The Familiar, Volume 1

The Familiar, Volume 1

Author: Mark Z. Danielewski

Publisher: Knopf

Published: 2015-05-12

Total Pages: 890

ISBN-13: 0375714952

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From the author of the international best seller House of Leaves and National Book Award–nominated Only Revolutions comes a monumental new novel as dazzling as it is riveting. The Familiar (Volume 1) ranges from Mexico to Southeast Asia, from Venice, Italy, to Venice, California, with nine lives hanging in the balance, each called upon to make a terrifying choice. They include a therapist-in-training grappling with daughters as demanding as her patients; an ambitious East L.A. gang member contracted for violence; two scientists in Marfa, Texas, on the run from an organization powerful beyond imagining; plus a recovering addict in Singapore summoned at midnight by a desperate billionaire; and a programmer near Silicon Beach whose game engine might unleash consequences far exceeding the entertainment he intends. At the very heart, though, is a twelve-year-old girl named Xanther who one rainy day in May sets out with her father to get a dog, only to end up trying to save a creature as fragile as it is dangerous . . . which will change not only her life and the lives of those she has yet to encounter, but this world, too—or at least the world we think we know and the future we take for granted. (With full-color illustrations throughout.) Like the print edition, this eBook contains a complex image-based layout. It is most readable on e-reading devices with larger screen sizes.


The Familiars

The Familiars

Author: Adam Jay Epstein

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2011-06-07

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 0061961108

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When Aldwyn, a young alley cat on the run, ducks into a mysterious pet shop, he doesn’t expect his life to change. But that’s exactly what happens when Jack, a young wizard, picks Aldwyn to be his magical familiar. Finally off the tough streets, Aldwyn thinks he’s got it made. He just has to convince the other familiars—the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the friendly tree frog Gilbert—that he’s the telekinetic cat he claims to be. But when Jack and two other wizards in training are captured by a terrible evil, it will take all of Aldwyn’s street smarts, a few good friends, and a nose for adventure to save the day!


The Familiar Dark

The Familiar Dark

Author: Amy Engel

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2020-03-31

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1524746010

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One of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2020 (Mystery/Thriller) "From its gripping beginning to its sobering finale, Amy Engel's The Familiar Dark never fails to enthrall with surprising twists."–Associated Press A spellbinding story of a mother with nothing left to lose who sets out on an all-consuming quest for justice after her daughter is murdered on the town playground. Sometimes the answers are worse than the questions. Sometimes it's better not to know. Set in the poorest part of the Missouri Ozarks, in a small town with big secrets, The Familiar Dark opens with a murder. Eve Taggert, desperate with grief over losing her daughter, takes it upon herself to find out the truth about what happened. Eve is no stranger to the dark side of life, having been raised by a hard-edged mother whose lessons Eve tried not to pass on to her own daughter. But Eve may need her mother's cruel brand of strength if she's going to face the reality about her daughter's death and about her own true nature. Her quest for justice takes her from the seedy underbelly of town to the quiet woods and, most frighteningly, back to her mother's trailer for a final lesson. The Familiar Dark is a story about the bonds of family—women doing the best they can for their daughters in dire circumstances—as well as a story about how even the darkest and most terrifying of places can provide the comfort of home.


The Temple of My Familiar

The Temple of My Familiar

Author: Alice Walker

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2011-09-20

Total Pages: 535

ISBN-13: 1453223991

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The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple weaves a “glorious and iridescent” tapestry of interrelated lives in this New York Times bestseller (Library Journal). Includes a new letter written by the author In The Temple of My Familiar, Celie and Shug from The Color Purple subtly shadow the lives of dozens of characters, all dealing in some way with the legacy of the African experience in America. From recent African immigrants, to a woman who grew up in the mixed-race rainforest communities of South America, to Celie’s own granddaughter living in modern-day San Francisco, all must come to understand the brutal stories of their ancestors to come to terms with their own troubled lives. As Walker follows these astonishing characters, she weaves a new mythology from old fables and history, a profoundly spiritual explanation for centuries of shared African American experience. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Alice Walker including rare photos from the author’s personal collection. The Temple of My Familiar is the 2nd book in the Color Purple Collection, which also includes The Color Purple and Possessing the Secret of Joy.


Familiar Strangers

Familiar Strangers

Author: Jonathan N. Lipman

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2011-07-01

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0295800550

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The Chinese-speaking Muslims have for centuries been an inseperable but anomalous part of Chinese society--Sinophone yet incomprehensible, local yet outsiders, normal but different. Long regarded by the Chinese government as prone to violence, they have challenged fundamental Chinese conceptiosn of Self and Other and denied the totally transforming power of Chinese civilization by tenaciously maintaining connectios with Central and West Asia as well as some cultural differences from their non-Muslim neighbors. Familiar Strangers narrates a history of the Muslims of northwest China, at the intersection of the frontiers of the Mongolian-Manchu, Tibetan, Turkic, and Chinese cultural regions. Based on primary and secondary sources in a variety of languages, Familiar Strangers examines the nature of ethnicity and periphery, the role of religion and ethnicity in personal and collective decisions in violent times, and the complexity of belonging to two cultures at once. Concerning itself with a frontier very distant from the core areas of Chinese culture and very strange to most Chinese, it explores the influence of language, religion, and place on Sino-Muslim identity.


Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot - And Cold - Climate Cultures

Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot - And Cold - Climate Cultures

Author: Sarah A. Lanier

Publisher:

Published: 2004-02-01

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9781581580723

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Foreign to Familiar is a splendidly written, well-researched work on cultures. Anyone traveling abroad should not leave home without this valuable resource! I highly recommend it as required reading for cross-cultural workers. Sarah Lanier's love and sensitivity for people of all nations will touch your heart. This book creates within us a greater appreciation for our extended families around the world and an increased desire to better serve them. - Dr. Kingsley A. Fletcher President, Hope for Africa, Inc. [on back cover].


The Human Familiar

The Human Familiar

Author: Honor Raconteur

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-10-23

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9781978082175

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While Bannen had every intention of finding adventure, being yanked through a magical portal two continents away isn't quite what he imagined happening. For that matter, being magically bound to a mage-in-training hadn't ever crossed his mind. Being the first human familiar ever summoned in Corcoran? Not on his to-do list.Rena certainly needs all of the help that she can get, as her magic is very different, inhibiting her of the normal shields and protections. Everyone says her summoning a human familiar is a mistake, that she needs to break the bond and send Bannen back.But Bannen doesn't like this idea, not one iota. Renata Rocci has the magic of a Grim Reaper, the heart of a lion, and a body too frail to keep up with either. She can face assassins; meddlesome mages; politicians; and legendary, nightmarish monsters without flinching. Without losing and that's sexy as sin. This is definitely not the adventure he signed up for. It's far, far better.


Familiars

Familiars

Author: Jim C. Hines

Publisher: Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.

Published: 2024-07-15

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1940709733

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Who Needs a Friend, When You Have a Familiar? Animals have been our companions since the dawn of time, but in science fiction and fantasy, often that bond is taken one magical—or technological—step further. In Familiars we asked authors to put their own unique spin on this idea, resulting in this collection of fifteen stories that explore the range of familiar bonds—from cats to caterpillars, squids to squirrels, and everything in between. With settings from fantasy to science fiction, and stories ranging from humor to horror, there's something to appeal to everyone! Featuring stories by Brian Hugenbruch, Lawrence Harding, Jean Marie Ward, Jordan Bricco, Alexander G.R. Gideon, Gini Koch & Bebe Bayliss, Russell Hugh McConnell, Kari Sperring, Alicia Cay, Jim C. Hines, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Shanna Germain, Jacey Bedford, A. Katherine Black, and Jason Palmatier. The buddy system is back, baby!


A Familiar Beast

A Familiar Beast

Author: Panio Gianopoulos

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780983658566

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Fiction. In the wake of an affair that has cost him his marriage and career, Marcus is a lost man. Desperate for reprieve from his loneliness and regret, he accepts an invitation to go to the outskirts of North Carolina and visit Edgar, an old high school classmate burdened with mysterious troubles of his own. In Edgar's beautiful, empty home, their separate sorrows draw Marcus into a series of unnerving situations, culminating in a proposed deer hunt. Marcus agrees, despite his inexperience and aversion to killing, and as the hunt draws closer, he must confront the violent prospect with a candor and recognition that have, until now, evaded him. Elegant and darkly moving, A FAMILIAR BEAST is a haunting tale of a man's search for redemption. "Impressively taut and meticulously drawn. As we follow Marcus from reckoning to something like redemption, Gianopoulous's wisdom and humanity light up this darkly comic, bittersweet journey. Here is a gifted writer in full control of his craft and impact. A FAMILIAR BEAST is a perfectly-executed shot through the heart." Jean Nathan"