fate and fatalism

Told in two voices, when Arthur, a summer intern from Georgia, and Ben, a native New Yorker, meet it seems like fate, but after three attempts at dating fail they wonder if the universe is pushing them together or apart.

"In a warlike land of wind and sunlight, 'ringed by a restless sea,' live Rhaskos and Melisto, spiritual twins with little in common beyond the violent and mysterious forces that dictate their lives. A Thracian slave in a Greek household, Rhaskos is as common as clay, a stable boy worth less than a donkey, much less a horse. Wrenched from his mother at a tender age, he nurtures in secret, aided by Socrates, his passions for art and philosophy. Melisto is a spoiled aristocrat, a girl as precious as amber but willful and wild. She'll marry and be tamed--the curse of all highborn girls--but risk her life for a season first to serve Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Bound by destiny, Melisto and Rhaskos--Amber and Clay--never meet in the flesh. By the time they do, one of them is a ghost. But the thin line between life and death is just one boundary their unlikely friendship crosses"--Provided by publisher.

In 1987, when sixteen-year-old Mayhem and her mother leave her abusive stepfather and return to Santa Maria, California, May learns she is heir to magical power, destined to stop evildoers.

Everything Poppy has ever believed in is a lie, including the man she was falling in love with. Thrust among those who see her as a symbol of a monstrous kingdom, she barely knows who she is without the veil of the Maiden. But what she does know is that nothing is as dangerous to her as he. The Dark One. The Prince of Atlantia. He wants her to fight him, and that's one order she's more than happy to obey. He may have taken her, but he will never have her. Casteel Da'Neer is known by many names and many faces. His lies are as seductive as his touch. His truths as sensual as his bite. Poppy knows better than to trust him. He needs her alive, healthy, and whole to achieve his goals. But he's the only way for her to get what she wants: to find her brother Ian and see for herself if he has become a soulless Ascended. Working with Casteel instead of against him presents its own risks. He still tempts her with every breath, offering up all she's ever wanted. Casteel has plans for her. Ones which could expose her to unimaginable pleasure and unfathomable pain. Plans which will force her to look beyond everything she thought she knew about herself and about him. Plans which could bind their lives together in unexpected ways neither kingdom is prepared for. And she's far too reckless, too hungry, to resist the temptation. But unrest has grown in Atlantia as they await the return of their Prince. Whispers of war have become stronger, and Poppy is at the very heart of it all. The King wants to use her to send a message. The Descenters want her dead. The wolven are growing more unpredictable. And as her abilities to feel pain and emotion begin to grow and strengthen, the Atlantians start to fear her. Dark secrets are at play, ones steeped in the blood-drenched sins of two kingdoms which would do anything to keep the truth hidden. But when the earth begins to shake and the skies start to bleed, it may already be too late.

"Casteel Da'Neer knows all too well that very few are as cunning or vicious as the Blood Queen. Nothing will stop Poppy from freeing her King and destroying everything the Blood Crown stands for. Together, Poppy and Casteel must embrace traditions old and new to safeguard those they hold dear. But war is only the beginning. Ancient primal powers have already stirred, revealing the horror of what began eons ago. To end what the Blood Queen has begun, Poppy might have to become what she has been prophesied to be--what she fears the most"--Provided by publisher.

"Flint Larson has known when he was going to die since he was eight because of the Half-Life Institute, and he is spending the last forty-one days quietly with his divorced parents; September is a vibrant aspiring scientist who wants to cure 'half-life', especially since she has met Flint--but their time together is getting short".

In a world on the brink ofwar where one more roll from a magical die may set her down a dangerous path, nineteen-year-old Calla Rosewood joins a ragtag group of witches that ventures into an enchanted forest to find a way to reset their fates, only to discover that the forest may be more than any of them bargained for.

The long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy Jackson's sixteenth birthday unfolds as he leads an army of young demigods to stop Kronos in his advance on New York City, while the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster, Typhon.

Sixteen-year-old witch Selestra Somniatis, bound to steal souls for an immortal king, discovers her fate is tied to Nox Laederic, a reckless doomed boy who is trying to bring down her kingdom.

"The herds of magical horses in Horsa have a fragile alliance, but when a prophecy stating that a yearling with a new kind of magic has been born, the four herds each elect a group of horses to find the yearling and bring balance to Horsa"--OCLC.