Showing results by narrator "Shiromi Arserio" in All Categories

The Olander family embodies the modern American Dream in a globalized world. Jaya, the cultured daughter of an Indian diplomat and Keith, an ambitious banker from middle-class Philadelphia, meet in a London pub in 1988 and make a life together in suburban California. Their strong marriage is built on shared beliefs and love for their two children: headstrong teenager Karina and young son Prem, the light of their home. But love and prosperity cannot protect them from sudden, unspeakable tragedy.

Eric André is a master of the art of pranking—“an Andy Kaufman for the Four Loko generation,” as Spin magazine once hailed him. For over a decade, he and longtime collaborator Dan Curry have dreamed up and performed a cornucopia of outrageous, often illegal, and always death-defying hijinks for the Adult Swim series The Eric Andre Show, as well as in the hit movie Bad Trip. Now, in their very first book, Eric and Dan reveal the secret fuel behind their surrealistic prank machine.

If there’s one thing Rosemarie, an aspiring enchantress with budding magical powers, has learned throughout her studies, it's that magic must only be used for good. But when an egocentric prince breaks her sister’s heart, Rosemarie’s only focus is revenge, and what better way to enact it than with a well-chosen curse? A simple incantation is all it takes to transform the arrogant prince's appearance to match the state of his heart. But something goes wrong, causing the spell to affect not only the prince but its caster as well.

Only Rae knows the extent of the corruption at the heart of the kingdom of Menaiya, from the noble lord who betrayed her, to the Circle of Mages whose wards protect the slavers from discovery. Injured and imprisoned on a slave ship, Rae's options are quickly running out. When a desperate escape attempt goes terribly wrong, she finds herself indebted to a terrifying Fae sorceress. Now Rae will not rest until she has rescued her fellow prisoners and freed her land from the darkness that has taken hold.

When Maren runs away from the threat of a forced marriage, the last place she expects to end up is the Malvagarian Palace, home to the enchanted gardens, a cursed prince, and a magical rose that traps her there. Crown Prince Briar isn’t pleased to be stuck with a troublesome guest, especially one as mischievous and curious as Maren. She, on the other hand, is determined to escape, but instead finds herself inconveniently falling in love with him. Despite her lack of beauty, feelings steadily blossom between her and the prince.

Having survived the harrowing experience of her courtship, Isla must now make a decision - a decision that will affect the course of her life and that, if she chooses unwisely, indeed might end that life before it's truly begun. But before she can take control of her future, there are things she needs to know about the lover who remains so much a stranger. Is this dark, tormented man merely misunderstood? Or is he, in fact, the Devil made flesh? What truly motivates him - and what does he want from her?

Princess Reve of Malvagaria has no idea who she truly is. Hidden away in a cottage in the mountains, she believes she’s a peasant girl named Primrose, a reality frequently challenged by confusing snippets of forgotten royal memories. For there’s a darkness inside her head, one that is slowly claiming her identity, memory by memory. Everything changes when Reve encounters a rugged hunter, a man who offers her a hopeful future despite her blank, forgotten past.

Princess Seren has always expected her life to be one of duty and order, and her upcoming marriage alliance is no exception: She’ll sail to Bytamia to marry the crown prince as expected. But what she doesn’t expect is for the voyage to her new life to be delayed by the whims of an enchanted map and an adventure to a mystical island rumored to contain a legendary treasure.

May Byam grew up following her father to his work at the ropemaking factory and listening to her uncle’s tales of life aboard a Royal Navy ship. After tragedy and scandal shatter her family, May is desperate to escape the shame that follows her. Despite her mother’s pleadings against it, May signs on as a lady’s maid to the young wife of a naval captain. If she’s going to run, she may as well do it in honor of her late uncle and cousin and where there is food, shelter, and perhaps even adventure. But the frosty reception she receives from the ship’s clergyman makes her feel far from welcome.

Once upon a time, there was a king and queen in a land called Love's Keep who once loved one another, but alas, no more. Without love, they were doomed to be ousted from their kingdom at the end of a year and a day. A year and a day passed. This is where their story starts. Imelda and Ambrose can't remember why they got married. A year and a day ago, Ambrose consulted a witch, trading their love to save Imelda's life - and they've been stuck with one another ever since.

As the daughter of a lighthouse keeper, Marisa spends her days exploring the different locations the enchanted lighthouse takes her to—as well as developing her magical ability to manipulate water. But when her magic inadvertently causes a tragic accident, she chooses to pay penance by giving up both her voice and her magic.

When the Synthetic Intelligence Val Ky Ree wakes from her emergency shut-down after a climactic battle, she discovers thousands of years have passed, and her creator race, the Aesir, have all gone. The last of her kind, she finds a new purpose in protecting the remaining few thousand humans from the hostile alien races called The Compact. As humanity teeters on the edge of extinction, one human male helps her to realize her destiny.

The duke of Wittaker has been living a lie.... He’s been spying on the dissolute, discontented noblemen of the ton, pretending to share their views. Now, he’s ready to step out of the shadows and start living a real life...but when the prime minister of England is assassinated, he's asked to go back to being the rakehell duke everyone still believes he is to find out more.

Princess Gemma has been trapped for years within a magical turret, a fate she deems fitting for a sickly princess with little purpose. The enchanted walls offer security, which she'd do anything to maintain, for though she knows she should want to escape, her prison seems far safer than the outside world. But the magic of the tower has begun to fade. The tower's shifting magic isn't the only thing changing, for the longer Gemma spends with her faithful guard, Quinn, the more she realizes that her feelings for him are inappropriate for one of her royal status.

London, 1890. The city is ruled by the nobility and the Watch, or so it seems. When an underground organization pursues the alchemical formula to create a soul, bodies begin to pile up, and important figures begin to go missing. Masked men turn the gears of fate, pushing London into a new era where artificial life is only the beginning. Arhyen is the self-declared finest thief in London. The mission was simple. Steal a journal from Fairfax Breckinridge, one of the greatest alchemists of the time. He hadn't expected to find Fairfax himself, with a dagger in his back.

In his Locus review of Two Worlds and in Between - the first volume of The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan - Gary K. Wolfe wrote, “...it makes you wish the second volume were here now.” Well, the long wait is over. This second volume completes this ambitious undertaking, collecting the finest of Kiernan’s stories from 2004 to 2012, selected by the author herself. The book includes 25 short stories and one poem, plus the short novel Black Helicopters - more than 200,000 words of fiction, including the World Fantasy Award-winning “The Prayer of 90 Cats”.

From his fortress lair, the Gray Man, possibly the most powerful user of the vibrational energy called rohw the world of Gythe has seen in centuries, is gathering troops and increasing his strength. The only obstacles to his total domination are the order of Zouyim monks, themselves masters of the rohw, and the women who call themselves Sapsyra Shin Elah, the finest warriors in the world.

At the end of the 21st century, the world has changed dramatically, but life continues 1,000 feet below the ocean's surface. In Great Britain, sea creatures swim among the ruins of Big Ben and the Tower of London, and citizens waver between fear and hope: fear of what lurks in the abyss and hope that humanity will soon discover a way to reclaim the planet. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Leyla McQueen has her own problems to deal with.

Law student Saraswati “Sara” Bhaduri holds down two jobs in order to make her way through school, but it’s still a struggle. She’s had to do things to pay the bills that most people wouldn’t expect from “a nice Indian girl.” It seems like an ordinary busy Tuesday night at the local dive bar until her boss demands Sara deal with a drunk girl in the bathroom.

On the heavily forested planet of Lumin, the Network has slept, dormant, for over 600 cycles. Only a select few remember that it resides beneath the crust of the planet, waiting, and for those who do, the battle for Lumin's future has raged in the shadows.