The Drowning World

This fast-paced narrative by the author of 'Crash' and 'Empire of the Sun' is a stunning evocation of a flooded, tropical London of the near future and a foray into the workings of the unconscious mind.

“A fast, fun read for fans of Foster’s fantastic alien worlds . . . Driven by political intrigue and wilderness adventure, this is SF of noble vintage.”—Booklist Fluva, the Drowning World, is a rain-drenched planet on the fringes of the Commonwealth whose indigenous species, the warlike Sakuntala, and its immigrant species, the hardworking Deyzara, stand on the brink of civil war. The wettest place on Fluva is Viisiiviisii, an immense jungle thriving with exotic plants and deadly predators. Endless rains have made the jungle a treasure trove of rare and valuable botanicals. A man can get rich there. Or die trying. Bio-prospector Shadrach Hasselemoga has come to seek his fortune—if he survives the terrain once his sabotaged ship goes down. When a Sakuntala and a Deyzara are dispatched to rescue the unfortunate soul, their ship crashes, too. Now, in order to survive, the three unlikely allies must do something that no one has ever done before: escape the Viisiiviisii before it consumes them. . . . “[A] rousing SF adventure packed with action, intriguing human and alien characters, and a message of strength through diversity.”—Library Journal “Surefire entertainment . . . The author’s mastery of his exotic setting cannot be denied.”—Publishers Weekly

A complex, haunting novel that explores a schizophrenic young artist’s struggles with her perception of reality… including an intriguing ghostly woman who appears to her in the most mysterious ways. India Morgan Phelps—Imp to her friends—is trying to write her memoir, but she struggles with the unreliability of her own mind. Suffering from schizophrenia, as well as comorbid anxiety and OCD, Imp has a difficult time separating fantasy from reality. But for her, it’s most important to tell her “truth.” And for Imp, that truth comes through a stream-of-consciousness tale of her love story with her transgender girlfriend, as well as Imp’s obsession with a mysterious woman whom she finds naked and mute at the side of the road. Imp must push past her mental illness—or work with it—to piece together her memories and tell her story. A rich exploration of mental illness, gender identity, and creative process, The Drowning Girl delivers an eerie and powerful story of a woman’s efforts to discover the truth that’s locked away in her own head. “Caitlín R. Kiernan moves firmly into the new vanguard […] of our best and most artful authors of the gothic and fantastic—those capable of writing fiction of deep moral and artistic seriousness.”—Peter Straub

New York Times bestselling author Mira Grant, author of the renowned Newsflesh series, returns with a novel that takes us to a new world of ancient mysteries and mythological dangers come to life. The ocean is home to many myths, But some are deadly. . . Seven years ago the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a mockumentary bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a tragedy. Now a new crew has been assembled. But this time they're not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life's work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

Ancient Egypt, 51 B.C. Sisters Arsinoe and Cleopatra face a devastating choice: to allow Rome's army to siphon power from their ailing father, or to take matters-and the dynasty-into their own hands It's the dawn of a new era for Egypt as Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy, are welcomed to the throne after their father's death. But joint rule breeds its own conflicts: can the Nile be shared? Long overlooked by his father in favor of the beguiling Cleopatra, Ptolemy is determined to prove his ability as both man and king-but, at eleven, he is no match for his elder sister, who's quick to assert her primacy throughout the land. Their sister Arsinoe is torn between her siblings in one of history's greatest power struggles. As the palace echoes with rumors, scandals and betrayal, Arsinoe's love for her childhood friend Alexander deepens into a forbidden passion that could endanger both their lives. When Cleopatra is forced to flee a rebel uprising, Arsinoe decides she has no choice but to follow her sister into exile. Yet while Cleopatra gathers an army to retake the crown, Arsinoe begins to doubt whether her sister is the champion Egypt needs. Faced with the choice of betraying her family or her country, Arsinoe will determine a kingdom's fate and the course of history. It's the dawn of a new era for Egypt as Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy, are welcomed to the throne after their father's death. But joint rule breeds its own conflicts: can the Nile be shared? Long overlooked by his father in favor of the beguiling Cleopatra, Ptolemy is determined to prove his ability as both man and king-but, at eleven, he is no match for his elder sister, who's quick to assert her primacy throughout the land. Their sister Arsinoe is torn between her siblings in one of history's greatest power struggles. As the palace echoes with rumors, scandals and betrayal, Arsinoe's love for her childhood friend Alexander deepens into a forbidden passion that could endanger both their lives. When Cleopatra is forced to flee a rebel uprising, Arsinoe decides she has no choice but to follow her sister into exile. Yet while Cleopatra gathers an army to retake the crown, Arsinoe begins to doubt whether her sister is the champion Egypt needs. Faced with the choice of betraying her family or her country, Arsinoe will determine a kingdom's fate and the course of history.

When you look through the porthole of your berth aboard the ship, what do you see? The raging ocean? A lone iceberg? The world as it once was, now receding into the distance? Likewise, when you peer through your telescope at the distant boat, what do you see? An approaching storm? A drowning man? The future, drifting forever out of reach? In their latest book, Doctor Falke's Oraculum, Kahn & Selesnick invite you to look through the peep hole where you shall find scenes of people trying to parse that which is to come, speak with those departed, or just finding their pleasure amid the florid decay of a world in decline. For when personal and societal mythologies supersede facts, when the promise of virtual realities threaten to supersede the real thing, what better way to approach an uncertain future than through the arcane method of augury-after all, is not prophecy the original fake news?The Oraculum continues the adventures of the Truppe Fledermaus, a cabaret troupe of anxious mummers and would-be mystics who catalogue their absurdist attempts to augur a future that seems increasingly in peril due to environmental pressures and global turmoil. Presented as an unbound collection of photographs and text, the Oraculum is by turns a travelogue, an oracle, an art book, a box of prints, a meditation on the future, and an instruction manual of interpretative dance moves. The loose nature of the pages allow the viewer to treat this volume as a bibliomancy oracle where pages can be shuffled and selected at random to receive messages and prophecy, much as one uses the tarot and other cartomancy decks.The artists also examine the notion of the carnivalesque-traditionally the carnival was a time when the normal order of society was upended and reversed, so that at least for a day the fool might become king, men and women might cross dress, and sacred ceremonies and normal mores were spoofed. The Truppe ask you to consider: is it the carnival that is upside-down, or perhaps the real world that it purports to burlesque?

In a world ravaged by environmental disaster, retired hitman Zack must take on a dangerous mission to rescue his friend's son... or die trying. Young Tom has been kidnapped by the Kwanon: a ruthless group of extremists who plan to use him as a victim for human sacrifice. Seeing their captives as no more than objects, the Kwanon delight in inflicting pain on their victims. Outnumbered, outgunned and facing both natural and unnatural dangers, Zack sets off on his mission towards the Kwanon's lair: a city known as Dracopolis. But in a hostile landscape, will he be able to overcome his own fears and save Tom before it’s too late? This book contains graphic violence and is not suitable for readers under the age of 18.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Invited and The Winter People comes a chilling new novel about a woman who returns to the old family home after her sister mysteriously drowns in its swimming pool…but she’s not the pool’s only victim. Be careful what you wish for. When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie’s mental state has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax returns to the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching their family’s and the house’s history. And as Jax dives deeper into that research, she discovers that the land holds a far darker history than she could have ever imagined. In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the spring is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives. A haunting, twisty, and compulsively readable thrill ride from the author who Chris Bohjalian has dubbed the “literary descendant of Shirley Jackson,” The Drowning Kind is a modern-day ghost story that illuminates how the past, though sometimes forgotten, is never really far behind us.