A desperate escape from a prison cell inside an alien research facility leaves Joanie in the clutches of an alien with a handsome face, a great body, and tentacles that could have come out of a horror movie. Her life back on Earth is a mess, but nowhere near as complicated as her new situation becomes when the alien test subject named Nemon decides that she's his mate.Nemon knows that Joanie is the mate he's hoping for as soon as Thrax hands her to him, but he can also see that she's frightened and traumatized. He must win a battle against his own body-which has a mind of its own-to maintain control, so he can win her trust and avoid frightening her further. His newfound friends warn him that Joanie will need time to accept him, and Nemon is willing to wait, but they all may have underestimated Joanie.They have escaped their fate as Iriduan test subjects, but Nemon and Joanie can't escape the legacy left behind by their captors. A legacy that brings them together-a legacy that also threatens to tear them apart.Author's Note: 18+ This book contains explicit steamy scenes between a human heroine and an alien with tentacles.

Whispers of the Deep, Echoes of Harmony. Beneath the waves, a peaceful coexistence shatters, drawing the students of the Institute into a desperate struggle to forge alliances with the enigmatic mermaids. Will they unravel the mystery of the Krakens' wrath in time to save both their worlds? "The Quest for the Kraken's Ink" plunges readers into the heart of a deep-sea mystery, where the calm waters of Eldavon's coast are troubled by unforeseen threats. As Penelope, Herja, Kaia, and their classmates embark on their fourth year at the Institute, their studies are disrupted by a violent upheaval from the ocean's depths. The arrival of mermaids on their shores signals the start of an unexpected alliance, challenging the students to navigate the turbulent waters of diplomatic relations. With the mermaids seeking refuge from a sudden, aggressive assault by Kraken, the students must balance the urgency of their quest for kraken ink—a crucial ingredient for their magical studies—with the pressing need to broker peace beneath the waves. Amidst this chaos, they confront their own prejudices, forge new bonds, and unearth secrets that lie hidden in the marine abyss. Can they restore harmony to the underwater realm and secure the future of their magical education, or will they be swallowed by the conflicts that divide land and sea? The Quest for the Kraken’s Ink is the fourth book in the Defenders of the Realm series.

With this outrageous new novel, China Miéville has written one of the strangest, funniest, and flat-out scariest books you will read this—or any other—year. The London that comes to life in Kraken is a weird metropolis awash in secret currents of myth and magic, where criminals, police, cultists, and wizards are locked in a war to bring about—or prevent—the End of All Things. In the Darwin Centre at London’s Natural History Museum, Billy Harrow, a cephalopod specialist, is conducting a tour whose climax is meant to be the Centre’s prize specimen of a rare Architeuthis dux—better known as the Giant Squid. But Billy’s tour takes an unexpected turn when the squid suddenly and impossibly vanishes into thin air. As Billy soon discovers, this is the precipitating act in a struggle to the death between mysterious but powerful forces in a London whose existence he has been blissfully ignorant of until now, a city whose denizens—human and otherwise—are adept in magic and murder. There is the Congregation of God Kraken, a sect of squid worshippers whose roots go back to the dawn of humanity—and beyond. There is the criminal mastermind known as the Tattoo, a merciless maniac inked onto the flesh of a hapless victim. There is the FSRC—the Fundamentalist and Sect-Related Crime Unit—a branch of London’s finest that fights sorcery with sorcery. There is Wati, a spirit from ancient Egypt who leads a ragtag union of magical familiars. There are the Londonmancers, who read the future in the city’s entrails. There is Grisamentum, London’s greatest wizard, whose shadow lingers long after his death. And then there is Goss and Subby, an ageless old man and a cretinous boy who, together, constitute a terrifying—yet darkly charismatic—demonic duo. All of them—and others—are in pursuit of Billy, who inadvertently holds the key to the missing squid, an embryonic god whose powers, properly harnessed, can destroy all that is, was, and ever shall be. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from China Miéville’s Embassytown.

A thousand years before the Winter War, Elgo, prince of the Vanadurin, killed the Dragon Sleeth and returned home with the fabulous wealth from the dead beast’s lair. But there was more in the bounty than gems and gold, for the treasure was cursed, and in time it brought death to noble and peasant, war between Man and Dwarf, strife and destruction beyond reckoning. Now, generations later, as the conflict continues, the great Dragon Black Kalgalath, in league with the Wizard Andrak, appears to avenge Sleeth’s death and claim the Dragon-cursed hoard. Against this unholy alliance, two sworn enemies set forth to find a legendary long-lost weapon: a warhammer of incalculable power that may be the only hope of victory. But neither the Warrior Maiden Elyn nor the Dwarf Thork is prepared for the dangers awaiting them on this quest....

In a magical world filled with mythical beasts, some creatures defy the laws of nature. Justus is the strongest Gaian assassin, the last descendent from an ancient dragondom. Celeste belongs to the sacred dragon priestesses, their magic sustaining the lifeforce of the planet. The great goddess created them as fated mates, yet some endings are never meant to be… Who can love the dark distorted soul of a trained killer? A woman who learnt to survive in a world of pain. The rules of love and war lay broken and bloody on the ground as their desire for each other flares amidst the chaos of battle. The vessels of the gods stand ready to open the gates of Olympus, but are they willing to accept the challenge to save this planet? Or are they too late? Readers of Cassandra Clare and Sherrilyn Kenyon will devour this book filled with supernatural creatures and paranormal suspense. Buy now to continue reading The Gaian Otherworld smouldering hot paranormal romance. ***WARNING*** Includes a dark twisted hero and an even deadlier heroine that have enough passion to ignite the magical forge of Olympus.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the creator of The Iron Druid Chronicles comes the final book in the epic fantasy trilogy that began with A Plague of Giants, about a war that broke a continent—and opened the door to a new world. A TORDOTCOM BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Seeker and Sower Pen Yas ben Min’s cousin was one of the legendary heroes of the wars against the giants until her untimely death. Pen has grown up in her famous cousin’s shadow, but when she’s given a quest to plant the seed of the magical Fourth Tree, she has a chance to step into the light—and usher in a new age for her country. Fighter and Friend Abhi’s life—and the world—changed when he discovered a lost magic: the power to speak to animals. After fighting so many battles, he’s weary and longs for home and his love, Tamhan. But before he can return, there is one last mission that only Abhi can complete: to speak to the colossal creatures who wait beneath the waves—the krakens. Sailor and Explorer Koesha and her shipmates have already made an impossible journey by navigating the Northern Yawn, at the end of which she secured an unusual cloak. But when that cloak turns out to be the key to unlocking the mystery of the Seventh Kenning, Koesha has to risk everything on another life-threatening journey and hope that she can steer her crew to safety. Don’t miss any of Kevin Hearne’s action-packed Seven Kennings series A PLAGUE OF GIANTS • A BLIGHT OF BLACKWINGS • A CURSE OF KRAKENS

The Kraken Slayer takes place in a time and place similar to early 19th century America. The main characters live on the New Continent, which is divided into four political Clans. Although they are supposed to be united as one nation, the Clans harbor so must mistrust and hatred for one another that they act as nations unto themselves. Skipper, the main protagonist, lives in a tavern called The Silver Dolphin, which is located in Harbor Town. Harbor Town is the port district for the city of Nefron, which is the capital for the Clan Nefron. Nefron is the largest and most powerful of the four Clans and is ruled by its military. Despite keeping a tight grip on its lands, Nefron is experiencing difficulty with controlling piracy on the high seas. The piracy epidemic is so severe that sea commerce has come to a standstill. Nowhere is the economic impact felt harder than in Harbor Town, where sea trade, fishing, and whaling are vital industries. Although Skipper is a teenage runaway making a living as a fighter for money, he has very little interest or knowledge of the events around him until he meets up with Elsan Tanneman, an idealistic sea captain and master shipwright. Tanneman believes he has the answer to Harbor Town’s woes: a new kind of ship, not simply made of wood, but armored with iron plating to withstand all but the most severe barrages of cannon fire. Tanneman has contracted with the Navy to build a fleet of these armored ships, but he is secretly building another ship which is larger and even more heavily armored. He tells Skipper of this ship one night after watching Skipper win one of his fights. He also tells Skipper why he built it: he wants to hunt for krakens, which most people believe are myths. He wants to slay one and bring its body back as proof of its existence. He claims his late brother once saw one of these great beasts, just before it destroyed the ship he was on and killed every other soul on board, leaving him as the sole survivor. Tanneman wants Skipper to join him on his kraken hunt because he senses in the young man the ability to conquer any obstacle that confronts him; but Skipper finds Tanneman to be too eccentric and declines the offer. That night, however, would not be the last time that the two meet. Eventually Skipper’s and Tanneman’s lives become intertwined by the social, economic, and political forces surrounding them. As Harbor Town decays further, even erupting in a race riot between Whites (white-skinned humans) and Drogs (massive grey-skinned natives of the New Continent) Skipper joins forces with Tanneman and helps him complete his giant ship with the aid of others. Tanneman has many recently-released convicts working for him as cheap labor. Some are friendly, and some are not so friendly. There’s Jervis and Bob, who become good friends with Skipper, and then there’s Chet and Deech, a pair whom Skipper never liked from the first time he met them. There’s also Luther, a Drog who mostly keeps to himself, but Skipper remembers him from the night of the riot. Tanneman has a few trustworthy old salts who have been working for him for years, like his gruff first mate Roscoe, the boatswain Berry, and the brothers Vorstaf and Brostor, two gentlemen from the faraway city of Shaanheim. The brothers haven’t been back to Shaanheim in thirty years because of the rampant piracy that has prevented them from crossing the Great Ocean; but they hope that this new ship of Tanneman’s will be the impregnable fortress that finally gets them home. Tanneman has working for him Dr. Morten Fry, an ousted marine biologist from the academic Clan Welberg. Fry also believes krakens exist and has developed a number of theories about their behavior and their physiology. Exiled from Clan Welberg for preaching pseudoscience, he and Tanneman naturally came together in the joint endeavor to dispel all myths and superstitions surrounding krakens. Finally, Skipper meets Sara Tanneman, E