Ginn Hale

When John opens a letter addressed to his missing roommate, Kyle, he expects to find a house key, but instead he is swept into a strange realm of magic, mysticism, revolutionaries and assassins. Though he struggles to escape, John is drawn steadily closer to a fate he share with Kyle--to wake the destroyer god, the Rifter, and shatter a world.

Cymin has agreed to become a spy, defeated a fiery curse, inadvertently derailed a train, and survived a bloody ambush in the Sacred Necropolis--all to escape conscription in a Storm Tower. Now, at last, he and his companions have reached the vibrant canal city of Yanyeo. From here they plan to sail to Saigrath, leaving Chyre and its Storm Towers behind. Ahead of him lies the promise of new magic, deepening friendships and an opportunity to share more than secrets with the Waethir, Laithondi. Cymin can hardly wait to depart. Unfortunately, two of Cymin's companions lost their lives on the journey to Yanyeo. Their violent deaths have turned the people of Chyre against the expedition--and the Waeithir. Soon the entire undertaking is threatened. Now Cymin and the Waethir must throw their energy into challenging the bad press and winning the respect of Yanyeo's leaders. But just as they are winning over the people, Cymin's traveling companions begin to go missing. But deep beneath the canal waters a curse has been released and an enemy from Cymin's past is on the move. Talented mages all across the city are quietly going missing while mutilated remains have washed ashore. Then Cymin's friend, Xaon disappears. Racing to find him, Cymin and Laithondi must plunge into the lair of a criminal syndicate and risk not only exposing their secrets but their very lives.

Having escaped conscription to the Storm Towers at the last moment--thanks to some very quick train-hopping--Cymin is thrilled to at last be living his dream of seeing new lands and making friends with the fascinating secular mages outside Lux Temple. There's even a chance he could win over the enigmatic Laithondi and officially join the ranks of the student bound for Saigrath. Laithondi has already entrusted him with his dazzling ancillary sword, as well as the sacred Fei'suul Scepter. But that trust may prove the undoing of them all, when it marks Cymin as the target for ancient, corrupted spells. As he battles for his life and those of his new-found friends, Cymin must confront the darkest secrets from their shared past lives as well as the deadly plots threatening their lives now.

As a schoolboy, Fedeles Quemanor barely survived being possessed by sorcery. Now he'd gladly abandon all matters of magic to more ambitious people. His happiness lies in more simple things: riding horses, the joy of friends and family and dancing with Ariz Plunado. But when he discovers that Hierro Fueres, the Duke of Gavado, is raising an army of enthralled assassins to seize the crown, Fedeles is shaken to the core. Worse is the revelation that the ancient spells protecting their nation from an ravenous curse are being dismantled. The murderous power lurking in Fedeles's shadow could be enough to secure the nation of Cadeleon. If only Fedeles can face the darkness that once possessed him. But even as Fedeles takes on the challenge, his agents, Atreau and Narsi, learn that the threat at heart of the capitol has grown beyond the bounds of their nation. Unless they take action, Count Radulf, the ferocious Scarlet Wolf of Labara, will destroy it and all of Cadeleon along with it.

Outlaws. Lovers. Heroes. Villains.With their peg legs, their parrots and the skull and crossbones flying from the mastheads of their ships, classic pirates are some of the world's best-known and easily recognizable outlaws. Or are they? These fifteen stories spin new tales of pirates crossing dimensional barriers for revenge, fighting terrible foes in outer space and building new lives after the Trojan War. Travel to the South China Sea, then on to New York City after a climate apocalypse, then roam the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy and voyage to distant and fantastical worlds. Go with them as they seek treasure, redemption, love, revenge and more. Raise the Jolly Roger and sharpen your cutlass (or recharge your raygun) and climb aboard for some unforgettable journeys.From fantastical adventures to YA science fiction, from historical tales to piracy in intergalactic space, Scourge of the Seas gives readers a broad range of new pirate legends. Featuring stories by Ginn Hale, A.J. Fitzwater, Geonn Cannon, Joyce Chng, Elliott Dunstan, Ashley Deng, Su Haddrell, Ed Grabianowski, Mharie West, Matisse Mozer, Soumya Sundar Mukherjee, Megan Arkenberg, Peter Golubock, Michael Merriam and Caroline Sciriha.

1858 -- Warring mages open up a vast inland sea that splits the United States in two. With the floodwaters come creatures from a long distant past. What seems like the End Times forges a new era of heroes and heroines who challenge tradition, law, and even death as they transform the old west into a new world. In the heart of dinosaur country a laconic trapper and a veteran mage risk treason to undertake a secret mission. A brilliant magician and her beautiful assistant light up stages with the latest automaton, but the secrets both of them are hiding test their trust in each other and pit them against one of the most powerful men in the world. At the wild edge of the Inland Sea, amidst crocodiles and triceratops, an impoverished young man and a Pinkerton Detective must join forces to outmaneuver a corrupt judge and his gunmen.

Skellan meant to save his city and avenge the woman who raised him. Instead he's plunged his country into war and shaken their delicate alliance with the great nation of Cadeleon. Now only he and his crumbling city stand between an army of old gods and the world of mortal folk. But even as Skellan raises the city's wards he struggles to unify the disparate defenders of Milmuraille. Though he promises his friends that neither political machinations nor magical power will ever undermine his ideals, the merciless reality of battling gods soon threatens to claim all he hopes to save.

Five years after abandoning the Sagrada Acedemy, Elezar Grunito has become infamous in the sanctified circles of noble dueling rings for his brutal temper and lethal blade. Men and women of all ranks gather to cheer and jeer, none of them knowing Elezar's true purpose. But a violent death outside the ring marks Elezar as a wanted man and sends him into hiding in the far northern wilds of Labara. There, creatures of myth and witchcraft-long since driven from Cadeleon-lurk in dark woods and prowl the winding streets. Soldiers and priests alike fear the return of witch-queens and even demons. Elezar soon learns that magic takes many forms, some too alluring to resist, others too terrible to endure. But just as he begins to find his place in this strange new country, the past he left behind along with his school days returns to challenge him once again.

Kiram fought his family and Cadeleonian bigots to remain in the Sagrada Academy to prove himself as a mechanist and to dispel the deadly shadow curse that threatens to destroy his upperclassman, Javier Tornesal. But when his efforts provoke retaliation, Kiram's family and home are endangered. Both Kiram and Javier risk everything in a desperate gambit to combat the curse. But they never imagined their battle with come so soon, or that it would be lead by the one person they trust most of all.