Kyndra's fate holds betrayal and salvation, but the journey starts in her small village. On the day she comes of age, she accidentally disrupts an ancient ceremony, ending centuries of tradition. So when an unnatural storm targets her superstitious community, Kyndra is blamed. She fears for her life until two strangers save her, by wielding powers not seen for an age--powers fuelled by the sun and the moon. Together, they flee to the hidden citadel of Naris. And here, Kyndra experiences disturbing visions of the past, showing war and one man's terrifying response. She'll learn more in the city's subterranean chambers, amongst fanatics and rebels. But first Kyndra will be brutally tested in a bid to unlock her own magic. If she survives the ordeal, she'll discover a force greater than she could ever have imagined. But could it create as well as destroy? And can she control it, to right an ancient wrong?
(Applause Books). "There is no book about Hollywood as riveting as this documentary." - Allan Carr, Vanity Fair There is no question that the 1954 version of A STAR IS BORN holds a special place in the pantheon of classic movies. It was director George Cukor's first foray into musicals, his first color film, and it was, without a doubt, Judy Garland's greatest screen performance.With incredible detail and color, Ronald Haver gives us the fascinating story of the making, marketing and restoration of this groundbreaking classic. Here is how producer Sid Luft orchestrated the deal for his wife, how Cukor was selected to direct, how James Mason was cast to co-star and how Moss Hart's script was developed. Here are the myriad techincal problems, the clashes of personalities and the shocking emotional ups and downs of the film's star. Here, finally, is the author's own mission to restore the film to its original length and glory in the 1980s.
New York Times bestselling author and daughter of Judy Garland tells the story of A Star Is Born -- at once the crowning achievement and greatest disappointment in her mother's legendary career. This is a vivid account of a film classic's production, loss, and reclamation. A Star Is Born -- the classic Hollywood tale about a young talent rising to superstardom, and the downfall of her mentor/lover along the way -- has never gone out of style. It has seen five film adaptations, but none compares to the 1954 version starring Judy Garland in her greatest role. But while it was the crowning performance of the legendary entertainer's career, the production turned into one of the most talked about in movie history. The story, which depicts the dark side of fame, addiction, loss, and suicide, paralleled Garland's own tumultuous life in many ways. While hitting alarmingly close to home for the fragile star, it ultimately led to a superlative performance -- one that was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost in one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history. Running far too long for the studio's tastes, Warner Bros. notoriously slashed extensive amounts of footage from the finished print, leaving A Star is Born in tatters and breaking the heart of both the film's star and director George Cukor. Today, with a director's cut reconstructed from previously lost scenes and audio, the 1954 A Star is Born has taken its deserved place among the most critically acclaimed movies of all time, and continues to inspire each new generation that discovers it. Now, Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland and the film's producer, Sid Luft, tells the story of the production, and of her mother's fight to save her career, as only she could. Teaming with film historian Jeffrey Vance, A Star Is Born is a vivid and refreshingly candid account of the crafting, loss, and restoration of a movie classic, complemented by a trove of images from the family collection taken both on and off the set. The book also includes essays on the other screen adaptations of A Star Is Born, to round out a complete history of a story that has remained a Hollywood favorite for close to a century.
Why do so many people care so much about celebrities? Who decides who gets to be a star? What are the privileges and pleasures of fandom? Do celebrities ever deserve the outsized attention they receive? In this fascinating and deeply researched book, Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession with fame. Icons are not merely famous for being famous; the media alone cannot make or break stars; fans are not simply passive dupes. Instead, journalists, the public, and celebrities themselves all compete, passionately and expertly, to shape the stories we tell about celebrities and fans. The result: a high-stakes drama as endless as it is unpredictable. Drawing on scrapbooks, personal diaries, and vintage fan mail, Marcus traces celebrity culture back to its nineteenth-century roots, when people the world over found themselves captivated by celebrity chefs, bad-boy poets, and actors such as the "divine" Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), as famous in her day as the Beatles in theirs. Known in her youth for sleeping in a coffin, hailed in maturity as a woman of genius, Bernhardt became a global superstar thanks to savvy engagement with her era's most innovative media and technologies: the popular press, commercial photography, and speedy new forms of travel. Whether you love celebrity culture or hate it, The Drama of Celebrity will change how you think about one of the most important phenomena of modern times.
"Earth has expanded beyond its own Solar System. The newest planet discovered shows signs of "true" alien life. Excitement rippled across the known worlds as the first wave of colonisation was sent. The native aliens had a legend. One day a people from the stars would come to their world. The prophecy foretold that amongst them would be one man who was not like the others, and this man would bring back their god from oblivion. Shayne Forrester was meant to head the civilian physics division, but he suffered a rare degeneration that stripped him of his colonisation rights. The moment the native aliens met him they held no doubt that he was the one. Forced between the prophecies of the new world and his duty to the colony Shayne embarks upon an adventure of discovery. With help from a native scholar he uncovers a world rich in culture and myths. A world that is vastly different from the one he came from, and constantly his understanding of the universe is tested as strange events unfold around him, forcing him into the prophecies and knowledge that his actions would affect not only the planet, but every colonised world."--Back cover.
A celebration of the world's greatest movie actresses – from the stars of the golden age to the icons of cinema's second century – in classic scenes and beautiful images.
“Did I ever tell you about the time the Earth was nearly destroyed by an alien cult?” Samantha thought her life had been winding down. She’d led the quiet life of a single, stay-at-home mom since she was 20 years old. When her son moves to Europe to attend a prestigious university, she finds herself alone for the first time in her life. Seeking adventure, she decides to move across Canada to the harbour city of Nanaimo to help an old friend run her coffee shop. Soon after her arrival, she meets the beautiful and mysterious Elucia. What starts out as a late-night hookup quickly becomes a rabbit hole that pulls Samantha into a world of alien psychics, space vampires, and a prophesized battle to save the planet from an apocalypse at the hands of an interstellar cult. Life begins at 40 in this strange and queer, sci-fi romance by Qualia Reed
Born to a star, Wiali faced fifteen hundred years of stasis followed by ten years of work in the Citadel. While frozen, the entire Archive of the Alliance ran through her mind, her education was controlled by her whims. When her father went nova, she was finally and definitely alone until the moment Suek�s last Avatar came to tell her she was transferred from Citadel Aria to Citadel Lowel, the adjunct to Sector Guard Base Udell. Braenar knew that Suek had chosen him for Wiali, but the mechanism by which they would meet again was a mystery until she walked into his life with a group of students trailing behind her. From that moment on, he kept tabs on her until the day he could tell her that she was stuck working with him in deadly and dangerous situations. Planets, power and infinite peril€What girl doesn�t want that sort of thing in her life?
When King Xerxes choses the beautiful teenager, Hadassah, to be the new queen of Persia, she uses the name Esther to hide her Jewish identity but eventually reveals her heritage in order to save the Jewish people from annihilation.
