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...

Dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series—as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire.

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again—beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone—a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all....

In this stunning follow-up to his epic fantasy debut, Alan Campbell propels readers into a captivating city battling for its own survival—and that of humankind—in a world of deities and demons, fallen angels and killers.

After a destructive battle, the ancient swaying city of Deepgate has been overtaken. Most of the chains that suspend it have given way, toxic fumes are emanating from blazing structures, and the temple once inhabited by the ruling Presbyter now dangles upside down above the once-uncharted abyss. The victorious Spine have initiated martial law and are ruthlessly pursuing all who attempt to leave. Amid the turmoil, two captives are returned.

Arriving by ship are the young angel Dill, now toughened by war, and traitor assassin Rachel Hael. Incarcerated in the slowly crumbling temple, the two await their fate, while from the abyss beneath them ghosts rise—for the death of the god Ulcis has left open the gates to Hell.

But on orders from his divine brethren, Cospinol, the god of brine and fog, is traveling the world to Deepgate to seal this breach. His great skyship is being dragged through the air by the giant John Anchor, a monster of a man enslaved to pull the god’s vessel, moving slowly, inevitably, toward the city.

As the city waits, teetering on the brink, myriad plans for vengeance are set in motion, from the continent of Pandemeria to Heaven itself. Among them is a ghostly archon sent to deliver a message to the gods on earth—using Dill as his vessel. Thrust from his body, Dill’s own soul returns to Hell. When Dill and Rachel are attacked by Spine assassins, Rachel has no choice but to try to escape with the creature that calls itself Dill…and to somehow find a way to restore her friend’s soul before it’s too late. For powerful forces are stirring, and in the coming battle between gods, it is the world of men that is at stake.

An assassin sent from the frozen North on a mortal mission. A mighty empire under siege by its oldest enemy. Four royal children in exile or captivity, bent on avenging their father’s death. Prepare yourself to be astonished and transported by Acacia.

Leodan Akaran, ruler of the Known World, has inherited generations of apparent peace and prosperity, won ages ago by his ancestors. A widower of high intelligence, he presides over an empire called Acacia, after the idyllic island from which he rules. He dotes on his four children and hides from them the dark realities of traffic in drugs and human lives on which their prosperity depends. He hopes that he might change this, but powerful forces stand in his way. And then a deadly assassin sent from a race called the Mein, exiled long ago to an ice-locked stronghold in the frozen north, strikes at Leodan in the heart of Acacia while the Mein unleash surprise attacks across the empire. On his deathbed, Leodan puts into play a plan to allow his children to escape, each to his or her separate destiny. And so his children begin a quest to avenge their father's death and restore the Acacian empire—this time on the basis of universal freedom.

Acacia is a thrilling work of the imagination that creates an all-enveloping and mythic world that will carry readers away. It is a timeless tale of heroism and betrayal, of treachery and revenge, of primal wrongs and ultimate redemption. David Anthony Durham has reimagined the epic narrative for our time in a book that will surely mark his break-through to a wide audience.

Stonewood Heights is the perfect place to raise kids. It’s got the proverbial good schools, solid values and a healthy real estate market. It’s the kind of place where parents are involved in their children’s lives, where no opportunity for enrichment goes unexplored.

Ruth Ramsey is the human sexuality teacher at the local high school. She believes that “pleasure is good, shame is bad, and knowledge is power.” Ruth’s younger daughter’s soccer coach is Tim Mason, a former stoner and rocker whose response to hitting rock bottom was to reach out and be saved. Tim belongs to The Tabernacle, an evangelical Christian church that doesn’t approve of Ruth’s style of teaching. And Ruth in turn doesn’t applaud The Tabernacle’s mission to take its message outside its doors. Adversaries in a small-town culture war, Ruth and Tim instinctively mistrust each other. But when a controversy on the soccer field pushes the two of them to actually talk to each other, they are forced to take each other at something other than face value.

The Abstinence Teacher exposes the powerful emotions that run beneath the surface of modern American family life and explores the complex spiritual and sexual lives of ordinary people. Elegantly written, it is characterized by the distinctive mix of satire and compassion that have animated Perrotta’s previous novels.