Adventure & Journey

In this sequel to What the River Knows, Inez Olivera continues to navigate the dangerous world she encountered in Egypt. Still reeling from betrayal and the murder of her cousin Elvira, Inez faces new threats involving her inheritance, her family’s secrets, and the mysterious forces surrounding her investigation. Her uncle presents her with an ultimatum that could determine her future: marriage to Whitford Hayes, a former British soldier whose true intentions remain uncertain. Although their relationship is marked by distrust and unresolved attraction, the two must confront the dangers surrounding them. Set against the atmosphere of nineteenth-century Egypt, the novel combines historical adventure, romance, and supernatural mystery. Inez must decide whom she can trust as she seeks answers and fights to retain control over her own destiny.

In The Heart of the Nhaga, the first volume of Lee Young-do’s celebrated epic fantasy series The Bird That Drinks Tears, four distinct peoples inhabit a world divided by the mysterious Line of Limit. To the north live humans, the Tokkebi, who wield fire as both a weapon and an illusion, and the Rekon, powerful birdlike warriors. To the south dwell the Nhaga, reptilian beings who surrender their hearts in exchange for immortality. When a Nhaga is sent on a mission northward, three companions—one from each northern people—are tasked with ensuring his safe passage. Their journey quickly becomes more complicated than expected: the Tokkebi is a scholar rather than an adventurer, the formidable Rekon fears water, and the human hunts Nhaga for food. When their original charge is murdered and replaced by another Nhaga who still possesses his heart, the group faces an even more dangerous expedition. As the unlikely companions struggle to survive, they must confront their prejudices and discover the true purpose of their mission. Combining imaginative world-building, political intrigue, humor, and philosophical questions about identity and mortality, Lee creates an epic fantasy that draws on Korean cultural influences while exploring universal themes of difference, cooperation, and belonging.

In a remote Scottish town on the Orkney Islands, Paul, a Swiss interior designer, lives a quiet, carefully ordered life devoted to aesthetics and precision. His routine is disrupted when he receives an unusual commission from a prestigious design magazine: he must travel to Norway to paint a vast data centre in the perfect shade of white. But the journey takes an unexpected turn, and Paul mysteriously disappears from his familiar reality. Elsewhere, in a strange, myth-haunted world, a young girl named Ildr discovers an injured stranger whom she initially mistakes for an animal. As she helps him recover, the two embark on a dangerous journey through an unfamiliar landscape, pursued by the soldiers of a ruthless duke. Blurring the boundaries between fantasy, reality, and dreams, Christian Kracht’s enigmatic novel explores the fragility of modern civilisation and the possibility of escaping its constraints. With precise, atmospheric prose, Air invites readers into a world where time, identity, and existence itself become uncertain.