The Lies of Locke Lamora

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The Lies of Locke Lamora
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Published: 2007-06-26
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“Remarkable . . . Scott Lynch’s first novel, The Lies of Locke Lamora, exports the suspense and wit of a cleverly constructed crime caper into an exotic realm of fantasy, and the result is engagingly entertaining.”—The Times (London) An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr.

But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly.

Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

Praise for The Lies of Locke Lamora “Fresh, original, and engrossing . . . gorgeously realized.”—George R. R. Martin “Right now, in the full flush of a second reading, I think The Lies of Locke Lamora is probably in my top ten favorite books ever. Maybe my top five. If you haven’t read it, you should. If you have read it, you should probably read it again.”

—Patrick Rothfuss, New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind “A unique fantasy milieu peopled by absorbing, colorful characters . . . Locke’s wit and audacity endear him to victims and bystanders alike.”

“High-octane fantasy . . . a great swashbuckling yarn of a novel.”—Richard Morgan

The Emperor’s Blades: Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, Book I

The Emperor's Blades
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Published: 2014-01-14
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The emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. But each of them also has a life-path on which their father set them, destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods.

Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, has spent eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, learning the enigmatic discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God. Their rituals hold the key to an ancient power he must master before it’s too late.

An ocean away, Valyn endures the brutal training of the Kettral, elite soldiers who fly into battle on gigantic black hawks. But before he can set out to save Kaden, Valyn must survive one horrific final test.

At the heart of the empire, Minister Adare, elevated to her station by one of the emperor’s final acts, is determined to prove herself to her people. But Adare also believes she knows who murdered her father, and she will stop at nothing – and risk everything – to see that justice is meted out.

Chasing Graves (The Chasing Graves Trilogy)

Chasing Graves
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Published: 2018-12-07
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Meet Caltro Basalt. He’s a master thief, a selfish bastard, and as of his first night in Araxes, stone cold dead.

They call it the City of Countless Souls, the colossal jewel of the Arctian Empire, and all it takes to be its ruler is to own more ghosts than any other. For in Araxes, the dead do not rest in peace in the afterlife, but live on as slaves for the rich.

While Caltro struggles to survive and tries to reclaim his freedom, those around him strive for the emperor’s throne in Araxes’ cutthroat game of power. The dead gods whisper from corpses. A soulstealer seeks to make a name for himself with the help of an ancient cult. A princess plots to purge the emperor from his armoured Sanctuary. And a resolute murderer drags a body across the desert, intent on reaching Araxes no matter the cost.

Only one thing is certain in Araxes: death is just the beginning.

From award-winning author Ben Galley comes Chasing Graves, a dark, epic fantasy trilogy inspired by Egyptian mythology and set in a vast city world. Packed with twists, dark humour and death magic, Chasing Graves is perfect if you like Mark Lawrence, R.F. Kuang, or David Estes.

“★★★★★ An excellent first book in a series that I will absolutely keep on reading. Exceptional writing, great characters.”  Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld

“★★★★★ Chasing Graves by Ben Galley is brilliant, my favorite read of the year by a wide margin.” – David Estes, author of The Fatemarked Epic

“★★★★★ A unique and haunting twist on the afterlife. Absolutely brilliant!” – Michael R. Fletcher, author of Manifest Delusions & Obsidian Path Series

“★★★★★ The quintessential grimdark fantasy… The world building is fantastic and reminiscent of Michael Moorcock’s Elric series.” – Grimdark Magazine

Kings of the Wyld (The Band, 1)

Kings of the Wyld
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Published: 2017-02-21
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A retired group of legendary mercenaries get the band back together for one last impossible mission in this award-winning debut epic fantasy. “Fantastic, funny, ferocious.” – Sam Sykes Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best, the most feared and renowned crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld.

Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk, or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay’s door with a plea for help–the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for. It’s time to get the band back together.

WINNER OF THE DAVID GEMMELL MORNINGSTAR AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY DEBUT.WINNER OF THE REDDIT/FANTASY AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT FANTASY NOVEL. For more from Nicholas Eames, check out: Bloody Rose

Blackwing: The Raven’s Mark trilogy

Blackwing: The Raven’s Mark trilogy
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Published: 2017-10-03
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Blackwing is a gritty fantasy debut about a man’s desperate battle to survive his own dark destiny… Hope, reason, humanity: the Misery breaks them all. Under its cracked and wailing sky, the Misery is a vast and blighted expanse, the arcane remnant of a devastating war with the immortals known as the Deep Kings.

The war ended nearly a century ago, and the enemy is kept at bay only by the existence of the Engine, a terrible weapon that protects the Misery’s border. Across the corrupted no-man’s-land teeming with twisted magic and malevolent wraiths, the Deep Kings and their armies bide their time. Watching. Waiting. Bounty hunter Ryhalt Galharrow has breathed Misery dust for twenty bitter years. When he’s ordered to locate a masked noblewoman at a frontier outpost, he finds himself caught in the middle of an attack by the Deep Kings, one that signifies they may no longer fear the Engine. Only a formidable show of power from the very woman he is seeking, Lady Ezabeth Tanza, repels the assault.

Ezabeth is a shadow from Galharrow’s grim past, and together they stumble onto a web of conspiracy that threatens to end the fragile peace the Engine has provided. Galharrow is not ready for the truth about the blood he’s spilled or the gods he’s supposed to serve…

“A remarkably assured fantasy debut that mixes of the inventiveness of China Miéville with the fast paced heroics of David Gemmell.”—Anthony Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of The Legion of Flame Set on a postapocalyptic frontier,

The Warded Man: Book One of The Demon Cycle (The Demon Cycle Series 1)

The Painted Man
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Published: 2013
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For hundreds of years these creatures have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human population. It was not always this way. Men and women did not always cower behind protective magical wards and hope to see the dawn. Once, they battled the demons on equal terms, but those days, and skills, are gone. Arlen Bales lives with his parents on their isolated farmstead until a demon attack shatters their world. He learns a savage lesson…

 

The Demon Cycle

Sword In The Storm: Book One In The Rigante Series

Sword in the Storm
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Published: 2001-01-30
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Fierce and proud, the Rigante dwell deep in the green mountain lands, worshiping the gods of air and water, and the spirits of the earth. Among them lives a warrior who bears the mark of fate. Born of the storm that slew his father, he is Connavar, and tales of his courage spread like wildfire.

The Seidh–a magical race as old as time–take note of the young warrior and cast a malignant shadow across his life. For soon a merciless army will cross the water, destroying forever the timeless rhythms of life among the Rigante. Swearing to protect his people, Connavar embarks on a quest that will take him into the heart of the enemy.

Along the way, he receives a gift: a sword as powerful and deadly as the Seidh who forged it. Thus he receives a name that will strike fear into the hearts of friend and foe alike–a name proclaiming a glorious and bitter destiny . . . Demonblade.

Wolf In Shadow (The Stones of Power: Jon Shannow Trilogy)

Wolf in Shadow
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Published: 1987
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The Lord of the Pit and his hellborn army seek to plunge mankind into a new satanic era. Seemingly invincible, they make a fatal mistake when they take Shannow's woman for blood sacrifice.

 

Part of the stones of powers/sipstrassi serie, in order of publication :

Ghost King (2 books)

Wolf In Shadow (3 books)

Hawk Queen (2 books)

The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust, Book 1)

The Court of Broken Knives
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Published: 2018-02-08
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Perfect for fans of Mark Lawrence and R Scott Bakker, The Court of Broken Knives is the explosive debut by one of grimdark fantasy’s most exciting new voices.

They’ve finally looked at the graveyard of our Empire with open eyes. They’re fools and madmen and like the art of war. And their children go hungry while we piss gold and jewels into the dust.

In the richest empire the world has ever known, the city of Sorlost has always stood, eternal and unconquered. But in a city of dreams governed by an imposturous Emperor, decadence has become the true ruler, and has blinded its inhabitants to their vulnerability. The empire is on the verge of invasion – and only one man can see it.

Haunted by dreams of the empire’s demise, Orhan Emmereth has decided to act. On his orders, a company of soldiers cross the desert to reach the city. Once they enter the Palace, they have one mission: kill the Emperor, then all those who remain. Only from ashes can a new empire be built.

The Judging Eye: One (The Aspect-emperor, 1)

The Judging Eye
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Published: 2009-02-19
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A new work set in the world of the Prince of Nothing expands on the parameters of the series' myth, violence, and sorcery.

The Darkness That Comes Before, The Warrior Prophet, and The Thousandfold Thought –collectively the Prince of Nothing Saga-were R. Scott Bakker’s magnificent debut into the upper echelon of epic fantasy. In those three books, Bakker created a world that was at once a triumph of the fantastic and an historical epic as real as any that came before.

Widely praised by reviewers and a growing body of fans, Bakker has already established the reputation as one of the smartest writers in the fantasy genre-a writer in the line stretching from Homer to Peake to Tolkein. Now he returns to The Prince of Nothing with the long awaited The Judging Eye, the first book in an all-new series. Set twenty years after the end of The Thousandfold Thought, Bakker reintroduces us to a world that is at once familiar but also very different than the one readers thought they knew. D

elving even further into his richly imagined universe of myth, violence, and sorcery, and fully remolding the fantasy genre to broaden the scope of intricacy and meaning, R. Scott Bakker has once again written a fantasy novel that defies all expectations and rewards the reader with an experience unlike any to be had in the canon of today’s literature.

The Aspect emperor tetralogy

Take place in the same world than  The Prince of Nothing trilogy 

not read yet but reputed extremely grim