Andrew and his grandmother are best friends and spend their time together telling stories of conquering imaginary dragons (fear) by being brave (looking fear in the eye). As Gram ages and her life ends, Andrew is left to battle the dragons alone until he discovers that Gram has been with him all along.
In How to Kill a Dragon Calvert Watkins follows the continuum of poetic formulae in Indo-European languages, from Old Hittite to medieval Irish. He uses the comparative method to reconstruct traditional poetic formulae of considerable complexity that stretch as far back as the original common language. Thus, Watkins reveals the antiquity and tenacity of the Indo-European poetic tradition. Watkins begins this study with an introduction to the field of comparative Indo-European poetics; he explores the Saussurian notions of synchrony and diachrony, and locates the various Indo-European traditions and ideologies of the spoken word. Further, his overview presents case studies on the forms of verbal art, with selected texts drawn from Indic, Iranian, Greek, Latin, Hittite, Armenian, Celtic, and Germanic languages. In the remainder of the book, Watkins examines in detail the structure of the dragon/serpent-slaying myths, which recur in various guises throughout the Indo-European poetic tradition. He finds the "signature" formula for the myth--the divine hero who slays the serpent or overcomes adversaries--occurs in the same linguistic form in a wide range of sources and over millennia, including Old and Middle Iranian holy books, Greek epic, Celtic and Germanic sagas, down to Armenian oral folk epic of the last century. Watkins argues that this formula is the vehicle for the central theme of a proto-text, and a central part of the symbolic culture of speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language: the relation of humans to their universe, the values and expectations of their society. Therefore, he further argues, poetry was a social necessity for Indo- European society, where the poet could confer on patrons what they and their culture valued above all else: "imperishable fame."
In the action-packed second book in the Dragonships series, Skylan Ivorson and the Vindrasi clan embark on a mission to save their dying gods. They must unravel an ever-expanding web of deceit and foul play if they hope to survive.
For decades, traditional medicine had very little to offer for individuals suffering from multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. Today, medical science has brought us wave upon wave of immunomodulatory medications to try to slow disease progression. Unfortunately, these medications come with their own health- and life-threatening side effects. And sometimes, they just stop working."Fighting the Dragon: How I Beat Multiple Sclerosis" is the story of one woman's thirty year battle with multiple sclerosis and what she did to reclaim her life when she realized she would need an assisted living facility within a few years. The book contains detailed descriptions of what worked and what did not, where she got the help she needed (and how the reader can locate these resources within his/her own community), and the logic behind the non-conventional therapies."Fighting the Dragon" is a narrative of courage-courage driven by desperation, a story written by a patient who decided, when her neurologist told her, "You will never walk normally again," that she would dance."Fighting the Dragon" is also a book the MS patient can take to his/her physician . . . it contains well-researched, easy-to-follow guidelines for what to do and how. The information is also applicable to a wide range of other autoimmune conditions, cancers, and AIDS. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Excerpt: . . . if your car kept breaking down and the mechanic you took it to kept doing the same thing to fix it-but it did not stay fixed, you would question the mechanic's competence. Maybe the mechanic pulled out a technical manual. "See. I fixed it exactly as the manual said. This is the industry-approved way to solve this problem." When the car broke down again a week later, would you be satisfied? Probably not. You might decide it is time to replace the car. But that might be too expensive. So, what to do? If you were smart, you would probably try to find a new mechanic. You might ask your friends who they would recommend. You might search on the Internet to see if other people had the same experience with their cars . . . and what caused the problem. You might telephone some repair shops to get some idea of what they thought the problem might be. If you found a new mechanic and that mechanic looked over the car and said, "I have a solution that is not in any industry-approved repair manuals, but it is safe and it works,"-would you walk away and go back to the first mechanic who never got it right? Why is your health worth any less than your car?
Greg Hart can't slay a dragon. He'd be lucky to win a fight against one of the smaller girls at school. His only real skill is that he can run faster than any other twelve-year-old boy in his class, a necessity, since that's who he's usually running from. Oh, it's not like he's never been the hero at the center of an adventure. It's just the kind of adventures he's been involved with have always been the made-up kind he's written about in his journal. Now the magicians of Myrth have yanked Greg into a strange new world, where the monsters he must run from are far scarier--and hungrier--than anything he's ever run from before. He tries to tell everyone there's been a mistake. Ruuan is a very large dragon, while Greg, on the other hand, is neither large nor a dragon. He's barely much of a boy. Unfortunately, such trivialities could never stop the people of Myrth from believing Greg will rescue King Peter's daughter from Ruuan. After all, Greg has been named in a prophecy, and no prophecy has ever been wrong before. Why, Greg wonders, does he have to be at the heart of the first one that is?
Book 12 is the epic finale to the New York Times bestselling How to Train Your Dragon series! The Doomsday of Yule has arrived, and the future of dragonkind lies in the hands of one boy with nothing to show, but everything to fight for. Hiccup's quest is clear... But can he end the rebellion? Can he prove himself to be king? Can he save the dragons? The stakes have never been higher, as the very fate of the Viking world hangs in the balance!
2019 Amazon.com Best Books of the Year 2019 Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year First in the Dragons of Terra series, Brian Naslund's Blood of an Exile is a fast-paced adventure perfect for comic readers and fans of heroic fantasy Bershad stands apart from the world, the most legendary dragonslayer in history, both revered and reviled. Once, he was Lord Silas Bershad, but after a disastrous failure on the battlefield he was stripped of his titles and sentenced to one violent, perilous hunt after another. Now he lives only to stalk dragons, slaughter them, collect their precious oil, and head back into the treacherous wilds once more. For years, death was his only chance to escape. But that is about to change. The king who sentenced Bershad to his fate has just given him an unprecedented chance at redemption. Kill a foreign emperor and walk free forever. The journey will take him across dragon-infested mountains, through a seedy criminal underworld, and into a forbidden city guarded by deadly technology. But the links of fate bind us all. Dragons of Terra Series Blood of an Exile Sorcery of a Queen At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
From the beloved author of The Once and Future Geek comes this action-packed adventure set in a futuristic world filled with magic, monsters, and high-tech video gaming. One wrong move, and it's game over. Welcome to Dragon Ops, the world's first augmented-reality video-game theme park. Set on a once-deserted island, our three beta players—classic gamer geek Ian; his adventure-seeking sister, Lily; and their too-cool-for-gaming cousin, Derek—have been lucky enough to score an invite to play before the fully immersive experience opens to the public. But once inside, they find themselves trapped in a game taken over by a rogue AI dragon called Atreus, and suddenly the stakes go beyond the virtual world. With no cheat codes, guidebooks, save points, or do-overs, they'll need all their cunning and video-game hacks to beat the game . . . and survive in real life. Action-packed and unputdownable, Dragon Ops will thrill gamers and reluctant readers alike with high-tech adventure and electrifying twists and turns.
New gods are challenging the old high god, Torval, for rulership of the world. The only way to stop these brash interlopers lies with the five Bones of the Vektia Dragons—the five primal dragons hidden away by the dragon goddess, Vindrash, during the creation of the world. Without these dragons, one of the new gods, Aelon, cannot seize power. The only hope of the Vindrasi lies in finding the dragon bones before the followers of Aelon can use them to destroy the old gods. But the Vindrasi gods have a traitor in their midst... In the land of mortals, Raegar, a Vindraisi turned Aelon warrior-priest, searches for the spirit bones. The gods have a champion of their own—Skylan Ivorson, sea-raider and high chief of the Vindrasi clans, and sworn enemy to Raegar. But Skylan is a prisoner on his own ship. The ship's dragon, Kahg, has vanished and some believe he is dead. Skylan and his people are taken as captives to Sinaria, where they must fight in a game known as the Para Dix. The fates of men and gods and are dragons are rushing headlong to destruction. Skylan can stop the calamity, but only if he discovers the secret of the dragon. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.