Songs of the Greek Underworld is not only a learned & erudite text, accompanied by breakdowns of the rhythms & metric patterns of the different musics & their associated dances, but a reminder of the shared cultural roots of Turkey & Greece.
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! • Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather’s heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world. “I loved The Violin Conspiracy for exactly the same reasons I loved The Queen’s Gambit: a surprising, beautifully rendered underdog hero I cared about deeply and a fascinating, cutthroat world I knew nothing about—in this case, classical music.” —Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music. When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he's lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.
The author presents a retelling of classic Greek mythology including dramatic versions of "Jason and the Argonauts," "The Travels of Odysseus," "The Wrath of Achilles," and much more.
This is a story about love, but not the kind of love you think. You'll see... In the lush and magical Pacific Northwest live two best friends who grew up like sisters: charismatic, mercurial, and beautiful Aurora, and the devoted, watchful narrator. Each of them is incomplete without the other. But their unbreakable bond is challenged when a mysterious and gifted musician named Jack comes between them. His music is like nothing I have ever heard. It is like the ocean surging, the wind that blows across the open water, the far call of gulls. Suddenly, each girl must decide what matters most: friendship, or love. What both girls don't know is that the stakes are even higher than either of them could have imagined. They're not the only ones who have noticed Jack's gift; his music has awakened an ancient evil—and a world both above and below which may not be mythical at all. We have paved over the ancient world but that does not mean we have erased it. The real and the mystical; the romantic and the heartbreaking all begin to swirl together in All Our Pretty Songs, Sarah McCarry's brilliant debut, carrying the two on journey that is both enthralling and terrifying. And it's up to the narrator to protect the people she loves—if she can.
In 1999, Underworld's Karl Hyde began writing a public diary. Every day since then, Hyde has documented his thoughts, lyrical works-in-progress, poetry, and biographical essays alongside "found" visuals. For the last sixteen years, these entries have collectively created an on-going, utterly unique monologue on Underworld's website. I Am Dogboy handpicks a selection of diary entries and rearranges them to create an autobiographical narrative that takes Hyde from childhood through to the exploratory early years of Underworld, an electronic act who have been peerless for the last 25 years. Spliced throughout the narrative are standalone/abstract poetic pieces that offer occasional snapshots of life on the road and in the studio and give an insight into Hyde's singular style of lyric writing. The book is beautifully designed by John Warwicker -- Hyde's long time collaborator and co-founder of the Tomato collective. Karl Hyde and John Warwicker have previously published the typographic books Mmm... Skyscraper I Love You and In The Belly of St Paul.
Good girls don't steal. Good girls don't visit sex shops. Good girls don't have one-night stands. For Katie Conners, being a good girl just isn't worth it anymore. It used to mean getting the life she always wanted. But that was before she got dumped and her ex got engaged to his rebound. So, after a bad day and one too many mojitos, Katie starts making a list of things a girl like her would never do, not in a million years . . . As a tattoo artist with a monster motorcycle, Chase Trepasso isn't the kind of guy you bring home to mom and dad. And when he finds Katie's list in a bar, he's more than happy to help her check off a few items. Especially the ones on the naughtier side . . . Katie's more than tempted by Chase's offer, as long as they keep things uncomplicated. But as they spend more time together, she may just wind up breaking the most important rule of all: Good girls don't fall in love with bad boys.
Long ago, when gods and heroes walked the earth in triumph and tragedy, true love and epic deeds were set among the stars... In the ancient land of Greece, at a time when kings warred and the people suffered, the Fates fixed their timeless eyes upon the son of a muse, and his story inspired hope and beauty in a ravaged world. Raised by the daughters of Zeus in the shadow of Mount Olympus, Orpheus is filled with a love of the world, of creation, and of song. Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he inspires mortals, birds, beasts, and even the Gods with his music. He is blessed with a humility and unmatched skill that make him the greatest musician of the age. However, when the god Apollo tells Orpheus that he has more to learn, the young man leaves the safety of his home to wander the world in search of his destiny. Having travelled alone into the vast northern forests of Thrace, Orpheus discovers that elusive gift granted to few mortals or gods: True Love. In the love and friendship of the nymph, Eurydice, Orpheus comes to understand one of the greatest mysteries of the world. He is inspired in all things, and his music reaches unimagined heights of beauty. But the Fates can be cruel, the world barbarous, and the greatest gifts given, including love, can be taken away. When Eurydice’s light is suddenly extinguished from Orpheus’ life, the musician must make a choice. He can live a life without his only love and let the world tear itself to pieces, or he can make a journey that would terrify even the bravest of heroes to rescue his love and bring her back into the light. Will Orpheus be able to cross the dark plains of the Underworld and bring Eurydice back? Or will he lose his soul, and his love, for daring to challenge the Fates? The only way he can succeed is to plumb the depths of his deepest emotions and play like he has never played before... A Song for the Underworld is an epic retelling of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology. It is the third book in the Mythologia fantasy series by best-selling and award-winning author and historian, Adam Alexander Haviaras. If you enjoy books by Madeline Miller, Stephen Fry, Natalie Haynes or Jennifer Saint then you will love the Mythologia series. Read A Song for the Underworld today and experience the greatest love story of the ancient world!
“Heard whispers of the Dark all my life. It’s a strange feeling when a whisper becomes a shout.” SONGS OF THE DARK collects all four novellas from the world of Anthony Ryan’s internationally best-selling Raven’s Shadow trilogy. Centuries before the rise of the Unified Realm, the final battle looms between the city state of Kethia and the Volarian Empire. As told by Imperial Chronicler Lord Verniers, this terrible event is shrouded in many secrets and, some say, wrought by servants of the Dark. When word reaches the north of a fresh outbreak of the dreaded Red Hand, Brother Sollis, the finest swordsman in the Sixth Order, leads a small band to a long-abandoned castle in search of a potential cure, but discovers a far greater threat lurking in the mountains. A quest for bloody vengeance forces Derla, a skilled and deadly veteran of the Varinshold underworld, into the service of the arch schemer King Janus. Veteran Realm Guard Jerhid, newly appointed Lord Collector of the King’s Excise, finds himself battling ruthless smuggler gangs and worse on the wild southern shore of the Unified Realm. Four compelling tales of mystery, magic, intrigue and battle presented in one volume for the first time, featuring all new introductions by the author.
What would a positive, life-affirming, cosmos-embracing and transcendent Queer mythology look like? In the years 2013-15, artist and poet Bruce Rimell got a chance to find out when he was invited to participate in a collaborative project to create an international art publication, ‘The Encyclopaedia of Fernal Affairs’. Although this was principally an art-oriented initiative, Bruce quickly went off on his own tangent, inventing a complete constructed language and two song-cycles of fernal mythology which resonated with his own burgeoning sense of his Queer identity. ‘The Fernal Songs’ are the shimmering results of that literary side project. Centred around Lucaion, a Queer Hero whose exploits around an animistic cosmos showcase a more compassionate, interactive masculine images than the traditional subduer of enemies, and Afer, an all-gendered Cosmic Creatrix, whose song reverberates across the Fernal World, these are sacred songs which move beyond satirical ‘queering’ of traditional religious forms into a transcendent queer space which simultaneously resonates with ancient memories and indigenous lifeways as well as with possible queer futures of intense beauty and humanism. The ‘Song of Lucaion’, the ‘Thirteen Songs’ and the supplemental ‘Daiarzan’ come with several essays, personal recollections and honest expressions of Bruce’s envisioning of what he calls the ‘sacred and pristine jewel of queeritude within.’