This brilliant reconception of the Arthurian epic cuts through the familiar myths and tells the story of the real King Arthur: Artos the Bear, the mighty warrior-king who saved the last lights of Western civilization when the barbarian darkness descended in the fifth century. Artos here comes alive: bold and forceful in battle, warm and generous in friendship, tough in politics, shrewd in the strategy of war—and tender and tragically tormented in love. Out of the interweaving of ancient legend, fresh research, soaring imagination, and hypnotic narrative skill comes a novel that has richly earned its reputation as a classic.
To catch a murderous theater impresario, a young woman takes a deadly new role in this mystery with “suspense enough to spare” (The New York Times). Why did Rosaleen Wright hang herself in a soundproof room? She left an unsigned note, peppered with stiff religious references and no trace of her trademark vitality or wit. The police believe it was suicide, but Rosaleen’s best friend, Jane, is suspicious. To prove Rosaleen was murdered, she takes a job with the man who killed her. Luther Grandison, Rosaleen’s boss, is a New York theatrical impresario with a lethal charm. To the world at large, he’s powerful and charismatic, but Rosaleen’s letters to Jane described a greedy man who stole from his adopted daughter when his bank account ran low. Jane thinks Grandison killed her to protect his secret, but to prove it she will have to face down one of the finest murderers Broadway has ever seen.
This work describes how performers were dressed in plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and explains how the actors' performances influenced the cut of their costumes. 53 black-and-white illustrations.
Born in Burma in 1870, Scottish writer H. H. Munro adopted the pseudonym Saki to satirize the social conventions, cruelty, and foolishness of the Edwardian era. His highly readable blend of flippant humor and outrageous inventiveness is often overlaid with a mood of horror. After Munro's untimely death in action during World War I, Christopher Morley wrote: "the empty glass we turn down for him is the fragile, hollow-stemmed goblet meant for the finest champag≠ it is of the driest." Readers can sample Munro's special brand of well-plotted satiric fiction in this inexpensive collection of his best tales. In addition to the title story, selections include "Tobermory," "Laura," "The Open Window," and "The Schartz-Metterklume Method." With its biting wit and vein of cruelty, Munro's work has sometimes been compared to early Evelyn Waugh; admirers of Waugh and other discerning readers are sure to savor this stimulating taste of vintage Saki.
Harvard's Classics Collection: Complete 71 Volumes is a monumental anthology that serves as a comprehensive survey of the foundational texts and figures that have shaped Western literature and thought. This collection spans millennia, encompassing works from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment, and up through the 19th century, showcasing a diverse range of literary styles, including poetry, philosophy, fiction, and scientific discourse. The inclusion of seminal works by figures such as Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Plato, and Charles Darwin, amongst others, highlights the anthologys breadth and depth, offering readers an unparalleled insight into the various currents that have influenced Western cultural and intellectual history. The contributing authors and editors of this collection are each luminary in their own right, having left indelible marks on their respective fields. This anthology not only collates works by philosophers, scientists, and literary giants but also orchestrates a dialogue among them, offering a unique multidisciplinary perspective. The collection navigates through Renaissance humanism, the Enlightenments valorization of reason, and the romantic eras emphasis on individual emotion and natural beauty, painting a rich historical and cultural panorama. Through their collective works, this anthology encapsulates the essence of human thought and its evolution over the centuries. Harvards Classics Collection: Complete 71 Volumes is an essential resource for those looking to immerse themselves in the rich tapestry of human knowledge and creativity. Whether for scholarly research, educational pursuits, or personal enrichment, this collection offers an unmatched opportunity to engage with the texts that have served as cornerstones of Western culture. Readers are invited to explore this treasure trove of human experience, thought, and expression, which continues to enlighten, instruct, and inspire generations.
Many are called... She alone can save the world and become Death's bride. COBWEB BRIDE (Cobweb Bride Trilogy, Book One) is a history-flavored fantasy novel with romantic elements of the Persephone myth, about Death's ultimatum to the world. What if you killed someone and then fell in love with them? In an alternate Renaissance world, somewhere in an imaginary "pocket" of Europe called the Kingdom of Lethe, Death comes, in the form of a grim Spaniard, to claim his Bride. Until she is found, in a single time-stopping moment all dying stops. There is no relief for the mortally wounded and the terminally ill.... Covered in white cobwebs of a thousand snow spiders she lies in the darkness... Her skin is cold as snow... Her eyes frozen... Her gaze, fiercely alive... While kings and emperors send expeditions to search for a suitable Bride for Death, armies of the undead wage an endless war... A black knight roams the forest at the command of his undead father... Spies and political treacheries abound at the imperial Silver Court.... Murdered lovers find themselves locked in the realm of the living... Look closer--through the cobweb filaments of her hair and along each strand shine stars... And one small village girl, Percy--an unwanted, ungainly middle daughter--is faced with the responsibility of granting her dying grandmother the desperate release she needs. As a result, Percy joins the crowds of other young women of the land in a desperate quest to Death's own mysterious holding in the deepest forests of the North... And everyone is trying to stop her. "... Nazarian writes clean and true prose ..." --Publishers Weekly "Fans of period fantasy and those who like stories that feel like fairy tales should appreciate this skillful novel by the twice Nebula Award-nominated author of Dreams of the Compass Rose and The Duke in His Castle." --Library Journal
An extraordinary masterpiece written from personal experience, Middlemarch is a deep psychological observation of human nature that revolves around the issues of love, jealousy, and obligation. Eliot's feminist views are apparent through the novel: she stresses the fact that women should control their own lives.
"Mehalah" is set in the desolate marshlands of MerseaIsland and the surrounding area. On the lesser islet called Ray lives MehalahSharland with her sick mother struggling to make ends meet. One day, a new landowner, brute and rude man called Elijah Rebow, shows up claiming that he has bought the land and everything on it, informing Mehalah and her mother that they now owe their livelihood to him. He tries to bully Mehalah into submission, yet she openly defies him and insists upon self-sufficiency and independence. From that point starts Mehalah's struggle to win her freedom where everything is turned against her, but she doesn't give up a fight.
The greatest fairy tales of all time. The 100 tales collected here throw open wide the gates to the realm of fairyland. Inside are princes and princesses, giants and dwarfs, heroes, heroines, simpletons, rogues, wizards, witches, ogres, trolls, elves, magical artefacts, and all manner of talking birds and beasts. As G. K. Chesterton has observed, fairyland is a place where happiness hangs upon a single thread: “Cinderella may have a dress woven on supernatural looms and blazing with unearthly brilliance; but she must be back when the clock strikes twelve. The king may invite fairies to the christening, but he must invite all the fairies or frightful results will follow. Bluebeard's wife may open all doors but one. A promise is broken to a cat, and the whole world goes wrong… A promise is broken to a yellow dwarf, and the whole world goes wrong.” This is also a world of contradiction and disproportion; where honesty may be a virtue, but so is the ability to tell the most outrageous lies conceivable. Here, the prize for treading on a cat’s tail, is a princess; and the penalty for expressing gratitude to a goblin, is a lifelong curse. In compiling this anthology, we have tried to include as many “tale types” as possible, and as much of the varied landscape of the fairy world—deserts, icefields, enchanted forests, underwater kingdoms—as we could fit in. Our principal sources are the great European collections of fairy tales and folk tales as compiled by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Peter Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, Joseph Jacobs, and Alexander Afanasyev. But there are tales from further afield as well; from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We have classified the tales thematically, and spread them evenly across ten chapters: 1) The Classic Characters: Heroes, Heroines, and their Foes 2) Birds and Beasts 3) Little; Big 4) The Ship of Fools 5) Quick Minds and Sharp Wits 6) The Royal Court 7) Into the World: Journeys, Quests, and Adventures 8) Magic and Witchcraft 9) Extraordinary Tales of Extraordinary Things 10) Tales for Winter We hope this structure will aid readers somewhat in their explorations. At the same time, we concur with W. H. Auden, who writes, “the way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.”
In this spellbinding warm and cozy debut novel, a burned-out witch will need to turn to her friends and trust in herself to find the magic in her own life again. Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magical spark, precisely . . . but she hasn’t seen it in a while either. With her witchcraft under wraps and a toxic boss making her days miserable, Belle is struggling to keep her beloved Lunar Books afloat and just make it through the day. The last thing she has time for is perfecting her magic. So when her thirtieth birthday brings a summons from her coven and a trial that tests her worthiness as a witch, Belle fears the worst. With only the month of October left to prove herself or risk losing her magic forever, Belle will need all the help she can get—from the women in her life, from an unlikely mentor figure and even from an infuriating coven watchman who’s sworn to protect her...
