Legends of Australian Fantasy by Jonathan Strahan and Jack Dann

Celebrate the legends of Australian fantasy. Extraordinary voices… extraordinary worlds. Come to Erith, to a faerie tale with a sting, or to Obernewtyn, long before the Seeker was born. Revisit a dark pocket of history for the Magician’s Guild or get caught up in the confusion of an endlessly repeating day in the Citadel. Cross the wall, where Charter magic is all that lies between you and death. A trip with a graverobber can be gruesome, and it’s hard to share the fear of a woman who must kill her husband if her child is to rule…

A mysterious tale plays out in Sevenwaters. Catch up with Ros and Adi as they prepare for the greatest change of all. Other twists in these fabulous tales bring us to demonic destiny and an alternate WWII.

These eleven short novels will take you on amazing new journeys with favourite characters from the worlds you know and love ...

Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts

She almost missed the sight of a naked youth falling out of the sky. He was long and lean and muscled ... He was also completely off his face. A war is being fought in the skies over the city of Aufleur. No one sees the battles. No one knows how close they come to destruction every time the sun sets. During daylight, all is well, but when nox falls and the sky turns bright, someone has to step up and lead the Creature Court into battle.

Twelve years ago, Garnet kissed Velody and stole her magic. Five years ago, he betrayed Ashiol, and took his powers by force. But now the Creature Court is at a crossroads ... they need a Power and Majesty who won’t give up or lose themselves in madness…

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

For two long years Shen Tai has mourned his father, living like a hermit at the edge of the Kitan Empire, next to a great lake where a terrible battle was fought between the Kitai and the neighbouring Tagurans years before; a battle for which his father — a great general — was honoured, but never recovered from, and where the bones of 40,000 soldiers still lie exposed. To assuage some of his dead father’s regret over the battle, Tai begins to bury the dead.

His supplies are replenished by his own people from a nearby fort, and also — now that peace has been bought with the bartering of an imperial princess — by the Tagurans, for his long service to their dead. His seclusion is disturbed by a letter from the bartered Princess Cheng-wan. It contains a poisoned chalice: Tai has been gifted 250 Sardian horses for his service to the Taguran dead — highly-prized animals, long-desired by the Kitans for their cavalry. The owner of such a vast number would instantly be bestowed with great power and wealth. The horses are being held for him to claim, but getting to them alive, will be tricky. And that isn’t Tai’s only problem.

The New Space Opera 2 by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan

Some of the most beloved names in science fiction spin all-new tales of interstellar adventure and wonder:

• Neal Asher
• John Barnes
• Cory Doctorow
• John Kessel
• Jay Lake
• John Meaney
• Elizabeth Moon
• Garth Nix
• Mike Resnick
• Justina Robson
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• John Scalzi
• Bruce Sterling
• Peter Watts
• Sean Williams
• Tad Williams
• Bill Willingham
• Robert Charles Wilson
• John C. Wright

Hell’s Heroes by Darren Shan Ages 10+

"The girl gazes up at me. She’s even younger than I thought, clutching a small teddy bear in one hand. ‘Are you the bogey man?’ she whispers, eyes round.
‘Yes,’ I croak, then take hold of her head with my huge, scarred, blood-soaked hands and crush..."

Beranabus and Dervish are gone. Bec has formed an unholy alliance with Lord Loss. Kernel is blind, held on Earth against his will. Grubbs is mad with grief and sinning out of control. The demons are crossing. The Disciples are falling. The Shadow is waiting. Welcome to the end.

The Dark Deeps: Hunchback Assignments Book 2 by Arthur Slade

Modo — teenage spy and temporary shape-shifter — is plunged once more into the world of international espionage. This time he’s on the trail of a mysterious underwater creature — and he’s not alone.

Mr Socrates orders Modo and his beautiful fellow agent Octavia Milkweed to investigate the disappearance of the Permanent Association’s New York agent. From there, they follow a trail of clues that will lead Modo to an ingenious machine known only as the Ictineo, and a fabled underwater city ruled by pirates. There, Modo confronts Colette, a French agent with secrets of her own. Is she friend or foe?

Meanwhile, on his secret island, Dr Hyde has been conducting a new and hideous experiment. When Miss Hakkandottir, Modo’s nemesis from the Clockwork Guild, arrives to hijack the Ictineo, Modo must use all his ingenuity to track down an unseen force ... even if it means revealing his true self.

Love Bites: 101 Tips for Dating Guys with Fangs by Claire Hooper

We know that vampires exist, and that we really, really want one. So how can you score your own gorgeous immortal? And how do you keep a relationship alive when your partner is one of the eternal undead?

Claire Hooper has a wealth of experience when it comes to dating guys who can’t go out in sunlight, aren’t suitable to introduce to your parents, and quite possibly have blood on their hands. In Love Bites she shares her insider’s knowledge, taking you from go to whoa to vampire ho by answering questions such as:

• ‘He’s been around for hundreds of years. Are there any pick-up lines he hasn’t heard?’
• ‘I know vampires are really into virgins. Can I just tell him I am one? Or will he read my mind and find out the truth?’
• ‘Does aloe vera work on fang holes? I need these ones to clear up fast, cos I have to wear an evening dress to a black-tie event next week.’
• ‘If, like you say, he’s watching me when I sleep, does that mean he’s watching me when I pee?’

If it all goes according to plan, you’ll also need to know how to wean him onto animal blood, where to put his coffin, and how to resolve that all-important eternal life question — will you, or won’t you?

Teeth of Beasts: Skinners Book 3 by Marcus Pelegrimas

Horrible things move through the shadows of our world—bloodsuckers, Full Bloods and mongrel beasts, shapeshifters and minor freaks. For centuries creature hunters known as Skinners have protected humankind. But who protects the Skinners… from madness? Unbeknownst to the human population, a pestilence is raging through an unseen community of low-level monstrosities. What seems, at first glance, a boon for the mortal cause has horrific connotations—as the Skinner team of Cole Warnecki and Paige Strobel races across the Midwest to uncover the shocking secret of the “Mud Flu.” For a nightmare of destruction and blood sacrifice is looming—one born of an unholy meeting nearly two centuries ago—that will pit man against beast, and Skinner against Skinner.

Frankenstein by Dean Koontz

In a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time, Dr Frankenstein lives on, seemingly indestructible, more malignant than ever. Frankenstein’s first monster, Deucalion, has spent two hundred years trying to put an end to his creator. Now he learns that a new Frankenstein clone, Victor Helios, is out there again, somewhere. Terrifyingly, with each incarnation the sinister doctor draws closer to the possibility of succeeding in his ambition to create a new human race — which he will control. He has found an enigmatic backer and is working in a secret location. Together with the two ex-cops who helped him destroy the previous Victor, Deucalion is drawn to the small Montana town where Victor’s grotesque new creations are taking shape.

Victor’s New Race is spectacularly different, a product of cutting-edge technology and stem-cell circuits, and when things go wrong, they go wrong in very unexpected ways. Frankenstein is unleashing a new menace on the world, whether or not he can control it. It may be too late, even if Deucalion can bring him down.

Oracle by Jackie French  Ages 10-14

Nikko lives in a small farming village in Greece near the stronghold of Mycenae in 1200 BC. When his sister Thetis is born, Nikko rescues her from the hillside where she has been abandoned, setting off an unforeseen chain of events. Thetis survives the trauma of her birth but is rendered mute until the age of five, when the gift of speech is given to her; but she can only tell the truth, which soon proves to be a double-edged sword. When the villagers try to double-cross the king’s tribute gatherers, Nikko and Thetis are sent to the Mycenean court to be trained as entertainers for the king. There they meet Euridice, a horse dancer from the North, and forge an enduring friendship. When Thetis’ prophecy of disaster comes true, and Mycenae is hit by an earthquake, she disappears. Nikko and Euridice flee in search of her. Nikko eventually finds Thetis in Delphi, where she is now installed as Oracle, set to fulfil her destiny. But danger still lurks in the shape of the new Mycaenean king, who wants her back at court to foretell his future ...

Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood  Ages 13+

Jessamine Luxson lives with her father, Thomas, an apothecary, in an isolated cottage near Alnwick Castle. Thomas’s pride and obsession is his locked garden full of dangerous plants, which Jessamine is forbidden to enter. When a traveler brings an orphan to their cottage, he claims the boy has special gifts that Thomas might value. Jessamine is drawn to the strange but intriguing boy, called Weed. Soon their friendship deepens into love. Finally, Weed shares his secret: he can communicate with plants. For him they have distinct personalities-and some are even murderous. From the locked garden the poisonous plants call to Weed, luring him with promises of deadly power. When Jessamine falls inexplicably ill, only Weed’s relationship with the Poisons can save her. But Thomas is determined to exploit Weed’s abilities, even if it risks Jessamine’s life-or drives Weed to the brink of madness...

Mars: A survival guide by Guy Murphy

Put on your spacesuit and prepare for takeoff…

Everyone’s talking about it, but you’re actually going to do it! That’s right, you’re moving to Mars, our most Earth-like neighbour in the solar system. And you’re going to be one of the first people there, actually living on the red planet and paving the way for future settlers.

But it’s not as simple as packing your bags and hiring a removalist truck. To live on Mars you’ve got to be tough and you’ve got to be prepared. If you’re going to survive, you’ll need answers to questions like:

How fast can I get to Mars, and what will I need to pack? What sort of shelter will I be living in, and will it protect me from meteor showers? How do I find air and water, and can I grow food in Martian soil? What will happen to me if I go outside without my space suit on? Can I call Earth if I get homesick? And to help you avoid embarrassing accidents: How will I recognise Martian life so that I don’t step on it?

Based on the latest Mars research, this is a must-have guide for all aspiring interplanetary travellers — don’t leave Earth without it!