Tharizdun, the Chanied God, has released the Voidharrow--a liquid crystal imbued with his will and all the chaos of the Abyss--into the universe, and with it comes a transformative engine of pestilence. When exposed to the Voidharrow, individuals look as though they've been stricken by disease as the Abyssal liquid twists and deforms them into chaotic demonlike creatures. Behold the Abyssal Plague! When a trading caravan manned by grafters and con men comes across a dead man in the desert they open the door to an Abyssal realm long since destroyed. As the Voidharrow takes hold of one of their companions, he begins to morph into a beast like none they have ever seen. When the stakes are raised in an attempt to defraud some of the more unsavory rulers of this cruel world, the Voidharrow comes to play a role in a move that could transform our heroes forever.
Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star some 20.3 light years from Earth. Red dwarfs are among the most numerous stars in the galaxy, and they sport diverse planetary systems. At magnitude 10, Gliese 581 is visible to amateur observers but does not stand out. So what makes this star so important? It is that professional observers have confirmed that it has at least four planets orbiting it, and in 2009, Planet d was described in the letters of The Astrophysical Journal as “the first confirmed exoplanet that could support Earth-like life.” Under a Crimson Sun looks at the nature of red dwarf systems such as Gliese as potential homes for life. Realistically, what are prospects for life on these distant worlds? Could life evolve and survive there? How do these planetary surfaces and geology evolve? How would life on a red dwarf planet differ from life on Earth? And what are the implications for finding further habitable worlds in our galaxy? Stevenson provides readers with insight into the habitability of planets and how this changes as time progresses and the central star evolves. Explore with him in this engaging, fascinating book the possibilities for finding life, from bacteria to more complex and even intelligent organisms, on red dwarf system planets.
A long-lasting treaty is shattered. The horns of war echo from the eastern shores. A conflict is triggered that will determine the outcome of all life in the Hidden Lands. None can know the will of Fate. His watchful eye governs the flow of history and the sister blades He crafted triggers the rise and fall of nations. Caleb Rambrant is the son of the famed hero of the west, the man who slew the dark sage. As captain in the forces of Tritus, his duty is to defend the homeland from the onslaught of Talgoth, the rising kingdom led by the Lioness – the merciless Queen Tamara. Joined by a blacksmith’s daughter, hex-casting wardens, and a mysterious shape shifter from across the sea, Caleb sets off on a quest of retribution for the wrongs done to his country…but forces more hostile than foreign steel await them on the road. The struggle of power kindled by the sister blades begins a new cycle…and Fate is watching.
With Tyr’s most vile enemy dead, a new tyrannical ruler takes his place in this second Prism Pentad novel set in the post-apocalyptic world of Dark Sun After a millennium of sorrow, the city of Tyr has cast off the yoke of the brutal sorcerer-king Kalak. The new ruler, Tithian of Mericies, has liberated the slaves—and plunged the city into chaos. In a cruel twist of fate, Tyr’s triumph may very well become its death knell. Only Rikus, the man-dwarf gladiator who sparked the rebellion against Kalak, can save Tyr from its new enemy: the invading armies of Urik, a neighboring city that seeks to conquer Tyr and its Iron Mines. With a ragtag militia of nobles, templars, and former slaves, Rikus must stand against Urik’s forces and their evil leader. But strength of arm does not necessarily make a good general—as Rikus will learn before the conflict is over.
A long-lasting treaty is shattered. The horns of war echo from the eastern shores. A conflict is triggered that will determine the outcome of all life in the Hidden Lands. None can know the will of Fate. His watchful eye governs the flow of history and the sister blades He crafted triggers the rise and fall of nations. Caleb Rambrant is the son of the famed hero of the west, the man who slew the dark sage. As captain in the forces of Tritus, his duty is to defend the homeland from the onslaught of Talgoth, the rising kingdom led by the Lioness - the merciless Queen Tamara. Joined by a blacksmith's daughter, hex-casting wardens, and a mysterious shape shifter from across the sea, Caleb sets off on a quest of retribution for the wrongs done to his country...but forces more hostile than foreign steel await them on the road. The struggle of power kindled by the sister blades begins a new cycle...and Fate is watching.
"A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit"--
In the aftermath of revolution, King Kalak of Tyr is dead and all eyes fall on the lucrative iron mines of his once mighty city-state. Merchant houses scramble to seize what scraps they can while King Hamanu of Urik, the Lion of the Desert, rallies his armies to crush the Tyr rebellion underfoot. He cannot allow this insurrection to succeed and intends to seize the city’s precious resources for himself. The hope of the Tyr revolution seems destined to fail as the tyrannical specter of Hamanu’s war machine looms large on the horizon. But fate chooses the most unlikely heroes. Loren, a gladiator pressed into service by a corrupt merchant prince; the ambitious Alaeda Stel who hopes to secure her family’s future by exploiting Tyr’s sudden weakness; a street thief named Melech; and Korvak the disgraced templar are Tyr’s best and only hope. The promise of freedom rests on their ability to overcome the greed and lust for power that threatens to undermine the principles of Tyr’s revolution.
Literary Nonfiction. Asian & Asian American Studies. Biography. Eight- year-old Akihisa Takayama escapes from Japanese-ruled Manchuria, after the Russian invasion of 1945, to Chinese Taiwan. But life in Taiwan is as repressive under the brutal dictatorship of the Kuomintang as it was in Japanese Manchuria. In the 1960s, now a physician, and named Charles Yang, he ultimately escapes the White Terror of Taiwan for the United States, and from there goes on to Canada to become one of the first Taiwanese Canadians in Vancouver. His experiences illuminate the repression in Taiwan, and the ongoing dispute between Communist China and Taiwan over the meaning of "One China." This is a rare personal account of the little known histories of Manchukuo and Taiwanese immigration to North America.
Features interviews with Bill Bruford, Peter Giles, Gordon Haskell, Judy Dyble and more . . . In 1969 five young Englishmen calling themselves King Crimson altered the course of rock music, and despite a revolving-door lineup, the band has continued to innovate and inspire for more than fifty years. Fifty Shades of Crimson tells the story of this legendary band and of the unique English guitarist Robert Fripp it revolves around. With a deep passion for the music, author Pete Tomsett celebrates the achievements of Fripp and the array of incredible talent that has passed through Crimson, while not shying away from the many behind-the-scenes difficulties. Getting signed after supporting The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park, Crimson shot to fame with their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, becoming one of the most influential bands of that era and triggering the rise of prog rock. While going through countless personnel, including Greg Lake, Bill Bruford and John Wetton, rejecting Elton John and Bryan Ferry along the way, they have put out many highly acclaimed albums and to this day maintain a big international following. In their early years Fripp's band reached the same commercial heights as the likes of David Bowie and Pink Floyd. However, as an intellectual who despised the practices of the music business, Fripp preferred innovation over chasing big sales. In 1974 he withdrew from mainstream music, becoming involved with the Fourth Way philosophy, but was eventually tempted back and reformed Crimson to much acclaim in the eighties. As well as also having collaborations with Brian Eno, Andy Summers and others, Fripp has created new forms of instrumental music, run his own idiosyncratic guitar courses and set up an ethical record company. Both genius and 'a special sort of awkward', Fripp has never been afraid to take his music where no one has gone before, and Crimson have been a powerful influence on everyone from Genesis and Yes to Roxy Music and Radiohead, creating a legacy that will live on for decades more!
