Queen Diana kept a secret that fell victim to her two daughters. One Odette is the daughter of a mortal king, the other Odile is the daughter of a sorcerer. Both princesses were cursed, forcing them to turn into swans. Brothers in love with princesses want to remove the spell. For love they have to fight with dangerous magical creatures and charms.
The emperor of the whole empire of magic world Edwin fights in this volume with the magic Society of Shadows. Their patron is his old enemy prince Rothbart. He wants to destroy Edwin and his beloved Rose.
How can the power be held over the dragon who has broken free from captivity? Only by inviting him a bride, more beautiful and more dangerous there is no one. Princess Odil is the goddess of the magic arts, but she is the daughter of the sorcerer, who kept Edwin in captivity. So is it worth falling in love with her? Alas, love can pierce like an arrow even a dragon heart.
The young Countess Francesca carelessly touched the magic relic and called in her county the dragon, who burned the village and crops. At the same time, in her castle appeared a guest, a wonderful nobleman Edwin. He is a dragon, called by Francesca. His love can lead her to death.
Rhianon has defeated all her enemies and regained her stolen kingdom, but now she may die herself. No one but the fairies knew that the queen must have a child not from the king, but from the fallen angel. The child she is expecting from Madael is a real dragon. His birth will kill Rhianon. Only Madael can save her.
The youngest of three princes is beautiful, bold, loved by the people and, alas, cursed. The king’s advisers are afraid of prince Edwin, but magic creatures, on the contrary, take him for their own lord. Edwin has almost fallen in love with the beautiful fairy that follows him. But the gloomy sorcerer attacks the kingdom with flocks of dragons. He needs Edwin to come to power in magic empire.
Princess Rose has fallen prey to magic and intrigue. Now she is a hostage of the golden dragon, who rules the whole empire of magical creatures. The dragon, who had torn to pieces many beauties, for some reason spared her alone. And the young man, whom Rosa mistook for a dragon hunter, himself has dragon habits.
Beauty named Rose became the only love of Emperor-Dragon Edwin. Rose could be the queen of all magical world, but the mysterious Society of Shadows begins to persecute Edwin. His long-time enemy is eager to revenge. Previously, Edwin was invulnerable, now he has a vulnerable place – the beloved, called the name of the magic flower.
A thrilling new biography of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky--composer of some of the world's most popular orchestral and theatrical music "A lively, argumentative and thoughtful reflection on one of the 19th century's most important musical figures."--Michael O'Donnell, Wall Street Journal Tchaikovsky is famous for all the wrong reasons. Portrayed as a hopeless romantic, a suffering melancholic, or a morbid obsessive, the Tchaikovsky we think we know is a shadow of the fascinating reality. It is all too easy to forget that he composed an empire's worth of music, and navigated the imperial Russian court to great advantage. In this iconoclastic biography, celebrated author Simon Morrison re-creates Tchaikovsky's complex world. His life and art were framed by Russian national ambition, and his work was the emanation of an imperial subject: kaleidoscopic, capacious, cosmopolitan, decentred. Morrison reexamines the relationship between Tchaikovsky's music, personal life, and politics; his support of Tsars Alexander II and III; and his engagement with the cultures of the imperial margins, in Ukraine, Poland, and the Caucasus. Tchaikovsky's Empire unsettles everything we thought we knew--and gives us a vivid new appreciation of Russia's most popular composer.
In a rare collaboration, bestselling authors Helprin and Van Allsburg worked for nearly a decade on this ambitious, multi-generational trilogy that pits the power of love and devotion against dark forces of greed and suppression. For the first time, this hardcover volume collects all three of Helprin's contemporary fantasies —Swan Lake,The Veil of Snows, andA City in Winter— along with Van Allsburg's sensitively wrought illustrations from the original editions. 39 full-color plates.