Most Popular Books by Sarah Zettel

Callie LeRoux has put her grimy, harrowing trip from the depths of the Dust Bowl behind her. Her life is a different kind of exciting now: she works at a major motion picture studio among powerful studio executives and stylish stars. Still nothing can distract her from her true goal. With help from her friend Jack and guidance from the great singer Paul Robeson, she will find her missing mother. But as a child of prophecy and daughter of the legitimate heir to the Seelie throne, Callie poses a huge threat to the warring fae factions who''ve attached themselves to the most powerful people in Hollywood . . . and they

Four galaxy-spanning novels by an award-winning author with a "gift for creating fully realized cultures" ( Booklist). In Fool''s War, Katmer Al Shei has done well with the starship Pasadena, cutting corners where necessary to keep her crew paid and her journeys profitable. But there are two things she will never skimp on: her crew—and her fool. For a long space journey, a certified Fool''s Guild clown is essential, to amuse, excite, and otherwise distract the crew from the drudgeries of interstellar flight. Her newest fool, Evelyn Dobbs, is a talented jester. But does she have enough wit to save mankind? In Playing God, the planet of the Dedelphi has been riven by war for two centuries. Though delicate, swanlike creatures, the planet''s natives are fierce in battle, and their ceaseless conflict has reduced their world to a wasteland. To save themselves and their world, the Dedelphi have forged a fragile peace and called for outside intervention. The Earth corporation Bioverse constructs a plan to heal the shattered planet. It''s the most ambitious engineering project the universe has ever seen, and if it backfires, the result will almost certainly be genocide. In The Quiet Invasion, Dr. Helen Failia is nearing middle age at eighty-three, but has lost none of her fighting spirit. The founder of Earth''s first fully functioning colony on Venus, she will do anything to ensure that the home she''s built and nurtured not only survives, but thrives. Despite her constant work, funding for the colony is running out, and she''s dreading telling the ten thousand colonists they must move to Earth, a world some of them have never even seen. When one of her probes returns with the unprecedented proof of an ancient alien artifact on the surface of Venus she cannot believe her luck. This is the first evidence that humanity is not alone, and the discovery will surely secure the research colony''s future. In Reclamation, Eric Born knows his way around the universe. He''s a quick-thinking merchant blessed with natural telekinetic skill. He''s also that rarest of creatures, a human being. Humans have been scattered across the universe, powerless and oppressed, dispersed so widely that no one knows what planet they first came from. Eric survives by selling his talents to the mysterious galactic tyrants known as the Rhudolant Vitae, but has never forgotten he belongs to the human race, and the distant world, the Realm of the Nameless Powers. The Realm may be a backwater, but Eric will do anything to protect his home from the merciless and powerful Vitae.

From the wilds of Moreland to the court of Camelot, a woman searches for her true powers... Fleeing from the knowledge that her father had promised her to an evil sorcerer, Risa of the Morelands refused to be a sacrifice. Armed with her bow and her confidence, she swore to evade the wicked Euberacon''s claim. And when she stumbled upon Sir Gawain, returning to Camelot to warn of a plot against the kingdom, she thought she''d discovered the perfect place to hide. Surely the sorcerer Euberacon would not approach her at court? Now ensnared with court and political intrigue, Risa is out of her element. And Euberacon has forced a strong transformation spell upon her. There might be one chance left to save kingdom and soul—but it would take all the strength and power she had...

A magical fantasy romance set in Arthurian England from the Philip K. Dick Award–winning author of Reclamation and The Other Sister. An epic series featuring the women of Camelot begins with this tale of forbidden magic and enduring love. Lady Risa of the Morelands has already caught the eyes and won the hearts of many suitors. Not one of them, though, can gain the approval of her father, Lord Rygehil. When Risa discovers his secret—that he promised her to the necromancer Euberacon—she is furious, and terrified. Refusing to be a sacrifice, Risa runs away rather than submit to her fate. But Euberacon is determined to claim his bride, and Risa''s raw courage and archery skills are no match for his magic. Lucky for her, she is not alone. Sir Gawain, fearless captain of King Arthur''s Round Table will never refuse a fight—or a chance to save a beautiful maiden. But no matter how distressed she is, Risa isn''t an ordinary damsel, and even in the midst of battle she poses no ordinary risk to Gawain''s gallant heart. But Euberacon will not surrender his prize without a fight. Risa and Gawain are quickly ensnared in his web of poisonous enchantments. His deadly magics may destroy their lives, their love, and all Camelot with them. Praise for Risa: In Camelot''s Shadow "Based on the famous poem, ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,'' this novel delivers passion, danger, and excitement laced with fantasy." — RT Book Reviews "Absorbing and exciting." — Analog "Zettel''s artful combination of romance and . . . adventures is truly magical to read and is accessible to even those unfamiliar with Arthurian writings." —Historical Novel Society

An evocative and highly engaging romantic fantasy set in the evocative time of King Arthur. Laurel Carnbrea, Queen of Cambryn, arrives at Camelot to marry a man she has never met - Sir Agravain, the brother of the renowned Sir Gawain. Laurel has heard that Agravain is a reserved and cold man, but marriage to King Arthur''s nephew will give vital protection to her own lands. However, before the marriage can be consummated, Laurel''s new huband receives news that his father, King Lot, is dying, and he must return to his homeland of Gododdin in the north. King Lot has been mad for many years - tormented by the sorceress Morgaine, Arthur''s half-sister and deadliest enemy. Agravain and Laurel arrived to find the land of Gododdin in disarray and under threat of invasion from the Picts - led by Morgaine. Laurel has powers of her own, inherited from her grandmother, the Sea, and is prepared to use them to save the land of the new husband she is learning to love. By pitting herself against Morgaine she will face the gravest danger; and Agravain risks losing the woman who has finally managed to reach his heart!

A powerful queen and an Arthurian knight risk their lives and love for their kingdoms in this romantic fantasy from an award-winning author. Romance and Arthurian legend combine in this epic series featuring the women of Camelot. In order to provide protection and stability for her fractious kingdom, Laurel Carnbrea, queen of Cambryn, must marry Sir Agravain, knight of the Round Table and nephew of King Arthur, a man she has never met and about whom she knows nothing. But Laurel is determined to keep her people united, even if it means marrying a man widely believed to be heartless. Famously acerbic and impatient, Agravain finds much to admire in his new wife''s courage, sense, and beauty. And to his surprise, finds himself opening his sealed heart to her bravery and warmth. But Lynet and Agravain are given no time to come together. Agravain''s homeland of Gododdin is in peril. His father, the mad King Lot, is dying, and the foul sorceress Morgaine prepares to invade. Summoning her family''s magical power, Laurel readies herself for battle alongside her new husband. But as she prepares to stand against the darkest evil, Lynet''s secrets may doom her, and the man she''s beginning to love . . . Praise for the Queens of Camelot series "A real happy ending takes love, effort, and sacrifice. Pick up a copy of Camelot''s Blood if you want an epic romance!" — Silver Petticoat Reviews on Laurel: Camelot''s Blood "This novel delivers passion, danger, and excitement laced with fantasy." — RT Book Reviews on Risa: In Camelot''s Shadow "A spellbinding journey." —BookLoons Reviews on Elen: For Camelot''s Honor

A maiden fights to bring peace to Arthurian England in this romantic fantasy from an award-winning author. Love finds a way in this epic series featuring swords, sorcery, and the women of Camelot. The daughter of the steward of Cambryn, Lynet has seen the damage that following one''s heart can do. Now the threat of war looms over her land. Desperately searching for a way to restore peace to her home and honor to her family, Lynet and her sister decide that Lynet will seek the help of the last heir to the ancient royal house of Cambryn: the High Queen Guinevere. In Camelot, Gareth, squire of Sir Lancelot, is filled with pride and swagger. But when a potential war calls Queen Guinevere to Cambryn, Gareth finds himself in the company of a young woman who has no patience for his shows of bravado, and for the first time in his life Gareth finds himself with something real to prove. The love growing between Gareth and Lynet is undeniable, but so is the danger into which they are drawn. Only if they come to terms with their pasts and learn to trust again will they be able to overcome the festering darkness threatening to consume them both. Praise for the Queens of Camelot series "High fantasy at its best." — SFF on Lynet: Under Camelot''s Banner "This novel delivers passion, danger, and excitement laced with fantasy." — RT Book Reviews on Risa: In Camelot''s Shadow "A spellbinding journey." —BookLoons Reviews on Elen: For Camelot''s Honor

For five hundred years, the great southern empire of Hastinapura has flourished, ruling the world of Isavalta with an iron fist. But nothing lasts forever . . . The day of her womanhood ceremony finds Princess Natharie of Sindhu happily celebrating with her family, joyfully awaiting her marriage to a prince of another realm. However, when the empire demands that her family send someone to court, Natharie realizes that she is the only one who can satisfy the empror’s wishes. As Natharie spends time in the Hastinapura court, she learns of the empire’s bloodthirsty worship of the Mothers and of the intention of their high priest, Divakesh, to spread their worship beyond the empire - including into neighboring Sindhu - at any cost. These plots threaten to pit Natharie’s homeland against Hastinapura in a disastrous war. Appalled by the power and brazenness of the emperor’s brother, Pirnce Samudra, she realizes as each day brings war ever nearer, that the powerful prince may be her only hope to prevent a war that could destroy them all.

Magic and the force of destiny propelled Bridget Lederle across the void between worlds, through the Land of Death and Spirit, to the world of Isavalta, where she discovered secrets about herself and her family that had been hidden since before her birth. It seems like only yesterday that a charismatic stranger swept her from her home on the shore of Lake Superior and took her on an impossible journey to a strange, bejeweled world where sorcery could spring from the simplest of patterns, with most serious effect. In Isavalta she also discovered magical powers she had never suspected she possessed before her transit between the worlds. More than self-knowledge has changed her: she is in love with Sakra, a powerful sorcerer and her staunch ally. And she learns that her daughter, who she thought was lost to her, is alive. But that daughter is also the pawn in a dangerous game of power and politics. The powerful spells of a ruler intent on conquest threaten to destroy both mother and daughter. Torn between the contending forces of magic and empire, Bridget lives an extraordinary adventure replete with unimaginable dangers. Beset by enemies on all sides, she must rely on the aid of supernatural forces she can’t control, lest she be destroyed by a fate she cannot imagine.

Fans of Libba Bray''s The Diviners will love the blend of fantasy and jazz-hot Chicago in this stylish series. After rescuing her parents from the Seelie king at Hearst Castle, Callie is caught up in the war between the fairies of the Midnight Throne and the Sunlit Kingdoms. By accident, she discovers that fairies aren''t the only magical creatures in the world. There''s also Halfers, misfits that are half fairy and half other--laced with strange magic and big-city attitude. As the war heats up, Callie''s world falls apart. And even though she''s the child of prophecy, she doubts she can save the Halfers, her people, her family, and Jack, let alone herself. The fairies all say Callie is the Bad Luck Girl, and she''s starting to believe them. A strong example of diversity in YA, the American Fairy Trilogy introduces Callie LeRoux, a half-black teen who stars in this evocative story full of American history and fairy tales. Supports the Common Core State Standards. Praise for Bad Luck Girl: "All the powers that be want to use Callie''s magic to win the war for their side, and nobody cares what happens to Callie, Jack or the Halfers, raising the stakes to frighteningly high levels. Callie and Zettel bring this stellar trilogy to a satisfyingly sentimental conclusion." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review "[Zettel''s] strong characterizations, historical detail, and carefully constructed fantastic elements create a high-energy literary fusion that fans will devour." --SLJ

Venus, second planet from the Sun, is a lonely sphere of lethal heat, deadly pressure, and poisonous winds. Yet mankind still explores it for signs of life. When an abandoned alien outpost is discovered on Venusian soil, Dr. Veronica Hatch is sent to investigate. What she discovers is extraordinary -- an alien race has escaped its dying and distant world to colonize Venus, the only planet that can support it. But back on Earth, this news is received with dread. Fearing the aliens will invade and conquer the entire solar system, Earth prepares for war. It is now up to Veronica to urgently convince the aliens that mankind is truly worth saving -- before Earth becomes ground zero of an interstellar war.

In this romantic fantasy from the award-winning author of Reclamation, a Welsh chieftain''s daughter and an Arthurian knight battle a vile sorceress. Steel and sorcery collide in this epic series featuring the women of Camelot. When treachery and violence destroy Elen''s homeland, a power begins to rise inside her. But it will take more than that untested magic to avenge her family, unite her people, and reclaim their land. Her enemy receives power from an evil source: the wicked sorceress Morgaine LeFay, who will stop at nothing to destroy King Arthur and his knights of Camelot. And she plans to use Elen to work for her own vile purpose. The thought of Elen in danger stirs something in the heart of Sir Geraint. Quiet and stalwart, he has always remembered the warmth they once shared. He will do anything to help her, even traveling undercover into enemy territory, where his martial skill and the love he shares with Elen will be put to the ultimate test . . . Praise for Elen: For Camelot''s Honor "Lyrical, heartwarming, and engaging." — Explorations "Fine characterizations, lyrical writing, and intricate plotting make for a spellbinding journey." —BookLoons Reviews

Four centuries after humanity has colonized the galaxy, information freight companies are used as an alternative to electronic communication. On one of her frequent trips into deep space, Katmer Al-Shei, owner of one of the smaller information companies, is accused of smuggling artificial intelligence. When Al-Shei tries to clear her name, she uncovers conspiracy after conspiracy, all set against the backdrop of a looming war.

1899, Sand Island, Wisconsin. Bridget Lederle resides in the lighthouse she’s tended since her father died. Here, on the rocky shore of Lake Suprior, she’s alone with the bitter ignominy of her birth, the shame of her love child’s death, and the ghost of a mother she never really knew... That all changes on the wintry night she rescues a mysterious, charismatic stranger whose boat is nearly dashed upon the rocks. After she’s nursed him back to health, he tells her a fantastical tale...of another world, where somehow only she can save the beleaguered Empress from sorcerous plottings to usurp the throne. His tale is wildly fanciful, yet Bridget feels somehow drawn to his world, to the empire of Isavalta. Kalami, her handsome, charming patient, transports her with him from Lake Superior to a dazzling world that seems like a dream... But if Isavalta is a dream, Bridget’s new life is a nightmare. Caught in a magical crossfire between the powerful Dowager Empress, her daughter-in-law, an the sorcerers who serve their mistresses and other more subtle ends, she doesn’t know whom to trust, whom to beware...With the fate of an empire at stake and her heart torn by conflicting desires, she becomes a reluctant player in a deadly game of politics and magic with rules as hard to untangle as the knots in a silken tassel or the threads of a woven rug. As she attempts to see beyond the masks of power and discover truth in a world where magical spells can take almost any form, each hour she spends in the luxury of Isavalta’s court bunds her more tightly in the seductive embrace of secrets from her own past and of unfulfilled yearnings she can’t deny. A stranger in this bedazzling place, she must find a path to salvation - for herself and for her new, otherworldly home - but that path seems rockier than the Lake Superior shore she left behind.

An unwelcome engagement, a mysterious plot that hints at treason, and a possible murder add even more excitement to sixteen-year-old Peggy Fitzroy''s life as she continues to serve as both a lady-in-waiting and confidential agent to King George of England.

The Dedelphi, fierce inhabitants of a violent world at war for centuries, have unleashed a biological weapon that has poisoned their planet. Lynn Nussbaumer & her company were hired to clean the infection out of the ecosystem but some groups within the Dedelphi society want to use the humans & their advanced technology to exterminate their enemies.

Ingrid Lotfield was a good woman, doing right by her parents, protecting her sensitive sister, and reliably completing her fair share of the chores necessary for life in their fishing village in 1872, on the cold shore of Lake Superior. Then Avan came. He said he was Norwegian, as many of the fisherman were. He was different—kind and quiet and strong—and one day he somehow miraculously helped to save her sister form a terrible fate in a watery grave. She knew Avan was from a far land, knew he loved her. They would be married, have children . . . be fisherfolk as had generations before them. But before they could wed, he was called back to the land of his birth, a land beyond the shore of Superior, beyond Earth, a magical land where he was more than a fisherman. He had to go. He wouldn’t see her hurt, and there were untold forces in his homeland, Isavalta, that could harm her beyond her wildest imaginings. But her love was too strong for him to resist. She would go with him, no matter the risks. So brave, so dear. Together they would face danger and excitement: to save an empire and its empress, and find their own fate, no matter what peril, mo matter how strange.

Set in the far future, RECLAMATION centers on The Realm of the Nameless Powers, a world so ravaged by age that only a portion of underground canyons is habitable. The Realm has degenerated into a harsh caste system and Middle Ages technology. Their religion strictly enforces the castes who can marry, and which children are allowed to live. Eric Born is a lapsed priest and a son of one of the noble families. Like all members of the priesthood, he is a very precise telekinetic, but he also has the rare gift of healing. Stifled by the backward ways of The Realm, he escapes to make a new life among the stars. Since then, he has established himself as a freelance computer engineer. He is employed by the Rhudolant Vitae, space traders who travel between star systems trading their technological and management skills for raw materials and political influence. The Vitae''s deepest desire is to find their native world, from which they were forced to flee many centuries ago. When Eric Born discovers that The Realm is that very world, his loyalties are split.

From the award-winning author of Dangerous Deceptions. "Like its heroine, Zettel''s tale is still smarter and wittier than its rivals." —Kirkus Reviews Things are turning around for seventeen-year-old Peggy Fitzroy, a once-orphaned spy. Her father is back from the dead, and her unwanted engagement has been called off for good. But when a mysterious veiled woman shows up, Peggy uncovers a fresh slew of questions about her past, present, and future. Now Peggy is back at the palace, unsure of the loyalties she thought she held. With the Jacobite uprising stalking ever closer to the throne, it''s imperative that Peggy discover who she can really trust. Can she save herself and the royal family, or is she doomed as a pawn in this most deadly game? "For fans of humorous historical mysteries . . . a delightful read."— VOYA "Court shenanigans and stolen kisses yet abound . . . But fret not, gentle readers, because feisty ''Peggy Mostly'' and her champions (sly cousin Olivia and brave sweetheart Matthew) always get their man, usually with dramatic flair to boot."— Kirkus Reviews