Set in the 23rd century, "The glass bead game" is the story of Joseph Knecht, who has been raised in Castalia, the remote place his society has provided for the intellectual elite to grow and flourish. Since childhood, Knecht has been consumed with mastering the Glass Bead Game, which requires a synthesis of aesthetics and scientific arts, such as mathematics, music, logic, and philosophy, which he achieves in adulthood, becoming a Magister Ludi (Master...

While attending a conference in Istanbul, Dr. Alithea Binnie happens to encounter a djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. This presents two problems: first, she doubts that he's real, and second, because she's a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. The djinn pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past. Eventually, she's beguiled and makes a wish that surprises...

"The Atlas Paradox is the long-awaited sequel to Olivie Blake's New York Times bestselling dark academic sensation The Atlas Six-guaranteed to have even more yearning, backstabbing, betrayal, and chaos. Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the Society. Two paths lay before them. All must pick a side. Alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and The Society of Alexandrians will be revealed...

"A biography of Athanasius Kircher, a 17th-century Jesuit, scientist and polymath. He was one of the modern world's first scientific celebrities. His interests ranged from hieroglyphics to China to astrology to geology. He was one of the first scientists to formulate theories based on observation. In 1638, he was lowered into the smoking crater of Mount Vesuvius to observe how volcanoes worked. He published his findings 30 years later."--

Realizing they have to hear how real people talk, a group of lexicographers end up assisting a beautiful singer get away from the mob.

Oxford lecturer Diana Morgan is an expert on Greek mythology. Her obsession with the Amazons started in childhood when her eccentric grandmother claimed to be one -- before vanishing without a trace. Diana's colleagues shake their heads, but then a mysterious, well-financed foundation makes her an offer she cannot refuse. Traveling to North Africa, Diana finds herself on a daring and dangerous quest for truth that will forever change her world.

Mariah Lyons risks her life to solve the brutal murder of her father, Dr. Jonathan Lyons, a well-respected academic, who in a stroke of luck comes into the possession of an ancient and highly valuable parchment stolen from the Vatican in the 15th century.

"The Sand Sea takes place on an alternative Earth roiled by war and conquest that mirrors our own Gilded Age. The treasure that ignites greed and folly in this parallel world is not petroleum, but beserite--a mineral of immeasurable value. Captivated by an ancient prophecy and the call of adventure, inexperienced nobleman and scholar Peter Harmon ... joins an expedition to stake his nation's claim to a global empire. Harmon's destination is a vast...