Epic Classics

In the sentient land of Veridia, Fila dreams of a simple future: using her women's magic of creation to help the Toiler people of the countryside. But when Veridia loses its Servant, the human conduit linking Veridia and its peoples, it chooses her daughter, Fila, as its new Servant. Mourning her mother and her lost dreams and doubting her worthiness, Fila sets out for the capital to be invested. On her journey, assassins attack, sent by a usurper with corrupted magic.

They came from the north and the city fell. The land of Falanor has been invaded by an albino army, the Army of Iron. A small band of heroes led by Kell, a magnificent and brutal hero, breaks out to warn the king. Fighting their way south, betrayal follows battle, battle follows deviation, and they are attacked on all quarters by deadly warriors, monstrous Harvesters who drain blood from their victims to feed their masters. And worse is to come, for Kell is anything but a hero.

A few years have passed since the conquering of the Mein, and Queen Corinn is firmly in control of the Known World---perhaps too firmly. With plans to expand her empire, she sends her brother, Daniel, on an exploratory mission to the Other Lands. There Daniel discovers a lush, exotic mainland ruled by an alliance of tribes that poses a grave danger to the stability of the Known World. Is Queen Corinn strong enough to face this new challenge?

“La scacchiera è pronta e le pedine si sono messe in moto.” Gandalf sa bene che ormai Sauron è pronto a sferrare il suo attacco: una nube nera incombe...

The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity and the sense of nationality that led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917. Beginning with the traditional Finnish creation myth, the Kalevala branches out into stories of the creation of the earth, plants, creatures, and the sky. There are many stories of, romance, kidnapping, seduction, and magical spell casting and singing.

In the land of Dorimare, on the shores of the Dapple and the Dawl, the law-abiding residents of Lud-in-the-Mist are plagued by an illegal influx of fairy fruit enticing people to acts of poetry, dancing, and other dangerous flights of fancy. When respectable Mayor Nathaniel Chanticleer finds his family entangled in the scandal, he must call upon both his sharp legal mind and his unacknowledged creative spirit to craft a reconciliation with the Faerie. Dare to embrace your wild side in this classic fantasy. Suitable for ages eight and up.

Dispute over land and kingdom may lie at the heart of this story of war between cousins - the Pandavas and the Kouravas - but the Mahabharata is about conflicts of dharma. These conflicts are immense and various, singular and commonplace. Throughout the epic, characters face them with no clear indications of what is right and what is wrong; there are no absolute answers. Thus every possible human emotion features in the Mahabharata, the reason the epic continues to hold sway over our imagination.

Luna et sa sœur Sylnor sont envoyées par Matrone Zesstra dans l'antre de la déesse Araignée. Mais la cadette, loin d'être une alliée pour Luna, se révèle être une drow endurcie, prête à trahir et même à tuer pour assouvir sa soif de violence. Malgré tout, quand Sylnor se retrouve à la merci de la cruelle déesse, Luna n'hésite pas à lui venir en aide en acceptant le marché que lui propose son bourreau.

This translation with its admirable projection of the various moods throughout the poem can be recommended to both classicist and non-classicist. -( The Classical World)

Dispute over land and kingdom may lie at the heart of this story of war between cousins - the Pandavas and the Kouravas - but the Mahabharata is about conflicts of dharma. These conflicts are immense and various, singular and commonplace. Throughout the epic, characters face them with no clear indications of what is right and what is wrong; there are no absolute answers. Thus every possible human emotion features in the Mahabharata, the reason the epic continues to hold sway over our imagination.

Here are the most exciting and essential parts of two historic, epic poems: the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey". The ancient words of Homer find a new home in today's world - spoken aloud, just as Homer intended. Translated by Stanley Lombardo.

The epic poem Beowulf has enthralled readers for centuries with its tale of adventure, heroism, and glory in combat. The court of Hrothgar, good king of the Danes, has fallen under attack from the vile giant Grendel. Beowulf, a young hero of the Geats, comes with his band of dauntless warriors to aid the king and prove his might in combat and skill as a leader before ascending the throne of his own land.

Set before Tales of the Otori begins, Heaven's Net recounts the life of Lord Otori Shigeru, the series' spiritual warrior-godfather and the adoptive father of the Tales' Takeo. We learn about Shigeru's training; his relationship with the Tribe of mysteriously powerful assassins; his fateful meeting with Lady Maruyama, who would become his secret lover; the battle of Yaegahara, where his father is killed; and other turning points that shaped the Tales.

With strength, wit, rakish charm, and a talking sword named Hrym, Rodrick has all the makings of a classic hero - except for the conscience. Instead, he and Hrym live a high life as scoundrels, pulling cons and parting the weak from their gold. When a mysterious woman invites them along on a quest into the frozen north in pursuit of a legendary artifact, it seems like a prime opportunity to make some easy coin - especially if there's a chance for a double-cross.

The Tide Lords are returning and that means every man, woman and child is in danger... Arkady is exiled to the repressive Torlenian capital, where she makes some unexpected friends and some powerful enemies, all of whom seem bent on using her to wreak vengeance on each other. Things are not going smoothly for Declan Hawkes, the King's Spymaster, either, and not just because the Empress of the Five Realms has turned up in Caelum with her family.

When reading and writing are the most important things in the world. Jevick, the pepper merchant's son, has been raised on stories of Olondria, a distant land where books are as common as they are rare in his home - but which his mother calls the Ghost Country. When his father dies and Jevick takes his place on the yearly selling trip to Olondria, Jevick's life is as close to perfect as he can imagine. Just as he revels in Olondria's Rabelaisian Feast of Birds, he is pulled drastically off course and becomes haunted by the ghost of an illiterate young girl.

Pizza, coffee, and a library full of unplayed games. That's the plan, or at least it was supposed to be. Instead, an average gamer finds himself seemingly transported into the world of his favorite game. While some might appreciate that, it's quickly apparent that he isn't in some sort of virtual reality experiment, all of his downloaded mods are active, and the world is likely set to its highest difficulty with permadeath enabled.

Here is Old Man's War author John Scalzi's sendup of the heroic fantasy genre, now a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.

Out of the smoldering ruins of the war in heaven Archangels Raphael and Michael cannot believe the agreement made between God and his morning star, Lucifer. Unwilling to either destroy the fallen angel or leave him with a free hand upon the world, God sets in motion a struggle that will span the millennia from creation to present day. Two Sentinels are invested with the ability to bend the laws of creation to their will and each represents the primal forces of order and chaos.

When the aristocratic Vishov family is banished from their native Ustalav due to underhanded politics, they're faced with a choice: fade slowly into obscurity or strike out for the nearby River Kingdoms and establish a new holding on the untamed frontier. For Lady Tyressa Vishov, the decision is simple. Together with her children and loyal retainers, she'll forge a new life in the infamous Echo Wood, and neither bloodthirsty monsters nor local despots will stop her from reclaiming her family honor.