Every spy has a past. Every man has his price. Long ago, a brutal war between the countries of Chaldus and Yndor left the mages with blood on their hands. To rid the world of destructive magic, they performed the Binding and vowed that never again would a magical war be fought upon the land. But the Unbinding has begun. Someone is killing former Chaldean ministers and leaving a unique calling card: a gold coin in their mouths. Galatine Hazard recognizes the sign, because once it was his own trademark. He’s a respected man now, but someone is setting him up. To clear his name, Hazard has to reach back into his bag of tricks to catch the killer, a wily assassin who could bring the country to the brink of war and unleash the power of the ancients.
Unbinding Isaac takes readers on a trek of discovery for our times into the binding of Isaac story. Nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard viewed the story as teaching suspension of ethics for the sake of faith, and subsequent Jewish thinkers developed this idea as a cornerstone of their religious worldview. Aaron Koller examines and critiques Kierkegaard’s perspective—and later incarnations of it—on textual, religious, and ethical grounds. He also explores the current of criticism of Abraham in Jewish thought, from ancient poems and midrashim to contemporary Israel narratives, as well as Jewish responses to the Akedah over the generations. Finally, bringing together these multiple strands of thought—along with modern knowledge of human sacrifice in the Phoenician world—Koller offers an original reading of the Akedah. The biblical God would like to want child sacrifice—because it is in fact a remarkable display of devotion—but more than that, he does not want child sacrifice because it would violate the child’s autonomy. Thus, the high point in the drama is not the binding of Isaac but the moment when Abraham is told to release him. The Torah does not allow child sacrifice, though by contrast, some of Israel’s neighbors viewed it as a religiously inspiring act. The binding of Isaac teaches us that an authentically religious act cannot be done through the harm of another human being.
Unbinding the Binding of Isaac is an anthology of three faiths' interpretations of the Genesis 22:1-19 story. The various exegeses of this story have been mined by the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian faiths for a protracted period of time. The "Aqedah," as the binding story is known universally, stimulates the interests and imaginations of theologians, linguists, poets, historians, and artists of various skills and stripes. The Aqedah continues to stimulate inquiry and application to modern situations. Unbinding the Binding of Isaac is at once ancient and modern in its scope, purpose, and relevance to scholarly inquiry regarding this ongoing debate.
From the author of The Iron Druid Chronicles comes a rollicking urban-fantasy adventure featuring Atticus O’Sullivan. Atticus has a history of messing with the gods, and now he’ll have to outfox a deity at her own deadly cat-and-mouse game. When he’s not vanquishing villainous gods or dodging demons, two-thousand-year-old Druid Atticus O’Sullivan can be found behind the counter of Third Eye Books and Herbs in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, literally minding his own business. But when an evil sorcerer—and amateur shoplifter—snatches an ancient Egyptian tome of black magic, The Grimoire of the Lamb, Atticus is not sheepish about pursuing him to the ends of the earth . . . or at least to the Land of the Pharaohs. Unfortunately, Atticus already has enemies in Egypt—including cat goddess Bast, who wants her own book of mischief back from the Druid. In the streets of Cairo, she sends a feline phalanx after Atticus and his Irish wolfhound, Oberon. With fur still flying, Atticus must locate the sorcerer’s secret lair—where he will face killer crocodiles, spooky sarcophagi, and an ancient evil Egyptian who’s determined to order the sacrificial lamb special tonight. Includes an excerpt from Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles novel Hunted! Praise for Kevin Hearne and The Iron Druid Chronicles “Celtic mythology and an ancient Druid with modern attitude mix it up in the Arizona desert in this witty new fantasy series.”—Kelly Meding, author of Three Days to Dead “[Atticus is] a strong modern hero with a long history and the wit to survive in the twenty-first century. . . . A snappy narrative voice . . . a savvy urban fantasy adventure.”—Library Journal, on Hounded
The first three books in L.G. Surgeson's 'Black River Chronicles', a series of fantasy novels, now available in one volume! Summer of Fire: To speak of a time before the Summer of Fire is to speak of a time more than four hundred years gone by. Very few have a genuine understanding of what lead to the time known as the Summer of Fire, of the rising powers that had grown with the patience of mountains. Only in looking back could scholars completely understand the full scale of events that preceded it. It is particularly difficult to distinguish what came 'before', as this is a relative term. Each individual will have a point in time that they consider to be the time 'before', after which their life will have irrevocably changed. General consensus suggests that by 1099 AC it was already too late. But for some, it started long before that. For some of them will live, some of them will die, and some of them will last forever. The Winter That Follows: The Summer of Fire has burned away. The younger gods and their champion have defeated Krynok the Hunter, General Salamander has been destroyed, and slowly Tartaria is reuniting to heal the Clans and the land. Those who survived find themselves standing amongst the ruins with empty hearts, waiting for faces they will never see again. It has not occurred to many that this might be the greatest challenge of all. For once the glorious struggles of the Summer are over, they will have to find their way through the Winter That Follows. The Freetown Bridge: Any who believe the Freetown Bridge to be a monument to freedom have sadly misjudged the dark intent of the Frisian Inquisition. Thousands of slaves have been snatched to help with its construction, and the fears of its purpose are building across the continent. Shrouded in mystery and heavily guarded, the Bridge nears completion. Unable to stop themselves, a small group of adventurers from Aberddu seek to join those who would destroy it. A ragtag gang of mercenaries, priests and greenskins prepare to stand up to the might of the Red Inquisition, before they discover that the enemy is closer than they realised.
Chronicles of the Creator Over two thousand years ago, the goddess Syalonis was betrayed by the evil machine god Morgatan. During the confrontation, the goddess was ambushed and her consciousness was shattered into a thousand pieces to be scattered through her galactic body. Now, the last vestige of her awareness hides on the isolated world of Dragonsbreath as she tries vainly to recover. Unable to intervene, Morgatan lays siege to her galaxy and her corrupt angels strike from the Realm of Death, harvesting the souls of the innocent. Syalonis has one final hope; the gladiator Tan, child of three realms. Soul Gem Tan has been captured by the fierce Angel of Rage and now his life hangs in the balance. The mortal races; the Elves, the Dwarves, the humans and the noble Spiderfolk are desperately searching for a solution to the invasion of fallen-angels. The allied forces will find friends in unexpected places and enemies where there were friends. Daemons, Devils, Fiends, Dragons and other unique races take their stand in the war of galaxies. Most importantly however, the deadly Tomb Eyes appear but whose side are they on?
