Patricia Bray

Joshua Palmatier

Featuring contributions from Seanan McGuire, Susan Jett and Elizabeth Bear, this collection of 14 fantastical tales, ranging from humor to dark fantasy, explore how the creatures of the fae realm are fitting into the modern world. Original. 20,000 first printing.

The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity

A rebel group attempting to destroy the magical ley line system that powers Erenthrall find forbidden truths and danger in the first book of a new series by the author of Throne of Amenkor.

Shattering the Ley

The Throne of Amenkor Trilogy omnibus brings together The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne, and The Vacant Throne for the first time. One young girl holds the fate of a city in her hands. If she fails, it spells her doom—and the end of her world. Twice in the history of the city of Amenkor, the White Fire had swept over the land. Over a thousand years ago it came from the east, covering the entire city, touching everyone, leaving them unburned—but bringing madness in its wake, a madness that only ended with the death of the ruling Mistress of the city. Five years ago the Fire came again, and Amenkor has been spiraling into ruin ever since. The city's only hope rests in the hands of a young girl, Varis, who has taught herself the art of survival and has been trained in the ways of the assassin. Venturing deep into the heart of Amenkor, Varis will face her harshest challenges and greatest opportunities. And it is here that she will either find her destiny—or meet her doom.

The Throne of Amenkor

Features a collection of fantasy stories set in the mystical Ur-Bar, the first bar created by the Sumerians after the gods gave them beer as a gift.

Tales from Ur-Bar

After Hours

Skewed Throne

The Throne of Amenkor trilogy is the story of Varis, a young woman who must help protect her city of Amenkor after the White Fire blasted through and trapped everyone in a deteriorated state. She has taught herself the art of survival and has been trained in the ways of the assassin. Venturing deep into the heart of Amenkor, Varis will face her harshest challenges and greatest opportunities. And it is here that she will either find her destiny - or meet her doom.

First book in Joshua Palmatier's new epic fantasy trilogy, set in a sprawling city of light and magic fueled by a ley line network. Erenthrall—sprawling city of light and magic, whose streets are packed with traders from a dozen lands and whose buildings and towers are grown and shaped in the space of a day. At the heart of the city is the Nexus, the hub of a magical ley line system that powers Erenthrall. This ley line also links the city and the Baronial plains to rest of the continent and the world beyond. The Prime Wielders control the Nexus with secrecy and lies, but it is the Baron who controls the Wielders. The Baron also controls the rest of the Baronies through a web of brutal intimidation enforced by his bloodthirsty guardsmen and unnatural assassins. When the rebel Kormanley seek to destroy the ley system and the Baron’s chokehold, two people find themselves caught in the chaos that sweeps through Erenthrall and threatens the entire world: Kara Tremain, a young Wielder coming into her power, who discovers the forbidden truth behind the magic that powers the ley lines; and Alan Garrett, a recruit in the Baron’s guard, who learns that the city holds more mysteries and more danger than he could possibly have imagined . . . and who holds a secret within himself that could mean Erenthrall’s destruction -- or its salvation.

One hundred years have passed since Colin Harten--transformed to something more than human by the magic of the lifeblood contained in the Well of Sorrows--used his new powers to broker a peace agreement between the human, dwarren, and Alvritshai races of Wrath Suvane. Since then all three races have greatly expanded their empires. And Colin has continuously sought ways to defeat the dark spirits known as the sukrael--and the Wraiths they have created to act for them in the physical world. Yet Colin has not been able to prevent the dark spirits from reawakening more and more Wells, thus extending their power across the lands. Having mastered three of the five magics of Wrath Suvane, Colin has gifted each race with a magical Tree to protect them from incursionso f the dark forces. He has also realized that unless a certain number of the Wells are left open, their magic can never be stabilized, and the land will be torn apart by this uncontrolled force. But now the enemy has located the one Well that is key to controlling the entire network, and if Colin can't find a means to stop them from claiming and activating this Well, it could mean the end of all three races! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Leaves of Flame

When the mysterious White Fire sweeps through Amenkor for the second time in a millennium, Eryn, Mistress of the Skewed Throne, is submerged in a world of madness, and Varis, an assassin, is forced to take over the throne and save the people of Amenkor. Reprint.

The Cracked Throne

After paying a dreadful price in the loss of both lives and property to survive an invasion, the city of Amenkor turns for help to its sometime ally, the city of Venitte, to restore the power of the imperiled throne of Amenkor.

The Vacant Throne

After the White Fire had swept over Amenkor five years ago, the city has fallen into ruin and its only hope is Varis, a "Seer" who, trained as an assassin and in the art of survival, must go up against the Mistress of the Skewed Throne by journeying into the heart of Amenkor to meet her destiny or her death. Reprint.

The Skewed Throne

The city of Amenkor has stood for well over a thousand years as a premier trading center. Ruled by the Mistress of the Skewed Throne, Amenkor has weathered attacks by invaders and the madness, drought, famine, and disease brought by the mysterious White Fire. But now―betrayed from within and barely surviving a devastating attack by the mysterious Chorl―Amenkor reels on the brink of ruin. In Amenkor's time of greatest need, Varis―raised in the slums of the city, and trained not only to survive but to kill at need―has unwillingly become the ruler of the city―the new Mistress of the Skewed Throne. Untrained, unpreparedm and not certain who she can trust, Varis takes the Throne at one of the most perilous points in Amenkor's long history, and is forced to draw on all of Amenkor's limited resources, both ordinary and magical, when the Chorl invade. And perhaps the price Varis pays is too high, as the very heart and soul of Amenkor's power―the Skewed Throne―is destroyed duing the final deserate confrontation with the invaders. Now, with the threat of the CHorl's return still hanging over them, Varis has no choice but to turn to Amenkor's sometime ally, the city of Venitte, home to the only other throne that is a repository of magical power. Yet Varis and the people of Amenkor are not the only ones looking toward Venitte. The Chorl invaders are on the march, and whether Venitte will fare any better against the Chorl than Amenkor remains to be seen.

Colin Harten and his parents had fled across the ocean to escape the Family wars in Andover and find a better life. But the New World proved no haven for the Hartens and their fellow refugees. Forced to undertake an expedition to the unexplored plains east of the newly settled coastal cities, the Hartens and their companions were not prepared for the dangers they would face. Pursued by plains dwellers known as the dwarren, the Hartens' wagon train fled to the very edge of a dark forest¾a place they had been warned to avoid at all costs by a small band of Alvritshai warriors, the first race they had encountered on the plains. Colin survived the perils of the forest, rescued by spirits of Light, and transformed by the power of the Well of Sorrows, but he paid a very high price. For drinking the LifeBlood--the waters of the Well¾changed Colin into something not entirely human. And whatever he has become, he might prove the only defense against the dark spirits of the forest and the Wraiths they had created to destroy humans, dwarren, and the Alvritshai alike. At the publisher's request, this title is published without DRM (Digital Rights Managment).

Well of Sorrows

Ed Greenwood

Beautiful, Stong-Willed Women. We Love Them. Now read an anthology filled with stories about them. This is not a heroine's book ... unless the heoine knows how to do bad in the name of good. This anthology is about women across the ages overcoming all obstacles to win their pirze. Sixteen tales where Beauty Has Her Way ... even if she has to get down and dirty to do it! Stories by: Paul D. Batteiger, Ramsey Lundock, Joshua Palmatier, Maurice Broaddus, Kenneth Mark Hoover, Chuck Wendig, Pete Kempshall, Ed Greenwood, Filamena Young, Erik Scott de Bie, David A. Hill Jr., Amanda Gannon, Keffy R. M. Kehrli, KV Taylor, Ann Wilkes, Kay T. Holt and Bart R. Leib

Beauty Has Her Way

Science fiction and fantasy readers have long shown an affinity for a good "bar story". Now some of today's most inventive scriveners have decided to tell their own tall tales-from an alewife's attempt to transfer the gods' curse to Gilgamesh, to Odin's decision to introduce Vikings to the Ur-Bar, from the Holy Roman Emperor's barroom bargain, to a demon hunter who may just have met his match in the ultimate magic bar, to a bouncer who discovers you should never let anyone in after hours in a world terrorized by zombies.

Varis learned to survive as a very young child in the slums of Amenkor. And when the mysterious White Fire swept through the city for the second time in a millunnium, bringing madness, drought, famine, and disease to the land, Varis survived that as well. But she was changed by the Fire's spell, and she was not the only person marked by the White Fire. Eryn, Mistress of the Skewed Throne, still reigned over the city after the Fire's passing. Yet from that moment, Amenkor began a steady decline, and Eryn herself seemed to hover on the edge of madness. As Amenkor deteriorated, Varis came to the attention of some of the most powerful people in the city, people who could see her unique potential. And she found herself transformed from gutterscum to unofficial Seeker to bodyguard to assassin. Yet none of her skills could save her from a destiny she never wanted. Varis became the new Mistress of the Skewed Throne. Untrained, unprepared, not certain who she could trust, Varis took the Throne at the most perilous point in Amenkor's history. The city was on the brink of starvation, and the trading ships sent out to bring back supplies had disappeared without a trace. And both Varis and Eryn were obsessed with a vision they alone had shared―Amenkor invaded by an unknown enemy, the harbbor watchtowers destroyed, wrecked ships sinking in waters stained red with blood, the city itself engulfed in flames.

Amenkor, city of legend―at its height, Amenkor was a center of wealth and culture. But a millennium ago, the city was caught in the White Fire, a force that swept across the land spreading madness, drought, famine, and disease in it wake. Now the Dredge―the bustling market street that snaked between the slums and the prosperous center of the city―marked the dividing line between plenty and poverty, safety and peril. Left a homeless orphan as a very young child, Varis learned to survive in the Dredge. And when the White Fire blasted through Amenkor for the second time, Varis―along with the entire city―was trapped in the overwhelming blaze of power. Though the current Mistress continued to reign from the Skewed Throne, Amenkor's decline escalated after the second Fire. For Varis, though, the chance to escape her hopeless existence unexpectedly presented itself when a guardsman of the Skewed Throne named Erick―one of the elite assassins known as Seekers―enlisted her to work for him. Because she had a gift for "Seeing" the true nature of people, Varis soon realized something was wrong, that some of those marked for death were not guilty. But how could the Mistress be mistaken? Trust in the all-knowing, all-seeing justice and wisdom of their ruler was the foundation of Amenkor's society. Then, one fateful day, Varis claimed a life that took her beyond the law. Suddently there was nowhere safe for her in the Dredge. There was only one place left to flee to―into the heart of Amenkor itself.

What if the fae were still here, living among us? Perhaps living in secret, doing their best to pass for human? Or perhaps their existence is acknowledged, but they're still struggling to fit in. How have they survived? Are they outcasts clinging to the edges of society, or do their powers ensure success in the mortal realm? Here are fourteen fabulous tales—ranging from humor to dark fantasy—that explore how the creatures of fae are fitting into the modern world. From a mortal who offers to do internet marketing for Oberon...to a woman bent on reclaiming her baby from the Queen of the fae...to a dryad grove menaced by urban expansion...to a Selkie in need of a new home and career...these are original looks at how the world of the imagination can survive and perhaps even thrive in the everyday mortal lands.

Joshua Palmatier

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