In the cyberpunk future, the Worlds Welfare Work Association is an important weapon against crime. 3WA's best operatives, Kei and Yuri - the Lovely Angels - also have a reputation for causing catastrophe in the execution of their duties, and have earned a new nickname: the Dirty Pair.

Since the beginning of time, the archangels have longed to know true love. When four female angels were created for the four archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Azrael, a chaos spurred by jealousy erupted, and the archesses were secreted away to Earth. The four favored archangels followed, prompting a search that has lasted millennia… For hundreds of years, Gabriel has passed himself off as a common Scottish villager. Few know he is the Messenger, a powerful archangel who has secretly scoured the world for the only woman who can complete him. Now, he’s shocked to discover the object of his fierce and driving desire shows up in his own backyard. Researching her Ph.D. in the Outer Hebrides, Juliette Anderson has always been the rational type—until she looks across a quaint pub and into the flashing silver eyes of a stranger. He’s handsome. He’s intense. And he claims her with a soul-searing kiss on the spot. Gabriel’s scorching gaze, wavy black hair and deep, sexy brogue ignite a fire in her that can’t be denied, and yet every instinct she has tells her to run. But when a familiar dark force rises, and the truth of her incredible identity is revealed, Juliette must follow her heart and put her faith in the tall, dark mysterious man who enflames her.

“Sheri S. Tepper takes the mental risks that are the lifeblood of science fiction and all imaginative fiction.” —Ursula K. Le Guin, Los Angeles Times Her first new novel since The Margarets, The Waters Rising marks the glorious return of the extraordinary Sheri S. Tepper, the award-winning contemporary master whom Locus has called, “one of sf’s most distinctive voices.” The Waters Rising tells a gripping story of a future already ravaged and now in even graver peril when a dreadful, awesome killing power is resurrected from the past. Readers of Margaret Atwood and Marge Piercy will join with fans of literary sf in praising this stunning masterwork of speculative fiction from one of the acknowledged greats.

Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free. For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks. “Alden Bell provides an astonishing twist on the southern gothic: like Flannery O'Connor with zombies.” —Michael Gruber, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Air and Shadows

Creation is Doomed... Nyx, Queen of Hell, lies broken and burning in a box at the bottom of the Lake of Fire, put there but her lover Tribunal, who is God's Son. Nyx's daughter Epiphenia, has been slaughtered by Tribunal and Lucifer. Her companions, Persephone and Ishtar, were captured and are now suffering unspeakable torture. Lucifer, one Nyx's second-in-command, has taken over Hell and is ruling with a depraved will and an iron fist. And on Earth, Arcana, Angel of Heaven, has arrived a thousand years too late. And that isn't even the worst of it. Tribunal is going to destroy the human race, if he can keep God from noticing. He's already building a wall of illusion to hide creation from the eyes of God. And when that wall is complete, Tribunal will order Lucifer to take his Descended Angels and destroy all of humanity. And that's just for a start. Now the Angels in Heaven and the Queen of Hell must join forces to defeat a greater power than any of them have ever faced, and at stake is the very existence of Creation, and of God himself!

Atop a twisting, canyon-climbing road, a witch lurks in a fortress built strong to keep out dragons and ogres. In another part of the countryside, a young orphan is maturing into a beautiful woman in the enchanted village that is her home. Somewhere nearby, a young man is seeking adventure after running away from his family's small farm. Suddenly a strange and terrible prophecy sets off a chain of events that will bring these three together in the heroic, romantic, and thrilling tale of an age-old battle.