Urban Trees

Where the Marble Arch stands today in London was once the Tyburn gallows - also known as The Hanging Tree. The walk toward those gallows along Oxford Street and past the Mayfair mansions has a bloody and haunted history as the last trip of the condemned. Some things never change. For both blood and ghosts have returned to those mansions of the super-rich. And it's up to Peter Grant - England's last wizard and the Metropolitan Police's reluctant investigator of all things supernatural - to get to the bottom of the sinister doings.

Two-time Aurora Award-winning author Guy Gavriel Kay has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award three times. In the first book of his Fionavar Tapestry series, five college students meet a wizard who takes them to the heart of the first of all worlds - a place called Fionavar. The students soon discover that they have been pre-ordained as part of the pattern called the Fionavar Tapestry - and if they don't fulfill their destinies, the world will suffer devastating consequences.

Sarah Crowe left Atlanta, and the remnants of a tumultuous relationship, to live alone in an old house in rural Rhode Island. Within its walls she discovers an unfinished manuscript written by the house's former tenant - a parapsychologist obsessed with the ancient oak growing on a desolate corner of the property. And as the gnarled tree takes root in her imagination, Sarah risks her health and her sanity to unearth a revelation planted centuries ago.

The fate of ancient knowledge and power is in peril. For centuries, witches have held this age-old knowledge, passing it from one generation to the next, and ensuring the balance of the world. But when King Saul of Israel condemns magic as malevolent and mercilessly slaughters most of the witches, the Witch of Endor faces a grim reality; there is no one left to inherit the sacred wisdom. With her own death foretold and approaching, she has no choice but to perform a ritual to shift the knowledge to a chosen tree.

Suspicious deaths are not usually the concern of Police Constable Peter Grant or the Folly—London's police department for supernatural cases—even when they happen at an exclusive party in one of the flats of the most expensive apartment blocks in London. But the daughter of Lady Ty, influential goddess of the Tyburn river, was there, and Peter owes Lady Ty a favor.

As nature's largest and longest-lived creations, trees play an extraordinarily important role in our cities; they are living landmarks that define space, cool the air, soothe our psyches, and connect us to nature and our past. Jill Jonnes's Urban Forests tells the captivating stories of the founding mothers and fathers of urban forestry, in addition to those arboreal advocates presently using the latest technologies to illuminate the value of trees to public health and to our urban infrastructure.

When he was almost killed by a falling AC unit at his MMA gym, Luke thought he must have had a guardian angel looking over him. Little did he know, he had actually been appointed three guardian angels. He also couldn't have known that one of them had been captured by an evil cult, and an ice demon sent after him. Forced by circumstances to accept that reality isn’t quite as he thought, Luke embarks on a journey that takes him to places where heaven and hell have mutated, and the beings he encounters aren’t always as they seem.

A scavenger hunt for the relic my mom hid decades ago should’ve been simple enough. I expected to spend a few weeks chasing clues in my old stomping grounds, followed by a fat payday and an overdue vacation. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one after that artifact. Between the witch trying to get her hands on it and the vampires determined to use it to open the veil, the stakes have never been higher. Since I can no longer trust the Enclave’s intentions, I’m ready to cut out the middleman.

Bea is a lowly cabbage fairy, but she dreams of being an official Fairy Godmother. So when she is finally given a chance to prove her worth, Bea is determined to make a success of it. Besides, how hard can a Happy Ever After story be? Every girl wants to be rescued by a handsome man, don’t they? Apparently not. Bea's heroine doesn't want to be in her story, and her hero is much more interested in the ugly sister. The same ugly sister who is trying to overthrow the Kingdom.

Visit a future San Francisco in which Golden Gate Park and the Presidio are thriving farms, luxury hotels are the palaces of neighborhood kings and book shops are treasuries of wisdom. This is the world of Taco Del, Merlin to His Majesty, King of Embarcadero. In this world, the young wizard must unravel a great mystery to save his besieged kingdom. King Elvis wants to steal its secrets, mysterious outsiders want to expel its citizens, an ancient and sinister Force threatens spiritual domination.

Sophie Briggs has made it to her junior year at the School of Roots and Vines, but it isn't all fun and games for the Defenders. Change is coming. Some good and some . . . not so much. Friends are breaking up—will Sophie have to take sides? Sophie and Marcus are struggling, too. Marcus is pushing Sophie and the rest of the gang away, worried that being a Templeton will put them all at risk. He thinks he needs to do this by himself. Does he have to go it alone?

I’m a shifter with a checkered past and sticky fingers. I like my new life. I’ve got good friends, cheap barbecue, and weekly karaoke. Sure, I live in an apartment with more deadbolts than functioning windows. And yeah, I earn just enough tips as a mediocre bartender to buy name brand ramen noodles. But I can be as flamboyant and fun as I want—as long as I keep my hands clean. When a mysterious stranger strolls into my bar with tales of a magical dagger so rare it’s guaranteed to start a bidding war, that itch is back. One last heist… for old times’ sake. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

Home is calling, and I've ghosted long enough. It's time to visit my mother—she's the last option for getting answers to my questions. The problem is, my gut still doesn't trust her. How can a girl learn to be a mother from someone who's never really been one? The jaguar twins are still growing in power, but the twins in my belly are, too. I don't have the time or energy to split between these pairs, forcing me to place my trust in people I barely know. It's time to see how deep this love between the Qilin and the dragons really goes. I'm Carlyle Licorne, and I'm having mommy issues.

My happily ever after is here, and I’m going to make the most of it. I have my men, my new families, and my people all coming together to make sure things are safe for what’s coming next—our twins. It’s time to turn inward and create our new family, instead of worrying about the world outside. We’re not sure what our twins will mean to some, but I’m not worried. On top of all the help I have, I’ve learned the most important lesson—to trust myself. I’m Carlyle Licorne, and I finally feel like an everyday goddess.

Billionaire Saul Abercrombie owns a vast tract of land on the Pembrokeshire coast. By restoring the original forest that covered the area before medieval times, he believes he will rekindle the spirits of ancient folklore. But the re-planting of the forest will revive an altogether darker and more dangerous entity - and young arboreal expert Tom Curtis will find himself engaging in an epic, ancient battle between good and evil. A battle in which there can be only one survivor.

The secret to their past lies in a tale written by the author as a 10-year-old girl. Fan fiction, 80s nostalgia, and the imagination of a child combine to form a story that’s equal parts baffling and brilliant – and dangerous for anyone living through it firsthand. But as the world evolves and the story matures, author and villain grow closer to solving the mystery of how their lives have always been connected. The lines between fantasy and reality, past and future, villain and heroine, blur in a spectacular journey through a fantasy world.

Stealing magical artifacts was supposed to be my golden ticket, not a death sentence. Securing a dangerous book of spells should’ve earned me some time off and a fat bonus. I’d hoped to spend my days breaking in the new climbing wall at G.O.A.T. headquarters, hanging out with a hot alpha werewolf, and planning my next karaoke set. Instead, the Enclave hands me a ten-day ultimatum and a job hunting a cursed artifact that got their last two thieves killed. When the search turns up clues about my parents, I’ll do whatever it takes to discover who I am—even if it takes blood magic to do it.

When 14-year-old Gayle gets in trouble with a boy - again - her mother doesn’t give her a choice: Gayle is getting sent away from New York to her family down South, along with her baby, José. In a small town in Georgia, there is nowhere to go but church, nothing to do but chores, and no friends except her goody-goody, big-boned, kneesock-wearing cousin, Cookie. Gayle is stuck cleaning up after Great, the old family matriarch who stays upstairs in her bed.

Nat Drozdova has crossed half the continent in search of the stolen Dead God’s Heart, the only thing powerful enough to trade for her beautiful, voracious, dying mother’s life. Yet now she knows the secret of her own birth—and that she’s been lied to all her young life. The road to the Heart ends at the Salt-Black Tree, but to find it Nat must pay a deadly price. Pursued by mouthless shadows hungry for the blood of new divinity as well as the razor-wielding god of thieves, Nat is on her own.

Turns out, the only difference between a felony and acquisitions is who’s bankrolling my heist. I’m about to go from scrounging up enough tip money to make rent to pulling six figures. I’ll finally put those years stealing for my old alpha to good use. Only this time, I’ll be the one calling the shots. My crew. My way. When a witch starts dabbling in forbidden magic, the Enclave sends me after the demon artifact fueling her power. The job should be simple, except they can’t point me to the culprit or tell me what I’m after.