The Pool Of Two Moons

It has been 16 years since the Day of Reckoning, when magic and witchcraft were outlawed throughout all of Eileanan. And though rumors say that she is dead, the Arch-Sorceress Meghan of the Beasts still lives. Traveling with her are the true heir to the throne and the red-haired warrior Iseult. Their fates are woven together in a quest to bring magic back to the land. As Eileanan nears its darkest hour, Meghan must gather rebel forces to move upon the city of Lucescere. There, the Rìgh lies near death, and his Queen, Maya the Ensorcellor, and her babe stand to inherit his power. To end Maya’s brutal reign and bring magic out of the shadows, what was broken must be brought together: twin sisters who have never met, three parts of an enchanted key, and the winged man with the powers of the lost Lodestar.

A new age dawns in the kingdom of Eileanan, but not without resistance. Now the Righ, Lachlan the Winged, overturns his dead brother’s decrees against witchcraft. But sixteen years of hatred and superstition have cloaked Eileanan in darkness. And though he has won the power of the Lodestar, Lachlan’s rule is challenged by a mere babe—and a civil war erupts. The flame-haired twins—Iseult the Scarred Warrior and Isabeau the apprentice-witch—must go their separate ways. Iseult to fight side by side with her husband, Lachlan. Isabeau to the Cursed Towers, to master her powers and to find the family she has never known. One woman battling for a new reign, one woman learning the old ways, their separate threads will twist and turn into a tale of mayhem, mystery, and magic.

At the terrible Day of Reckoning witchcraft was outlawed in Eileanan; witches were killed and their great towers of learning destroyed. Behind the persecution is the beautiful and mysterious Banrigh. The Lodestar, the Inheritance of Adean wielded by the rulers of Eileanan, is lost. Jaspar, the Righ, sickens as he hears the Lodestar's song grow fainter and fainter. Not all the witches were killed on the Day of Reckoning, however.The wood witch Meghan leads the half-blackbird, half-man Bacaiche and the Scarred Warrior Iseult through the countryside to the safety of the Veiled Forest, where she hopes to meet up with Isabeau, her ward, whom she has entrusted to carry part of the precious Key of the Coven. Once in the forest they are visited by the magical Celestines, and Bacaiche reveals his true identity. There are also other, less welcome visitors: the Banrigh's Red Guards may be easily repelled at the forest's fringes, but not so the deadly mesmerdean. In the royal castle at Rhysmadill, Isabeau recovers from the rigours of her journey and falls into her role as serving-girl. There she observes the Righ's decline, and feels the sinister presence of the Banrigh's maid, Sani. As Eileanan's ancient enemies, the sea-dwelling Fairge, take control of parts of the coast, trade grinds to a halt. In the countryside life is hard, supplies not always what they were, and the once-loved faery creatures cruelly hunted down. In the far reaches of swamp-bound Arran, Margrit makes her own plans. As does her son, Iain, whom she has kept a virtual prisoner in the Tower of Mists. Meanwhile Jorge the Blind Seer leads his group of tattered children to the rebels' camp deep in the mountains. The rebels plan to take the ancient city of Lucesere on Samhain Eve. If they do, and the Key can be joined, great magic can be invoked in their cause. At Lucesere is the remains of the witches' Tower of Two Moons and its magical pool. What secrets lie in the pool's depths? Can the Lodestar be freed and Eileanan live in peace once again?

BEGIN THE CELEBRATED "GIANTS" SERIES WITH TWO COMPLETE NOVELS BY A MASTER OF SCIENCE FICTION WITH REAL SCIENCE! Inherit the Stars: When they found the corpse in a grave on the Moon, wearing a spacesuit of unfamiliar design, his identity was a complete mystery. Analysis showed that the deceased was 50,000 years old-meaning that he had somehow died on the Moon before the human race even existed. The Gentle Giants of Ganymede: On another moon, Jupiter's Ganymede, still another mystery: a wrecked spaceship, which had been there for millennia, and was obviously designed for beings larger than the humans of Earth. The mystery seemed insoluble until another ship, manned by the same humanoid giants arrived, and were very surprised to find humans inhabiting their Solar System. . . . At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). "PURE SCIENCE FICTION . . . ARTHUR CLARKE, MOVE OVER." -Isaac Asimov

"What if?" questions stimulate people to think in new ways, to refresh old ideas, and to make new discoveries. In What If the Earth Had Two Moons, Neil Comins leads us on a fascinating ten-world journey as we explore what our planet would be like under alternative astronomical conditions. In each case, the Earth would be different, often in surprising ways. The title chapter, for example, gives us a second moon orbiting closer to Earth than the one we have now. The night sky is a lot brighter, but that won't last forever. Eventually the moons collide, with one extra-massive moon emerging after a period during which Earth sports a Saturn-like ring. This and nine and other speculative essays provide us with insights into the Earth as it exists today, while shedding new light on the burgeoning search for life on planets orbiting other stars. Appealing to adult and young adult alike, this book is a fascinating journey through physics and astronomy, and follows on the author's previous bestseller, What if the Moon Didn't Exist?, with completely new scenarios backed by the latest astronomical research.

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION AND THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD • A BOOKLIST BEST BOOK OF 2023 • Set in the Arab immigrant enclave of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, following three siblings coming of age over the course of one Ramadan, "a moving look at family, survival, and celebration" (Hanif Abdurraqib, author of A Little Devil in America). "A gorgeously written and profoundly intimate debut." —Etaf Rum, author of New York Times bestseller A Woman Is No Man It’s the holy month of Ramadan, and twin sisters Amira and Lina are about to graduate high school in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. On the precipice of adulthood, they plan to embark on a summer of teenage revelry, trying on new identities and testing the limits of what they can get away with while still under their parents’ roof. But the twins' expectations of a summer of freedom collide with their older brother's return from prison, whose mysterious behavior threatens to undo the delicate family balance. Meanwhile, outside the family’s apartment, a storm is brewing in Bay Ridge. A raid on a local business sparks a protest that brings the Arab community together, and a senseless act of violence threatens to tear them apart. Everyone’s motives are called into question as an alarming sense of disquiet pervades the neighborhood. With everything spiraling out of control, how will Amira and Lina know who they can trust? A gorgeously written, intimate family story and a polyphonic portrait of life under the specter of Islamophobia, Between Two Moons challenges the reader to interrogate their own assumptions, asking questions of allegiance to faith, family, and community, and what it means to be a young Muslim in America.

With the leading clan bitterly split and the court torn apart, only fierce, half-human Rhiannon and her winged mare have any chance of rescuing Princess Olwynne and her twin brother. But what duty requires, the heart may regret. An evil necromancer has kidnapped the royal twins, plotting to spill their blood—for revenge, and to restore his own family to life. Chaos reigns in the capital, and Rhiannon finds herself burdened with a heavy charge: to save the one woman she hates above all others. It will not be easy to forgive or forget that Olwynne attempted to steal Rhiannon’s true love, the handsome apprentice-witch Lewen—especially when it seems that Olwynne would still be her rival for his affections. And as the necromancer’s intrigues grow more desperate, Rhiannon fears that saving the princess could mean risking everything—Lewen, her mare, her freedom, even her own life.