The anime is just getting to the amazing info dump chapters of 956-957 so I figured it’s a good time to post what I make of the information learned from these chapters as well as how they may set the stage for our final war. Also, there is an additional fringe, bold theory of mine at the end :)
Foreshadowing of the Reverie events
First, I would like to begin with what I believe was some clever foreshadowing by Oda that the Reverie would have an incident that involved Alabasta, the military, the Rev Army, (and possibly) the Red Hair Pirates.
Post-Zou we get another classic worldbuilding chapter (823) that has many of the world’s characters getting ready to depart for the Reverie. Among them is the kingdom of Alabasta which features a shit ton of death flags for Cobra as well as this bit of dialogue from Igaram.
Take note of the three oddly specific things he’s worried about: A meteorite falling on Vivi, a monstrous bird carrying her away, and a sniper with their sights on her.
Conveniently enough, these powers all made a debut in the story shortly before in Dressrosa:

Why list these three specific things to worry about? I think Oda was using it as foreshadowing of the events that were to take place at The Reverie.
As we know from the break between Act I and Act II, Blackbeard relays the newspaper report that The Revolutionaries and the Admirals clashed at The Reverie. As you see in the background, you can see two of the three aforementioned people about to clash (Fujitora and Karasu).
In between Act II and Act III, we are relayed that there is a certain incident involving Alabasta, to which Shirahoshi is immediately worried about Vivi.
What of the Sniper? While Usopp was obviously not there, a certain mysterious pirate was. Who happens to have a highly skilled sniper in his crew who just happens to be Usopp’s father. While Yasopp hasn’t been shown at The Reverie, I think there may be a chance he could be the “sniper with sights on her'' (not as an enemy though imo) in Igaram’s worries. As Usopp said in Dressrosa: He’s best as a backup. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shanks has his sniper present as backup with all those tall buildings around in Mariejois.
So I believe Igaram’s seemingly hyperbolic worry about Vivi was foreshadowing that three factions representing these powers would clash with Vivi and Alabasta caught in the middle.

The meteorite from the sky represented by Fujitora and the Marines
The Birds carrying her away represented by Karasu and the Rev Army
The sniper with their sights on her represented by Yassop and the Red Hair Pirates

All factions who were present at The Reverie.
What we know of the events that occurred at The Reverie
I’d like to take a moment to review what we know of what events occurred at The Reverie:

More or less, I think these events are almost all directly connected. Here is what I believe happened:
Imu and the Gorosei decided it was time to eliminate Cobra and Vivi, as Alabasta houses the Ancient Weapon Pluton, they know of their allyship to the Strawhat’s who is led by a dreaded “D”, and Cobra is asking questions about the history they seek to hide. Ultimately making them a growing threat to their power. They even refer to their family as “traitors”
Shanks meets with the Gorosei to “talk to them about a pirate”. I believe this pirate to be Blackbeard. Similar to what he tried to do with Whitebeard, he is attempting to stop the Gorosei from doing anything hasty because of the threat Blackbeard poses and he’ll take advantage of any chaos, in true Blackbeard fashion.
The Revolutionaries attack at The Reverie in order to rescue their comrade, Kuma. The Gorosei see this as the perfect opportunity to enact their plans to eliminate Cobra and Vivi in the chaos and place the blame on the Revolutionary Army.
They succeed in killing Cobra (who has been riddled with death flags), this is the fatality that Morgans was talking about reporting. However, they were unsuccessful in eliminating Vivi, I believe that she escaped with The Revolutionary Army, however Sabo stayed behind to ensure their escape and was captured (he was determined to die beforehand). The government used this to say that they abducted heshe is missing following an attempt on her life (this is the “attempted murder” Morgans spoke of).
This is why the Revolutionary Army is shocked and Sabo’s family and friends are sad. For the Revolutionary Army, we were told by Koala that the enemy was the Celestial Dragons not the World Government. An important distinction, because news of Sabo killing Cobra and hurting/harming Vivi would certainly shock his comrades as it undermines their mission. However, they haven’t been able to contact them to confirm the facts. To his family, it looks like Sabo has assassinated a world leader and is now in the government’s hands making them insanely sad.
The importance of the World Government eliminating Cobra and Vivi and being able to successfully place the blame on the Revolutionary Army allows them to move into Alabasta unimpeded, giving them the opportunity to get one of their most sought after objectives, The Ancient Weapon Pluton. If it is known the World Government was responsible for their deaths, they wouldn’t have the excuse to move into the country. But being able to place the blame on the Revolutionary Army allows them to fill that vacancy without protest from others of it being some sort of coup.
Which brings me to my next point, this is why Blackbeard is mobilizing. He said he wants to get his hands on it before the Government does. He is speaking of Pluton. He knows the Government will look to seize control of Alabasta but he’ll claim the “prize” Pluton.
At this point, you may ask why the Government was trying to apparently cover up this news and not have Morgans publish it, given it paints the Revolutionary Army in the bad light. Well, I don't think they were actually trying to cover it up. The government has a number of powerful resources at their disposal but they sent a lone nameless fodder CP agent. Why? This is “Big News” Morgans we’re talking about, the man lives for scoops!!
Seriously look at this fearless man! In fact, CP-0 KNOWS that sending a lone agent shouldn’t intimidate him, Stussy is right here with him while they’re FALLING OFF A CASTLE as she remarks he shows no fear in the face of a scoop. The government trying to “cover it up” gives the story more legitimacy for him. They know sending a single nameless fodder agent won’t stop Morgans, they also know it’ll make him publish it as the biggest scoop!
This is important for the government because their ruse depends on a single piece of information from being known to the world at large: The Strawhat Pirates are allies of Vivi and the Alabasta Kingdom. If this were to get out to the world, the plan to frame the Revolutionary Army would fall apart given Luffy’s Father is the head and his sworn brother is the second in command. This is where the call from Wapol comes in...
Finally, Wapol calls Morgans to leak some info. I believe the info that Wapol has is that the Strawhat crew is allied with Vivi, as he ran into them on the way to Drum Island. He is one of the few in the world (who is not their friend) that knows of their relationship, since the government hid the Strawhat’s involvement at Alabasta. If you recall, it was Morgans who published the info that Luffy and Sabo were sworn brothers after Whole Cake Island. If this incident at The Reverie involves both Alabasta and Sabo, then Morgans learning that they're both allies of Strawhat Luffy flips the entire dynamic of the Revolutionary Army attacking the Alabastan royalty.
That is why they sent a single nameless fodder CP agent to “bribe” Morgans, to give him belief that this story worries them enough to hush. That action has more pull than the words of Wapol, who is pretty much known for being a punk ass. So even if Morgans was to learn of the SH-Alabasta connection, he wouldn’t necessarily run with it, as Wapol’s leak is simply hearsay compared to the action of the Government trying to cover it up. This is why Dragon and company accuse Morgans of lying when they read the news as it is something they would not do, however Morgans believes it to be true.
Shanks’ and Blackbeard’s Roles
The second part of the huge info dump chapters has a big focus on the Rocks crew and the history behind them. This is where I believe our other two major players in the final war come in: Shanks and Blackbeard.

Shanks is the son of Rocks D. Xebec
Blackbeard is the one who inherited the will of Rocks D. Xebec

I will start with Shanks, below are some relevant details I’d like to highlight:

The Rocks Crew fell 38 years ago at God Valley in an incident that has been erased from the history books. Most notable about this incident is that Garp and Roger teamed up for it and it involved protecting Celestial Dragons. Shanks is slightly older than this at 39 years of age.
In the Oden flashback Roger remarks it has been ages since he’s held a baby, to which Rayleigh responds it reminds him of “the good ole days” implying they once had a baby involved in their adventures or on the ship.
During the ceasefire of the Roger vs Whitebeard duel, a newly recruited Teach asks his crew about Buggy and Shanks, to which they tell him despite their young age they have been on Roger’s ship for ages.
Prior to his death, Roger tells Garp he has a child and he needs to protect him as the son does not carry the sins of the father and he deserves his own life. Garp then takes in his rival’s child and raises him as his own.
When Whitebeard and Shanks meet up Whitebeard remarks that seeing Shanks’ face makes the scars he got from him ache. It is said that the Rocks crew got along terribly and were often very violent to each other, with even killing occurring within the crew.

If you recall, after Roger was executed one of the first objectives of the Government was to hunt down and end his bloodline. Prior to Roger, Rocks was the government’s biggest threat. I suspect that after Rocks D. Xebec fell 38 years ago, the World Government tried doing the same thing.
Enter Shanks. I believe that Shanks, in similar fashion to Ace, was the surviving heir of a bloodline the World Government wished to eliminate. Upon discovery of his existence Garp had Roger take him and raise him as to not kill a new born child. Shanks was then raised aboard Roger’s ship, this all comes full circle years later when Roger asks the same of Garp with a sheepish grin on his face, knowing he will agree to it.
Many believe that Blackbeard is the descendant of Rocks, while I believe he 100% does have a relation to Rocks it is not familial, instead he is the one who inherited Rocks will. After all, he seemingly has a lot in common with Rocks:

Sengoku said Rocks’ ambition was to become King of the world and that he broke the world's taboos. Shanks suggests something similar about Blackbeard when he warns Whitebeard - he won’t ever stop aiming for the top. Blackbeard has also broken the world’s taboos by consuming two Devil Fruit which was previously unheard of.
His ship is named Saber of Xebec, seemingly after Rocks D. Xebec
His base of operations is on Hachinosu Island, which was the same place that the Rocks pirates were formed. Also the birthplace of the Davy Back Fight.

However, in One Piece, there is a pattern that the son does not inherit the will of their father and oftentimes it's the exact opposite:

Monkey D. Garp - His son Dragon directly looks to overthrow the organization he works for and his grandson is also one of their biggest threats and aims to become Pirate King like his rival, Roger.
Gol D. Roger - His son, Portgas D. Ace completely rejected him and dedicated his life to making his pirate rival, Whitebeard, the Pirate King.
Kaido - His son Yamato literally wants to be Kozuki Oden, the only person to ever scar him and someone he only shamefully defeated through trickery.
Oden - While his son Momonosuke seeks to carry out his father’s will, by an ironic twist of fate he ate a Devil Fruit that turned him into a Dragon, the same form as the beast who killed his father. (This is a little different, but worth pointing out imo)
Shanks (D. Xebec)? - If what I believe to be true, Shanks is the son of Rocks D. Xebec, and was raised by his father’s rival Gol D. Roger, who he respects and reveres. Shanks seeks to stop Marshall D. Teach, the man who inherited his father’s evil will.

If Blackbeard is aiming for the top of the world like Rocks, what is it that Shanks is trying to accomplish?
Since Shanks accompanied Roger on his voyages everywhere except Laugh Tale, he at least knows important info like Shyarly’s predictions. I believe he is trying his best to buy time until it is Luffy’s time to bring change to the world.
It has become clear that the story is quickly approaching the important moment in time that Roger was “too early” for.
Shanks, aware of this, made this bet on Luffy as a child seemingly after hearing him say the exact same words Roger said (got a long ass post for that too lol).
Shanks aims to maintain balance in the world until it is Luffy’s time to carry out what his captain could not. Many of his actions seem to indicate he is trying to avoid catastrophic situations that could arise until that time comes and Blackbeard, inheritor of Rocks’ will, is the biggest threat to that:

When Shanks warns Whitebeard about Teach, he doesn’t try to prevent a quarrel altogether but says it isn't time yet.
When he saves Koby he mentions the importance of a few seconds.
When he asks Teach if he wants to fight he laughs it off and he too seems to recognize it is not yet time.
Most recently Shanks has gone to the Gorosei in an attempt to talk to them, most likely about Teach, in an attempt to maintain balance.

Conclusion - Setting the stage for the Final War
I believe it’s these events that will set the stage of our final war for our participants:

The World Government
The Revolutionary Army
Blackbeard Pirates
Red-Hair Pirates
Strawhat Crew (and Grand Fleet)

With the Alabasta royalty out of the way and a convenient scapegoat in the Revolutionary Army, the World Government will move in on Alabasta under the guise of being helpful since their leaders are gone in an attempt to gain control of Pluton.
Blackbeard, inheritor of Rock’s will, who seems to have a lot of knowledge about the secrets of the world, will make his move to try to claim the weapon before they do. “If the government is going to take it (Alabasta) then I’ll claim the prize (Pluton)!”
The Revolutionary Army, who will be blamed by the World Government (and who was also once attacked by Blackbeard) will get involved in this quarrel as well in an attempt to keep the weapon out of their enemy’s hands, and to retrieve Sabo if he is indeed captured.
I think this will be where Shanks makes a move as well (which Oda mentioned in his year end message), in an attempt to maintain order until Luffy is ready and to stop Blackbeard from becoming too powerful, as he is the only one that seemingly knows what he is truly capable of.
We also have the internal split of the WG/CP-0/Akainu “absolute justice” type and the SWORD/Garp type of the military, who seem more noble in their intentions. All of these forces will collide in our final major confrontation.
And of course the Strawhat Crew. The Grand Fleet will get involved as well. A number of them fought alongside Sabo and The Revolutionary Army in Dressrosa and were also present at The Reverie, where they learned of Vivi and the Strawhat friendship. When they read the news about Alabasta and The Revolutionary Army they will know something is afoot and will be ready to spring into action.
Thank you for reading all of this, this is the end of the main body of the post. At the beginning I mentioned I also have a bold fringe theory. I typically like to throw these in at the end as they’re a little more out there but I still believe baby!
Without further ado I present to you below the Vivi Paw Paw Theory:
I will begin with the very first piece of evidence, this intriguing observation in SBS 59 and Oda’s equally interesting answer to it:

D: Odacchi! I noticed an amazing thing!!! It is that if you show the Straw Hat Devil Fruit users in numbers, it will be the numbers from 1~10!!
Luffy→Gomu Gomu (5.6.5.6.), Chopper→Hito Hito (1.10.1.10), Robin→Hana Hana (8.7.8.7.), Brook→Yomi Yomi (4.3.4.3.)
(1.3.4.5.6.7.8.10), but there is no (2.9), so is the one who ate the Nikyu Nikyu (2.9.2.9.) no Mi, Bartholomew Kuma, gonna be a Straw Hat next? Please tell me!!! P.N. SHANKUS.LOVE
O: WHAAAAAT?! (shock) Gosh that surprised me! Why was I surprised?! NO COMMENTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! NEXT!!

Oda’s answer is very interesting to say the least. We’ve seen him play with this (2.9.) thing with Kuma before as well:

His bounty is 296,000,000
His birthday is February 9th (2/9)

So the (2.9) fruit is missing from a member of the Strawhat Crew. I think this will go to Vivi, and I'll circle back to her (2.9.) connection in a bit...
“So u/africhic how the hell is Vivi gonna end up with the fruit?”
Since you just read through my long ass theory, I think the Revolutionary Army will be successful in retrieving Kuma, and that Vivi left along with them, aided by whatever sacrifice Sabo made that has been reported in the papers.
If you recall, while they’re going over their plan underground, Karasu mentions that even if they rescue Kuma he might not ever be able to return to being a human.
I believe this will be the case. They will rescue him and he’ll simply be a shell of a person. He is only programmed to take orders from the Government and the Celestial Dragons. While they may rescue him from slavery, there’s the chance he never returns to being human again.
This is where I believe the Revolutionary Army will make the decision to kill him and let him rest instead of existing as an empty husk. However, after the events of The Reverie they decide that it’s best to transfer his Devil Fruit power to someone who will make good use of it. Someone else who is also the leader of a nation that was allied with the government but is now an enemy in their eyes...Princess Vivi!!!
Just like with the Mera-Mera passing on from one sworn brother to the next, the Nikyu Nikyu will go from the leader of a WG allied nation who challenged them, Bartholomew Kuma of the Sorbet Kingdom to another leader who now faces their wrath, Princess Vivi of the Alabasta Kingdom.
While we as an audience still do not understand exactly how Devil Fruit powers transfer after death, it seems some characters have an idea:

Most notably, Blackbeard is able to take Whitebeard’s power immediately after death. While this could be something unique to Blackbeard it has been demonstrated that they can take the fruit of others and give them to their own crew (shiryu gaining the Clear-Clear fruit)
Caesar Clown also has shown some knowledge of this, as he seemingly left a bag of fruit on the raft rigged to fail when Smiley was to reincarnate. The fruit then transformed into a Devil Fruit, and he said he’d meet Smiley again.
Vegapunk also seems to have an insane breadth of knowledge when it comes to Devil Fruit. However, we don’t have evidence of him knowing how they transfer.

My theory relies on someone in the Revolutionary Army having this sort of knowledge. Perhaps Dragon or someone like Lindbergh who seems to be a genius inventor.
This would complete the pattern of all the “numbered” Devil Fruit belonging to a member of the Strawhat Crew. So how does the (2.9.) fit in like I mentioned earlier?
Let us go way back to the Baroque Works Saga. The only reason why Vivi was able to: Meet up and ally with the Straw Hats to begin their journey Meet up on their way out to depart on great terms and establish a beautiful friendship
Is because of two men who chose the power of FRIENDSHIP over all:

Mr. 2
Mr. 9

It was because of Mr. 9 (and Ms. Monday) that Vivi was able to escape Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. He chose their friendship and gave her an avenue to escape and reach the Strawhats.
It was because of Mr. 2 choosing his friendship with the Straw Hats that they were able to meet up with Vivi and say goodbye in this iconic scene, able to leave on beautiful terms.
What were the two numbers missing from the crew’s Devil fruit? 2 and 9.
Whose heroic actions enabled the friendship of the Strawhat Crew and Vivi to bloom? Mr. 2 and Mr. 9.
Luffy = Gomu Gomu (5,6 5,6)
Chopper = Hito Hito (1,10 1, 10)
Robin = Hana Hana (8, 7 8, 7)
Brook = Yomi Yomi (4,3 4,3)
Vivi = Nikyu Nikyu (2,9 2,9)
Thus completes my Vivi PawPaw Theory.
If you’re still here...thank you for reading all this lmfao

Hello everyone. I made a post about two months ago sharing my library index (646GB at the time). I was working with 400GB of space back then so I went with a request format so people could comment and request titles on my list. However, I have since exceeded that storage space limit through the sheer number of requests I've been getting so I decided to purchase more space to accommodate everyone's needs. As a result, I now have enough space to upload my entire library which is what I have done. Please enjoy!

aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWdhLm56L2ZvbGRlci96bDBtR1FDUSN3S21ORzVlUmdDVmxSeC0wUTlFQS1R

*This keeps coming up on my last post, so I will reiterate it here:
This is not a request post. I'm sharing what I have in my library. Please do not request titles that aren't listed below. Thank you. :)

If there's no quality specified, it's FLAC at 16bit / 44.1 or 48 kHz
[320] MP3 at 320kbps, when this number is 3 digits and not 16/24 it is always MP3 with the number indicating kbps
[24] FLAC at 24 bit, if the sampling rate is higher than 44.1/48kHz it will be specified
[MQA] will be specified after bit-rate
Discographies are studio albums mostly, some include EPs/Mixtapes/Live albums as well
All albums listed are complete, unless otherwise noted.
If there are multiple formats available within an album, they will be in separate sub folders.
Occasionally there will be albums with mixed formats, which will be noted.
There's a small percentage of titles that are labeled in FLAC but are actually upsampled MP3. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure which ones they are. I'd estimate this to be less than 3% of the collection.
Some video content are also included with certain titles.
I think that would be all for now. Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions below.
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2 Chainz - Discography (2012-2020)[16~24/96]
2 Pac - 2Pacalypse Now, Strictly 4 My NIGGAZ, Me Against the World, All Eyez on Me, Americaz Most Wanted
8 Mile Original Soundtrack
8Ball - Lost
21 Savage - Slaughter King [320], Savage Mode, Savage Mode II [24]
50 Cent - Discography (2003-2014), Power of the Dollar EP+Unreleased, Guess Who's Back [Mixtape], The New Breed [Documentary CD], Get Rich or Die Tryin' OST, This is 50 [Mixtape], The Kanan Tape [Mixtape], Best Of [Compilation], Singles
112 - 112, Room 112
A Boogie wit da Hoodie - Artist, The Bigger Artist, Hoodie SZN, Artist 2.0 [24]
A Great Big World - Is There Anybody Out There? [320]
A$AP Ferg - Furious Ferg, Floor Seats II [24]
A$AP Rocky - Live.Love. ASAP, Long. Live. ASAP, At. Last. ASAP [24], Testing [24]
Aaryan Shah - In the Making, The Arrival: Part I+II [16~24]
AC/DC - Discography (1976-2020)[16~24/96]
Ace Hood [320] - Discography (2008-2013)
Mixtape: Ace Won't Fold, All Bets on Ace, Final Warning, Street Certified, The Preview, I Do It.. For the Sport, The Statement, Body Bag Vol.1, Sex Chronicles, The Statement 2, Body Bag Vol.2, Starvation, Starvation II

ACG:
.hack_Sign OST 1+2 [320]
Castlevania - Akumajo Dracula Best Music Collections Box
Curse of Darkness - Prelude of Revenge
Harmony of Despair
Lament of Innocence
Lament of Innocence Limited Edition Music Sampler
Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
Symphony of the Night
Death Note OST 1+2+3 [320]
Detective Conan OST 3
Final Fantasy Symphonic Suite
Final Fantasy VII OST
Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy X
Gensomaden Saiyuki - OST 1, Single Collection
Guilty Gear X - Heavy Rock Tracks, Rising Force of Gear Image Vocal Tracks
Guilty Gear XX OST
Guilty Gear XX - Sound Alive/A.S.H.
Hikaru no Go - Theme Song Selection
Howl's Moving Castle - OST [24], Symphony Suite [320]
Hunter x Hunter - OST 1+2+3, The Last Mission
Joe Hisaishi - Dream Songs/The Essential Joe Hisaishi [24]
Koudelka
Legend of Mana [320]
Madlax
My-HiME - OST 1+2
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Single Collection, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" [24_192]
NieR:Automata [24]
Noir - OST 1+2+3
Ragnarok Online Complete Soundtrack
Rockman Zero: Remastered Tracks, Collection Soundtrack -résonnant vie-
Rockman Zero & ZX Sound Box (Zero 1+2+3+4, ZX, ZX Advent)
Rockman Zero/ZX Reploid Remixes
Rockman ZX: Soundsketch -ZX Gigamix-, ZX Tunes, ZXA Tunes
Rurouni Kenshin - OST 1 [320], OST 2+3+4, CD BOX [320], Director's Collection, Premium Collection, Songs, The Best Theme Collection
Shaman King - Comics Image Album, Melody of the Spirits, Osorezan Revoir ~au revoir~, Osorezan Revoir ~prologue to shaman~, Single Vocal Album, Vocal on Parade!!
Slayers TRY Treasure BGM
Spirited Away [320]
The Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD
Tsubasa Chronicle - OST 1+2+3+4
Yu-Gi-Oh! Theme Song Single Collection
Z.O.E. - Zone of the Enders, Anubis: Zone of the Enders
Zenki - Character Song Collection 2, OST 2 Raigou Shourin!!
軒轅劍三外傳:天之痕 - 三個人的時光
風色幻想 - 1+SP+2+3+4+5

Adam Ben Ezra - Discography (2015-2020)
Adam Lambert - Trespassing
Adam Lopez - The Popera, Showstopper, Till the End of Time
Adele - Discography (2008-2015)
Afek-T - Les brumes, "Impassible"
Agnes Obel - Philharmonics, Aventine, Citizen of Glass [24], Myopia [24]
Akon - Trouble
Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls, Sound & Color
Alejandro Fernández - de noche - clasicos a mi manera, Confidencias [320]
Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor
Aloe Blacc - Shine Through, Good Things, Lift Your Spirit
Aloosh - Separate, Ceramic [24/96]
Amber Run [320] - 5am, For a Moment I Was Lost
Amy Winehouse - Frank [24], Back to Black [24/96], Lioness: Hidden Treasures, At the BBC
Andrea Bocelli - Romanza, Verdi
Angra - Discography (1992 - 2010)[160~231, except Temple of Shadows in 16]
Anita Baker - Rhythm of Love
Anthony Ramos - The Freedom EP, The Good & The Bad
Ariana Grande - Discography (2013-2020)[16~24/MQA]
Arvo Part - Various works
Audiophile Analog Collection Vol. 2 [DSD256]
Aurora - Discography (2015-2019)[24, except Infections of a Different Kind in 16]
AZ - Doe or Die
Az Yet - Az Yet, She's Magic
Babyface - The Day
Bad Meets Evil - Hell: The Sequel
Ballet Class Music [320]
Banks - Discography (2014-2019)[16~24/MQA]
Basso Profondo from Old Russia
Belly - Another Day in Paradise, Inzombia, Mumble Rap, Immigrant
Beyoncé - 4, Beyoncé, Lemonade
Big Boi - Boomiverse
Bilal - 1st Born Second
Bill Evans Trio [320] - Explorations, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Waltz for Debby
Bill Withers - Lovely Day: The Very Best of Bill Withers
Billie Eilish - Discography (2017-2020)
Birdy - Discography (2011-2016)
Bishop Briggs - EP [24MQA], Church of Scars [24MQA], Champions [24]
Black OST
Black Hill - Discography (2014-2019)[16~24]
Stvannyr - Secrets of the runes
Black Panther - Original Score [24], The Album [24], Wakanda Remixed [16]
Blindspotting - The Collins EP, The Miles EP
Bloom - Sinses
Blue - All Rise
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - Creepin on ah Come Up EP
Brent Faiyaz - A.M. Paradox EP, Sonder Son, Lost EP, Fuck the World
Bruno Mars - Discography (2010-2016)
Busta Rhymes - The Coming
Call Me By Your Name OST
Camila Cabello - Romance
Cardi B - Gangsta Bitch Music Vol.1 [128], UnderEstimated - The Tour Album [128], GBMV2 [128], Invasion of Privacy
Carolina Eyck - Discography (2008-2019)
Case - Open Letter
Céline Dion - All the Way... A Decade of Song, A New Day Has Come, Courage
Charlotte Cardin - Big Boy EP, Main Girl EP
Charlotte Cardinale - Florescentia
Chase Holfelder - Major to Minor, Vol. 1+2
Chet Faker - Thinking in Textures, Built on Glass, Lockjaw
Childish Gambino - Camp, Because the Internet, 3.15.20, "This is America"
Chingy - Jackpot
Chloe x Halle [24] - Sugar Symphony EP, The Kids Are Alright, Ungodly Hour
Choral: Aliqua, Chor Leoni Men's Choir Discography (1998-2018), Christmas with The Princeton Singers, musica intima (clear), Rajaton (Boundless, Tarinoita), The Manitou Singers - Repertoire for Women's Voices, Vol. 2
Christina Aguilera - Christina Aguilera [320], Stripped, Back to Basics, Bionic, Lotus [320], Liberation [24]
Cirque du Soleil - Discography (1992-2015)[128~320, 3 albums in 16]
Clann [24] - Kin Fables, Seelie

Classical:
100 Great Symphonies
Bach - Selected Organ Works, The Famous Cantatas, The Six Motets
Beethoven - Complete String Quartets, Piano Sonata No.8 op.13 'Pathetique', Piano Sonata No.14 op.27 'Moonlight', Piano Sonata No.23 op.57 'Appassionata'
Brahms - Brahms on Life and Love, Requiem, Symphony No.1
Bruckner - Te Deum
Chopin Complete Piano Music [192]
Dvořák - Mass in D, Requiem, Symphony No.7+8+9
Fauré - Requiem
Glazunov - Violin Concerto in Am op.82
Grieg - Piano Concerto op.16 in Am
Liszt - 10 Hungarian Rhapsodies, Jorge Bolet - Favourite Piano Works, Piano Works
Mendelssohn - Symphony No.4, Violin Concerto in Em
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A, Concerto in C for Flute, Harp, Orchestra, Horn Concerto No.4, Piano Concerto No.20, Piano Concerto No.21, Requiem
Paganini - Salvatore Accardo plays Paganini's Guarneri del Gesu 1742
Schubert - Piano Sonata No.14+19
Schumann - Piano Concerto op.54 in Am
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No.1, Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, The Symphonies [192]
Verdi - Requiem
Vivaldi - Concerto in C for Violin and Double Orchestra, Concerto in D for Violin and Double Orchestra, The Four Seasons

clipping - CLPPNG [24], There Existed an Addiction to Blood
Coco OST
Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise
Corey Payette - Children of God, Les Filles du Roi
Craig David - Born to Do It, Slicker Than Your Average
Cris Derksen - The Cusp [320], The Collapse, Orchestral Powwow
Curtis Clearsky and the Constellationz - Indigifunk
D12 - Devil's Night, D12 World
Daley - Discography (2011-2017)
D'Angelo - Brown Suger, Black Messiah [24/96]
Darren Hayes - Spin
Daveed Diggs - Small THings to a Giant, Seven Nights in Chicago
David Morin - Every Colour
Deen Squad Mixtape 2015 [320]
Destino - Forte, Beginning Again
Destiny's Child - Destiny's Child, #1s
Disclosure - Caracal
DJ Danger Mouse - The Grey Album
DJ Drama - Quality Street Music 2
Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No.1+2+3+4+5+6+8+9+12+14+15, Violin Concerto No.1
DMX - It's Dark and Hell is Hot, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, ...And Then There Was X
Dr. Dre - 2001, Compton
Drake - So Far Gone [320], Thank Me Later [320], Take Care [320], Nothing Was the Same [320], If You're Reading This It's Too Late
Dream Theater - Discography (1989-2019)[16~24/96]
Dream Warriors - Subliminal Simulation
Drezus - Red Winter, Indian Summer
Dru Hill - Dru Hill, Enter the Dru
Dumbfoundead - Discography (2011-2016), Café Bleu, Inside/Outside [24]
Dylan Brady - All I Ever Wanted [24], Choker, Dog Show, This Car Needs Some Wheels
Eagles - Discography (1972-1979)[24/192]
Eazy-E - It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa, Eternal E
Elijah Blake - Discography (2012-2019)
Eminem - Discography (1996-2020)[16~24/96]
En Vogue - Funky Divas
Enrique Iglesias - Enrique, Euphoria
ES Posthumus - Unearthed [320]
Evanescence - Discography (2003-2017)[16~24]
Fantastic Negrito - Discography (2014-2020)
Far East Movement - Free Wired
FKA Twigs - LP1, Magdalene
Flipsyde - Discography (2005-2012)[128~320]
Florence + the Machine - Discography (2009-2018)[16~24/96]
Flume - Skin [24]
For Vance - Live at Bangor Abbey [16], From Muscle Shoals [24]
Frank Ocean - Discography (2011-2016)[16~24]
Frank Sinatra - Ultimate Sinatra
Frozen OST
Frvrfriday - More Than You Know, Offline, WHOISFRIDAY [24]
Fugees - The Score
Future - Beast Mode [24], Future [24/96]
Gallant - Zebra [320]
Game of Thrones - S1-8 OST, Various Orchestra Albums, For the Throne
Gary Jules - Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets
Get Out OST
Ghost - Meliora [24]
Ginuwine - Ginuwine... The Bachelor, 100% Ginuwine
Gorillaz - Discography (2001-2020)[24/MQA~24/96]
Grace VanderWaal [24] - Perfectly Imperfect, Just the Beginning
Guru - Jazzmatazz Vol. 1
GZA - Liquid Swords
Hamilton: An Americal Musical - Cast Recording, Hamildrops [AAC], Instrumentals [AAC], The Hamilton Mixtape [AAC]
Hans Zimmer - Batman Begins OST+Recording Session, The Dark Knight [24/96], Sherlock Holmes, Inception [16~24][5.1], The Dark Knight Rises [24/192], Intersteller [24], Blade Runner 2049, Live in Prague [24], The Classics [24/96], The Lion King (2019)[24]
Harry Potter OST
Hercules [192]
Higher Brothers - Black Cab, Five Stars
Hozier - Discography (2013-2019)[16~24]
Igorrr - Hallelujah
Il Divo - Discography (2004-2018)
In tha Beginning... There Was Rap
Ingrid Michaelson - Discography (2005-2014)
iskwē - iskwē, The Fight Within, acakosik
J. Cole [24] - 2014 Forest Hills Drive, Forest Hills Drive: Live
J.S. Ondara - Tales of America (The Second Coming) [24/192], Folk n' Roll Vol.1: Tales of Isolation [24]
Jacques Loussier Trio - Vivaldi- The Four Seasons
James Blake - Discography (2011-2020)
James Vincent McMorrow [320] - Early in the Morning, Post Tropical
Janelle Monáe - Discography (2010-2018)[16~24], Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) EP
Janne - Meeting the Wolf EP
Jasmine Cephas Jones - Blue Bird
Jay-Z - Discography (1996-2017)[16~24]
JB the First Lady - Get Ready Get Steady, Indigenous Girl Lifestyle, Meant to Be, Righteous Empowered Daughter
Jeremih - That Body, All About You, Late Nights: The Album, Late Nights: Europe
Jeremy Dutcher - Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? [24]
Jhené Aiko - Chilombo [24/96]
Jimi Hendrix - Experience Hendrix- The Best of Jimi Hendrix
JMSN - Discography (2011-2019)
Joe - All That I Am, My Name is Joe
John Coltrane - Both Directions at Once/The Lost Album
John Legend - Discography (2005-2016)[320~16]
Jon Mcxro - The Fifth of Never [320~16]
José Tomás Molina - Discography (2014-2019)[16~24]
Josh Groban - Discography (2001-2015)[320, except Stages in 16]
Joss Stone - Introducing... Joss Stone
Juice OST
Justin Timberlake - Discography (2002-2013)[16~24]
k.d. lang - Ingénue, Invincible Summer
Kadebostany - Pop Collection, Monumental [24]
Kanye West - Discography (2003-2019)[320-24]
Kehlani - Discography (2014-2020)
Keith Ape - Project: Brainwash, Born Again, various singles
Kelly Fraser - Sedna
Kendrick Lamar - Discography (2011-2017)
Kerry Muzzey - Trailer Music 3, The Architect, Trailer Music 4: Neo
Kevin Garrett - Mellow Drama, A Heart Like Yours, Hoax, Made Up Lost Time, Singles
Kid Cudi - Discography (2008-2013)[ALAC]
Kiel Magis - Kiel Magis
Kieran Fearing - Reprieve
Kieran Martin Murphy - The Painter's Hand, Theatrics

Korean:
DJ Doc - 4th Album
eAeon - Guilt-Free
H.O.T. - We hate all kinds of violence, I yah!, Age of Peace OST, Outside Castle, The Best
IU - Miscellaneous
Park Wan Kyu - 천년지애 (千年之愛)
Rain - First Drop
Shinhwa - First Mythology, My Choice, Wedding
Taeyang - Hot [EP]
Taeyeon - Miscellaneous

k-os - Exit, Joyful Rebellion, Atlantis: Hymns for Disco
Koutev Bulgarian National Ensemble
Krizz Kaliko - Son of Same [239~270], Go [320]
Kubo and the Two Strings OST
Kwabs - Wrong or Right [245], Pray for Love, Walk, Love + War
La La Land - The Complete Musical Experience [24]
La Quinta Estación - Sin Frenos [192]
Lady Gaga - Discography (2008-2020)[24]
Ladysmith Black Mambazo [192~257] - The Very Best of
Lana Del Rey - Discography (2012-2019)[16~24]
Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Le Flow - The Definitive French Hip Hop Compilation
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares - Vol.1+2 [320]
Le mystère des voix Corses - les plus belles polyphonies [320]
Led Zeppelin - Discography (1969-1982), Remasters [24/96]
Lenny Kravitz - Greatest Hits
Leonard Cohen - The Future
Les Choristes OST
Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien - The High Road to Kilkenny
Leslie Odom Jr. - Leslie Odom Jr. [24], Mr.
Lhasa de Sela - La Llorona [320]
Lil Dicky - Hump Days [256], So Hard [320], Professional Rapper [128]
Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake
Linkin Park - Discography (2000-2020)[16~24/96/MQA]
Lionel Richie - Back to Front
Loïc Nottet - Selfocracy, Sillygomania
London Grammar - If You Wait [24/96], Truth is a Beautiful Thing [24]
Lou Val - Lonely in Paradise, Don't Look Now, Singles
LP - Lost on You
Ludacris - Chicken-Beer, Release Therapy
Ludovico Einaudi - Echoes: The Einaudi Collection, Una Mattina, Divenire [320], Nightbook, Islands: Essential Einaudi [320], Elements [320], Seven Days Walking [24]
Luniz - Operation Stackola
Mac Miller [24] - Swimming, Circles
Madredeus - Various albums (1987-2005)[128~320]
MAGIC! - Don't Kill the Magic, Primary Colours, Expectations
Maksim - Discography (1999-2010)[320, except 2 albums in 16]

Mandarin:
5566 - 1st Album
Energy - E3, 無懈可擊, 米迦勒之舞
F4 - 煙火的季節
IPIS 蟑螂 - 第四蟑
RuRu - 美麗心情
S.H.E. - 青春株式會社, 美麗新世界, Together
Tension 天炫男孩 - Discography (2001-2004)
不能說的秘密 OST [148~224]
伍佰 - 夢的河流, 冬之火九重天演唱會特選錄音專輯
伍思凱 - 分享
南拳媽媽 - 南拳媽媽的夏天
周杰倫 - Discography (2000-2006)
宋岳庭 - Life's a Struggle
張信哲 - 精選, 從開始到現在
張學友 - 走過1999, 張學友音樂之旅Live演唱會
張智成 - 凌晨三點鐘
張衛健 - 齊天大聖孫悟空
徐婕兒 - 愛之初
戴佩妮 - 怎樣
手牽手大合唱
林俊傑 - 樂行者, 第二天堂
海豚灣戀人 OST
王心凌 - Begin...
臥虎藏龍 (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) OST
英雄 (Hero) OST
范逸臣 - 同名專輯
蔡依林 - 看我72變, 城堡
薔薇之戀 OST
許慧欣 - 孤單芭蕾, 幸福
謝霆鋒 - VIVA, 了解, Viva Live 謝霆鋒演唱會
郭富城 - 目眩城迷全精選
陳冠希 - Edison Chen
陳小春 - 抱一抱, That's Mine

Mandido - Time on Our Hands
Marc Anthony - Discography (1993-2013)[320]
Marian Hill - Discography (2013-2020)[320~24]
Mario - Turning Point
Marvin Gaye - Discography (1961-2019)[16~24/192]
Mario Frangoulis - Various Albums (1998-2014)[128~320]
Marques Houston - MH
Mase - Harlem World
Master P - Ghetto D
Matt Corby - Into the Flame [EP], Resolution [EP], Live on the Resolution Tour [EP], Telluric, Rainbow Valley
Max Richter - Discography (2002-2020)[16~24/96]
MC 900 ft. Jesus - Welcome to My Dream, Open Step Ahead of the Spider
Meek Mill - Dreams Worth More Than Money [24], Championships
Metallica - Discography (Remastered)(1983-2020)[24]
Metro Boomin - Not All Heroes Wear Capes
Miah Luz - The Coming LP
Michael Bolton - Only a Woman Like You
Michael Bublé - Discography (1995-2013)[96~320]
Michael Conway Baker - Four Musical Portraits
Michael Jackson - Discography (1972-2014)[320 except Invincible in 16], The Ultimate Collection, The Essential Michael Jackson [24], King of Pop
Migos - Discography (2015-2018)[16~24]
Miguel - Discography (2010-2017)[16~24]
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool [24/192], Bitches Brew [24/88], Kind of Blue
Mirah - Discography (1997-2009)[198~256]
Misha Mishenko - Discography (2016-2019)
Missy Elliott - Under Construction
Moana OST
Mob Bounce - Transformation, "Vision Quest"
Mobb Deep - The Infamous, Infamy
Mos Def [ALAC] - Black on Both Sides, The Ecstatic
Moulin Rouge! OST
Muddy Waters - Anthology
Muse - Origin of Symmetry [24/96], Absolution [24/96], The 2nd Law [24/96], Simulation Theory, Drones [24/96]
Musical Theatre - Various Musical Cast Recordings (1934-2017)[170~202, except Come From Away and Hamilton in 16]
Nahko - Dark as Night, On the Verge, Hoka [320], My Name is Bear [320]
Namie Amuro - Break the Rules, Genius 2000
Nas - Illmatic, It Was Written, Stillmatic, God's Son [ALAC], The Lost Tapes, Street's Disciple, Life is Good
Naturally 7 - Discography (2000-2015)
Naughty by Nature - 19 Naughty III
Nav - Good Intentions [24]
Ne-Yo - Discography (2006-2012)[320~16]
Night Lovell - Discography (2014-2019)[320~24]
Nina Simone - The Essential of Nina Simone [24/96]
Nipsey Hussle [ALAC] - Crenshaw, Victory Lap
Niro - Les autres
Niykee Heaton - Bad Intentions [320], The Bedroom Tour Playlist, Starting Over
Norah Jones - Come Away with Me, Feels Like Home, Not Too Late, Pick Me Up Off the Floor [24/96]
Notre-Dame de Paris (Musical) Cast Recording
NSYNC - No Strings Attached
Obie Trice - Cheers
October London - Discography (2016-2018)[320, except Color Blinds in 16]
Omar LinX - A Cold Welcome [320], City of Ommz, The Living Dead EP [128], Victor [320], M.O.R.
Omarion - O, 21, Ollusion
Once OST [96]
Onegin (Musical)
Opera Babes - Beyond Imagination
P. Diddy - No Way Out, The Saga Continues..., Bad Boy's 10th Anniversary... The Hits
PartyNextDoor - PX3
Pentatonix - Various albums [128~320]
Peter Gundry - Discography (2016-2019)[16~24]
Pharrell - Girl [24]
Pink Floyd - Discography (1967-2014)[16/24/MQA/DSD64]
Playboi Carti - Die Lit
PNL - Deux frères [320]
Portishead - Discography (1994-2008)
Post Malone - Discography (2016-2019)[16~24/88]
Prince - Discography (1978-2019)
Pusha T - Daytona [24]
Putomayo - World Reggae, Asian Lounge
Quavo - Quavo Huncho [24]
Queen - Discography (1973-1995), Live Killers, Live at Wembley '86, Greatest Hits, The Platinum Collection,
Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife, SremmLife 2
Raincity - Tell Me, Stuck on Replay, Raincity EP
Raleigh Ritchie - You're a Man Now, Boy
Reggie Couz - Just Couz, singles
Rick Ross - Discography (2006-2017)
Ricky Martin - Ricky Martin, Música + Alma + Sexo
Rihanna - Discography (2005-2016)
Riit - ataataga
Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 1 + 2, Body Talk
Rockapella - 2
Roscoe Dash - J.U.I.C.E. [320], Dash Effect [160]
ROSK - remnants
Ruelle - Up in Flames, Madness, Rival, Emerge, Ode to Shadows, Earth Glow, Exodus
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2, RTJ3 Instrumentals [24/96]
Sade - The Best of Sade
Saint-Preux - Concerto pour une voix
Sam Chimes
Sam Cooke - Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964
Sam Smith - Discography (2014-2017)
Sandra van Nieuwland [320] - And More, Banging on the Doors of Love
Santino Le Saint - Cloud 304, Xeno, Rage of Angels, Blue Pill [24+16], Red Pill, Singles
Sara Bareilles - Discography (2007-2015)[320, except What's Inside - Songs from Waitess in 24]
Scorpions - Discography (1972-2015)
Scott Leonard - 1man1mike
Sevdaliza - Discography (2017-2020)
Shai - If I Ever Fall in Love...
Sia - Discography (1997-2017)[16, except OnlySee + Healing is Difficult in M4A260, This is Acting in 24/96]
Sigur Rós - Discography (1997-2013)
Silla and Rose - Debut, Galactic Gala
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle, The Doggfather, Tha Last Meal, R&G (Rhythm&Gangsta): The Masterpiece, The Blue Carpet Treatment
Snotty Nose Rez Kids - The Average Savage, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Trapline, Born Deadly [EP]
Solange - A Seat at the Table
Southern Journey - Bad Man Ballads (Songs of Outlaws and Desperadoes, Vol. 5)
Stacey - Stacey, Stacey (Reconstruction), First Move
Stevie Wonder - The Definitive Collection
Straight Lines - Run for Cover
Stromae - Cheese, Racine carrée [24]
Sun Kil Moon - Discography (2003-2017)[320, except Benji + Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood in 16]
Swollen Members - Bad Dreams
SWV - It's About Time
System of a Down - Discography (1998-2020)[16~24/96]
SZA - Ctrl
T.I. - Trouble Man Heavy is the Head
Tame Impala - Discography (2010-2020)[24/96~24/192]
Tamia - Tamia, "Stranger in My House"
Tanya Tagaq - Auk/Blood, Animism, Retribution, Toothsayer
Tasha the Amazon - Die Every Day, Black Moon
Taylor Swift - folklore [24]
Tech N9ne - Discography (1999-2013)[192~320, The Storm+Enterfear in 16]
TGT - Three Kings
The Beatles - Discography (1963-2009)
The Blaze - Territory, Dancehall
The Carters - Everything is Love
The Chronicles of Narnia OST
The Cinematic Orchestra [320] - Every Day, Man with a Movie Camera, Ma Fleur, To Believe
The Fingerbangerz - Vi-R-Us
The Game - The Documentary, Jesus Piece, Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf [320], The Documentary 2+2.5 [320]
The Godfather I+II+III OST [320]
The Great Gatsby - OST, The Orchestral Score, The Jazz Recordings
The Great Tenors - Vol.1+2, In Concert
The Hobbit OST (Special Editions) [24]
The Lion King - Complete Score [128], Return to Pride Rock [128]
The Lord of the Rings OST
The Lumineers - Cleopatra [24/96], C-Sides [24], Live Tracks [24], III [24]
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die, Life After Death [ALAC], Born Again
The Nutcracker (Ballet) [24/96]
The Piano Guys - The Piano Guys
The Pink Panther OST [320]
The Savannah Leigh Band - City of Grey
The Tango Project - The Tango Project
The Tenors - Discography (2008-2015)[156~254, except The Perfect Gift+Under One Sky in 16]
The Tony Rich Project - Words
The Weeknd - Discography (2012-2020)[16~24/192]
The xx - xx, Coexist, I See You
Three 6 Mafia - Most Known Unknown
Timbaland - Shock Value
Tinie Tempah - Demonstration [320]
Toni Braxton - Toni Braxton, Secrets
Tony Bennett - The Essential Tony Bennett, a wonderful world (with k.d. lang), The Absolutely Essential 3 CD Collection, Duets II [320], Tony Bennett Celebrates 90
Tory Lanez - Discography (2010-2020, except Daystar)[160~320, except I Told You in 16, Chixtape 5+The New Toronto 3 in 24]
T-Pain - Discography (2005-2012)[192~320, except Epiphany+Thr33 Ringz in 16]
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Travis Garland - Discography (2011-2015)[160~320, except Travis Garland in 16]
Travis Scott - Discography (2013-2018)[16~24/88]
Trey Songz - Trey Day [320], Passion, Pain & Pleasure [320], Chapter V [320], Back Home [24]
TroyBoi - icekream [128~320], SoundSnobz [128~320], Left is Right [128], V!BEZ [128], V!BEZ, Vol.3, V!BEZ, Vol. 4 [16MQA], "Afterhours"
Tsar B - Discography (2016-2020)
Ty Dolla $ign - Featuring Ty Dolla $ign
Tyga - Discography (2008-2016)[320], Legendary
Tyrese - I Wanna Go There
UltraVillain [24] - "Break Out", Lost in You, I N V U
Ulvesang - Ulvesang [24], The Hunt
Unity: Athens 2004 (Olympic Games Album)
Usher - Discography (1994-2018)[16~24]
Van Morrison - Moondance
Vitas - Discography (2001-2009)[128~256, except A Kiss as Long as Eternity+20th Century Hits in 16]
Waka Flocka Flame - Flockaveli
Whitney - Light Upon the Lake
Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston
Wisin & Yandel - Discography (2000-2012)[320]
Wiz Khalifa - Cabin Fever, Rolling Papers, Cabin Fever 2, We Dem Boyz [320], Cabin Fever 3, various songs
Wiz Khalifa & Curren$y - 2009 [24]
Wyclef Jean - Carnival, Vol. II- Memoirs of an Immigrant
X Japan - Discoraphy (1988-2017)[16~24/96]
Xavier Rudd - Discography (2002-2018)
XXXTentacion - Revenge [320], 17 [24/192], ? [320]
Xzibit - Restless
Yann Tiersen - Discography (1995-2003)[96~160, except Amélie in 16], Portrait [24/96]
YG - My Krazy Life, Still Brazy, My Life 4Hunnid [24]
Young Bleed - My Balls and My Word
Young Buck - Buck the World
Young Thug - Barter 6 [320], Slime Season [24], Slime Season 2 [320], I'm Up [320], Slime Season 3 [320], Jeffery [320], So Much Fun
Yuki Kajiura - Discography (includes side projects: FictionJunction/YUUKA, Kalafina)(Anime soundtracks 1996-2018)
Yuna - Chapters
Zed Yun Pavarotti - French Cash
Zeina - Odd One Out, various singles

"Corn can't expect justice from a court composed of chickens." - Anonymous African Proverb
----
Water vapor was rising from the pools of water left by the torrential rains in the past few days. The whole place was a tepid steam bath. It usually was quite arid: if it were to ever rain, it would be only these few months. But the humidity was not the issue. Wherever water went, the mosquitos followed, and the entire place was a breeding ground for those blood-sucking pests. No wonder malaria was still a problem even in these days.
Even though the sun had yet to rise, the harsh beams of floodlights flooded the cell through its only window, between thick bars of steel. There was practically no difference whether the lights were switched on or off and the only way to tell time was a ubiquitous plastic clock that was hung on the wall. Aaden Mohamed Mahmoud laid out his prayer mat and began his morning prayers, trying his best to ignore the occasional buzzing and swatting whenever he felt something landing on him. Peeking at the guard while he was prone on the mat, his chants did not wake him up. This was confirmed by the audible snores echoing from his gaping mouth. Aaden had been here long enough to recognize the patrol schedules and it would not be another hour before there was a shift change. Time was of the essence and he could not afford to waste even a single second. He got to his feet, headed towards the window, produced a piece of scrap metal he managed to hide away from the guards, and proceeded to chisel this steel bar he had been working on since it started to rain. Despite the uncomfortable humidity and mosquito-borne parasites, at least the copious rainfall helped mask the grinding of metals in the past few nights. Although the rain had stopped tonight, putting him at a higher risk of being discovered, Aaden was quite determined to get out of this concrete cell. His wife and children were waiting for him at home and being in here was not going to feed them.
Snap.
The makeshift chisel halved from the accumulated abrasion. Aaden’s heart sank. He picked up the broken piece that fell onto the floor and took a good look at it. It looked salvageable, it would probably still work. He then fixed his eyes on the small dent he barely made on the bar, even a fingernail was probably thicker than whatever he did and he still had about two more inches to cut through. His eyes landed on the clock, decided to call it a day, and stored the two pieces of metal in a carefully hidden place. Aaden wondered if he would ever get out at this rate, or whether it would be quicker to just serve his whole sentence. From what he knew, this entire prison was probably built in the last few years. Every night when the guards were less alert, Aaden would look for every nook and cranny that showed any sign of structural weakness for his potential escape route. In the end, he concluded that his best bet would be through the steel bars. But even if he managed to chisel through them, then what? The entire complex was patrolled by more armed guards and there were watchtowers towering everyone that was in it. Then there were the barbed-wire-laced electric fences and beyond that, probably miles and miles of desert before he could reach Somalia again. That was if he could manage to overcome all of these hurdles.
Unable to stop his train of thought from ruminating again, Aaden helplessly rolled up his prayer mat, curled up in his bed, and tried to get more rest as he could. It was futile. Aaden felt like he was constantly falling into a bottomless pit as his mind kept replaying memories of why he ended up here in the first place like a broken recorder.
It had been decades since the first conflicts of the Somali civil war erupted and the whole country had been in shambles since. It was a time when nobody dared to venture out of their homes, especially alone. Regional warlords scramble to fill the power vacuum of the defunct government. separatists declared independence for Somaliland in the north, and militant jihadists were plaguing the lawless south. Despite foreign peacekeeping forces from the African Union, the entirety of Somalia was still essentially a warzone. As a teenager, Aaden dared not to even walk the streets near his house without his trusty AK-47, passed down from his grandfather. It was rusting and missing a few parts, but it still did its job to keep his family and him alive. There was so much uncertainty. Nobody knew when their hunger would be filled by the next meal, nobody knew when their thirst would be quenched by the next sip of water, nobody knew when their next breath would be their last. But one thing everyone was certain: life was hell.
The Federal Government was created after several attempts to instigate a central authority to stabilize the country. These promises the politicians proclaimed were empty to Somalis like Aaden. The fact that there were terrorists roaming freely in the streets of the capital and terrorizing her citizens was a disgrace to any respectable government. However, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the assassination of the President while he was visiting Merca, a port city near Mogadishu, and its fall to the Jihadists. It was then the Federal Government decided to finally do something. A phone call to Beijing was made and negotiations were almost immediately signed as soon as they were proposed. As part of the Sino-Somali Friendship Agreement, in exchange for the People Liberation Army’s involvement in quelling the jihadist insurgency, Mogadishu pledged to fully integrate Somalia into China’s Neo-Silk Road to benefit both countries’ economically. They were killing two birds with one stone. For the first time in Aaden’s life, things seemed to be changing for the good. What could possibly go wrong?
In weeks of deployment, the South Sea Fleet reached the Horn of Africa. To compare it with Zheng He’s treasure fleet was an understatement. The news of their arrival spread the country like wildfire. Aaden knew it was a stupid idea in hindsight, but the thought of these mysterious foreigners from the Orient who decided to help bring peace to his country out of their goodwill really stroked his unyielding curiosity. It was then he snuck out with his rifle to the shore to look at this so-called grand fleet he kept hearing about. It was there he could finally fathom what he had heard. The entire visible horizon was grey with warships, striking the air with towers and towers of radar detectors. Colossal cannons pointed high in the sky, as though they were soldiers saluting in a military parade at him. The grand fleet was battle-hardened from the Reunification of Taiwan, joined by a contingent from an overseas naval base in nearby Djibouti. Dozens of destroyers, aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers, and submarines were led by the battleship Yanan, sailing under the Five-starred Red Flag, ready to crush even more rebels. For the first time in his life, Aaden finally felt what hope was like.
What the Federal Government could not do in decades, the PLA did in a month. Enroute to the Horn of Africa, every detectable pirate ship on sonar was sent to Davy Jones' locker. For the first time in recent history, these seas were safe for fishermen and merchants to sail through. Jihadist-captured Merca was reduced to ashes with Chinese artillery shells in a week. Jilib, the headquarters of the jihadist group, fell within another. Other major rebel settlements were captured in the next. By the end of the month, there was virtually no sign of a walking militant jihadist in Somalia. This military maneuver was critically appraised by military strategists all around the world, some even going as far as commenting this operation being remarkably more successful than the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. At least, the Somali Civil War came to a close in the south. For the first time in his life, Aaden left his rifle at home. The air did not smell of gunpowder. Gunshots were replaced by the haggling and chattering of store owners and customers. With an empty ceramic jar, he headed to the village well to fill it up, and it was then when he first met his wife.
The agreement was fulfilled, but it left half of the country a war-torn wasteland. Politicians were left scratching their heads as even the trade policies in the Neo-Silk Road were not enough to patch up the damages done. Feeling it was their responsibility to fix the collateral damage of this act of liberation, hordes of Chinese businessmen decided to extend their hands to the government as a symbol of goodwill and thousands of development project contracts were signed very promptly. A year had not even passed and there were already towering skyscrapers in Merca in place of its ruins. Aaden’s village finally got connected to the country’s highway and railway network. More houses and local infrastructure was built and the sprawling settlement even nearly got promoted into a city. Seeing things that could not be even better, Aaden finally decided to tie the knot and start a family. He was sure that his children would not know the bitter taste of war.
It was only a matter of time the Federal Government realized they had no way to pay back all the debt from all these Chinese projects. Furthermore, knowing that the South China Fleet could just arrive at their doorsteps in days and also a sizable PLA deployment still in the country for peacekeeping missions, Mogadishu had no choice but to sign another agreement with Beijing. By nullifying half of what the Federal Government owed to these Chinese businessmen, the port city of Merca would be temporarily under Chinese sovereignty on a 999-year-lease. Pretty much as good as forever even with the lifespans of 30 generations.
That was many years ago when that happened anyways. Aaden always knew that Merca held opportunities for him to feed his family fuller than in the capital. The Chinese were always very generous when it came to salary, at least to Somali standards. He was lucky enough to land a contract as a transport operator in a newly constructed naval base there. Aaden even applied to get a passport just for this, since he never had to leave the country. Just the thought of going to a nearby city and having to do security checks at a border checkpoint in Somalia’s very soil perplexed him. Once the papers were all in order, he bid farewell to his loving family and headed to this Chinese city in his country.
Being surrounded by signs with strange characters made of complicated strokes on massive LED complexes that covered cloud-reaching skyscrapers was truly an overwhelming experience for Aaden. Everything here was nothing quite like Mogadishu, the largest city he had ever visited. His jaw dropped open and eyes darted back and forth, pressing his face on the window to savor the sights of this foreign city throughout the ride to the naval base he was going to work in. Once there, Aaden was greeted by a comfortable bed and filling meals. Oh, how he wished that the rest of his family could be here with him. With the thought of them benefiting from his labors, Aaden made sure he did his very best every day.
A few months passed and it was going to be Eid al-Fitr soon. Aaden’s annual leave was approved then so that he could return and celebrate with his family. Then he could finally see them not just through a 6-inch screen, but with his very own eyes. He wanted to pick his children up to see how much they’ve grown. He wanted to taste the Cambuulo his wife promised to cook for him. The grueling heat was harsh to him in this month of Ramadan but Aaden was determined to pull through this. His toil would make his family happy. His train of thought immediately jammed on the brakes when he suddenly spotted a Chinese soldier on his back, with his knee at an unnatural angle.
“A- are you okay, sir?” Aaden leaped out of his truck and tried to speak in his best Mandarin.
Visibly distressed, the soldier shook his head. He was clearly in too much pain to speak.
“Wh- Who did this to you? What happened?” Aaden panicked as his eyes scanned up and down the soldier’s body. His right shin was touching his thigh and Aaden could not help but cringe whenever that came to sight. The tarmac beneath him was dyed crimson from his gaping wound. The soldier’s breathing was quick and shallow. He looked as pale as a ghost. Aaden knew he was going to die.
“H- Hold on!” Aaden wrapped his arm around his neck as he tried to lift him up. “I’ll get you to a hospital!”
Unfortunately, Aaden’s efforts were futile. The soldier had already bled to death before he could get any help. His heart was full of sorrow and all he could do was to pray for him and his family. As he was waiting to fill in some paperwork, two Chinese men in black suits approached him, “Are you the one who found Sergeant Li Fang?”
“Yes, sir.” He nodded. “I saw him lying on-”
“You are under arrest for manslaughter with intent, under Article 232 of the Socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. Anything you say will be used against you.” One of them announced, as the other handcuffed him from the back.
No. This can’t be happening. Aaden thought. This can’t be true.
The trio ripped themselves from the stares at the hospital and Aaden sat between his captors in a police car. Before he knew it he found himself in front of a judge with the two suited men pressing him down in his seat.
“Y-Your Honor! Please believe me!” Tears were welling up in Aaden’s eyes, “I’m innoce-”
“Silence!” The boom of the gavel echoed in the courtroom. “It is not your turn to speak! One more sound and you will be in contempt! Please continue your testimony, Prosecutor Zheng.”
“Yes, your honor. As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted by this unevolved ape, the victim was clearly severely injured when the defendant arrived at the scene. The defendant decided that he was going to take the victim to the hospital, but unfortunately the victim passed away on the way there. Surely, it is the defendant’s fault for such negligence as it had caused not only the victim's death, but a family has lost their loving son and China has lost a capable soldier! The defendant should be harshly punished for his sins!” A middle-aged man with glasses slammed the table as he condemned Aaden. His spit was visibly flying in all directions as he spoke.
“And what does the defendant have to say?” The judge paid no interest to Aaden and flipped over a few sheets of paper in her file.
“I… I-” His tongue was stiff and his throat was frozen. His words just would not leave his mouth.
“I’ve heard enough!” The judge grasped her gavel impatiently and slammed it once more. Once the room returned to silence, she announced, “I hereby declare you, Aaden Mohamed Mahmoud, guilty for manslaughter. You will be sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years.”
With that, he found himself in blue overalls with a serial number, locked behind bars. His uncomfortable clothes reminded him of his Muslim brethren in those Uyghur concentration camps he had heard of as a child.
The guards had confiscated his phone when he came in. There was really no way to contact his family. Just the thought of them worrying why he did not show up for Eid was already too heartbreaking for him. As a few tears rolled down his cheeks, Aaden tried to remind himself to stay strong as he laid on his bed, blankly stared at the ceiling, waiting for nightfall, and to continue with his escape plan. What seemed like hours passed when the rattling of steel gates startled him as it caught him off guard.
“Salaam alaykum¹, brother.” A tall and lean Somali in the same clothes as him stepped into his cell before guards locked them shut again. “My name is Suleymaan.”
“Wa alaykum salaam², brother.” Aaden sat up and offered a handshake. The two cellmates sat on their beds, across each other. Finally, there was someone else who would listen to his troubles and concerns. He could not help it but tell him everything in his mind. From the moment he landed his contract to the very first day he was a prisoner. Hours passed like minutes and before they knew it, the sun was already setting, “So, what are you in for?”
“I also work at the naval base as you, but I was a cleaner for an admiral, not a driver like you.” Suleymaan already felt like he had a connection with Aaden after hearing his story, “Anyways I have been working there for a few years until the admiral got a promotion and went back to China. So after this, I was working for a new admiral, but I did not like him.”
“And why is that?” Aaden interrupted. His experience with his former Chinese superiors was relatively a good one. One of them was even patient enough to teach him enough Mandarin to get around the city without any difficulty. Sometimes, they would even take him to restaurants and try out China’s myriad of cuisines. He felt sorry for him to have such a bad experience at work.
“He was very rude to me unlike his predecessor and always shouted at me for nothing. But this is not the main point.” Suleymaan frowned as he recalled his tale, “He was friends with a former K9 specialist, so he was given this German Shepherd as a gift. The dog was very fierce and barked loudly. You could hear it barking down a few blocks. Wherever the new admiral went, the dog always followed him. I think that the dog liked to bully me because whenever it saw me it liked to bark at me and even chase me around!”
“Oh no, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!” Aaden frowned as a memory emerged subconsciously. Back in the waning days of the civil war, when his village was under control of a warlord clan, his mercenaries would often patrol the streets and harass almost every villager they bumped into, usually with insults or demanding food and money. The image of an old man with nothing to offer being mauled alive by dogs was still etched clearly in his mind. At least those days were long gone.
“Precisely!” Suleymaan snapped at the opportunity to agree immediately. “Then one day when I was cleaning the admiral’s office when he was out for a smoke, the evil dog came out of nowhere and bit me in the leg! It was so painful, I screamed as loud as I could but no one could hear me. I tried to pull the dog’s mouth apart but it didn’t work, and it bit even harder! See! Look at my leg!”
Suleymaan lifted his trouser legs to reveal a mere shaft that looked like skin wrapping bone. A healthy chunk of his right calf was missing and around it was clearly lined with bite marks that sank deep into his flesh. An ambiguously whitish translucent thing looked like it was wiggling around in one of the holes created by the bite marks. Aaden thought the smell was probably a blocked pipe from the neighboring cell, but this confirmed the source. Resisting the urge to let bring up his last meal, Aaden clenched his jaw and hoped that it would work.
“I’m sorry you had to see that. But there was nothing I could do!” Suleymaan covered himself up, “So I did what I could to save my life! I crushed my hands around the mad dog’s neck! It would have killed me if I didn’t kill it first!
“Exactly!” Aaden sat at the edge of his bed all riled up. He believed that animals usually would not be so violent unless triggered or conditioned by such cruel masters, as he had witnessed, “So what happened next?”
“When the admiral came back and saw his dog lying on the floor, he was furious!” Suleymaan raised his fist as a gesture of anger, “He shouted, scolded me, and even kicked me! He said the dog’s life was worth more than mine and I would pay dearly for this! The admiral should be locked up instead of me for neglecting his filthy dog! These people have no respect for human life. I rather go back to Somalia to work instead, even if they don’t pay me as much.”
Dumbfounded by Suleymaan’s reason for being here and sensing his resentment against his captors, Aaden decided to share his plan to escape after the coast was clear. After all, two men chiseling was better than just one.
“Oh good. I like the idea.” Suleymaan lowered his voice, “There is no way I will spend 20 years of my life here!”
Aaden hushed him for speaking too loud. The guards could become suspicious if they talked too much. With a few basic hand gestures, he let Suleymaan know the time when they had to get to work. Until then, the two laid on their beds for they would need to rest. Aaden was baffled by how his cellmate had to serve double his time for something like that. And I thought Somalia’s justice system was absurd, he thought.
The clock’s hand struck at the right hour and as expected the cell was still illuminated by the floodlights outside. Suleymaan’s sonorous snores resonated from the other side of the cell, oddly enough, was in synchrony with the sleeping guard’s in the corridor.
“Psst.” Aaden shook Suleymaan on the shoulder, “Get up. It’s time.”
“What?” Suleyman reluctantly opened his eyes and squinted as he adjusted his bearings, “Already? Tell me what to do.”
“Here. you’ll need this.” Aaden produced one of the broken pieces of his makeshift chisel and handed it to him. “Should be quite self-explanatory. Head back to bed immediately and pretend to sleep if you hear any footsteps.”
He nodded and the two cellmates then headed over to the window. Aaden continued with the dent he made so far, while Suleymaan pondered to decide which bar he should pick, then chose the one furthest from Aaden’s to make more space between them. Maybe an hour or two passed, as Aaden’s fingers started to hurt where he was holding the metal piece.
Clack. Cluck. Clack. Cluck.
Aaden’s eyes widened as he turned his head towards the other side of the room. He anxiously patted Suleymaan on his shoulder for his attention, urgently pointed at his bed with a finger in front of his lips, then slipped back to it. He tried to lie as still as possible but his heart felt like it was going to pop out of his chest at any moment as adrenaline was coursing through his veins. Expecting his accomplice to do the same, Aaden was petrified to see that Suleymaan was still standing by the window, as if his instructions were far from clear. In the blink of an eye, Suleymaan darted to the opposite side of the room and began frantically slamming onto the railings by the cell door, shouting at the sleeping guard at the top of his lungs and echoing down the entire prison corridor, “Officer! He’s trying to escape! He’s trying to escape through the windows!”
The clacking and clucking intensified as Suleymaan continued to howl like a mad dog. The snores stopped and more footsteps could be heard approaching their cell. With a clink and a clank, Aaden could hear the cell door swoop open and two rifles were pointed at him.
“It’s him, officer!” Suleymaan pointed at him, with a face of disgust as if he were a rat just spotted crawling out of a sewer pipe, “It’s him!”
“Alright, put your hands up slowly. No funny business.” One of the guards said in a stern voice. “Now turn around and lie flat on the floor. No sudden movements.”
“Or we’ll fucking shoot you.” The other guard added, annoyed that his sleep was disturbed.
Aaden had no choice but to comply with their orders. He could feel the cold shackles being cuffed around his wrists. An unexpected forceful yank brought him up to his knees, making him nearly fall on his side from losing balance. The moment when he got on his feet, a metal muzzle was already dug into his back. Aaden flinched from the pain and walked wherever the rifle led him. Through the cell door, he and the guard disappeared down the seemingly endless corridor.
“Now, about my reward...” Suleymaan turned to the other guard with a smile on his face, satisfied with his service, “You’ll put in a good word for the warden right?”
“What’s your serial number again?” The guard asked.
‘Er... 21… 21719, sir.“ Suleymaan looked down at his tag on his uniform before looking back at the guard. His grin grew wider on his face, though it quickly transformed into a grimace. A fist sank uncomfortably deep into his gut, promptly sending him flying across the room and hitting his head into the wall.
Struggling to get up, Suleymaan was on his elbow, rubbing his belly as he was retching out acid on the floor. The ache on his head was unbearable as well, feeling as if it had nearly split open right there. He could feel a warm trickle down his temple, joining up the sour fluid at the edge of his mouth, down his chin before dripping the floor scarlet. Confused, he whimpered, “What was… What was that for?”
“That’s from Admiral Zhang.” The guard gave a cruel smirk, then spat something foul and viscous that landed squarely on the prisoner’s face, ‘And that’s for selling your ‘friend’ out, traitor.’
“You’ll still... You’ll still put in a word for me right?” Suleymaan was choking and struggled to get words out of his mouth.
“Oh yeah, that? No. You don’t deserve it, traitorous mutt.” The guard headed back to the door and locked it shut, “And now that you’ve woken everyone on this block by ratting him out, good luck surviving here.”
----
Down the winding corridors, Aaden was unaware of his cellmate’s fate, not that he cared at all. How could he be so careless? He should have known. How could he have trusted someone he just met? What a fool I’ve been, he thought. If only that damned Suleymaan was not put in the same cell as him, none of this would have happened at all. More importantly, there was no way he would be leaving this place before Eid, or even in the next 10 years. Why was all of this happening to him? If only he did not stop for the soldier and ignored him, or decided not to work on that day, or not even work in Merca at all, none of this would have happened. He wondered what they would do to him. Lengthen his sentence maybe? Another 5 years? 10? 20? Or even his whole life? Was he able to see his wife and children ever again? Were they going to send him to some Muslim re-education camp in China he often heard about? Nothing but the worst possible outcomes he could imagine were racing through his mind.
He felt a cool breeze against his face. He was outside. For quite a while actually. All of this ruminating did not make him even realize that. Squinting past the bright floodlights the watchtowers shone on him, he could see high rise buildings shifting between vibrant colors with their millions of LED lights just behind the silhouette of barbed wire sitting on the ashen concrete walls.
As the two were heading towards a corner of the perimeter, Aaden found himself joined by a few more armed guards. A part of him thought of just making a run for it. Another part of him simply slammed down this absurd idea, there was no way he could outrun six guns and he was practically a fish out of water. In the midst of the crunching of gravel beneath their feet, he could hear a guard trying to talk softly to another, as if he did not want Aaden to overhear them.
“What charge should we use? What about disturbance of peace?” One of them muttered.
“No disturbance of peace doesn't give you that. Use… Use promotion of separatism.” The other replied after a bit of thought.
“"Oh okay, let's use that.” He agreed.
Eventually, they approached closer to the corner. Aaden noticed that the sandy ground was stained with a rusty tinge. A metallic scent he was way too familiar with shot up his nose. He had an idea of what was going to happen already.
“Go over there and turn around.” The guard behind him ordered. Once Aaden stood in front of the six guards, he continued, “Prisoner 24601, you have been caught red-handed for an attempted prison escape. By doing so you have committed Article 64 of the Socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, which is punishable by lengthening your jail sentence by another 15 years. However, we also suspect that you have been promoting ideas of separatism. You have committed a grave crime of secession, sedition, and subversion against the Central People's Government under the National Security Law. You are a person too dangerous to be kept alive. Now, you will be sentenced to death.”
He fucking knew it. This was the end of the road.
“Ready!” All guards lifted their rifles and they clicked as their magazines were loaded.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in.
“Take aim!”
“Sorry, Caaliyah. I won’t be back for Eid.”
----
¹ Peace be upon you.
² Peace be upon you too.

All these books take place at a specific time and place in Earth’s past. Other than that one nod to reality, all bets are off.

27. The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow - 2020

In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
But when the Eastwood sisters—James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna—join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote—and perhaps not even to live—the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be.

“A love letter to folklore and the rebellious women of history.” ―Publishers Weekly

26. The Terror by Dan Simmons - 2007

The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth.
As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying.
There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in. As yet another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the terror gets closer, the captain and his men begin to fear that there is no escape.

“The best and most unusual historical novel I have read in years.” ―The Boston Globe

25. Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard - 2010

Book 1 of 3 in the Obsidian and Blood series
Year One-Knife, Tenochtitlan the capital of the Aztecs. Human sacrifice and the magic of the living blood are the only things keeping the sun in the sky and the earth fertile.
A Priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. It should be a usual investigation for Acatl, High Priest of the Dead—except that his estranged brother is involved, and the the more he digs, the deeper he is drawn into the political and magical intrigues of noblemen, soldiers, and priests-and of the gods themselves…

“Part murder mystery, part well-researched historical novel and part fantasy.” —SFX Magazine

24. The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller - 2018

Book 1 of 2 in The Philosophers Series
Eighteen-year-old Robert Weekes is one of the few men who practice empirical philosophy—an arcane, female-dominated branch of science used to summon the wind, heal the injured, and even fly.
He’s always dreamed of being the first man to join the US Sigilry Corps’ Rescue and Evacuation Department, an elite team of flying medics, but everyone knows that’s impossible: men can barely get off the ground. When a shocking tragedy puts Robert’s philosophical abilities to the test, he rises to the occasion and wins a scholarship to study philosophy at Radcliffe College—an all-women’s school.
At Radcliffe, Robert hones his flying skills and strives to win the respect of his classmates, a host of formidable and unruly women. Robert falls hard for Danielle Hardin, a disillusioned young hero of the Great War turned political radical. But Danielle’s activism and Robert’s recklessness attract the attention of the same fanatical anti-philosophical group that Robert’s mother fought against decades before.
With their lives in mounting danger, Robert and Danielle band together with a team of unlikely heroes to fight for Robert’s place among the next generation of empirical philosophers—and for philosophy’s very survival against the men who would destroy it.

“[A] wealth of worldbuilding in this deft, nonconformist historical fantasy set during World War I…Miller offers a nuanced adventure story that mixes romance, gunplay, and social awareness into its steampunk-ish revelry. A fun, fast-paced coming-of-age story laced with magic.” —Kirkus Reviews

23. Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin - 1982

That’s right. The Game of Thrones guy wrote a darn good vampire book, too.
Abner Marsh, a struggling riverboat captain, suspects that something’s amiss when a wealthy aristocrat with a lucrative offer approaches him. The hauntingly pale, steely-eyed Joshua York doesn’t care that the icy winter of 1857 has wiped out all but one of Marsh’s dilapidated fleet; nor does he care that he won’t earn back his investment any time soon. York’s reasons for traversing the powerful Mississippi are to be none of Marsh’s concern—no matter how bizarre, arbitrary, or capricious York’s actions may prove. Not until the maiden voyage of Fevre Dream does Marsh realize that he has joined a mission both more sinister, and perhaps more noble, than his most fantastic nightmare—and humankind’s most impossible dream.

“An adventure into the heart of darkness that transcends even the most inventive vampire novels . . . Fevre Dream runs red with original, high adventure.” —Los Angeles Herald Examiner

22. Dodger by Terry Pratchett - 2012

A storm. Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he’s…Dodger.
Seventeen-year-old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he gleans a living from London’s sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He’s not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl—not even if her fate impacts some of the most powerful people in England.
From Dodger’s encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens and the calculating politician Benjamin Disraeli, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.

“Masterful. Unexpected, drily funny and full of the pathos and wonder of life: Don’t miss it.” —Kirkus Reviews

21. The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss - 2017

Book 1 of 3 in The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series
Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture…a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes.
But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.
When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.

“A tour de force of reclaiming the narrative, executed with impressive wit and insight.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

20. Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal - 2010

Book 1 of 5 in the Glamourist Histories series
Shades of Milk and Honey is exactly what we could expect from Jane Austen if she had been a fantasy writer: Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It is an intimate portrait of a woman, Jane, and her quest for love in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality.
Jane and her sister Melody vie for the attentions of eligible men, and while Jane’s skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face. When Jane realizes that one of Melody’s suitors is set on taking advantage of her sister for the sake of her dowry, she pushes her skills to the limit of what her body can withstand in order to set things right—and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

“With the grace of Sense and Sensibility, a touch of classic fairy tale magic, and an action-packed ending, this debut novel by an award-winning fantasy short story writer will appeal to fans of Jane Austen, Jane Yolen, Patricia Wrede, Susannah Clarke, and even Jasper Fforde.” —Library Journal

19. The Once and Future King by T. H. White - 1958

Once upon a time, a young boy called “Wart” was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn’t possibly imagine. A future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a legendary queen, and unite a country dedicated to chivalrous values. A future that would see him crowned and known for all time as Arthur, King of the Britons.
During Arthur’s reign, the kingdom of Camelot was founded to cast enlightenment on the Dark Ages, while the knights of the Round Table embarked on many a noble quest. But Merlyn foresaw the treachery that awaited his liege: the forbidden love between Queen Guenever and Lancelot, the wicked plots of Arthur’s half-sister Morgause, and the hatred she fostered in Mordred that would bring an end to the king’s dreams for Britain—and to the king himself.

“Touching, profound, funny and tragic.” —Los Angeles Times

18. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - 1966

One spring afternoon, the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow.
Written during the darkest period of Stalin’s repressive reign and a devastating satire of Soviet life, it combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem, each brimming with historical, imaginary, frightful and wonderful characters. Although completed in 1940, The Master & Margarita was not published until 1966 when the first section appeared in the monthly magazine Moskva. Russians everywhere responded enthusiastically to the novel’s artistic and spiritual freedom and it was an immediate and enduring success.

“By turns hilarious, mysterious, contemplative, and poignant . . . A great work.” —Chicago Tribune

17. Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn - 2002

Book 1 of 5 in the Tales of the Otori series
In his black-walled fortress at Inuyama, the warlord Iida Sadamu surveys his famous nightingale floor. Constructed with exquisite skill, it sings at the tread of each human foot. No assassin can cross it unheard.
The youth Takeo has been brought up in a remote mountain village among the Hidden, a reclusive and spiritual people who have taught him only the ways of peace. But unbeknownst to him, his father was a celebrated assassin and a member of the Tribe, an ancient network of families with extraordinary, preternatural skills.
When Takeo’s village is pillaged, he is rescued and adopted by the mysterious Lord Otori Shigeru. Under the tutelage of Shigeru, he learns that he too possesses the skills of the Tribe. And, with this knowledge, he embarks on a journey that will lead him across the famed nightingale floor—and to his own unimaginable destiny…

“Satisfyingly rich in incident yet admirably spare in the telling…Hearn has created a world I anticipate returning to with pleasure.” —The New York Times Book Review

16. Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart - 1984

Book 1 of 3 in The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox
When the children of his village were struck with a mysterious illness, Number Ten Ox sought a wiseman to save them. He found master Li Kao, a scholar with a slight flaw in his character. Together they set out to find the Great Root of Power, the only possible cure.
The quest led them to a host of truly memorable characters, multiple wonders, incredible adventures—and strange coincidences, which were really not coincidences at all. And it involved them in an ancient crime that still perturbed the serenity of Heaven. Simply and charmingly told, this is a wry tale, a sly tale, and a story of wisdom delightfully askew. Once read, its marvels and beauty will not easily fade from the mind.

“Li Kao may have a slight flaw in his character but the book has none. I recommend it unconditionally and I predict Barry Hughart has quite a future as a fantasy writer.” —Anne McCaffrey, author of the Dragonriders of Pern series

15. Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell - 1990

Book 1 of 2 in the Greek Series
Over and again, the aged seeress Tamis scried all the possible tomorrows. In every one, dark forces threatened Greece; terrible evil was poised to reenter the world. The future held only one hope: a half-caste Spartan boy, Parmenion. So Tamis made it her mission to see that Parmenion would become the deadliest warrior in the world—no matter what the cost.
Raised to manhood in Sparta, bullied and forced to fight for his life every day, Parmenion had no notion of the unseen dimensions of magic and mystery that shaped his fate. He grew in strength and cunning. His military genius earned him the title Strategos in Sparta. His triumphs for the city of Thebes made him a hero. And finally his fate led him to the service of Philip of Macedon.
As Tamis had foreseen, Parmenion’s destiny was tied to the Dark God, to Philip, and to the yet-unborn Alexander. All too soon the future was upon them. Parmenion stood poised to defeat evil—or to open the gate for the Dark God to reenter the world.

14. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier - 1999

Book 1 of 6 in The Sevenwaters Series
The Sevenwaters series takes place in Ireland and Britain in the ninth century.
Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives and they are determined that she know only contentment. But Sorcha’s joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift—by staying silent.
If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever. When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs that she will never able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all….

13. The Lions of Al-rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay - 1995

The ruling Asharites have come from the desert sands, worshipping the stars, their warrior blood fierce and pure. But over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, that stern piety has eroded. The Asharies empire has splintered into decadent city-states lead by warring petty kinds.
King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, adding city after city to his realm, even though Cartada is threatened by forces both within and without. Almalik is aided by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan—poet, diplomat, soldier—until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever.
Meanwhile, in the north, Rodrigo Belmonte, the Jaddite’s most celebrated and feared military leader, is driven into exile in the wake of events following the death of the king he loved. Rodrigo leads his mercenary company south, to the dangerous lands of Al-Rassan.
In the exquisite lakeside city of Ragosa, Rodrigo Belmonte and Ammar ibn Kharian meet and serve, for a time, the same master. Sharing the interwoven fate of these two men from different worlds—and increasingly torn in her feelings—is Jehane, the beautiful, accomplished court physician, whose own skills play an increasing role as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond.
“A magnificent, deeply moving book.” —Locus

12. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - 1992

Book 1 of 8 in the Outlander series
Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord… 1743.
Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
“Marvelous and fantastic adventures, romance, sex . . . perfect escape reading.” —San Francisco Chronicle

11. Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead - 1987

Book 1 of 6 in The Pendragon Cycle
It was a time of legend, when the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror fade from the captured Isle of Britain. While across a vast sea, a bloody war shatters a peace that had flourished for two thousand years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis.
Charis, a princess from Atlantis, escapes the terrible devastation of her land and meets the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. Their incomparable love joins two astonishing worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawns the miracles of Merlin and King Arthur.

“Reminiscent of C. S. Lewis . . . Highly recommended.” —Library Journal

10. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith - 2010

Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother’s bedside. She’s been stricken with something the old-timers call “Milk Sickness.”
“My baby boy…” she whispers before dying.
Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.
When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, “Henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose. Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.
While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.
Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

“[T]he funniest, most action-packed and weirdly well-researched account of the Civil War you’ll probably read in a long time. Grahame-Smith could be poised to become the Howard Zinn of vampire-related alterna-history.” ―Vanity Fair

9. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novi - 2006

Book 1 of 10 in the Temeraire series
When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo (an unhatched dragon egg), fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future—and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.
“Terrifically entertaining.” —Stephen King

8. Soulless by Gail Carriger - 2009

Book 1 of 5 in The Parasol Protectorate series
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire, and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and a werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London’s high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

“Carriger debuts brilliantly with a blend of Victorian romance, screwball comedy of manners and alternate history… This intoxicatingly witty parody will appeal to a wide cross-section of romance, fantasy and steampunk fans.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review

7. Territory by Emma Bull - 2007

Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 is the site of one of the richest mineral strikes in American history, where veins of silver run like ley lines under the earth, a network of power that belongs to anyone who knows how to claim and defend it.
Above the ground, power is also about allegiances. A magician can drain his friends’ strength to strengthen himself, and can place them between him and danger. The one with the most friends stands to win the territory.
Jesse Fox left his Eastern college education to travel West, where he’s made some decidedly odd friends, like the physician Chow Lung, who insists that Jesse has a talent for magic. In Tombstone, Jesse meets the tubercular Doc Holliday, whose inner magic is as suppressed as his own, but whose power is enough to attract the sorcerous attention of Wyatt Earp.
Mildred Benjamin is a young widow making her living as a newspaper typesetter, and—unbeknownst to the other ladies of Tombstone—selling tales of Western derring-do to the magazines back East. Like Jesse, Mildred has episodes of seeing things that can’t possibly be there.
When a failed stage holdup results in two dead, Tombstone explodes with speculation about who attempted the robbery. The truth could destroy Earp’s plans for wealth and glory, and he’ll do anything to bury it. Meanwhile, outlaw leader John Ringo wants the same turf as Earp. Each courts Jesse as an ally, and tries to isolate him by endangering his friends, as they struggle for magical dominance of the territory.
Events are building toward the shootout of which you may have heard. But you haven’t heard the whole, secret story until you’ve read Emma Bull’s unique take on an American legend, in which absolutely nothing is as it seems…
“Emma Bull is really good.” —Neil Gaiman

6. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland - 2017

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. is brilliant, fast-paced, and will give you sore wrists because it’s a thick, heavy book, but you will not want to put it down.
An expert in ancient languages is hired by a mysterious government agency to translate some documents that suggest that magic actually once existed in the world. But the advance of science caused magic to disappear in 1851. However, the existence of a two-hundred-year-old witch and some fancy technology allow a limited amount of magic to occur in this world, and soon the language expert and others are being sent back in time to repair history. And, if they’re lucky, bring magic back to the world.

“Quantum physics, witchcraft, and multiple groups with conflicting agendas, playfully mixed with vernacular from several centuries and a dizzying number of acronyms, create a fascinating experiment in speculation and metafiction that never loses sight of the human foibles and affections of its cast.” —Publishers Weekly

5. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - 2013

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life to by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic and dies at sea on the voyage from Poland. Chava is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899.
Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free.
Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. This debut novel weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable into an inventive tale.

“[A] spellbinding blend of fantasy and historical fiction.” —Publishers Weekly

4. Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe - 1986

Latro is a Roman mercenary who receives a head injury that deprives him of his short-term memory. In return it gives him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.

“[A] wonder, yes, a genius.” ―The Washington Post Book World on Gene Wolfe

3. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud - 2003

Book 1 of 4 in the Bartimaeus series
I’m a huge Jonathan Stroud fan, and this is the book that got me hooked.
Nathaniel is eleven-years-old and a magician’s apprentice, learning the traditional art of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a magician of unrivaled ruthlessness and ambition. When Lovelace brutally humiliates Nathaniel in public, Nathaniel decides to speed up his education, teaching himself spells far beyond his years.
With revenge on his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all and summons Bartimaeus, a five-thousand-year-old snarky djinni, to assist him. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal Lovelace’s greatest treasure, the Amulet of Samarkand, he finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, and rebellion.

2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - 2004

In the year 1806, in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England, until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers and becomes a celebrity overnight. Another practicing magician emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell’s pupil and the two join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic and soon he risks sacrificing not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything else he holds dear.

“Immense, intelligent, inventive… Clarke is a restrained and witty writer with an arch and eminently readable style.” ―Entertainment Weekly

1. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - 1979

Kindred is an astonishing, fantastic book. Author Butler is a master. This book is often considered science fiction, but it easily could be called fantasy.
Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana’s life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

“Truly terrifying… A book you’ll find hard to put down.” —Essence

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"Corn can't expect justice from a court composed of chickens." - Anonymous African Proverb
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Water vapor was rising from the pools of water left by the torrential rains in the past few days. The whole place was a tepid steam bath. It usually was quite arid: if it were to ever rain, it would be only these few months. But the humidity was not the issue. Wherever water went, the mosquitos followed, and the entire place was a breeding ground for those blood-sucking pests. No wonder malaria was still a problem even in these days.
Even though the sun had yet to rise, the harsh beams of floodlights flooded the cell through its only window, between thick bars of steel. There was practically no difference whether the lights were switched on or off and the only way to tell time was a ubiquitous plastic clock that was hung on the wall. Aaden Mohamed Mahmoud laid out his prayer mat and began his morning prayers, trying his best to ignore the occasional buzzing and swatting whenever he felt something landing on him. Peeking at the guard while he was prone on the mat, his chants did not wake him up. This was confirmed by the audible snores echoing from his gaping mouth. Aaden had been here long enough to recognize the patrol schedules and it would not be another hour before there was a shift change. Time was of the essence and he could not afford to waste even a single second. He got to his feet, headed towards the window, produced a piece of scrap metal he managed to hide away from the guards, and proceeded to chisel this steel bar he had been working on since it started to rain. Despite the uncomfortable humidity and mosquito-borne parasites, at least the copious rainfall helped mask the grinding of metals in the past few nights. Although the rain had stopped tonight, putting him at a higher risk of being discovered, Aaden was quite determined to get out of this concrete cell. His wife and children were waiting for him at home and being in here was not going to feed them.
Snap.
The makeshift chisel halved from the accumulated abrasion. Aaden’s heart sank. He picked up the broken piece that fell onto the floor and took a good look at it. It looked salvageable, it would probably still work. He then fixed his eyes on the small dent he barely made on the bar, even a fingernail was probably thicker than whatever he did and he still had about two more inches to cut through. His eyes landed on the clock, decided to call it a day, and stored the two pieces of metal in a carefully hidden place. Aaden wondered if he would ever get out at this rate, or whether it would be quicker to just serve his whole sentence. From what he knew, this entire prison was probably built in the last few years. Every night when the guards were less alert, Aaden would look for every nook and cranny that showed any sign of structural weakness for his potential escape route. In the end, he concluded that his best bet would be through the steel bars. But even if he managed to chisel through them, then what? The entire complex was patrolled by more armed guards and there were watchtowers towering everyone that was in it. Then there were the barbed-wire-laced electric fences and beyond that, probably miles and miles of desert before he could reach Somalia again. That was if he could manage to overcome all of these hurdles.
Unable to stop his train of thought from ruminating again, Aaden helplessly rolled up his prayer mat, curled up in his bed, and tried to get more rest as he could. It was futile. Aaden felt like he was constantly falling into a bottomless pit as his mind kept replaying memories of why he ended up here in the first place like a broken recorder.
It had been decades since the first conflicts of the Somali civil war erupted and the whole country had been in shambles since. It was a time when nobody dared to venture out of their homes, especially alone. Regional warlords scramble to fill the power vacuum of the defunct government. separatists declared independence for Somaliland in the north, and militant jihadists were plaguing the lawless south. Despite foreign peacekeeping forces from the African Union, the entirety of Somalia was still essentially a warzone. As a teenager, Aaden dared not to even walk the streets near his house without his trusty AK-47, passed down from his grandfather. It was rusting and missing a few parts, but it still did its job to keep his family and him alive. There was so much uncertainty. Nobody knew when their hunger would be filled by the next meal, nobody knew when their thirst would be quenched by the next sip of water, nobody knew when their next breath would be their last. But one thing everyone was certain: life was hell.
The Federal Government was created after several attempts to instigate a central authority to stabilize the country. These promises the politicians proclaimed were empty to Somalis like Aaden. The fact that there were terrorists roaming freely in the streets of the capital and terrorizing her citizens was a disgrace to any respectable government. However, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the assassination of the President while he was visiting Merca, a port city near Mogadishu, and its fall to the Jihadists. It was then the Federal Government decided to finally do something. A phone call to Beijing was made and negotiations were almost immediately signed as soon as they were proposed. As part of the Sino-Somali Friendship Agreement, in exchange for the People Liberation Army’s involvement in quelling the jihadist insurgency, Mogadishu pledged to fully integrate Somalia into China’s Neo-Silk Road to benefit both countries’ economically. They were killing two birds with one stone. For the first time in Aaden’s life, things seemed to be changing for the good. What could possibly go wrong?
In weeks of deployment, the South Sea Fleet reached the Horn of Africa. To compare it with Zheng He’s treasure fleet was an understatement. The news of their arrival spread the country like wildfire. Aaden knew it was a stupid idea in hindsight, but the thought of these mysterious foreigners from the Orient who decided to help bring peace to his country out of their goodwill really stroked his unyielding curiosity. It was then he snuck out with his rifle to the shore to look at this so-called grand fleet he kept hearing about. It was there he could finally fathom what he had heard. The entire visible horizon was grey with warships, striking the air with towers and towers of radar detectors. Colossal cannons pointed high in the sky, as though they were soldiers saluting in a military parade at him. The grand fleet was battle-hardened from the Reunification of Taiwan, joined by a contingent from an overseas naval base in nearby Djibouti. Dozens of destroyers, aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers, and submarines were led by the battleship Yanan, sailing under the Five-starred Red Flag, ready to crush even more rebels. For the first time in his life, Aaden finally felt what hope was like.
What the Federal Government could not do in decades, the PLA did in a month. Enroute to the Horn of Africa, every detectable pirate ship on sonar was sent to Davy Jones' locker. For the first time in recent history, these seas were safe for fishermen and merchants to sail through. Jihadist-captured Merca was reduced to ashes with Chinese artillery shells in a week. Jilib, the headquarters of the jihadist group, fell within another. Other major rebel settlements were captured in the next. By the end of the month, there was virtually no sign of a walking militant jihadist in Somalia. This military maneuver was critically appraised by military strategists all around the world, some even going as far as commenting this operation being remarkably more successful than the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. At least, the Somali Civil War came to a close in the south. For the first time in his life, Aaden left his rifle at home. The air did not smell of gunpowder. Gunshots were replaced by the haggling and chattering of store owners and customers. With an empty ceramic jar, he headed to the village well to fill it up, and it was then when he first met his wife.
The agreement was fulfilled, but it left half of the country a war-torn wasteland. Politicians were left scratching their heads as even the trade policies in the Neo-Silk Road were not enough to patch up the damages done. Feeling it was their responsibility to fix the collateral damage of this act of liberation, hordes of Chinese businessmen decided to extend their hands to the government as a symbol of goodwill and thousands of development project contracts were signed very promptly. A year had not even passed and there were already towering skyscrapers in Merca in place of its ruins. Aaden’s village finally got connected to the country’s highway and railway network. More houses and local infrastructure was built and the sprawling settlement even nearly got promoted into a city. Seeing things that could not be even better, Aaden finally decided to tie the knot and start a family. He was sure that his children would not know the bitter taste of war.
It was only a matter of time the Federal Government realized they had no way to pay back all the debt from all these Chinese projects. Furthermore, knowing that the South China Fleet could just arrive at their doorsteps in days and also a sizable PLA deployment still in the country for peacekeeping missions, Mogadishu had no choice but to sign another agreement with Beijing. By nullifying half of what the Federal Government owed to these Chinese businessmen, the port city of Merca would be temporarily under Chinese sovereignty on a 999-year-lease. Pretty much as good as forever even with the lifespans of 30 generations.
That was many years ago when that happened anyways. Aaden always knew that Merca held opportunities for him to feed his family fuller than in the capital. The Chinese were always very generous when it came to salary, at least to Somali standards. He was lucky enough to land a contract as a transport operator in a newly constructed naval base there. Aaden even applied to get a passport just for this, since he never had to leave the country. Just the thought of going to a nearby city and having to do security checks at a border checkpoint in Somalia’s very soil perplexed him. Once the papers were all in order, he bid farewell to his loving family and headed to this Chinese city in his country.
Being surrounded by signs with strange characters made of complicated strokes on massive LED complexes that covered cloud-reaching skyscrapers was truly an overwhelming experience for Aaden. Everything here was nothing quite like Mogadishu, the largest city he had ever visited. His jaw dropped open and eyes darted back and forth, pressing his face on the window to savor the sights of this foreign city throughout the ride to the naval base he was going to work in. Once there, Aaden was greeted by a comfortable bed and filling meals. Oh, how he wished that the rest of his family could be here with him. With the thought of them benefiting from his labors, Aaden made sure he did his very best every day.
A few months passed and it was going to be Eid al-Fitr soon. Aaden’s annual leave was approved then so that he could return and celebrate with his family. Then he could finally see them not just through a 6-inch screen, but with his very own eyes. He wanted to pick his children up to see how much they’ve grown. He wanted to taste the Cambuulo his wife promised to cook for him. The grueling heat was harsh to him in this month of Ramadan but Aaden was determined to pull through this. His toil would make his family happy. His train of thought immediately jammed on the brakes when he suddenly spotted a Chinese soldier on his back, with his knee at an unnatural angle.
“A- are you okay, sir?” Aaden leaped out of his truck and tried to speak in his best Mandarin.
Visibly distressed, the soldier shook his head. He was clearly in too much pain to speak.
“Wh- Who did this to you? What happened?” Aaden panicked as his eyes scanned up and down the soldier’s body. His right shin was touching his thigh and Aaden could not help but cringe whenever that came to sight. The tarmac beneath him was dyed crimson from his gaping wound. The soldier’s breathing was quick and shallow. He looked as pale as a ghost. Aaden knew he was going to die.
“H- Hold on!” Aaden wrapped his arm around his neck as he tried to lift him up. “I’ll get you to a hospital!”
Unfortunately, Aaden’s efforts were futile. The soldier had already bled to death before he could get any help. His heart was full of sorrow and all he could do was to pray for him and his family. As he was waiting to fill in some paperwork, two Chinese men in black suits approached him, “Are you the one who found Sergeant Li Fang?”
“Yes, sir.” He nodded. “I saw him lying on-”
“You are under arrest for manslaughter with intent, under Article 232 of the Socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. Anything you say will be used against you.” One of them announced, as the other handcuffed him from the back.
No. This can’t be happening. Aaden thought. This can’t be true.
The trio ripped themselves from the stares at the hospital and Aaden sat between his captors in a police car. Before he knew it he found himself in front of a judge with the two suited men pressing him down in his seat.
“Y-Your Honor! Please believe me!” Tears were welling up in Aaden’s eyes, “I’m innoce-”
“Silence!” The boom of the gavel echoed in the courtroom. “It is not your turn to speak! One more sound and you will be in contempt! Please continue your testimony, Prosecutor Zheng.”
“Yes, your honor. As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted by this unevolved ape, the victim was clearly severely injured when the defendant arrived at the scene. The defendant decided that he was going to take the victim to the hospital, but unfortunately the victim passed away on the way there. Surely, it is the defendant’s fault for such negligence as it had caused not only the victim's death, but a family has lost their loving son and China has lost a capable soldier! The defendant should be harshly punished for his sins!” A middle-aged man with glasses slammed the table as he condemned Aaden. His spit was visibly flying in all directions as he spoke.
“And what does the defendant have to say?” The judge paid no interest to Aaden and flipped over a few sheets of paper in her file.
“I… I-” His tongue was stiff and his throat was frozen. His words just would not leave his mouth.
“I’ve heard enough!” The judge grasped her gavel impatiently and slammed it once more. Once the room returned to silence, she announced, “I hereby declare you, Aaden Mohamed Mahmoud, guilty for manslaughter. You will be sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years.”
With that, he found himself in blue overalls with a serial number, locked behind bars. His uncomfortable clothes reminded him of his Muslim brethren in those Uyghur concentration camps he had heard of as a child.
The guards had confiscated his phone when he came in. There was really no way to contact his family. Just the thought of them worrying why he did not show up for Eid was already too heartbreaking for him. As a few tears rolled down his cheeks, Aaden tried to remind himself to stay strong as he laid on his bed, blankly stared at the ceiling, waiting for nightfall, and to continue with his escape plan. What seemed like hours passed when the rattling of steel gates startled him as it caught him off guard.
“Salaam alaykum¹, brother.” A tall and lean Somali in the same clothes as him stepped into his cell before guards locked them shut again. “My name is Suleymaan.”
“Wa alaykum salaam², brother.” Aaden sat up and offered a handshake. The two cellmates sat on their beds, across each other. Finally, there was someone else who would listen to his troubles and concerns. He could not help it but tell him everything in his mind. From the moment he landed his contract to the very first day he was a prisoner. Hours passed like minutes and before they knew it, the sun was already setting, “So, what are you in for?”
“I also work at the naval base as you, but I was a cleaner for an admiral, not a driver like you.” Suleymaan already felt like he had a connection with Aaden after hearing his story, “Anyways I have been working there for a few years until the admiral got a promotion and went back to China. So after this, I was working for a new admiral, but I did not like him.”
“And why is that?” Aaden interrupted. His experience with his former Chinese superiors was relatively a good one. One of them was even patient enough to teach him enough Mandarin to get around the city without any difficulty. Sometimes, they would even take him to restaurants and try out China’s myriad of cuisines. He felt sorry for him to have such a bad experience at work.
“He was very rude to me unlike his predecessor and always shouted at me for nothing. But this is not the main point.” Suleymaan frowned as he recalled his tale, “He was friends with a former K9 specialist, so he was given this German Shepherd as a gift. The dog was very fierce and barked loudly. You could hear it barking down a few blocks. Wherever the new admiral went, the dog always followed him. I think that the dog liked to bully me because whenever it saw me it liked to bark at me and even chase me around!”
“Oh no, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!” Aaden frowned as a memory emerged subconsciously. Back in the waning days of the civil war, when his village was under control of a warlord clan, his mercenaries would often patrol the streets and harass almost every villager they bumped into, usually with insults or demanding food and money. The image of an old man with nothing to offer being mauled alive by dogs was still etched clearly in his mind. At least those days were long gone.
“Precisely!” Suleymaan snapped at the opportunity to agree immediately. “Then one day when I was cleaning the admiral’s office when he was out for a smoke, the evil dog came out of nowhere and bit me in the leg! It was so painful, I screamed as loud as I could but no one could hear me. I tried to pull the dog’s mouth apart but it didn’t work, and it bit even harder! See! Look at my leg!”
Suleymaan lifted his trouser legs to reveal a mere shaft that looked like skin wrapping bone. A healthy chunk of his right calf was missing and around it was clearly lined with bite marks that sank deep into his flesh. An ambiguously whitish translucent thing looked like it was wiggling around in one of the holes created by the bite marks. Aaden thought the smell was probably a blocked pipe from the neighboring cell, but this confirmed the source. Resisting the urge to let bring up his last meal, Aaden clenched his jaw and hoped that it would work.
“I’m sorry you had to see that. But there was nothing I could do!” Suleymaan covered himself up, “So I did what I could to save my life! I crushed my hands around the mad dog’s neck! It would have killed me if I didn’t kill it first!
“Exactly!” Aaden sat at the edge of his bed all riled up. He believed that animals usually would not be so violent unless triggered or conditioned by such cruel masters, as he had witnessed, “So what happened next?”
“When the admiral came back and saw his dog lying on the floor, he was furious!” Suleymaan raised his fist as a gesture of anger, “He shouted, scolded me, and even kicked me! He said the dog’s life was worth more than mine and I would pay dearly for this! The admiral should be locked up instead of me for neglecting his filthy dog! These people have no respect for human life. I rather go back to Somalia to work instead, even if they don’t pay me as much.”
Dumbfounded by Suleymaan’s reason for being here and sensing his resentment against his captors, Aaden decided to share his plan to escape after the coast was clear. After all, two men chiseling was better than just one.
“Oh good. I like the idea.” Suleymaan lowered his voice, “There is no way I will spend 20 years of my life here!”
Aaden hushed him for speaking too loud. The guards could become suspicious if they talked too much. With a few basic hand gestures, he let Suleymaan know the time when they had to get to work. Until then, the two laid on their beds for they would need to rest. Aaden was baffled by how his cellmate had to serve double his time for something like that. And I thought Somalia’s justice system was absurd, he thought.
The clock’s hand struck at the right hour and as expected the cell was still illuminated by the floodlights outside. Suleymaan’s sonorous snores resonated from the other side of the cell, oddly enough, was in synchrony with the sleeping guard’s in the corridor.
“Psst.” Aaden shook Suleymaan on the shoulder, “Get up. It’s time.”
“What?” Suleyman reluctantly opened his eyes and squinted as he adjusted his bearings, “Already? Tell me what to do.”
“Here. you’ll need this.” Aaden produced one of the broken pieces of his makeshift chisel and handed it to him. “Should be quite self-explanatory. Head back to bed immediately and pretend to sleep if you hear any footsteps.”
He nodded and the two cellmates then headed over to the window. Aaden continued with the dent he made so far, while Suleymaan pondered to decide which bar he should pick, then chose the one furthest from Aaden’s to make more space between them. Maybe an hour or two passed, as Aaden’s fingers started to hurt where he was holding the metal piece.
Clack. Cluck. Clack. Cluck.
Aaden’s eyes widened as he turned his head towards the other side of the room. He anxiously patted Suleymaan on his shoulder for his attention, urgently pointed at his bed with a finger in front of his lips, then slipped back to it. He tried to lie as still as possible but his heart felt like it was going to pop out of his chest at any moment as adrenaline was coursing through his veins. Expecting his accomplice to do the same, Aaden was petrified to see that Suleymaan was still standing by the window, as if his instructions were far from clear. In the blink of an eye, Suleymaan darted to the opposite side of the room and began frantically slamming onto the railings by the cell door, shouting at the sleeping guard at the top of his lungs and echoing down the entire prison corridor, “Officer! He’s trying to escape! He’s trying to escape through the windows!”
The clacking and clucking intensified as Suleymaan continued to howl like a mad dog. The snores stopped and more footsteps could be heard approaching their cell. With a clink and a clank, Aaden could hear the cell door swoop open and two rifles were pointed at him.
“It’s him, officer!” Suleymaan pointed at him, with a face of disgust as if he were a rat just spotted crawling out of a sewer pipe, “It’s him!”
“Alright, put your hands up slowly. No funny business.” One of the guards said in a stern voice. “Now turn around and lie flat on the floor. No sudden movements.”
“Or we’ll fucking shoot you.” The other guard added, annoyed that his sleep was disturbed.
Aaden had no choice but to comply with their orders. He could feel the cold shackles being cuffed around his wrists. An unexpected forceful yank brought him up to his knees, making him nearly fall on his side from losing balance. The moment when he got on his feet, a metal muzzle was already dug into his back. Aaden flinched from the pain and walked wherever the rifle led him. Through the cell door, he and the guard disappeared down the seemingly endless corridor.
“Now, about my reward...” Suleymaan turned to the other guard with a smile on his face, satisfied with his service, “You’ll put in a good word for the warden right?”
“What’s your serial number again?” The guard asked.
‘Er... 21… 21719, sir.“ Suleymaan looked down at his tag on his uniform before looking back at the guard. His grin grew wider on his face, though it quickly transformed into a grimace. A fist sank uncomfortably deep into his gut, promptly sending him flying across the room and hitting his head into the wall.
Struggling to get up, Suleymaan was on his elbow, rubbing his belly as he was retching out acid on the floor. The ache on his head was unbearable as well, feeling as if it had nearly split open right there. He could feel a warm trickle down his temple, joining up the sour fluid at the edge of his mouth, down his chin before dripping the floor scarlet. Confused, he whimpered, “What was… What was that for?”
“That’s from Admiral Zhang.” The guard gave a cruel smirk, then spat something foul and viscous that landed squarely on the prisoner’s face, ‘And that’s for selling your ‘friend’ out, traitor.’
“You’ll still... You’ll still put in a word for me right?” Suleymaan was choking and struggled to get words out of his mouth.
“Oh yeah, that? No. You don’t deserve it, traitorous mutt.” The guard headed back to the door and locked it shut, “And now that you’ve woken everyone on this block by ratting him out, good luck surviving here.”
----
Down the winding corridors, Aaden was unaware of his cellmate’s fate, not that he cared at all. How could he be so careless? He should have known. How could he have trusted someone he just met? What a fool I’ve been, he thought. If only that damned Suleymaan was not put in the same cell as him, none of this would have happened at all. More importantly, there was no way he would be leaving this place before Eid, or even in the next 10 years. Why was all of this happening to him? If only he did not stop for the soldier and ignored him, or decided not to work on that day, or not even work in Merca at all, none of this would have happened. He wondered what they would do to him. Lengthen his sentence maybe? Another 5 years? 10? 20? Or even his whole life? Was he able to see his wife and children ever again? Were they going to send him to some Muslim re-education camp in China he often heard about? Nothing but the worst possible outcomes he could imagine were racing through his mind.
He felt a cool breeze against his face. He was outside. For quite a while actually. All of this ruminating did not make him even realize that. Squinting past the bright floodlights the watchtowers shone on him, he could see high rise buildings shifting between vibrant colors with their millions of LED lights just behind the silhouette of barbed wire sitting on the ashen concrete walls.
As the two were heading towards a corner of the perimeter, Aaden found himself joined by a few more armed guards. A part of him thought of just making a run for it. Another part of him simply slammed down this absurd idea, there was no way he could outrun six guns and he was practically a fish out of water. In the midst of the crunching of gravel beneath their feet, he could hear a guard trying to talk softly to another, as if he did not want Aaden to overhear them.
“What charge should we use? What about disturbance of peace?” One of them muttered.
“No disturbance of peace doesn't give you that. Use… Use promotion of separatism.” The other replied after a bit of thought.
“"Oh okay, let's use that.” He agreed.
Eventually, they approached closer to the corner. Aaden noticed that the sandy ground was stained with a rusty tinge. A metallic scent he was way too familiar with shot up his nose. He had an idea of what was going to happen already.
“Go over there and turn around.” The guard behind him ordered. Once Aaden stood in front of the six guards, he continued, “Prisoner 24601, you have been caught red-handed for an attempted prison escape. By doing so you have committed Article 64 of the Socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, which is punishable by lengthening your jail sentence by another 15 years. However, we also suspect that you have been promoting ideas of separatism. You have committed a grave crime of secession, sedition, and subversion against the Central People's Government under the National Security Law. You are a person too dangerous to be kept alive. Now, you will be sentenced to death.”
He fucking knew it. This was the end of the road.
“Ready!” All guards lifted their rifles and they clicked as their magazines were loaded.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in.
“Take aim!”
“Sorry, Caaliyah. I won’t be back for Eid.”
----
¹ Peace be upon you.
² Peace be upon you too.

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Some strong historical fantasy books (takes place in Earth's past)

27. The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow - 2020

26. The Terror by Dan Simmons - 2007

25. Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard - 2010

24. The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller - 2018

23. Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin - 1982

22. Dodger by Terry Pratchett - 2012

21. The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss - 2017

20. Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal - 2010

19. The Once and Future King by T. H. White - 1958

18. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - 1966

17. Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn - 2002

16. Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart - 1984

15. Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell - 1990

14. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier - 1999

13. The Lions of Al-rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay - 1995

12. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - 1992

11. Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead - 1987

10. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith - 2010

9. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novi - 2006

8. Soulless by Gail Carriger - 2009

7. Territory by Emma Bull - 2007

6. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland - 2017

5. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - 2013

4. Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe - 1986

3. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud - 2003

2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - 2004

1. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - 1979

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