In the first volume of a proposed duology, Valen, the rebellious scion of a dynasty of pureblood cartographers and diviners, has spent years denying his heritage, until he nearly ends up dead, addicted to a spell that converts pain to pleasure and possessing only a stolen book of maps, a mystical volume that could hide the secret to the doom of the entire world. Original.

As the land of Navronne sinks deeper into civil war and perilous winter, everyone wants to get their hands on the rebellious sorcerer Valen -a murderous priestess, a prince who steals dead men's eyes, and even the Danae guardians, whose magic nurtures the earth and whose attention could prove the most costly of all. Addicted to an enchantment that turns pain into pleasure -and bound by oaths he refuses to abandon- Valen risks body and soul to rescue one child, seek justice for another, and bring the dying land its rightful king. Yet no one is who they seem, and Valen's search for healing grace leads him from Harrower dungeons to alien shores. Only at the heart of the world does he discover the glorious, terrible price of the land's redemption-and his own.

National bestselling author Carol Berg returns to the world of her award-winning Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone with an all-new tale of magic, mystery, and corruption.... How much must one pay for an hour of youthful folly? The Pureblood Registry accused Lucian de Remeni-Masson of “unseemly involvement with ordinaries,” which meant only that he spoke with a young woman not of his own kind, allowed her to see his face unmasked, worked a bit of magic for her....After that one mistake, Lucian’s grandsire excised half his magic and savage Harrowers massacred his family. Now the Registry has contracted his art to a common coroner. His extraordinary gift for portraiture is restricted to dead ordinaries—beggars or starvelings hauled from the streets. But sketching the truth of dead men’s souls brings unforeseen consequences. Sensations not his own. Truths he cannot possibly know and dares not believe. The coroner calls him a cheat and says he is trying to weasel out of a humiliating contract. The Registry will call him mad—and mad sorcerers are very dangerous....

In Dust and Light, national bestselling author Carol Berg returned to the world of the award-winning Flesh and Spirit. Now she continues the saga of a man whose past is veiled in shadows.... Ever since the Order of the Equites Cineré stole his memory, his name, and his heart, thinking about the past makes Greenshank’s head ache. After two years of rigorous training, he is almost ready to embrace the mission of the Order—to use selfless magic to heal the troubles of Navronne. But on his first assignment alone, the past comes racing back, threatening to drown him in conspiracy, grief, and murder. He is Lucian de Remeni—a sorcerer whose magical bents for portraiture and history threaten the safety of the earth and the future of the war-riven kingdom of Navronne. He just can’t remember how or why. Fighting to unravel the mysteries of his power, Lucian must trace threads of corruption that reach from the Pureblood Registry into the Order itself, the truth hidden two centuries in the past and beyond the boundaries of the world...

Mother. Warrior. Caregiver. Wife. Lover. Survivor. Trickster. Heroine. Leader. This anthology features 21 stories and six essays about women who defy genre stereotypes. Here, it's not the hero who acts while the heroine waits to be rescued; Hath No Fury's women are champions, not damsels in distress. Whether they are strong, bold warriors, the silent but powerful type, or the timid who muster their courage to face down terrible evil, the women of Hath No Fury will make indelible marks upon readers and leave them breathless for more. Contents: Foreword by Robin Hobb Introduction Margaret Weis Riding Ever Southward, In the Company of Bees by Seanan McGuire She Tore by Nisi Shawl The Scion by S.R. Cambridge Harriet Tubman by Melanie R. Meadors Casting On by Philippa Ballantine For the Love of Etta Candy by Shanna Germain Some Enchanted Evening by Anton Strout Burning by Elaine Cunningham It Ain’t Bad to Get Mad by Sarah Kuhn A Dance with Death by Marc Turner Ada Lovelace by Melanie R. Meadors Pax Egyptica by Dana Cameron A Wasteland of My Own Making by Bradley P. Beaulieu Echoes of Stone by Elizabeth Vaughan Anger is a Friend to Love by Diana M. Pho The Mark of a Mountain Poppy by Erin M. Evans Snakeskin by William C. Dietz A Seed Planted by Carina Bissett The Book of Rowe by Carol Berg Ching Shih by Melanie R. Meadors She Keeps Crawling Back by Delilah S. Dawson A Hero of Grünjord by Lucy A. Snyder The Unlikely Turncoat by Michael R. Underwood Craft by Lian Hearn Reconciling Memory by Gail Z. Martin This Is Not Another “Why Presentation Is Important” Essay by Monica Valentinelli Heart of Clay by M.L. Brennan Last of the Red Riders by Django Wexler Christine Jorgensen by Melanie R. Meadors Rise of the Bonecrushers by Eloise J. Knapp