Cecelia Holland

In the far future, an Earth-born woman must negotiate with a fearsome mutant race: “On a par with Ursula LeGuin or Arthur C. Clarke” (Chicago Tribune). Two thousand years into the future, runaway pollution has made the earth uninhabitable except in giant biodomes. The society is an anarchy, with disputes mediated through the Machiavellian Committee for the Revolution. Mars, Venus, and the moon support flourishing colonies of various political stripes. On the fringes of the solar system, in the gas planets, a strange, new, violent kind of human has evolved. In this unstable system, the anarchist Paula Mendoza, an agent of the Committee, works to make peace and ultimately protect her people in a catastrophic clash of worlds that destroys the order she knows.

Floating Worlds

When Maria obeys her father's wishes in marrying an ambitious young knight, she assumes a role of grim responsibility in the feudal society of southern Italy

Great Maria

An Irish mercenary knight joins William of Normandy for the invasion of England, and faces a stark choice at Hastings, in this “powerful” novel (The New York Times). In The Firedrake, an Irish mercenary knight in the eleventh century, in a constant personal battle with the rest of the world, joins William of Normandy for the invasion of England. There at Hastings he has to choose between power and wealth, and his personal demons of pride and honor. The New York Times called Cecelia Holland “a literary phenomenon” in its review of this book, recognizing a stellar creative achievement by a young writer in her first published work.

A Novel

The Firedrake

Railroad Schemes

A Dramatized Biography of Nancy Kelsey

An Ordinary Woman

Eleanor of Aquitaine seized hold of life in the 12th century in a way any modern woman would envy! 1151: As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor grew up knowing what it was to be regarded for herself and not for her husband's title. Now, as wife to Louis VII and Queen of France, she has found herself unsatisfied with reflected glory-and feeling constantly under threat, even though she outranks every woman in Paris. Then, standing beside her much older husband in the course of a court ceremony, Eleanor locks eyes with a man-hardly more than a boy, really- across the throne room, and knows that her world has changed irrevocably... He is Henry D'Anjou, eldest son of the Duke of Anjou, and he is in line, somewhat tenuously, for the British throne. She meets him in secret. She has a gift for secrecy, for she is watched like a prisoner by spies even among her own women. She is determined that Louis must set her free. Employing deception and disguise, seduction and manipulation, Eleanor is determined to find her way to power-and make her mark on history.

The Secret Eleanor

Brandon Sanderson

Ari Marmell

Janet Morris

Chris Morris

Orson Scott Card

Glen Cook

Howard Andrew Jones

Alex Bledsoe

Cat Rambo

Ian C. Esslemont

C. L. Werner

Paul Kearny

Fantasy heroes endure. They are embedded in our cultural fabric, dwarfing other literary figures and the mere men and women of history. Achilles and Odysseus, Gilgamesh and Beowulf. King Arthur and Robin Hood, Macbeth and Sherlock Holmes, Conan and Luke Skywalker. They dominate our legends, and tower over popular culture. The stories we tell each other begin and end with fantasy heroes, and the 21st Century is as thoroughly captivated with them as ever. From Batman to Gandalf, Harry Potter to Tyrion Lannister, the heroes of fantasy speak to-and for-whole generations. But what makes a fantasy hero? How do the best writers create them, and bring them to life on the page? In WRITING FANTASY HEROES some of the most successful fantasy writers of our time--Steven Erikson, C.L. Werner, Brandon Sanderson, Janet & Chris Morris, Cecelia Holland, Alex Bledsoe, Jennifer Brozek, Ian C. Esslemont, Orson Scott Card, Ari Marmell, Cat Rambo, Howard Andrew Jones, Paul Kearney and Glen Cook--pull back the curtain to reveal the secrets of creating heroes that live and breathe, and steal readers' hearts. Whether you're an aspiring writer or simply a reader who loves great fantasy and strong characters, this book is for you.

Powerful Advice from the Pros

Writing Fantasy Heroes

The Earl

Chris Rowley

War for Eternity

A sixteenth-century family joins with pirates and William of Orange to fight the Spanish Inquisition in this novel of the Dutch Revolt by “a first-class storyteller” (People). Consistently ranked among the top authors of historical fiction, along with Mary Renault, Mary Stewart, Phillipa Gregory, and Diana Gabaldon, the great Cecelia Holland now transports readers to the sixteenth-century Netherlands in an exciting tale of resistance and rebellion against cruel Spanish oppressors that combines unforgettable fictional characters with real historic personages. No one was safe from religious persecution in the Dutch Low Countries when the “conqueror king,” Phillip II of Spain, dispatched the Catholic Church’s Inquisition to the Netherlands in the late 1500s. The van Cleef family has suffered mightily, with a father executed by a Spanish hangman and a mother driven into madness. Now their children, Jan and Hanneke, must survive on their own by any means necessary as fate carries them down separate but equally dangerous paths. Jan’s destiny is on the high seas—and ultimately in the royal court of England’s Queen Elizabeth—as he and his uncle Pieter boldly retake the old man’s captive ship and join the infamous pirates known as the Sea Beggars in their quest to drive the enemy invaders from Dutch waters. Remaining behind in Antwerp, Hanneke, meanwhile, is forced to endure a series of devastating trials that would crush a young woman of weaker spirit and sensibilities. Strong, courageous, and independent, she embarks on a harrowing journey to Germany in the company of refugee ruler William of Orange ahead of the impending terror of Spain’s sadistic Duke of Alva. But young Hanneke soon realizes there can be no escape or safe haven anywhere as long as her country is in chains, and she vows to dedicate her life to the perilous cause of freedom. A sweeping and epic historical novel rich in color and stunning period detail, Holland’s The Sea Beggars is an enthralling, action-packed adventure that interweaves fact with brilliant invention. It is yet one more fictional excursion into the breathtaking world of the past by an author the New York Times praises as “a literary phenomenon.”

The Sea Beggars

“Expertly researched narrative abounds with fascinating lore . . . this flamboyant re-creation of the distant past . . . is another genre triumph.” —Kirkus Reviews When Norse raiders slaughtered his family and abducted his sister, Corban Loosestrife set out on an odyssey that took him across half the world, from the Viking fortress of Jorvik to the wild and desolate shores of Vinland in the New World. Now Corban struggles to make a new life alone in this strange land amid bloody clashes between warring native clans. Shunned for his pale skin and dark, coarse hair, Corban seeks shelter with the Wolf Clan discovering he is also feared for his strange powers to make fire and cut through the toughest skins with his magical blade. The healer of the tribe comes to love Corban, but will this be enough to defend him against the hatred of Miska, the tribe’s cunning chief? When Corban has a vision he is compelled to follow, the world he has come to know is forever altered . . . “This compelling installment will satisfy fans of Holland's meaty Viking epic.” —Booklist “The best historical novelist since France’s Zoé Oldenbourg still has the chops—and TheSerpent Dreamer will not disappoint her many fans.” —Kirkus Reviews

The Serpent Dreamer

England's political and social fabric is rotting as two rivals to the throne, King Stephen and the young Henry Plantagent, tear the country apart in civil war.

An Irish mercenary joins the army of William the Conqueror and fights at the Battle of Hastings.

Until the Sun Falls

City of God

Corban Loosestrife's life changed one clear morning years ago, when he returned from hunting to his family steading in Ireland and found it destroyed by Vikings and his father, mother, and brothers, slain. But his twin sister Mav was not among the dead, and so he knew that she had been taken as a slave. Corban set out to find her and redeem her, if he could, and in doing so became a man. Corban found his sister through blood and battle, now the property of the sorcerous Lady of Hedeby and pregnant with Eric Bloodaxe's child, gotten in rape. Corban took his revenge; he killed Eric, then the King of Jorvik, and in doing so he became bound in the net of alliances and blood debt that marked the battles for kingship among the Vikings. Upon the death of Eric Bloodaxe, Corban Loosestrife and his wife Benna fled into the west with Corban's sister Mav and her son. There they made a home for themselves in Vinland, hunting, fishing, raising crops to support themselves and their growing family. There they were happy, until one day when a ship appeared on the horizon, bringing Benna's sister and her husband, bringing a summons to Corban to return to Jorvik and intrigues of those who would be King. With Corban goes his son Conn and his sister-son Raef, young men now, ready to prove themselves in war. Waiting for them in Denmark is Gunnhild Kings-mother, a woman of great power, who was Eric's wife. Her son Harald Ericsson is now King of Norway, and he has become a Christian. In Jorvik, there is no King, just an Archbishop who owes fealty to Harald. And in Hedeby there awaits the unquiet spirit of the Lady, to whom Corban swore an oath. It is a clash of clan against clan, and army against army, in the coming war of succession, while the new power of the Christ strives with the ancient worship of Thor. Corban must tread a careful path between those who hate him, and those would be his ally, while concealing Raef's true parentage. And meanwhile, in Vinland, the native tribes are eyeing Corban's fortified island, and wondering if the strangers can finally be driven away. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Novel of The Age of the Vikings

The Witches' Kitchen

A continuation of the historical saga that began with The Soul Thief and The Witches' Kitchen finds Corban Loosestrife returning to his home in Vinland to find his colony destroyed and his beloved wife dead, and when his niece has a prophetic dream about a serpent-worshipping army, he undertakes a dangerous quest.

A self-serving political player in sixteenth-century Rome is caught up in the ruthless and powerful Borgia family’s deadly intrigues of murder and betrayal It is known as the City of God—but Rome at the dawn of the sixteenth century is an unholy place where opulence, poverty, and decadence cohabitate sinfully under the ruthless rule of Rodrigo Borgia, the debauched Pope Alexander VI. Englishman Nicholas Dawson is secretary to the ineffectual ambassador of Florence and, as such, finds himself linked to Borgias’ murderous machinations, specifically the brutal power plays of the warlord Cesare, the pope’s bastard son. A skilled liar, conspirator, spy, and manipulator—a man drawn to power and the pleasures of excess—Dawson coolly plays his part in Rome’s draconian political dramas with an eye to personal gain and no true allegiance to any side or player. But his attraction to a beautiful and very dangerous young man soon threatens to bring Dawson’s secret enterprises crashing down around him, dooming him to a brutal and ignoble fate. The great Cecelia Holland is acclaimed as one of America’s premier creators of historical fiction. With City of God she brings a remarkable epoch and a legendary family of scoundrels and murderers to breathtaking life—the corrupt patriarch pope; the suspiciously widowed and incestuous daughter, Lucrezia; Cesare, the bloodthirsty conqueror; and the tragically imprisoned and damned Caterina Sforza. Holland has written a stunning tale of betrayal, deception, and blood.

A Novel of the Borgias

It is the early years of the reign of Basil II, who became one most successful, and most feared, Byzantine emperors. But for now, Basil rules as a co-emperor with his brother Constantine, and makes war on a would-be usurper, Bardas Phokas, son of a General who Basil supplanted. Basil's most trusted troops are foreign mercenaries, the Varangian guard hired from the North. Rus and Norsemen, Viking raiders and wild horsemen from the steppes, they fall upon the elegant city of Constantinople like wolves on a garden party. Among them is the wily young son of an Irish slave, who comes to the notice of the emperor's wife. But being noticed by an angry emperor is not safe at all. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Cecelia Holland

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