Toby is a young tom who dreams of becoming an apprentice cat, a feline partnered with an apprentice human mage, at the King's Academy of Mages. When he is partnered with Lorn Ribaldy, the nephew of known traitor Master Hecktor Ribaldy, he learns his dreams are in jeopardy. There are those who want to keep undesirables out and that includes Lorn and anyone associated with him. In a meeting with Head Master Cat Meredith and Head Master Mage Jalen, Toby and Lorn are offered a way to change their status from provisional to permanent: find out why Toby's father disappeared during a standard recon mission for the High Council. Now all they have to do is keep up with their homework and survive a little espionage.
Two women meet again at a high school reunion. Irene Smythe is a dynamic, professional woman who slowly comes to believe her husband's cat wants her dead. Molly Jean Mischner is unhappily married and longing for empowerment. Unbeknownst to each other, the two women follow a single path leading one to happiness, and one to destruction.
In a small village in medieval England, a young homeless girl acquires a home and a new career when she becomes the apprentice to a sharp-tempered midwife.
The landmark history of France and French culture in the eighteenth-century, a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize When the apprentices of a Paris printing shop in the 1730s held a series of mock trials and then hanged all the cats they could lay their hands on, why did they find it so hilariously funny that they choked with laughter when they reenacted it in pantomime some twenty times? Why in the eighteenth-century version of Little Red Riding Hood did the wolf eat the child at the end? What did the anonymous townsman of Montpelier have in mind when he kept an exhaustive dossier on all the activities of his native city? These are some of the provocative questions the distinguished Harvard historian Robert Darnton answers The Great Cat Massacre, a kaleidoscopic view of European culture during in what we like to call "The Age of Enlightenment." A classic of European history, it is an essential starting point for understanding Enlightenment France.
Dana Bedwen never wanted to be a dark mage. It's in her blood. It's her destiny. But what is that, compared to a young woman's desire to be an Alchemist? So she is looking for a job as an Alchemist, despite the suspicion and discrimination she faces as a dark arall. She wants to build steam trains and make money, not spend time on silly, antiquated rituals. But the Universe is conspiring against her. In order to save her own life, she'll have to accept the fate she fought so hard to avoid. On the path to her destiny, she'll regain longlost family, a boyfriend, and uncover some secrets about herself. Book one of the Alchemist series, which will take you through Dana's personal growth story, as she accepts her destiny and matures to become the great woman she will become. Without forgetting alchemy, of course.
For many moons, ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan have lived in peace in their territories around the lake. But now they must decipher a mysterious prophecy-a message that will send one young medicine cat apprentice on a quest to deter
Inspired by a woman and events forgotten by history, bestselling author Susan Holloway Scott weaves together carefully researched fact and fiction to tell the story of Mary Emmons, and the place she held in the life—and the heart—of the notorious Aaron Burr. He was a hero of the Revolution, a brilliant politician, lawyer, and very nearly president; a skillful survivor in a raw new country filled with constantly shifting loyalties. Today Aaron Burr is remembered more for the fatal duel that killed rival Alexander Hamilton. But long before that single shot destroyed Burr’s political career, there were other dark whispers about him: that he was untrustworthy, a libertine, a man unafraid of claiming whatever he believed should be his. Sold into slavery as a child in India, Mary Emmons was brought to an America torn by war. Toughened by the experiences of her young life, Mary is intelligent, resourceful, and strong. She quickly gains the trust of her new mistress, Theodosia Prevost, and becomes indispensable in a complicated household filled with intrigue—especially when the now-widowed Theodosia marries Colonel Aaron Burr. As Theodosia sickens with the fatal disease that will finally kill her, Mary and Burr are drawn together into a private world of power and passion, and a secret, tangled union that would have shocked the nation . . . Praise for I, Eliza Hamilton “Scott’s devotion to research is evident . . . a rewarding take on a fascinating historical couple.” —Library Journal “Readers will be captivated.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Packed with political and historical as well as domestic details.” —Booklist
Book 3 in Leslie Gadallah's trilogy of interstellar intrigue, The Empire of Kaz The Kazi Empire, once beaten back, is inexorably returning to the offensive. With a small group of Oriani scientists, Ehreh, an elderly academic, is developing a new weapon he hopes will put an end to the Kaz for good—but to deploy it, he must overcome the politics, rivalries, and special interests rife in the Strategic Conference and the hesitation and doubts of his own people, contend with spies and downright crooks, and find the means to take action. And so, it falls to Lauren Fox, an ordinary human in extraordinary circumstances, to find the way.
A cat-like creature foils the plans of an evil alchemist in this comic fantasy by the author of The City of Dreaming Books. Malaisea, the unhealthiest town in the whole of Zamonia, is home to Echo the Crat, a multitalented creature resembling a cat in appearance but capable of speaking any language under the sun, human or animal. When his mistress dies, Echo finds himself out on the street. Dying of starvation, he is compelled to sign a contract with Ghoolion the Alchemaster, Malaisea’s evil alchemist-in-chief. This fateful document gives Ghoolion the right to kill Echo at the next full moon and render him down for his fat, with which he hopes to brew an alchemical concoction that will make him immortal. In return, he promises to regale the little Crat with the most exquisite gastronomic delicacies until his time is up. But Ghoolion has reckoned without Echo’s talent for survival and his ability to make new friends. Walter Moers’s magnificent translation of Optimus Yarnspinner’s novel introduces us to yet another of Zamonia’s hotbeds of adventure: Malaisea, a place where sick is healthy, up is down, right is wrong, and Ghoolion the Alchemaster reigns supreme—until Echo crosses his path. Praise for The Alchemaster’s Apprentice “Cheerfully insane. . . . Remains lively and inventive right through the final heroic battle between good and evil.” —New York Times Book Review “Moers’s creative mind is like J. K. Rowling’s on ecstasy; his book reads like a collision between The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the Brothers Grimm. . . . What a delightful book.” —Detroit News and Free Press “Relentlessly whimsical.” —Library Journal “Cross The Lord of the Rings with Yellow Submarine, throw in dashes of Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Shrek, and The Princess Bride . . . That’s the sort of alchemy in which this sprawling novel trades.” —Kirkus Reviews
With her family business in crisis, Polly Prince does her best to keep calm and carry on. But hard work alone can't save her London company from a takeover by the infamously ruthless Damon Doukakis...or her traitorous body from the lethal sensuality of her boss As his new apprentice, Polly accompanies Damon to Paris to negotiate the most challenging business deal of her life Worse still, Polly must at all costs resist Damon in the most dangerously romantic city in the world....