Shadowrise

With King Olin imprisoned and Prince Kendrick slain, the royal twins Barrick and Briony have been forced to flee their homeland. But both families and nations must still find a way to reclaim their kingdom and rescue their home.

For years economists have spoken of ‘Africa rising’, and despite the global financial crisis, Africa continues to host some of the fastest growing economies in the world. Africa’s Shadow Rise however argues that the continent’s apparent economic ‘rise’ is essentially a mirage, driven by developments elsewhere - most particularly the expansion in China's economy. While many African countries have experienced high rates of growth, much of this growth may prove to be unsustainable, and has contributed to environmental destruction and worsening inequality across the continent. Similarly, new economic relationships have produced new forms of dependency, as African nations increasingly find themselves tied to the fortunes of China and other emerging powers. Drawing on in-depth fieldwork in southern Africa, Africa’s Shadow Rise reveals how the shifting balance of global power is transforming Africa’s economy and politics, and what this means for the future of development efforts in the region.

In a world where beliefs are real, actualized by will, expressed by intent, Yip Chi Chuan, a young martial and spiritual ascetic, flees as the only home he has ever known, the ancient monastery of the Priests of K’un Lun, is destroyed by a newly ascendant extradimensional evil. Cast out and alone, Yip strikes out on a quest spanning the breadth of his home world of Ea’ae and into the greater macroverse beyond in an attempt to unseat an all-consuming Darkness rooted in his once vaunted Order’s distant past. Will Yip, the last of his kind to walk the wide world beyond his fallen sanctuary, succeed where his mighty brethren failed in Ages past? Unfortunately for Yip, the answer appears all too clear.... Without the guidance and teachings of his lineage, pursued by malevolent supernatural agents of the Cabal, unable to fully defend himself in a world steeped in magic, his own quest may fail before it ever begins. Unfazed by his own limitations, guided by his inner vision and direct experience of the energies of life, the radiant chi suffusing and enlivening the world all around, he is determined to triumph where others have faltered. To win forward, he will need help... but first he must survive. A blend of Eastern mysticism and Western fantasy, Shadow’s Rise is the first book of the Chronicles of the Fists, an epic trilogy recounting Yip’s adventures against all odds.

A year ago, the March Kingdoms were at peace, and the Eddon family held the throne. Now the family has been shattered. King Olin Eddon is a prisoner in a faraway land, and Olin's heir Kendrick is dead--slain by treachery and dark, bloody magic. With their father and brother taken from them, the royal twins Barrick and Briony have done their best to hold the kingdom together, but now Barrick has been captured in a failed war against the immortal Twilight People and Briony has been forced to flee. Behind the Shadowline, Prince Barrick is lost and spellbound in the land of the fairies, while Princess Briony finds both allies and deadly enemies in unexpected places far from the land of her birth. During their desperate journeys the twins discover that even a land's rulers may know little of its true history, and that both families and nations can hide dark and terrible secrets. But even if Barrick and Briony survive learning the astonishing truths at the heart of their own family and of Southmarch itself, they must still find a way to do the impossible: they must reclaim their kingdom and rescue their home and people from a multitude of powerful enemies--from traitors, tyrants, a god-king, and even the angry gods themselves.

For generations the misty Shadowline has marked the boundary between the lands of men and the lost northern lands that are the lair of their inhuman enemies, the ageless Qar. but now that boundary line is moving outward, threatening to engulf the northernmost land in which humans still live--the kingdom of Southmarch. For centuries, the Eddon family has ruled in ancient, forbidding Southmarch Castle, guarding the border against the Qar's return, but now this powerful royal line has been dealt a devestating blow. The monarch, King Olin, is being held captive in a distant land, and it falls to his inexperienced heirs to lead their people in a time of growing danger and dread. It is on the two youngest Eddons that the heaviest burdens fall. The twins Barrick and Briony, who in such evil times have only each other, may lose even that bond as darkness closes over them. As the Qar's power reaches out across their land, will Southmarch Castle, the only home they've ever known, become in fact what it has long been called--Shadowmarch?

Barrick Eddon, prince of Southmarch, is no longer entirely human. He has vowed to safeguard the legacy of the dark Qar race, and must now decide where his loyalties lie. His twin sister Briony has a difficult choice of her own. Her father, King Olin, is held captive by the Autarch, a mad god-king who plans to use Olin's blood to gain unlimited power. And the castle of Southmarch still remains in the possession of Hendon Tolly, Briony's murderous relative. As time runs out, will Briony decide to save her father's kingdom . . . or her father? As the foretold Great Defeat draws near, history is stripped of its costume of lies. Poets and players, mortals and fairies, warriors and gods - all will have their roles to play as the fate of the known world hangs in the balance.

The debut novel from master storyteller Tad Williams, Tailchaser's Song has surprised and enchanted readers for decades "A fantasy of epic proportions in the vein of Watership Down." —San Diego Union Meet Fritti Tailchaser, a ginger tom cat of rare courage and curiosity, a born survivor in a world of heroes and villains, of powerful feline gods and whiskery legends about those strange furless, erect creatures called M’an. Join Tailchaser on his magical quest to rescue his catfriend Hushpad—a quest that will take him all the way to cat hell and beyond...

Six of Crows meets Graceling with a dash of Winter is Coming in Katy Rose Pool's second installment of the action-packed and swoon-worthy Age of Darkness series--As the Shadow Rises. "As the Shadow Rises solidifies Katy Rose Pool's status as one of the best fantasy writers of the 21st century." —Popsugar The Last Prophet has been found, yet he sees destruction ahead. In this sequel to the critically-acclaimed There Will Come a Darkness, kingdoms have begun to fall to a doomsday cult, the magical Graced are being persecuted, and an ancient power threatens to break free. But with the world hurtling toward its prophesized end, Anton’s haunting vision reveals the dangerous beginnings of a plan to stop the Age of Darkness. As Jude, Keeper of the Order of the Last Light, returns home in disgrace, his quest to aid the Prophet is complicated by his growing feelings for Anton. Meanwhile, the assassin known as the Pale Hand will stop at nothing to find her undead sister before she dies for good, even if it means letting the world burn. And in Nazirah, Hassan, the kingdom-less Prince, forms a risky pact to try to regain his throne. When the forces of light and darkness collide in the City of Mercy, old wounds are reopened, new alliances are tested, and the end of the world begins. The Age of Darkness trilogy is perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Children of Blood and Bone, and An Ember in the Ashes. * "Adventurous relic-hunting, mind-blowing twists, budding love, and terrible betrayals feature in this multiple-narrator, character-driven study of power, agency, and identity." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review Praise for There Will Come a Darkness "Reading this intricate YA fantasy, you get the feeling Katy Rose Pool’s plot is always seven steps ahead of you. You’ll want to catch up as quickly as possible." —Refinery 29