Sea Fiction

A new school term begins as Ryuuji, still hurting from Minori's rejection, awkwardly tries to figure out how to face her. Meanwhile, something weird's going on between Taiga and Kitamura—and with everyone packed into close quarters for a school trip to the mountains, hidden motives start rising to the surface. But when a dangerous accident befalls one of them on the snowy slopes, feelings might be the least of their worries!

It was no walk in the park, but Zig and Siasha have finally gotten accustomed to their new surroundings and are enjoying their tranquil lives funded by their bloody battles with monstrosities. One day, Siasha decides to join a short-term adventuring party, and Zig, temporarily relieved of his bodyguard duties, finds himself with a bit of free time. But he's not idle for long. Isana—a second-class adventurer and acquaintance of Zig's—asks for his help investigating the recent kidnappings of children from her tribe.

They called themselves the Bombay Buccaneers - and under that flamboyant name they blazed a trail of daring and adventure from the Gulf of Oman to the waters of Macao. For courage, loyalty, and renown few of the Buccaneers could match their Captain, Percival Merewether, a brilliant seaman who was already the hero of a score of fabled sea-faring campaigns. Newly in command of the 36-gun frigate Pitt, Merewether is about to set sail again.

George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman novels, praises this hearty saga as "one of the great unrecognized novels of the 20th century." Doctor Peter Blood's quiet life is shattered when he is convicted of treason for helping a wounded nobleman in the 1685 rebellion against King James II.

Terrorism. Acts of oppression. The threat of nuclear war. The US Navy-designed Goliath is a futuristic nuclear stealth submarine in the shape of a stingray. Simon Covah, a brilliant scientist whose entire family were the victims of terrorism, has hijacked the sub. Believing violence is a disease, Covah aims to use the Goliath and its cache of nuclear weapons to dictate policy to the world regarding the removal of oppressive regimes and nuclear weapons. Could the threat of violence forge a lasting peace?

Hiro and crew take a request to guard colonists transporting valuable terraforming materials to a brand-new system under the oversight of Chris herself. And with their new military battle bots aboard, the gang's ready for anything–or so they think. Meanwhile, Hiro's Gold Star has made him a target of the galactic paparazzi. Under the eye of the camera, Hiro and the girls undertake their most dangerous mission yet: defense of an entire planet!

Rudeus's fourth child, Sieghart, is born with the same crop of bright-green hair that Laplace was once feared for. The omen grows ever more ill when a familiar of Perugius's appears and commands Rudeus to bring his newborn son to the floating fortress! Rudeus swears that his plans to fight Laplace are unchanged and that he'll accept any fate for the sake of his family...but will that be enough for Perugius?

Alone and forlorn, Rudeus arrives at the city of Rosenburg to search for his mother, Zenith. Despite his attempts to focus on the task at hand, Eris' absence weighs heavy on his heart, and so Rudeus gambles on a dangerous new venture to distract himself from his newfound loneliness--accepting an A-rank job all by himself.

Have you ever had a hard time falling asleep? That’s exactly what happened to Harmony, a very tiny princess and Chance, a very tiny noble knight who lived in a very large castle under the deep blue sea. They were afraid to fall asleep for fear of invaders.

It was a day like any other. Except it was our last.... It’s on this day that Pounce discovers that he is, in fact, disposable. Pounce, a styilsh "nannybot" fashioned in the shape of a plush anthropomorphic tiger, has just found a box in the attic. His box. The box he'd arrived in when he was purchased years earlier, and the box in which he'll be discarded when his human charge, eight-year-old Ezra Reinhart, no longer needs a nanny. As Pounce ponders his suddenly uncertain future, the pieces are falling into place for a robot revolution that will eradicate humankind.

Funny and touching, Behind You Is the Sea brings us into the homes and lives of three main families—the Baladis, the Salamehs, and the Ammars—Palestinian immigrants who’ve all found a different welcome in America. Their various fates and struggles cause their community dynamic to sizzle and sometimes explode: The wealthy Ammar family employs young Maysoon Baladi, whose own family struggles financially, to clean up after their spoiled teenagers.

Juan Cabrillo and his motley crew aboard the clandestine spy ship Oregon have made a very comfortable and very dangerous living working for high-powered Western interests. But their newest clients have come from the Far East to ask for Cabrillo's special brand of assistance: a consortium of Japanese shipping magnates whose fortunes are being threatened by brutal pirates trolling the waters of Southeast Asia.

Ten years ago, the 20th century and the Bronze Age were tossed together by a mysterious Event. In the decade since, the Republic of Nantucket has worked hard to create a new future for itself, using the technological know-how retained from modern times to explore and improve conditions for the inhabitants of the past

When twelve-year-old Yara’s mother passes away, she leaves behind a letter and a strange set of instructions. Yara must travel from the home she has always known to a place that is not on any map—Zehaira, a world of sorcerers, alchemists, and simmering magic. But Zehaira is not the land it used to be. The practice of magic has been outlawed, the Sultan’s alchemists are plotting a sinister scheme—and the answers Yara is searching for seem to be out of reach.

Yuna is hired on to escort Noa, Lord Fochrose's daughter--and biggest fan of the "Bloody Bear"—to the royal capital, with Fina in tow. Hordes of monsters and bands of roving thieves menace the girls on their journey, but what really gets Yuna's attention is when they discover two of her most beloved foodstuffs from Earth! What will the Bloody Bear do with these nostalgic culinary delights?

By the vow of her father and her own desire, Raederle was pledged to Morgon, Riddle-Master of Hed. But a year had passed since Morgon disappeared on his search for the High One at Erlenstar Mountain, and rumors claimed he was dead. Raederle set out to learn the truth for herself, though her small gift of magic seemed too slight for the perils she must face. The quest led through strange lands and dangerous adventures. Only her growing powers enabled her at last to reach Erlenstar Mountain.

When the arduous battle tempo catches up with American covert operative Chase Fulton and his team, a little R and R is exactly what the doctor ordered. But for operators like Team 21, there’s no such thing as downtime. Hundreds of innocent cruisers aboard a luxurious ocean liner could never imagine the horrors that lay ahead when a band of pirates seizes control of their floating chariot and the vacation of a lifetime turns into an unimaginable terror at sea. The mastermind behind the piracy must pay the price for his terrorism, but is he one of the untouchable elites?

For Kipling Summerfield, the glamour of Hollywood is becoming a distant memory. After losing the role of a lifetime, he’s forced to take a lesser job as a historical reenactor on England’s Guilford Island. But a sudden storm changes everything, casting him into the ocean—and into the care of a mysterious lighthouse keeper. Kip assumes everyone he meets and the island’s historical setting are just an elaborate performance—until he meets the captivating Amelia Archibald, whose quiet strength feels too real, making him question everything about Guilford.

Dermined to drive a trade route through Anauroch, the Zhentarim have sent an army to enslave the fierce nomads of the great desert. As tribe after tribe fall to the intruders, only a single woman, Rhua, sees the true danger - but what sheik will heed the advice of an outcast witch? Ruha finds help from an unexpected source. The Harpers, guardians of liberty throughout the Realms, have sent an agent to counter the Zhentarim. If she can help this stranger win the trust of the sheikhs, perhaps he can overcome the tribes’ ancestral rivalries and drive the invaders from the desert.

First published in the US in 1988 and in the UK in 1990, The Wine-Dark Sea contains eight unsettling stories that explore protagonists' fears and desires, at once illogical and terrifying, and culminate in a disturbing and enigmatic ending. Aickman's "strange stories" (his preferred term for them) are a subtle exploration of psychological displacement and paranoia; his characters ordinary people that are gradually drawn into the darker recesses of their own minds. For fans of the horror genre, Robert Aickman is a must read.