Magic and technology collide in the first book of the Windrose Chronicles by the New York Times–bestselling author and “fabulously talented writer” (Charlaine Harris). In a world where wizards are relegated to ghettos, it is no surprise to see one murdered in the street. But for Stonne Caris, a young warrior monk who sees the killing and gives chase to the culprit, there is nothing ordinary about seeing a murderer disappear into a black, inky portal. The Archmage sends him in search of Antryg Windrose—a half-mad mage who understands the nature of these passages between dimensions. On the other side of the Void is Joanna, a programmer as mild as Caris is deadly. She has spent her life in cubicles, staring into computer terminals, as far from heroism as she can get. But when the power that is crossing between dimensions draws her through the Void, she finds herself battling to save a world she never even knew existed. With intricate worldbuilding and complex plot twists, The Silent Tower is a compelling introduction to one of this generation’s greatest female fantasy writers. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Barbara Hambly, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
From a New York Times–Bestselling author: An apprentice wizard must fight to escape a world he doesn’t understand: 1940 Germany. When the wizard Jaldis heard the cry from beyond the Void, telling of a world where magic was dead and begging for his aid, he and his apprentice, Rhion, went to help. Crossing the Void takes all of their strength, and when Rhion awakes on the other side, he learns that the task is beyond them. Jaldis is dead, and the portal home gone with him. Now he is trapped in a place called Earth, in a nation beset from all sides by its enemies. The men who called him here need a wizard to save them, and though Rhion is but a novice, he will have to do. He may even find a way home, but only if he can find a way to serve this mysterious empire that they call the Third Reich. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Barbara Hambly, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
A major reexamination of the novelist Vladimir Nabokov as "literary gamesman," this book systematically shows that behind his ironic manipulation of narrative and his puzzle-like treatment of detail there lies an aesthetic rooted in his intuition of a transcendent realm and in his consequent redefinition of "nature" and "artifice" as synonyms. Beginning with Nabokov's discursive writings, Vladimir Alexandrov finds his world view centered on the experience of epiphany--characterized by a sudden fusion of varied sensory data and memories, a feeling of timelessness, and an intuition of immortality--which grants the true artist intimations of an "otherworld." Readings of The Defense, Invitation to a Beheading, The Gift, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Lolita, and Pale Fire reveal the epiphanic experience to be a touchstone for the characters' metaphysical insightfulness, moral makeup, and aesthetic sensibility, and to be a structural model for how the narratives themselves are fashioned and for the nature of the reader's involvement with the text. In his conclusion, Alexandrov outlines several of Nabokov's possible intellectual and artistic debts to the brilliant and variegated culture that flourished in Russia on the eve of the Revolution. Nabokov emerges as less alienated from Russian culture than most of his emigre readers believed, and as less "modernist" than many of his Western readers still imagine. "Alexandrov's work is distinctive in that it applies an `otherworld' hypothesis as a consistent context to Nabokov's novels. The approach is obviously a fruitful one. Alexandrov is innovative in rooting Nabokov's ethics and aesthetics in the otherwordly and contributes greatly to Nabokov studies by examining certain key terms such as `commonsense,' `nature,' and `artifice.' In general Alexandrov's study leads to a much clearer understanding of Nabokov's metaphysics."--D. Barton Johnson, University of California, Santa Barbara Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
DIVDIVAn aging wizard and his apprentice venture into a world where magic has died, hoping to save it before the same fate befalls their own/divDIV /divDIVJaldis does not believe it at first. When the old wizard—blind, tongueless, able to see and speak through magic alone—peers into the Void between dimensions, he sees something terrible: a world where magic is dead, and whose inhabitants scream for someone to rescue them. Such a place must be studied, for if it is possible to kill magic, then that terrible fate could threaten his own world, too./divDIV /divDIVWith the help of his apprentice, Rhion, the wizard prepares for the treacherous crossing. To make the journey, they must withstand the hatred that their own world has for magic—a powerful force that the ignorant would wipe out if they could./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Barbara Hambly, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection./div /div
In the catacombs of an ancient ruined monastery, a place hidden away in the Eildon Hills, a legendary land of myth, of mystery, and of magic—the place where he’d found sanctuary as a lad. The network of caves lead him to a steep, decaying staircase, where he discovers a journal, apparently written by Gaelan’s old friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, describing his journey to the Otherworld, a land of fairy castles and magical, turquoise rivers and filigree trees hung with Spanish moss. Falling from the journal’s pages a small piece of glass, which Gaelan recognizes as a piece long missing from a stained glass panel he’d created a century earlier. When the opalescent glass piece seems to come alive in Gaelan’s hand, he is suddenly thrust into world far from the fantastical dreamscape Conan Doyle has described. Gaelan doubts his sanity, wondering whether he is caught in an elaborate, surreal nightmare. Is it possible he has traversed a portal into the future? But how? And why? The Alchemy of Glass weaves a tale magical as spun glass and terrifying as a shattered mirror, drawing upon cutting edge science and the most ancient of Celtic mythology, intertwining the magic of fairy lore and the harsh reality of difficult choices, returning us to the world of immortal apothecary Gaelan Erceldoune, as his past, present and future collide, in an attempt to prevent a catastrophic future.
FIRST IN A NEW SERIES! Known as the wicked witch of Russian fairy tales, Baba Yaga is not one woman, but rather a title carried by a chosen few. They keep the balance of nature and guard the borders of our world, but don’t make the mistake of crossing one of them… Older than she looks and powerful beyond measure, Barbara Yager no longer has much in common with the mortal life she left behind long ago. Posing as an herbalist and researcher, she travels the country with her faithful (mostly) dragon-turned-dog in an enchanted Airstream, fulfilling her duties as a Baba Yaga and avoiding any possibility of human attachment. But when she is summoned to find a missing child, Barbara suddenly finds herself caught up in a web of deceit and an unexpected attraction to the charming but frustrating Sheriff Liam McClellan. Now, as Barbara fights both human enemies and Otherworld creatures to save the lives of three innocent children, she discovers that her most difficult battle may be with her own heart…
Surrender to the fantastical world of your deepest dreams...where butterflies float upon shifting mists set aglow by the rising sun. A place where twisting branches arc across shimmering skies, willowy fairies dance on air, and tree spirits sing from a hallowed oak. Delve into the shadows of your dreams--and awaken to truth. Weaving together Asian, Celtic, and fantasy styles of artwork, this breathtaking Rider-Waite-Smith-based tarot deck by renowned artist Stephanie Pui-Mun Law is infused with universal symbols found in fairy tales, myths, and folklore from cultures around the world. A companion guidebook presents the artist's evocative interpretations of each card's significance. It also features an introduction by award-winning tarot expert Barbara Moore that includes tarot basics, instructions for giving insightful readings, and practical spreads.
With an introduction by Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. One did not drink sherry before the evening, just as one did not read a novel in the morning. In 1970s London, Edwin, Norman, Letty and Marcia work in the same office and suffer the same problem – loneliness. Lovingly and with delightful humour, Barbara Pym conducts us through their day-to-day existence: their preoccupations, their irritations, their judgements, and – perhaps most keenly felt – their worries about having somehow missed out on life as post-war Britain shifted around them. Deliciously, blackly funny and full of obstinate optimism, Quartet in Autumn shows Barbara Pym's sensitive artistry at its most sparkling. Its world is both extraordinary and familiar, revealing the eccentricities of everyday life.