replace her. But does she want to live out her years as a copy? Or risk everything to be Eva?) $17.99

Marr, Melissa

Carnival of Souls

(YA; Aya and Kaleb both face bleak futures, unless they can win a competition hosted by the Carnival of Souls, fighting to the death to join the ruling elite) $17.99

Martin/Lowder, J (ed)

Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire

(Essays by authors and critics looking at Martin's epic fantasy) $14.95

McDonald, Ian

Be My Enemy

(Everness #2: YA; Everett has escaped with the Infundibulum from the clutches of Charlotte Villiers and the Order, but his father is missing, banished to one of the billions of parallel universes. Everett and the airship crew have taken a Heisenberg Jump to a random parallel plane, where Everett is making plans to rescue his family. But Charlotte Villiers is one step ahead of him) $16.95

McGuire, Seanan

Ashes of Honor

(October Daye #6: PBO; While searching for a powerful changeling with the potential to destroy all of Faerie, Tobey is drawn into a web of kidnappings, political intrigue, and attempted assassinations) $7.99

McKinney, Joe

Mutated

(PBO; Fleeing the cities and their flesh-eating zombies, Bob Richardson and his crew find sanctuary at an abandoned farm. But their stronghold may not be enough - the undead are banding together and working as a group) $7.99

McMahon, Gary

Beyond Here Lies Nothing

(Concrete Grove #3: Ben arrives in Concrete Grove to research a infamous paranormal incident from the early 1970s; when strange things begin happening, it's up to him to put the ghosts to rest) $8.99

O'Brien, Caragh M.

Prized

(Birthmarked #2: YA; 16-year-old midwife Gaia flees the Enclave with her baby sister, only to be captured by the people of Sylum, where women rule the men, and a kiss is a crime) $9.99

Oliver, Lauren

Liesl & Po

(Kids; Locked in the attic by her cruel stepmother, Liesl is surprised one evening when a ghost named Po appears. That same evening, an alchemist's apprentice named Will makes an innocent mistake that has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey) $6.99

Packard, Edward

Through the Black Hole

(U-Ventures: Kids; You're in command of the most advanced spaceship in the galaxy on the wildest mission in history. Choose your own fate as you try to make it through a black hole) $5.99

Palma, Felix J.

The Map of the Sky

(H.G. Wells #2: Socialite Emma Harlow agrees to marry millionaire Montgomery Gilmore, but only if he accepts her challenge to reproduce the invasion featured in Wells'

War of the Worlds

. Interconnected plots tell a tale of time travel and mystery, with appearances by a young Edgar Allan Poe as well as Captain Shackleton and Charles Winslow) $26.00

Passarella, John

Rite of Passage

(Supernatural: A series of accidents and strange occurrences in a New Jersey town attracts the attention of the Winchester brothers) $7.99

Paterson, K & J

The Flint Heart

(Kids; Freely abridged from Eden Phillpotts' 1910 fantasy. A Stone Age man demands a talisman to harden his heart, allowing him to take control of his tribe. The tribe's magic man creates the Flint Heart, but the cruelty of it destroys the tribe. Thousands of years later, the talisman reemerges. Can Charles and his sister Unity find a way to rescue humans, fairies, and animals alike from its dark influence?) $9.99

Paver, Michelle

Gods and Warriors

(Kids; Warriors have kidnapped his sister and tried to kill him; a stranger has given him a bronze dagger. Now young Hylas is on the run, trying to discover why he's being hunted, and to find his sister before the warriors find him) $16.99

Petrucha, Stefan

Dead Mann Running

(Hessius Mann #2: PBO; The living dead PI is drawn into a killer case when a severed arm leaves a mysterious briefcase at his office) $7.99

Phillips, Holly

At the Edge of Waking

(Collection of short fantasy fiction) $15.95

Priest, Christopher

The Islanders

(The Dream Archipelago is a vast network of islands whose very locations seem to twist and shift. Some islands have been sculpted into musical instruments, some are home to lethal creatures, some are playgrounds for the rich. And a war being fought by two distant continents is playing out across the archipelago's waters) $14.95

Reay, Joanne

Romeo Spikes

(Homicide detective Alexis Bianco teams up with the mysterious Lola, who is more weapon than woman, to pursue the Tormenta, demonic predators who convince humans to kill themselves in order to siphon off their victims' unspent lifespans) $25.00

Redwine, C.J.

Defiance

(YA; While other girls train to be ladies, Rachel trains to survive in the wilderness and wield a sword. When her father fails to return from a courier mission, her father's apprentice Logan is assigned to protect her. Together they will escape the tyrant's city to hunt for Rachel's father) $17.99

Reus, Katie

Primal Possession

(Moon Shifter #2: PBO; When a hate group targets humans known to sympathize with paranormal beings, December McIntyre turns to lupine shifter Liam Armstrong for help) $7.99

Rosca, Madeleine

The Clockwork Sky Volume 1

(Graphic novel. 1895: In the London slums, young Sally Peppers and automaton police boy Sky uncover a dark secret that could overturn all of London) $10.99

Scarrow, Alex

Day of the Predator

(TimeRiders #2: YA; When Maddy mistakenly opens a time window, Liam is marooned 65 million years in the past. He must make contact with Maddy and Sal before he's hunted down by dinosaurs - or alters history) $9.99

Sedia, Ekaterina (ed)

Circus: Fantasy Under the Big Top

(PBO; Anthology; stories of circuses traditional, bizarre, and futuristic) $15.95

Shatner, William

Shatner Rules

(A collection of guidelines and fun facts, illustrated with stories from Bill's life and career, showing how to become Shatneresque) $15.00

Silverberg, Robert (ed)

Tales from Super-Science Fiction

(Anthology; reprints 14 stories from the 1950s magazine) $32.00

Singh, Nalini

Archangel's Storm

(Guild Hunter #5: PBO; Angelic spymaster Jason and Princess Mahiya are drawn to each other as they work together to solve the murder of Neha's consort) $7.99

Slonczewski, Joan

The Highest Frontier

(On an Earth altered by global warming, with an invasive alien species threatening the surviving ecosystems, Jennifer Ramos Kennedy, daughter of a rich and influential family, is headed for the college of the future, in orbit) $7.99

Smith, Cordwainer

When the People Fell

(Collection of Instrumentality stories and miscellaneous short stories, providing a sweeping saga of the centuries to come) $7.99

Smith, Sherwood

Blood Spirits

(Kim Murray #2: With the man she loves set to marry a look-alike princess, Kim returns to California to heal her broken heart. But family politics send her to London, where she winds up in a duel with a Dobrenican nobleman, and learns that her great sacrifice, leaving Alex, was a disaster. She returns to Dobrenica, where she finds ghosts, magic, and murder awaiting her) $7.99

Stein, Jeanne C.

Haunted

(Anna Strong #8: PBO; Vampire and bounty hunter Anna Strong and her friend Culebra end up in Mexico, dealing with cartel infighting, a few old vendettas, and missing girls) $7.99

Stirling, S.M.

The Tears of the Sun

(Change #8: Rudi McKenzie - now Artos, the High King of Montival - must stand against the forces of the Church Universal and Triumphant, knowing he may lose his life in the final battle) $9.99

Stirling, S.M.

Lord of Mountains

(Change #9: To end the war, Artos must journey to the Lake at the Heart of the Mountains and take part in a coronation that will unite the realms into a single kingdom, granting him an army large enough to defeat his enemies once and for all) $27.95

Strahan, Jonathan (ed)

Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron

(YA; Anthology; original stories celebrating the witch) $16.99

Swallow, James

Fear to Tread

(Warhammer 40,000: Horus Heresy #21: Horus sends the Blood Angels to the Signus system, where an army of Khornate daemons waits for them. The Warmaster's plan is to use the flaw in the Blood Angels' gene-seed to turn them to the worship of the Blood God) $9.99

Thomas, Shelley Moore

The Seven Tales of Trinket

(Kids; Guided by a tattered map, accompanied by Thomas the Pig Boy, and inspired by her heritage, 11-year-old Trinket searches for the stories she needs to become a bard like her father, who disappeared years ago) $16.99

Thorpe, Gav

Path of the Outcast

(Warhammer 40,000: Eldar #3: While Aradryan lives as a Ranger, Alaitoc is attacked by the Sons of Orar Space Marines, and must do what he can to help save the craftworld) $8.99

Tinker, Major (ed)

The Steampunk Gazette

(From the founder of the Victorian Steampunk Society, a lavishly illustrated history of steampunk, from its 1980s origins to today. Sections on fashion, gadgets, home decor, art, literature, media, and social events) $24.99

Trent, Tiffany

The Unnaturalists

(YA; When his Tinker family is captured to be refinery slaves, Syrus Reed finds that his fate may be bound up with that of Vespa Nyx - and with the Unnatural creatures she catalogues in her father's New London museum) $16.99

Varley, John

Slow Apocalypse

(Screenwriter Dave Marshall thought the scenario sounded implausible when he heard it from a government consultant on his last film: a scientist releases a virus that feeds on petroleum into an Iraqi oil field, but it spreads to infect the entire international fuel supply. Now it's become a terrifying reality) $25.95

Weber, David

A Beautiful Friendship

(Stephanie Harrington #1: YA; On the pioneer planet Sphinx, young Stephanie Harrington discovers an intelligent alien species, treecats, and forms the first telepathic bond with one. But a lot of powerful people are determined to make sure that Sphinx remains entirely in human hands - even if it means the extermination of another thinking species) $9.99

Wendig, Chuck

Mockingbird

(Miriam #2: PBO; Miriam is trying to live a normal life, keeping her ability - to see when and how someone is going to die - in check. Which feels like keeping a tornado trapped in a tiny bottle. And then comes one really bad day) $7.99

Williams, Tad

The Dirty Streets of Heaven

(Bobby Dollar #1: Bobby is a rough-and-tumble angel who's always done his part in the long cold war between Heaven and Hell. But now he's stepped into the middle of something that's got both sides nervous - an unprecedented number of missing souls) $25.95

Wooding, Chris

Havoc

(Malice #2: Kids; Having escaped from Malice, Seth isn't sure if he should try to destroy the evil comic book from his own world, or go back for an artifact that might help. Meanwhile, Kady is still trapped in Malice, trying to find a rebel group of kids who want to fight cruel overlord Tall Jake) $9.99

Zeltserman, Dave

A Killer's Essence

(When a serial killer terrorizes New York City, jaded detective Stan Green finds just a single witness, a neurologically disabled recluse who sees through the souls of others as demonic hallucinations) $15.00

Expected Mid-September

Andrews, Scott K.

School's Out Forever

(Afterblight Chronicles: 15-year-old Lee and his boarding school's Matron must try to protect their charges from cannibalistic gangs, religious fanatics, a bullying prefect, and the surviving might of the U.S. Army) $12.99

Bachmann, Stefan

The Peculiar

(Kids; Bartholomew is a changeling, child of a faery father and a human mother, who lives in the faery slums of Bath. When he witnesses the kidnapping of another changeling, he finds himself at the center of a web of intrigue) $16.99

Balaban, Bob

The Creature from the Seventh Grade: Boy or Beast

(Kids; Charlie has suddenly morphed into a giant mutant sea creature. Now his best friends are treating him like a science project, the cool kids are recruiting him for their clique, and, for some reason, his parents are acting like everything is perfectly normal) $15.99

Barnhill, Kelly

The Mostly True Story of Jack

(Kids; When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his crazy aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. But the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for a long time. He makes friends. The town bully beats him up. And the richest man in town begins to plot Jack's imminent demise. It's up to Jack to figure out why - but to do that, he'll have to believe that magic is real, and has something to do with him) $6.99

Bray, Libba

The Diviners

(YA; 1920s: Evie is shipped off to NYC to live with her Uncle Will, curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition and the Occult. They find themselves in the thick of an investigation of occult-based murders. And Evie has a secret - a mysterious power that could help catch the killer, if he doesn't catch her first) $19.99

Brower, S/Heller, S

Breathless Homicidal Slime Mutants: The Art of the Paperback

(Reissue; A celebration of the art and design of the mass-market paperback, from the late 19th century to today) $7.98

Burroughs/Maxwell

Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan

(PBO; Authorized by the Burroughs estate. The Tarzan story told from Jane's viewpoint; $25.99 hc also available) $14.99

Carlson, Amanda

Full Blooded

(Jessica McClain #1: PBO; Jessica has become a werewolf. It wasn't supposed to happen: female werewolves don't exist. When a killer comes looking for her, her Pack finds themselves caught in the middle of a war. It's up to Jessica to find out why everyone wants her dead) $12.99

Chabon, Michael

Telegraph Avenue

(2004: Archy and Nat rule a kingdom of used vinyl located in the borderlands of Berkeley and Oakland. Their wives, Gwen and Aviva, are two semi-legendary midwives who have welcomed more than a thousand newly minted citizens into the community. When a former NFL quarterback announces plans to build his latest megastore on a nearby stretch of Telegraph Avenue, Nat and Archy fear it means certain doom for their vulnerable little enterprise. Meanwhile, Aviva and Gwen also find themselves caught up in a battle for their professional existence; Signed copies expected) $27.99

Cornwall, Emma

Incarnation

(In a steampunk London, Lucy Weston confronts Bram Stoker to find out why he lied about her in his novel

Dracula

. Then, with Stoker's reluctant help, she sets out to track down the fiend who turned her into a vampire) $15.00

Davis, Jim

Garfield Gets in a Pickle

(Garfield #54: PBO; Full color comic strips) $14.00

Durst, Sarah Beth

Vessel

(YA; Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess, but the goddess never comes. Abandoned by her tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert, until a boy arrives. Korbyn is a trickster god inside his vessel, who tells Liyana that five other gods are missing. They set off in search of the other vessels, for the tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she must die for her tribe to live, unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate - or a human girl can muster some magic of her own) $16.99

Edward, John

Fallen Masters

(A final confrontation between good and evil unfolds on both the Earthly plane and the Other Side) $25.99

Erikson, Steven

The Forge of Darkness

(Malazan: Kharkarnas #1: In Kurald Galain, the commoners want Vatha Urusander, their great hero, to take Mother Dark's hand in marriage, but her consort Lord Draconus is opposed. As the impending clash disrupts the realm of Darkness, an ancient power emerges from the long dead seas. Caught in the middle of it all are the First Sons of Darkness, Anomander, Andarist, and Silchas Ruin) $27.99

Griffin, Kate

Stray Souls

(Sharon Li has just discovered she's a shaman, and not a moment too soon. London's soul has gone missing. To solve the mystery and rescue the dying city, she'll need help from the support group she's just set up for people with magical issues) $14.99

Johnson, Kij

At the Mouth of the River of Bees

(Collection; 16 works of sf and fantasy from an award-winning author; Signed copies expected) $16.00

Jones, Stephen (ed)

A Book of Horrors

(Anthology; original stories of horror and dark fantasy from top writers) $15.99

Jordan, Hillary

When She Woke

(In the not too distant future, the line between church and state has been eradicated, and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned but chromed - their skin color genetically altered to match the class of their crimes - and then released back into the population to survive as best they can. Hannah is a Red; her crime is abortion) $14.95

Kenyon, S/Love, D

The Curse

(Belador #3: PBO; When Svart Trolls invade Atlanta, Evalle tries to stop the bloody troll-led gang wars; she unwittingly exposes a secret that endangers all she holds dear and complicates her tumultuous love life with Storm) $7.99

King, A.S.

Everybody Sees the Ants

(YA; Andre Norton Award finalist. Lucky has a secret that helps him wade through his dysfunctional life. In his dreams, he escapes to the war-torn jungles of Laos, where he can be a hero. It's dangerous and wild - a place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky hide in his dreams before reality forces its way in?) $9.99

Knaak, Richard A.

Shade

(Legends of the Dragonrealm: Shade the spellcaster struggles to find an end to the curse he brought upon himself millennia ago) $16.00

Kristoff, Jay

Stormdancer

(Lotus War #1: After disaster befalls her mission to capture a griffin for the Shogun, Yukiko finds herself stranded in the wilderness with a crippled griffin. They will face intrigue, betrayal, and murder as they try to save their homeland) $24.99

Le Guin, Ursula K.

Finding My Elegy

(Collection of some of her best early poetry plus a group of poems written over the last four years) $22.00

Leslie, Mark (ed)

Tesseracts 16: Parnassus Unbound

(Anthology; short works of speculative fiction about art, music, literature, and culture) $15.95

Marillier, Juliet

Shadowfell

(YA; Possessing a powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk, 16-year-old Neryn sets out for Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec) $16.99

McElligott/Tuxbury

Benjamin Franklinstein Meets the Fright Brothers

(Victor Godwin #2: Kids; When giant bat planes and mysterious attacks bring mayhem to Philadelphia, Victor knows only the Wright Brothers could pilot such creations - but the red-eyed brothers don't seem quite like themselves. Can Victor and his friends stop them from taking over the city?) $7.99

McOmber, Adam

The White Forest

(Jane has a gift that allows her to see the souls of manmade objects. When her friend Nathan becomes interested in a cult - led by a mystic who encourages his followers to explore dream manipulation - and then disappears, the famed Inspector Vidocq arrives in London to untangle events. But when a sinister truth emerges, Jane realizes she must use her talent to find Nathan before it's too late) $25.00

Shirley, John

Retribution

(Resident Evil: PBO; Novelization of the film) $7.99

Starmer, Aaron

The Only Ones

(Kids; Martin arrives at the village of Xibalba. Like the other children who've journeyed there, he faces an awful truth. When families and friends all disappeared one afternoon, he and these other children were forgotten. Inspired by the prophesies of a mysterious boy who talks to animals, Martin believes he can reunite them with their loved ones - but believing and knowing are two different things) $7.99

Tanner, Lian

City of Lies

(Keepers #2: Kids; When his sister is stolen, Toadspit and his friend Goldie follow the child-stealers to a neighboring city. Along the way, Toadspit is captured. When Goldie discovers some secrets that the child-stealers will kill to protect, she'll need all her skills as a thief and a liar to survive and save her friends) $6.99

Tolkien, J.R.R.

The Art of

The Hobbit

(The author's complete artwork for the book) $40.00

Weber, David

Midst Toil and Tribulation

(Safehold #6: A vicar of the Church of God Awaiting has engineered a rebellion against the Lord Protector of Siddermark, bringing civil war to the nation at harvest time) $27.99

Weeks, Brent

The Blinding Knife

(Lightbringer #2: Gavin had thought he had five years left, now he has less than one. Magic is running wild and threatens to destroy the Satrapies. The old gods are being reborn, and their army of color wights is unstoppable. The only salvation may be the brother whose freedom and life Gavin stole) $25.99

Ziegler, Rob

Seed

(After economic, political, and environmental collapse, the US is now controlled by Satori, a corporation that is also a living, intelligent city. Satori bioengineers the climate-resistant seed that feeds the nation, as well as the post-human genetic Designers, Advocates, and Laborers. When a Designer goes rogue, the government hopes to regain power by using her to break Satori's stranglehold on seed production) $15.99

Expected Early October

Anderson, Kevin J.

The Martian War

(PBO; What if the Martian invasion was not entirely the product of H.G.'s imagination? What if he witnessed something that spurred him to write

The War of the Worlds

as a warning?) $12.95

Anderson, Taylor

Firestorm

(Destroyermen #6: Even as the Allies and the Empire of New Britain Isles stand united against the Grik and the Japanese, the Holy Dominion - a warped, power-hungry mix of human cultures - threatens destruction with a devastating weapon neither Allies nor Empire can withstand) $7.99

Archer, Jill

Dark Light of Day

(Noon Onyx #1: PBO; Noon is capable of wielding the destructive power of demons. But because she's human, the demons consider her an abomination- and a threat to their rule over Earth) $7.99

Bein, Steve

Daughter of the Sword

(Fated Blades #1: Tokyo cop Mariko Oshiro investigates the attempted theft of an old samurai sword, forged by a swordsmith whose blades may have magical qualities. She is only the latest in a long line of warriors to confront this power, and it threatens to turn against her even as she learns to wield the sword) $16.00

Benford, Gregory et al

The Wonderful Future That Never Was

(Between 1903 and 1969,

Popular Mechanics

magazine included hundreds of predictions about the future. This book recaps some of those ideas, illustrated with the original futurist art. Benford supplies modern perspective on why some of the predictions were made. Full color throughout) $17.95

Briggs, Patricia

Cry Wolf Vol. 1

(Alpha & Omega GN #1: Full color graphic novel; adaptation of the novel) $24.95

Brown, Eric

Helix Wars

(For 200 years, peace has reigned on the Helix. But when shuttle pilot Jeff Ellis crash-lands on Phandra, he interrupts an invasion by the neighboring Sporelli - who scheme to exterminate Ellis before he can return to New Earth and inform the peacekeepers) $8.99

Buehlman, Christopher

Between Two Fires

(1348: After an orphan tells him that the Black Plague is only part of a greater cataclysm, Thomas, a disgraced knight, finds himself in a macabre battleground of angels and demons, sinners and saints, in a struggle for nothing less than the soul of man) $25.95

Burroughs/Griffin

Tarzan Centennial

(Lavishly illustrated official history of the Tarzan phenomenon) $39.95

Caine, Rachel

Black Dawn

(Morganville Vampires #12: YA; Unless Claire and her friends figure out how to cure Amelie - who has been infected by the master draug's bite - and defeat the draug, Morganville will become little more than a ghost town) $9.99

Campbell, Jack

Tarnished Knight

(Lost Stars #1: Betrayed by the brutal Syndicate government, Artur Drakon and Gwen Iceni launch a battle for control of the Midway star system) $26.95

Carey, Jacqueline

Dark Currents

(Agent of Hel #1: Fathered by an incubus, Daisy lives in a Midwestern resort town that is home to eccentric locals, wealthy summer residents, assorted paranormals, and eldritch folk presided over by reclusive Norse goddess Hel. When a boy drowns and signs point to eldritch involvement, Daisy investigates with the help of a sexy werewolf cop) $26.95

Chan, Kylie

Earth to Hell

(Journey to Wudang #1: On Earth, Simon Wong, the Demon King's son, is no longer around to trouble Emma and Simone, but his associates have taken over Simon's underworld activities. The otherworldly stones are being targeted and are in danger of being completely destroyed. It seems that the Demon King is the only one Emma can turn to for help) $7.99

Chance, Karen

Fury's Kiss

(Midnight's Daughter #3: PBO; Dory and Louis-Cesare will have to face off with zombie vampires, fallen angels, and a mad scientist to get to the bottom of a deadly smuggling ring) $7.99

Clarke, Cassandra Rose

The Assassin's Curse

(YA; When Ananna runs away from her arranged marriage, her cutthroat parents hire Naji the assassin to murder her. When she inadvertently saves his life, she activates his curse: whenever her life is in danger, he must protect her. This development pleases neither of them - but to lift the curse, they will have to complete three impossible tasks) $9.99

Cobley, Michael

Seeds of Earth

(Humanity's Fire #1: The planet Darien hosts a thriving human settlement. But hidden on Darien's forest moon are secrets that go back to an apocalyptic battle between ancient races. Darien is about to become the focus of an intergalactic power struggle, and the true stakes are beyond human comprehension) $7.99

Connolly, Tina

Ironskin

(Jane, who wears an iron mask to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek, answers a carefully worded ad for a governess, certain that the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help. She finds herself fascinated by the girl's artist father: a parade of ugly women enter his studio, and come out as beautiful as the fey) $24.99

Crossan, Sarah

Breathe

(YA; In a world where air is restricted, three teens find out exactly what they're willing to do for the freedom to breathe) $17.99

Cummings, Sean

Poltergeeks

(YA; To save her witch mother's life, 15-year-old Julie and her uber-geek friend Marcus must find out who is responsible for increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over their town) $9.99

Doctorow, Cory

Pirate Cinema

(YA; In dystopian near-future Britain, artists and activists are trying to fight a new bill that will criminalize harmless internet creativity, making felons of millions of British citizens. Parliament is in thrall to a few wealthy media conglomerates, but the powers-that-be haven't reckoned on the power of a gripping movie to change people's minds) $19.99

Drake, D/Lambshead, J

Into the Hinterlands

(Sent to clear the power-hungry Terrans from a star sector where they're encroaching, greenhorn commander Allen Allenson must also overcome the machinations of the alien Riders) $7.99

Drake, David

Night & Demons

(PBO; Collection of horrific, weird, and fantastic tales) $13.00

Dunn, Christian (ed)

Shadows of Treachery

(Warhammer 40,000: Horus Heresy #22: PBO; Anthology) $8.99

Dunn, Christian (ed)

Treacheries of the Space Marines

(Warhammer 40,000: PBO; Anthology) $8.99

Emson, Thomas

Skarlet

(Vampire Trinity #1: When a new drug starts turning users into vampires, Iraqi War veteran Jake Lawton finds himself doing battle with immortals and their human cohorts. And beneath the London streets lurks a bigger evil, waiting to be resurrected to reign over a city of human slaves) $14.99

Evans, Chris

Ashes of a Black Frost

(Iron Elves #3: As the human-dominated Calahrian Empire struggles to maintain its hold on power in the face of armed rebellion, the Iron Elves' perilous quest to defeat the power-hungry elf witch, the Shadow Monarch, takes on greater urgency) $9.99

Evenson, B.K.

Catalyst

(Dead Space: Novel based on the video game) $14.99

Feehan, Christine

Dark Predator

(Carpathian #19: When he leaves his life as master executioner behind, Zacarias wonders who he really is. The answer awaits him back home in Peru, where he will face old enemies and a bloody family legacy - and find his lifemate) $7.99

Fforde, Jasper

The Last Dragonslayer

(YA; 15-year-old Jennifer runs Kazam, an employment agency for magicians, but it's hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. Now visions are predicting the death of the world's last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer. If the visions are true, everything will change for Jennifer and Kazam - because something known as Big Magic is coming) $16.99

Fforde, Jasper

The Woman Who Died a Lot

(Thursday Next #7: After an assassination attempt, Thursday returns to Swindon to recuperate. But there are problems at home: Friday's career struggles in the Chronoguard; Tuesday's trouble perfecting the Anti-Smote shield in time to prevent an angry Deity from wiping Swindon off the face of the earth; and the issue of Thursday's third child Jenny, who exists only as a confusing and disturbing memory. With Goliath attempting to replace Thursday with synthetic Thursdays, and a call from Bookworld to hunt down Pagerunners who have jumped into the Realworld, Thursday's convalescence is going to be anything but restful) $26.95

Fisher, Catherine

Darkwater

(YA; Desperate to regain the power and wealth her family had lost, Sarah made a bargain with Azrael, Lord of Darkwater Hall, who gave her 100 years and the means to her objective - in exchange for her soul. A century later, will she be able to stop young Tom from making the same ruinous bargain?) $16.99

Flint, Eric

1635: Papal Stakes

(Ring of Fire: Trapped in a mire of papal assassins, power politics, murder, and mayhem, Pope Urban VII and uptimers Frank Stone and Ambassador Sharon Nichols and their downtimer spouses need help fast. Special rescue crews converge on Rome, and an uptime airplane is on its way to spirit the Pope to safety. When everything goes wrong, it's once again up to the rough and ready Grantville natives to set things right) $25.00

Gear, W.M. & Kathleen

A Searing Wind

(Contact: The Battle for America #3: After learning of de Soto's plans to target the Chicaza, Black Shell is determined to set the perfect trap to preserve his people's pride, traditions, and winter stockpiles of food and supplies) $9.99

Giallongo, Zack

Broxo

(Kids; Full color graphic novel. Can Broxo - the only survivor of a barbarian tribe - and Princess Zora defeat the man-eating walking dead that drag themselves out of a fetid lake?) $16.99

Gibson, William

Zero History

(Campbell Memorial Award finalist. A Department of Defense contract for combat wear turns out to be the gateway drug for arms dealers so shadowy that even global marketing magnate Hubertus Bigend, whose subtlety and power in the private sector would be hard to overstate, finds himself outmaneuvered and adrift in a seriously dangerous world) $9.99

Gilman, Charles

Professor Gargoyle

(Lovecraft Middle School #1: Kids; At his brand new, high-tech school, 11-year old Robert finds some anomalies: rats in the lockers; a student gone missing; a library corridor full of worm-eaten antique books; and a science professor who seems to be undergoing a strange transformation) $13.99

Gladstone, Max

Three Parts Dead

(A god has died, and it's up to Tara, a first-year associate at a necromantic firm, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart) $24.99

Gropp, Richard E.

Bad Glass

(PBO; The military moves in to quash rumors of unexplained phenomena in Spokane and figure out what's going on. But after weeks of news leaking out of the quarantine, it becomes clear they have no idea. A young photographer sneaks into the city, hoping to make a name for himself documenting the unimaginable - if he doesn't go insane first) $15.00

Hamilton, Kiki

The Faerie Ring

(YA; 1871: Pickpocket Tiki steals a ring that could lead to all-out war. For the ring belongs to Queen Victoria, and binds the rulers of England and Faerie to peace. A group of faerie rebels hopes to break the treaty with dark magic - and Tiki's blood) $9.99

Harris, Charlaine

The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

(Southern Vampire: Agatha Award finalist. Tour Bon Temps, Louisiana, prowl around the werewolf and werepanther communities, visit Tara's dress shop, and belly up to the bar at Merlotte's in this guide to Sookie's family, friends, enemies, lovers, and adventures. Includes an original Sookie novella, recipes, and more) $18.00

Harrison, Kim

A Perfect Blood

(Rachel Morgan #10: Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in by the FIB to help investigate, Rachel Morgan soon realizes that someone is determined to make demons. But it can't be done without Rachel's blood) $7.99

Hayes, Erica

Revelation

(Seven Signs #1: PBO; Dr. Morgan Sterling doesn't believe in angels, but Luniel is one of the fallen, bound to fight evil to earn redemption. Together they must stop a zombie plague ravaging Manhattan's slums) $7.99

Heinlein, Robert A.

Starman Jones

(Reissue; Classic sf novel) $7.99

Hendee, Barb

Ghosts of Memories

(Vampire Memories #5: PBO; Not all vampires want to live by the Four Laws. Now Eleisha must confront the deadliest predator she has ever faced, or lose everything she has fought to protect) $7.99

Hidalgo, Pablo

Star Wars: The Essential Reader's Companion

(Looks at all published Star Wars fiction, providing a synopsis of each story, behind the scenes facts and anecdotes, and a chronological listing of titles placing each in context. Illustrated with over a hundred full-color paintings) $28.00

Holm, Chris F.

The Wrong Goodbye

(Collector #2: PBO; Because of his efforts to avert the Apocalypse, Sam has been given a second chance, provided he can stick to the straight and narrow. Which is all well and good, until the soul he's sent to collect goes missing) $7.99

Hunter, Faith

Death's Rival

(Jane Yellowrock #5: PBO; To uncover the identity of the vamp who is trying to steal Leo's territory, Jane will have to venture into the underbelly of New Orleans vamp society) $7.99

Jerome, Celia

Sand Witches in the Hamptons

(Willow Tate #5: PBO; As if Willow didn't have enough problems coping with Otherworld visitors, now she has a stalker, her doom-seer father has a secret, and Paumanok Harbor has Otherworld sand stealers) $7.99

Jones, Darynda

Death and the Girl Next Door

(PBO; YA; Why is Cameron, her high school's designated loner, standing outside Lorelei's house every night? What does tough, sexy newcomer Jared know about her parents, who disappeared years ago? And what will any of them do when Death comes knocking for real?) $9.99

Jones, Diana Wynne

Reflections

(Collection of essays, speeches, and biographical pieces written and/or chosen by Jones) $24.99

Jones, Stephen (ed)

The Mammoth Book of Zombie Apocalypse! Fight Back

(Mosaic novel; interconnected eyewitness narratives - text messages, emails, blog entries, letters, diaries, and transcripts - telling of the fight against the New Zombie Order) $13.95

Joyce, William

The Sandman: The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie

(Guardians of Childhood #2: Kids; Full color picture book. When the moon is less than full, who will keep the children safe at night? The Man in the Moon thinks sleepy sweet-dreamer Sandy is the perfect choice to help thwart Pitch, the Nightmare King) $17.99

Joyce, William

Toothiana: Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies

(Guardians of Childhood Novel #3: Kids; Toothiana can spin herself into a multitude of selves, depending on nightly teeth-placed-under-pillows rates. And she is tiny, but very fierce - the villainous Pitch has no idea what he's up against) $14.99

Karpyshyn, Drew

Revan

(Star Wars: Old Republic #3: Novel based on the online game) $7.99

Kessler, Liz

Emily Windsnap Boxed Set: The Tail of Emily Windsnap / Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep / Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist / Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret

(Reissue; Kids; Four fantasy novels; the adventures of a teenage girl with a human mother and a merman father) $23.96

Ketter, Greg (ed)

Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores

(Anthology; 16 sf, fantasy, and horror stories, each with a bookstore at its core) $15.95

Kiesbye, Stefan

Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone

(Four young friends come of age in Hemmersmoor, a place shrouded with fear - and talk of revenants. Their innocent games soon bring them face-to-face with the village's darkest secrets) $15.00

L'Engle, Madeleine

A Wrinkle in Time graphic novel

(Kids; Adaptation of the classic sf novel) $19.99

Lackey, Mercedes

Changes

(Valdemar: Collegium #3: Magpie pursues his quest for his parent's identity, while being trained as an undercover agent for Valdemar. Bardic Trainee Lena has to face her uncaring father, a famous Bard. And Healing Trainee Bear struggles with his parents, who are pressuring him to quit the Collegium because he lacks the magical Healing Gift) $7.99

Lackey, Mercedes

Redoubt

(Valdemar: Collegium #4: A mysterious new enemy has taken an interest in Herald trainee spy Mags, but why? The answers can only be found in the most unexpected corners of Mags' past. Assuming he can stay alive long enough to find them) $25.95

Lamberson, Gregory

Tortured Spirits

(Jake Helman #4: PBO; Jake's ongoing quest to save his best friend Edgar Hopkins takes him to New Orleans, Miami, and the jungles of Pavot Island, where undead slaves harvest narcotics for a ferocious dictator) $14.95

Launet, Francois

Unspeakable Vault (of Doom)

(Collection of webcomics providing a humorous look at the Cthulhu mythos through the daily lives of the Great Old Ones) $19.95

Lazellari, Edward

Awakenings

(Cal MacDonnell and Seth Raincrest have nothing in common - except they both suffer from retrograde amnesia. It's as if they just appeared out of thin air thirteen years ago. Now their forgotten past has caught up with them) $7.99

Lin, Grace

Starry River of the Sky

(Kids; Rendi has run away from home and is now working at the inn in the remote Village of Clear Sky. The moon is missing there, but only Rendi seems to notice. He also notices the village's peculiar inhabitants and their problems. A mysterious lady arrives at the Inn with the gift of storytelling, and slowly transforms the villagers and Rendi himself. As the days pass, Rendi begins to realize that perhaps it is his own story that holds the answers to all his questions) $17.99

Lovecraft/Lockwood

The Lovecraft Anthology Volume 2

(Full color graphic novel; adaptations of Lovecraft stories) $19.95

Lovegrove, James

Red Eye

(Redlaw #2: PBO; In the U.S. to investigate a series of vicious attacks on vampire immigrants, Redlaw uncovers a conspiracy that could give journalist Tina Checkley the career break she's been looking for. It could also spell death for Redlaw) $8.99

Ma, Roger

The Vampire Combat Manual

(PBO; A humorous guide to fighting the bloodthirsty undead) $15.00

MacAlister/Harper/Sims

The Undead in My Bed

(PBO; Anthology; 3 vampire romance novellas) $7.99

Maguire, Gregory

Out of Oz

(Wicked Years #4: The Emerald City plans to invade Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law, and look who's knocking at the door: Dorothy. Amid the chaos, Elphaba's granddaughter Rain comes of age, and will now take up her broom in an Oz racked by war) $15.99

Mallory, H.P.

Something Witchy This Way Comes

(Jolie Wilkins #5: PBO; Jolie must protect her Underworld realm from the Lurkers, half-humans bent on conquering the undead. At least she has her boyfriend, warlock Rand Balfour, by her side. But why can't she forget dangerously alluring vampire Sinjin Sinclair?) $7.99

Mallory, Michael

The Science Fiction Universe and Beyond: Syfy Channel Book of Sci-Fi

(A look at sf in films and television, from the Saturday matinee serials to modern times) $40.00

Mariconda, Barbara

The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons

(Kids; An enchanted flute that warns of danger, a mist that unlocks a drawer of family secrets, a bookcase that expands to conceal her: since her parents drowned at sea, magic has been helping Lucy keep her house out of the hands of her greedy uncle) $16.99

Massey, Brandon (ed)

Voices from the Other Side

(Anthology; 20 horror and suspense stories by African-American writers) $6.99

McCormack, Una

Brinksmanship

(Star Trek: Typhon Pact: PBO; The independent Venette Convention becomes the flashpoint for a tense military standoff between the United Federation of Planets and the Typhon Pact) $7.99

McDevitt, Jack

Firebird

(Alex Benedict #6: Nebula Award finalist. Decades ago, renowned physicist Chris Robin, known for his theories about alternate universes, vanished. Alex and Chase discover that Robin had several interstellar yachts flown far outside the planetary system, where they too vanished. Now they're planning to follow Robin's trail into the unknown) $7.99

McGhoul/Kilbane

The Brain Eater's Bible

(A field manual and manifesto for the reanimated dead) $16.99

McIntosh, Will

Hitchers

(PBO; Contrary his grandfather's dying wish, Finn has resurrected the old man's newspaper comic, and it's more popular than ever. Then Finn realizes he has a hitcher within his skin: his grandfather, who isn't happy about the changes Finn has made) $14.99

McKillip, Patricia A.

Wonders of the Invisible World

(PBO; Collection of short fantasy fiction) $14.95

Meloy, Colin

Wildwood

(Wildwood Chronicles #1: Kids; After her brother is abducted, Prue and her friend Curtis head into the Impassable Wilderness to find him. There they find warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with dark intentions, and their rescue mission turns into a struggle for the freedom of Wildwood) $8.99

Meloy, Colin

Under Wildwood

(Wildwood Chronicles #2: Kids; A growing threat draws Prue back into Wildwood, where she and Curtis face their greatest challenge yet. To save themselves and the lives of their friends, and bring unity to a divided country, they must go under Wildwood) $17.99

Meluch, R.M.

The Ninth Circle

(USS Merrimack #5: On the distant world of Zoe, an expedition finds DNA-based life - and alien invaders. And it seems that the Ninth Circle and the Palatine Empire have also found Zoe. Glenn Hamilton calls on the

USS Merrimack

for help) $7.99

Modesitt Jr., L.E.

Scholar

(Imager #4: Begins a new story arc set hundreds of years earlier. Quaeryt is a scholar, concealing the fact that he's an imager. To escape the intrigues of the capital city, he convinces his ruler to send him on a reconnaissance mission. On the journey, he must face pirates, storms, poisonings, and attempted murder, as well as discovering that he is not quite who he thought he was) $7.99

Morgan, Richard K.

The Cold Commands

(Land Fit for Heroes #2: Aging warrior Ringil Eskiath is growing more comfortable with his return to the hero's life. But the stakes against him are being raised - a major threat is gathering on the horizon, one that Ringil cannot defeat by himself) $16.00

Mosley, Walter

Merge / Disciple

(Crosstown to Oblivion #2: Two novellas: a lottery winner notices something in his apartment that seems ordinary but reveals itself to be from a very different world; a data entry clerk realizes he has become a pawn in a battle that threatens the prime life force on Earth) $24.99

Niven, L/Barnes, S

The Moon Maze Game

(Dream Park #4: 2085: The first lunar live-action role-playing game turns ugly when a dozen gamers are kidnapped. But the gamers are brilliant, unpredictable, resourceful, and addicted to problem-solving - they're going to play this new scenario to win) $7.99

Oliver, Lauren

The Spindlers

(Kids; One morning, 12-year-old Liza realizes that spindlers have stolen her younger brother's soul. Armed with little more than her wits, and with a huge talking rat for a guide, she sets out to rescue him) $16.99

Pivarcsi, Istvan

Just a Bite

(Nonfiction; a Transylvanian historian peels away the effects of pop culture to set the record straight about the history and evolution of vampire folklore) $16.95

Pratchett, T/Cabell, C

Terry Pratchett: The Spirit of Fantasy

(A detailed biography of the beloved writer, including his battle with Alzheimers, over forty years of irreverent artistic achievements, and a note about cats) $14.95

Pratchett, Terry

Dodger

(YA; In an alternate London ruled by a young queen Victoria, Dodger is an enterprising lad, smart and lucky. Everyone likes him, which is good, because his life is about to get seriously complicated. When he sees a girl leap from a carriage in an attempt to escape her captors, will he stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl - not even if her fate affects some of the most powerful people in England)

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