The Saga of Halvar the Hireling Book 6 Ned Cooper had made plenty of enemies with his loud vocal attacks on every religion that wasn’t his, but it didn’t seem to Halvar that was enough to justify a knife in the back. Nevertheless, there he is—dead as one of his own barrels. Then Guardsman Zoltan meets a similar fate, and with even more suspects given his protection racket on the docks and his constant harassment of the women in the souk. Are these murders personal, or might they be connected to the muskets the captain of the Belle Fleur was smuggling into Manatas? Was Master Albrecht making gunpowder for those guns? Will Halvar still have a job after his contract expires on New Year’s Day? The intrepid Dane is once again knee-deep in corpses and on the wrong end of pointed weapons. Can he solve all the mysteries before his term of office ends? And what will he do, stuck in Nova Mundum, if someone doesn’t renew his contract?
What do a Human orphan, a Spider, two Leaf Bugs, two Scorpions, and a Megalong have in common? ADVENTURE! Unbeknownst to Tomas, a malevolent creature plans to destroy him and all he loves. He thought he was ready for his Emergence, but that was before the fate of the realms was laid on his shoulders. Now he must use all he has learned, and find the courage to save himself and the interconnected worlds and creatures that he has come to love.
A SHORT BESTIARY OF LOVE AND MADNESS, POEMS THAT GIVE VOICE TO THE ANIMAL IN US ALL In verse and in prose, George Looney's fifth book of poetry, A Short Bestiary of Love and Madness, delves into the worlds of birds and mammals, fish and insects, looking for ways to describe and maybe even understand the various madnesses that love brings. In the lives of the beasts we find find much hard evidence of loss and despair, but these fables and parables offer, along the way, absolution and, yes, even salvation, of a sort. "George Looney's poetry," novelist and poet Laura Kasischke writes, "resonates at the level of myth and history, evoking a kind of ancient music alongside the details of our contemporary lives the way weather and the human psyche join to make a dream. This is an important and impressive new collection by one of our most interesting poets." The poems in this collection create a realm where myth and history come together to form a natural world imbued with meaning, one that allows for the possibility of finding, carved in rock, "a figure that could be divine" (as one of the poems puts it). In this evocative collection, as "Formed of Burning and Song" puts it, readers will witness a passionate language "etching / the elaborate form of longing in the earth."
In the ancient world of the Inner Realm a young slave blacksmith named Aurovin in servitude of an evil empire, is chosen by the slave leaders of his people to escape and embark on a perilous journey to find new lands where they can live as a free tribe. But Aurovin's journey is greatly hindered by a brewing rift between the great powers of the Inner Realm. This rift escalates after king Pavros, overlord of the Muldovene Empire, barely escapes a botched assassination on his life. The Muldovene king sets his eyes on the empire's arch-enemy as the primary culprit; the Warrior King Sapien, and the kingdom of Arencia. Aurovin's journey and perils are gradually intertwined into the numerous events and conflicts that will inevitably lead to the Great War. During his journey, Aurovin encounters several characters such as Belciender and Zaadu, two young adventurers from Arencia who are on a mission on behalf of their king to the kingdom of Traccia to unravel a growing conspiracy that may further threatens the sovereignty of the Arencian realm. He also meets Janus, a burly jester whom Aurovin saves while escaping the clutches of a powerful enemy from a dungeon. All four eventually join forces together to battle an evil order bent on attaining absolute power over the Inner Realm. Unfortunately, as Aurovin makes new friends and acquaintances, the young blacksmith makes just as many enemies on his lone quest, most notably the handmaster, the devious and diabolic master of the order of the Dark Hand, who searches for an ancient power that will grant the holder control over the most unstoppable army ever assembled, one even more powerful than the empire's. These villainous characters, such as king Pavros, the handmaster, along with many others, will undoubtedly reshape Aurovin's perspective of the cultures and politics of the Inner Realm beyond the confines of his humble home and people, and this forces him to doubt if there really is a better world for his people outside the empire. This climatic struggle between good and evil will finally culminate on the battlefield between the armies of the all powerful empire and its allies against the legendary warrior king, Sapien and his undefeated Arencian army. Aurovin's journey is filled with death, betrayal, deception, superstition, mythology and love in world where only the wisest and the most cunning will be strong enough to attain ultimate power, and the weak and cowardly will be forced into servitude. Only time will tell if the blacksmith attains victory and finally finds the 'Promise Land' that was prophesied by the oracle of his people.
Shifting between love affairs, friendships, and enmities of multiple generations, this rich and complex saga follows a life spent on the water as Carlos, an orphan living in a Spanish hacienda, runs away to sea. Sprawling in its themes and geography—from the Golfo de Valencia to Calcutta, from London to Sydney, and from South Dakota to Broome—this narrative concerns the wanton destructiveness of human beings and their slender opportunities for redemption.
Demeter Press took on the challenge of discussing multiples through On Mothering Multiples: Complexities and Possibilities, a book that promised to “(re)explore, (re)present, and make meaning of the process of conception, pregnancy, childbirth, and mothering experiences with multiples”. Under the editorship of Kathy Mantas, and through diverse contributions of research, artwork and narrative pieces, this topic is explored with diverse voices that elicit nuance towards a subject that often suffers from cliché and overt charm. Daring to taunt the reader who may be beguiled by the blessing of multiples with an unflinching look at subjects such as fetal demise, disability, post-partum depression, the beauty and the beast of the post-twin maternal body, and the society’s obsession and derision with multiples conceived through assistive reproductive technology, this book is a foundational text on the topic of the messiness of multiple births and mothering. This collection manages to be both intensely personal while maintaining the scholarly distance necessary to offer an important contribution to the field of motherhood studies as well as intersecting with grief work and disability studies. Published in 2016, this book remains provocative, and stealth in how it unfurls its wisdom, providing both clarity and further
The aim of these proverbial entries is to collect English proverbs and sayings published in different countries. The collection of these entries took more than ten years. For this period of time, I collected more than three thousand entries, and after this, I began translating them into Azerbaijani language. Most of those entries have their own equivalents, but some is translated into Azeri language.
Two NEW tales of GONJI SABATAKE, the itinerant samurai-Viking warrior! A rallying cry for fans of the popular 1980s heroic-fantasy series. An ideal entry point for new readers! The novelette "Reflections in Ice" -- picking up a mature Gonji, already well into his ca. 1600 A.D. European adventures, ensnared in a desperate crossfire between monstrous oppressors: the undead assassins of the Dark Company; and mysterious horrors residing in remote caves of the snowbound Pyrenees... The novella "Dark Venture" -- the most intense, action-packed and classic-pulp-worthy Gonji tale in the canon. The first-ever story of "young Gonji," in dishonored exile from his native land. Now facing deadly peril during a bizarre and ghastly sea voyage; caught in the clutches of a hell where corrupted spells of evil magic go to die... ALSO included is the essay "The GONJI Odyssey"—the definitive chronicle of the series’ creation and publishing history... PLUS, a generous preview of the coming NEW Gonji novel: the audacious origin tale of Gonji’s world -- BORN OF FLAME AND STEEL! "People will not know what hit them when they read 'Dark Venture.' It’s one of the most exciting (and gruesomely bonkers) sword-&-sorcery stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading." --Fletcher Vredenburgh, Black Gate Magazine "One of the most original characters in heroic fantasy returns in all-new adventures that are truly epic. The return of Gonji Sabatake is a cause for epic celebration." --Joe Bonadonna, MAD SHADOWS
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) is widely considered one the great modern writers in English literature. This 21-volume set contains titles, originally published between 1976 and 1990 as well as a biography from 1957 written by one of his closest friends. The first 18 books are a set of concordances and indexes to Conrad’s printed works, which were part of a project directed by Todd K. Bender at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA and are among the first attempts to use the power of computers to enhance our reading environment and assist in lexicography, scholarly editing, and literary analysis. The set also contains a meticulously compiled bibliography of writings on Joseph Conrad, as well as an original and powerful analysis of his major work.
