For Caillen Dagan, a defiant soldier of fortune, survival isn't a right: it's a brutal daily battle. Moving through the Ichidaian universe like a wraith, his brushes with the law and death are legendary. But when an act of rare heroism reveals his hidden birthright, he's forced into a world much more dangerous and cold-hearted than the bloody streets where he was raised - one of obscene wealth and lethal politics. Ferocious and determined, Desideria serves as an official bodyguard for her queen. Born of questionable genetics, she will do anything to prove herself worthy of the weapons she carries and the position she's won by combat. But when she uncovers a ruthless plot to assassinate the queen and overthrow her country's government, Desideria is caught in the crossfire. With assassination contracts out on both of them, Caillen and Desideria must learn to fight together or die alone. And if they fail, their governments will fall into the hands of an unimaginable evil.

In a land where monsters are a thing of bedtime stories meant to scare young children into behaving, humans live each day struggling to get by. The kingdom Solara is dwindling as the last of their wealth is stretched thin to protect the many small villages blemishing the map outside of the capital city's walls. Those too poor to live near the capital, on the edge of the wild Forest Mordin, must fend for themselves as yet another harvest is coming to an end. Little are they aware that the lack of food stored for the winter is the least of their concerns. Trouble is brewing in the Forest Mordin as creatures long forgotten by Solara find themselves on the brink of a civil war. The vampires and humans who live by the law of House Faegon and the Crown are being terrorized by a vicious band of rogues who follow the ruthless King Logan. Logan and his followers will do anything to see the Crown fall in order to live according to more primal instincts and desires. The rogues have no desire to ignore the human kingdom, nor do they care to obey the Crown's dated formalities.Change is swiftly descending on the land and no one, human or vampire, will be spared from the consequences.

A moving tale of the triumph of the human spirit amidst heartbreaking tragedy, told through the eyes of a charming, impish, and wickedly observant Afghan boy The Taliban have withdrawn from Kabul's streets, but the long shadows of their regime remain. In his short life, eleven-year-old Fawad has known more grief than most: his father and brother have been killed, his sister has been abducted, and Fawad and his mother, Mariya, must rely on the charity of parsimonious relatives to eke out a hand-to-mouth existence. Ever the optimist, Fawad hopes for a better life, and his dream is realized when Mariya finds a position as a housekeeper for a charismatic Western woman, Georgie, and her two foreign friends. The world of aid workers and journalists is a new one for Fawad, and living with the trio offers endless curiosities—including Georgie's destructive relationship with the powerful Afghan warlord Haji Khan, whose exploits are legendary. Fawad grows resentful and worried, until he comes to learn that love can move a man to act in surprisingly good ways. But life, especially in Kabul, is never without peril, and the next calamity Fawad must face is so devastating that it threatens to destroy the one thing he thought he could never lose: his love for his country. A big-hearted novel infused with crackling wit, Andrea Busfield's brilliant debut captures the hope and humanity of the Afghan people and the foreigners who live among them.

Picture the scene: a stormy evening in the 1870s. A hush descends at Fainhope Hall as the duchess goes into labour - will she be delivered of a male baby who will continue the Fainhope line? A boy is indeed born to the duchess, but a sickly one - and on that night, in an attic bedroom, an illegitimate, but healthy son is also born to the governess. Only four people are party to this secret, and to the duchess's shocking decision, which will shape all their destinies. FIXING SHADOWS is a novel about the twilight of the aristocracy, the birth of photography and the unstoppable rise of London, with an unforgettable cast of scheming aristos, gossiping servants and cockneys with hearts of gold.

In this original, wide-ranging, and endlessly thought-provoking work of popular nonfiction, a leading science writer uncovers the pervasive presence of shadows in our world. For Plato, shadows were the symbol of our limitations. For Galileo, they knocked the Earth from the center of the cosmos. They are a source of fear and a symbol of ignorance, and they loom large in art and design, mythology and folklore, physics and metaphysics, and architecture and urban planning. From shadows puppets and the psychology of shadows to the role of shadows in astronomy and the influence of shadows on the architectural profiles of our cities, Roberto Casati awakens our fascination in this tour-de-force of investigation and imagination.

Shadows Complete Collection is a new and improved version of the three books: Shadows. Shadows Origins, and Shadows Friends Forever. Follow Simone along on her adventure in 1700s Great Britain and the Shadow realm.