Science Fiction Monsters

Dan’s first tournament may have ended, but life goes on. His luck is still with him in his regular life as well, and it seems to be endless. However, he is surrounded by very smart people, and surely one of them is going to start doubting his talents, at least a bit? Especially now, with a new game about to start. The latest foes are even more dangerous than the last and the rules are still unfamiliar to him. Dan wonders how reasonable the rules are in the first place. Is it really possible to take a competition that lasts a couple of hours at most seriously?

"Perfect deadpan marks the opening of Ali Simpson’s The Monster'" writes Susan Merrell of The Southampton Review in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading.

Over two decades ago, forty-eight young, gifted superheroes fell to Earth and were eventually marketed as opposing brands: heroes and villains. Now, one exceptionally gruff bad guy is looking to hop teams. Hello, PR director Vanessa Theriot. His real name is Roland Casteel a.k.a. the Pyro. First, swap that with the less incinerating the Wyvern. Next, put him in spandex to highlight that near-godlike body. Finally, give that hero in training a heroine—if Vanessa will play the part in a pretend romance guaranteed to make the city swoon. She’s game.

The High Republic continues in this fast-paced adventure that picks up from Escape from Valo, perfect for fans of sci-fi action. Think Sailor Moon meets Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting by way of Star Wars . . . with a dash of Last Kids on Earth! The fearsome Nihil continue to spread...

Tessa McCaide has a unique talent for getting into trouble. Then again, it isn’t easy for a girl with psychic visions to ignore what she sees. Luckily Tessa and her family are leaving California and moving halfway across the country, giving her the perfect opportunity to leave her reputation as “Freaky Tessa” behind. But Tessa doesn’t realize that kissing the wrong guy in her new Texas town could land her in far more trouble than she ever imagined. Like being forced to attend St. Ailbe’s Academy, a secret boarding school for werewolves.

When a horrific loss throws Monster High into a state of grave upheaval, Draculaura and the other ghouls find themselves coping in different ways. For her part, the chaos at school is making Draculaura sick. She finds escape only by slipping away to the cemetery to pore over her mom's old journals. It's there that she meets Poe. If her ghoulfriends find out she's fallen for a normie, they'll freak. And if Poe discovers she's a vampire, his monster-hunting dad may have a stake in the matter.

Nath Dragon—the fiery son of the Dragon King—is a legend in the making. With a heart full of justice and a temper that scorches mountains, he roams the realm slaying dragon poachers, crushing slavers, and searching for redemption. But when his wrath gets the better of him, he’s cursed by the gods and cast into a world teetering on the edge of ruin.

An existence spent being forced to kill others to satiate a monster. Where the only thing to look forward to was the blessed, if brief, period of time between paying that bribe. Except that very same monster is and isn’t Rene. It just happened to live inside his own mind and force him to do what it wanted - rather than him being an actual monster. That was Rene’s entire life until a fateful day changed that. A day that his career as a hitman for hire built on the monster’s needs will end. Where Rene will be forced to atone for his actions. To be held accountable and judged.

An existence spent being forced to kill others to satiate a monster. Where the only thing to look forward to was the blessed, if brief, period of time between paying that bribe. Except that very same monster is and isn’t Rene. It just happened to live inside his own mind and force him to do what it wanted.

Rowan Bennett has always been the lighthouse of his family; steadfast, dependable and constantly putting himself last. But when a malicious entity attaches itself to him, his life takes a disastrous turn.

Alchemist Zoe Faust is no stranger to magical mayhem, but when her boyfriend's new tea shop is vandalized and his special tea blends stolen, she plunges into a baffling mystery to save him. The clues lead Zoe and her gargoyle sidekick Dorian to an eerie mansion high in the Portland hills, filled with creeping carnivorous plants and enigmatic topiary monsters. When they stumble across a corpse in the conservatory that appears to have been killed by sinister shrubbery, an estranged member of the family is implicated in the murder.

With this outrageous new novel, China Miéville has written one of the strangest, funniest, and flat-out scariest books you will read this—or any other—year. The London that comes to life in Kraken is a weird metropolis awash in secret currents of myth and magic, where criminals, police...

The Labyrinth behind him, Terry and company arrive on the Eastern Steppes in the midst of a carnival, and a fateful decision puts him under a dire curse. Stripped of his bond powers and exiled to the dreamlike Wildervast, he must find and free the ultimate witch, then kill an invincible man. Meanwhile, those left behind must face the machinations of the tauren herd leaders, whose law allows them to take a template for common use, and the remnants of Theseus' bonds in search of revenge.

A strange creature attacked Romeo last night. A huge beast unlike anything anyone has ever seen in Philly before—an alien monster with natural armor, organic high-tech weaponry, and poison dripping from its limbs. My intuition is screaming at me. It's telling me the monster is not here for Romeo. It's here for me.

As the second son, Prince Larkin doesn't have much of a role at court. When his brother sends him on a quest to slay a wyvern, he pounces on the opportunity. Only problem? It's not a wyvern. It's a dragon. A naked dragon in human form, who possesses two very large...anyway. Larkin is definitely, absolutely, very not interested in trying them out, but Jade is very, very persuasive. It helps that Jade's fluids make Larkin tingle all over in the best of ways.

Joan ha fallito. Non è riuscita a fermare Eleanor, e ora il mondo appartiene ai mostri. In questa nuova realtà, le regole sono cambiate: gli umani vivono nel terrore, rinchiusi in gabbie d'oro, schiacciati da leggi crudeli e puniti aspramente. E il tempo è diventato un'arma. Solo pochi ricordano la verità e, tra loro, Joan, Nick e Aaron sono gli unici a sapere che esisteva una realtà diversa. Nick, una volta eroe e cacciatore di mostri, è consumato dal rimorso per la scelta che ha condannato il mondo.

Ben has saved the dragonkin women’s island from the ancient, ghostly maldungs, so it’s time for his next adventure. But when he and his crew of women set sail again, they discover the orcs have another enemy. A dangerous, fire-breathing, ship-destroying enemy. And Ben wonders if he can tame it.

Tessa—part witch, part werewolf, raised human and now the unofficial leader of a newly minted supernatural alliance—gets a distressing call from her brother, Axel, in the middle of the night. Tessa and her mate, Dastien, race to save Axel, but Tessa's learned that nothing is ever easy in the supernatural world. She has seconds to make a choice, but there’s only one thing Tessa can do to save the two most important men in her life—sacrifice herself.

Ryker Hayes is a licensed massage therapist, and a damn good one at that. It's a career he's passionate about, and all his plans for life are on track—until he winds up transported to the world of Werifesteria in the body of an infamous warlord, at least. Now all he really wants to do is forget the misdeeds of his alter ego and retire to a life of anonymity with a couple interesting women as his new partners. Together, they open the very first massage inn and spa in all the land,

What’s better than three monstrous hotties? How about four.... While helping the trio of sexy-as-sin monsters who followed me home, I lost my apartment, my sense of security, and more blood than was really healthy. Somehow my new lovers make me feel like I’ve gotten the better part of the bargain. Unfortunately, their newly-rescued boss isn’t so keen on humans. I get the feeling he’d rather rend me limb from limb than give me the time of day. Too bad for him my mortal skills are just too useful to toss aside.