Of all of the naughty, mischievous, disrespectful, and downright horrible things that children can be, a badling is perhaps one of the worst. Badlings abandon books without finishing them, leaving their characters sad and lonely—not to mention angry. Meet Bells, Peacock, Rusty, and Grand, four ragtag friends convicted of this monstrous crime. As punishment, they get sucked into a book of unfinished stories, whose patchwork pages they must traverse...and read to the end this time.
The Routledge Handbook of Trans Literature examines the intersection of transgender studies and literary studies, bringing together essays from global experts in the field. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of trans literature, highlighting the core topics, genres, and periods important for scholarship now and in the future. Covering the main approaches and key literary genres of the area, this volume includes: Examination of the core topics guiding contemporary trans literary theory and criticism, including the Anthropocene, archival speculation, activism, BDSM, Black studies, critical plant studies, culture, diaspora, disability, ethnocentrism, home, inclusion, monstrosity, nondualist philosophies, nonlinearity, paradox, pedagogy, performativity, poetics, religion, suspense, temporality, visibility, and water. Exploration of diverse literary genres, forms, and periods through a trans lens, such as archival fiction, artificial intelligence narratives, autobiography, climate fiction, comics, creative writing, diaspora fiction, drama, fan fiction, gothic fiction, historical fiction, manga, medieval literature, minor literature, modernist literature, mystery and detective fiction, nature writing, poetry, postcolonial literature, radical literature, realist fiction, Renaissance literature, Romantic literature, science fiction, travel writing, utopian literature, Victorian literature, and young adult literature. This comprehensive volume will be of great interest to scholars and students of literature, gender studies, trans studies, literary theory, and literary criticism.
See the difference, read #1 bestselling author Anne Rice in Large Print * About Large Print All Random House Large Print editions are published in a 16-point typeface In the latest installment of The Vampire Chronicles, Anne Rice summons up dazzling worlds to bring us the story of Armand - eternally young, with the face of a Botticelli angel. Armand, who first appeared in all his dark glory more than twenty years ago in the now-classic Interview with the Vampire, the first of The Vampire Chronicles, the novel that established its author worldwide as a magnificent storyteller and creator of magical realms. Now, we go with Armand across the centuries to the Kiev Rus of his boyhood - a ruined city under Mongol dominion - and to ancient Constantinople, where Tartar raiders sell him into slavery. And in a magnificent palazzo in the Venice of the Renaissance we see him emotionally and intellectually in thrall to the great vampire Marius, who masquerades among humankind as a mysterious, reclusive painter and who will bestow upon Armand the gift of vampiric blood. As the novel races to its climax, moving through scenes of luxury and elegance, of ambush, fire, and devil worship to nineteenth-century Paris and today's New Orleans, we see its eternally vulnerable and romantic hero forced to choose between his twilight immortality and the salvation of his immortal soul.
From the prizewinning author of Rosehead and the resident writer of the 2015 Amtrak Residency Program, comes a disturbing ghost story about a toy train engine TUBE. Get your ticket ready. And beware. This is a ride not for the faint-hearted. In the winter of 1989 on the Moscow-Simferopol train, on the eve of her twenty-first birthday, Soviet ballerina Olesya Belaya attempts to get rid of her virginity with the help of her new boyfriend and dancing partner, Dima Rumyantsev. But when Dima gets undressed, and when between his legs Olesya sees her long-lost toy train engine TUBE, her reality cracks, and TUBE leads her to the car haunted by her forgotten memories of sick, violent secrets. As Olesya enters the car, she has only her sanity to hold on to, to believe what she sees, and only her five-year-old self, Little Olesya, to guide her along the “other” side of her family, stripped of pretense, and to steady her against the truth. Slowly, Olesya’s disbelief turns to acceptance, until she understands whom she has to face, to come out alive—an unexpected enemy who has a taste for the weak and whom she escaped as a child, only to call him back unwittingly, to finish the carnage… Perfect for fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Margaret Atwood, TUBE is at once a surrealistic horror tale, a magical metaphor for overcoming past trauma, and an empowering novel about survival. Anske reminds us that the violent secrets of our childhood forever haunt us until we face them square in the face. Praise for TUBE from readers: “TUBE is a stark, cold, disturbing book of confronting the ghosts of our past. The taboo subject is handled unflinchingly, with vivid descriptions, evocative language, and raw honesty. I enjoyed the novel’s Russianness, the Soviet setting in the 1970s and 1980s is clearly described and detailed.” “This story was harsh, gritty, terrifying, and uncomfortable. But it was so, so beautiful. It brought down all the walls of abuse, it didn't romanticize or try to cover up or beautify the harsh realities. It splayed them out there, broken and bloody, for the world to see, and it showed that hidden memories and unacknowledged hurts only protect you for so long.” “Due to its surrealistic overtones, horror, and isolating nature, TUBE is the train ride no one wants to take but everyone has to experience.” “A powerful story about a woman’s struggle to regain lost memories of past trauma and in the process regain a part of herself that’s been lost as well.” “TUBE is like a giant train of weed while reading Stephen King and Darren Shan.”
Examining the intolerance of homosexuality in the early medieval period, this study challenges the long-held belief that the early Middle Ages tolerated same-sex relations. The work focuses on Anglo-Saxon literature but also includes examinations of contemporary opera, dance and theatre.
A PROUD KNIGHT FALLS... Renowned English knight Ivo de Vessey officiates at a concert for his liege lord in the nobleman’s great hall, but he is barely able to keep his mind on his task. He can’t take his eyes off of the stunning singer with dark hair, mysterious eyes, and a voice like honey. Who is this angelic creature whose voice touches his soul, softens his heart, and fills him with a tender longing he’s never felt before? It feels as if she is singing only for him... A WOMAN’S VENGEANCE... Briar Kenton has vowed to take revenge on the man responsible for her family’s ruin. She’s accepted his invitation to perform, but she has ulterior motives – to seduce the handsome scoundrel and destroy his sworn promise to another. But after a night of passion, she discovers that de Vessey is merely the envoy of her sworn enemy. Now that she has known tenderness and ecstasy of being in his arms, she can’t possibly let him go... Can de Vessey’s loyalty to his liege vie with his desire to help her right the unforgivable wrongs? Briar herself is undone—torn between retribution and an impossible dream for a forbidden love...
