A pampered, spoiled upper-middle class widow joins the army. The army will never be the same.

Deka and her army must stop the dark force growing in the ancient kingdom of Otera, but with her own gifts changing, she must discover if she holds the key to saving Otera or if she might be its greatest threat.

For her entire life, the Name-Bearer's sole purpose has been to receive and deliver the names of the future monarchy from the Flowers of Prophecy. But when the child is finally born and the Name-Bearer is sent to the Flowers, they refuse to name him. Instead they deliver a prophecy; another child was born who is more worthy of the Naming, and if they are found and brought before them it will usher in a reign of peace. Having failed in her duties the...

"Only the elders of the Valley remember life the way it used to be ... when people traveled in automobiles and bought food others had grown. When the male-to-female ratio was nearly the same. Before the bombs fell, and a deadly virus claimed the world's men. Now civilization's few surviving males are guarded by women warriors like Dian. When an unexpected convoy of strangers rides into her village, it is Dian who meets them, ready to do battle." --...

Cherry Wilder's The Rulers of Hylor series established a detailed and intricate fantasy world. Katya Riemann completed and polished this last Hylor novel, a tale of warring kingdoms, treacherous advisers and generational conflicts, set in a world of rich physical beauty, vibrant life and a realism leavened with occasional and startling magic. Gael Maddoc, the child of struggling peasants, leaps at the chance when she is offered training as a kedran,...

"The heart is a battlefield. War has raged for a decade in Lir, and orphaned soldier Talasyn has learned to keep her powers hidden to survive. As the last known Lightweaver on the continent, she can create radiant weapons that cut through the invading Shadowforged warriors' dark magic. But all that changes when she is forced to reveal her abilities on the battlefield to defend herself from the Shadowforged prince himself, Alaric Ossinast. In a clash...

Nineteen-year-old Kate Brady joined the army to bring honor to her family and democracy to the Middle East. Instead, she finds herself in a forgotten corner of the Iraq desert in 2003, guarding a makeshift American prison. There, Kate meets Naema Jassim, an Iraqi medical student whose father and little brother have been detained in the camp.  Kate and Naema promise to help each other, but the war soon strains their intentions. Like any soldier,...

Outnumbered and outgunned, Honor Harrington has just two options: see the people under her command slaughtered in hopeless battle or surrender them -- and herself -- to the Peeps.