BOOKS OF THE FANTASTIC: The best fantasy and science fiction novels
Discover the best fantasy and science fiction novels with BOOKS OF THE FANTASTIC. Explore top-rated epic tales, magical adventures, and futuristic sagas for every fan of the genre.
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The Court of the Air
by Stephen Hunt
Targeted for their possession of a magical secret that has forced them into lives of hardship, street-wise Molly and sheltered Oliver find themselves on the run in the company of outlaws and spies who assist their efforts to counter ancient enemies of the state.
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The Kingdom Beyond the Waves
by Stephen Hunt
A tale of high adventure, set in a Victorian-style world â a fantastical version of Dickens. Featuring a gutsy Indiana-Jones style heroine, and filled with perilous quests, dastardly deeds and deadly intrigue.
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Halting State
by Charles Stross
âHalting State [is] a near-future story that is at once over-the-top and compellingly believable.â â Vernor Vinge, author of Rainbows End In the year 2018, Sergeant Sue Smith of the Edinburgh constabulary is called in on a special case. A daring bank robbery has taken place at Hayek Associatesâa dot-com start-up company thatâs just floated onto the London stock exchange. But this crime may be a bit beyond Smithâs expertise. The prime suspects are a band of marauding orcs with a dragon in tow for fire support. The bank is located within the virtual reality land of Avalon Four, and the robbery was supposed to be impossible. When word gets out, Hayek Associates and all its virtual âeconomiesâ are going to crash hard. For Smith, the investigation seems pointless. But the deeper she digs, the bigger the case gets. There are powerful playersâboth real and pixelatedâwho are watching her every move. Because there is far more at stake than just some game-headâs fantasy financial securityâŠ
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Making Money
by Terry Pratchett
The Ankh-Morpork Post Office is running like . . . well, not at all like a government office. The mail is delivered promptly; meetings start and end on time; five out of six letters relegated to the Blind Letter Office ultimately wend their way to the correct addresses. Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig, former arch-swindler and confidence man, has exceeded all expectationsâincluding his own. So it's somewhat disconcerting when Lord Vetinari summons Moist to the palace and asks, "Tell me, Mr. Lipwig, would you like to make some real money?" Vetinari isn't talking about wages, of course. He's referring, rather, to the Royal Mint of Ankh-Morpork, a venerable institution that haas run for centuries on the hereditary employment of the Men of the Sheds and their loyal outworkers, who do make money in their spare time. Unfortunately, it costs more than a penny to make a penny, so the whole process seems somewhat counterintuitive. Next door, at the Royal Bank, the Glooper, an "analogy machine," has scientifically established that one never has quite as much money at the end of the week as one thinks one should, and the bank's chairman, one elderly Topsy (nĂ©e Turvy) Lavish, keeps two loaded crossbows at her desk. Oh, and the chief clerk is probably a vampire. But before Moist has time to fully consider Vetinari's question, fate answers it for him. Now he's not only making money, but enemies too; he's got to spring a prisoner from jail, break into his own bank vault, stop the new manager from licking his face, and, above all, find out where all the gold has goneâotherwise, his life in banking, while very exciting, is going to be really, really short. . . .
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Spook Country
by William Gibson
The âcool and scaryâ(San Francisco Chronicle) New York Times bestseller from the author of Pattern Recognition and Neuromancer. spook (spoÍok) n.: A specter; a ghost. Slang for âintelligence agent.â country (ËkÉn-trÄ) n.: In the mind or in reality. The World. The United States of America, New Improved Edition. What lies before you. What lies behind. spook country (spoÍok ËkÉn-trÄ) n.: The place where we all have landed, few by choice. The place we are learning to live. Hollis Henry is a journalist, on investigative assignment for a magazine called Node, which doesnât exist yet. Bobby Chombo apparently does exist, as a producer. But in his day job, Bobby is a troubleshooter for military navigation equipment. He refuses to sleep in the same place twice. He meets no one. And Hollis Henry has been told to find him... âA devastatingly precise reflection of the American zeitgeist.ââThe Washington Post Book World
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The H-bomb Girl
by Stephen Baxter
Liverpool 1962. A place and time of danger and passion. A thrilling new music is bursting on to the grey streets of the post-war city: a music that electrifies, a music that promises to change everything. But in Cuba, on the other side of the earth, nuclear tensions are at breaking point. The end of the whole world could be just days away. At the heart of it all is fourteen-year-old Laura Mann. She's on the run, hunted by strange forces fighting over the future of humanity. Laura is the H-Bomb Girl. And Laura's about to discover that her own life is at stake - in ways she could never have imagined...
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The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
Discover #1 New York Times-bestselling Patrick Rothfussâ epic fantasy series, The Kingkiller Chronicle. âI just love the world of Patrick Rothfuss.â âLin-Manuel Miranda OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD! DAY ONE: THE NAME OF THE WIND My name is Kvothe. I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me. So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literatureâthe story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one manâs search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.
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Last Argument of Kings
by Joe Abercrombie
The end is coming. Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him but it's going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the king of the Northmen still stands firm, and there's only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy: it's time for the Bloody-Nine to come home. With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war. A secret struggle in which no one is safe, and no one can be trusted. As his days with a sword are far behind him, it's fortunate that he's deadly with his remaining weapons: blackmail, threats, and torture. Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is too painful an undertaking and turned his back on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man when he least expects it. The king of the Union lies on his deathbed, the peasants revolt, and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No one believes that the shadow of war is about to fall across the heart of the Union. Only the First of the Magi can save the world, but there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, than to break the First Law..."
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Victory of Eagles
by Naomi Novik
The acclaimed series, starring the fighting dragon Temeraire and his captain, Will Laurence, reaches a peak of excitement with this latest installment from award-winning author Novik.