World War Two was the greatest conflict in human history. It gave birth to the Atomic Age, the Cold War and the economic boom of the 1950s and 60s, and planted the seeds of today’s Middle East crises. But it is not distant history. Most Canadians have relatives who were part of this world-wide tragedy. Bitter Ashes puts these events in context for them. This book in the illustrated historical series Stories of Canada is a companion to Desperate Glory: The Story of WWI. A clear and concise text leads the reader though the major military and political events and issues of the war. Sidebars add detail and a personal element. Every page is illustrated with either photographs or maps.

The first book of The Grails Covenant, a trilogy of novels set in the world of Vampire: The Dark Ages. Obsessed with acquiring the Holy Grail for the Lasombra clan, the vampire Montrovant sets out on a quest that pits him against the Knights Templar and sends him through the lair of an ancient Egyptian evil and the deserts of the Holy Land.

Madeline knew her life was strange, and not just because she could sense the emotions of others. Having people die by your hand on two separate occasions can make a girl question her very existence. Still, she never thought she'd wake up in a world straight out of Norse myth. A world where corpses reanimate all on their own . . . and she's supposed to be their executioner. A normal person would run screaming into the night, but there's something about dark and alluring Alaric that's giving Madeline pause, and it's not the fact that he turns a little feline from time to time.

She's not their long lost fairy princess. She's their executioner. I'm cursed. Cursed to kill with a touch, and to feel every last emotion of my victims. I was sure my life couldn't get any worse until a man appears in my bed . . . and not in a good way. The next thing I know, I'm waking up in a world straight out of ancient myth, and these freaks expect me to be their executioner. A normal person would run screaming into the night, but there's something about tall, dark and alluring Alaric that's giving me pause, and it isn't the fact that he turns a little feline from time to time. Plus, I can't help thinking that if I finally learn about my parents, I might find a way to break my curse . . . assuming the curse doesn't break me first.

Magic, gods, and history build to a stunning climax in Katya Reimann's Tielmaran Chronicles. Tielmark's free prince sits imperiled by the relentless conspiracies of the neighboring Bissanty Empire. Sorceress Gaultry Blas, blessed by Tielmaran's goddess-twins, returns to her homeland yearning for peace, but instead discovers a conspiracy of evil magics. The coven of witches sworn to defend the prince's crown have gathered to attend the dying Duchess of Melaudiere, who protects their throne's unborn heir. They also have an unpleasant truth: In years past, the witches failed their oath to Tielmark. If they fail again, their lives and those of their descendants will be lost. Forest-born Gaultry, tuned more to action than politics, navigates tricky court intrigue and is determined to work with the Common Brood witches to break the ancient Bissanty claims. But Gaultry is stalked by a hidden Tielmaran-born enemy who is bent on shattering Bissanty chains at any cost. This enemy has waited fifty years for the alignment of the stars that will allow Tielmark's prince ascent to a kingly throne. She will not let Gaultry get in her way-for this enemy has been planning from before Gaultry's birth how to stop her. From the intricate infighting of Tielmark's court to the barren sun-bleached battlegrounds at Tielmark's farthest border, Gaultry must call on her magic, courage, and spirit to overcome the obstacles to her realm's rightful kingship. When the great treachery is finally exposed in a brutal endgame played out under Tielmark's towering border mountains, Gaultry and members of the Common Brood will call upon their deepest powers to crown a king-or kill the hopes of their kingless realm. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Dark Ages: Vampire takes you to the nights before the Camarilla, when kine truly had reason to be afraid of the dark. The vampires of this bygone age ride the dark as lords, play their games with the crowned heads of Europe, and travel to the mysterious lands of the East as they wage their ages-old war. The diablerie of saulot, the waking of Mithras, the destruction of Michael the patriarch, the return of the Dracon -- it all means the time of reflection is over. The Inquisition stirs and the time to act is now. Across Europe, monarchs of the night set princes and barons at each other's undying throats. Young vampires take to the field ready to claim their domain and become powerful lords in their own right. Blood calls to blood. Rules for playing vampire knights.