Recommendations based on "Brilliance of the Moon Tales of Otori"

Two Men Who Hate Each Other. One Impossible Mission. A Legend In The Making. Hadrian Blackwater, A Warrior With Nothing To Fight For, Is Paired With Royce Melborn, A Thieving Assassin With Nothing To Lose. Hired By An Old Wizard, They Must Steal A Treasure That No One Can Reach. The Crown Tower Is The Impregnable Remains Of The Grandest Fortress Ever Built And Home To The Realm's Most Prized Possessions. But It Isn't Gold Or Jewels That The Wizard Is After, And If He Can Just Keep Them From Killing Each Other, They Just Might Succeed. Chronological Order The Crown Tower (riyria Chronicles #1) The Rose And The Thorn (riyria Chronicles #2) Theft Of Swords (riyria Revelations #1 & #2): Contains The Crown Conspiracy & Avempartha Rise Of Empire (riyria Revelations #3 & #4): Contains Nyphron Rising & The Emerald Storm Heir Of Novron (riyria Revelations #5 & #6): Contains Wintertide & Percepliquis *** Fantasy Faction's Top 10 Anticipated Books For 2013 ****** Bestfantasybooks.com Most Anticipated Books Of 2013 ****** Ranting Dragon's 50 Fantasy & Sci-fi Novels To Look Forward To In 2013 ***

Peace comes at the price of bloodshed--five battles will buy you peace, four to win and one to lose. At the temple of Terayama, the words of the blind sage's prophecy continue to haunt Takeo as he readies his armies for battle. Determined to avenge Shigeru's death and claim his rightful inheritance, Takeo and Kaede, together with Takeo's forces, fight their way to the domain of Maruyama. But then they must separate. Takeo makes plans for a battle by the sea, and Kaede returns to her family's home at Shirakawa. Will they see each other again?'Blood-splashed combat alternates with contemplative stillness, and the writing is extraordinary. Hearn's trilogy ends as it began, virtually pitchperfect' - Francis Spufford, " Evening Standard"

Steven Barnes’s Great Sky Woman unveiled the world of a prehistoric people in the shadow of modern-day Mount Kilimanjaro. Now, in Shadow Valley, the astounding sequel, we follow the Ibandi people’s odyssey through a land where everything has changed—a land from whose ashes will grow the roots of civilization and the enduring truths of love, family, forgiveness, and faith. After the catastrophic eruption of Father Mountain, the Ibandi are divided, desperate, and afraid. Most have followed the only person in whom they still believe: young Sky Woman, who was on the great mountain when it exploded and who, along with Frog Hopping, returned to tell the tale. Nurtured by an elder whose searing visions have left her blind, Sky Woman nonetheless doubts her own visionary powers as she follows a path she can hardly discern—across savannah and parched plains—to find a valley of plenty for a people on the brink of collapse. But in fact, Sky Woman and Frog were not the only survivors of the mountain’s explosion. Another man has emerged from the destruction, vengeance pulsing in his veins, to lead a separate group of Ibandi into a vicious and reckless act of war. Soon these two strands of survivors will meet, through chance, desperation, and sheer willpower. In a world in which every moment is lived on the edge between life and death, where animal and human predators can strike in an instant, where the gods themselves seem lost, and dreams entwine with reality, a people’s destiny rushes toward them. The Ibandi must make a last, violent stand against complete destruction. In this hypnotic, thrilling, and beautiful novel, Steven Barnes explores relationships between friends and lovers, leaders and followers, strangers and allies. At once visceral and soaringly insightful, Shadow Valley is about who we are as human beings today as seen through the wondrous prism of our distant past.

The second in the thrilling fantasy series returning readers to the Six Duchies and the magical world of the Farseers, from the author of the bestselling Assassin's Apprentice. Fitz has succeeded in rescuing Prince Dutiful from the clutches of the Piebald rebels, and has returned with him to Buckkeep castle. With Dutiful safe again, Queen Kettricken can proceed with plans to marry him to the Outislander princess, Elliania, but with tensions building among the peoples of the Six Duchies over Kettricken's tolerance of the Wittted, even Buckkeep is no longer safe. A reluctant Fitz is assigned to protect the young prince, and also train him in the Skill, and in doing so he finally makes contact not only with his estranged daughter, Nettle, but with someone in Buckkeep who may possess a greater Skill talent than Fitz. And who may represent a terrible threat to the Farseers. Meanwhile, Elliania arrives, and before she will accept Prince Dutiful's betrothal challenges him to undertake an impossible quest. He must kill a legendary Outislander dragon.

One year of training in samurai school and Jack Fletcher is in real trouble . . . Not only is he struggling to prepare for the Circle of Three, an ancient ritual that tests a samurai's courage, skill and spirit to the limit, he's caught in a running battle with fellow student Kazuki and his gang. But these are the least of Jack's problems. He knows his deadly rival - the ninja Dragon Eye - could strike at any moment. Jack possesses the very thing he will kill for. Can Jack master the Way of the Sword in time to survive a fight to the death?

As the old gods awaken and satrapies splinter, the Chromeria races to find the only man who can still end a civil war before it engulfs the known world in the third novel of the NYT bestselling Lightbringer series by Brent Week. As the old gods awaken and satrapies splinter, the Chromeria races to find the only man who can still end a civil war before it engulfs the known world. But Gavin Guile has been captured by an old enemy and enslaved on a pirate galley. Worse still, Gavin has lost more than his powers as Prism -- he can't use magic at all. Without the protection of his father, Kip Guile will face a master of shadows as his grandfather moves to choose a new Prism and put himself in power. With Teia and Karris, Kip will have to use all his wits to survive a secret war between noble houses, religious factions, rebels, and an ascendant order of hidden assassins called The Broken Eye. Read the third book in Brent Weeks's blockbuster epic fantasy series that had Peter V. Brett saying, "Brent Weeks is so good, it's starting to tick me off!".

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface comes an all-new, fully illustrated, hardcover Deluxe Collector’s Edition of R. F. Kuang’s The Dragon Republic, with a full-wrap illustrated jacket and black-and-white interior art by JungShan Chang throughout, plus embossed case, designed endpapers, and stenciled edges! Considered one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, the second book in the beloved Poppy War Trilogy continues Rin’s epic struggle to defend her homeland at any cost. The war is over. The war has just begun. Three times throughout its history, Nikan has fought for its survival in the bloody Poppy Wars. Though the third battle has ended, the war still rages for Rin. Haunted by the atrocity she committed to save her people, the shaman and warrior is on the run from her guilt, the opium addiction that holds her like a vise, and the murderous commands of the fiery Phoenix—the vengeful god who has blessed Rin with fearsome power. While the young warrior welcomes death, she must remain alive until she avenges the traitorous Empress who betrayed her homeland. Rin’s only hope is to join forces with the enemy of her enemy—the powerful Dragon Warlord, who plots to destroy the Empress. But Rin soon learns that the Empress and the Dragon Warlord are not what they seem, leading her to contemplate the unthinkable: using the Phoenix’s deadly power once more. Because there is nothing Rin won’t sacrifice to save her country . . . and exact her vengeance.

An outcast mage caught between two warring empires must either save the world or destroy everything she loves in the second novel of "an unforgettable epic fantasy" trilogy (Publishers Weekly).Sal the Cacophony -- outlaw, outcast, outnumbered -- destroys all that she loves. Her lover lost and cities burned in her wake, all she has left is her magical gun and her all-consuming quest for revenge against those who stole her power and took the sky from her.When the roguish agent of a mysterious patron offers her the chance to participate in a heist to steal an incredible power from the famed airship fleet, the Ten Arrows, she finds a new purpose. But a plot to save the world by bringing down empires swiftly escalates into a conspiracy of magic and vengeance that threatens to burn everything to ash, including herself.For more from Sam Sykes, check out:The Grave of Empires:Seven Blades in BlackTen Arrows of IronBring Down Heaven:The City Stained RedThe Mortal TallyGod's Last BreathThe Affinity for Steel Trilogy:Tome of the UndergatesBlack HaloThe Skybound Sea

Dark and powerful forces threaten the world of Garn once more in this second novel in legendary New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist’s epic fantasy series, the Firemane Saga.Hatushaly and his young wife Hava have arrived in the prosperous trading town of Beran’s Hill to restore and reopen the fire-damaged Inn of the Three Stars. They are also preparing for the popular midsummer festival, where their friends Declan and Gwen will be wed.But Hatu and Hava are not the ordinary loving couple they appear to be. They are assassins from the mysterious island of Coaltachin, home to the powerful and lethal Nocusara, the fearsome “Hidden Warriors.” Posing as innkeepers, they are awaiting instructions from their masters in the Kingdom of Night.Hatu conceals an even more dangerous secret. He is the last remaining member of the legendary Firemanes, the ruling family of Ithrace. Known as the Kingdom of Flames, Ithrace was one of the five greatest realms of Tembria, ruled by Hatu’s father, Stervern Langene, until he and his people were betrayed. His heir, Hatu—then a baby—was hidden among the Nocusara, who raised him to become a deadly spy.Hatu works hard to hide his true identity from all who would seek to use or to destroy him, as fate has other plans for the noble warrior. Unexpected calamity forces him to make choices he could not have dreamed awaited him.A series of horrific events shatters the peace of Beran’s Hill, bringing death and devastation and unleashing monstrous forces. Once more, the Greater Realms of Tembria are threatened—and nothing will ever be the same again.

An enchanting tale of love and loss, glory and grandeur, set in the twilight of Rome's power . . . where the Celtic chieftains of Britain battle to save their land from an onrushing darkness . . . In this modern classic, Stephen Lawhead presents a majestic retelling of Western literature's most compelling epic. Merlin. His golden eyes saw the shape of a world yet to be. His wisdom would light the path of the coming King. Born of a union between druid and faery, he was trained as a bard and schooled in the ways of battle. But his heart and calling were greater than a warrior's. Son of the great Taliesin, the song of his father coursed through his soul. Yet his life and mission were to be his own. And though sovereignty was his, he would lay it aside to serve a king of his own choosing. As his powers transcended those of mortal men, so, too, would his trials, his griefs . . . and the dark might of his most fearsome enemy. In the twilight of Tome's rule over the Island of the Mighty, as smaller men vied for ascendancy, his would be the hand to lay the foundations of a new order -- the Kingdom of Summer . . . and Arthur, Pendragon of Britain. Merlin is book two in the Pendragon Cycle.