Master storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson, the team behind Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, collaborate again to create five captivating tales incorporating the element of fire. In McKinley?s ?First Flight,? a boy and his pet foogit unexpectedly take a dangerous ride on a dragon, and her ?Hellhound? stars a mysterious dog as a key player in an eerie graveyard showdown. Dickinson introduces a young man who must defeat the creature threatening his clan in ?Fireworm,? a slave who saves his village with a fiery magic spell in ?Salamander Man,? and a girl whose new friend, the guardian of a mystical bird, is much older than he appears in ?Phoenix.? With time periods ranging from prehistoric to present day, and settings as varied as a graveyard, a medieval marketplace and a dragon academy, these stories are sure to intrigue and delight the authors? longtime fans and newcomers alike.
In these collection, you will find stories that range from the mythic to contemporary fantasy to science fiction. You will find a troll, gryphons, a beloved dog, the Land of the Dead, an owl, a minotaur, and a very alien Cat. Earth and Air is the third and final book in a trilogy of shared collections connected by the four classical elements. It follows previous volumes Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits and Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits, written by both Peter Dickinson and Robin McKinley. Ridiki is Steff’s beloved dog, named after Eurydice, whom the poet Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead. When, like her namesake, Ridiki is bitten by a snake and dies, Steff decides that he too should journey to the Underworld to ask the King of the Land of the Dead for his dog back. Mari is the seventh child of a family in which troll blood still runs. When her husband goes missing in a Scottish loch, she must draw upon the power of her blood to rescue him. Sophie, a young girl, fashions a witch’s broomstick out of an ash sapling, and gets more than she bargained for. An escaped slave, Varro, must kill a gryphon, in order to survive. A boy named Yanni allies himself with an owl and a goddess in order to fight an ancient evil. A group of mind-bonded space travelers must face an unknown threat and solve the murder of a companion before time runs out. All of these stories are about, in one way or another, the contrary and magical pull of two elements, Earth and Air. Each story showcases the manifold talents of a master storyteller and craftsman who has twice won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award, as well as the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. A Junior Library Guild Selection "These unusual, memorable tales from a much-admired writer should appeal both to teens and Dickinson’s adult fans."—Publishers Weekly "Strange, sometimes beautiful tales."—Kirkus Reviews Praise for Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits World Fantasy Award finalist "There is plenty here to excite, enthrall, and move even the pickiest readers."—School Library Journal "... a collection of enchanting tales."—Publishers Weekly Praise for Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits "This collection of beautifully crafted tales will find a warm welcome."—School Library Journal "Dickinson’s offerings are notable for their sophisticated magical thinking and subtlety of expression."—The Horn Book "Dickinson’s stories are told with a storyteller’s cadence."—Booklist “This collection ... offers something for every fantasy fan.”—Library Media Connection Praise for Peter Dickinson's children's books: "One of the real masters of children's literature."—Philip Pullman "Peter Dickinson is a national treasure."—The Guardian "Magnificent. Peter Dickinson is the past-master story-teller of our day."—The Times Literary Supplement Peter Dickinson is the author of over fifty books including Eva, Emma Tupper's Dairy, and the Michael L. Printz Honor Book The Ropemaker. He has twice received the Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger as well as the Guardian Award and Whitbread Prize. He lives in England and is married to the novelist Robin McKinley.
Master storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson share tales of mysterious merfolk and magical humans, all with close ties to the element of water. From Pitiable Nasmith's miserable existence in a seaside town whose inhabitants are more intertwined with the sea than most people know, to Tamia's surprising summons to be the apprentice to the Guardian who has the power to hold back the sea, each of the six stories illuminates a captivating world filled with adventure, romance, intrigue, and enchantment. Robin McKinley fans will recognize one of the worlds included-Damar, the setting of Newbery Medal winner The Hero and the Crown and Newbery Honor Book The Blue Sword.
Undines—from the Latin root unda, which means “wave”— are water elementals, or spirits of the water world. Like their fellow elementals—salamanders (fire), sylphs (air), and gnomes (earth)—undines are united with, and personify, their element. First mentioned in the alchemical works of medieval botanist Paracelsus, undines appear throughout European folklore. Who are these mysterious creatures of lakes, oceans, and waterfalls? Undines takes readers directly into the water spirits’ realm through stories, personal encounters, and interviews with such luminaries as Istiphul, the undine queen whose presence embodies the magical essence of the feminine. Whether seen as fact or fairy tale, Undines presents archetypal truths and insights into human nature. The powers and abilities that undines display are latent in us all and crucial to humanity’s evolution (or mere survival): harmony with nature, empathy and compassion, a deep capacity to love, and a cooperative rather than combative relationship to the world. Undines will appeal broadly to readers of mythology, fantasy, and fairy tales, particularly to practitioners that work with nature spirits and elemental beings—Druids, Wiccans, pagans, and those interested in magic and mysticism.
When Jake Mendoza, who lives in the Smokehill National Park where his father runs the Makepeace Institute of Integrated Dragon Studies, goes on his first solo overnight in the park, he finds an infant dragon whose mother has been killed by a poacher.
• Explores the hierarchy of elemental beings as well as Christ elemental beings, social elementals, and machine elementals • Explains how elementals inhabit the etheric space that houses our emotions, feelings, and thoughts and how they carry the emotional level of the world • Shows how the author learned to make personal contact with the elementals and shares his experiences as well as the elemental world’s urgent call for help We all live in the realm of elemental beings. They permeate our souls, our thoughts, our feelings, and they co-create the world around us, yet we are often completely unaware of them. They, however, are eager to be perceived and acknowledged by us because their future and ours are fundamentally connected. Elementals act as carriers of the emotional level of the world, and Thomas Mayer reveals how he learned to develop and fine-tune his sense of perception to make direct personal contact with them. Providing insight into the elemental hierarchy, from the low workers to the masters and the elemental kings, he portrays Christ elemental beings, social elementals, and machine elementals as well. He also explores the adversarial forces like Lucifer and Ahriman that access the elemental world through the subconscious of humans and seek to destroy our elemental friends. Through sharing his encounters with fairies, dwarves, giants, and others, the author reveals their urgent call for help, an entreaty to anchor the elemental beings again in the awareness of humankind through recognition, acknowledgment, and conscious connection. Let us support the elementals in their crucial, life-giving work, through which they in turn support us in preserving the Earth we live on.
Tilja has grown up in the peaceful Valley, which is protected from the fearsome Empire by an enchanted forest. But the forest’s power has begun to fade and the Valley is in danger. Tilja is the youngest of four brave souls who venture into the Empire together to find the mysterious magician who can save the Valley. And much to her amazement, Tilja gradually learns that only she, an ordinary girl with no magical powers, has the ability to protect her group and their quest from the Empire’s sorcerers.
Have you ever taken a walk in the woods and felt like you were not alone? That's because you weren't! Forests, lakes, mountains, caves—even your garden—are alive with the spirits of nature. Faeries are real, and you can learn to commune with a whole world of unseen beings, including elves, devas, and nature spirits. With an open mind and a little patience, you can begin to recognize their presence all around you. This book will help you deepen your connection to the natural world as you explore the magical, mystical world of the faerie folk. Discover hidden truths in faerie tales and use them as pathways into the faerie realm Learn the basic habitats, powers and behaviors of faeries, elves, and other nature spirits Read personal accounts of actual faerie encounters Invoke fire spirits for traditional psychic readings Share the magic and knowledge of twenty tree spirits Find the elementals—gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders—with which you resonate most Contact water sprites, mermaids and other water spirits Find wood nymphs and the"lady of the woods" raw dragons into your environment with the right fragrances Attract a faerie godmother into your life Recapture the magic and wonder of a world where trees still speak and every flower tells a story. Explore the faerie realm—a place where faerie tales can and do come true.
A beekeeper by trade, Mirasol's life changes completely when she is named the new Chalice, the most important advisor to the new Master, a former priest of Fire.
ONCE THE 24 MOST powerful magicians in the Empire pledged to use their magic only to protect the people. But the promise that bound them has now corrupted them. They have become a single terrible entity with a limitless desire for domination. Only the Ropemaker may be able to stop them, but he has not been seen for over 200 years. Into this dangerous world come Saranja, Maja, and Ribek. They seek the Ropemaker so that he might restore the ancient magic that protects their valley. It is the task they were born to, but now it seems there is far more than the valley at stake should they fail. . . .
