Fantasy at its most enchanting: An original and absorbing tale from a master storyteller about the profound effects of a single life on the battle against ultimate evil It is Midsummer Day, the beginning of the year 700, in the city of Benign. All the children born in the year 684 celebrate their joint sixteenth birthday by passing in front of the statue of the blind goddess Caprice—but only one will become the Chosen and join the Seventy who govern and guide the city. Much to her surprise, Irona Matrinko, one of the many children of an impoverished fisherman, is chosen. Irona 700 moves into the palace and, with the help of a new mentor, recognizes and cultivates her great talent for guiding wars: strategy and tactics, leadership and inspiration. As Irona gives her life to the city, an ancient enemy, Maleficence, attacks again and again, corrupting Irona's friends, destroying her lover, and continually defeating her grandest plans...

War had engulfed the whole world. The imposter Imperor ruling in Hub was the tool of the paranoid and almighty sorcerer Xinixo, who wielded the combined power of thousands of sorcerer slaves. And yet, despite his seeming omnipotence, the pathetic few who resisted him were still at liberty, even making a little progress. Xinixo's prime foe, Rap of Krasnegar, had rallied troll sorcerers to the cause and was about to try enlisting the incomprehensible elves. Fortunately for his sanity, he did not know that his daughter Kadie had been carried off by goblin invaders, or that his son Gath was heading for stark Nordland to deal with the fearsome jotnar. Or that his wife, Inos, was in Guwash, negotiating with gnomes. Shandie, the rightful Imperor, was with her, unaware that his wife, Impress Eshiala, believed him dead and had fled with Signifer Ylo, that notorious rake. And none of them knew about the sorcerers of Thume, especially the rebel pixie girl, Thaïle, who chafed against the...

Fantasy. 154599 words long.

The tale of Magic Casement begins gently, even slowly, with Inosolan enjoying an idyllic childhood in a tiny backwater kingdom, too carefree and innocent even to understand that the feelings she shares with her friend Rap are more than friendship. Mystery, menace, and the gods appear in short order, and from then on the story grows in scope and power to straddle the world, and adversity thrusts rapid maturity on Rap and Inos. Populated by unforgettable characters—Aunt Kade, Little Chicken, Doctor Sagorn, and many more—Pandemia is an incredible world of credible people and infinite surprises.

Alya has an almost magical talent. Her hunches are never wrong. The scientists of planet 4-I want to use her talent and promise her a spot on the next offworld colonization team in return for her assessment of the potential of the latest worlds they've discovered. But Alya meets Cedric, the grandson of the brilliant and tyrannical director of 4-I and she begins to doubt her own intuition. Cedric has dreamed of becoming a scout and exploring new worlds and when he meets Alya he is more determined than ever to leave 4-I, with her. His grandmother needs him on 4-I, though, because she has schemes afoot to protect her planet and to cover up a murder and she does not intend to let him go. However, she has underestimated her grandson-and the young woman whose intuition is so strong and whose destiny is linked to Cedric's.From the Inside FlapAlya's hunches were never wrong. So the scientists of 4-I were happy to promise her a place in the next offworld colonization team if she agreed to assess the potential of the latest worlds they had discovered. Then she met Cedric, the grandson of 4-I's brilliant and tyrannical director, and for the first time ever she began to doubt her uncanny intuition.Cedric dreamed of becoming a scout and exploring other worlds. When he met the lovely Alya he was more determined than ever to leave Earth -- with her. His grandmother, though, needed him as a pawn in her Machiavellian plot to cover up a murder and protect 4-I itself from being destroyed.She had no intention of letting him go. But the director underestimated her grandson -- and the woman whose destiny seemed linked with his . . .

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA

When Inos was abducted through the magic casement and Rap tried to follow her, they arrived in places very strange—and very far apart . . .