Best Selling Books by Tanith Lee

An epic fantasy adventure of wild creatures, enchanted landscapes, and noble destinies In a land of unending winter, the High Magus Thryfe travels with haste to the city of Ruk Kar to warn Vuldir, King Accessorate, of a growing force of envy and darkness. One of Vuldir’s daughters, the seventeen-year-old Saphay, is to wed the Jafn chieftain Athluan, but Thryfe foresees that the marriage will lead to the destruction of all the Ruk kings, their lineage, and their people. Disregarding the magician’s ominous words, Saphay sets off toward the East and her betrothed—only to meet disaster. Athluan, Saphay’s husband-to-be, hears rumors of a blond maiden in royal clothes entombed in a towering pyramid of ice. It is Saphay, and she is alive. The royal wedding ensues and soon—perhaps too soon—Saphay becomes pregnant. As time goes on, the son she births will show signs of a divine and heroic destiny.

But one of their own is igniting a blaze of chaos through the streets of London.

A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. In the land of Dorthar, the Storm Lord reigns as king. According to law, the Storm Lord’s youngest son will be the rightful heir. His queen, the cunning and ambitious Val Mara, intends her young son, Amrek, to be that heir. But fate has other ideas. When the Storm Lord abducts a Lowlander priestess, conceives a child with her, and then dies in mysterious circumstances, the unborn baby of that union suddenly becomes the heir to a vast kingdom—a situation that Val Mara is eager to rectify. When his mother also dies, the infant, Raldnor, must be taken far from the Storm Lord’s stronghold to escape the queen’s murderous wrath, forsaking all knowledge of his royal heritage. Raldnor grows up among the people of the Plains, but he is set apart from his friends and neighbors by the mystery of his past. Meanwhile, Amrek has taken the throne as his mother intended. If Raldnor is to reclaim his destiny and defeat the usurper who has taken his place, he will have to survive trials of strength, political sabotage, and threats against his life, regaining his birthright as the true Storm Lord of Dorthar.

A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. The final entry in Tanith Lee’s classic fantasy series Tales from the Flat Earth, Night’s Sorceries forms a breathtaking conclusion to a dark and intricate epic of demons, gods, and mortals. Azhriaz, daughter of Azhrarn, Demon Lord of the Night, has defied her father’s wishes. Taking on the mantle of Delirium’s Mistress, she escapes her island prison in the Underearth, where she would have spent her life in eternal slumber. With Prince Chuz, her lover and the sworn enemy of Azhrarn, she flees to the mortal realm of the Flat Earth to escape her father’s wrath. But Azhrarn will not be so easily deterred, and the lovers’ journey has not left the world untouched. In the wake of their flight, bizarre new enchantments emerge, exposing a world of chaos and mystery. The mortals of the Flat Earth are inextricably entwined in circumstances beyond their understanding, caught in the midst of grand conflicts of ambition and betrayal. Night’s Sorceries spins seven of these tales of wonder—of humans confronted with the supernatural. Trials of true love, tests of humility and fortitude, and startling transformations weave together in these lush stories of passion, revelation, and the human soul.

“A fast start to what promises to be an exciting, innovative fantasy series” from the World Fantasy Award–winning author of Night’s Master (Publishers Weekly). In the hedonistic atmosphere of an eighteenth-century Venice Carnival, gaiety turns deadly when Furian Furiano happens upon a mask of Apollo floating in the murky waters of the canals. The mask hides a sinister art, and Furian finds himself trapped in a bizarre tangle of love, obsession, and evil, stumbling into a macabre society of murderers. The beautiful but elusive Eurydiche holds the key to these murders and leads him further into a labyrinth of black magic and ancient alchemy. Why do secrets from Furian’s past seem tied to the mysterious Eurydiche? In Tanith Lee’s brilliantly imagined world of violence and terror, Furian must find a way to survive and stem the obsession driving him toward his hidden destiny.

Now for the first time in e-book, a dark fantasy tale from a master of the genre. Kidnapped from her home at a young age, Shaina has been enslaved for most of her life. Now sixteen, she’s been bought and sold, growing wiser and more resilient with each new trial she must endure. Her current enslavers are an older couple living in a small farming village, a quiet place—until the arrival of a magnificent troupe of traveling players, led by the great Kernik, the Clever Showman and Prince of Conjurers. Kernik and his troupe enchant the village with their grand performance, only to disappear under the cover of night. The next morning, everyone has mysteriously forgotten the troupe—except for Shaina. Helplessly smitten with one of the handsome actors, Dasyel, Shaina seeks the help of the witch Barbayat, who offers to teach her how to separate her soul from her body. Shaina’s soul can search for Dasyel while her body remains. But Kernik is no ordinary showman. He’s truly the dark magician Volkhavaar, drawing his powers of illusion from Takerna, the evil god of night and shadows. He plans to subjugate the great city of Arkev, to force its citizens to worship Takerna and strengthen his powers further. And Dasyel is under his control. In order to save Arkev and free Dasyel from Volkhavaar’s thrall, Shaina must fight Volkhavaar’s illlusions with the strength of her soul, defying his tyranny of hatred with the power of her love.

For the first time in e-book format, a retelling of Romeo and Juliet from a master of dark fantasy. In the land of Santa Verensa, the great aristocratic Houses thrive on vendetta. Although their feuds are rooted in politics, generations of grievances have made the conflict dangerously petty and bitterly personal—a society where people live and die by the Name they bear. Romulan Montargo, heir to his family, revels in the feud. Meanwhile, Iuletta Chenti, the only child of Chenti Primo, the family’s patriarch, has spent her life sheltered. The Montargos and the Chentis have hated each other for decades, but when Iuletta first sets eyes on Romulan, she knows they are meant to be together. Determined to win his affection, she casts a charm on him to draw him to her, and the two fall in love. But Iuletta is already betrothed to the Belmorio heir, and her temperamental cousin Leopardo hates the Montargos with a murderous passion. If the young lovers are to be together, they must defy their families and defy their fates, reclaiming their chance at a happy ending. Tanith Lee beautifully reimagines Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of star-crossed lovers and bloody revenge with an added fantasy twist.

Struggling to hide her true nature, Sabella, a vampire who has sworn off of drinking human blood, must keep her identity safe from a private investigator who is determined to expose her for what she is despite being enthralled by her charms.

"Among its nineteen tales, this volume explores unnerving variations of Beauty and the Beast, The Frog Prince, Snow White, and other classics, including three never-before-published stories."--Page 4 of cover.

A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. The fourth installment in Lee’s breathtaking series, Tales from the Flat Earth, Delirium’s Mistress returns to a shadowy and mythic world where demons battle for dominion, and the fate of mankind is shaped by the whims of capricious and volatile beings. Beneath the mortal realm of the Flat Earth, demons lurk. But Azhriaz—daughter of the mortal priestess Dunizel and the demon known as Night’s Master, Azhrarn—bridges these two worlds, a being of both light and darkness. Raised on an isolated isle in the demons’ realm of Underearth, guarded and hidden away from demon and mortal alike, Azhriaz was meant to sleep forever, never knowing the world outside her dreams. But other forces in the Underearth are moving to wake Azhriaz. Prince Chuz, the demon known as Delusion’s Master, has made an enemy of Azhrarn, after his betrayal cost Dunizel her life. Chuz seeks out Azhriaz’s island, drawn by her latent power and entranced by her beauty. To release Azhriaz from her eternal slumber, Chuz must create the grandest illusion he has ever rendered. If he succeeds, Azhriaz will be reborn as Delirium’s Mistress, a sorcerous of extraordinary power. Perhaps even more powerful than Azhrarn himself.... Delirium''s Mistress in the fourth book in the Flat Earth sereies.

Rachaela worked in a bookstore, a conventional young woman, living a conventional life. Then they beckoned, using a variety of ruses to lure her to the house by the sea. Now she is a prisoner, part of a family of creatures she cannot escape, lover to a demon who thirsts for her blood.

Raised in a swamp by a mad witch, poor Louisa grew up with one goal in mind: to marry a wealthy man, then inherit his lands and money by whatever means it takes. And Louisa may well succeed, for she is a stunning beauty with the manners of an angel. At last she sets off to make her fortune . . . and with the help of her vial of undetectable poison, she soon finds her first victim. A dazzlingly dark fantasy, as only Tanith Lee could write it!

Tanaquil has family problems. Her mother is a sorceress and her sister is an empress, engaged to Tanaquil''s own true love. Things get worse when a red unicorn lures her into another world, where she finds a mirror version of herself plotting her sister''s death. Can Tanaquil stop her double from becoming a murderer? Accelerated Reader: Reading Level 4.5, 5 Points.

Out of the dusk he comes striding, the stranger, the man in black, inevitable as death itself: Parl Dro--Ghost Slayer. Some have bought his services for gold, and some have blessed him for his work. But not everyone welcomes an exorcist who will remorselessly deprive them of their beloved dead. Dro began his vocation at an early age. And now he will not be turned aside, no matter how you may threaten, curse or weep. He is seeking too the greatest stronghold of the deadalive: Ghyste Mortua, the ghost town in the mountains, and he means to destroy it. If he will face that, what use the pleas of the desperate sisters, Cilny and Ciddey, what use the rage of Myal, with his genius for music and his imperfect talent for crime? Only one thing, it seems, motivates Parl Dro. His determination to kill the dead. "Tanith Lee is one of the most powerful and intelligent writers in fantasy." --"Publishers Weekly" "With Lee... expect the unexpected." --"Starburst"

Once upon a time there was a mirror. . . . So begins this dark, unusual retelling of the story of Snow White by the writer reviewers have called "the Angela Carter of the fantasy field"—a whole novel based on a beloved story, turning it into a dark and sensual drama full of myth and magic. Arpazia is the aging queen who paces the halls of a warlord''s palace. Cold as winter, she has only one passion—for the mysterious hunter who courts the outlawed old gods of the woodland. Coira is the princess raised in the shadow of her mother''s hatred. Avoided by both her parents and half forgotten by her father''s court, she grows into womanhood alone . . . until the mirror speaks, and blood is spilled, and the forest claims her. The tragic myth of the goddess Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, stolen by the king of the underworld, is woven together with the tale of Snow White to create a powerful story of mothers and daughters and the blood that binds them together, for good or ill. Black queen. White maid. Royal huntsman. Seven little folk who live in the forest. Come inside, sit by the fire, and listen to this fairy tale as you''ve never heard it told before. Once upon a time there was a mirror, and a girl as white as snow. . . . At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Often disturbing, occasionally delightful, let The Year''s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror be your annual guide through the mysteries and wonders of dark fiction.

Now for the first time in e-book, a collection of Tanith Lee’s short stories and novella about the fantastical adventures of Cyrion, a hero larger than life. Roilant needs a hero—fast. He’s trapped, betrothed to his cousin Eliset in an agreement made to help the destitute branches of their family line. But rumor has it that Eliset is a witch, a villainess behind the deaths of many in his family, and if Roilant weds her, he’ll meet the same fate. Roilant didn’t put much stock in the rumors—until, that is, he tried to call off the betrothal. Since then, he’s been plagued by a series of nightmares demanding he return to Eliset’s side by the end of the month. If he goes to her, he’ll surely be murdered for his fortune, but if he stays, he fears his cousin will kill him and his beloved, the woman he loves. Convinced only one man alive can help him, Roilant stumbles into the Honey Garden inn looking for a legend—a man named Cyrion. All anyone seems to have are stories, but everyone’s heard tell of the mighty Cyrion. They say that he looks like an angel, with hair like the sky of earnest sunrise. That he’s an adventurer, a vanquisher of evil and a defender of man. That he’s a fearless swordsman, a master of disguise, and a genius detective. Some say he’s defeated demons and outwitted wizards. That he’s solved impossible mysteries and survived inescapable death. But is he for real? And—more importantly—is he for hire?

Through 40 chilling and beautiful color paintings, bestselling science fiction and fantasy artist Wayne Barlowe details an amazing visual journey into the strange, frightening, and bizarre world of hell.

Vazkor, who assumed the name of the warrior father he had never known, seeks his mother, a survivor of the hated Old Race known as the White Witch. He has sworn to kill her, to avenge his father and all the humans who had suffered at the hands of the Old Race. But as he searches, his own powers—his fearful heritage—grow. Can Vazkor rid the world once and for all of his own creator? Hunting the White Witch is the concluding volume of the Birthgrave Trilogy. Rediscover this realm of brilliant cruel beauty and seductive immortal ruins, of savage war and grand conquest, of falling stars and silver gods—with these 40th anniversary editions of legendary fantastist Tanith Lee''s debut book series.

In "Companions on the Road," a stolen chalice brings misery to those who covet it, and in "The Winter Players," a priestess decides to pursue the thief of the sacred relic of her people.

Four books of dark fantasy and eroticism from "a literary great . . . A series of Gothic, interlinked stories set in an alternate Paris" ( The Washington Post). With these four books, together now in one collection, escape to a city known by three names—Paradys, Paradise, and Paradis—where you''ll find many strange stories and novellas exploring gender, identity, sexual transgression, and more . . . The Book of the Damned: A poet discovers a mysterious ring that drags him into a world of vampires. A young woman''s attack sows the seeds for a civilization''s downfall. And a writer receives a cryptic note that leads her to a sinister, ancient force. The Book of the Beast: A young scholar has just moved to Paradys to study at the university, and a beautiful phantom of a young bride begins visiting him, drawing him toward her. Soon, he will be infected with the horrific curse of the Beast . . . The Book of the Dead: Seven stories of enchantment, misfortune, corruption, and death are in the third volume of this fantasy series, including the story of a vengeful orphan tracking down his parents'' killer only to find a treacherous nightmare. The Book of the Mad: A labyrinth of ice connects three nightmarish versions of one city—Paradis, Paradys, and Paradise. In each of them, a story unfolds, breaking taboos, relishing horror, and conjuring the perverse.

Now for the first time in e-book, genre master Lee''s postapocalyptic dystopia that follows a young woman after the fall of humanity. The free humans lived underground, secretive, like rats. Above, the world was a fearsome place for them - the open sky a terror, the night so black, and the striding machines from space so laser-flame deadly. Esther dared the open; she saw the sky; she saw the Enemy. And she was taken – captive - to the vast alien empty city. Surrounded by marvels of science not born on earth, Esther did not know what they wanted of her. There was mystery in the city, dread in the heavens, and magic in the handsome alien man who came to her.

A new edition of the first story in the acclaimed Wolf Tower sequence: orphan-slave Claidi''s bid for freedom from the mindless ritual and the deadly game of chance that rules a blighted land.

The ambiance of fin de siecle France imbues these eight gothic tales in the third volume in Lee’s Secret Books of Paradys tetralogy, tracing the tortured lives once led by those buried in the crypts and cemeteries of the mythical (or forgotten) city of Paradys. “The Weasel Bride†? twists a folktale about a man who marries an enchanted weasel and dies of her bite into an account of a young husband who kills his beloved bride on their wedding night and takes her dreadful secret to the gallows. The artist in “The Glass Dagger,†? who normally saves her emotion for her art, is consumed by jealous rage and turns to supernatural revenge when a jaded aristocrat tries an old stratagem to win her love. In “The Moon Is a Mask†? a drudge who creates a world of beauty in her garret room steals to buy a mask that turns her into a vampire owl. The miasma of corruption and death, combined with vivid and at times elegiac writing will engross readers who fancy this dark shade of fantasy writing.

In The Book of the Mad, a seductive nightmare unfolds in three parallel versions of the city—Paradis, Paradys and Paradise. Connected by a labyrinth of ice whose dangers are amplified by the will and emotion of its lunatic travelers, these cities provide the stage for a drama of mythical proportions, setting up a darkly dazzling finish to The Secret Books of Paradys.

Brand-new contributions to the hoard of dragon lore by five top fantasy authors. Orson Scott Card''s "In the Dragon''s House" is a gothic yarn about the mysterious dragon that lives in the wiring of an old house, noticed by a young boy who shares its body in dreams and feels its true size and power. Mercedes Lackey''s "Joust" tells the story of a slave boy who is chosen to care for a warrior''s dragon--a dragon whose secrets may be the key to his freedom. Tanith Lee''s "Love in a Time of Dragons" is a fable is imbued with her signature atmosphere--Old World, moody, erotic--as a kitchen maid goes a-questing with a handsome champion to slay the local drakkor. Elizabeth Moon''s "Judgment" tells the tale of a young man forced by lies to flee his village . . . into an adventure of dwarfs and dragonspawn. Michael Swanwick''s "King Dragon" invokes a truly sinister and repellent creature--a being with the soul of a beast and the body of a machine--part metal, part devil . . . all merciless.

Artemesia is the daughter of a pirate queen, and she''s sick of practicing deportment at the Angels Academy for Young Maidens. Escaping from the school, she hunts up her mother''s crew and breezily commands them out to sea in a leaky boat. Unfortunately, Art''s memories of her early life may not be accurate-her seasick crew are actors, and Art''s infamous mother was the darling of the stage in a pirate drama. But fiery, pistol-proof Art soon shapes her men into the cleverest pirate crew afloat. And when they meet the dread ship Enemy and her beautiful, treacherous captain, Goldie Girl, Art is certain that her memories are real. The Seven Seas aren''t large enough for two pirate queens: Art will have the battle of her life to win her mother''s title--and the race for the most fabulous treasure in pirate lore. This gaudy, outrageous tale sparkles with swordplay, skullduggery, and salty language--not to mention over-the-top comedy! "A refreshing, tongue-in-cheek, tangled tale that will entice readers who crave adventure and fantasy."--SLJ

With her talent for mending things, sixteen-year-old Tanaquil reconstructs a unicorn which, brought to life, lures her away from her desert fortress home and her sorceress mother to find a city by the sea and the way to a perfect world.

This collection of tales, including the World Fantasy Award-winning title story, recounts extraordinary encounters between human beings and such mythic beasts as dragons, unicorns, and vampires

A king''s oversight causes near-bankruptcy of the kingdom and forces the prince to seek his fortune elsewhere.