The God of Love is bound by a mortal’s curse. A baker’s daughter learns the value of illusion. A pet detective receives unexpected help to solve a supernatural crime. A plant magician attracts the wrong person when she grows the tallest rosebush in the country. These stories and more are included in Ordinary Wonders, a fantasy short story collection of reprints and new works by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan. These eleven stories include seven stories with unique settings and the four short stories from Young Seasons, tales of the four heroines from Almazan’s fantasy Season Avatars series. Put a little magic into an ordinary day with these stories!

The God of Love is bound by a mortal's curse. A baker's daughter learns the value of illusion. A pet detective receives unexpected help to solve a supernatural crime. A plant magician attracts the wrong person when she grows the tallest rosebush in the country. These stories and more are included in Ordinary Wonders, a fantasy short story collection of reprints and new works by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan. These eleven stories include seven stories with unique settings and the four short stories from Young Seasons, tales of the four heroines from Almazan's fantasy Season Avatars series. Put a little magic into an ordinary day with these stories!

978-1-944437-07-7

On a routine survey mission studying a neutron star, an Academy starship receives a transmission in an unknown language. Before leaving the area, the starship launches a series of satellites to find the signal—and perhaps discover its origins. Five years later, a satellite finally encounters the signal—which is believed to be of extraterrestrial origin by the Contact Society, a wealthy group of enthusiasts who fund research into the existence of alien life. Providing a starship to the Academy to be piloted by Captain Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins, the Contact Society embarks on a mission to find the source of the transmission. Across a myriad of stars, from world to world, Hutch and her crew follow the signal, but find only puzzles and lethal surprises. Then, in a planetary system far beyond the bounds of previous exploration, they discover an object. It is immense, ominous, and mysterious. And it may hold the answer not only to the questions of the Contact Society, but to those of every person who has ever looked to the sky and wondered if we were alone...

Kron Evenhanded is an artificer, able to enchant any man-made object, but he finds people more difficult to work with. After many years studying at the Magic Institute, he leaves to return to his childhood home. When he visits the city of Vistichia, he encounters Sal-thaath, an extremely magical but dangerous child created by Salth, another magician Kron knew at the Magic Institute. Kron attempts to civilize Sal-thaath, but his efforts lead to tragedy. Salth, who has gained additional magic from the stars, vows revenge against Kron and his beloved Bella. Kron is forced to ally himself with a quartet of new deities and their human Avatars, including Bella. Kron must help the new Avatars defend Vistichia as Salth attempts to drain its life and magic. But Salth has Ascended halfway to godhood over Time. Will Kron’s artifacts be enough to protect the city and the Avatars, especially the woman he loves, or will Time separate them?

Balam is a sleepy town on the eastern coast of Atlua, surrounded by forest and sea. It's a village where nothing happens and everybody knows each other. But now, people are dying. School is out for the spring, and schoolteacher Theodore Saen is ready to spend the next few months relaxing with his family. But when the town's resident white mage falls ill and several townspeople begin to show similar symptoms, they must call on a new mage. Aava has freshly graduated from the nearby mage academy when she is swiftly hired to deduce the cause of the unknown illness and craft a cure before the entire town is afflicted. Aiding her is an ex-mercenary named Ryckert who keeps to himself but has grown bored with retirement and is itching for a new investigation when a suspicious young man appears in the local pub the same night the sickness begins to spread. On top of it all, whatever is causing the sickness seems to be attracting strange insectoid creatures from the surrounding woods, desecrating the bodies of the victims and tearing through anyone unlucky enough to cross their path. Theo, Aava, and Ryckert must come together to discover the cause of the illness and put a stop to it before there is nobody left alive in Balam.

A girl disguises herself as a boy to train as a knight in this first book in Tamora Pierce’s Margaret A. Edwards Award–winning young adult series—now with a new look! From now on, I’m Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I’ll be a knight. In a time when girls are forbidden to be warriors, Alanna of Trebond wants nothing more than to be a knight of the realm of Tortall. So she finds a way to switch places with her twin brother, Thom, and, disguised as a boy, begins her training as a page at the palace of King Roald. But the road to knighthood, as she discovers, is not an easy one. Alanna must master weapons, combat, and magic, as well as polite behavior, her temper, and even her own heart. So begin Alanna’s adventures—filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil—that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and make her a legend in the land.