These aren't the vampires you know. When the Nash'terel were hunted nearly to extinction, they fled to a distant world: Earth. Using their powers of shapeshifting, they blended in with the human population, and with their thirst for life essence, the hunted became the hunters. While the older generation remain in the shadows, associating only with other Nash'terel, their Earthborn offspring are more adventurous. Young Bilyash is tired of hiding and ready to follow his dream into the film industry. He's abandoned the traditional ways of his people and trained as a makeup artist, but two things stand in his way: assassins from the former home world, and Angie Fiore. Angie is unlike any human Bilyash has met, overflowing with the purest life essence he's ever encountered. When assassins on the hunt for Nash'terel catch up with him, both their lives are put in danger, and Bilyash and Angie are forced to run. Bilyash's uncle and his contacts can help them go underground, but it won't stop these killers from tracking them. The only chance Bilyash has to keep himself and Angie safe is to turn the tables. Yet what chance does an inexperienced Earthborn have against centuries-old assassins with nothing to lose?

A knight possessed by demons, an ambitious monk skilled in exorcism, and a bloody Crusade that ends in a terrible siege lie at the heart of Michael Alexander Eisner’s action-packed medieval adventure of Christian warriors and Muslim infidels in the Holy Land. Francisco de Montcada, the young Spanish heir to a vast family fortune, returns from the Crusades a gaunt shell of a man, rendered speechless by the horrors he has witnessed. As his friend Brother Lucas draws out his story, Francisco relates a gripping tale of fierce battles, cruel betrayals, and religious zealots. A first-rate novel of disquieting contemporary relevance, The Crusader captures with impressive style and historical authenticity the ghastly deeds men pursue in the name of God.

Earth’s ancient past is coming home to roost, and it’s making Barry Novak, the Chief of Operations of the Earth Intelligence Service, very nervous. - First, a document written in an alien language surfaces at an archaeological site on Earth. - Then, a Stragori defector approaches Novak, offering another old document in exchange for sanctuary. This one was stolen from the alien’s home world. Once decoded, the document’s contents are mind-blowing. - Finally, an old enemy switches sides, bringing with him information that fills in the gaps and, if true, could rewrite the very definition of Humanity. Earth isn’t yet ready to learn these truths. Making them public would cause worldwide xenophobia. So, Novak does the only thing he can think of. He sends them as far away as he can—to Daisy Hub. In this eagerly awaited sequel to The Genius Asylum, long buried secrets arrive aboard the space station, carried by a mysterious one-eyed man who calls himself Max Karlov and claims to have been assigned there. But there are things happening on Daisy Hub that need to be kept “in the family”, and too many unanswered questions about this new crew member. Determined to unravel Karlov’s story, Townsend and his crew of maverick geniuses start digging for the truth. What they discover will shake them to their core.

It's time we got to know a little more about the Chinese. Did you know they don't eat soup, they drink it? That their surnames come before their first names? That their good sense is to be found not in their heads but in their hearts? Or that white is their colour of mourning? This guide to avoiding the numerous pitfalls of Chinese etiquette is both amusing and informative. The writer and journalist Kai Strittmatter lived and worked in China for ten years. This amusing, affectionate and perceptive book provides a fascinating guide to this lively, sociable and friendly people and their complex and often contradictory society. As the author says: "Be prepared for everything when you come to Beijing. It really is unbelievable what can happen here." The new material in this edition takes a critical look at the challenges posed by this, the next global superpower.

Four years after the Corvou war, the battle for Humanity's future goes on. Drew Townsend and his surviving crew are back in business, aboard a new and improved Daisy Hub and with a new mission, one that will cement Humanity's place among the stars — but it could take years to complete. Earth Intelligence operatives have been sent to Stragon to protect the Terran colony there by heading off an impending civil war — but good and bad keep changing places, and appearances cannot be trusted. And on Earth, the Reformation has had dangerous consequences for Barry Novak and Juno Vargas, as they struggle to neutralize an old enemy — but the truth isn't what they thought it was. In the 25th century, the past is a puzzle, the present is a minefield … and the future is a mirror, wherein Earth's true identity lies.

"I know where the Angel of Death plague originated, and so does every other ‘patient’ who left Thrygg that day..."Fourteen years ago, Thryggian scientists permitted a mass escape of test subjects from their laboratory on Thrygg, including Abner Dedrick, the youngest member of the powerful Forrand-Dedrick family on Earth. These patients all thought they’d been receiving an unapproved longevity treatment. In fact, they’d been infected with a bio-engineered virus and their escape was the first step in a horrific experiment.Now the day of reckoning is approaching. The plague unleashed on the galaxy by the Thryggians has finally been brought under control and they’re on trial for this and other scientific crimes. The viral strain Abner was carrying has wiped out an entire Human colony. Only his young daughter Lania and his voice log – a damning piece of evidence if brought before the tribunal – have survived. Aboard the Earth ship that rescues Lania is Ixbeth Minegar, a lone alien who becomes convinced that Lania is part of a prophecy that could spell life or death for Ixbeth’s entire race.The Thryggians are not going down quietly. They’ve broken planetary confinement and are determined to find and eliminate any evidence against them, even if it means entering Earth space and destroying Earth ships. Fortunately, the one carrying Abner Dedrick’s log has an alien or two up its sleeve...

The most dangerous race in the galaxy is the race against time. And the second most dangerous race? The Galactic Great Council believes it’s the Humans. However, as the captain and officers of the Earth ship Marco Polo are about to find out, Humanity has plenty of competition for that title. While visiting Kula’as, Captain Takamura and his crew are recruited by aliens for a covert mission. The Thryggians may be close to breaking out of their pocket universe using a psi-powered heavy ship left over from an ancient war. If they succeed in activating the ship, they’ll be unstoppable. Can a bickering bunch of Humans and aliens work together to find and steal the vessel before it is too late?

Stragon is a powder keg waiting to explode. It's a fractured society plagued by extremist bombings and street violence. A political climate fraught with lies, deception, and widespread public unrest. And the Terran immigrant population is in ever-growing danger of being targeted as the cause of it all... because an impostor on the ruling Directorate is pointing fingers squarely in their direction. Exposing the fraud and defusing the violence will take a master manipulator, and Dennis Forrand is just the man for the job. As he pulls strings across three continents, former Earth Intelligence Service agents Isabela and Angeli have their own plans to subdue the radical factions. However, with both of them under Security's gaze, not only their cover but their lives may be at stake. Somehow, they must all work together to out-con the usurper and pull Stragon back from the brink before a bloody conflict breaks out. Humanity's struggle to claim its place among the stars continues in SIC TRANSIT STRAGON

Sally McBride's haunting, mesmerizing short fiction has been captivating audiences for nearly forty years. It's been published in Asimov’s, Amazing, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Northern Frights, Tesseracts, On Spec, and many more magazines, anthologies and best-of collections. It's won Canada's Aurora Award and been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Her stories have been reprinted time and again. In this volume, fifteen more of her short stories are collected for the first time. Visions of death and life, alien memories, magic spells gone awry, floating girls, and more. Prepare to get transported to a fantastic future, a terrifying present, or look at history and myth in a whole new light. Includes "Dance on a Forgotten Shore" co-written by Alan Dean Foster

From epic fantasy author Sara Douglass comes Crusader, The sixth book in The Wayfarer Redemption series For countless millennia the Star Dance and the TimeKeeper Demons have battled their way across the universe, destroying innumerable planets, laying waste to civilizations across the cosmos. Choosing the land of Tencendor as their last battleground, the demons break through the Star Gate. The Gate destroyed, all magic in the world is gone and the three races of Tencendor are plunged into a vortex of chaos, madness, and death. Caelum SunSoar, son of the near-immortal Starman Axis and beloved ruler of all the land's peoples, is dead. Leaderless, those not killed outright or driven mad flee to the one place left to them, Sanctuary, a magical place created ages past to shield all who are good from the wrath of the demons. There is for some one hope left: DragonStar, Axis's other son. Many believe he is the true StarSon, the only being that can save their world. Others are just as convinced that he is in league with the demons and will be their doom. Only DragonStar knows the truth and as he and his companions go forth to do battle he prays that he may convince all that his motives are pure. What he does not know is that there is a traitor who plans to hand Sanctuary over to the Demons. A betrayer whose actions could force DragonStar to make a sacrifice so bloody and horrific that it could mean the destruction of everything that he holds dear in this life or the next. And if he fails, he could doom Tecendor to an eternal hell. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.