As the Endellion Emperor’s daughter, Althea Crimsonheart is expected to train in the ways of the enlightenment. Where Althea struggles in her training, her friend Jidan excels. To aid their training, Althea and Jidan’s mentor sends them on a journey to a wise sage rumoured to have achieved enlightenment. Meanwhile, Endellion is at war with Ormilla, a neighbouring kingdom, while the spiròts shun their people. Meeting friends and foes along their journey, Althea and Jidan discover startling truths about the world they thought they knew. When many forces collide, those caught between will be forced to make tough choices and learn how to steer the wheel of their own destiny.
Can those who keep secrets be trusted? Aboard the floating city of Sylphicus, secrets abound. It’s one year after the Battle of the Prismwood, and Althea Crimsonheart—future Empress of Endellion and esteemed hero of the southern war—is on a journey to learn about the wider world, alongside her companions: Gorn, a scholar of Arivolli; Kamil, an outcast of the Kingdom of Ormilla; Zianna, daughter of the ousted House Aghamora; and Dzarò, Althea’s bonded companion, a hybrid spiròt desperate to understand his place among spiròt-kind. While travelling through the skies, the group begins to uncover a clandestine plot that connects Gorn’s family with the Arivollish black market and a horrifying series of experiments that, if allowed to continue, will lead to the creation of an invincible army of chimeras. Upon receiving a sacred task from the primordial spiròt Itl, Althea and her companions must decide who they can trust: the enigmatic hermit, or the secretive primordial dragon. Their quest places them in the middle of yet another conflict, this time in Zianna's homeland of Uayat, a nation divided by desire and ideology. Dark secrets and betrayals continue to unfold as Althea stands resolute in her convictions, following her own path just as she did a year ago. However, she soon realizes that the will of others has just as much of a role to play in her destiny as her own choices, and she and her allies are pushed to accept all that they cannot control. When many forces collide, those caught in between must understand the consequences of their choices, or risk being swallowed by the turbulent tides of destiny.
Conan the Cimmerian: the boy-thief who became a mercenary, who fought and loved his way across fabled lands to become King of Aquilonia. Neither supernatural fiends nore demonic sorcery could oppose the barbarian warrior as he wielded his mighty sword and dispatched his enemies to a bloody doom on the battlefields of the legendary Hyborian age. Collected together in one volume for the very first time, in chronological order, are Robert E. Howard's tales of the legendary hero, as fresh and atmospheric today as when they were first published in the pulp magazines of more than seventy years ago. Compiled by and with a foreward and afterword by award-winning writer and editor Stephen Jones.
"The Classic Collection of Fantasy" is a comprehensive anthology featuring 45 novels, stories, and poems from the realm of fantasy literature. This illustrious collection includes iconic works such as "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis, "Conan the Barbarian" by Robert E. Howard, "The Princess and the Goblin" by George MacDonald, and many more. Readers will be transported to fantastical realms filled with epic quests, mythical creatures, and magical adventures as they journey through the pages of this anthology. From the sweeping landscapes of Middle-earth to the enchanted land of Narnia, each story offers a unique and captivating glimpse into the boundless imagination of the fantasy genre. Illustrated with enchanting artwork that brings the fantastical worlds and characters to life, this collection is a treasure trove for fans of fantasy literature. Whether rediscovering beloved classics or diving into new and exciting tales, readers of all ages will find themselves enthralled by the timeless magic and wonder of "The Classic Collection of Fantasy." Contents: J. R. R. Tolkien • The Hobbit • The Fellowship of the Ring • The Two Towers • The Return of the King • The Adventures of Tom Bombadil C. S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe • Prince Caspian • The Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’ • The Silver Chair • The Horse and His Boy • The Magician’s Nephew • The Last Battle William Morris • The Wood Beyond the World • The Story of the Volsungs James Branch Cabell Jurgen A Comedy of Justice Robert E. Howard Conan the Barbarian • The Phoenix on the Sword • The Scarlet Citadel • The Tower of the Elephant • Black Colossus • The Slithering Shadow • The Pool of the Black One • Rogues in the House George MacDonald The Princess and the Goblin Lewis Carroll Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Charles Kingsley The Water-Babies Lord Dunsany • The King of Elfland's Daughter • The Gods of Pegāna • The Book of Wonder
Now, for the first time, Clammpitt's five poetry collections are brought together in a single volume, allowing us to experience anew the distinctiveness of her voice: the brilliant language--an appealing mix of formal and everyday expression--that poured out with such passion and was shaped in rhythms and patterns entirely her own. • With a foreword by Mary Jo Salter The Collected Poems offers us a chance to consider freshly the breadth of Amy Clampitt's vision and poetic achievement. It is a volume that her many admirers will treasure and that will provide a magnificent introduction for a new generation of readers. When Amy Clampitt's first book of poems, The Kingfisher, was published in January 1983, the response was jubilant. The poet was sixty-three years old, and there had been no debut like hers in recent memory. "A dance of language," said May Swenson. "A genius for places," wrote J. D. McClatchy, and the New York Times Book Review said, "With the publication of her brilliant first book, Clampitt immediately merits consideration as one of the most distinguished contemporary poets." She went on to publish four more collections in the next eleven years, the last one, A Silence Opens, appearing in the year she died. Amy Clampitt's themes are the very American ones of place and displacement. She, like her pioneer ancestors, moved frequently, but she wrote with lasting and deep feeling about all sorts of landscapes--the prairies of her Iowa childhood, the fog-wrapped coast of Maine, and places she visited in Europe, from the western isles of Scotland to Italy's lush countryside. She lived most of her adult life in New York City, and many of her best-known poems, such as "Times Square Water Music" and "Manhattan Elegy," are set there. She did not hesitate to take on the larger upheavals of the twentieth century--war, Holocaust, exile--and poems like "The Burning Child" and "Sed de Correr" remind us of the dark nightmare lurking in the interstices of our daily existence. It is impossible to speak of Amy Clampitt's poetry without mentioning her immense, lifelong love of birds and wildflowers, a love that produced some of her most profound images--like the kingfisher's "burnished plunge, the color / of felicity afire," which came "glancing like an arrow / through landscapes of untended memory" to remind her of the uninhabitable sorrow of an affair gone wrong; or the sun underfoot among the sundews, "so dazzling / . . . that, looking, / you start to fall upward."
As the Endellion Emperor's daughter, Althea Crimsonheart is expected to train in the ways of the enlightenment. Where Althea struggles in her training, her friend Jidan excels. To aid their training, Althea and Jidan's mentor sends them on a journey to a wise sage rumoured to have achieved enlightenment. Meanwhile, Endellion is at war with Ormilla, a neighbouring kingdom, while the spiròts shun their people. Meeting friends and foes along their journey, Althea and Jidan discover startling truths about the world they thought they knew. When many forces collide, those caught between will be forced to make tough choices and learn how to steer the wheel of their own destiny.
