Office of the Lost

Chaos and Order Book One

J. Scott Coatsworth, Kim Fielding

When Perfection Collides With Chaos, Sparks Fly

Crispin Eladrin, desk fae at the Office of the Lost, could find a needle in ten haystacks. His desk is so neat it would make an accountant blush, and he's never failed to complete a recovery mission. He has no idea how adorable he is, especially when he's at his most annoyingly officious.

Enter utterly chaotic Leopold Lane. His life is a masterclass in disastrous events--and it's about to get worse. He's the latest thing that Crispin has been sent to retrieve, but when they meet, sparks fly. Literally. And now they must find their way back before someone—or something—enchants them, eats them, or stomps them to death.

Neither knows why the Office of the Lost is so hell-bent on acquiring Leo, but they're determined to survive long enough to find out--and to see if opposites really do attract.

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The Death Bringer

Tharassas Cycle Book 4

J. Scott Coatsworth

Aik will never be the same … and neither will his world.

War is coming. Aik has become the Progenitor, and the Seed Mother has released him to transform the world for her alien brood. Silya and Raven, Aik's former friends, are the only ones who can save him and the world. But what if the cure is worse than the invasion?

As Silya rushes to prepare Gullton for the battle to come, she's determined to save as many people as she can. But new crises emerge that demand her attention.

Raven has his own hands full, keeping the dragon-like verent in line, while helping Silya to save the world. But what if the only way to do so is to sacrifice Aik, the man that he loves?

It's the end of the world … or could it be the start of something new?

Reviews:Ulysses on Paranormal Romance Guild wrote:

The powerful and fascinating finale to the Tharassas Cycle was not a disappointment! The trick with ending an epic adventure like this is to make it NOT obvious (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc). Scott Coatsworth does it, and with a distinctive point of view that is his alone.

So, it’s all about to hit the fan (although in Tharassas they don’t seem to have fans, or air-conditioning, even though they have electricity and plumbing). As the title suggests, this is all about the looming threat to the people of Tharassas, coming from inside Anghar Mor, the dark mountain in the north east. Well, THAT sounds sort of obvious, doesn’t it?

But it’s not. We have to remember that until about five hundred years earlier, there were no humans on Tharassas, and the planet had grown and evolved and thrived just fine without them. The humans arrived from earth—specifically a group of what I suspect were what we would call survivalists. This human civilization flourished in its sort of quasi-primitive way, as the technology brought from earth on spaceships was slowly archived and forgotten. The only intact piece of earth technology on Tharassas is Spin. His presence provides a kind of comic relief from the seriousness of the plot, but also adds a powerful emotional backstory that we finally learn in full.

Thing is, humans were the second alien species to arrive on Tharassas, and they arrived thousands of years earlier. In a way, this book is their story, and it is what makes Coatsworth’s effort unique.

Meanwhile, our young trio of heros—Raven, Aik, and Silya—have all been transformed. Raven has bonded with the verent, the race of sentient white dragons. Silya has bonded with the hencha—the life-sustaining but sentient plants upon which Tharassan culture depends. And Aik, poor insecure, beautiful Aik, has bonded with the gauntlet, and thus has bonded with the Death Bringer. Each of these three youngsters, all of a sudden, find themselves with the world in their hands.

The important thing is that they are not alone. They have not gone rogue; they have joined to something bigger, older, and infinitely wiser that each of them is. More than this, they are surrounded by people who care about them and depend on them. They are necessary, but they are not solitary. None of them can do it alone, and herein lies the great lesson of this series.

Coatsworth gives the reader an unexpected twist, which will not totally surprise any reader who has been paying attention as the story begins, and we first hear the voice of the Spore Mother deep inside Anghar Mor. With stunning visuals and careful emotional control, Coatsworth gives us the epic battle for survival, while taking it in a direction both unexpected and philosophical.

Read all four. It’s a journey worth taking.


Lander

Liminal Sky - Oberon Cycle Book 2

J. Scott Coatsworth

Sometimes the world needs saving twice.

Xander and Jameson thought they’d fulfilled their destiny when they brought the worlds of Oberon and Titania back together, but their short-lived moment of triumph is over.

Reunification has thrown the world into chaos. A great storm ravaged Xander's kingdom of Gaelan, leaving the winged skythane people struggling to survive. Their old enemy, Obercorp, is biding its time, waiting to strike. And to the north, a dangerous new adversary gathers strength, while an unexpected ally awaits them.

In the midst of it all, Xander’s ex Alix returns, and Xander and Jameson discover that their love for each other may have been drug-induced.

Are they truly destined for each other, or is what they feel artificial? And can they face an even greater challenge when their world needs them most?

The Rising Tide

Liminal Sky - Ariadne Cycle Book 2

J. Scott Coatsworth

The Earth is dead.

Five years after the Collapse, the remnants of humanity travel through the stars inside Forever: a living, ever-evolving, self-contained generation ship.

When Eddy Tremaine and Andrissa “Andy” Hammond find a hidden world-within-a-world under the mountains, the discovery triggers a chain of events that could fundamentally alter or extinguish life as they know it, culminate in the takeover of the world mind, and end free will for humankind.

Eddy, Andy, and a handful of other unlikely heroes must find the courage and ingenuity to stand against the rising tide. Otherwise they might be living through the end days of human history.

"Quality, innovative worldbuilding grounds this volume in the “Liminal Sky” series. Fans of The Expanse will find plenty to enjoy here as different groups with widely varying goals and beliefs come together in a struggle to survive the vastness of space and one another." -Library Journal

Ithani

Liminal Sky: Oberon Cycle Book 3

J. Scott Coatsworth

Time is running out.

After saving the world twice, Xander, Jameson and friends plunge headlong into a new crisis. The ithani―the aliens who broke the world―have reawakened from their hundred millennia-long slumber. When Xander and Jameson disappear in a flash, an already fractured world is thrown into chaos.

The ithani plans, laid a hundred thousand years before, are finally coming to pass, and they threaten all life on Erro. Venin and Alix go on a desperate search for their missing and find more than they bargained for. And Quince, Robin and Jessa discover a secret as old as the skythane themselves.

Will alien technology, unexpected help from the distant past, destiny and some good old-fashioned firepower be enough to defeat an enemy with the ability to split a world? The final battle of the epic science fiction adventure that began in Skythane will decide the fate of lander and skythane alike.

And in the north, the ithani rise….

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Now it is the time of night
That the graves all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite,
In the church-way paths to glide:
And we fairies, that do run
By the triple Hecate’s team,
From the presence of the sun,
Following darkness like a dream.
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Erina’s iridescent wings fluttered in distress.

The time of the Great Migration was almost upon them. Overhead, the sun turned redder day by day. Soon it would unleash a torrent of heat and radiation that would destroy the ithani, the Heart, and Erro itself.

Ze had foreseen the end of the war years before and had passed zer knowledge on to Thshnel’Jirron, trusting zi to protect them all. But zis plan had gone too far, and soon the ithani would destroy themselves in a bid for immortality.

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Only zi would survive, immensely more powerful than now. A virtual vengeful god.
Ze had seen that, too, but it had come to zer far too late.

Each generation of the ithani had a seer, and ze had been born from the Heart with that heavy responsibility upon zer small shoulders. Even a seer didn’t know everything about what was to pass. Only the bits and pieces that were passed on to zer from the athrà.

Besides Jirron, no one else knew ze had the gift.
Something, or someone, was coming, ze didn’t know what yet, but ze could feel it in zer bones.

Ze was at a loss for what to do next. Ze let out a whoosh of breath, resigned to waiting. It would come to zer, the vision she needed. When the gods thought it was time.

Until then, ze would keep zer wings low to the ground and do nothing further to draw attention.

COLLAPSE

The Shoreless Sea

Liminal Sky - Ariadne Cycle Book 3

J. Scott Coatsworth

As the epic trilogy hurtles toward its conclusion, the fight for the future isn’t over yet. It could lead to a new beginning, or it might spell the end for the last vestiges of humankind.

The generation ship Forever has left Earth behind, but a piece of the old civilization lives on in the Inthworld—a virtual realm that retains memories of Earth's technological wonders and vices. A being named Lilith leads the uprising, and if she succeeds in setting its inhabitants free, they could destroy Forever.

But during the generation ship's decades-long voyage, humanity has evolved. Liminals with the ability to connect with the world mind and the Inthworld provide a glimmer of hope. They'll have to face not only Lilith’s minions, but also the mistrust of their own kind and persecution from a new government as homotypicals continue to fear what they can't understand.

The invasion must be stopped, the Inthworld must be healed, and the people of Forever must let go of their past and embrace what they’re meant to become.

The Cultist’s Wife

BJ Sikes

A gothic horror set in 1908 Bahamas

She loathes him but the cult beckons.

1908, the height of the British Empire. Clara’s autonomy is shattered when her long-absent husband summons her to join him at his eerie sect’s headquarters, insulated on a sparsely inhabited island in the Bahamas.

After a harrowing sea voyage, Clara and her children disembark into an unfamiliar landscape and climate. The children explore the marvels and mysteries of Andros Island and develop friendships with a Bahamian family, while Clara struggles to find her place as a woman within the cult.

But what seems at first to be a spiritual haven for Clara reveals itself to be a monster-worshiping cult intent on draining her family of more than their fortune.

Must Clara give up her quest for independence to protect her children from the cult’s depraved attempts to consume their life essence?

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Flawless

Space is Such a Drag

J. Scott Coatsworth

In Space, No One Can Hear You Sing …

Grayson Eck's life is a drag, in all the best possible ways. He's perfectly happy working in the belt alone as a wildcatter, prospecting asteroids by … well, not exactly by day.

At night, he transforms into the Inner System's most famous Valeriana Storm — a secret identity that even his closest friends and family don't know about.

When someone tries to steal one of Greyson's mining scores, he has half a mind to just toss the guy off his rock and into open space. But that all changes when he discovers the stranger's identity — and that he knows Greyson's secret.

Now he's being chased by a pirate, and has to decide what to do with the apparent thief while also putting on his show.

What's a space drag queen to do?

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The Hencha Queen

The Tharassas Cycle

J. Scott Coatsworth

Silya comes into her own, but will she be enough?

Silya finally has everything she always wanted: She's the Hencha Queen, head of the Temple, and is mastering her newfound talents. So why does the world pick now to fall apart?

Her once-nemesis Raven is off riding dragons, and their mutual friend (and her ex) Aik is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, a new threat menaces the Heartland from the East. If she can't convince a reluctant city council to prepare for the worst, she may lose everything—and everyone—she's ever cared about.

As Silya wields her abilities, dry wit, and sheer determination to save her city, she's joined by Raven and his new friends, just as a dark storm threatens to sweep them all away. Will their aid help tip the scales? And will she and Raven finally find out what happened to Aik?

Forget messy. Things just got apocalyptic.

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Earth 2100

28 Captivating Visions of a Sci-Fi Future

J. Scott Coatsworth

Earth on the Cusp of the Twenty-Second Century

Just think how the world has changed in the last seventy-six years. In 1948, scientists ran the first computer program, and "the Ultimate Car of the Future," the futuristic, three wheeled Davis Divan, debuted. Since then, a succession of inventions—the personal computer, the internet, the World Wide Web, smart phones and social media—have transformed every aspect of our lives.

How might the next seventy-six years change us, in ways we can barely even begin to imagine, as culture, climate change, politics and technology continue to reshape the world? Earth in 2100 will be as unrecognizable to us as today would be to someone from 1948.

Eighteen writers tackled this challenge, creating an amazing array of sci-fi possibilities. From emotional AI's to photosynthetic children, from virtual worlds to a post-urban society, our writers serve up compelling slices of life from an Earth that's just around the corner.

So dive in and and take a wild ride into these amazing visions of our collective future.

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