Now in paperback, the heartstopping finale to the New York Times bestseller Flame in the Mist-- from the bestselling author of The Wrath and the Dawn. After Okami is captured in the Jukai forest, Mariko has no choice--to rescue him, she must return to Inako and face the dangers that have been waiting for her in the Heian Castle. She tricks her brother, Kenshin, and betrothed, Raiden, into thinking she was being held by the Black Clan against her will, playing the part of the dutiful bride-to-be to infiltrate the emperor's ranks and uncover the truth behind the betrayal that almost left her dead. With the wedding plans already underway, Mariko pretends to be consumed with her upcoming nuptials, all the while using her royal standing to peel back the layers of lies and deception surrounding the imperial court. But each secret she unfurls gives way to the next, ensnaring Mariko and Okami in a political scheme that threatens their honor, their love and the very safety of the empire.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wrath and the Dawn, comes a sweeping, action-packed YA adventure set against the backdrop of Feudal Japan where Mulan meets Throne of Glass. The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has long known her place—she may be an accomplished alchemist, whose cunning rivals that of her brother Kenshin, but because she is not a boy, her future has always been out of her hands. At just seventeen years old, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden, the son of the emperor's favorite consort—a political marriage that will elevate her family's standing. But en route to the imperial city of Inako, Mariko narrowly escapes a bloody ambush by a dangerous gang of bandits known as the Black Clan, who she learns has been hired to kill her before she reaches the palace. Dressed as a peasant boy, Mariko sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and track down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she's within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she's appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she's ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires.
At the close of Flame in the Mist, to end a bloodbath between the Black Clan and imperial soldiers, Ōkami allows himself to be taken prisoner by Prince Raiden, Mariko’s betrothed. For someone who doesn’t believe in heroes, it’s a surprising choice: to trade his life for the lives of his friends and the one he loves. For he will surely be killed when he arrives in the Imperial City. But he decides if his life is the cost of love, it may not be too high a price after all.
Named to the Evanston Public Library's Blueberry List: Kids' Book that Inspire Love of Nature and Action for Planet Earth Selected for the Notable Social Studies 2022 list Named to the ALA Notable Children's Books 2022 “Wowww!”—– Raina Telgemeier, #1 NY Times, #1 USA Today, #1 Publishers Weekly bestselling author/illustrator KIRKUS STAR: Lustrous illustrations and meditative text reflect on the role of smoke in nature and civilization... Smoke dissipates quickly, but this poetic text will linger. KIRKUS'S LIST OF 150 MOST ANTICIPATED FALL 2021 BOOKS Smoke itself acts as narrator, telling us how it has served humankind since prehistoric times in signaling, beekeeping, curing and flavoring food, religious rites, fumigating insects, and myriad other ways. Smoke speaks in mesmerizing riddles: “I lack a mouth, but I can speak…. I lack hands, but I can push out unwanted guests…. I’m gentler than a feather, but I can cause harm…". This rhythmically powerful narration is complemented by illustrations in which swirling smoke was captured on art paper held over smoky candle flames, and the dancing smoke textures were then deepened and elaborated with watercolors and Photoshop finishes. With this unique method, Merce López “let the smoke decide how the idea I had in mind would dance with it, giving freedom to the images.” The resulting illustrations are astounding, and they resonate with the otherworldly text.
The Smoking Book is a dreamlike structure built on the solid foundation of two questions: how does it feel to smoke, and what does smoking mean? Lesley Stern, in an innovative, hybrid form of writing, muses on these questions through intersecting stories and essays that connect, expand, and contract like smoke rings floating through the air. Stern writes of addictions and passionate attachments, of the body and bodily pleasure, of autobiography and cultural history. Smoking is Stern's seductive pretext, her way of entering unknown and mysterious regions. The Smoking Book begins with intimate and vivid accounts of growing up on a tobacco farm in colonial Rhodesia, reminiscences that permeate subsequent excursions into precolonial tobacco production and postcolonial life in Zimbabwe, as well as dramatic vignettes set in Australia, the United States, Scotland, Italy, Japan, and South America. Stern has written a book, at once intensely personal and kaleidoscopically international, that weaves the intimate act of a solitary person smoking a cigarette into a broad cultural picture of desire, exchange, fulfillment, and the acts that bind people together, either in lasting ways or through ephemeral encounters. The Smoking Book is for anyone who has ever smoked or loved a smoker (against their better judgment); it is for those who have never smoked or for those who mourn the loss of cigarettes as they would grieve for a lost friend. But mostly, The Smoking Book is for all those who are smoldering still.
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice A Telegraph Editor’s Choice An Evening Standard “Best Books about London” Selection In popular imagination, London is a city of fog. The classic London fogs, the thick yellow “pea-soupers,” were born in the industrial age of the early nineteenth century. Christine L. Corton tells the story of these epic London fogs, their dangers and beauty, and their lasting effects on our culture and imagination. “Engrossing and magnificently researched...Corton’s book combines meticulous social history with a wealth of eccentric detail. Thus we learn that London’s ubiquitous plane trees were chosen for their shiny, fog-resistant foliage. And since Jack the Ripper actually went out to stalk his victims on fog-free nights, filmmakers had to fake the sort of dank, smoke-wreathed London scenes audiences craved. It’s discoveries like these that make reading London Fog such an unusual, enthralling and enlightening experience.” —Miranda Seymour, New York Times Book Review “Corton, clad in an overcoat, with a linklighter before her, takes us into the gloomier, long 19th century, where she revels in its Gothic grasp. Beautifully illustrated, London Fog delves fascinatingly into that swirling miasma.” —Philip Hoare, New Statesman
In the summer of 1783, an unusual dry fog descended upon large parts of the northern hemisphere. The fog brought with it bloodred sunsets, a foul sulfuric odor, and a host of other peculiar weather events. Inspired by the Enlightenment, many naturalists attempted to find reasonable explanations for these occurrences. Between 8 June 1783 and 7 February 1784, a 27-kilometer-long fissure volcano erupted in the Icelandic highlands. It produced the largest volume of lava released by any volcanic eruption on planet Earth in the last millennium. In Iceland, the eruption led to the death of one-fifth of the population. The jetstream carried its volcanic gases further afield to Europe and beyond, where they settled as a fog, the origin of which puzzled naturalists and laypersons. "A Mist Connection" is an environmental history that documents the Laki eruption and its consequences for Iceland and the wider world. The book combines methods of historical disaster research, climate history, global history, history of science, and geology in an interdisciplinary approach. Icelandic flood lava eruptions of this scale have a statistical recurrence period of 200 to 500 years; it is crucial to understand their nature so that we can prepare for the next one. An eruption of this magnitude would surely be disastrous for our modern, globalized, and interconnected world.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s terrifying novella about a town engulfed in a dense, mysterious mist as humanity makes its last stand against unholy destruction—originally published in the acclaimed short story collection Skeleton Crew and made into a TV series, as well as a feature film starring Thomas Jane and Marcia Gay Harden. In the wake of a summer storm, terror descends...David Drayton, his son Billy, and their neighbor Brent Norton join dozens of others and head to the local grocery store to replenish supplies following a freak storm. Once there, they become trapped by a strange mist that has enveloped the town. As the confinement takes its toll on their nerves, a religious zealot, Mrs. Carmody, begins to play on their fears to convince them that this is God’s vengeance for their sins. She insists a sacrifice must be made and two groups—those for and those against—are aligned. Clearly, staying in the store may prove fatal, and the Draytons, along with store employee Ollie Weeks, Amanda Dumfries, Irene Reppler, and Dan Miller, attempt to make their escape. But what’s out there may be worse than what they left behind. This exhilarating novella explores the horror in both the enemy you know—and the one you can only imagine.
"Stage technicians or 'techies' don't read books, they seek information on the basis of the need to know." This is a practical guide to stage lighting covering equipment, lighting a performance space, special effects and lighting design. It can be read cover-to-cover, but also used as reference manual which provides easy access to the content through the use of tabulated sections and keywords. The information in each chapter is presented at three levels: - A quick start - basic information providing enough to get started - More info - more detailed knowledge - Extras! - extended technical information and data The three strands run visually throughout the guide enabling students to mix and match their own personal level of study or to fast track through to the information they need on stage. This handy, accessible guide is packed with illustrations, pictures, diagrams, plans and technical data. In addition a DVD is included using unique video clips to illustrate the text, show the practical use of equipment, and examples of different lighting techniques and effects. The differentiated format makes it equally suitable as a quick start for school students or at an extended level for aspiring theatre technicians, teachers, amateur dramatic enthusiasts or anyone needing a quick on-the-job reference.
Seafood and seafood products represent some of the most important foods in almost all types of societies around the world. More intensive production of fish and shellfish to meet high demand has raised some concerns related to the nutritional and sensory qualities of these cultured fish in comparison to their wild-catch counterparts. In addition, the variety in processing, preservation, and storage methods from traditional to modern is contributing to an increase in variability in consumer products. This second edition of the Handbook of Seafood and Seafood Products Analysis brings together the work of 109 experts who focus on the most recent research and development trends in analytical techniques and methodologies for the analysis of captured fresh and preserved seafood, either cultivated or wild, as well as for derived products. After providing a general introduction, this handbook provides 48 chapters distributed in six sections: Chemistry and biochemistry focuses on the analysis of main chemical and biochemical compounds of seafood. Processing control describes the analysis of technological quality and the use of some non-destructive techniques as well as methods to check freshness, detection of species, and geographic origin and to evaluate smoke flavoring. Nutritional quality deals with the analysis of nutrients in seafood such as essential amino acids, bioactive peptides, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and trace elements, and fatty acids. Sensory quality covers the sensory quality and main analytical tools to determine color, texture, flavor and off-flavor, quality index methods as well as sensory descriptors, sensory aspects of heat-treated seafood, and sensory perception. Biological Safety looks at tools for the detection of spoilage, pathogens, parasites, viruses, marine toxins, antibiotics, and GM ingredients. Chemical Safety focuses on the identification of fish species, detection of adulterations, veterinary drug residues, irradiation, food contact materials, and chemical toxic compounds from the environment, generated during processing or intentionally added. Key Features: This comprehensive handbook provides a full overview of the tools now available for the analysis of captured fresh and preserved seafood, either cultivated or wild, as well as for derived products. This is a comprehensive and informative book that presents both the merits and limitations of analytical techniques and also gives future developments for guaranteeing the quality of seafood and seafood products. This cutting-edge work covers processes used from all of the seven seas to ensure that consumers find safe, nutritionally beneficial, and appealing seafood products at their markets and restaurants. This handbook covers the main types of worldwide available analytical techniques and methodologies for the analysis of seafood and seafood products.