New Arrivals – Dragonlance and other Brilliance titles

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

Brilliance Audio has sent us lots of goodies this week.

Fantasy Audiobook - Dragons of the Highlord Skies by  Weis and HickmanDragons Of The Highlord Skies: The Lost Chronicles Volume Two
By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman; Read by Sandra Burr
13 CD, 16 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781423316206

From the popular Dragonlance series. The first volume, Dragons of the Dwarven Depths, was reviewed by SFFaudio.

The Companions are back, and so are their enemies in the second volume of the Lost Chronicles.

Kitiara discovers that a former lover, Tanis Half-elven, and his friends were responsible for the death of Highlord Verminaard. This revelation puts Kit in danger, for Emperor Ariakas hears of the connection and suspects Kit of having arranged the assassination. He orders his witch, the exotic Iolanthe, to spy on Kit, who clinches her own doom by becoming obsessed with finding Tanis, convincing Ariakas that she is indeed a traitor. But Kit is not one to take a sentence of death easily.

Kit’s rival, Laurana, begins her own journey to destiny, as she travels to Icereach with Sturm, Flint, Tasslehoff, and three Solamnic knights led by Sir Derek Crownguard. The knights are on a quest for the fabled dragon orb that will be the salvation of Solamnia. What none of them know is that they are all being led into a deadly trap laid for them by the winternorn, the dark elf wizard Feal-Thas.

But it is Kitiara who faces the greatest challenge. To save herself, she vows to Takhisis that she will spend the night in Dargaard Keep, the dread castle of the death knight, Lord Soth. As she and Skie fly to challenge the death knight, Kit is well aware that in three hundred years, not one person who has ever faced Lord Soth has survived the ordeal.

Fantasy Audiobook - Seeker by William NicolasonSeeker: Book One of the Noble Warriors
By William Nicholson; Read by Michael Page
9 CD, 10 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781423318354

A young adult novel that sounds promising. We received Jango: Book Two a couple weeks ago, and Brilliance was kind enough to send us this one!

On the rocky island of Anacrea, in a garden within the great castle-monastery called the Nom, lives the All and Only, the god who made all things. He is protected by an elite band of fighter monks. These are the Nomana, the Noble Warriors.Seeker, who lives on the island, is now sixteen, at last old enough to follow his brother into the ranks of the Nomana.

Far away, Morning Star, also just sixteen, is leaving home to achieve her lifelong wish to join the Nomana.

And when a beautiful, violent river bandit known as the Wildman finds himself helpless before two Nomana, he, too, is determined to become a Noble Warrior.

But these are dangerous times. Secret enemies have sworn to destroy Anacrea, and in the imperial city of Radiance, where human sacrifices are thrown to their deaths every evening, elaborate plans to attack the Nom are in place. Soon, in a shocking turn of events, Seeker, Morning Star, and the Wildman are caught up in a bloody and harrowing race to save the god of the Nomana – and themselves – from destruction.

And a couple titles for the young converts. These next two say 7+ for recommended age. They’re part of the Strange Matter series.

Young Adult Audiobook - Toy Trouble by Engle and BarnesToy Trouble
By Engle and Barnes; Multicast recording
2 CD, 2 hrs – [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781423308386

Karen Sanders loves toys. An avid toy collector, she’s always looking for strange and unusual playthings. Her room is practically a toy museum, from treasured rarities in collector’s cases to shoeboxes full of battered pieces and parts.

Karen’s friends tell her about a new store that just opened in Fairfield! A new toy store. She can’t believe it! Wasting no time, she and her friends rush to the opening of . . . Kepler’s Toys and Collectibles.

The selection is wonderful but Karen and her friends wonder why they are the only customers there when it first opens. Maybe it’s the strangeness of the shopkeeper, Mr. Kepler, that frightens people away. To their amazement, they find most every toy they ever wanted, each buying armloads, so many they can barely carry them home.

Soon they discover their toy-friends have a life all their own.And the name of their game is . . . trouble.

Young Adult Audiobook - Plant People by Engle and BarnesPlant People
By Engle and Barnes; Multicast recording
2 CD, 2 hrs – [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN: 9781423308508

Something strange is moving into the house behind Rachel Pearson’s – and only she knows it.

While exploring the vacant house, Rachel comes across some weird looking plants. They are large, green shells that have blossomed. . . letting whatever was inside them out.

Then, two months later, the Smith family moves into the empty house. They’re very odd people. Not only do Mr. and Mrs. Smith and their two weird children, Jane and Richard, look unsettling, they act strange as well. Jane seems to have a taste for bugs, while Richard disappears late at night with a shovel in hand, only to return early the next morning. It’s made Rachel very suspicious.

But soon that suspicion turns to fear when strange things happen to those who come into contact with the Smiths. Kids get sick. Parents disappear. And plants come to life.

Now no one’s left to believe Rachel, except for the Smiths. . .


New Arrivals – Laurell K. Hamilton and William Nicholson

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

Fantasy Horror Audiobook - The Harlequin by Laurell K HamiltonThe Harlequin
By Laurell K. Hamilton; Read by Cynthia Holloway
14 CDs; Approx. 16 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN-13: 9781596000469

From the back cover:
Malcolm, head of the vampire Church of Eternal Life, is no particular friend to Anita Blake. So when he shows up in her office, to ask for her help against creatures so feared that no vampire will willingly speak their name, Anita is surprised. But she believes him. Malcolm may not be a Master of the City, but he’s an old and powerful vampire, a leader of men, and he does not easily ask for help – especially from Anita and Jean-Claude, whose power Malcolm considers corrupt. That was the first warning of The Harlequin.

The second warning is presented like a gift, left where she’d be sure to find it, with “Anita” printed on the box. Inside, carefully wrapped in folds of pristine tissue paper, is a white mask, utterly plain. The fact that it’s white, Jean-Claude tells her, is the good news. White means they are only being watched.

The flow of power that connects Anita Blake with Jean-Claude, vampire Master of the City, and with Richard, Ulfric of the werewolves, has been growing and changing, increasing exponentially. Their power seems to have attracted attention, and it’s a kind of attention no one would desire. Jean-Claude and Richard need to be strong allies now. Nathaniel and Micah need to give all their love and aid. And Anita will need to call on Edward, whose utterly human ruthlessness in her defense makes him the right man for the job.

Anita Blake has the authority to pass judgment on vampires. The Harlequin have the authority to pass judgment on her. It is forbidden to speak of The Harlequin unless you’ve been contacted.

And to be contacted by The Harlequin is to be under sentence of death.

Fantasy Horror Audiobook - Jango by William NicholsonJango; Book Two of the Noble Warriors
By William Nicholson; Read by Michael Page
8 CDs; Approx. 10 hrs – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2007
ISBN-13: 9781423318446

From the back cover:
In joining the warrior society of the Nomana, Seeker, Morning Star, and the Wildman have achieved everything they thought they desired. Yet, as hidden doubts develop, the three friends find themselves pulled in separate directions.

Seeker has gained more power in their training than he or anyone ever imagined, and with this, a new responsibility that isolates him from the others.

Morning Star is consumed with unexpected feelings of love for a friend and begins to lose faith in her abilities.

The Wildman’s hunger for power puts him at odds with the teachings of the Nomana, and he struggles to understand his purpose.

But the three heroes’ fates again intertwine when an evil plan is set in motion that would destroy everything they have ever known, and this enemy is one that the Nomana may not be able to stand up to alone.

A story of friendship and love, strength and courage, faith and redemption, Jango is a mesmerizing sequel to the acclaimed Seeker.