New Releases by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

The dragons are revolting and the magic is gone. Being queen is complicated.

Book Three of the Songs from the Seashell Archives Sleeping Beauty had it easy. Her curse only made her take a nap when she turned 16. As if it wasn''t bad enough already that because of her frost giant heritage from her father the king''s side of the family she was 6 feet tall when she was only 12 years old, poor Princess Bronwyn (the Bold) of Argonia was cursed at birth to tell nothing but lies. With her father away at war and her mother heavily pregnant, Bronwyn is even more in the way than usual, so she gets packed off to Wormroost, her aunt''s place in the glaciers, and en route she meets her musician/magician cousin Carole, a not-so-brave gypsy lad, and a princess-turned-swan. The lot of them encounter monsters, sorcerers, sea serpents, mercenary mages and sirens-many of whom are related to them. Without quite intending to, they embark on a quest to end the war, heal a battle-ravaged land, end a ban on magic and lift Bronwyn''s Bane. L. Sprague de Camp said, "I found BRONWYN''S BANE delightful reading. I wish I had her fertility of imagination in thinking up amusing twists, turns and business of plot."

Progress has transformed Queenston, capital city of Argonia. Once the land of witches, wizards, fairies, and other magical people and animals, since the Great War, the country has changed. Queenston, particularly, is now the city of contraptions and conveyances, including a modern international railroad. In the Great War Argonia''s dragons allied with the armies to push back an invasion. For their assistance, the beasts shared what food remained as the country rebuilt itself. But with the war won, the allies came to "recover" the war-torn country, bringing with them new ideas and inventions, most of which only needed a supply of iron and a reliable source of heat for their boilers. The dragons were again recruited, tamed, altered and virtually enslaved to power Progress. Verity Brown is a modern girl. The magic of her witchy foremothers has become, if not actually illegal, highly unfashionable. The only magic that matters to Verity is her own curse, forcing her to know and tell the truth regardless of convenience. On Verity''s 16th birthday, a hot-air balloon crash kills her father. The balloon''s dragon and wrangler rescue Verity, but are blamed and sentenced to be put to death. Her honorable quest to save them and find her father''s murderer takes her straight into the den of the wild and ferocious Dragon Vitia.

Scarborough Fair and Other Stories includes ten works by the author of the Nebula Award–winning The Healer’s War and many other novels. In “Final Vows,” Mu Mao the Magnificent, the feline bodhisattva from Scarborough’s novel Last Refuge, helps guide a reincarnated cat in solving the mystery of his own betrayal and murder. “Whirlwinds” takes place on the Diné Trail of Tears, when the US military force-marched ninety-five hundred Navajo people from their ancient, sacred homeland to the barren Bosque Redondo area surrounding New Mexico’s Fort Sumner. A coveted princess packs on pounds when a disgruntled suitor casts an evil spell on her in “Worse Than the Curse.” How is a plump princess to cope? And “Long Time Coming Home,” cowritten with Scarborough’s fellow Vietnam veteran Rick Reaser, is a story of the battles and ghosts many vets face after returning from the war. These and other stories capably demonstrate Scarborough’s breadth of skill.

Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s Godmother puts a new twist in contemporary fantasy with the assertion that fairy godmothers exist here and now, and they have magical power that allows them to intervene in real-world problems. What if someone wished for a fairy godmother would help the entire city of Seattle? An overworked, overstressed social worker named Rose Samson does just that when she makes an idle wish on a mustard seed. Felicity Fortune of Godmothers Anonymous shows up to help. Rose Samson is neither fashion model beautiful nor a twit, and she happily joins forces with Felicity Fortune, a “Godmother” who demonstrates that Grimm’s fairy tales are still relevant in our humdrum modern world. Fairy godmothers are on a magical budget, so every possible way they can get human beings or animals to assist one another, they will try, rather than using up their magical means. Felicity encounters many strangely familiar situations: a pretty stablehand named Cindy Ellis is mistreated by her cruel stepsisters. A rock star’s daughter, scared of the supermodel she married, runs away from home and encounters seven Vietnam veterans at an encounter session and retreat. One of them might be a big bad wolf, who knows? In all their encounters, Rose and Felicity try to blend their magical aid with realistic human initiative and social responsibility. Scarborough’s fully realized settings and the humor built into the mix of magical solutions and grim reality make this work an entertaining and compelling read.

Available for the first time as an ebook pairing, these two short stories by author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough serve as an mystical introduction to her work. In MUMMIES OF THE MOTORWAY, a woman and her niece and nephew travel to an English resort where something ancient and bandaged awaits in the mist. SCARBOROUGH FAIR finds the author helping a woman reconnect with her past at the story’s namesake fair along the English seaside.

A portentous song sparks an unlikely adventure in this lighthearted contemporary fantasy by the Nebula Award–winning author of The Healer’s War. Colin Songsmith sings a song to an old witch who takes an unlikely revenge. The witch’s granddaughter rescues him from the dire threat of being eaten alive by the cat. She hears the song, which happens to concern her recently married sister and a gypsy. Convinced that she has to save her sister, she takes the minstrel, the cat, and her magical resources to Rowan Castle. The story is rich with descriptive details of setting and encounters with magical and fantastic creatures such as a talking cat, a lovesick dragon, and a bear prince. The characters speak in contemporary slang, which plays nicely against the traditional fantastic settings.

What you see (at first) is not what you get in this collection of nine previously published tales of shape shifting and transformation. An Alaskan student of wildlife biology finds it difficult to write convincingly about what she knows. A proud and beautiful princess loses her popularity when cursed (in a way probably familiar to many readers) by a wicked enchanter. A lonely Cajun fiddler has a close encounter with his royal but scaly ancestor. In the secret story of the railroad that transformed the American West, Chinese and Irish workers compete to complete the job with a little help from supernatural friends. A lowly jeweler creates a wondrous bauble for the sultan''s favorite, but his reward, an exalted royal elephant, eats him out of house and home until he unlocks her secret. An Irish nurse discovers the identity of the lone fiddler who plays at the bedside of a critically ill patient. A middle-aged woman, suddenly invisible, improves her love and social life during Mardi Gras. And a predatory bill collector meets his match in a story so dark that the author even changed her name. In these shifty stories, you''ll be wondering who happens next!

Nadie le dijo a la teniente Kitty McCulley que eso era lo que tenía que hacer una enfermera. Nadie le dijo que a Vietnam no iba a curar pacientes, sino a contemplar, impotente, su dolor. Que no estaba allí para aliviar el sufrimiento ajeno, sino para convertirse en objeto del desprecio de sus congéneres, y de su lujuria. Que no salvaría las vidas de las víctimas, sino que los propios médicos la abofetearían con su indiferencia. Nadie se lo dijo. Aunque no habría cambiado nada. Cuando uno de sus pacientes, un hombre santo venerado por los vietnamitas, le entrega a Kitty un amuleto con unos supuestos poderes inexplicables, su mundo cambia para siempre.

Spam the cat thought he''d seen a lot of the world in his nine months of life. After all, he was the foremost vampire hunter of Port Deception, WA. (SPAM VS THE VAMPIRE)! This was his first Christmas, however, and from what he''d heard on TV, on Christmas all was supposed to be calm, all was supposed to be bright. The deer and Renfrew the raccoon had other ideas however. In an attempt to keep Renfrew, aka "The UPS Bandit" from ruining a lot of Christmases, Spam begins a task that leads to his being the sole protection of a new mother and child, and a less-than-warm-and-fuzzy reunion with his feral father. Altogether, his first Christmas eve is a less than Silent Night. The proceeds of this book from whatever source will be donated to the Humane Society of Jefferson County for the benefit of the animal shelter.

The spacefaring Barque Cats are valued members of every vessel’s crew, thanks to their special bond with humans. Then Pshaw-Ra, a mysterious cat with highly advanced knowledge, gives the felines the power of telepathy. When panic over a virulent plague drives the government to exterminate animals, Pshaw-Ra guides the cats and humans of the starship Ranzo to safety on his home planet, Mau. But Pshaw-Ra has a hidden agenda. His ultimate goal? Mate the Barque Cats with their godlike counterparts who rule on Mau and create a superior race to conquer the universe. His plans, however, may be doomed by his daughters’ battle royal to become queen, by a suspicious Barque Cat with an equally curious human friend—and by something stirring deep beneath the city with a hunger to devour all life . . . and an undying hatred for cats.

Although she has made peace with her Linyaari heritage, Acorna knows that only by returning to the frozen stillness of space will she ever feel truly at home.

A former military nurse in Vietnam, Scarborough here presents a mostly realistic novel of Army nurse Kathleen McCulley''s coming of age. Her tour of duty at China Beach puts the young woman from Kansas through the usual mixture of empathy for the Vietnamese and anger at the indifference or outright racism of army personnel. The unanticipated twist is a hallucinatory journey through the jungle with a one-legged Vietnamese boy, a battle-seasoned but crazy soldier and a magic amulet given her by a dying holy man.

Pilot, navigator, engineer, doctor, scientist—ship''s cat? All are essential to the well-staffed space vessel. Since the early days of interstellar travel, when Tuxedo Thomas, a Maine coon cat, showed what a cat could do for a ship and its crew, the so-called Barque Cats have become highly prized crew members. Thomas''s carefully bred progeny, ably assisted by humans—Cat Persons—with whom they share a deep and loving bond, now travel the galaxy, responsible for keeping spacecraft free of vermin, for alerting human crews to potential environmental hazards, and for acting as morale officers. Even among Barque Cats, Chessie is something special. Her pedigree, skills, and intelligence, as well as the close rapport she has with her human, Janina, make her the most valuable crew member aboard the Molly Daise. And the litter of kittens in her belly only adds to her value. Then the unthinkable happens. Chessie is kidnapped—er, catnapped—from Dr. Jared Vlast''s vet clinic at Hood Station by a grizzled spacer named Carl Poindexter. But Chessie''s newborn kittens turn out to be even more extraordinary than their mother. For while Chessie''s connection to Janina is close and intuitive, the bond that the kitten Chester forms with Carl''s son, Jubal, is downright telepathic. And when Chester is sent into space to learn his trade, neither he nor Jubal will rest until they''re reunited. But the announcement of a widespread epidemic affecting livestock on numerous planets throws their future into doubt. Suddenly the galactic government announces a plan to impound and possibly destroy all exposed animals. Not even the Barque Cats will be spared. With the clock racing against them, Janina, Jubal, Dr. Vlast, and a handful of very special kittens will join forces with the mysterious Pshaw-Ra—an alien-looking cat with a hidden agenda—to save the Barque Cats, other animals, and quite possibly the universe as they know it from total destruction. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough''s Catacombs.

From the Nebula Award winning author comes this modern Christmas classic. The chief executive of a Seattle-based high-tech company, Monica Banks is a workaholic who has closed herself off to any kind of home life, family, or love. Then one snowy Christmas Eve, she discovers a ghost in her office computer. The ghost is none other than Ebenezer Scrooge. Awakened by a bright and lonely eight-year-old girl named Tina using the password “Humbug,” Scrooge is ready and willing to take his turn as a Christmas spirit. But he finds that the world has changed a lot since his day, and though he knows that the spirit of love, generosity, and forgiveness is eternal, it will take more than a little tech support for him to convince Monica before the morning light. “Reading Scarborough is a joy.”—Anne McCaffrey “[A] modern Christmas Carol…a beautiful story.”—Midwest Book Review

When two award-winning science-fiction masters like Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough collaborate, the results are astonishing. Their master creation is Petaybee, a sentient planet able to guide its own evolution and, with some help from its loyal inhabitants, defend itself against predation by offworlders. Now, at last, McCaffrey and Scarborough return to Petaybee for the thrilling conclusion of the Twins of Petaybee trilogy, the sixth novel of the amazing self-aware world. DELUGE InterGal Corporation has long desired to exploit the resource-rich Petaybee. But the planet and its guardians, led by Yana Maddock and Sean Shongili, along with their twin children, Ronan and Murel, have successfully thwarted every attempt by the Corporation to impose its iron-fisted dominion. Until now. In a bold two-pronged assault, the predacious Corporation has arrested Petaybee’s leading off-world champion, Marmion de Revers Algemeine, on trumped-up charges, while InterGal’s military arm has dispatched an invading force to subdue the planet once and for all. Marmion has allies within the Corporation who can halt the invasion. but if they cannot be found quickly, it will be too late for Marmion . . . and Petaybee. While their parents work to foil the invasion of their world, Ronan and Murel are captured and sent to a desolate prison world where an old enemy, Dr. Mabo, waits to continue her cruel experiments on the shape-changing siblings. The twins’ only hope of escape lies in the uncharted seas of the prison planet. But in the murky depths, something else is waiting. . . .

In Changelings, bestselling authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough returned to the sentient planet Petaybee with a story of growth and transformation in the face of deadly new threats. The telepathic, shapeshifting twins Murel and Ronan found that Petaybee had plans for them as well. Now those plans begin to bear fruit with fresh possibilities . . . and dangers. Now that Petaybee is forming a new equatorial island, the planet has agreed to harbor a group of new refugees, workers indentured to the powerful InterGal Corporation. But the mission to collect the immigrants becomes a rescue operation when it is revealed that InterGal is doing nothing to help these survivors of a world devastated by a meteor shower. Murel and Ronan set out to persuade the frightened refugees to come out of hiding, leave their world, and bring along their sacred totem animals, the gifted sea turtles called the Honus. But the twins discover that they’ve taken on more than they expected: The Honus are not the only animals sacred to the refugees. There are also the Manos, intelligent sharks who have lost none of their predatory habits–and who cannot be left behind to die. When the Manos are released into Petaybee’s waters, a tragic misunderstanding endangers the whole resettlement operation. At the same time, the mysterious sea otters who once rescued the twins’ father are suddenly revealed to be much more than they appear to be. Now it is up to Ronan and Murel, with the intrepid assistance of their river otter friend Sky, to smooth the waters before a maelstrom of revenge destroys Petaybee’s harmonious way of life. But even as the twins uncover startling new facts about Petaybee’s past that will change everything they thought they knew about the planet, the forces of InterGal are gathering, preparing to strike. . . .

Khorii, the rebellious daughter of the near-mythic Acorna and her lifemate, Aari, has followed in Acorna''s footsteps leading their people from danger, but the pressure to succeed and fulfill a legacy is tremendous. For the deadly foe that has ravaged the known worlds and weakened even her famous parents has launched its final assault, and only Khorii and her newly discovered sister, Ariin, are able to stop the brutal attack. But success is elusive, and fragile, and even time itself may not be enough to help their desperate quest to save their family...much less the universe.

“[A] solid start of a new series . . . fast-paced adventure.”—Publishers Weekly Twin brother and sister Ronan and Murel are true children of Petaybee, the sentient planet that is their home. Like their father, they are changelings, able to converse telepathically with creatures and to transform into seals. The Petaybeans wish to protect the twins from curious scientists, but no one realizes that Ronan and Murel hunger to discover the origins of their shape-shifting talent—and that their search for knowledge will place them in the path of peril. Meanwhile, Petaybee is changing. To investigate its sudden evolution, the twins’ father heads out to the open water in his seal form—and is presumed lost. Only Ronan and Murel, with their remarkable talents of transformation, can hope to find him and bring him home . . . if they dare to risk exposure and face the dangers of the newly unstable sea. “The story is exciting and generously laced with humor, but besides those qualities, the characters . . . and their interactions are so well realized as to utterly charm readers.”—Booklist

Acorna a retrouvé son monde et sa race, mais regrette ses amis humains qui l''avaient recueillie et accompagnée dans d''incroyables aventures. Qui, à son âge, peut se vanter d''avoir sauvé une planète et repoussé une invasion galactique ? Menacée par les insectoïdes Khleevi, elle embarque alors à bord d''un vaisseau bricolé par un ferrailleur des étoiles. Le capitaine Becker est mal embouché et doté d''un humour dévastateur. Son chat Road Kill, ex-chat sacré d''une religion lointaine, règne sur ce groupe d''humanoïdes squattant son vaisseau. Ken l''androïde, ex-garde du corps d''une folle, a des muscles synthétiques très utiles et se débranche régulièrement pour économiser ses batteries. Il y a aussi Aarl, le seul compatriote d''Acorna ressorti vivant des mandibules des Khleevi : sa corne a été arrachée, ses pouvoirs télépathiques réduits à néant. Acorna le trouve charmant et veut l''aider à retrouver ses parents perdus dans l''espace. Répondant à un appel de détresse, Acorna et ses amis découvrent une planète où les plantes sont douées de conscience et où des signes inquiétants confirment leurs craintes. Leur galaxie est de nouveau en danger...

The Unicorn Girl undertakes her most serious mission yet--a journey that will lead her to discover an evil conspiracy that reaches far into space and time and an ancient secret that could lead her to her missing beloved lifemate.

The spellbinding sequel to “Powers That Be,” by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning authors Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. The natives of Petaybee claimed their planet was sentient, but the officials of Intergal did not believe them . . . or want to believe them. The planet was rich in valuable ore, and Intergal was determined to mine that ore no matter what the cost. Yanaba Maddock, once a company spy, was adopted by the planet and its people as one of their own. Now her loyalties are to Petaybee, not Intergal, and she is dedicated to keeping Intergal from killing the world she has come to love. But without proof of the planet''s sentience, Intergal will proceed with its mining operations. Can Yana find a way to convince Intergal of Petaybee''s sentience before it is too late?

From the Hugo and Nebula award-winning authors comes the Petaybee series, full of gripping fantasy and daring adventure. Strange things are happening on the icy planet of Petaybee: Unauthorized genetically engineered species have been spotted; geologic survey teams sent to locate newly detected mineral deposits are either coming up empty or disappearing altogether. And the locals aren’t talking—especially not to the company bent on exploiting the planet. Disabled combat veteran Yanaba Maddock seems to be the perfect spy for the company. The frailty that was a liability in the military allows her to gain the trust of the Petaybean natives. But miraculously, with Yana’s relocation to the arctic planet comes the return of her health and strength. And the closer she gets to the people of Petaybee, the more determined she is to protect her new home. For something unusual and wonderful is happening on Petaybee. Something worth fighting for, even dying for—but especially, something worth living for. . . .

“Riveting . . . exciting . . . The writing and characterization, as well as the infusions of Celtic u00adand Inuit lore, remain of high quality.”—Booklist Petaybee is growing up. Day by day, the feeling planet—like any child—is learning to recognize and understand the meaning of outside stimuli, to respond to those stimuli, to communicate its own needs and desires . . . even to use human speech. Yanaba Maddock has appointed herself defender of her adopted planet, and has even succeeded in proving its sentience to nonbelievers. But despite her efforts, few outsiders truly care for the emotions and intelligence of what they perceive to be a giant hunk of rock. Then Yanaba is kidnapped. The price of her freedom: control of the planet itself. But the only one who can speak for Petaybee is Petaybee—and no one knows what a living planet can do once it finds its voice. . . . “Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough collaborate seamlessly to tell a first-rate sf adventure.”—Library Journal, on Power Lines

Forensic anthropologist Leda Hubbard searches for Cleopatra''s grave in order to gain access to the powerful queen''s genetic material, which could provide a source for a bioengineered potion for women who want to share the secrets of the ancient ruler.

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The award-winning author of the acclaimed "Godmother" novels introduces a new Godmother--a Native American woman, known simply as "Grandma", who will weave a web of unforgettable magic and change the life of one young woman forever.

Intergal ne cherchera plus, c''est promis, à extraire le minerai de la planète Effem. Du coup, la société évacue tout son matériel : les indigènes redeviennent libres et pauvres. Enfin, c''est ce qu''ils peuvent espérer de mieux - car Matthew Luzon et Torkel Fiske n''ont pas désarmé. Le premier monte un service touristique propre à inonder Effem d''étrangers, chasseurs, mystiques ou représentants en pharmacie attirés par les remèdes miracles de ce monde. L''indépendance est là, mais le pillage continue. D''ailleurs, l''indépendance va-t-elle durer longtemps ? Fiske s''entend avec un pirate de l''espace pour menacer Yana et Marmion, deux femmes d''origine terrienne qui ont beaucoup milité pour la liberté de ce monde. Mais suffit-il de menacer ? Encore faut-il s''assurer que les armes ne peuvent pas être retournées contre ceux qui ont été les premiers à les brandir. Les armes n''appartiennent à personne ; la planète, au contraire, est fidèle à ceux qui l''aiment.