Most Popular Books by Marie Brennan

Bondsmaid. Berserker. Bane. Hervor is no stranger to hardship. Not only is she a reviled bondsmaid, but she’s haunted by the ghosts of dead men. When a berserker fit turns her into a murderer, she has nothing left to lose: fleeing everything she’s known, Hervor goes to find a new future and a way to silence the past. Her quest will take her from the viking seas to the depths of a witch’s forest, from frozen mountains to a king’s golden hall. But the road ahead is no less bloody than the one behind, and the foul magic Hervor fears most is the only thing that can lay her ghosts to rest. They say when you seek revenge, you should dig two graves, but Hervor might be able to get away with one. Because the voices of the dead are getting stronger . . . and her greatest enemy may be herself.

Worlds without end . . . From weathered ancient megaliths to the glory of a solar eclipse, from the tricks of propaganda to the world’s oldest profession, award-winning author Marie Brennan leads writers of science fiction and fantasy through far-flung corners of society and culture in the eighth volume of her NEW WORLDS series of worldbuilding guides. This volume collects essays from the eighth year of the New Worlds Patreon.

The thrilling adventure of Lady Trent continues in Marie Brennan''s Voyage of the Basilisk . . . Devoted readers of Lady Trent''s earlier memoirs, A Natural History of Dragons and The Tropic of Serpents, may believe themselves already acquainted with the particulars of her historic voyage aboard the Royal Survey Ship Basilisk, but the true story of that illuminating, harrowing, and scandalous journey has never been revealed—until now. Six years after her perilous exploits in Eriga, Isabella embarks on her most ambitious expedition yet: a two-year trip around the world to study all manner of dragons in every place they might be found. From feathered serpents sunning themselves in the ruins of a fallen civilization to the mighty sea serpents of the tropics, these creatures are a source of both endless fascination and frequent peril. Accompanying her is not only her young son, Jake, but a chivalrous foreign archaeologist whose interests converge with Isabella''s in ways both professional and personal. Science is, of course, the primary objective of the voyage, but Isabella''s life is rarely so simple. She must cope with storms, shipwrecks, intrigue, and warfare, even as she makes a discovery that offers a revolutionary new insight into the ancient history of dragons. The Lady Trent Memoirs 1. A Natural History of Dragons 2. The Tropic of Serpents 3. Voyage of the Basilisk 4. In the Labyrinth of Drakes 5. Within the Sanctuary of Wings At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Step beyond the ordinary . . . Beneath the surface of our reality lies a world of magic and danger -- a world where buildings have guardian spirits, shapeshifting coyotes prey on the hopeful and the desperate, and ancient traditions prepare for an apocalyptic future. These seven urban fantasy tales from award-winning author Marie Brennan paint the everyday with a layer of wonder, inviting you to imagine what could lie just around the corner. TABLE OF CONTENTS * “Coyotaje” * “Selection” * “Such as Dreams Are Made Of” * “La Molejera” * “Comparison of Efficacy Rates for Seven Antipathetics as Employed Against Lycanthropes” * “The Last Wendy” * “The Genius Prize” * Story notes

Return to the epic fantasy realm of Rokugan’s samurai and magic in the collected Legend of the Five Rings novellas, featuring an all-new story of the Lion Clan Deathseeker by Robert Denton III – a shamed Lion Clan warrior finds a chance for redemption when she discovers a foundling with magical ancestry, whose secrets could change everything. The Eternal Knot by Marie Brennan – a young monk with a mysterious tattoo must learn to embrace her destiny and become a superhuman hero of the Dragon Clan. Trail of Shadows by D G Laderoute – the quest for a lost relic leads a team of bold Crab Clan samurai into a dangerous expedition through the monster-haunted depths of Shinomen forest. Plus, the Legend of Five Rings Halloween tales – a collection of spooky Rokugan stories – never before collected in print.

How do you set up a beehive? When was the spinning wheel invented? What poisons cause nausea? Writers of all genres can have a dizzying array of research needs, from broad contextual information to highly specific facts. Thanks to her academic background, award-winning author Marie Brennan is unafraid to dive in on matters ranging from history to ecology to medicine, and has now collected her most reliable techniques into one simple guide. If you need to know something for your fiction but don’t know where to start, this ebook is for you!

Authors are often expected to read their work in public, but all too often, they’re thrown into the deep end with very little guidance. Whether you’re a novelist, a poet, or an academic reading a paper at a conference, this short guide from award-winning author Marie Brennan will provide advice for everything from choosing your reading, to managing your pacing and your intonation, to dealing with digital tools. Let’s get ready to read!

Seven tales of supernatural horror . . . A maiden in a tower. A grandmother in a cottage. A stranger at a ball. None of them are what they seem, in this collection of very brief stories from fantasy author Marie Brennan. The dark forest of fairy tales hides things more perilous than wolves and wicked stepmothers. Are you prepared for what you’ll find? TABLE OF CONTENTS * The Snow-White Heart * Footprints * Shadows’ Bride * Tower in Moonlight * The Wood, the Bridge, the House * Kiss of Life * Waiting for Beauty Total length: 40 pages, including Story Notes

Within the Sanctuary of Wings is the conclusion to Marie Brennan''s thrilling Lady Trent Memoirs After nearly five decades (and, indeed, the same number of volumes), one might think they were well-acquainted with the Lady Isabella Trent--dragon naturalist, scandalous explorer, and perhaps as infamous for her company and feats of daring as she is famous for her discoveries and additions to the scientific field. And yet--after her initial adventure in the mountains of Vystrana, and her exploits in the depths of war-torn Eriga, to the high seas aboard The Basilisk, and then to the inhospitable deserts of Akhia--the Lady Trent has captivated hearts along with fierce minds. This concluding volume will finally reveal the truths behind her most notorious adventure--scaling the tallest peak in the world, buried behind the territory of Scirland''s enemies--and what she discovered there, within the Sanctuary of Wings. The Lady Trent Memoirs 1. A Natural History of Dragons 2. The Tropic of Serpents 3. Voyage of the Basilisk 4. In the Labyrinth of Drakes 5. Within the Sanctuary of Wings At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Marie Brennan begins a thrilling new fantasy series in A Natural History of Dragons, combining adventure with the inquisitive spirit of the Victorian Age. You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon''s presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one''s life—is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . . All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world''s preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day. Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever. "Saturated with the joy and urgency of discovery and scientific curiosity." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on A Natural History of Dragons An NPR Best Book of 2013 The Lady Trent Memoirs 1. A Natural History of Dragons 2. The Tropic of Serpents 3. Voyage of the Basilisk 4. In the Labyrinth of Drakes 5. Within the Sanctuary of Wings At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Names and terms in a fictional setting should ideally be more than just random sounds thrown together. Award-winning fantasy author Marie Brennan leverages her anthropological background and her experience with seven different languages to guide you through the social side of naming: how it can reflect everything from gender to geographical origin, implying a whole three-dimensional world behind the words on the page.

Sing a tale in a different key . . . “Tam Lin.” “Tom O’Bedlam.” “The Cruel Sister.” Ballads both well known and obscure lie behind this collection of folklore-based short stories from award-winning author Marie Brennan. Whether set in historical Scotland or a modern nightclub, an academy for mages or a psychiatric hospital, these tales strike chords with the past and the present, resonating long after the final page is turned.

In the Labyrinth of Drakes, the thrilling new book in the acclaimed fantasy series from Marie Brennan, the glamorous Lady Trent takes her adventurous explorations to the deserts of Akhia. Even those who take no interest in the field of dragon naturalism have heard of Lady Trent''s expedition to the inhospitable deserts of Akhia. Her discoveries there are the stuff of romantic legend, catapulting her from scholarly obscurity to worldwide fame. The details of her personal life during that time are hardly less private, having provided fodder for gossips in several countries. As is so often the case in the career of this illustrious woman, the public story is far from complete. In this, the fourth volume of her memoirs, Lady Trent relates how she acquired her position with the Royal Scirling Army; how foreign saboteurs imperiled both her work and her well-being; and how her determined pursuit of knowledge took her into the deepest reaches of the Labyrinth of Drakes, where the chance action of a dragon set the stage for her greatest achievement yet. The Lady Trent Memoirs 1. A Natural History of Dragons 2. The Tropic of Serpents 3. Voyage of the Basilisk 4. In the Labyrinth of Drakes 5. Within the Sanctuary of Wings At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Seek out extraordinary lands . . . Strange guardians overseeing fate-bound duels. A priceless stone on a journey toward a bloody destiny. A thief determined to steal a worthless treasure. In her second collection of worlds-spanning fantasy, Marie Brennan takes you back to the world of her famed heroine Lady Trent, through the land of her Hugo Award-winning poem “A War of Words,” and onward to seven other fantastical realms, filled with pirates, demigods, and murderous creatures of winter’s cold night. TABLE OF CONTENTS * “The Şiret Mask” * “At the Sign of the Crow and Quill” * “Dead Man''s Map” * “On the Impurity of Dragon-kind” * “The City of the Tree” * “Silver Necklace, Golden Ring” * “Chrysalis” * “Never to Behold Again” * “A War of Words” * Story notes

Travel into fantasy . . . When it comes to worldbuilding, anything can provide fodder for storytelling, whether that’s regencies, rhetoric, rebellions, or relics. In this ninth volume, the NEW WORLDS series by award-winning author Marie Brennan ventures into fresh terrain, turning its attention to everything from color symbolism to eunuchs, from the magical connotations of puppets to the adventure potential of a traveling judge. This volume collects essays from the ninth year of the New Worlds Patreon.

Three years after her fateful journeys through Vystrana, the widowed Mrs Camherst defies convention to embark on an expedition to the savage, war-torn continent of Eriga, home of the legendary swamp-wyrms of the tropics. Accompanied by an old associate and a runaway heiress, Isabella must brave heat, fevers and palace intrigues to satisfy her boundless fascination with all things draconian

This is the 11th episode in the first season of Born to the Blade, an 11-episode serial from Serial Box. This episode written by Michael R. Underwood. For centuries the Warders'' Circle on the neutral islands of Twaa-Fei has given the countries of the sky a way to avoid war, settling their disputes through formal, magical duels. But the Circle''s ability to maintain peace is fading: the Mertikan Empire is preparing for conquest and the trade nation of Quloo is sinking, stripped of the aerstone that keeps both ships and island a-sky. When upstart Kris Denn tries to win their island a seat in the Warder’s Circle and colonial subject Oda no Michiko discovers that her conquered nation''s past is not what she''s been told, they upset the balance of power. The storm they bring will bind all the peoples of the sky together...or tear them apart.

Once she had nothing: no name, no memory, no purpose beyond the one her master bound her to fulfill. Now the wandering archon known as Ree must walk an unseen path -- one that will lead her toward the untold story of her origins. But the road to the truth is paved with blood . . .

A Tor.com original, From the Editorial Page of the Falchester Weekly Review shares the thoughts of the renowned dragon naturalist Lady Trent--whose memoirs continue to be chronciled in Marie Brennan''s acclaimed Victorian Age science fantasy series--about the scientific community. After risking the neck of her loved ones and herself during her perilous sea voyage aboard The Basilisk, and the discoveries made at Keonga, Isabella, Lady Trent, returns to Scirland with the aim of publishing her research. And yet, given the level of secret knowledge she now posseses, she is reduced to waiting to reveal her new academic discovery until royal decrees can be lifted and a fraught political situation avoided. In her idle frustration, Isabella vents her spleen upon the shoddy research published by lesser men with swollen heads in local journals. Enjoy the following collection of letters, found in a trunk of mislaid scholarly documents left behind when she removed to Linshire for the season. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Two women. One soul.Mirage wasn''t supposed to exist. Born from the ritual that gives the witches of Starfall their power, she should have been destroyed. Instead she survived, and grew up to become one of the most lethal Hunters the land has ever seen.Miryo wasn''t supposed to fail. But when her initiation at Starfall goes awry, she realizes her double is still alive. Now she must hunt down Mirage and put an end to something that should never have begun.But how can a witch kill the perfect warrior, when her own magic is trying to kill her?