Mikandra Bisumar is useless to her father: she carries the curse of infertility that plagues the Endri people of Miran. Forced to work in the hospital to pay her duty to her proud nation, she dreams of becoming a Trader, one of the people who bring great prosperity to Miran. To her surprise Iztho Andrahar, from the city's most prestigious Trading family, has agreed to take her on. That is where her troubles begin. Her father is so angry with her that she has to leave her home. Worse, the Andrahar Traders have been accused of smuggling. Iztho has disappeared and the business license suspended. Mikandra has nowhere to go, except try to help Iztho's brothers prove their innocence. In her last meeting with Iztho, he mentioned getting married to a woman from neighbouring city-state of Barresh. Iztho's brothers know nothing of this, and think she is crazy. Going to Barresh by herself while never having left the country is probably not the smartest idea, but she's desperate for the family's licence to be restored, because without her job, she'll be homeless. In Barresh she finds strange and creepy people who can read minds and who know things about the Endri people that can both solve their fertility problems and tear apart the ancient foundation on which Miran is built. Iztho had found out these things, which someone is trying to trying to keep secret. This is where her troubles really begin. space opera, science fiction series, aliens, mystery, adventure, urban, romance, alien planet, scifi, sci fi, alien society

A space opera series that spans four self-contained stories that add up to a larger tale. In Watcher's Web, Jessica comes to the city of Barresh on the world of Ceren through what looks like an accident, but is a kidnapping attempt gone wrong. Jessica (or Anmi) is Aghyrian, an ancient highly intelligent race that gave rise to all human races on all inhabited worlds. Someone is trying to resurrect the almost extinct race, but a mad tyrant from the neighbouring nation of Miran wants Aghyrians for his twisted, evil plans. The botched kidnapping almost brings down the successful business of the Andrahar Trading family of Miran. In book 2, Mikandra has just been accepted as apprentice with them when she sees her life's dream evaporate from under her. Going to Barresh to locate a chunk of the family's missing money sounds simple enough, but she uncovers layers of betrayal by people she trusted. In book 3 jaded soldier Izramith accepts a contract providing security for a an event in Barresh. Privately, she is looking for her uncle who disappeared and is said to be in Miran. He was not the only one; people with a high percentage of Aghyrian blood have been disappearing for years. Attempting to free them from the heart of Miran makes her undertake the most hare-brained operation of all her military career. In book 4 the task of facing the tyrant of Miran is left to the least likely person of all: Ellisandra, a gentile young lady whose normal job it is to run the Mirani state theatre. She has no guns. Her weapons are words and a single public performance of a classic play. Will appeal to readers of C.J. Cherryh, Tamora Pierce and Isobelle Carmody. Space opera, young adult, adventure, science fiction, aliens,

She is lost on an alien planet. He said he'd help her get home. He lied. Jessica's plane develops engine trouble over the dry Australian inland—and crashes in thick, unfamiliar rainforest. A group she thinks is a search party shows up, but it consists of large-eyed not-quite people who kill all survivors except Jessica and a long-haired hippie named Brian. No one is going to come to rescue her. In fact, they're not even on Earth. While the pair wrestle their way through the forest in search for help, Jessica becomes ever more suspicious of Brian. Why does he know so much about the world where they have ended up? Why is he so insistent on helping her? Jessica has always been able to use her mind to tell animals what to do and now she's hearing voices in her head. Another man is pleading her not to listen to Brian. Except this man can kill someone with a single look, and he uses his mental powers to order people around. In this utterly strange and dangerous world where people seem to want something from her, who can she trust? A gritty survival story in the vein of The Hunger Games, set in a Star Wars locality. Will appeal to readers of Lindsay Buroker, Pippa DaCosta, Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon. free, freebie, space opera, female protagonist, heroine,kick-ass, science fiction series, aliens, mystery, adventure, rainforest, telepathy, alien planet, scifi, sci fi

Continued from book 1 After fleeing from the burning ruins of Saardam, Johanna, Prince Roald, Loesie and Nellie have been captured by a group of bandits and are being taken to a place unknown through a forest rife with magic. Loesie, struck mute by an unknown but powerful sorcerer, is behaving increasingly strange. The friends try to escape, but is Loesie helping them or is she a danger to them? Every step they take through the ghost-ridden forest brings them closer to the duke who is rumoured to be the source of the evil magic, the necromancer whose anger against Saarland's royal family has lain the world to waste. Dark epic fantasy. For readers who enjoy writers such as Robin Hobb, Karen Miller, Trudi Canavan, Morgan Rice, Lindsay Buroker and Glenda Larke. fantasy, historic, epic fantasy, magic, medieval, the Netherlands, witch, sorcerer

A young prince, an evil wizard, and a city that no longer seems to care. Cast out from the palace, Nellie survives in the streets of Saardam with the poor and destitute and a dragon whose behaviour she can't control, but is the key to finding the last member of the royal family. The pompous Regent is hell-bent on finding the person who has killed his court advisor and he has decided the dragon is guilty. If he doesn't find a culprit, his main source of money is at stake. The guards comb the city. It's only a matter of time before they find Nellie. A terrible mishap caused by the dragon puts Nellie's friend and a number of other innocent people in prison. Nellie can no longer run and hide. She concocts the most daring escape plan ever, but in gathering help to carry it out, she makes discoveries that may change the future of the city. A dark, historical fantasy.

Do make sure to read book 1 first. It's free. Fifteen years ago, a brilliant scientist built a barrier against the dangerous power that radiates from the City of Glass in the southern land, allowing the citizens of Chevakia to live without fear of their lives. Since then, the democracy of Chevakia has prospered, with free-thinking scientists developing steam power and the beginnings of electricity. But the power, which they call sonorics, controls the weather in Chevakia. Senator Sadorius han Chevonian is the country’s chief meteorologist. While taking measurements for his job, he is the first to notice a rapid rise of sonorics levels out-of-season. The senate is locked in trivial debate, and to make them listen, he has to take a step he never thought to make. After the huge explosion of the machine they call the Heart of the City, Loriane has fled the southern land with the sorcerer Tandor, who hovers in and out of consciousness. But while Tandor isn’t speaking, she cannot confirm her fears that he caused the explosion, and that the child she carries has something to do with his twisted plans to seize power from the Eagle Knights who rule the City of Glass. Just before the explosion, southern queen Jevaithi fled into Chevakia with her young lover Isandor. While they think they’re free of the tyranny of the Eagle Knights, it soon becomes clear something very bad has happened in the City of Glass soon after their escape. Something so bad that it sends waves of sonorics into Chevakia, causing even the Chevakians to flee. Several streams of refugees are heading for the Chevakian capital. Southerners by train, Chevakians by road, into a city that is tragically unprepared, a country in turmoil with a leader whose support hangs by the merest thread. For people who like their fantasy dark and gritty. Think Joe Abercrombie, Karen Miller, Robin Hobb, George R.R. Martin. dark fantasy, steampunk, post-apocalyptic, magic, sorcery, epic fantasy, knights, eagles, bears