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SUMMARY:
In the three hundred years since the death of the Druid Allanon, the evil Shadowen have seized control of the Four Lands. If they are to be saved, the black Elfstone must be retrieved, at whatever cost to life or love....


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SUMMARY:
Eighty years into the future, the United States is a no-man’s-land: its landscape blighted by chemical warfare, pollution, and plague; its government collapsed; its citizens adrift, desperate, fighting to stay alive. In fortified compounds, survivors hold the line against wandering predators, rogue militias, and hideous mutations spawned from the toxic environment, while against them all stands an enemy neither mortal nor merciful: demons and their minions bent on slaughtering and subjugating the last of humankind. But from around the country, allies of good unite to challenge the rampaging evil. Logan Tom, wielding the magic staff of a Knight of the Word, has a promise to keep – protecting the world’s only hope of salvation – and a score to settle with the demon that massacred his family. Angel Perez, Logan’s fellow Knight, has risked her life to aid the elvish race, whose peaceful, hidden realm is marked for extermination by the forces of the Void. Kirisin Belloruus, a young elf entrusted with an ancient magic, must deliver his entire civilization from a monstrous army. And Hawk, the rootless boy who is nothing less than destiny’s instrument, must lead the last of humanity to a latter-day promised land before the final darkness falls.


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SUMMARY:
The Morgawr is a centuries-old sorcerer of unimaginable might, who feeds upon the souls of his enemies. With a fleet of airships and a crew of walking dead men at his command, he is in relentless pursuit of the Jerle Shannara. His goal is twofold: to find and control the fabled 'magic' of Parkasia, and to destroy the Ilse Witch (his disciple) to keep her from using the magic to destroy him.

But she has already paid a heavy price for her actions. When Walker Boh persuades the witch to use the Sword of Shannara, she is exposed to its awesome power and forced to confront the truth of her horrifying deeds as the Ilse Witch, causing her to flee deep into her own mind. She has only one protector: her brother Bek, who is determined to redeem her.


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SUMMARY: Horror stalked the Four Lands as the Ildatch, ancient source of evil, sent its ghastly Mord Wraiths to destroy Mankind. Only Druid Allanon held the magic power of wishsong that could make plants bloom instantly or turn trees from green to autumn gold. But she, too, was in mortal danger, and Ildatch waited for Brin to fall into his trap....


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SUMMARY:
As the crew aboard the airship Jerle Shannara is attacked by evil forces, the Druid’s protégé Bek Rowe and his companions are pursued by the mysterious Ilse Witch. Meanwhile, Boh is alone, caught in a dark maze beneath the ruined city of Castledown, stalked by a hungry, unseen enemy. For there is something alive in Castledown. Something not human. Something old beyond reckoning that covets the magic of Druids, elves, even the Ilse Witch. Something that hunts men for its own designs: Antrax.


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SUMMARY:
Angel Fire East marks the close of Terry Brooks's Nest Freemark-John Ross saga, which began with 1997's Running with the Demon. After a long layover in Seattle for the middle book, Knight of the Word, the fantasy-meets-modernity action returns to Nest's native Hopewell, where once again Nest and John must face off against the Void, this time in the form of ancient demon Findo Gask, who favors a black-clad evil preacher getup for his menacing needs. Brooks's well-realized and likable cast from the previous books is back, from Nest (now 29) to Ross (haggard as ever) to Pick (still just a few inches tall) and even grown-up versions of Nest's childhood friends from Running, including Bennett, now a junkie with child. Of course, Findo Gask has assembled a creepy little Legion of Doom to harry these nice folks: a giant albino demon; a formless, flesh-eating ur'droch; and a knife-wielding Orphan-Annie-gone-bad named Penny Dreadful. And Angel Fire's main plot thread is even compelling: John Ross has caught a shape-changing, wild-magic creature of enormous power, a gypsy morph, that he and Nest must discover how to turn to the Word before Gask and his crew can capture it for the Void. But as with Knight of the Word, wooden pacing and unconvincing transitions keep this tale from rising to the level of Brooks's previous masterworks, such as the excellent Shannara and Landover series. If you've read the first two books, it's certainly worth seeing off your old friends in Angel Fire East. But if you're--heaven forbid--new to Terry Brooks, check out his earlier work, or even his very capable novelization of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. --Paul Hughes


text:
SUMMARY:
Horror stalked the Four Lands as the Ildatch, ancient source of evil, sent its ghastly Mord Wraiths to destroy Mankind. Only Druid Allanon held the magic power of wishsong that could make plants bloom instantly or turn trees from green to autumn gold. But she, too, was in mortal danger, and Ildatch waited for Brin to fall into his trap....


text:
SUMMARY:
John Ross, the tortured, conflicted Knight of the Word from Terry Brooks's Running with the Demon, finally gets a good night's sleep in the sequel. He buys this moment's peace at the cost of his sacred oath to be a champion of the Word, renouncing that pledge after failing to prevent the slaughter of a group of schoolchildren. Duty and destiny are difficult to elude, though, and soon his former charge Nest Freemark, now a college student and Olympic hopeful, arrives to warn him of his imminent destruction, or, worse, his unwitting fall into the service of the Void. The story winds lazily through sleepy, wet Seattle like a tour bus, steadily building. Everything eventually converges on the homeless shelter where John works with his new sweetie Stefanie Winslow for über-activist Simon Lawrence, a man his dreams tell him he is fated to kill. A thin mystery clouds the identity of the demon conspiring to deliver John unto evil, but the book's real focus is John's fitful, foot-dragging attempts to fulfill his destiny. Knight doesn't provide the suspenseful energy of Running, a book that followed Nest through the dramatic loss of her childhood, but it rejoins her as she assumes the responsibilities of young adulthood and--like that period in life--still manages to deliver satisfying, if more subtle, rewards. --Paul Hughes


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SUMMARY:
Armageddon's Children is the first novel in Terry Brooks' fantasy trilogy entitled The Genesis of Shannara, which bridges the events of Brooks' Word/Void trilogy with his Shannara series. It takes place in an apocalyptic world around the year 2100 (about eighty years after the novel Angel Fire East) and details the events during the Great Wars, a historical conflict referenced frequently in the Shannara books. It is followed by the novel The Elves of Cintra.


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SUMMARY:
The High Druid of Shannara trilogy draws to a thrilling close as a young hero nears completion of his trial by fire, a banished ruler fights for her life in a wilderness of dread, and forces of darkness and light square off in a battle unto death for the right to absolute rule. Prepare to be spellbound by the masterly hand of bestselling legend weaver Terry Brooks, conjuring at the peak of his skills.For reasons known only to himself, the King of the Silver River has charged young Penderrin Ohmsford, barely more than a boy, with the daunting task of rescuing his aunt, Grianne, Ard Rhys of the Druid order, from her forced exile in the terrifying dimension of all things damned: the Forbidding. With the noble dwarf Tagwen and the prodigal elven princess Khyber Elessedil by his side–and with the outcome of the bloody war between the Federation and the Free-born at stake–Pen has accepted his mission without question. But not without risk . . . or sacrifice.Because Shadea a’Ru, the ruthless Druid responsible for imprisoning the true Ard Rhys and usurping leadership at Paranor, has sent her agents and assassins in relentless pursuit of Pen and his comrades. And in securing the talisman he needs to breach the Forbidding, Pen has paid a devastating price. Now if the Free-born forces–already decimated by the Federation’s death-dealing new weapon–should fall, Shadea’s domination of the Four Lands will be assured. Nothing short of Pen’s success can turn the tide. But Pen’s challenge grows greater when he learns that his parents, Bek Ohmsford and Rue Meridian, have fallen into Shadea’s hands. He must try to help them–but once within the walls of Druid’s Keep, where Shadea’s minions and dark magic lurk at every turn, Pen’s survival is far from assured. Yet it will all pale in comparison to the horrors that wait inside the Forbidding–horrors poised to break free upon the Four Lands when the time is right. . . .From the Hardcover edition.


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SUMMARY: Angel Fire East marks the close of Terry Brooks's Nest Freemark-John Ross saga, which began with 1997's Running with the Demon. After a long layover in Seattle for the middle book, Knight of the Word, the fantasy-meets-modernity action returns to Nest's native Hopewell, where once again Nest and John must face off against the Void, this time in the form of ancient demon Findo Gask, who favors a black-clad evil preacher getup for his menacing needs. Brooks's well-realized and likable cast from the previous books is back, from Nest (now 29) to Ross (haggard as ever) to Pick (still just a few inches tall) and even grown-up versions of Nest's childhood friends from Running, including Bennett, now a junkie with child. Of course, Findo Gask has assembled a creepy little Legion of Doom to harry these nice folks: a giant albino demon; a formless, flesh-eating ur'droch; and a knife-wielding Orphan-Annie-gone-bad named Penny Dreadful. And Angel Fire's main plot thread is even compelling: John Ross has caught a shape-changing, wild-magic creature of enormous power, a gypsy morph, that he and Nest must discover how to turn to the Word before Gask and his crew can capture it for the Void. But as with Knight of the Word, wooden pacing and unconvincing transitions keep this tale from rising to the level of Brooks's previous masterworks, such as the excellent Shannara and Landover series. If you've read the first two books, it's certainly worth seeing off your old friends in Angel Fire East. But if you're--heaven forbid--new to Terry Brooks, check out his earlier work, or even his very capable novelization of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. --Paul Hughes


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SUMMARY: It has been 130 years since the events of the Heritage of Shannara series, and the Free-born and the Federation are still at war. The story follows a quest organized by Walker Boh, the last surviving Druid. Thirty years ago, the Elven prince Kael Elessedil led an expedition in search of a legendary magic which was said to be the most ancient and powerful in the world. Thirty years later, Kael is found floating in the sea of the Blue Divide; a map is found with him, covered with mysterious symbols. Walker is the only man who can read them. But there is another: the Ilse Witch, a beautiful but twisted young woman who is as practiced in magic as Walker himself. She will stop at nothing to possess the map and the magic it leads to. To stop her, Walker must find the magic first. Thus begins the voyage of the sleek, swift airship, the Jerle Shannara. The company chosen by Walker must fly into the face of unknown terrors while the Ilse Witch and her dark allies pursue.


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SUMMARY: Since the death of Allanon, life in the Four Lands has drastially changed. Yet Par Ohmsford still has some power of the Wishsong. And when a message from the ancient Druid, Allanon, reaches them, Par is ordered to recover the long-lost Sword of Shinnara, and the glory that once was the Four Lands....


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SUMMARY:
Horrified by the misuse of magic they had witnessed during the First War of the Races, the Druids at Paranor devoted themselves to the study of the old sciences, from the period before the collapse of civilization a thousand years before. Only the Bremen and a few trusted associates still studied the arcane arts. And for his persistence, Bremen found himself outcast, avoided by all but the few free-thinkers among the Druids.But his removal from Paranor was not altogether a terrible thing, for Bremen learned that dark forces were on the move from the Northlands. That seemingly invincible armies of trolls were fast conquering all that lay to their south. That the scouts for the army--and its principal assassins--were Skull Bearers, disfigured and transformed Druids who had fallen prey to the seductions of the magic arts. And that at the heart of the evil tide was an archmage and former Druid named Brona!Using the special skills he had acquired through his own study of Magic, Bremen was able to penetrate the huge camp of the Troll army and learn many of its secrets. And he immediately understood that if the peoples of the Four Lands were to escape eternal subjugation they would need to unite. But, even united, they would need a weapon, something so powerful that the evil magic of Brona, the Warlock Lord, would fail before its might...


text:
SUMMARY:
Since the death of Allanon, life in the Four Lands has drastially changed. Yet Par Ohmsford still has some power of the Wishsong. And when a message from the ancient Druid, Allanon, reaches them, Par is ordered to recover the long-lost Sword of Shinnara, and the glory that once was the Four Lands....


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SUMMARY:
"Find the Elves and return them to the world of Men!" the shade of the Druid Allanon had ordered Wren.It was clearly an impossible task. The Elves had been gone from the Westland for more than a hundred years. There was not even a trace of their former city of Arborlon left to mark their passing. No one in the Esterland knew of them -- except, finally, the Addershag.The blind old woman had given instructions to find a place on the coast of the Blue Divide, build a fire, and keep it burning for three days. "One will come for you."Tiger Ty, the Wing Rider, had come on his giant Roc to carry Wren and her friend Garth to the only clear landing site on the island of Morrowindl, where, he said, the Elves might still exist, somewhere in the demon-haunted jungle.Now she stood within that jungle, remembering the warning of the Addershag: "Beward, Elf-girl. I see danger ahead for you . . . and evil beyond imagining." It had proved all too true.Wren stood with her single weapon of magic, listening as demons evil beyond all imagining gathered for attack. How long could she resist?And if, by some miracle, she reached the Elves and could convince them to return, how could they possibly retrace her perilous path to reach the one safe place on the coast?


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SUMMARY: The High Druid of Shannara trilogy draws to a thrilling close as a young hero nears completion of his trial by fire, a banished ruler fights for her life in a wilderness of dread, and forces of darkness and light square off in a battle unto death for the right to absolute rule. Prepare to be spellbound by the masterly hand of bestselling legend weaver Terry Brooks, conjuring at the peak of his skills.For reasons known only to himself, the King of the Silver River has charged young Penderrin Ohmsford, barely more than a boy, with the daunting task of rescuing his aunt, Grianne, Ard Rhys of the Druid order, from her forced exile in the terrifying dimension of all things damned: the Forbidding. With the noble dwarf Tagwen and the prodigal elven princess Khyber Elessedil by his side–and with the outcome of the bloody war between the Federation and the Free-born at stake–Pen has accepted his mission without question. But not without risk . . . or sacrifice.Because Shadea a’Ru, the ruthless Druid responsible for imprisoning the true Ard Rhys and usurping leadership at Paranor, has sent her agents and assassins in relentless pursuit of Pen and his comrades. And in securing the talisman he needs to breach the Forbidding, Pen has paid a devastating price. Now if the Free-born forces–already decimated by the Federation’s death-dealing new weapon–should fall, Shadea’s domination of the Four Lands will be assured. Nothing short of Pen’s success can turn the tide. But Pen’s challenge grows greater when he learns that his parents, Bek Ohmsford and Rue Meridian, have fallen into Shadea’s hands. He must try to help them–but once within the walls of Druid’s Keep, where Shadea’s minions and dark magic lurk at every turn, Pen’s survival is far from assured. Yet it will all pale in comparison to the horrors that wait inside the Forbidding–horrors poised to break free upon the Four Lands when the time is right. . . .From the Hardcover edition.


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SUMMARY: With his groundbreaking New York Times bestseller The Sword of Shannara and its acclaimed sequels, Terry Brooks brought a new audience to epic fantasy. Then he gave the genre a darkly compelling contemporary twist in his trilogy of the Word and the Void. Last year, in Armageddon’s Children, Brooks undertook the stunning chronicle that united two unique worlds. Now that story of clashing forces of darkness and light, of Shannara’s beginnings and the human race’s possible end, marches forward into an unforgettable second volume full of mystery, magic, and momentous events.Across the ruined landscape that is America–hopelessly poisoned, plague-ridden, burned, and besieged by demon armies bent on exterminating all mortal life–two pilgrims have been summoned to serve the embattled cause of good. Logan Tom has journeyed to desolate Seattle to protect a ragged band of street urchins and the being known as “the gypsy morph,” who is both mortal and magical, and destined to save mankind unless he is destroyed. Likewise, Angel Perez has her own quest, one that will take her from the wreckage of Los Angeles to a distant, secret place untouched by the horrors of the nationwide blight–a place where the race of Elves has dwelled since before man existed. But close behind these lone Knights of the Word swarm the ravening forces of the Void. As the menacing thunder of war drums heralds the arrival of the demons and their brutal minions in Seattle, the young survivors who call themselves the Ghosts are forced to brave the dangerous world of gangs, mutants, and worse to escape the invasion. And Logan Tom must infiltrate a refugee compound to rescue Hawk, the leader of the street urchins, who has yet to learn the truth about who and what he is. Meanwhile, Angel Perez has joined an equally urgent mission: to find the Ellcrys, a fabled talisman crucial to protecting the Elven realm against an influx of unspeakable evil from the dread dimension known as the Forbidding. But Angel and her Elf allies must beware–for a demon spy, with a monstrous creature at its command, walks among them.As the legions of darkness draw the noose tighter, and the time of confrontation draws near, those chosen to defend the soul of the world must draw their battle lines and prepare to fight with, and for, their lives. If they fail, humanity falls.From the Hardcover edition.


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SUMMARY:
Twenty years ago, Terry Brooks turned fantasy fiction on its head with The Sword of Shannara, the first fantasy novel to make the mainstream bestseller lists, and the first in an unbroken string of thirteen bestselling books. Now, in Running with the Demon, Brooks does nothing less than revitalize fantasy fiction again, inventing the complex and powerful new mythos of the Word and the Void, good versus evil still, but played out in the theater-in-the-round of the "real world" of our present. On the hottest Fourth of July weekend in decades, two men have come to Hopewell, Illinois, site of a lengthy, bitter steel strike. One is a demon, dark servant of the Void, who will use the anger and frustration of the community to attain a terrible secret goal. The other is John Ross, a Knight of the Word, a man who, while he sleeps, lives in the hell the world will become if he fails to change its course on waking. Ross has been given the ability to see the future. But does he have the power to change it?At stake is the soul of a fourteen-year-old girl mysteriously linked to both men. And the lives of the people of Hopewell. And the future of the country. This Fourth of July, while friends and families picnic in Sinnissippi Park and fireworks explode in celebration of freedom and independence, the fate of Humanity will be decided . . .A novel that weaves together family drama, fading innocence, cataclysm, and enlightenment, Running with the Demon will forever change the way you think about the fantasy novel. As believable as it is imaginative, as wondrous as it is frightening, it is a rich, exquisitely-written tale to be savored long after the last page is turned.


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SUMMARY: War threatens the Four Lands, and Shannara's only hope lies in Penderrin Ohmsford, but it's a dreadfully slim hope. To save his world, Pen must restore his aunt, the former Ilse Witch, to her rightful position as High Druid of Shannara. But first Pen must free his aunt Grianne from the Forbidding: the world of the demons. To have the slightest chance of freeing her, he must find the mystical tree called the Tanequil, and somehow craft a talisman from its wood. But Shadea a'Ru, the treacherous usurper of his aunt's position, will do anything to stop Pen--and she has already captured Pen's parents and forced them to reveal their son's whereabouts. Sen Dunsidan, the monstrous Prime Minister of the Federation, has armed his greatest airship with a horrible new weapon. And Pen is just a boy, accompanied on his dangerous quest by only a Dwarf, a young Elf, and a blind Rover girl. Filled with action, treachery, and sacrifice, Tanequil will enthrall Terry Brooks's millions of fans as it roars to a shocking conclusion. However, newcomers to the Shannara series should not begin with Tanequil. It's the middle book of the High Druid of Shannara trilogy, and the thirteenth novel of a complicated high-fantasy series with numerous characters and sentient races. Newcomers should start with Jarka Ruus, the first book of the High Druid trilogy--or, better yet, with The Sword of Shannara, the first book of the series. --Cynthia Ward


text:
SUMMARY: John Ross, the tortured, conflicted Knight of the Word from Terry Brooks's Running with the Demon, finally gets a good night's sleep in the sequel. He buys this moment's peace at the cost of his sacred oath to be a champion of the Word, renouncing that pledge after failing to prevent the slaughter of a group of schoolchildren. Duty and destiny are difficult to elude, though, and soon his former charge Nest Freemark, now a college student and Olympic hopeful, arrives to warn him of his imminent destruction, or, worse, his unwitting fall into the service of the Void. The story winds lazily through sleepy, wet Seattle like a tour bus, steadily building. Everything eventually converges on the homeless shelter where John works with his new sweetie Stefanie Winslow for über-activist Simon Lawrence, a man his dreams tell him he is fated to kill. A thin mystery clouds the identity of the demon conspiring to deliver John unto evil, but the book's real focus is John's fitful, foot-dragging attempts to fulfill his destiny. Knight doesn't provide the suspenseful energy of Running, a book that followed Nest through the dramatic loss of her childhood, but it rejoins her as she assumes the responsibilities of young adulthood and--like that period in life--still manages to deliver satisfying, if more subtle, rewards. --Paul Hughes


text:
SUMMARY:
With Jarka Ruus Terry Brooks embarks on yet another journey with the legendary Ohmsford family. Beginning 20 years after the conclusion of the The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, the High Druid of Paranor Grianne Ohmsford finds herself struggling to unite the druids amid political morass risen from her prior history as the dreaded Ilse Witch. Her enemies' schemes come to fruition quickly and she is banished behind the wall of the Forbidding, the anti-demon security feature that collapsed so spectacularly in the magnificent Elfstones of Shannara. Her fate falls in the lap of the youngest Ohmsford, Penderrin, who unlike his Aunt Grianne and his parents is without the gift of magic. Pen along with Khyber and her uncle, the Elven Prince Ahren Elessedil, learn they must jump through the usual Brooks' hoops to unlock the door of the Forbidding and free Grianne. Brooks is right at home in this formulaic addition to the Shannara franchise. All the furniture is here: the Druid Keep of Paranor, dark creatures in pursuit of reluctant young heroes and, of course, the Elfstones. The good news is that Brooks remains a master of description and the book hums along with comfortable ease. Devout Shannara fans will find their favorite magical realm exactly as they left it and no doubt anticipate this cliffhanger's sequel. --Jeremy Pugh


text:
SUMMARY:
With his groundbreaking New York Times bestseller The Sword of Shannara and its acclaimed sequels, Terry Brooks brought a new audience to epic fantasy. Then he gave the genre a darkly compelling contemporary twist in his trilogy of the Word and the Void. Last year, in Armageddon’s Children, Brooks undertook the stunning chronicle that united two unique worlds. Now that story of clashing forces of darkness and light, of Shannara’s beginnings and the human race’s possible end, marches forward into an unforgettable second volume full of mystery, magic, and momentous events.Across the ruined landscape that is America–hopelessly poisoned, plague-ridden, burned, and besieged by demon armies bent on exterminating all mortal life–two pilgrims have been summoned to serve the embattled cause of good. Logan Tom has journeyed to desolate Seattle to protect a ragged band of street urchins and the being known as “the gypsy morph,” who is both mortal and magical, and destined to save mankind unless he is destroyed. Likewise, Angel Perez has her own quest, one that will take her from the wreckage of Los Angeles to a distant, secret place untouched by the horrors of the nationwide blight–a place where the race of Elves has dwelled since before man existed. But close behind these lone Knights of the Word swarm the ravening forces of the Void. As the menacing thunder of war drums heralds the arrival of the demons and their brutal minions in Seattle, the young survivors who call themselves the Ghosts are forced to brave the dangerous world of gangs, mutants, and worse to escape the invasion. And Logan Tom must infiltrate a refugee compound to rescue Hawk, the leader of the street urchins, who has yet to learn the truth about who and what he is. Meanwhile, Angel Perez has joined an equally urgent mission: to find the Ellcrys, a fabled talisman crucial to protecting the Elven realm against an influx of unspeakable evil from the dread dimension known as the Forbidding. But Angel and her Elf allies must beware–for a demon spy, with a monstrous creature at its command, walks among them.As the legions of darkness draw the noose tighter, and the time of confrontation draws near, those chosen to defend the soul of the world must draw their battle lines and prepare to fight with, and for, their lives. If they fail, humanity falls.From the Hardcover edition.


text:
SUMMARY:
Although some of the goals to keep Shannara safe had been met, the work of Walker Boh, Wren, and Par was not yet done. For The Shadowmen still swarmed over the Four Lands, poisoning all with their dark magic. Each Shannaran had a special death waiting for him- at the hands of The Shadowmen-unless Par could find a way to free them all with the Sword of Shannara.


text:
SUMMARY: As the crew aboard the airship Jerle Shannara is attacked by evil forces, the Druid’s protégé Bek Rowe and his companions are pursued by the mysterious Ilse Witch. Meanwhile, Boh is alone, caught in a dark maze beneath the ruined city of Castledown, stalked by a hungry, unseen enemy. For there is something alive in Castledown. Something not human. Something old beyond reckoning that covets the magic of Druids, elves, even the Ilse Witch. Something that hunts men for its own designs: Antrax.


text:
SUMMARY:
It has been 130 years since the events of the Heritage of Shannara series, and the Free-born and the Federation are still at war. The story follows a quest organized by Walker Boh, the last surviving Druid. Thirty years ago, the Elven prince Kael Elessedil led an expedition in search of a legendary magic which was said to be the most ancient and powerful in the world.

Thirty years later, Kael is found floating in the sea of the Blue Divide; a map is found with him, covered with mysterious symbols. Walker is the only man who can read them.

But there is another: the Ilse Witch, a beautiful but twisted young woman who is as practiced in magic as Walker himself. She will stop at nothing to possess the map and the magic it leads to. To stop her, Walker must find the magic first.

Thus begins the voyage of the sleek, swift airship, the Jerle Shannara. The company chosen by Walker must fly into the face of unknown terrors while the Ilse Witch and her dark allies pursue.


text:
SUMMARY: THE SWORD OF SHANNARALong ago, the wars of the ancient Evil had ruined the world and forced mankind to compete with many other races--gnomes, trolls, dwarfs, and elves. But in peaceful Shady Vale, half-elfin Shea Ohmsford knew little of such troubles.Then came the giant, forbidding Allanon, possessed of strange Druidic powers, to reveal that the supposedly dead Warlock Lord was plotting to destroy the world. The sole weapon against this Power of Darkness was the Sword of Shannara, which could be used only by a true heir of Shannara. On Shea, last of the bloodline, rested the hope of all the races.Soon a Skull Bearer, dread minion of Evil, flew into the Vale, seeking to destroy Shea. To save the Vale, Shea fled, drawing the Skull Bearer after him . . .THUS BEGAN THE SEEMINGLY HOPELESS QUEST OF A SIMPLE MAN AGAINST THE GREATEST POWER OF EVIL THE WORLD HAD EVER KNOWN.


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SUMMARY:
Ancient Evil threatens the Elves: The ancient tree created by long-lost Elven magic, is dying. When Wil Ohmsford is summoned to guard the Amberle on a perilous quest to gather a new seed for a new tree, he is faced with the Reaper, the most fearsome of all Demons. And Wil is without power to control them....


text:
SUMMARY: Although some of the goals to keep Shannara safe had been met, the work of Walker Boh, Wren, and Par was not yet done. For The Shadowmen still swarmed over the Four Lands, poisoning all with their dark magic. Each Shannaran had a special death waiting for him- at the hands of The Shadowmen-unless Par could find a way to free them all with the Sword of Shannara.


text:
SUMMARY:
War threatens the Four Lands, and Shannara's only hope lies in Penderrin Ohmsford, but it's a dreadfully slim hope. To save his world, Pen must restore his aunt, the former Ilse Witch, to her rightful position as High Druid of Shannara. But first Pen must free his aunt Grianne from the Forbidding: the world of the demons. To have the slightest chance of freeing her, he must find the mystical tree called the Tanequil, and somehow craft a talisman from its wood. But Shadea a'Ru, the treacherous usurper of his aunt's position, will do anything to stop Pen--and she has already captured Pen's parents and forced them to reveal their son's whereabouts. Sen Dunsidan, the monstrous Prime Minister of the Federation, has armed his greatest airship with a horrible new weapon. And Pen is just a boy, accompanied on his dangerous quest by only a Dwarf, a young Elf, and a blind Rover girl. Filled with action, treachery, and sacrifice, Tanequil will enthrall Terry Brooks's millions of fans as it roars to a shocking conclusion. However, newcomers to the Shannara series should not begin with Tanequil. It's the middle book of the High Druid of Shannara trilogy, and the thirteenth novel of a complicated high-fantasy series with numerous characters and sentient races. Newcomers should start with Jarka Ruus, the first book of the High Druid trilogy--or, better yet, with The Sword of Shannara, the first book of the series. --Cynthia Ward


text:
SUMMARY: With Jarka Ruus Terry Brooks embarks on yet another journey with the legendary Ohmsford family. Beginning 20 years after the conclusion of the The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, the High Druid of Paranor Grianne Ohmsford finds herself struggling to unite the druids amid political morass risen from her prior history as the dreaded Ilse Witch. Her enemies' schemes come to fruition quickly and she is banished behind the wall of the Forbidding, the anti-demon security feature that collapsed so spectacularly in the magnificent Elfstones of Shannara. Her fate falls in the lap of the youngest Ohmsford, Penderrin, who unlike his Aunt Grianne and his parents is without the gift of magic. Pen along with Khyber and her uncle, the Elven Prince Ahren Elessedil, learn they must jump through the usual Brooks' hoops to unlock the door of the Forbidding and free Grianne. Brooks is right at home in this formulaic addition to the Shannara franchise. All the furniture is here: the Druid Keep of Paranor, dark creatures in pursuit of reluctant young heroes and, of course, the Elfstones. The good news is that Brooks remains a master of description and the book hums along with comfortable ease. Devout Shannara fans will find their favorite magical realm exactly as they left it and no doubt anticipate this cliffhanger's sequel. --Jeremy Pugh


text:
SUMMARY: Ancient Evil threatens the Elves: The ancient tree created by long-lost Elven magic, is dying. When Wil Ohmsford is summoned to guard the Amberle on a perilous quest to gather a new seed for a new tree, he is faced with the Reaper, the most fearsome of all Demons. And Wil is without power to control them....


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SUMMARY: Armageddon's Children is the first novel in Terry Brooks' fantasy trilogy entitled The Genesis of Shannara, which bridges the events of Brooks' Word/Void trilogy with his Shannara series. It takes place in an apocalyptic world around the year 2100 (about eighty years after the novel Angel Fire East) and details the events during the Great Wars, a historical conflict referenced frequently in the Shannara books. It is followed by the novel The Elves of Cintra.


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SUMMARY: Horrified by the misuse of magic they had witnessed during the First War of the Races, the Druids at Paranor devoted themselves to the study of the old sciences, from the period before the collapse of civilization a thousand years before. Only the Bremen and a few trusted associates still studied the arcane arts. And for his persistence, Bremen found himself outcast, avoided by all but the few free-thinkers among the Druids.But his removal from Paranor was not altogether a terrible thing, for Bremen learned that dark forces were on the move from the Northlands. That seemingly invincible armies of trolls were fast conquering all that lay to their south. That the scouts for the army--and its principal assassins--were Skull Bearers, disfigured and transformed Druids who had fallen prey to the seductions of the magic arts. And that at the heart of the evil tide was an archmage and former Druid named Brona!Using the special skills he had acquired through his own study of Magic, Bremen was able to penetrate the huge camp of the Troll army and learn many of its secrets. And he immediately understood that if the peoples of the Four Lands were to escape eternal subjugation they would need to unite. But, even united, they would need a weapon, something so powerful that the evil magic of Brona, the Warlock Lord, would fail before its might...


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SUMMARY: Eighty years into the future, the United States is a no-man’s-land: its landscape blighted by chemical warfare, pollution, and plague; its government collapsed; its citizens adrift, desperate, fighting to stay alive. In fortified compounds, survivors hold the line against wandering predators, rogue militias, and hideous mutations spawned from the toxic environment, while against them all stands an enemy neither mortal nor merciful: demons and their minions bent on slaughtering and subjugating the last of humankind. But from around the country, allies of good unite to challenge the rampaging evil. Logan Tom, wielding the magic staff of a Knight of the Word, has a promise to keep – protecting the world’s only hope of salvation – and a score to settle with the demon that massacred his family. Angel Perez, Logan’s fellow Knight, has risked her life to aid the elvish race, whose peaceful, hidden realm is marked for extermination by the forces of the Void. Kirisin Belloruus, a young elf entrusted with an ancient magic, must deliver his entire civilization from a monstrous army. And Hawk, the rootless boy who is nothing less than destiny’s instrument, must lead the last of humanity to a latter-day promised land before the final darkness falls.


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SUMMARY: When an eccentric professor acquires an ancient book, a riddle on a spare piece of parchment tucked neatly within its pages leads him and his nephew on an unparalleled adventure. The unlocked riddle brings them to a remote mountain on Iceland, where they enter an extinct volcano on a daring quest to reach the center of the earth. They soon find themselves at a giant underground ocean where the laws of science are constantly redefined and prehistoric creatures are in abundance. But in the bowels of the earth, a shocking discovery pits the travellers face to face with their own terrifying past. Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth has been read by millions of inquisitive minds and has influenced some of the worlds most famous explorers such as Admiral Byrd, who announced on his 1926 expedition to the North Pole that "it is Jules Verne who is bringing me." And renowned cave explorer Norbert Casteret said in 1938 that A Journey to the Center of the Earth was a "marvelous book which impressed and fascinated me more than any other. I have re-read it many times, and I confess I sometimes re-read it still, each time finding anew the joys and enthusiasm of my childhood."


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><em>Red Mars</em> opens with a tragic murder, an event that becomes the focal point for the surviving characters and the turning point in a long intrigue that pits idealistic Mars colonists against a desperately overpopulated Earth, radical political groups of all stripes against each other, and the interests of transnational corporations against the dreams of the pioneers.</p><p>This is a vast book: a chronicle of the exploration of Mars with some of the most engaging, vivid, and <em>human</em> characters in recent science fiction. Robinson fantasizes brilliantly about the science of terraforming a hostile world, analyzes the socio-economic forces that propel and attempt to control real interplanetary colonization, and imagines the diverse reactions that humanity would have to the dead, red planet. </p><p><em>Red Mars</em> is so magnificent a story, you will want to move on to __ and <strong>, or 1998's </strong>. <em>--L. Blunt Jackson</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The first installment in Robinson's ( Blind Geometer ) new trilogy is an action-packed and thoughtful tale of the exploration and settlement of Mars--riven by both personal and ideological conflicts--in the early 21st century. The official leaders of the "first hundred" (initial party of settlers) are American Frank Chalmers and Russian Maya Katarina Toitova, but subgroups break out under the informal guidance of popular favorites like the ebullient Arkady Nikoleyevich Bogdanov, who sets up a base on one of Mars's moons, and the enigmatic Hiroko, who establishes the planet's farm. As the group struggles to secure a foothold on the frigid, barren landscape, friction develops both on Mars and on Earth between those who advocate terraforming, or immediately altering Mars's natural environment to make it more habitable, and those who favor more study of the planet before changes are introduced. The success of the pioneers' venture brings additional settlers to Mars. All too soon, the first hundred find themselves outnumbered by newcomers and caught up in political problems as complex as any found on Earth. <br>Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Red Mars, the kickoff to Robinson's epic Mars trilogy, won the Nebula for best SF novel of 1992; its follow-up, Green Mars, won the parallel Hugo for 1994. The conclusion to the saga is not unlike the terrain of Robinson's Red Planet: fertile and fully developed in some spots, vast and arid in others?but, ultimately, it's an impressive achievement. Using the last 200 years of American history as his template for Martian history, Robinson projects his tale of Mars's colonization from the 21st century, in which settlers successfully revolt against Earth, into the next century, when various interests on Mars work out their differences on issues ranging from government to the terraforming of the planet and immigration. Sax Russell, Maya Toitovna and others reprise their roles from the first two novels, but the dominant "personality" is the planet itself, which Robinson describes in exhaustive naturalistic detail. Characters look repeatedly for sermons in its stones and are nearly overwhelmed by textbook abstracts on the biological and geological minutiae of their environment. Not until the closing chapters, when they begin confronting their mortality, does the human dimension of the story balance out its awesome ecological extrapolations. Robinson's achievement here is on a par with Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles and Herbert's Dune, even if his clinical detachment may leave some readers wondering whether there really is life on Mars. Author tour. <br>Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>This third book in Robinson's hard-science Mars trilogy follows 1992 Nebula winner Red Mars (LJ 11/15/92) and 1994 Hugo winner Green Mars (LJ 3/15/94). In the 21st century, colonists almost succeed in terraforming Mars. While they fight for independence from Earth and attempt to avert a civil war, they find their new civilization threatened by an ice age. A well-written, thoughtful conclusion to the trilogy. Highly recommended for sf collections.<br>Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Kim Stanley Robinson has earned a reputation as the master of Mars fiction, writing books that are scientific, sociological and, best yet, fantastic. <strong>Green Mars</strong> continues the story of humans settling the planet in a process called "terraforming." In <strong>Green Mars</strong>, which won the 1994 </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The sequel to Red Mars details an early 22nd-century Mars controlled by Earth's metanationals, gigantic corporations intent on exploiting Mars. Debate among the settlers--some native-born, some the surviving members of the First Hundred--is divided between the minimalist areoformists, who have come to love Mars in all its harshness, and the terraformists, who want to replicate Earth. As the surface of Mars warms and is seeded with genetically altered plants, the settlers await Earth's self-destruction, which they hope will give them a chance to claim their independence. They travel endlessly over every inch of Mars--no mean feat, since most of the First Hundred are criminals wanted for their roles in the failed revolt of 2061--with each kilometer and each group of settlers they meet described in laborious detail. When they're not traveling, these colonists contemplate the history of which they have been a part and which they can only partially recall as a result of their longevity treatments. With the collapse of Earth society and internecine battles among the metanationals, the Martian settlers liberate their cities and declare their planet free. This wide-ranging novel is loaded with all manner of scientific and historical detail, but the story bogs down under its very breadth and seems almost like a Martian year--twice as long as it needs to be. The next and final volume in the trilogy will be Blue Mars . <br>Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p></div>


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<div><p class="description">E-book extras: "Stephensonia/Cryptonomica": ONE: "Cryptonomicon Cypher-FAQ" (Neal addresses "Frequently Anticipated Questions" and other fascinating facts); TWO: "Mother Earth Motherboard" (Neal's landmark nonfiction account of, among other techno-feats, the laying of the longest telecommunications cable on earth); THREE: "Press Conference": Neal answers "Why write about crypto?" and other penetrating questions.</p><p class="description">The smash New York Times bestseller and cult classic is at last a special-features-loaded e-book. Dashing between World War II and the present day, Cryptonomicon is an epic adventure of codemakers and codebreakers; soldiers, hackers, spies, pirates, lovers, prisoners; power, secrets, conspiracies, great escapes — and a buried fortune in gold.</p></div>


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The final book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which includes Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, That Hideous Strength concludes the adventures of the matchless Dr. Ransom. The dark forces that were repulsed in Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra are massed for an assault on the planet Earth itself. Word is on the wind that the mighty wizard Merlin has come back to the land of the living after many centuries, holding the key to ultimate power for that force which can find him and bend him to its will. A sinister technocratic organization is gaining power throughout Europe with a plan to "recondition" society, and it is up to Ransom and his friends to squelch this threat by applying age-old wisdom to a new universe dominated by science. The two groups struggle to a climactic resolution that brings the Space Trilogy to a magnificent, crashing close.


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SUMMARY: The final book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which includes Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, That Hideous Strength concludes the adventures of the matchless Dr. Ransom. The dark forces that were repulsed in Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra are massed for an assault on the planet Earth itself. Word is on the wind that the mighty wizard Merlin has come back to the land of the living after many centuries, holding the key to ultimate power for that force which can find him and bend him to its will. A sinister technocratic organization is gaining power throughout Europe with a plan to "recondition" society, and it is up to Ransom and his friends to squelch this threat by applying age-old wisdom to a new universe dominated by science. The two groups struggle to a climactic resolution that brings the Space Trilogy to a magnificent, crashing close.


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The second book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which also includes Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength, Perelandra continues the adventures of the extraordinary Dr. Ransom. Pitted against the most destructive of human weaknesses, temptation, the great man must battle evil on a new planet -- Perelandra -- when it is invaded by a dark force. Will Perelandra succumb to this malevolent being, who strives to create a new world order and who must destroy an old and beautiful civilization to do so? Or will it throw off the yoke of corruption and achieve a spiritual perfection as yet unknown to man? The outcome of Dr. Ransom's mighty struggle alone will determine the fate of this peace-loving planet.


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SUMMARY: The first book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which continues with Perelandra and That Hideous Strength, Out of the Silent Planet begins the adventures of the remarkable Dr. Ransom. Here, that estimable man is abducted by a megalomaniacal physicist and his accomplice and taken via spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra. The two men are in need of a human sacrifice, and Dr. Ransom would seem to fit the bill. Once on the planet, however, Ransom eludes his captors, risking his life and his chances of returning to Earth, becoming a stranger in a land that is enchanting in its difference from Earth and instructive in its similarity. First published in 1943, Out of the Silent Planet remains a mysterious and suspenseful tour de force.


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SUMMARY: The second book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which also includes Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength, Perelandra continues the adventures of the extraordinary Dr. Ransom. Pitted against the most destructive of human weaknesses, temptation, the great man must battle evil on a new planet -- Perelandra -- when it is invaded by a dark force. Will Perelandra succumb to this malevolent being, who strives to create a new world order and who must destroy an old and beautiful civilization to do so? Or will it throw off the yoke of corruption and achieve a spiritual perfection as yet unknown to man? The outcome of Dr. Ransom's mighty struggle alone will determine the fate of this peace-loving planet.


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SUMMARY:
The first book in C. S. Lewis's acclaimed Space Trilogy, which continues with Perelandra and That Hideous Strength, Out of the Silent Planet begins the adventures of the remarkable Dr. Ransom. Here, that estimable man is abducted by a megalomaniacal physicist and his accomplice and taken via spaceship to the red planet of Malacandra. The two men are in need of a human sacrifice, and Dr. Ransom would seem to fit the bill. Once on the planet, however, Ransom eludes his captors, risking his life and his chances of returning to Earth, becoming a stranger in a land that is enchanting in its difference from Earth and instructive in its similarity. First published in 1943, Out of the Silent Planet remains a mysterious and suspenseful tour de force.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Cat's Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut's satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat's Cradle is one of the twentieth century's most important works--and Vonnegut at his very best. "From the Trade Paperback edition."</p>


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SUMMARY: Cat's Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut's satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat's Cradle is one of the twentieth century's most important works--and Vonnegut at his very best. "From the Trade Paperback edition."


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>From an extraordinary new voice in fantasy comes the stunning conclusion to the Farseer trilogy, as FitzChivalry confronts his destiny as the catalyst who holds the fate of the kingdom of the Six Duchies...and the world itself.King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz--or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest--perhaps to death. Only Verity's return--or the heir his princess carries--can save the Six Duchies.But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him--currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was....</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>the illegitimate son of the noble Prince Chivalry, is ignored by all royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has had him tutored him in the dark arts of the assassin. He has barely survived his first, soul-shattering mission, and returns to the court where he is thrown headfirst into the tumult of royal life. With the King near death, and Fitz's only ally off on a seemingly hopeless quest, the throne itself is threatened. Meanwhile, the treacherous Red Ship Raiders have renewed their attacks on the Six Duchies, slaughtering the inhabitants of entire seaside towns. In this time of great peril, it soon becomes clear that the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz's hands--and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.</p>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p> <p class="description">Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated like an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him sectetly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill--and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.</p></div>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p> <p class="description">Young Fitz, the illegitimate son of the noble Prince Chivalry, is ignored by all royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has had him tutored him in the dark arts of the assassin. He has barely survived his first, soul-shattering mission, and returns to the court where he is thrown headfirst into the tumult of royal life. With the King near death, and Fitz's only ally off on a seemingly hopeless quest, the throne itself is threatened. Meanwhile, the treacherous Red Ship Raiders have renewed their attacks on the Six Duchies, slaughtering the inhabitants of entire seaside towns. In this time of great peril, it soon becomes clear that the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz's hands--and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.</p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Last Unicorn is a fantasy novel written by Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968. It has sold more than five million copies worldwide since its original publication, and has been translated into at least twenty languages. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Characters | Conception and creation | Film, TV or theatrical adaptations | Sequels and related works | Publication history</p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Since it was first published in 1968, Beagle's beloved fantasy novel has been made into a stage play and a film—and now this gorgeous, emotive graphic novel adaptation. Set in a fully realized but slightly tongue-in-cheek fantasy world that has inspired everything from The Princess Bride to Stardust, Beagle's story is a romantic fable about a regal unicorn who leaves the forest she has protected since time immemorial to find more of her kin. After a short spell of imprisonment by a witch's traveling circus, she journeys onward with an accident-prone magician, hoping to find the answer to her quest in the land of a coldhearted king and a monstrously fearsome red bull. Along the way, the unicorn and her good-hearted but hapless companion have many encounters, including one with a Robin Hood–esque group of bandits who seem dropped in from a Monty Python skit. Beagle's sumptuously descriptive writing, adapted ably by Gillis, casts a spell throughout, while De Liz's glowing, painterly artwork meshes perfectly with the haunting otherworldly beauty of the story. (Feb.) <br>(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Last Unicorn is a fantasy novel written by Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968. It has sold more than five million copies worldwide since its original publication, and has been translated into at least twenty languages. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Characters | Conception and creation | Film, TV or theatrical adaptations | Sequels and related works | Publication history</p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Since it was first published in 1968, Beagle's beloved fantasy novel has been made into a stage play and a film—and now this gorgeous, emotive graphic novel adaptation. Set in a fully realized but slightly tongue-in-cheek fantasy world that has inspired everything from The Princess Bride to Stardust, Beagle's story is a romantic fable about a regal unicorn who leaves the forest she has protected since time immemorial to find more of her kin. After a short spell of imprisonment by a witch's traveling circus, she journeys onward with an accident-prone magician, hoping to find the answer to her quest in the land of a coldhearted king and a monstrously fearsome red bull. Along the way, the unicorn and her good-hearted but hapless companion have many encounters, including one with a Robin Hood–esque group of bandits who seem dropped in from a Monty Python skit. Beagle's sumptuously descriptive writing, adapted ably by Gillis, casts a spell throughout, while De Liz's glowing, painterly artwork meshes perfectly with the haunting otherworldly beauty of the story. (Feb.) <br>(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>First published in 1972, Richard Adam's extraordinary bestseller Watership Down takes us to a world we have never truly seen:  to the remarkable life that teems in the fields, forests, and riverbanks, far beyond our cities and towns.  It is a powerful saga of courage, leadership, and survival; and epic tale of a hardy band of Berkshire rabbits forced to flee the destruction of their fragile community and their trials and triumphs in the face of extraordinary adversity as they pursue a glorious dream called "home"</p>
<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><em>Watership Down</em> has been a staple of high-school English classes for years. Despite the fact that it's often a hard sell at first (what teenager wouldn't cringe at the thought of 400-plus pages of talking rabbits?), Richard Adams's bunny-centric epic rarely fails to win the love and respect of anyone who reads it, regardless of age. Like most great novels, <em>Watership Down</em> is a rich story that can be read (and reread) on many different levels. The book is often praised as an allegory, with its analogs between human and rabbit culture (a fact sometimes used to goad skeptical teens, who resent the challenge that they won't "get" it, into reading it), but it's equally praiseworthy as just a corking good adventure.</p><p>The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, <em>Watership Down</em> will continue to make the transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come. <em>--Paul Hughes</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>"Quite Marvelous...A Powerful New Vision of the Great Chain of Being." -- <em>--</em><em>The New York Times Book Review</em>  </p><p>"Spellbinding...Marvelous...A Taut Tale of Suspense, Hot Pursuit, and Derring-Do." -- <em>--</em><em>Chicago Tribune</em>  </p><p>"Spellbinding...Marvelous...A taut tale of suspense, hot pursuit, and derring-do." -- <em>--Chicago Tribune</em></p>

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<div><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>In a startling departure from her previous novels ( Lady Oracle , Surfacing ), respected Canadian poet and novelist Atwood presents here a fable of the near future. In the Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States, far-right Schlafly/Falwell-type ideals have been carried to extremes in the monotheocratic government. The resulting society is a feminist's nightmare: women are strictly controlled, unable to have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste, childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the "morally fit" Wives. The tale is told by Offred (read: "of Fred"), a Handmaid who recalls the past and tells how the chilling society came to be. This powerful, memorable novel is highly recommended for most libraries. BOMC featured alternate. Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.<br>Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>"The most poetically satisfying and intense of all Atwood's novels."-_Maclean's_ </p><p>"The Handmaid's Tale is in the honorable tradition of <em>Brave New World</em> and other warnings of dystopia. It's imaginative even audacious, and conveys a chilling sense of fear and menace."-_The Globe and Mail_ </p><p>"_The Handmaid's Tale_ brings out the very best in Atwood--moral vision, biting humor, and a poet's imagination."-_Chatelaine_ </p><p><em>From the Paperback edition.</em></p> </div>


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SUMMARY: Arch-swindler Moist Van Lipwig never believed his confidence crimes were hanging offenses - until he found himself with a noose tightly around his neck, dropping through a trapdoor, and falling into ... a government job? By all rights, Moist should have met his maker. Instead, it's Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork, who promptly offers him a job as Postmaster. Since his only other option is a nonliving one, Moist accepts the position - and the hulking golem watchdog who comes along with it, just in case Moist was considering abandoning his responsibilities prematurely. Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may be a near-impossible task, what with literally mountains of decades-old undelivered mail clogging every nook and cranny of the broken-down post office building; and with only a few creaky old postmen and one rather unstable, pin-obsessed youth available to deliver it. Worse still, Moist could swear the mail is talking to him. Worst of all, it means taking on the gargantuan, money-hungry Grand Trunk clacks communication monopoly and its bloodthirsty piratical head, Mr. Reacher Gilt. But it says on the building neither rain nor snow nor glo m of ni t ... Inspiring words (admittedly, some of the bronze letters have been stolen), and for once in his wretched life Moist is going to fight. And if the bold and impossible are what's called for, he'll do it - in order to move the mail, continue breathing, get the girl, and specially deliver that invaluable commodity that every human being (not to mention troll, dwarf, and, yes, even golem) requires - hope.


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Suddenly, condemned arch-swindler Moist von Lipwig found himself with a noose around his neck and dropping through a trapdoor into ... a government job? By all rights, Moist should be meeting his maker rather than being offered a position as Postmaster by Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork. Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may prove an impossible task, what with literally mountains of decades-old undelivered mail clogging every nook and cranny of the broken-down post office. Worse still, Moist could swear the mail is talking to him. Worst of all, it means taking on the gargantuan, greedy Grand Trunk clacks communication monopoly and its bloodthirsty piratical headman. But if the bold and undoable are what's called for, Moist's the man for the job -- to move the mail, continue breathing, get the girl, and specially deliver that invaluable commodity that every being, human or otherwise, requires: hope.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>With Earth embroiled in a vast interplanetary war with the "Bugs," a young recruit in the Federal Reserves relates his experiences training in boot camp and as a junior officer in the Terran Mobile Infantry.</p>


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I Master of the House of Chains “It was in my hair, Severian,” Dorcas said. “So I stood under the waterfall in the hot stone room—I don’t know if the men’s side is arranged in the same way. And every time I stepped out, I could hear them talking about me. They called you the black butcher, and other things I don’t want to tell you about.”“That’s natural enough,” I said. “You were probably the first stranger to enter the place in a month, so it’s only to be expected that they would chatter about you, and that the few women who knew who you were would be proud of it and perhaps tell some tales. As for me, I’m used to it, and you must have heard such expressions on the way here many times; I know I did.”“Yes,” she admitted, and sat down on the sill of the embrasure. In the city below, the lamps of the swarming shops were beginning to fill the valley of the Acis with a yellow radiance like the petals of a jonquil, but she did not seem to see them.“Now you understand why the regulations of the guild forbid me from taking a wife—although I will break them for you, as I have told you many times, whenever you want me to.”“You mean that it would be better for me to live somewhere else, and only come to see you once or twice a week, or wait till you came to see me.”“That’s the way it’s usually done. And eventually the women who talked about us today will realize that sometime they, or their sons or husbands, may find themselves beneath my hand.”“But don’t you see, this is all beside the point. The thing is…” Here Dorcas fell silent, and then, when neither of us had spoken for some time, she rose and began to pace the room, one arm clasping the other. It was something I had never seen her do before, and I found it disturbing.“What is the point, then?” I asked.“That it wasn’t true then. That it is now.”“I practiced the Art whenever there was work to be had. Hired myself out to towns and country justices. Several times you watched me from a window, though you never liked to stand in the crowd—for which I hardly blame you.”“I didn’t watch,” she said.“I recall seeing you.”“I didn’t. Not when it was actually going on. You were intent on what you were doing, and didn’t see me when I went inside or covered my eyes. I used to watch, and wave to you, when you first vaulted onto the scaffold. You were so proud then, and stood just as straight as your sword, and looked so fine. You were honest. I remember watching once when there was an official of some sort up there with you, and the condemned man and a hieromonach. And yours was the only honest face.”“You couldn’t possibly have seen it. I must surely have been wearing my mask.”“Severian, I didn’t have to see it. I know what you look like.”“Don’t I look the same now?”“Yes,” she said reluctantly. “But I have been down below. I’ve seen the people chained in the tunnels. When we sleep tonight, you and I in our soft bed, we will be sleeping on top of them. How many did you say there were when you took me down?”“About sixteen hundred. Do you honestly believe those sixteen hundred would be free if I were no longer present to guard them? They were here, remember, when we came.”Dorcas would not look at me. “It’s like a mass grave,” she said. I could see her shoulders shake.“It should be,” I told her. “The archon could release them, but who could resurrect those they’ve killed? You’ve never lost anyone, have you?”She did not reply.“Ask the wives and the mothers and the sisters of the men our prisoners have left rotting in the high country whether Abdiesus should let them go.”“Only myself,” Dorcas said, and blew out the candle.* * *Thrax is a crooked dagger entering the heart of the mountains. It lies in a narrow defile of the valley of the Acis, and extends up it to Acies Castle. The harena, the pantheon, and the other public buildings occupy all the level land between the castle and the wall (called the Capulus) that closes the lower end of the narrow section of the valley. The private buildings of the city climb the cliffs to either side, and many are in large measure dug into the rock itself, from which practice Thrax gains one of its sobriquets—the City of Windowless Rooms.Its prosperity it owes to its position at the head of the navigable part of the river. At Thrax, all goods shipped north on the Acis (many of which have traversed nine tenths of the length of Gyoll before entering the mouth of the smaller river, which may indeed be Gyoll’s true source) must be unloaded and carried on the backs of animals if they are to travel farther. Conversely, the hetmans of the mountain tribes and the landowners of the region who wish to ship their wool and corn to the southern towns bring them to take boat at Thrax, below the cataract that roars through the arched spillway of Acies Castle.As must always be the case when a stronghold imposes the rule of law over a turbulent region, the administration of justice was the chief concern of the archon of the city. To impose his will on those without the walls who might otherwise have opposed it, he could call upon seven squadrons of dimarchi, each under its own commander. Court convened each month, from the first appearance of the new moon to the full, beginning with the second morning watch and continuing as long as necessary to clear the day’s docket. As chief executor of the archon’s sentences, I was required to attend these sessions, so that he might be assured that the punishments he decreed should be made neither softer nor more severe by those who might otherwise have been charged with transmitting them to me; and to oversee the operation of the Vincula, in which the prisoners were detained, in all its details. It was a responsibility equivalent on a lesser scale to that of Master Gurloes in our Citadel, and during the first few weeks I spent in Thrax it weighed heavily upon me.It was a maxim of Master Gurloes’s that no prison is ideally situated. Like most of the wise tags put forward for the edification of young men, it was inarguable and unhelpful. All escapes fall into three categories—that is, they are achieved by stealth, by violence, or by the treachery of those set as guards. A remote place does most to render escapes by stealth difficult, and for that reason has been favored by the majority of those who have thought long upon the subject.Unfortunately, deserts, mountaintops, and lone isles offer the most fertile fields for violent escape—if they are besieged by the prisoners’ friends, it is difficult to learn of the fact before it is too late, and next to impossible to reinforce their garrisons; and similarly, if the prisoners rise in rebellion, it is highly unlikely that troops can be rushed to the spot before the issue is decided.A facility in a well-populated and well-defended district avoids these difficulties, but incurs even more severe ones. In such places a prisoner needs, not a thousand friends, but one or two; and these need not be fighting men—a scrubwoman and a street vendor will do, if they possess intelligence and resolution. Furthermore, once the prisoner has escaped the walls, he mingles immediately with the faceless mob, so that his reapprehension is not a matter for huntsmen and dogs but for agents and informers.In our own case, a detached prison in a remote location w


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SUMMARY: The Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as Gene Wolfe's most remarkable work, hailed as "a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis" by "Publishers Weekly," and "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century" by "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction." "Shadow & Claw "brings together the first two books of the tetralogy in one volume: "The Shadow of the Torturer" is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession -- showing mercy toward his victim. Ursula K. Le Guin said, "Magic stuff . . . a masterpiece . . . the best science fiction I've read in years!" "The Claw of the Conciliator "continues the saga of Severian, banished from his home, as he undertakes a mythic quest to discover the awesome power of an ancient relic, and learn the truth about his hidden destiny. "Arguably the finest piece of literature American science fiction has yet produced [is] the four-volume Book of the New Sun."--"Chicago Sun-Times" "The Book of the New Sun establishes his preeminence, pure and simple. . . . The Book of the New Sun contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within . . . once into it, there is no stopping.""--The New York Times Book Review" Gene Wolfe has been called "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced" by "The Washington Post." A former engineer, he has written numerous books and won a variety of awards for his SF writing. "The Book of the New Sun," a series of four novels, is unanimously acclaimed as Wolfe's most memorable work, hailed by "Publishers Weekly" as a "masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis"--and by "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" as "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century." "Shadow & Claw" collects the first two novels in this Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning tetralogy: "The Shadow of the Torturer" and "The Claw of the Conciliator." ""The Book of the New Sun" establishes [Wolfe's] pre-eminence, pure and simple . . . "The Book of the New Sun" contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness, and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within . . . Once into it, there is no stopping."--"The New York Times Book Review" "Arguably the best piece of literature American science fiction has yet produced."--"Chicago Sun-Times"


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SUMMARY: I Master of the House of Chains “It was in my hair, Severian,” Dorcas said. “So I stood under the waterfall in the hot stone room—I don’t know if the men’s side is arranged in the same way. And every time I stepped out, I could hear them talking about me. They called you the black butcher, and other things I don’t want to tell you about.”“That’s natural enough,” I said. “You were probably the first stranger to enter the place in a month, so it’s only to be expected that they would chatter about you, and that the few women who knew who you were would be proud of it and perhaps tell some tales. As for me, I’m used to it, and you must have heard such expressions on the way here many times; I know I did.”“Yes,” she admitted, and sat down on the sill of the embrasure. In the city below, the lamps of the swarming shops were beginning to fill the valley of the Acis with a yellow radiance like the petals of a jonquil, but she did not seem to see them.“Now you understand why the regulations of the guild forbid me from taking a wife—although I will break them for you, as I have told you many times, whenever you want me to.”“You mean that it would be better for me to live somewhere else, and only come to see you once or twice a week, or wait till you came to see me.”“That’s the way it’s usually done. And eventually the women who talked about us today will realize that sometime they, or their sons or husbands, may find themselves beneath my hand.”“But don’t you see, this is all beside the point. The thing is...” Here Dorcas fell silent, and then, when neither of us had spoken for some time, she rose and began to pace the room, one arm clasping the other. It was something I had never seen her do before, and I found it disturbing.“What is the point, then?” I asked.“That it wasn’t true then. That it is now.”“I practiced the Art whenever there was work to be had. Hired myself out to towns and country justices. Several times you watched me from a window, though you never liked to stand in the crowd—for which I hardly blame you.”“I didn’t watch,” she said.“I recall seeing you.”“I didn’t. Not when it was actually going on. You were intent on what you were doing, and didn’t see me when I went inside or covered my eyes. I used to watch, and wave to you, when you first vaulted onto the scaffold. You were so proud then, and stood just as straight as your sword, and looked so fine. You were honest. I remember watching once when there was an official of some sort up there with you, and the condemned man and a hieromonach. And yours was the only honest face.”“You couldn’t possibly have seen it. I must surely have been wearing my mask.”“Severian, I didn’t have to see it. I know what you look like.”“Don’t I look the same now?”“Yes,” she said reluctantly. “But I have been down below. I’ve seen the people chained in the tunnels. When we sleep tonight, you and I in our soft bed, we will be sleeping on top of them. How many did you say there were when you took me down?”“About sixteen hundred. Do you honestly believe those sixteen hundred would be free if I were no longer present to guard them? They were here, remember, when we came.”Dorcas would not look at me. “It’s like a mass grave,” she said. I could see her shoulders shake.“It should be,” I told her. “The archon could release them, but who could resurrect those they’ve killed? You’ve never lost anyone, have you?”She did not reply.“Ask the wives and the mothers and the sisters of the men our prisoners have left rotting in the high country whether Abdiesus should let them go.”“Only myself,” Dorcas said, and blew out the candle.* * *Thrax is a crooked dagger entering the heart of the mountains. It lies in a narrow defile of the valley of the Acis, and extends up it to Acies Castle. The harena, the pantheon, and the other public buildings occupy all the level land between the castle and the wall (called the Capulus) that closes the lower end of the narrow section of the valley. The private buildings of the city climb the cliffs to either side, and many are in large measure dug into the rock itself, from which practice Thrax gains one of its sobriquets—the City of Windowless Rooms.Its prosperity it owes to its position at the head of the navigable part of the river. At Thrax, all goods shipped north on the Acis (many of which have traversed nine tenths of the length of Gyoll before entering the mouth of the smaller river, which may indeed be Gyoll’s true source) must be unloaded and carried on the backs of animals if they are to travel farther. Conversely, the hetmans of the mountain tribes and the landowners of the region who wish to ship their wool and corn to the southern towns bring them to take boat at Thrax, below the cataract that roars through the arched spillway of Acies Castle.As must always be the case when a stronghold imposes the rule of law over a turbulent region, the administration of justice was the chief concern of the archon of the city. To impose his will on those without the walls who might otherwise have opposed it, he could call upon seven squadrons of dimarchi, each under its own commander. Court convened each month, from the first appearance of the new moon to the full, beginning with the second morning watch and continuing as long as necessary to clear the day’s docket. As chief executor of the archon’s sentences, I was required to attend these sessions, so that he might be assured that the punishments he decreed should be made neither softer nor more severe by those who might otherwise have been charged with transmitting them to me; and to oversee the operation of the Vincula, in which the prisoners were detained, in all its details. It was a responsibility equivalent on a lesser scale to that of Master Gurloes in our Citadel, and during the first few weeks I spent in Thrax it weighed heavily upon me.It was a maxim of Master Gurloes’s that no prison is ideally situated. Like most of the wise tags put forward for the edification of young men, it was inarguable and unhelpful. All escapes fall into three categories—that is, they are achieved by stealth, by violence, or by the treachery of those set as guards. A remote place does most to render escapes by stealth difficult, and for that reason has been favored by the majority of those who have thought long upon the subject.Unfortunately, deserts, mountaintops, and lone isles offer the most fertile fields for violent escape—if they are besieged by the prisoners’ friends, it is difficult to learn of the fact before it is too late, and next to impossible to reinforce their garrisons; and similarly, if the prisoners rise in rebellion, it is highly unlikely that troops can be rushed to the spot before the issue is decided.A facility in a well-populated and well-defended district avoids these difficulties, but incurs even more severe ones. In such places a prisoner needs, not a thousand friends, but one or two; and these need not be fighting men—a scrubwoman and a street vendor will do, if they possess intelligence and resolution. Furthermore, once the prisoner has escaped the walls, he mingles immediately with the faceless mob, so that his reapprehension is not a matter for huntsmen and dogs but for agents and informers.In our own case, a detached prison in a remote location w


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SUMMARY:
The Book of the New Sun is unanimously acclaimed as Gene Wolfe's most remarkable work, hailed as "a masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis" by "Publishers Weekly," and "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century" by "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction." "Shadow & Claw "brings together the first two books of the tetralogy in one volume: "The Shadow of the Torturer" is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession -- showing mercy toward his victim. Ursula K. Le Guin said, "Magic stuff . . . a masterpiece . . . the best science fiction I've read in years!" "The Claw of the Conciliator "continues the saga of Severian, banished from his home, as he undertakes a mythic quest to discover the awesome power of an ancient relic, and learn the truth about his hidden destiny. "Arguably the finest piece of literature American science fiction has yet produced [is] the four-volume Book of the New Sun."--"Chicago Sun-Times" "The Book of the New Sun establishes his preeminence, pure and simple. . . . The Book of the New Sun contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within . . . once into it, there is no stopping.""--The New York Times Book Review" Gene Wolfe has been called "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced" by "The Washington Post." A former engineer, he has written numerous books and won a variety of awards for his SF writing. "The Book of the New Sun," a series of four novels, is unanimously acclaimed as Wolfe's most memorable work, hailed by "Publishers Weekly" as a "masterpiece of science fantasy comparable in importance to the major works of Tolkien and Lewis"--and by "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" as "one of the most ambitious works of speculative fiction in the twentieth century." "Shadow & Claw" collects the first two novels in this Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning tetralogy: "The Shadow of the Torturer" and "The Claw of the Conciliator." ""The Book of the New Sun" establishes [Wolfe's] pre-eminence, pure and simple . . . "The Book of the New Sun" contains elements of Spenserian allegory, Swiftian satire, Dickensian social consciousness, and Wagnerian mythology. Wolfe creates a truly alien social order that the reader comes to experience from within . . . Once into it, there is no stopping."--"The New York Times Book Review" "Arguably the best piece of literature American science fiction has yet produced."--"Chicago Sun-Times"


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SUMMARY: Arthur Pendragon is King! Unchallenged on the battlefield, he melds the country together in a time of promise. But sinister powers plot to destroy Camelot, and when the witch-queen Morgause -- Arthur's own half sister -- ensnares him in an incestuous liaison, a fatal web of love, betrayal, and bloody vengeance is woven.


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<h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Last Enchantment is a 1979 fantasy novel by Mary Stewart. It is the third in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian legend, preceded by The Hollow Hills and succeeded by The Wicked Day. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary | Release details</p><h3>Review</h3><p>'An absorbing and haunting novel' -- Daily Mail 'A fascinating novel, a richly woven tapestry presented with a vividness that brings the characters from myth to real life' -- Evening Standard 'Mary Stewart, enchantress ... an ability to evoke a situation, a mood or a season with a few phrases of prose that are almost verse' -- Daily Telegraph 'A perfect trip out of the present.' -- New York Times Book Review </p>


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SUMMARY: Born the bastard son of a Welsh princess, Myridden Emrys -- or as he would later be known, Merlin -- leads a perilous childhood, haunted by portents and visions. But destiny has great plans for this no-man's-son, taking him from prophesying before the High King Vortigern to the crowning of Uther Pendragon . . . and the conception of Arthur -- king for once and always.


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SUMMARY: Keeping watch over the young Arthur Pendragon, the prince and prophet Merlin Ambrosius is haunted by dreams of the magical sword Caliburn, which has been hidden for centuries. When Uther Pendragon is killed in battle, the time of destiny is at hand, and Arthur must claim the fabled sword to become the true High King of Britain.


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<p>Mary Stewart tells the Arthurian legend in her own unique way, bringing to life one of the world's greatest legends and mysteries, shedding a fascinating new light on the turbulence and mystery of fifth-century Britain. An enthralling work, Ms. Stewart once again reveals those qualities of suspense and romantic adventure that have made her one of the world's most widely read novelists."A master storyteller."Best Sellers</p>


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<div><p>Having survived the blackest betrayal and a near assassination, Merle Corey, aka Merlin, discovers he is third in line to occupy the throne of Chaos. However, his ascension is aided by a series of conveniently fatal "accidents" engineered by Dana, his mother, and his uncle Mandor. But Merlin's trials are far from over. Deadly plots and dark enchantments await Merlin on the road to ultimate rule. Yet, he has determined to triumph and silence the murderous discord between Amber and Chaos...for the moment, at least. And at the end of his visionary quest lies an unsettling destiny: his father, Corwin, who was long believed to be dead, had been secretly imprisoned by a villain's magic. </p><h4>Annotation</h4><p>The final volume in Merlin's sequence of Amber novels--a dramatic conclusion filled with adventure, surprises and revelations by the award-winning author of Blood of Amber. Merle Corey, a.k.a. Merlin, is now third in line to occupy the throne of Chaos. But dark enchantments await him. For at the end of his quest lies an unsettling destiny. Reissue. </p></div>


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<p>Pursued by a fiendish enemy, Merle Corey, the vanished Prince of Amber, must battle an intricate web of vengence and murder that threatens the San Francisco Bay area and beyond. The forces seeking to destroy the Royal House have unleashed mad sorceries that can strike anywhere...even at the heart of Amber.</p>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Guns of Avalon is the second book in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. The book continues straight from the previous volume, Nine Princes in Amber, although it soon includes a recap. Corwin has escaped the dungeons of Amber, where he was imprisoned by his hated brother Eric, who has seized the throne. All of Corwin's siblings believe that guns can never be brought to the medieval world of Amber, as all gunpowders seem inert there. But Corwin has secret knowledge: in the shadow world of Avalon, where he once ruled, there exists a jeweler's rouge that will function as gunpowder in Amber. Corwin plans to raise a legion of shadow soldiers, and arm them with automatic rifles from the shadow world Earth. Corwin sets out through the endless worlds of shadow in search of Avalon, his one-time home. As Corwin nears Avalon, he passes through a land called Lorraine. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary | Cultural allusions | History | In other sources</p></div>


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<h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Trumps of Doom is the first book in the second Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny; and the sixth book overall. Whereas the first series was narrated by Corwin, this series is narrated by his son, Merlin. Trumps of Doom won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1986. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Cultural allusions</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Fighting off an unknown assailant every April 30th, California computer hacker Merle Corey discovers that he is actually Merlin, the son of the missing Prince Corwin of the royal house of Amber. Reissue. </p>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Guns of Avalon is the second book in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. The book continues straight from the previous volume, Nine Princes in Amber, although it soon includes a recap. Corwin has escaped the dungeons of Amber, where he was imprisoned by his hated brother Eric, who has seized the throne. All of Corwin's siblings believe that guns can never be brought to the medieval world of Amber, as all gunpowders seem inert there. But Corwin has secret knowledge: in the shadow world of Avalon, where he once ruled, there exists a jeweler's rouge that will function as gunpowder in Amber. Corwin plans to raise a legion of shadow soldiers, and arm them with automatic rifles from the shadow world Earth. Corwin sets out through the endless worlds of shadow in search of Avalon, his one-time home. As Corwin nears Avalon, he passes through a land called Lorraine. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary | Cultural allusions | History | In other sources</p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>This article is about the book by Roger Zelazny. See Knight of Shadows (disambiguation) for other meanings. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Depending on how you count, this is either the ninth book of Zelazny's Amber series, or the fourth book in the new Amber "trilogy." Fans of the soap opera that Amber has become will welcome this new title. Readers who enjoyed the poetic writing, skilled plotting and crafted characterizations of the original Amber books will be disappointed again. Merlin, son of Corwin, who was the hero of the original series, narrates this sequence, and here continued to bumble through encounters with new powers that are completely incompatible with the original mythos. The good guys won't talk to each other, the bad guys somehow know everything, plot elements are left hanging and characters lack depth and motivation. Most of the important action happens offstage, and promised explanations never materialize. <br>Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Hand of Oberon is the fourth book in The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny published in book form by Doubleday in 1976. It was first published in serial format in Galaxy Science Fiction. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary | Authorial appearance</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Returning to Shadow Earth to investigate a threat against his life, Corwin discovers that the Jewel of Judgment has been stolen by his traitorous brother, Brand, who plans to use the enigmatic gem to reshape the universe. Reissue. </p></div>


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<p>The epic story of the royal family of Amber enters an exciting new chapter as Merlin, son of Prince Corwin, pursues his noble destiny against a shifting panorama of shadow worlds and deadly intrigue, powerful computers, and magic gone out of control. A violent vendetta, renegade sorcery, and whirlwind adventure lead Merlin to a monumental confrontation at the Keep of the Four Worlds, where astonishing secrets and mysterious identities will at last be revealed. </p>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Courts of Chaos is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. It was first published in serial format in Galaxy Science Fiction. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Literary allusions</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Corwin finds his world dissolving around him when his father Oberon, disguised as Corwin's friend, steals the Jewel of Judgment so that he may defeat the evil Brand, in a conclusion to the first Amber series. Reissue. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Hand of Oberon is the fourth book in The Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny published in book form by Doubleday in 1976. It was first published in serial format in Galaxy Science Fiction. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary | Authorial appearance</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Returning to Shadow Earth to investigate a threat against his life, Corwin discovers that the Jewel of Judgment has been stolen by his traitorous brother, Brand, who plans to use the enigmatic gem to reshape the universe. Reissue. </p></div>


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<div><p>Amber, the one real world, wherein all others, including our own Earth, are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne. From Arden to the blood-slippery Stairway into the Sea, the air is electrified with the powers of Eric, Random, Bleys, Caine, and all the princes of Amber whom Corwin must overcome. Yet, his savage path is blocked and guarded by eerie structures beyond imagingimpossible realities forged by demonic assassins and staggering horrors to challenge the might of Corwin's superhuman fury. </p><h4>Annotation</h4><p>Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, Prince Corwan will try to return to his throne, but his path is blocked by things beyond his imaginings. 2 cassettes. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Courts of Chaos is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. It was first published in serial format in Galaxy Science Fiction. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Literary allusions</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Corwin finds his world dissolving around him when his father Oberon, disguised as Corwin's friend, steals the Jewel of Judgment so that he may defeat the evil Brand, in a conclusion to the first Amber series. Reissue. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Sign of the Unicorn is the third book in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. It was first published in serial format in Galaxy Science Fiction. Eric is dead, and Corwin now rules Amber as Regent — but someone has murdered Caine and framed Corwin. Random tells his part of the story. Corwin decides to find out what happened to Brand who is either missing or dead, and begins to find his obsession with the throne is a two-edged sword that may cost him his life, as it has his brothers'. Corwin returns to Castle Amber bearing the body of one of the spined, bloodshot-eyed humanoid creatures that had pursued Random to Flora's house on Earth—one that had moments earlier killed his brother, Caine. Fearing that he has been framed for Caine's murder, Corwin summons Random, who tells him the story how he came to be chased across shadow to end up in New York: Random had been enjoying life out in a shadow, Texorami, that he had Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Accepting the responsibilities as ruler to the world of Amber, Corwin finds himself the target of sibling treachery, and must seek guidance in a land of visions, where a sinister prediction foretells his doom. Reissue. </p></div>


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<h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Trumps of Doom is the first book in the second Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny; and the sixth book overall. Whereas the first series was narrated by Corwin, this series is narrated by his son, Merlin. Trumps of Doom won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1986. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Cultural allusions</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Fighting off an unknown assailant every April 30th, California computer hacker Merle Corey discovers that he is actually Merlin, the son of the missing Prince Corwin of the royal house of Amber. Reissue. </p>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Sign of the Unicorn is the third book in the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. It was first published in serial format in Galaxy Science Fiction. Eric is dead, and Corwin now rules Amber as Regent — but someone has murdered Caine and framed Corwin. Random tells his part of the story. Corwin decides to find out what happened to Brand who is either missing or dead, and begins to find his obsession with the throne is a two-edged sword that may cost him his life, as it has his brothers'. Corwin returns to Castle Amber bearing the body of one of the spined, bloodshot-eyed humanoid creatures that had pursued Random to Flora's house on Earth—one that had moments earlier killed his brother, Caine. Fearing that he has been framed for Caine's murder, Corwin summons Random, who tells him the story how he came to be chased across shadow to end up in New York: Random had been enjoying life out in a shadow, Texorami, that he had Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Accepting the responsibilities as ruler to the world of Amber, Corwin finds himself the target of sibling treachery, and must seek guidance in a land of visions, where a sinister prediction foretells his doom. Reissue. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>You can't lose for winning--especially, it would seem, if you're Joe Haldeman. Suffering the same fate as many an author who's dared to pen unconventional sequels to a ferociously loved book (in this case, <strong>), Haldeman has risked the ire of his many devoted admirers a second time (the first sequel was the award-spangled </strong>). But Haldeman's call--not too surprisingly--proves to be a deft one, giving us a book that, while significantly different from its predecessor, turns out to be equally captivating and sensitive, in many ways even more thought-provoking. (Sure, it doesn't match <em>The Forever War</em> for sheer impact, but then again, what does?)</p><p>As in <em>The Forever War</em>, the heart of this story is the dry, ironic bite of fighting-suit vet William Mandella, now middle-aged and a parent (along with his love and comrade-in-arms Marygay) to two teen-aged kids. The family leads a spartan life on the cold and desolate planet Middle Finger, which serves as a sort of genetic safe-deposit box for the current incarnation of humanity, an inhuman race of group-mind clones known as Man. But the animals in the zoo are getting restless, and a core group of vets led by William and Marygay plot an unusual escape: hijacking a reconditioned time ship and using it to take a 40,000 light-year tour (over 10 years of their own time) to rejoin the world they know only after 2,000 generations have passed. Much of the action involves the hatching and fruition of this plot, but Haldeman doesn't really mix things up until nearing the end, when he dissolves physics as we know it and calls down the wrath of God itself. <em>--Paul Hughes</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In this long-awaited sequel to The Forever War, Haldeman describes the postwar life of retired soldiers William and Marygay Mandella on the half-frozen planet Middle Finger, where they and other humans have been secluded by the newly evolved, superhuman race of Man. The long war with the Taurans is over and William and company are little more than relics, kept around to provide archaic genes should the Man ever wish to alter their own, cloned near-perfection. Dissatisfied with their stagnant lives, William and his fellow vets steal a starship. They plan to travel so far and fast that time dilation will allow them to return only a decade older but millennia in their world's future. Disaster strikes just days into their voyage, however, when their antimatter engines mysteriously malfunction in direct violation of the laws of physics. Returning home in escape craft, Mandella and his mates discover that everyone on the planet has disappeared, leaving only their clothes behind. Further, all communication with the outside universe has been cut off. Despite a slow start, Haldeman builds considerable tension with the mystery that confronts his human survivors of what appears to be the complete disappearance of not only humanity, but also of Man and the Taurans. Some truly weird events have occurred and Haldeman gives them a genuinely spooky feel. Mandella's laconic narrative, so effective in getting across The Forever War's antiwar message, proves just as effective in this sequel. The novel is weakened, however, by what feels like an overly hasty conclusion, burdened by Haldeman's decision to invoke not one but two deus ex machinae in the book's final chapters. Still, this is a well-written and worthy sequel to one of SF's enduring classics. (Dec.) FYI: Haldeman's The Forever War (1974) and Forever Peace (1997) each won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best SF novel. <br>Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>

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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>In the 1970s Joe Haldeman approached more than a dozen different publishers before he finally found one interested in <em>The Forever War</em>. The book went on to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, although a large chunk of the story had been cut out before it saw publication. Now Haldeman and Avon Books have released the definitive version of <em>The Forever War</em>, published for the first time as Haldeman originally intended. The book tells the timeless story of war, in this case a conflict between humanity and the alien Taurans. Humans first bumped heads with the Taurans when we began using collapsars to travel the stars. Although the collapsars provide nearly instantaneous travel across vast distances, the relativistic speeds associated with the process means that time passes slower for those aboard ship. For William Mandella, a physics student drafted as a soldier, that means more than 27 years will have passed between his first encounter with the Taurans and his homecoming, though he himself will have aged only a year. When Mandella finds that he can't adjust to Earth after being gone so long from home, he reenlists, only to find himself shuttled endlessly from battle to battle as the centuries pass. <em>--Craig E. Engler</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>"To say that <em>The Forever War</em> is the best science fiction war novel ever written is to damn it with faint praise. It is, for all its techno-extrapolative brilliance, as fine and woundingly genuine a war story as any I've read."<br>--<strong>William Gibson</strong>, author of _Neuromancer, Spook Country </p><p>_"There are a handful of moments when an American science fiction novel abruptly and seemingly effortlessly satisfied every possible expectation conveyed not only by the genre's ambitions, but of those of the whole literary landscape with which it was contemporary: Sturgeon's <em>More Than Human</em>, Dick's <em>The Man In The High Castle</em>, LeGuin's <em>Dispossessed</em>, Gibson's <em>Neuromancer</em>. <em>The Forever War</em> is one such book, and like those others still carries with it that air of recognition and possibility."<br>--<strong>Jonathan Lethem</strong>, author of _Gun With Occcasional Music, Fortress of Solitude </p><p>_"Perhaps the most important war novel written since Vietnam . .  . Haldeman, a veteran, is a flat-out visionary . . . and protagonist William Mandella's attempt to survive and remain human in the face of an absurd almost endless war is harrowing hilarious heartbreaking and true  . . . like all the best works of literature THE FOREVER WAR takes you apart and then, before you can turn that last page, puts you back together: better, wiser, more human.  Simply extraordinary." <br>--<strong>Junot Diaz</strong>, Pulitzer Prize winning author of _The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao </p><p>_"If there was a Fort Knox for Science Fiction writers, we'd have to lock Joe Haldeman up."<br>--<strong>Stephen King</strong>, author of _The Shining, The Dead Zone, The Stand </p><p><em>"</em>The Forever War_ is not just a great Science Fiction novel, it's a great Vietnam war novel - and a great war novel, without qualification- that is also Science Fiction.  A classic to grace either genre."<br>--<strong>Iain M. Banks</strong>, author of _Use of Weapons, The Player of Games, Matter </p><p>_"FOREVER WAR is brilliant--one of the most influential war novels of our time. That it happens to be set in the future only broadens and enhances its message."<br>--<strong>Greg Bear</strong>, author of _Moving Mars, Eon, The Forge of God </p><p>_“A parable whose lessons are needful learning once more.”<br>--<strong>John Scalzi</strong>, author of _Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, Zoe’s Tale </p><p>_"I first read this twenty years ago and have never forgotten the wonder and fury it kindled at the time.  Anyone who talks about the glory of war has obviously never read it.  A beautifully detailed and intensely personal account of a conflict which lasts for over a thousand years, as told by one grunt who lives through it all.  Only a writer as skillfull and knowledgeable as Haldeman could use war's dark glamour to lure the reader in and then deplou the sam fascination to show just what kind of effect this orchestrated barbarism can have on the human soul."<br>--<strong>Peter F. Hamilton</strong>, author of _Pandora’s Star, Judas Unchained, The Dreaming Void </p><p>_“In a literature of ideas, <em>The Forever War</em> is a titan: a book filled with mind-bending ideas about relatavistic time-distortion and world-shaking ideas about the futility of war. In today's world, where we think declaring war on abstract nouns like TERROR is a winning strategy, we need THE FOREVER WAR."<br>--<strong>Cory Doctorow</strong>, author of _Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother X </p><p>_“It is to the Vietnam War what <em>Catch-22</em> was to World War II, the definitive, bleakly comic satire.”<br>--<strong>Thomas M. Disch</strong>, author of _Camp<strong> Concentration</strong>, 334 </p><p><em>"</em>The Forever War_ does what the very best science fiction does. It deals with extremes both societal and teleological; it places a frame around humankind's place in the universe to show us what is outside the frame; and it functions simultaneously at the literal and metaphorical level.  Inarguably one of the genre's great novels, it is also among the finest novels ever written about war."<br>--<strong>James Sallis</strong>, author of <em>The Long Legged Fly, Drive, Cripple Creek</em></p> </div>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>You can't lose for winning--especially, it would seem, if you're Joe Haldeman. Suffering the same fate as many an author who's dared to pen unconventional sequels to a ferociously loved book (in this case, <strong>), Haldeman has risked the ire of his many devoted admirers a second time (the first sequel was the award-spangled </strong>). But Haldeman's call--not too surprisingly--proves to be a deft one, giving us a book that, while significantly different from its predecessor, turns out to be equally captivating and sensitive, in many ways even more thought-provoking. (Sure, it doesn't match <em>The Forever War</em> for sheer impact, but then again, what does?)</p><p>As in <em>The Forever War</em>, the heart of this story is the dry, ironic bite of fighting-suit vet William Mandella, now middle-aged and a parent (along with his love and comrade-in-arms Marygay) to two teen-aged kids. The family leads a spartan life on the cold and desolate planet Middle Finger, which serves as a sort of genetic safe-deposit box for the current incarnation of humanity, an inhuman race of group-mind clones known as Man. But the animals in the zoo are getting restless, and a core group of vets led by William and Marygay plot an unusual escape: hijacking a reconditioned time ship and using it to take a 40,000 light-year tour (over 10 years of their own time) to rejoin the world they know only after 2,000 generations have passed. Much of the action involves the hatching and fruition of this plot, but Haldeman doesn't really mix things up until nearing the end, when he dissolves physics as we know it and calls down the wrath of God itself. <em>--Paul Hughes</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In this long-awaited sequel to The Forever War, Haldeman describes the postwar life of retired soldiers William and Marygay Mandella on the half-frozen planet Middle Finger, where they and other humans have been secluded by the newly evolved, superhuman race of Man. The long war with the Taurans is over and William and company are little more than relics, kept around to provide archaic genes should the Man ever wish to alter their own, cloned near-perfection. Dissatisfied with their stagnant lives, William and his fellow vets steal a starship. They plan to travel so far and fast that time dilation will allow them to return only a decade older but millennia in their world's future. Disaster strikes just days into their voyage, however, when their antimatter engines mysteriously malfunction in direct violation of the laws of physics. Returning home in escape craft, Mandella and his mates discover that everyone on the planet has disappeared, leaving only their clothes behind. Further, all communication with the outside universe has been cut off. Despite a slow start, Haldeman builds considerable tension with the mystery that confronts his human survivors of what appears to be the complete disappearance of not only humanity, but also of Man and the Taurans. Some truly weird events have occurred and Haldeman gives them a genuinely spooky feel. Mandella's laconic narrative, so effective in getting across The Forever War's antiwar message, proves just as effective in this sequel. The novel is weakened, however, by what feels like an overly hasty conclusion, burdened by Haldeman's decision to invoke not one but two deus ex machinae in the book's final chapters. Still, this is a well-written and worthy sequel to one of SF's enduring classics. (Dec.) FYI: Haldeman's The Forever War (1974) and Forever Peace (1997) each won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best SF novel. <br>Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>In the 1970s Joe Haldeman approached more than a dozen different publishers before he finally found one interested in <em>The Forever War</em>. The book went on to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, although a large chunk of the story had been cut out before it saw publication. Now Haldeman and Avon Books have released the definitive version of <em>The Forever War</em>, published for the first time as Haldeman originally intended. The book tells the timeless story of war, in this case a conflict between humanity and the alien Taurans. Humans first bumped heads with the Taurans when we began using collapsars to travel the stars. Although the collapsars provide nearly instantaneous travel across vast distances, the relativistic speeds associated with the process means that time passes slower for those aboard ship. For William Mandella, a physics student drafted as a soldier, that means more than 27 years will have passed between his first encounter with the Taurans and his homecoming, though he himself will have aged only a year. When Mandella finds that he can't adjust to Earth after being gone so long from home, he reenlists, only to find himself shuttled endlessly from battle to battle as the centuries pass. <em>--Craig E. Engler</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>"To say that <em>The Forever War</em> is the best science fiction war novel ever written is to damn it with faint praise. It is, for all its techno-extrapolative brilliance, as fine and woundingly genuine a war story as any I've read."<br>--<strong>William Gibson</strong>, author of _Neuromancer, Spook Country  </p><p>_"There are a handful of moments when an American science fiction novel abruptly and seemingly effortlessly satisfied every possible expectation conveyed not only by the genre's ambitions, but of those of the whole literary landscape with which it was contemporary: Sturgeon's <em>More Than Human</em>, Dick's <em>The Man In The High Castle</em>, LeGuin's <em>Dispossessed</em>, Gibson's <em>Neuromancer</em>. <em>The Forever War</em> is one such book, and like those others still carries with it that air of recognition and possibility."<br>--<strong>Jonathan Lethem</strong>, author of _Gun With Occcasional Music, Fortress of Solitude  </p><p>_"Perhaps the most important war novel written since Vietnam . .  . Haldeman, a veteran, is a flat-out visionary . . . and protagonist William Mandella's attempt to survive and remain human in the face of an absurd almost endless war is harrowing hilarious heartbreaking and true  . . . like all the best works of literature THE FOREVER WAR takes you apart and then, before you can turn that last page, puts you back together: better, wiser, more human.  Simply extraordinary." <br>--<strong>Junot Diaz</strong>, Pulitzer Prize winning author of _The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao  </p><p>_"If there was a Fort Knox for Science Fiction writers, we'd have to lock Joe Haldeman up."<br>--<strong>Stephen King</strong>, author of _The Shining, The Dead Zone, The Stand  </p><p><em>"</em>The Forever War_ is not just a great Science Fiction novel, it's a great Vietnam war novel - and a great war novel, without qualification- that is also Science Fiction.  A classic to grace either genre."<br>--<strong>Iain M. Banks</strong>, author of _Use of Weapons, The Player of Games, Matter  </p><p>_"FOREVER WAR is brilliant--one of the most influential war novels of our time. That it happens to be set in the future only broadens and enhances its message."<br>--<strong>Greg Bear</strong>, author of _Moving Mars, Eon, The Forge of God  </p><p>_“A parable whose lessons are needful learning once more.”<br>--<strong>John Scalzi</strong>, author of _Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, Zoe’s Tale  </p><p>_"I first read this twenty years ago and have never forgotten the wonder and fury it kindled at the time.  Anyone who talks about the glory of war has obviously never read it.  A beautifully detailed and intensely personal account of a conflict which lasts for over a thousand years, as told by one grunt who lives through it all.  Only a writer as skillfull and knowledgeable as Haldeman could use war's dark glamour to lure the reader in and then deplou the sam fascination to show just what kind of effect this orchestrated barbarism can have on the human soul."<br>--<strong>Peter F. Hamilton</strong>, author of _Pandora’s Star, Judas Unchained, The Dreaming Void  </p><p>_“In a literature of ideas, <em>The Forever War</em> is a titan: a book filled with mind-bending ideas about relatavistic time-distortion and world-shaking ideas about the futility of war. In today's world, where we think declaring war on abstract nouns like TERROR is a winning strategy, we need THE FOREVER WAR."<br>--<strong>Cory Doctorow</strong>, author of _Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother X  </p><p>_“It is to the Vietnam War what <em>Catch-22</em> was to World War II, the definitive, bleakly comic satire.”<br>--<strong>Thomas M. Disch</strong>, author of _Camp<strong> Concentration</strong>, 334  </p><p><em>"</em>The Forever War_ does what the very best science fiction does. It deals with extremes both societal and teleological; it places a frame around humankind's place in the universe to show us what is outside the frame; and it functions simultaneously at the literal and metaphorical level.  Inarguably one of the genre's great novels, it is also among the finest novels ever written about war."<br>--<strong>James Sallis</strong>, author of <em>The Long Legged Fly, Drive, Cripple Creek</em></p>

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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Old pro Haldeman (_Camouflage_) has a gift for seeing issues in a sympathetic but dispassionate perspective, as shown by the 15 tales in this collection. How can we live as human beings in an uncaring universe? he asks. The title story returns to the conclusion of the Hugo- and Nebula-winning novel <em>The Forever War</em> as seen by another character, discovering uncomfortable but ultimately encouraging things about our capacity to adapt and endure. Other selections, such as "Finding My Shadow" and "Civil Disobedience," are much bleaker, as they angrily extrapolate trends in American politics and our abuse of the environment. Set on a far future Earth, "For White Hill" is one of the most memorable tragic love stories ever written as SF. While the book includes a few minor pieces, notably two early stories that contain the basis for <em>Camouflage</em>, Haldeman's work is never less than clever and sometimes much more. <em>(Aug.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p><em>A Separate War </em>serves both as an introduction to and partial "best-of" collection of the talented Joe Haldeman, winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards. Thought provoking, entertaining, witty, and subversive, these stories—while outlandish in plot and premise—never fail to focus on humanity's hopes, dreams, and foibles as they play out during wartime. Critics agree that the best stories in the collection include "Out of Phase," "A Separate War," "For White Hill," and "Finding My Shadow," about racism and germ warfare in Boston. A few, including "Diminished Chord" and "Memento Mori," about nanotechnology, felt lightweight in comparison. If by no means complete, Haldeman's latest collection, notes the <em>St. Louis Post-Dispatch</em>, makes "an ample case for his being considered one of science fiction and fantasies' stalwarts for years to come."</p><p><em>Copyright © 2004 Phillips &amp; Nelson Media, Inc.</em></p>

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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Old pro Haldeman (_Camouflage_) has a gift for seeing issues in a sympathetic but dispassionate perspective, as shown by the 15 tales in this collection. How can we live as human beings in an uncaring universe? he asks. The title story returns to the conclusion of the Hugo- and Nebula-winning novel <em>The Forever War</em> as seen by another character, discovering uncomfortable but ultimately encouraging things about our capacity to adapt and endure. Other selections, such as "Finding My Shadow" and "Civil Disobedience," are much bleaker, as they angrily extrapolate trends in American politics and our abuse of the environment. Set on a far future Earth, "For White Hill" is one of the most memorable tragic love stories ever written as SF. While the book includes a few minor pieces, notably two early stories that contain the basis for <em>Camouflage</em>, Haldeman's work is never less than clever and sometimes much more. <em>(Aug.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p><em>A Separate War </em>serves both as an introduction to and partial "best-of" collection of the talented Joe Haldeman, winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards. Thought provoking, entertaining, witty, and subversive, these stories—while outlandish in plot and premise—never fail to focus on humanity's hopes, dreams, and foibles as they play out during wartime. Critics agree that the best stories in the collection include "Out of Phase," "A Separate War," "For White Hill," and "Finding My Shadow," about racism and germ warfare in Boston. A few, including "Diminished Chord" and "Memento Mori," about nanotechnology, felt lightweight in comparison. If by no means complete, Haldeman's latest collection, notes the <em>St. Louis Post-Dispatch</em>, makes "an ample case for his being considered one of science fiction and fantasies' stalwarts for years to come."</p><p><em>Copyright © 2004 Phillips &amp; Nelson Media, Inc.</em></p> </div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Candle in the Wind is the fourth book from the collection The Once and Future King by T. H. White. It deals with the last weeks of Arthur's reign, his dealings with his son Mordred's revolts, Guenever and Lancelot's demise, and his perception of right and wrong. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot</p><h3>Review</h3><p>Quartet of novels by T.H. White, published in a single volume in 1958. The quartet comprises The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Queen of Air and Darkness--first published as The Witch in the Wood (1939)--The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and The Candle in the Wind (published in the composite volume, 1958). The series is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, from Arthur's birth to the end of his reign, and is based largely on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur. After White's death, a conclusion to The Once and Future King was found among his papers; it was published in 1977 as The Book of Merlyn. -- <em>The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature</em></p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Candle in the Wind is the fourth book from the collection The Once and Future King by T. H. White. It deals with the last weeks of Arthur's reign, his dealings with his son Mordred's revolts, Guenever and Lancelot's demise, and his perception of right and wrong. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot</p><h3>Review</h3><p>Quartet of novels by T.H. White, published in a single volume in 1958. The quartet comprises The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Queen of Air and Darkness--first published as The Witch in the Wood (1939)--The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and The Candle in the Wind (published in the composite volume, 1958). The series is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, from Arthur's birth to the end of his reign, and is based largely on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur. After White's death, a conclusion to The Once and Future King was found among his papers; it was published in 1977 as The Book of Merlyn. -- <em>The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature</em></p></div>


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SUMMARY: Lost in the chill deeps of space between the galaxies, it sails on forever, a flat, circular world carried on the back of a giant turtle--DISCWORLD--a land where the unexpected can be expected. Where the strangest things happen to the nicest people. Like Brutha, a simple lad who only wants to tend his melon patch. Until one day he hears the voice of a god calling his name. A small god, to be sure. But bossy as Hell.


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Discworld is an extragavanza--among much else, it has billions of gods. "They swarm as thick as herring roe," writes Terry Pratchett in Small Gods, the 13th book in the series. Where there are gods galore, there are priests, high and low, and... there are novices. Brutha is a novice with little chance to become a priest--thinking does not come easily to him, although believing does. But it is to Brutha that the great god Om manifests, in the lowly form of a tortoise. --Blaise Selby


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In the year 3016, the Second Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Writing separately, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are responsible for a number of science fiction classics, such as the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Ringworld, Debt of Honor, and The Legacy of Heorot, among others.</p>


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SUMMARY: The tales of The Silmarillion were the underlying inspiration and source of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing; he worked on the book throughout his life but never brought it to a final form. Long preceding in its origins The Lord of the Rings, it is the story of the First Age of Tolkien's world, the ancient drama to which characters in The Lord of the RIngs look back and in which some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The title Silmarillion is shortened from Quenta Silmarillion, "The History of the Silmarils," the three great jewels created by Feanor, most gifted of the Elves, in which he imprisoned the light of the Two Trees that illumined Valinor, the land of the gods. When Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, destroyed the Trees, that light lived on only in the Silmarils; Morgoth seized them and set them in his crown, guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth. The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Feanor and his people against the gods, their exile in Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all the heroisim of Elves and Men, against the great Enemy. The book includes several other, shorter works beside The Silmarillion proper. Preceding it are "Ainulindale," the myth of Creation, and "Valaquenta," in which the nature and powers of each of the gods is set forth. After The Silmarillion is "Akallabeth," the story of the downfall of the great island kingdom of Numenor at the end of the Second Age; completing the volume is "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," in which the events of The Lord of the Rings are treated in the manner of The Silmarillion. This new edition of The Silmarillion contains the revised and corrected "second edition" text and, by way of introduction, a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1951, which provides a brilliant exposition of his conception of the earlier Ages. It also contains almost fifty full-color illustrations by the artist Ted Nasmith, many of which appear for the first time.


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The tales of The Silmarillion were the underlying inspiration and source of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing; he worked on the book throughout his life but never brought it to a final form. Long preceding in its origins The Lord of the Rings, it is the story of the First Age of Tolkien's world, the ancient drama to which characters in The Lord of the RIngs look back and in which some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The title Silmarillion is shortened from Quenta Silmarillion, "The History of the Silmarils," the three great jewels created by Feanor, most gifted of the Elves, in which he imprisoned the light of the Two Trees that illumined Valinor, the land of the gods. When Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, destroyed the Trees, that light lived on only in the Silmarils; Morgoth seized them and set them in his crown, guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth. The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Feanor and his people against the gods, their exile in Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all the heroisim of Elves and Men, against the great Enemy. The book includes several other, shorter works beside The Silmarillion proper. Preceding it are "Ainulindale," the myth of Creation, and "Valaquenta," in which the nature and powers of each of the gods is set forth. After The Silmarillion is "Akallabeth," the story of the downfall of the great island kingdom of Numenor at the end of the Second Age; completing the volume is "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," in which the events of The Lord of the Rings are treated in the manner of The Silmarillion. This new edition of The Silmarillion contains the revised and corrected "second edition" text and, by way of introduction, a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1951, which provides a brilliant exposition of his conception of the earlier Ages. It also contains almost fifty full-color illustrations by the artist Ted Nasmith, many of which appear for the first time.


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Caves of Steel is a novel by Isaac Asimov. It is essentially a detective story, and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction is a flavor that can be applied to any literary genre, rather than a limited genre itself. Specifically, in the book Asimov's Mysteries, he states that he wrote the novel in response to the assertion by editor John W. Campbell that mystery and science fiction were incompatible genres. Campbell had said that the science fiction writer could invent "facts" in his imaginary future that the reader would not know. Asimov countered that there were rules implicit in the art of writing mysteries, and that the clues could be in the plot, even if they were not obvious, or were deliberately obfuscated. He went on to write several science-fiction mysteries in both novel and short-story form, as well as mainstream mysteries such as The Death Dealers and Murder at the ABA which had elements of science but were not science fiction. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary | Character histories | Reception | Television adaptation | Other adaptations | Cultural references</p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 6 Up—Isaac Asimov's mid-20th century tale artfully combines science fiction and detection. William Dufris performs it in multiple voices and with just enough camp to pull in contemporary listeners by playing to the ironies of the period in which the story was written. A human police detective, Baley, lives in New York City a thousand years hence. He's tapped to help solve a murder in a community where robots are not reviled and ends up with a partner, Daneel, who is a highly sophisticated, humanoid machine. Baley and Daneel don't have an easy time with each other or with those New Yorkers, called Medievalists, who despise robots. The action moves swiftly, yet there is time for Asimov to weave in some engaging and edifying glosses on the Bible as literature—and for Baley to smoke, making this as an adult book of the period. While most of Dufris's voices are successful, his interpretation of Baley's 16-year-old son reduces the latter to sounding like a whiney 8-year-old. Asimov's story is a great way to introduce young readers to a polymath who captured the "American century" through futurism and literate character development.—_Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Canada_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Caves of Steel is a novel by Isaac Asimov. It is essentially a detective story, and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction is a flavor that can be applied to any literary genre, rather than a limited genre itself. Specifically, in the book Asimov's Mysteries, he states that he wrote the novel in response to the assertion by editor John W. Campbell that mystery and science fiction were incompatible genres. Campbell had said that the science fiction writer could invent "facts" in his imaginary future that the reader would not know. Asimov countered that there were rules implicit in the art of writing mysteries, and that the clues could be in the plot, even if they were not obvious, or were deliberately obfuscated. He went on to write several science-fiction mysteries in both novel and short-story form, as well as mainstream mysteries such as The Death Dealers and Murder at the ABA which had elements of science but were not science fiction. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot introduction | Plot summary | Character histories | Reception | Television adaptation | Other adaptations | Cultural references</p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Grade 6 Up—Isaac Asimov's mid-20th century tale artfully combines science fiction and detection. William Dufris performs it in multiple voices and with just enough camp to pull in contemporary listeners by playing to the ironies of the period in which the story was written. A human police detective, Baley, lives in New York City a thousand years hence. He's tapped to help solve a murder in a community where robots are not reviled and ends up with a partner, Daneel, who is a highly sophisticated, humanoid machine. Baley and Daneel don't have an easy time with each other or with those New Yorkers, called Medievalists, who despise robots. The action moves swiftly, yet there is time for Asimov to weave in some engaging and edifying glosses on the Bible as literature—and for Baley to smoke, making this as an adult book of the period. While most of Dufris's voices are successful, his interpretation of Baley's 16-year-old son reduces the latter to sounding like a whiney 8-year-old. Asimov's story is a great way to introduce young readers to a polymath who captured the "American century" through futurism and literate character development.—_Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Canada_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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<p class="description">Richard Mayhew is an unassuming young businessman living in London, with a dull job and a pretty but demanding fiancee. Then one night he stumbles across a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He stops to help her--and the life he knows vanishes like smoke.<br>Several hours later, the girl is gone too. And by the following morning Richard Mayhew has been erased from his world. His bank cards no longer work, taxi drivers won't stop for him, his hundred rents his apartment out to strangers. He has become invisible, and inexplicably consigned to a London of shadows and darkness a city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, that exists entirely in a subterranean labyrinth of sewer canals andabandoned subway stations. He has fallen through the cracks of reality and has landed somewhere different, somewhere that is Neverwhere.<br>For this is the home of Door, the mysterious girl whom Richard rescued in the London Above. A personage of great power and nobility in this murky, candlelit realm, she is on a mission to discover the cause of her family's slaughter, and in doing so preserve this strange underworld kingdom from the malevolence that means to destroy it. And with nowhere else to turn, Richard Mayhew must now join the Lady Door's entourage in their determined--and possibly fatal--quest.<br>For the dread journey ever-downward--through bizarre anachronisms and dangerous incongruities, and into dusty corners of stalled time--is Richard's final hope, his last road back to a "real" world that is growing disturbingly less real by the minute.<br>If Tim Burton reimagined The Phantom of the Opera, if Jack Finney let his dark side take over, if you rolled the best work of Clive Barker, Peter Straub and Caleb Carr into one, you still would have something that fell far short of Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE. It is a masterful debut novel of darkly hypnotic power, and one of the most absorbing reads to come along in years.</p>


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SUMMARY: While civil war looms in Oz, Brrr—the Cowardly Lion—surrenders the story of his life to a tetchy oracle named Yackle. Abandoned as a cub, Brrr's path from infancy in the Great Gillikan Forest is no Yellow Brick Road. Seeking to redress an early mistake, he trudges through a swamp of ghosts, becomes implicated in a massacre of trolls, falls in love with a forbidding Cat princess, and avoids a jail sentence by agreeing to serve as a lackey to the war-mongering Emperor of Oz. A portrait of a would-be survivor and a panoramic glimpse of a world gone shrill with war fever, Gregory Maguire's A Lion Among Men is written with the sympathy and power that have made his books contemporary classics.


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In this captivating "New York Times" bestseller, beloved author Gregory Maguire returns to the land ofOz and introduces us to Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. Bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully, Liir is shattered in spirit as well as in form. At the Cloister of Saint Glinda the silent novice Candle tends to him, willing him back to life with her unusual musical gifts. What dark force left Liir in this condition? Is he really Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape--but what of her powers? Can he find his half-sister, Nor, last seen in the forbidding prison Southstairs? Can he fulfill the last wishes of a dying princess? In an Oz that, since the Wizard's departure, is under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up? For the countless fans who have been dazzled and entranced by Maguire's "Oz," "Son of a Witch" is the rich reward they have awaited so long.


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When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.


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One thousand years after the Jupiter mission to explore the mysterious Monolith had been destroyed, after Dave Bowman was transformed into the Star Child, Frank Poole drifted in space, frozen and forgotten, leaving the supercomputer HAL inoperable. But now Poole has returned to life, awakening in a world far different from the one he left behind--and just as the Monolith may be stirring once again. . . . A Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club®Selected by the Literary Guild® and Doubleday Book Club®


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2010: Odyssey Two is a best-selling science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke, which was published in January 1982. It is the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1983.[1] The novel was adapted for the screen and released as a film in 1984. The story is set nine years after the failure of the Discovery One mission to Jupiter.[4] A joint Soviet-American crew,[5] including Heywood Floyd from 2001, on the Soviet spaceship Alexei Leonov (named after the famous cosmonaut) arrives to discover what went wrong with the earlier mission, to investigate the monolith in orbit around the planet, and to resolve the disappearance of David Bowman. They hypothesize that much of this information is locked away on the now-abandoned Discovery One. The Soviets have an advanced new "Sakharov" drive which will propel them to Jupiter ahead of the American Discovery Two, so Floyd is assigned to the Leonov crew. However, a Chinese space station rockets out of Earth orbit, revealing itself to be the interplanetary spacecraft Tsien, also aimed at Jupiter. The Leonov crewmembers think the Chinese are on a one-way trip due to its speed, but Floyd surmises that due to the large water content of Europa they intend to land there and use the water content to refuel. The Tsien's daring mission ends in failure, when it is destroyed by an indigenous life-form on Europa. The only survivor radios the story to the Leonov; it is presumed that he dies when his spacesuit air supply runs out.


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SUMMARY: Centenarian Heywood Floyd, survivor of two encounters with mysterious monoliths, once again confronts Dave Bowman, an independent HAL, and an unseen alien race


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Sent to unravel the mystery of an enigmatic monolith left on the moon by an unknown alien intelligence, two astronauts aboard the spacecraft Discovery find their journey into space and their very lives jeopardized by the jealousy of an extraordinary computer named Hal. Reissue.</p>


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SUMMARY: One thousand years after the Jupiter mission to explore the mysterious Monolith had been destroyed, after Dave Bowman was transformed into the Star Child, Frank Poole drifted in space, frozen and forgotten, leaving the supercomputer HAL inoperable. But now Poole has returned to life, awakening in a world far different from the one he left behind--and just as the Monolith may be stirring once again. . . . A Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club®Selected by the Literary Guild® and Doubleday Book Club®


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Centenarian Heywood Floyd, survivor of two encounters with mysterious monoliths, once again confronts Dave Bowman, an independent HAL, and an unseen alien race


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2010: Odyssey Two is a best-selling science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke, which was published in January 1982. It is the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1983.[1] The novel was adapted for the screen and released as a film in 1984.

The story is set nine years after the failure of the Discovery One mission to Jupiter.[4]

A joint Soviet-American crew,[5] including Heywood Floyd from 2001, on the Soviet spaceship Alexei Leonov (named after the famous cosmonaut) arrives to discover what went wrong with the earlier mission, to investigate the monolith in orbit around the planet, and to resolve the disappearance of David Bowman. They hypothesize that much of this information is locked away on the now-abandoned Discovery One. The Soviets have an advanced new "Sakharov" drive which will propel them to Jupiter ahead of the American Discovery Two, so Floyd is assigned to the Leonov crew.

However, a Chinese space station rockets out of Earth orbit, revealing itself to be the interplanetary spacecraft Tsien, also aimed at Jupiter. The Leonov crewmembers think the Chinese are on a one-way trip due to its speed, but Floyd surmises that due to the large water content of Europa they intend to land there and use the water content to refuel. The Tsien's daring mission ends in failure, when it is destroyed by an indigenous life-form on Europa. The only survivor radios the story to the Leonov; it is presumed that he dies when his spacesuit air supply runs out.


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>The fiery cross, once used to summon Highland clans to war, now beckons readers to take up Diana Gabaldon's fifth installment in the __ will thrill to Gabaldon's trademark detail and sensuality, both displayed liberally throughout the nearly 1,000 pages of <em>The Fiery Cross</em>. In this pre-Revolutionary War period, Claire Fraser and her husband, Jamie, have crossed oceans and centuries to build a life together in the bucolic beauty of North Carolina. But tensions both ancient and recent threaten not only Claire and James, but their daughter, Brianna, her new husband, Roger, and their infant son, Jemmy, as well as members of their clan. Gabaldon delivers on what she does best: poignant storylines, empathetic characters, meticulous detail, and searing passion. Savor every carefully chosen word, readers; it may be a long time until the next installment! <em>--Alison Trinkle</em></p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Get ready for Gabaldon. Starting in July, the publisher will set the stage for her latest by actively promoting her backlist titles featuring 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser. In the new novel, Jamie learns from his 20th-century wife that the American Revolution is coming. <br />Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<div><p>From the author of <strong>Outlander</strong>... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland...</p><p>For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....</p><p>Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves.... </p><h4>Annotation</h4><p>Following on the heels of the mass market publication of Outlander, which introduced readers to Claire Randall and her journey through time, Dragonfly in Amber returns us to the heroine 20 years after her fantastic voyage through the stones in Scotland. </p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>From the author of the breathtaking bestsellers Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, the extraordinary saga continues. Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams. Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reuniteor forever doomher timeless love.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, and a lover in another...In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an "outlander"—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord...1743.Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny in soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life ...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.</p>


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<div><div><h3>Review</h3><p>“All you’ve come to expect from Gabaldon . . . adventure, history, romance, fantasy.”—_The Arizona Republic </p><p>_</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>In this epic of imagination, time travel, and adventure, Diana Gabaldon continues the riveting story begun in <em>Outlander</em>.</strong> </p><p>Jamie Fraser is an eighteenth-century Highlander, an ex-Jacobite traitor, and a reluctant rebel in the American Revolution. His wife, Claire Randall Fraser, is a surgeon—from the twentieth century. What she knows of the future compels him to fight. What she doesn’t know may kill them both. </p><p>With one foot in America and one foot in Scotland, Jamie and Claire’s adventure spans the Revolution, from sea battles to printshops, as their paths cross with historical figures from Benjamin Franklin to Benedict Arnold. </p><p>Meanwhile, in the relative safety of the twentieth century, their daughter, Brianna, and her husband experience the unfolding drama of the Revolutionary War through Claire’s letters. But the letters can’t warn them of the threat that’s rising out of the past to overshadow their family. </p><p>Diana Gabaldon’s sweeping Outlander saga reaches new heights in <em>An Echo in the Bone</em>.</p> </div> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Diana Gabaldon’s brilliant storytelling has captivated millions of readers in her bestselling and award-winning Outlander saga. Now, in An Echo in the Bone, the enormously anticipated seventh volume, Gabaldon continues the extraordinary story of the eighteenth-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his twentieth-century time-traveling wife, Claire Randall.Jamie Fraser, former Jacobite and reluctant rebel, is already certain of three things about the American rebellion: The Americans will win, fighting on the side of victory is no guarantee of survival, and he’d rather die than have to face his illegitimate son–a young lieutenant in the British army–across the barrel of a gun.Claire Randall knows that the Americans will win, too, but not what the ultimate price may be. That price won’t include Jamie’s life or his happiness, though–not if she has anything to say about it.Meanwhile, in the relative safety of the twentieth century, Jamie and Claire’s daughter, Brianna, and her husband, Roger MacKenzie, have resettled in a historic Scottish home where, across a chasm of two centuries, the unfolding drama of Brianna’s parents’ story comes to life through Claire’s letters. The fragile pages reveal Claire’s love for battle-scarred Jamie Fraser and their flight from North Carolina to the high seas, where they encounter privateers and ocean battles–as Brianna and Roger search for clues not only to Claire’s fate but to their own. Because the future of the MacKenzie family in the Highlands is mysteriously, irrevocably, and intimately entwined with life and death in war-torn colonial America.With stunning cameos of historical characters from Benedict Arnold to Benjamin Franklin, An Echo in the Bone is a soaring masterpiece of imagination, insight, character, and adventure–a novel that echoes in the mind long after the last page is turned.</p></div>


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<div><p class="description">RESUME:<br>This fourth installment in the adventures of Jamie Fraser, Scottish warrior, and Claire Randall, 20th-century woman, involves their daughter, Brianna, who is safely ensconced in the future until she crosses time to meet her unknown father.</p></div>


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Diana Gabaldon’s brilliant storytelling has captivated millions of readers in her bestselling and award-winning Outlander saga. Now, in An Echo in the Bone, the enormously anticipated seventh volume, Gabaldon continues the extraordinary story of the eighteenth-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his twentieth-century time-traveling wife, Claire Randall.Jamie Fraser, former Jacobite and reluctant rebel, is already certain of three things about the American rebellion: The Americans will win, fighting on the side of victory is no guarantee of survival, and he’d rather die than have to face his illegitimate son–a young lieutenant in the British army–across the barrel of a gun.Claire Randall knows that the Americans will win, too, but not what the ultimate price may be. That price won’t include Jamie’s life or his happiness, though–not if she has anything to say about it.Meanwhile, in the relative safety of the twentieth century, Jamie and Claire’s daughter, Brianna, and her husband, Roger MacKenzie, have resettled in a historic Scottish home where, across a chasm of two centuries, the unfolding drama of Brianna’s parents’ story comes to life through Claire’s letters. The fragile pages reveal Claire’s love for battle-scarred Jamie Fraser and their flight from North Carolina to the high seas, where they encounter privateers and ocean battles–as Brianna and Roger search for clues not only to Claire’s fate but to their own. Because the future of the MacKenzie family in the Highlands is mysteriously, irrevocably, and intimately entwined with life and death in war-torn colonial America.With stunning cameos of historical characters from Benedict Arnold to Benjamin Franklin, An Echo in the Bone is a soaring masterpiece of imagination, insight, character, and adventure–a novel that echoes in the mind long after the last page is turned.


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<h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>A Breath of Snow and Ashes is the sixth volume of the best-selling Outlander series, written by Diana Gabaldon. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Characters</p><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>After waiting nearly four years since <em>The Fiery Cross</em> (2001), readers will find every expectation fulfilled in the sixth book of the popular Outlander series. Gabaldon shines as she unfolds the continuing story of the Frasers, heartbreakingly heroic highlander Jamie and his time-traveling wife Clare. Set during the three years leading up to the American Revolution, this compulsively readable mix of authentically set historical fiction and completely satisfying romance maps both violent loss and strong family ties. On the eve of war much is changing on Fraser's Ridge and Jamie and Claire encounter much harm. This vivid and haunting novel, therefore, brings an aching sadness, but it is balanced with sheer joy, revelation, and solace. The large scope of the novel allows Gabaldon to do what she does best, paint in exquisite detail the lives of her characters. Gabaldon's ability to invoke the heroic and the harrowing writ large, while also creating moments where you dare not take a breath for fear of missing something tiny and fine, is her hallmark. For it is in describing the sound of rain on the roof, Jamie's injured hand, or the understanding between father and daughter that the world of the novel comes alive and offers readers an enthralling experience. <em>Neal Wyatt</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>


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<p>Conan the Barbarian is a name known throughout Cimmeria, Brythunia, Turan and all the territories bordering the Vilayet Sea—as well as most countries more familiar to us in the real world.</p><p>For more than seventy-five years, the Cimmerian warrior’s adventures have thrilled readers of fantasy fiction, with movie and television audiences expanding his following. Role-playing games, video games and computer games all added to the legend of Conan, making him more famous in our world today than he ever was in his own realm during the Hyborian Age. </p><p>This powerful collection of the original Conan epics written by the character’s creator, <strong>Robert E. Howard</strong>, is prefaced by an essay called “The Hyborian Age,” which Howard wrote in 1932 to give his Conan stories a background that would set them in a historical context. The collection features stories originally written by Howard to be published in the magazine <em>Weird Tales</em> in the 1930s. It includes “Red Nails” and short stories such as “Queen of the Black Coast” as well as longer tales like “A</p><p>Witch Shall Be Born.”</p><p>Although many have taken up the challenge to extend Conan’s adventures over the years, Howard was a master of his craft, lovingly creating a mythical world in which his original masterpieces reign supreme.</p>


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<p>“Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities . . . there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. . . . Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand . . . to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.”Conan is one of the greatest fictional heroes ever created–a swordsman who cuts a swath across the lands of the Hyborian Age, facing powerful sorcerers, deadly creatures, and ruthless armies of thieves and reavers.In a meteoric career that spanned a mere twelve years before his tragic suicide, Robert E. Howard single-handedly invented the genre that came to be called sword and sorcery. Collected in this volume, profusely illustrated by artist Mark Schultz, are Howard’s first thirteen Conan stories, appearing in their original versions–in some cases for the first time in more than seventy years–and in the order Howard wrote them. Along with classics of dark fantasy like “The Tower of the Elephant” and swashbuckling adventure like “Queen of the Black Coast,” The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian contains a wealth of material never before published in the United States, including the first submitted draft of Conan’s debut, “Phoenix on the Sword,” Howard’s synopses for “The Scarlet Citadel” and “Black Colossus,” and a map of Conan’s world drawn by the author himself.Here are timeless tales featuring Conan the raw and dangerous youth, Conan the daring thief, Conan the swashbuckling pirate, and Conan the commander of armies. Here, too, is an unparalleled glimpse into the mind of a genius whose bold storytelling style has been imitated by many, yet equaled by none.From the Trade Paperback edition. Contents: "Artist's Forward" "Introduction" by Patrice Louinet "Cimmeria" (poem) "The Phoenix on the Sword" "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" "The God in the Bowl" "The Tower of the Elephant" "The Scarlet Citadel" "Queen of the Black Coast" "Black Colossus" "Iron Shadows in the Moon" "Xuthal of the Dusk" "The Pool of the Black One" "Rogues in the House" "The Vale of Lost Women" "The Devil in Iron" Miscellanea "The Phoenix on the Sword" (first submitted draft) Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age The Hyborian Age Untitled Synopsis "A squad of Zamorian soldiers, led ..." Untitled Synopsis ("The Scarlet Citadel") Untitled Synopsis ("Black Colossus") Untitled Fragment "The battlefield stretched silent, ..." Untitled Synopsis "The setting: The city of Shumballa, .." Untitled Draft "Amboola awakened slowly, ..." Hyborian Names and Countries Hyborian Age Maps Appendices Hyborian Genesis by Patrice Louinet Notes on the Conan Typescripts and the Chronology by Patrice Louinet Notes on the original Howard texts</p>


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: *The Time Machine and The Invisible Man*, by **H. G. Wells**, is part of the **Barnes & Noble Classics* *series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of *Barnes & Noble Classics*: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. *Barnes & Noble Classics *pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.** *The Time Machine*, **H. G. Wells**’s first novel, is a tale of Darwinian evolution taken to its extreme. Its hero, a young scientist, travels 800,000 years into the future and discovers a dying earth populated by two strange humanoid species: the brutal Morlocks and the gentle but nearly helpless Eloi.*The Invisible Man* mixes chilling terror, suspense, and acute psychological understanding into a tale of an equally adventurous scientist who discovers the formula for invisibility—a secret that drives him mad.Immensely popular during his lifetime, H. G. Wells, along with Jules Verne, is credited with inventing science fiction. This new volume offers two of Wells’s best-loved and most critically acclaimed “scientific romances.” In each, the author grounds his fantastical imagination in scientific fact and conjecture while lacing his narrative with vibrant action, not merely to tell a “ripping yarn,” but to offer a biting critique on the world around him. “The strength of Mr. Wells,” wrote Arnold Bennett, “lies in the fact that he is not only a scientist, but a most talented student of character, especially quaint character. He will not only ingeniously describe for you a scientific miracle, but he will set down that miracle in the midst of a country village, sketching with excellent humour the inn-landlady, the blacksmith, the chemist’s apprentice, the doctor, and all the other persons whom the miracle affects.” **Alfred Mac Adam**** teaches literature at Barnard College-Columbia University. He is a translator and art critic.


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<p>For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.</p><p>But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin  barely of age herself  finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.</p><p>Five years in the writing by one of science fiction's most honored authors, Doomsday Book is a storytelling triumph. Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering and the indomitable will of the human spirit. </p><h4>Annotation</h4><p>For nearly a decade, Willis has dazzled readers with her short fiction. Her first novel, Lincoln's Dreams, received unanimous high praise and won the John W. Campbell Award. Now she pens a sensational work about human struggle and redemption set in the time of the Black Plague. </p>


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SUMMARY: The classic tale of Captain Nemo and the submarine the Nautilus, this is the quintessential translation by the internationally renowned Verne scholar, William Butcher. This edition of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea reports the very first study of Verne's manuscript and is packed with detail on artistic and scientific references.


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Fire That BurnsIt can lay low a dragon or heal a wounded warrior.It is the most sought-after magical power in all Faern.And it is in the reluctant hands of Shandril of Highmoon, a young, orphaned kitchen-lass.Now she's on the run from half of the evil sorcerers in the land, not to mention their relentless minions. But with the help of a handsome young wizard, some rough-and-tumble Knights of Myth Drannor, and a certain old mage of Shadowdale, she just might manage to stay alive.At least until tomorrow.An all-new expanded version of Ed Greenwood's classic tale, including a new forward by the author.One of Ed Greenwood's most popular novels, Spellfire is being rereleased in an all-new trade paperback edition. This version has been completely reedited and contains added text and material that bring new excitement to the story. This edition also features new cover art and is classified as the first title in the brand-new Forgotten Realms series Shandril's Saga.</p> <h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Everybody's favorite introspective dark elf butt-kicker is back. And if you're one of the many fans of R.A. Salvatore's phenomenally popular twin-scimitar-swinger, you won't be disappointed. <em>The Silent Blade</em> is old-school Drizzt, an adventure that brings together the original gang: the lovely Cattie-brie, the plump and mischievous Regis, the gruff dwarven father-figure Bruenor, and the even more gruff barbarian hammer-hurler Wulfgar. Better yet, <em>The Silent Blade</em> brings back Drizzt's best worst nemesis, master assassin Artemis Entreri. Throw in the evil artifact Crenshinibon (a.k.a. the Crystal Shard, the namesake of the first Drizzt Do'Urden book), and you know you're in for a good time.</p><p>The plot follows three intertwined threads: Drizzt and Co.'s road trip to destroy Crenshinibon, Wulfgar's struggle to overcome the scars of his imprisonment at the claws of the demon Errtu, and Artemis Entreri's long-awaited return to the seamy streets of Calimport. The action is as lively as ever, with giants and goblins and thieves all getting their deserved lumps at the hands of our heroes, and of course Drizzt continues his meditations on life with a capital <em>L</em>. The book's highlight, though, comes when Do'Urden and Entreri cross paths once again, this time with surprising results. And the promise of that matchup should keep you flipping the pages quickly. <em>--Paul Hughes</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Can the Crystal Shard be destroyed at last? </p><p>Drizzt is determined to destroy the evil Crystal Shard, and seeks out the help of the scholar-priest Cadderly. But instead, his worst fears are realized, and Crenshinibon falls into the hands of the dark elf mercenary Jarlaxle and his unlikely ally Artemis Entreri. </p><p><em>The Silent Blade</em> is the book that brought Drizzt back to the Realms, and was a <em>New York Times</em> best seller on its initial release--and has been in print every day since. Like the rest of the <strong>Legend of Drizzt</strong>(R) reissues, <em>The Silent Blade</em> features beautiful new cover art by award-winning illustrator Todd Lockwood. </p> </div>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Fire That BurnsIt can lay low a dragon or heal a wounded warrior.It is the most sought-after magical power in all Faern.And it is in the reluctant hands of Shandril of Highmoon, a young, orphaned kitchen-lass.Now she's on the run from half of the evil sorcerers in the land, not to mention their relentless minions. But with the help of a handsome young wizard, some rough-and-tumble Knights of Myth Drannor, and a certain old mage of Shadowdale, she just might manage to stay alive.At least until tomorrow.An all-new expanded version of Ed Greenwood's classic tale, including a new forward by the author.One of Ed Greenwood's most popular novels, Spellfire is being rereleased in an all-new trade paperback edition. This version has been completely reedited and contains added text and material that bring new excitement to the story. This edition also features new cover art and is classified as the first title in the brand-new Forgotten Realms series Shandril's Saga.</p>
<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Everybody's favorite introspective dark elf butt-kicker is back. And if you're one of the many fans of R.A. Salvatore's phenomenally popular twin-scimitar-swinger, you won't be disappointed. <em>The Silent Blade</em> is old-school Drizzt, an adventure that brings together the original gang: the lovely Cattie-brie, the plump and mischievous Regis, the gruff dwarven father-figure Bruenor, and the even more gruff barbarian hammer-hurler Wulfgar. Better yet, <em>The Silent Blade</em> brings back Drizzt's best worst nemesis, master assassin Artemis Entreri. Throw in the evil artifact Crenshinibon (a.k.a. the Crystal Shard, the namesake of the first Drizzt Do'Urden book), and you know you're in for a good time.</p><p>The plot follows three intertwined threads: Drizzt and Co.'s road trip to destroy Crenshinibon, Wulfgar's struggle to overcome the scars of his imprisonment at the claws of the demon Errtu, and Artemis Entreri's long-awaited return to the seamy streets of Calimport. The action is as lively as ever, with giants and goblins and thieves all getting their deserved lumps at the hands of our heroes, and of course Drizzt continues his meditations on life with a capital <em>L</em>. The book's highlight, though, comes when Do'Urden and Entreri cross paths once again, this time with surprising results. And the promise of that matchup should keep you flipping the pages quickly. <em>--Paul Hughes</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Can the Crystal Shard be destroyed at last?  </p><p>Drizzt is determined to destroy the evil Crystal Shard, and seeks out the help of the scholar-priest Cadderly. But instead, his worst fears are realized, and Crenshinibon falls into the hands of the dark elf mercenary Jarlaxle and his unlikely ally Artemis Entreri.  </p><p><em>The Silent Blade</em> is the book that brought Drizzt back to the Realms, and was a <em>New York Times</em> best seller on its initial release--and has been in print every day since. Like the rest of the <strong>Legend of Drizzt</strong>(R) reissues, <em>The Silent Blade</em> features beautiful new cover art by award-winning illustrator Todd Lockwood. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Now in paperback, the third installment in the classic tales of the Legend of Drizzt. When a lone drow emerges from the Underdark into the blinding light of day, the <strong>Forgotten Realms</strong> world will be changed forever. </p><h3>From the Back Cover</h3><p>Here for the first time in one volume is R.A. Salvatore's The Dark Elf trilogy, the stirring epic that recounts the tortured beginnings and early struggles of Drizzt Do'Urden, one of the most beloved characters of the Forgotten Realms setting. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>A new mass market edition of the <em>New York Times</em> best-selling sword and sorcery classic, <em>The Legacy</em> is Drizzt at his scimitar-wielding best! </p><p>Having found a measure of peace among the dwarves in the reclaimed Mithral Hall, Drizzt begins to know contentment for perhaps the first time in his tumultuous life. But for a dark elf renegade from a city ruled by priestesses of a demon goddess, no peace can long last. It is Lolth herself, the dreaded Queen of the Demonweb Pits, who musters her followers to pour up from the black depths of the Underdark to reclaim for their goddess the one soul that had managed to elude her. The soul of Drizzt Do'Urden. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. Salvatore has spent so many years winding himself into fantasy worlds that he's still trying to figure out how to unwind. He is the author of more than forty novels and more than a dozen <em>New York Times</em> best sellers, including <em>The Two Swords</em>, which debuted at or near the top of many best seller lists. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and his gifted warriors go in search of a missing member of their own band in this latest fast-moving fantasy adventure from bestseller Salvatore (Servant of the Shard, etc.). In the previous episode of the Paths of Darkness series (of the Forgotten Realms umbrella series), Wulfgar the barbarian fought a demon, was possessed and supposedly killed. Now it turns out that not only is he alive but he is in need of the type of assistance at which his friends excel. Getting to Wulfgar and aiding him in his quest for Aegis-fang, his warhammer, is only part of the fun. Drizzt Do'Urden, along with Cattie-Brie, a dwarf named Bruenor Battlehammer and Regis the Halfling, often have to battle the obligatory orcs, goblins and ogres on their way to the real business at hand. A second plot involves the stalking of Drizzt Do'Urden by Le'Lorinel, a Moon elf (or pale elf, whereas Drizzt is a Drow or dark elf). The author combines some of the good versus evil of Robin Hood and his merry men, the campy heroics and friendship of The Princess Bride (including an appearance of dread pirate Sheila Kree) and a rather unfulfilled stab at race relations with Le'Lorinel's unhinged hatred for Drizzt Do'Urden. As this is the fourth novel in the subseries of a larger series, it is not for the uninitiated. Long-awaited by Salvatore's legions of fans, however, this book is as certain as its predecessors to climb bestseller charts. 10-city author tour. </p><p>Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The <strong>Legend of Drizzt</strong>(R) comes to an end . . . For now!  </p><p>The mighty warhammer Aegis-fang has found its way into the hands of the wicked pirate captain Sheila Kree, and Wulfgar is hot on her trail. When Drizzt and his companions leave Mithral Hall in search of Wulfgar, they find themselves on the trail of the warhammer as well, a trail that will lead them to a startling reunion, and the last battle for the heart and soul of Wulfgar. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>Streams of Silver</strong> </p><p>"Yer eyes'll shine when ye see the rivers runnin' silver in Mithril Hall!" </p><p>Bruenor the dwarf, Wulfgar the barbarian, Regis the halfling, and Drizzt the dark elf fight monsters and magic on their way to Mithril Hall, centuries-old birthplace of Bruenor and his dwarven ancestors. </p><p>Faced with racism, Drizzt contemplates returning to the lightless underworld city andmurderous lifestyle he abandoned. Wulfgar begins to overcome his tribe's aversion for magic. And Regis runs from a deadly assassin, who, allied with evil wizards, is bent on the companions' destruction. All of Bruenor's dreams, and the survival of his party, hinge upon the actions of one brave young woman. </p><p><em>Streams of Silver</em> is R.A. Salvatore's second book in the Icewind Dale Trilogy, based on the <strong>Forgotten Realms</strong> fantasy setting. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Join Drizzt Do'Urden, the world's most famous drow elf, on his adventures in the <strong>Forgotten Realms</strong>! </p><p>Regis has fallen into the hands of the assassin Artmis Entreri, who is taking him to Calimport to deliver him into the clutches of the vile Pasha Pook. But Drizzt and Wulfgar are close on their heels, determined to save Regis from his own folly as much as from his powerful enemies. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. Salvatore has spent so many years winding himself into fantasy worlds that he's still trying to figure out how to unwind. He is the author of more than forty novels and more than a dozen <em>New York Times</em> best sellers, including <em>The Two Swords</em>, which debuted at or near the top of many best seller lists. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The fourth in a series of premiere hardcover editions of Salvatore's classic dark elf tales. </p><p>This new release of the classic R.A. Salvatore novel continues the classic tale of Salvatore's signature dark elf character Drizzt Do'UrdenTM. Although this was the first title actually published about Drizzt, it has now been placed in its proper chronological order as fourth in the series. Each title in the Legend of Drizzt series showcases the classic dark elf novels in new, deluxe hardcover editions. Each title will feature all new cover art and new introductions written by those who have become familiar with Salvatore and Drizzt over the years. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. SALVATORE was born in Massachusetts in 1959 and still makes his home there. He has published numerous Forgotten Realms novels with Wizards of the Coast, Inc., most of which have been New York Times best-sellers. He is also known as the best-selling author of the Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones novelization from Del Rey. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Attention all Drizzt freaks: our favorite dark-elf hero is not, repeat not, in <em>Spine of the World</em>. Neither is Bruenor nor Cattie-brie nor Regis et al. But don't think that means the latest installment in R.A. Salvatore's sweeping Drizzt-and-pals series isn't worth picking up: <em>Spine</em> sets things straight for the Forgotten Realms' newest, meanest drunk, the burly barbarian who single-handedly made warhammers cool again despite their measly 1d4+1 damage. Yep, Wulfgar is back, after ditching his buddies in __ to become a bottle-swilling bouncer in the mangy port town of Luskan. </p><p>The towering tough guy hasn't strayed from his job at the Cutlass, hasn't sobered up, and hasn't forgotten his six years of horrific torture under the nasty balor Errtu. </p><p>But it's time for another book, so all that's about to change: kicked out of the Cutlass, robbed of Aegis-fang (yikes!), and framed for the attempted murder of his old friend Captain Deudermont (remember him from pirate-hunting on the <em>Sea Sprite</em>?), Wulfgar goes on the run with the rogue Morik, who's become a true friend despite the mission Jarlaxle and his dark-elf cohort gave him to watch the barbarian. Sure, Drizzt is missing (although he does make appearances in the form of ruminating journal entries), so <em>Spine</em> isn't a nonstop scimitar-fest. But R.A. still spins a good yarn--as always. With plenty of combat and intrigue, not to mention the ever-familiar monsters and spells, <em>Spine of the World</em> is surely the best show in town for the Forgotten Realms crowd. <em>--Paul Hughes</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>The Road to Redemption</strong> </p><p>Even the brutal streets of a treacherous city can't hide a tortured soul forever. </p><p>The barbarian Wulfgar sets upon a dangerous path toward redemption when and old friend finds him in the city of Luskan. Wulfgar's journey twists up the windswept peaks of the Spine of the World. He will persevere, for at the end lies his most prized possession -- the life he thought he'd lost forever. </p><p>Contains 16 pages of roleplaying game rules base on_ The Spine of the World._ </p> </div>


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<div><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Starless Night is part of the continuing "Forgotten Realms" saga, which includes the author's best seller, The Legacy (Random Audio, 1992). Still shaken by the death of their comrade, Wolfgar, the companions, Regis, Brunor, Catibri, and Drizzt, mourn in their own ways. For Drizzt, however, sorrow turns to vengeance. Drizzt decides that he must return to the Underdark city of Menzoberranzan and see for himself that the drow do not again spread their evil on the surface world. Much like a fly who is caught in a spider's invisible web, Drizzt, too, finds himself entangled in events that he cannot control. Starless Night is good sword-and-sorcery fare and keeps a lively pace throughout. Narrator Simon Jones offers a solid performance that is occasionally marred by hokey sound effects. Those who are Dungeons and Dragons players will appreciate seeing the genre come to life. Recommended for "gamers" and listeners interested in fantasy.<br><em>- Adam Paul Hunt, "California Bicyclist," San Francisco</em><br>Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Return to the City of Spiders! </p><p>Still reeling from the death of Wulfgar, Drizzt is allowed little time to grieve, for dark elves are massing in the caverns deep under Mithral Hall. To protect his adopted home, he'll have to return to the city of his birth, the evil City of Spiders. Menzoberranzan is one of the most dangerous places in the already perilous Underdark on a good day, but for Drizzt, a renegade with a price on his head, its certain death ever to set foot there again. But Drizzt Do'Urden and his companions have faced certain death before, and will gladly spend their lives for the sake of the dwarves of Mithral Hall. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>The paperback edition of the first book in Salvatore’s classic dark elf tales.</strong><br></p><hr><hr>This is the paperback version of the stunning new release of the classic R.A. Salvatore novel that begins the tale of his signature dark elf character, Drizzt Do-UrdenTM. <p></p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>R.A. Salvatore</strong> has published numerous <strong>Forgotten Realms</strong> novels with Wizards of the Coast, Inc., most of which have been <em>New York Times</em> bestsellers. He is also known as the best-selling author of the <strong><em>Star Wars</em></strong>®_: Episode II Attack of the Clones_ novelization from Del Rey. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The fourth in a series of premiere hardcover editions of Salvatore's classic dark elf tales.  </p><p>This new release of the classic R.A. Salvatore novel continues the classic tale of Salvatore's signature dark elf character Drizzt Do'Urden™. Although this was the first title actually published about Drizzt, it has now been placed in its proper chronological order as fourth in the series. Each title in the Legend of Drizzt series showcases the classic dark elf novels in new, deluxe hardcover editions. Each title will feature all new cover art and new introductions written by those who have become familiar with Salvatore and Drizzt over the years.   </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. SALVATORE was born in Massachusetts in 1959 and still makes his home there. He has published numerous Forgotten Realms novels with Wizards of the Coast, Inc., most of which have been New York Times best-sellers. He is also known as the best-selling author of the Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones novelization from Del Rey.  </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Gods Walk the Realms! </p><p>Rising up from the black depths of the Underdark, the drow once more meet the dwarves of Mithral Hall. Bruenor Battlehammer, with Drizzt at his side, won't go down without a fight--but they'll have to fight without Wulfgar or Catti-brie at their sides. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. Salvatore has spent so many years winding himself into fantasy worlds that he's still trying to figure out how to unwind. He is the author of more than forty novels and more than a dozen <em>New York Times</em> best sellers, including <em>The Two Swords</em>, which debuted at or near the top of many best seller lists. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Starless Night is part of the continuing "Forgotten Realms" saga, which includes the author's best seller, The Legacy (Random Audio, 1992). Still shaken by the death of their comrade, Wolfgar, the companions, Regis, Brunor, Catibri, and Drizzt, mourn in their own ways. For Drizzt, however, sorrow turns to vengeance. Drizzt decides that he must return to the Underdark city of Menzoberranzan and see for himself that the drow do not again spread their evil on the surface world. Much like a fly who is caught in a spider's invisible web, Drizzt, too, finds himself entangled in events that he cannot control. Starless Night is good sword-and-sorcery fare and keeps a lively pace throughout. Narrator Simon Jones offers a solid performance that is occasionally marred by hokey sound effects. Those who are Dungeons and Dragons players will appreciate seeing the genre come to life. Recommended for "gamers" and listeners interested in fantasy.<br><em>- Adam Paul Hunt, "California Bicyclist," San Francisco</em><br>Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Return to the City of Spiders!  </p><p>Still reeling from the death of Wulfgar, Drizzt is allowed little time to grieve, for dark elves are massing in the caverns deep under Mithral Hall. To protect his adopted home, he'll have to return to the city of his birth, the evil City of Spiders. Menzoberranzan is one of the most dangerous places in the already perilous Underdark on a good day, but for Drizzt, a renegade with a price on his head, its certain death ever to set foot there again. But Drizzt Do'Urden and his companions have faced certain death before, and will gladly spend their lives for the sake of the dwarves of Mithral Hall. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Join Drizzt Do'Urden, the world's most famous drow elf, on his adventures in the <strong>Forgotten Realms</strong>!  </p><p>Regis has fallen into the hands of the assassin Artmis Entreri, who is taking him to Calimport to deliver him into the clutches of the vile Pasha Pook. But Drizzt and Wulfgar are close on their heels, determined to save Regis from his own folly as much as from his powerful enemies. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. Salvatore has spent so many years winding himself into fantasy worlds that he's still trying to figure out how to unwind. He is the author of more than forty novels and more than a dozen <em>New York Times</em> best sellers, including <em>The Two Swords</em>, which debuted at or near the top of many best seller lists. </p>

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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Attention all Drizzt freaks: our favorite dark-elf hero is not, repeat not, in <em>Spine of the World</em>. Neither is Bruenor nor Cattie-brie nor Regis et al. But don't think that means the latest installment in R.A. Salvatore's sweeping Drizzt-and-pals series isn't worth picking up: <em>Spine</em> sets things straight for the Forgotten Realms' newest, meanest drunk, the burly barbarian who single-handedly made warhammers cool again despite their measly 1d4+1 damage. Yep, Wulfgar is back, after ditching his buddies in __ to become a bottle-swilling bouncer in the mangy port town of Luskan. </p><p>The towering tough guy hasn't strayed from his job at the Cutlass, hasn't sobered up, and hasn't forgotten his six years of horrific torture under the nasty balor Errtu. </p><p>But it's time for another book, so all that's about to change: kicked out of the Cutlass, robbed of Aegis-fang (yikes!), and framed for the attempted murder of his old friend Captain Deudermont (remember him from pirate-hunting on the <em>Sea Sprite</em>?), Wulfgar goes on the run with the rogue Morik, who's become a true friend despite the mission Jarlaxle and his dark-elf cohort gave him to watch the barbarian. Sure, Drizzt is missing (although he does make appearances in the form of ruminating journal entries), so <em>Spine</em> isn't a nonstop scimitar-fest. But R.A. still spins a good yarn--as always. With plenty of combat and intrigue, not to mention the ever-familiar monsters and spells, <em>Spine of the World</em> is surely the best show in town for the Forgotten Realms crowd. <em>--Paul Hughes</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>The Road to Redemption</strong>  </p><p>Even the brutal streets of a treacherous city can't hide a tortured soul forever.  </p><p>The barbarian Wulfgar sets upon a dangerous path toward redemption when and old friend finds him in the city of Luskan. Wulfgar's journey twists up the windswept peaks of the Spine of the World. He will persevere, for at the end lies his most prized possession -- the life he thought he'd lost forever.  </p><p>Contains 16 pages of roleplaying game rules base on_ The Spine of the World._  </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Gods Walk the Realms!  </p><p>Rising up from the black depths of the Underdark, the drow once more meet the dwarves of Mithral Hall. Bruenor Battlehammer, with Drizzt at his side, won't go down without a fight--but they'll have to fight without Wulfgar or Catti-brie at their sides. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. Salvatore has spent so many years winding himself into fantasy worlds that he's still trying to figure out how to unwind. He is the author of more than forty novels and more than a dozen <em>New York Times</em> best sellers, including <em>The Two Swords</em>, which debuted at or near the top of many best seller lists. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>A new mass market edition of the <em>New York Times</em> best-selling sword and sorcery classic, <em>The Legacy</em> is Drizzt at his scimitar-wielding best!  </p><p>Having found a measure of peace among the dwarves in the reclaimed Mithral Hall, Drizzt begins to know contentment for perhaps the first time in his tumultuous life. But for a dark elf renegade from a city ruled by priestesses of a demon goddess, no peace can long last. It is Lolth herself, the dreaded Queen of the Demonweb Pits, who musters her followers to pour up from the black depths of the Underdark to reclaim for their goddess the one soul that had managed to elude her. The soul of Drizzt Do'Urden. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. Salvatore has spent so many years winding himself into fantasy worlds that he's still trying to figure out how to unwind. He is the author of more than forty novels and more than a dozen <em>New York Times</em> best sellers, including <em>The Two Swords</em>, which debuted at or near the top of many best seller lists. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Now in paperback, the third installment in the classic tales of the Legend of Drizzt. When a lone drow emerges from the Underdark into the blinding light of day, the <strong>Forgotten Realms</strong> world will be changed forever. </p><h3>From the Back Cover</h3><p>Here for the first time in one volume is R.A. Salvatore's The Dark Elf trilogy, the stirring epic that recounts the tortured beginnings and early struggles of Drizzt Do'Urden, one of the most beloved characters of the Forgotten Realms setting. </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Exile  </p><p>Hostile in ways that a surface-dweller could never know, the tunnel-mazes of the Underdark challenge all who tread there. Among these souls are Drizzt Do'Urden and his magical cat, Guenhwyvar.  </p><p>Exiled from his drow homeland, Drizzt must fight for a new home in the boundless labyrinth. Meanwhile, he must watch for signs of pursuit -- for the dark elves are not a forgiving race.  </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>R.A. Salvatore</strong> was born in Massachusetts in 1959 and still makes his home there. He has published numerous<strong> Forgotten Realms</strong> novels with Wizards of the Coast, Inc., most of which have been <em>New York Time</em>s best-sellers. He is also known as the best-selling author of the_ Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones_ novelization from Del Rey.  </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>A new "Forgotten Realms" novel from one of TSR's top-selling authors. The call of the past grows even stronger as Drizzt and his companions are lured from their ship off the Sword Coast back to the Icewind Dale, where a friend from the Abyss has set a deadly trap for the dark elf. Once again, Drizzt and his allies must combine forces to combat an evil that seeks to destroy their world. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. Salvatore has spent so many years winding himself into fantasy worlds that he's still trying to figure out how to unwind. He is the author of more than forty novels and more than a dozen <em>New York Times</em> best sellers, including <em>The Two Swords</em>, which debuted at or near the top of many best seller lists. </p>

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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and his gifted warriors go in search of a missing member of their own band in this latest fast-moving fantasy adventure from bestseller Salvatore (Servant of the Shard, etc.). In the previous episode of the Paths of Darkness series (of the Forgotten Realms umbrella series), Wulfgar the barbarian fought a demon, was possessed and supposedly killed. Now it turns out that not only is he alive but he is in need of the type of assistance at which his friends excel. Getting to Wulfgar and aiding him in his quest for Aegis-fang, his warhammer, is only part of the fun. Drizzt Do'Urden, along with Cattie-Brie, a dwarf named Bruenor Battlehammer and Regis the Halfling, often have to battle the obligatory orcs, goblins and ogres on their way to the real business at hand. A second plot involves the stalking of Drizzt Do'Urden by Le'Lorinel, a Moon elf (or pale elf, whereas Drizzt is a Drow or dark elf). The author combines some of the good versus evil of Robin Hood and his merry men, the campy heroics and friendship of The Princess Bride (including an appearance of dread pirate Sheila Kree) and a rather unfulfilled stab at race relations with Le'Lorinel's unhinged hatred for Drizzt Do'Urden. As this is the fourth novel in the subseries of a larger series, it is not for the uninitiated. Long-awaited by Salvatore's legions of fans, however, this book is as certain as its predecessors to climb bestseller charts. 10-city author tour. </p><p>Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The <strong>Legend of Drizzt</strong>(R) comes to an end . . . For now! </p><p>The mighty warhammer Aegis-fang has found its way into the hands of the wicked pirate captain Sheila Kree, and Wulfgar is hot on her trail. When Drizzt and his companions leave Mithral Hall in search of Wulfgar, they find themselves on the trail of the warhammer as well, a trail that will lead them to a startling reunion, and the last battle for the heart and soul of Wulfgar. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>A new "Forgotten Realms" novel from one of TSR's top-selling authors. The call of the past grows even stronger as Drizzt and his companions are lured from their ship off the Sword Coast back to the Icewind Dale, where a friend from the Abyss has set a deadly trap for the dark elf. Once again, Drizzt and his allies must combine forces to combat an evil that seeks to destroy their world. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>R.A. Salvatore has spent so many years winding himself into fantasy worlds that he's still trying to figure out how to unwind. He is the author of more than forty novels and more than a dozen <em>New York Times</em> best sellers, including <em>The Two Swords</em>, which debuted at or near the top of many best seller lists. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>Streams of Silver</strong>  </p><p>"Yer eyes'll shine when ye see the rivers runnin' silver in Mithril Hall!"  </p><p>Bruenor the dwarf, Wulfgar the barbarian, Regis the halfling, and Drizzt the dark elf fight monsters and magic on their way to Mithril Hall, centuries-old birthplace of Bruenor and his dwarven ancestors.  </p><p>Faced with racism, Drizzt contemplates returning to the lightless underworld city andmurderous lifestyle he abandoned. Wulfgar begins to overcome his tribe's aversion for magic. And Regis runs from a deadly assassin, who, allied with evil wizards, is bent on the companions' destruction. All of Bruenor's dreams, and the survival of his party, hinge upon the actions of one brave young woman.  </p><p><em>Streams of Silver</em> is R.A. Salvatore's second book in the Icewind Dale Trilogy, based on the <strong>Forgotten Realms</strong> fantasy setting.  </p>

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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Exile </p><p>Hostile in ways that a surface-dweller could never know, the tunnel-mazes of the Underdark challenge all who tread there. Among these souls are Drizzt Do'Urden and his magical cat, Guenhwyvar. </p><p>Exiled from his drow homeland, Drizzt must fight for a new home in the boundless labyrinth. Meanwhile, he must watch for signs of pursuit -- for the dark elves are not a forgiving race. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>R.A. Salvatore</strong> was born in Massachusetts in 1959 and still makes his home there. He has published numerous<strong> Forgotten Realms</strong> novels with Wizards of the Coast, Inc., most of which have been <em>New York Time</em>s best-sellers. He is also known as the best-selling author of the_ Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones_ novelization from Del Rey. </p> </div>


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SUMMARY:
For ten years Fraa Erasmas, a young avout, has lived in a cloistered sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside world. But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change—and Erasmas will become a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world, as he follows his destiny to the most inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.   Anathem is the latest miraculous invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle—a work of astonishing scope, intelligence, and imagination.


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SUMMARY: For ten years Fraa Erasmas, a young avout, has lived in a cloistered sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside world. But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change—and Erasmas will become a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world, as he follows his destiny to the most inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond. Anathem is the latest miraculous invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle—a work of astonishing scope, intelligence, and imagination.


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SUMMARY:
It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters.It begins with a murder.And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on. A war - brutal, far-reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it's about to erupt into reality.It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end. It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the center of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether. SURFACE DETAIL is Iain M. Banks' new Culture novel, a breathtaking achievement from a writer whose body of work is without parallel in the modern history of science fiction.


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<p class="description">The first ever collection of Iain Banks's short fiction, this volume includes the acclaimed novella, The State of the Art. This is a striking addition to the growing body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The other stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks's staggering talent. </p>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p> <p class="description">The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.</p> <p class="description">The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.</p> <p class="description">The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a lost cause. But not even its machine could see the horrors in his past. </p> <p class="description">Ferociously intelligent, both witty and horrific, USE OF WEAPONS is a masterpiece of science fiction.</p></div>


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<div><p class="description">Two and a half millennia ago, the artifact appeared in a remote corner of space, beside a trillion-year-old dying sun from a different universe. It was a perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared. Now it is back. </p>
<p class="description">Silent, motionless, and resisting all efforts to make contact, the artifact waits. The Culture ships, however, cannot. For the artifact is something they need to understand first, before it falls into less understanding hands - and triggers a political and military crisis which will threaten everything the Culture has achieved. </p>
<p class="description">One person who saw the artifact when it first appeared may have information concerning its purpose, but she is living out her death in the immense Eccentric ship, the Sleeper Service. The Culture ships formulate a plan to retrieve her. The Sleeper Service has other things on its mind.</p></div>


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name. For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder. And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever. Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilisations throughout the greater galaxy. Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter. MATTER is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>"Dazzlingly original." -- Daily Mail"Gripping, touching and funny." -- TLSThe war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender. Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.</p>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p> <p class="description">The Twin Novae battle had been one of the last of the Idiran war, and one of the most horrific: desperate to avert their inevitable defeat, the Idirans had induced not one but two suns to explode, snuffing out worlds and biospheres teeming with sentient life. They were attacks of incredible proportion -- gigadeathcrimes. But the war ended, and life went on. </p> <p class="description"> Now, eight hundred years later, light from the first explosion is about to reach the Masaq' Orbital, home to the Culture's most adventurous and decadent souls. There it will fall upon Masaq's 50 billion inhabitants, gathered to commemorate the deaths of the innocent and to reflect, if only for a moment, on what some call the Culture's own complicity in the terrible event. </p> <p class="description"> Also journeying to Masaq' is Major Quilan, an emissary from the war-ravaged world of Chel. In the aftermath of the conflict that split his world apart, most believe he has come to Masaq' to bring home Chel's most brilliant star and self-exiled dissident, the honored Composer Ziller. </p> <p class="description"> Ziller claims he will do anything to avoid a meeting with Major Quilan, who he suspects has come to murder him. But the Major's true assignment will have far greater consequences than the death of a mere political dissident, as part of a conspiracy more ambitious than even he can know -- a mission his superiors have buried so deeply in his mind that even he cannot remember it. </p> <p class="description"> Hailed by SFX magazine as "an excellent hopping-on point if you've never read a Banks SF novel before," *Look to Windward* is an awe-inspiring immersion into the wildly original, vividly realized civilization that Banks calls the Culture.</p></div>


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The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action. 
The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought. 
The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a burnt-out case. But not even its machine could see the horrors in his past. 
Ferociously intelligent, both witty and horrific, USE OF WEAPONS is a masterpiece of science fiction.


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>First published in the U.K. in 1998, Banks's latest novel steps back from the usual grand scale and ultra high-tech of his well-known "Culture" SF series (Excession, etc.) to the intrigue-ridden courts of a politically fragmented world. In Haspidus, a woman named Vosill, a foreigner from the distant archipelago nation of Drezen, serves as personal physician to King Quience, in spite of social mores that treat women as little more than property. Vosill's servant--actually a spy reporting to one of Quience's trusted right-hand men--finds himself doubting his master's claims that Vosill is a danger to the king, even as he uncovers evidence that suggests that Vosill is much more than she seems. Meanwhile, across the mountains, the stern warrior DeWar serves as chief bodyguard to General UrLeyn, the Prime Protector of the Tassasen Protectorate. His close contact with UrLeyn earns him the distrust of UrLeyn's fellow generals; those loyal to UrLeyn fear DeWar himself could be the perfect spy and assassin, while others worry he will discover their own secret plots. As conspiracies unfold and loyalties shift dangerously in both lands, the story of Vosill and DeWar and their unspoken connection unfolds with masterful subtlety. Banks's new novel should further expand his reputation for creating challenging, intelligent stories full of notable characters trapped in complex situations that have no easy solutions. (Feb.) <br />Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>A doctor's devotion to her king and to her profession embroil her in a web of court intrigue and murder as she strives to preserve the health and well-being of the king she has come to love. On the other side of the world, a general's bodyguard risks his life to protect his master. Interweaving a pair of separate but linked tales of devotion and treachery set on a technologically backward world, Banks (The Player of Games) demonstrates his considerable talent for subtle storytelling. Recommended for most sf collections. <br />Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In The Player of Games, Iain M. Banks presents a distant future that could almost be called the end of history. Humanity has filled the galaxy, and thanks to ultra-high technology everyone has everything they want, no one gets sick, and no one dies. It's a playground society of sports, stellar cruises, parties, and festivals. Jernau Gurgeh, a famed master game player, is looking for something more and finds it when he's invited to a game tournament at a small alien empire. Abruptly Banks veers into different territory. The Empire of Azad is exotic, sensual, and vibrant. It has space battle cruisers, a glowing court--all the stuff of good old science fiction--which appears old-fashioned in contrast to Gurgeh's home. At first it's a relief, but further exploration reveals the empire to be depraved and terrifically unjust. Its defects are gross exaggerations of our own, yet they indict us all the same. Clearly Banks is interested in the idea of a future where everyone can be mature and happy. Yet it's interesting to note that in order to give us this compelling adventure story, he has to return to a more traditional setting. Thoughtful science fiction readers will appreciate the cultural comparisons, and fans of big ideas and action will also be rewarded. --Brooks Peck</p>


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<p class="description">Banks presents an engrossing portrait of an alien world, and of two very different people bound by a startling and mysterious secret.On a backward world with six moons, an alert spy reports on the doings of one Dr. Vosill, who has mysteriously become the personal physician to the king despite being a foreigner and, even more unthinkably, a woman. Vosill has more enemies than she first realizes. But then she also has more remedies in hand than those who wish her ill can ever guess.Elsewhere, in another palace across the mountains, a man named DeWar serves as chief bodyguard to the Protector General of Tassasen, a profession he describes as the business of "assassinating assassins." DeWar, too, has his enemies, but his foes strike more swiftly, and his means of combating them are more direct.No one trusts the doctor, and the bodyguard trusts no one, but is there a hidden commonality linking their disparate histories? Spiraling around a central core of mystery, deceit, love, and betrayal. Inversions is a dazzling work of science fiction from a versatile and imaginative author writing at the height of his remarkable powers.</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>It's not easy to disturb a mega-utopia as vast as the one Iain M. Banks has created in his popular Culture series, where life is devoted to fun and ultra-high-tech is de rigueur. But more than two millennia ago the appearance--and disappearance--of a star older than the universe caused quite a stir. Now the mystery is back, and the key to solving it lies in the mind of the person who witnessed the first disturbance 2,500 years ago. But she's dead, and getting her to cooperate may not be altogether easy. </p><h3>From Kirkus Reviews</h3><p>From versatile Scottish writer Banks, another sf yarn about the tolerant, diverse, far-future Culture (The Player of Games, 1989, etc.). The Culture is subtly controlled by prodigiously intelligent artificial Minds, who, Banks intimates, spend most of their spare time navel-gazing. Here, a huge, enigmatic object referred to as the Excession appears in space and interacts with the Culture's energy grid in ways previously considered impossible. Diplomat Byr Genar-Hofoen of the Department of Special Circumstances is sent to investigate--but, sidetracked by beautiful, talented, spoiled-brat operative Ulver Seich and by old flame Dajeil Gelian, it will be a long time before he draws near the object. Meanwhile, certain Minds occupying a vast array of self-controlled spaceships suspect that still other Minds are involved in a conspiracy--but to what end? With the Culture thus distracted by the Excession, the cruel, dangerously expansionist alien Affront seize the opportunity to hijack a Culture battle fleet and start a war that they only gradually realize they've been suckered into and can't possibly win. Brilliantly inventive and amusing--whole sections read like strings of knowing jokes--but a mess: Chattering spaceships with splendid if confusing names (e.g., Not Invented Here and Shoot Them Later) don't compensate for the absence of real characters. -- <em>Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.</em></p>


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

In a world renowned even within a galaxy full of wonders, a crime within a war. For one brother it means a desperate flight, and a search for the one - maybe two - people who could clear his name.  For his brother it means a life lived under constant threat of treachery and murder.  And for their sister, even without knowing the full truth, it means returning to a place she'd thought abandoned forever.

Only the sister is not what she once was; Djan Seriy Anaplian has changed almost beyond recognition to become an agent of the Culture's Special Circumstances section, charged with high-level interference in civilisations throughout the greater galaxy.

Concealing her new identity - and her particular set of abilities - might be a dangerous strategy, however. In the world to which Anaplian returns, nothing is quite as it seems; and determining the appropriate level of interference in someone else's war is never a simple matter.

MATTER is a novel of dazzling wit and serious purpose. An extraordinary feat of storytelling and breathtaking invention on a grand scale, it is a tour de force from a writer who has turned science fiction on its head.


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It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters. It begins with a murder. And it will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself.
Lededje Y&#8217;breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit.  Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a price, and to put things right she will need the help of the Culture.
Benevolent, enlightened and almost infinitely resourceful though it may be, the Culture can only do so much for any individual. With the assistance of one of its most powerful - and arguably deranged - warships, Lededje finds herself heading into a combat zone not even sure which side the Culture is really on.  A war - brutal, far-reaching - is already raging within the digital realms that store the souls of the dead, and it&#8217;s about to erupt into reality.
It started in the realm of the Real and that is where it will end.  It will touch countless lives and affect entire civilizations, but at the centre of it all is a young woman whose need for revenge masks another motive altogether.


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<h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>In the midst of a war between two galactic empires, a shapechanging agent of the Iridans undertakes a clandestine mission to a forbidden planet in search of an intelligent, fugitive machine whose actions could alter the course of the conflict. Banks ( Walking on Glass ) demonstrates a talent for suspense in a new wave sf novel that should appeal to fans of space adventure. For large sf collections. JC<br />Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>'Banks is a phenomenon: the wildly successful, fearlessly creative author of brilliant and disturbing non-genre novels, he's equally at home writing pure science fiction of a peculiarly gnarly energy and elegance' William Gibson 'There is now no British SF writer to whose work I look forward with greater keenness' The Times 'Poetic, humorous, baffling, terrifying, sexy - the books of Iain M. Banks are all these things and more' NME </p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"A FIRST-RATE TOUR DE FORCE."<br>--The New York Times </p><p>"A FRIGHTENINGLY LOGICAL, BELIEVABLE, AND GRIMLY PROPHETIC TALE . . . CLARKE IS A MASTER."<br>--Los Angeles Times -- <em>Review</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The Overlords appeared suddenly over every city--intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior to humankind. Benevolent, they made few demands: unify earth, eliminate poverty, and end war. With little rebellion, humankind agreed, and a golden age began. </p><p>But at what cost? With the advent of peace, man ceases to strive for creative greatness, and a malaise settles over the human race. To those who resist, it becomes evident that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. As civilization approaches the crossroads, will the Overlords spell the end for humankind . . . or the beginning? </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"A FIRST-RATE TOUR DE FORCE."<br>--The New York Times  </p><p>"A FRIGHTENINGLY LOGICAL, BELIEVABLE, AND GRIMLY PROPHETIC TALE . . . CLARKE IS A MASTER."<br>--Los Angeles Times -- <em>Review</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The Overlords appeared suddenly over every city--intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior to humankind. Benevolent, they made few demands: unify earth, eliminate poverty, and end war. With little rebellion, humankind agreed, and a golden age began.  </p><p>But at what cost? With the advent of peace, man ceases to strive for creative greatness, and a malaise settles over the human race. To those who resist, it becomes evident that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. As civilization approaches the crossroads, will the Overlords spell the end for humankind . . . or the beginning? </p>

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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Daniel Keyes wrote little SF but is highly regarded for one classic, <em>Flowers for Algernon</em>. As a 1959 novella it won a Hugo Award; the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula. The Oscar-winning movie adaptation <em>Charly</em> (1968) also spawned a 1980 Broadway musical.</p><p>Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving: </p><blockquote><p>I dint feel bad because I watched Algernon and I lernd how to finish the amaze even if it takes me along time. </p><p>I dint know mice were so smart.</p></blockquote><p>Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: "Punctuation, is? fun!" But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry "friends" at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he's as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was--and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate... </p><p><em>Flowers for Algernon</em> is a timeless tear-jerker with a terrific emotional impact. <em>--David Langford</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>PRAISE FOR FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON<br>"A tale that is convincing, suspenseful and touching."--_The New York Times _<br>"An ingeniously touching story . . . Moving . . . Intensely real."--_The Baltimore Sun_  </p>

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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Daniel Keyes wrote little SF but is highly regarded for one classic, <em>Flowers for Algernon</em>. As a 1959 novella it won a Hugo Award; the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula. The Oscar-winning movie adaptation <em>Charly</em> (1968) also spawned a 1980 Broadway musical.</p><p>Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving: </p><blockquote><p>I dint feel bad because I watched Algernon and I lernd how to finish the amaze even if it takes me along time. </p><p>I dint know mice were so smart.</p></blockquote><p>Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: "Punctuation, is? fun!" But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry "friends" at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he's as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was--and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate... </p><p><em>Flowers for Algernon</em> is a timeless tear-jerker with a terrific emotional impact. <em>--David Langford</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>PRAISE FOR FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON<br>"A tale that is convincing, suspenseful and touching."--_The New York Times _<br>"An ingeniously touching story . . . Moving . . . Intensely real."--_The Baltimore Sun_ </p> </div>


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SUMMARY: Arutha, Prince of Krondor, uses an attempted assassination as a ruse to fake his own death so that he may travel north to confront Murmandamus. In his travels to the Northlands, Arutha finds his father's former enemy, Guy du Bas-Tyra, as the Protector of the city Armengar. A historic battle ensues, which ends in the destruction of the city. Murmandamus and his forces then strike south to Sethanon, a city beneath which the Lifestone had been buried in the ancient past.


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SUMMARY: He held the fate of two worlds in his hands... Once he was an orphan called Pug, apprenticed to a sorcerer of the enchanted land of Midkemia... Then he was captured and enslaved by the Tsurani, a strange, warlike race of invaders from another world.There, in the exotic Empire of Kelewan, he earned a new name--Milamber. He learned to tame the unnimagined powers that lay withing him. And he took his place in an ancient struggle against an evil Enemy older than time itself.From the Paperback edition.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Arutha, Prince of Krondor, uses an attempted assassination as a ruse to fake his own death so that he may travel north to confront Murmandamus. In his travels to the Northlands, Arutha finds his father's former enemy, Guy du Bas-Tyra, as the Protector of the city Armengar. A historic battle ensues, which ends in the destruction of the city. Murmandamus and his forces then strike south to Sethanon, a city beneath which the Lifestone had been buried in the ancient past.</p>


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: This is the second volume of Raymond E. Feist's great epic of heroic fantasy. For nearly a year peace reigned the enchanted kingdom of Rillanon. But new challenges awaited Arutha the Prince of Krondor when Jimmy The Hand - youngest thief in the Guild of Mockers - came upon a sinister Nighthawk poised to assassinate him. What evil power raises the dead and makes corpses do battle with the living at the behest of the Guild of Death? And what high magic can defeat it? The new King of Midkemia is threatened - and a life-or-death quest must be undertaken for an antidote to a poison that fells a beautiful Princess on her wedding day! "The best new fantasy concept in years! Has a chance of putting its author firmly on the throne next to Tolkein - and keeping him there" - "Dragon". "Epic scope! vivid imagination!a significant contribution to the growth of the field of fantasy" - "Washington Post".


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He held the fate of two worlds in his hands... Once he was an orphan called Pug, apprenticed to a sorcerer of the enchanted land of Midkemia...

Then he was captured and enslaved by the Tsurani, a strange, warlike race of invaders from another world.There, in the exotic Empire of Kelewan, he earned a new name--Milamber. He learned to tame the unnimagined powers that lay withing him. And he took his place in an ancient struggle against an evil Enemy older than time itself.From the Paperback edition.


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A poisoned bolt has struck down the Princess Anita on the day of her wedding to Prince Arutha of Krondor.To save his beloved, Arutha sets out in search of the mytics herb called Silverthorn that only grows in the dark and forbidding land of the Spellweavers.Accompanied by a mercenary, a minstrel, and a clever young thief, he wil confront an ancient evil and do battle with the dark powers that threaten the enchanted realm of Midkemia.


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<div><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>YA-- This first book in a trilogy takes place five years after Return of the Jedi (Ballantine, 1983) by James Kahn. Han and Leia are now married and expecting twins; Luke is continuing his training as a Jedi, while training Leia. The Republic is at peace, having defeated Darth Vader and the evil Empire. Enter Grand Admiral Thrawn, ex-warlord of the empire, with his rogue Jedi knight. They attack the Republic and attempt to kidnap Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia for their own nefarious purposes. It's great fun to romp with the <code></code>Star Wars'' cast of humans, droids, and aliens again. While it is not on a par with Zahn's creative, powerful works such as Cascade Point (Baen, 1987), Heir is well written for what it is. Recommended for YA collections needing a Star Wars fix. --John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA2-<br>Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>It's five years after <em>Return of the Jedi:</em> the Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star, defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven out the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet to a distant corner of the galaxy. Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and expecting Jedi Twins. And Luke Skywalker has become the first in a long-awaited line of Jedi Knights. But thousand of light-years away, the last of the emperor's warlords has taken command of the shattered Imperial Fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the new Republic. For this dark warrior has made two vital discoveries that could destroy everything the courageous men and women of the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to build. The explosive confrontation that results is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale--in short, a story worthy of the name <em>Star Wars.</em></p></div>


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<div><p class="description">The dying Empire's most cunning and ruthless warlord—Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command<br>    of the remnants of the Imperial fleet and launched a massive campaign aimed at the New<br>    Republic's destruction. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian race to find proof of treason<br>    inside the highest Republic Council—only to discover instead a ghostly fleet of warships that<br>    could bring doom to their friends and victory to their enemies.</p>
<p class="description">    Yet most dangerous of all is a new Dark Jedi, risen from the ashes of a shrouded past,<br>    consumed by bitterness ... and scheming to corrupt Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side.</p></div>


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<p>The embattled Republic reels from the attacks of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has marshaled the remnants of the Imperial forces and driven the Rebels back with an abominable technology recovered from the Emperor's secret fortress: clone soldiers. As Thrawn mounts his final siege, Han and Chewbacca struggle to form a coalition of smugglers for a last-ditch attack against the empire, while Leia holds the Alliance together and prepares for the birth of her Jedi twins. Overwhelmed by the ships and clones at Thrawn's command, the Republic has one last hope--sending a small force, led by Luke Skywalker, into the very stronghold that houses Thrawn's terrible cloning machines. There a final danger awaits, as the Dark Jedi C'baoth directs the battle against the Rebels and builds his strength to finish what he had already started: the destruction of Luke Skywalker.<br><br>Features a bonus section following the novel that includes a primer on the <i>Star Wars</i> expanded universe, and over...


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<div><p class="description">The embattled Republic reels from the attacks of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has marshaled the remnants of the Imperial forces and driven the Rebels back with an abominable technology recovered from the Emperor's secret fortress: clone soldiers. As Thrawn mounts his final siege, Han and Chewbacca struggle to form a coalition of smugglers for a last-ditch attack against the Empire, while Leia holds the Alliance together and prepares for the birth of her Jedi twins. Overwhelmed by the ships and clones at Thrawn's command, the Republic has one last hope—sending a small force, led by Luke Skywalker, into the very stronghold that houses Thrawn's terrible cloning machines.</p> <p class="description">There a final danger awaits, as the Dark Jedi C'baoth directs the battle against the Rebels and builds his strength to finish what he had already started: the destruction of Luke Skywalker.</p></div>


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<div><p class="description">The dying Empire's most cunning and ruthless warlord—Grand Admiral Thrawn—has taken command<br> of the remnants of the Imperial fleet and launched a massive campaign aimed at the New<br> Republic's destruction. Meanwhile, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian race to find proof of treason<br> inside the highest Republic Council—only to discover instead a ghostly fleet of warships that<br> could bring doom to their friends and victory to their enemies.</p> <p class="description"> Yet most dangerous of all is a new Dark Jedi, risen from the ashes of a shrouded past,<br> consumed by bitterness ... and scheming to corrupt Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side.</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>For centuries, the people of Alera have relied on the power of the furies to protect them from outside invaders. But the gravest threat might be closer than they think.Tavi has escaped the Calderon Valley and the mysterious attack of the Marat on his homeland. But he is far from safe, as trying to keep up the illusion of being a student while secretly training as one of the First Lord's spies is a dangerous game. And he has not yet learned to use the furies, making him especially vulnerable.When the attack comes it's on two fronts. A sudden strike threatens the First Lord's life and threatens to plunge the land into civil war. While in the Calderon Valley, the threat faced from the Marat is dwarfed by an ancient menace. And Tavi must learn to harness the furies if he has any chance of fighting the greatest threat Alera has ever known . . .</p>


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SUMMARY: In his acclaimed Codex Alera novels, bestselling author Jim Butcher has created a fascinating world in which the elemental forces of nature take physical form and are used for protection. Now, as enemies become allies and friends become bitter foes, a danger beyond reckoning looms for all.


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SUMMARY:
In his acclaimed Codex Alera novels, bestselling author Jim Butcher has created a fascinating world in which the elemental forces of nature take physical form and are used for protection. Now, as enemies become allies and friends become bitter foes, a danger beyond reckoning looms for all.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In the realm of Alera, where people bond with the furies--elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal--fifteen-year-old Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. But when his homeland erupts in chaos--when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies-- Tavi's simple courage will turn the tides of war.</p>


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SUMMARY: Power-hungry Kalare has rebelled against Alera's aging First Lord, Gaius Sextus. Ill-equipped to face this attack, Gaius must seek support - even from the combative High Lord of Aquitaine. Kalare has also seized valuable hostages that could mean the difference between victory and failure. And Amara, the First Lord's Cursor, has been tasked with their rescue. She has earned this trust but are her allies as worthy - or does the Lady Aquitaine see the time as ripe for betrayal?Treachery is rife elsewhere, as young Tavi of Calderon will find. Posted away from the war, Tavi joins a legion anyway, under an assumed name. Then Kalare does the unthinkable - uniting with the brutish Canim. When treason wipes out the army's command structure, Tavi finds himself leading an inexperienced legion against the might of the Canim horde - the very last resort of a war-torn realm.


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SUMMARY:
Power-hungry Kalare has rebelled against Alera's aging First Lord, Gaius Sextus. Ill-equipped to face this attack, Gaius must seek support - even from the combative High Lord of Aquitaine. Kalare has also seized valuable hostages that could mean the difference between victory and failure. And Amara, the First Lord's Cursor, has been tasked with their rescue. She has earned this trust but are her allies as worthy - or does the Lady Aquitaine see the time as ripe for betrayal?Treachery is rife elsewhere, as young Tavi of Calderon will find. Posted away from the war, Tavi joins a legion anyway, under an assumed name. Then Kalare does the unthinkable - uniting with the brutish Canim. When treason wipes out the army's command structure, Tavi finds himself leading an inexperienced legion against the might of the Canim horde - the very last resort of a war-torn realm.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: **From the *New York Times* bestselling author of *Captain’s Fury* and the Dresden Files novels.** Tavi of Calderon, now recognized as Princeps Gaius Octavian and heir to the crown, has achieved a fragile alliance with Alera’s oldest foes, the savage Canim. But when Tavi and his legions guide the Canim safely to their lands, his worst fears are realized. The dreaded Vord—the enemy of Aleran and Cane alike—have spent the last three years laying waste to the Canim homeland. And when the Alerans are cut off from their ships, they find themselves with no choice but to fight shoulder to shoulder if they are to survive. For a thousand years, Alera and her furies have withstood every enemy, and survived every foe. The thousand years are over…


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<p>For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal. But now, Gaius Sextus, First Lord of Alera, grows old and lacks an heir. Ambitious High Lords plot and maneuver to place their Houses in positions of power, and a war of succession looms on the horizon. " "Far from city politics in the Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans' most savage enemy - the Marat - return to the Valley, he will discover that his destiny is much greater than he could ever imagine. " Caught in a storm of deadly wind furies, Tavi saves the life of a runaway slave named Amara. But she is actually a spy for Gaius Sextus, sent to the Valley to gather intelligence on traitors to the Crown, who may be in league with the...


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

**From the *New York Times* bestselling author of *Captain’s Fury* and the Dresden Files novels.**



 Tavi of Calderon, now recognized as Princeps Gaius Octavian and heir to the crown, has achieved a fragile alliance with Alera’s oldest foes, the savage Canim. But when Tavi and his legions guide the Canim safely to their lands, his worst fears are realized.



 The dreaded Vord—the enemy of Aleran and Cane alike—have spent the last three years laying waste to the Canim homeland. And when the Alerans are cut off from their ships, they find themselves with no choice but to fight shoulder to shoulder if they are to survive.



 For a thousand years, Alera and her furies have withstood every enemy, and survived every foe.



 The thousand years are over…


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p> <p class="description">**The next book in the thrilling *New York Times* bestselling series.**</p> <p class="description"></p> <p class="description"> For years he has endured the endless trials and triumphs of a man whose skill and power could not be restrained. Battling ancient enemies, forging new alliances, and confronting the corruption within his own land, Gaius Octavian became a legendary man of war-and the rightful First Lord of Alera. </p> <p class="description"></p> <p class="description"> But now, the savage Vord are on the march, and Gaius must lead his legions to the Calderon Valley to stand against them-using all of his intelligence, ingenuity, and furycraft to save their world from eternal darkness.</p></div>


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SUMMARY: The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission...and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair...and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear. Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.


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SUMMARY: Once there were great magicians born to the Maghuin Dhonn; the folk of the Brown Bear, the oldest tribe in Alba. But generations ago, the greatest of them all broke a sacred oath sworn in the name of all his people. Now, only small gifts remain to them. Through her lineage, Moirin possesses such gifts - the ability to summon the twilight and conceal herself, and the skill to coax plants to grow. Moirin has a secret, too. From childhood onward, she senses the presence of unfamiliar gods in her life; the bright lady, and the man with a seedling cupped in his palm. Raised in the wilderness by her reclusive mother, it isn't until she comes of age that Moirin learns how illustrious, if mixed, her heritage is. The great granddaughter of Alais the Wise, child of the Maghuin Donn, and a cousin of the Cruarch of Alba, Moirin learns her father was a D'Angeline priest dedicated to serving Naamah, goddess of desire. After Moirin undergoes the rites of adulthood, she finds divine acceptance...on the condition that she fulfill an unknown destiny that lies somewhere beyond the ocean. Or perhaps oceans. Beyond Terre d'Ange where she finds her father, in the far reaches of distant Ch'in, Moirin's skills are a true gift when facing the vengeful plans of an ambitious mage, a noble warrior princess desperate to save her father's throne, and the spirit of a celestial dragon.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Following hard on the heels of Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey's spectacular debut novel, comes Kushiel's Chosen, a glittering and riveting historical fantasy. The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that the angels found the land and saw it was good, and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Phegrave;dre noacute; Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with a very special mission--and the first to recognize her for who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Phegrave;dre has trained in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Having stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren't far off the mark. The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phegrave;dre's brow, and they are not yet done with their charge--for while the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe that other heads should wear the crown. And those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge. To protect and serve, Phegrave;dre will once again leave her beloved homeland. From the sun-drenched villas of La Serenissima to the wilds of old Hellas, from a prison designed to drive the very gods mad to an island of immutable joy. Phegrave;dre will meet old friends and new enemies and discover a plot so dreadful as to make the earth tremble, masterminded by the one person she cannot turn away from.</p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In this sequel to 2009's <em>Naamah's Kiss</em>, Moirin, the devoted servant of a sex goddess, journeys across half of a fantasy version of Asia in search of her soulmate, Bao. In Tatar territory, she finds Bao... and his wife. His father-in-law, the Great Khan, is willing to go to great extremes to keep Bao and Moirin apart. Captured by the fanatic Patriarch of Riva, Moirin escapes to find that Bao has vanished again, this time headed toward the distant lair of the Spider Queen and her army of assassins. The romantic tale is marred by Moirin's narcissistic awareness that she is destined for a glorious fate that lesser mortals like Bao's jealous wife may only envy. Carey's storytelling ability is top-notch, however, and readers will applaud her willingness to resolve major plot threads in the middle book of a trilogy. <em>(June)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Still chasing her destiny in the sequel to Naamah's Kiss (2009), Moirin follows the urging of her diadh-anam across Tatar territory, looking for Bao, her Ch'in lover, who holds the other half of her divine soul-spark. She finds him married to the Great Khan's daughter, and their plans to smooth this wrinkle go disastrously wrong when the Great Khan arranges to have Moirin kidnapped by fanatical, pious Vralians, while Bao is led into the lands of the Spider Queen. Though this book is packed with new people, new lands, and new gods, the pacing is slow and the tone reflective. Carey's involving depictions of several religions also grow rather pointed. While Bao is never present long enough to gain depth, Moirin grows in strength and compassion, confronting several interesting crossroads in her faith and her way of life. Despite a “middle book” feel, series fans will love it, and an ominous warning about Raphael de Merliot, whom Moirin must “reckon with,” gives us something to look forward to in the next book. --Krista Hutley </p></div>


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From Jacqueline Carey, New York Times bestselling author of Kushiel's Scion, comes the second adventure in the Imriel trilogy. Imriel de la Courcel's blood parents are history's most reviled traitors, while his adoptive parents, Phèdre and Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in beauty, art, and desire. After a year abroad to study at university, Imriel returns from his adventures a little older and somewhat wiser. But perhaps not wise enough. What was once a mere spark of interest between himself and his cousin Sidonie now ignites into a white-hot blaze. But from commoner to peer, the whole realm would recoil from any alliance between Sidonie, heir to the throne, and Imriel, who bears the stigma of his mother's misdeeds and betrayals. Praying that their passion will peak and fade, Imriel and Sidonie embark on an intense, secret affair. Blessed Elua founded Terre d'Ange and bestowed one simple precept to guide his people: Love as thou wilt. When duty calls, Imriel honors his role as a member of the royal family by leaving to marry a lovely, if merely sweet, Alban princess. By choosing duty over love, Imriel and Sidonie may have unwittingly trespassed against Elua's law. But when dark powers in Alba, who fear an invasion by Terre d'Ange, seek to use the lovers' passion to bind Imriel, the gods themselves take notice. Before the end, Kushiel's justice will be felt in heaven and on earth.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The land of Terre d' Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Phèdre nó Delaunay is a woman born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, and he was the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Phèdre's path has taken a strange and sometimes dangerous course. She has lain with princes and pirate kings, battled a wicked temptress who is still determined to win the crown at any cost, and saved two nations with her courageous actions and sacrifices. Through it all she has had the devoted swordsman Joscelin at her side, who knew from the beginning what she was. Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, and it is a bane on their lives--but he is sworn to her and by accepting who she is, Joscelin has never violated the central precept of the angel Cassiel: to protect and serve. But Phèdre's plans will put his pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe. She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture to the Master of Straights, a bargain with the gods that he struck so that a nation could be saved; in doing so, he took Phèdre's place as a sacrifice. She cannot forget, and she cannot forgive--herself or the gods. She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend, even if it means her death. Their search will bring Phèdre and Joscelin on a dangerous path that will carry them across the world, to fabled courts and splendid vistas, to distant lands where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world. And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name. Kushiel's Avatar is the concluding volume in Jacqueline Carey's evocative novels about the enigmatic Phèdre nó Delaunay; the third in a triptych of beautifully constructed historical fantasies that combine passion and danger, great battles of the sword and soul, deep eroticism, and mystical enigmas.</p>


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SUMMARY: The saga of Imriel de al Courcel, born third in line for the throne of Terre d'Ange, and gifted with the ability to deliver pain and to exploit others' faults


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Returning to Terre d'Ange, Moirin finds the royal family broken. Wracked by unrelenting grief at the loss of his wife, Queen Jehanne, King Daniel is unable to rule. Prince Thierry, leading an expedition to explore the deadly jungles of Terra Nova, is halfway across the world. And three year old Desirée is a vision of her mother: tempestuous, intelligent, and fiery, but desperately lonely, and a vulnerable pawn in a game of shifting political allegiances. </p><p>As tensions mount, King Daniel asks that Moirin become Desirée's oath-sworn protector. Navigating the intricate political landscape of the Court proves a difficult challenge, and when dire news arrives from overseas, the spirit of Queen Jehanne visits Moirin in a dream and bids her undertake an impossible quest. </p><p>Another specter from the past also haunts Moirin. Travelling with Thierry in the New World is Raphael de Mereliot, her manipulative former lover. Years ago, Raphael forced her to help him summon fallen angels in the hopes of acquiring mystical gifts and knowledge. It was a disastrous effort that nearly killed them, and Moirin must finally bear the costs of those bitter mistakes. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Jacqueline Carey's previous publications include various short stories, essays, a nonfiction book, <em>Angels: Celestial Spirits in Legend and Art</em>, as well as the nationally bestselling series Kushiel's Legacy. </p></div>


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SUMMARY:
Once there were great magicians born to the Maghuin Dhonn; the folk of the Brown Bear, the oldest tribe in Alba. But generations ago, the greatest of them all broke a sacred oath sworn in the name of all his people. Now, only small gifts remain to them. Through her lineage, Moirin possesses such gifts - the ability to summon the twilight and conceal herself, and the skill to coax plants to grow. Moirin has a secret, too. From childhood onward, she senses the presence of unfamiliar gods in her life; the bright lady, and the man with a seedling cupped in his palm. Raised in the wilderness by her reclusive mother, it isn't until she comes of age that Moirin learns how illustrious, if mixed, her heritage is. The great granddaughter of Alais the Wise, child of the Maghuin Donn, and a cousin of the Cruarch of Alba, Moirin learns her father was a D'Angeline priest dedicated to serving Naamah, goddess of desire. After Moirin undergoes the rites of adulthood, she finds divine acceptance...on the condition that she fulfill an unknown destiny that lies somewhere beyond the ocean. Or perhaps oceans. Beyond Terre d'Ange where she finds her father, in the far reaches of distant Ch'in, Moirin's skills are a true gift when facing the vengeful plans of an ambitious mage, a noble warrior princess desperate to save her father's throne, and the spirit of a celestial dragon.


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Kushiel's Mercy is the final novel in Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey. It is the sequel to Kushiel's Justice. Kushiel's Justice follows Kushiel's Scion, which makes Kushiel's Mercy the sixth book in the series, or the third book in the series dubbed the Imriel Trilogy. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>What Came Before | Plot summary</p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In this vivid conclusion to the second Kushiel trilogy (after 2007's <em>Kushiel's Justice</em>), young Prince Imriel and his beloved, Sidonie, heir to the Terre D'Ange throne, struggle to come to terms with the deaths of Imriel's wife and unborn son. Queen Ysandre threatens to forbid Imriel's marriage to Sidonie unless he hunts down his traitorous mother, Melisande. Then a spell convinces everyone in Terre D'Ange's capital that Sidonie loves the prince of Carthage, and she sails off to wed him. Only Imriel remembers their romance. He must evade deluded loved ones and work with erstwhile enemies to rescue Sidonie and pull the country back from the brink of war. Carey delivers a heady mix of adventure, power struggles and romance, but fans of the first Kushiel trilogy may be disappointed by the few appearances of Phèdre, Imriel's adoptive mother, and by the relatively tame sexuality, which serves more as a spice than a larger theme. <em>(June)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission...and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair...and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.  Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Kushiel's Mercy is the final novel in Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey. It is the sequel to Kushiel's Justice. Kushiel's Justice follows Kushiel's Scion, which makes Kushiel's Mercy the sixth book in the series, or the third book in the series dubbed the Imriel Trilogy. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>What Came Before | Plot summary</p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In this vivid conclusion to the second Kushiel trilogy (after 2007's <em>Kushiel's Justice</em>), young Prince Imriel and his beloved, Sidonie, heir to the Terre D'Ange throne, struggle to come to terms with the deaths of Imriel's wife and unborn son. Queen Ysandre threatens to forbid Imriel's marriage to Sidonie unless he hunts down his traitorous mother, Melisande. Then a spell convinces everyone in Terre D'Ange's capital that Sidonie loves the prince of Carthage, and she sails off to wed him. Only Imriel remembers their romance. He must evade deluded loved ones and work with erstwhile enemies to rescue Sidonie and pull the country back from the brink of war. Carey delivers a heady mix of adventure, power struggles and romance, but fans of the first Kushiel trilogy may be disappointed by the few appearances of Phèdre, Imriel's adoptive mother, and by the relatively tame sexuality, which serves more as a spice than a larger theme. <em>(June)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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The saga of Imriel de al Courcel, born third in line for the throne of Terre d'Ange, and gifted with the ability to deliver pain and to exploit others' faults


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Following hard on the heels of Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey's spectacular debut novel, comes Kushiel's Chosen, a glittering and riveting historical fantasy. The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that the angels found the land and saw it was good, and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Phegrave;dre noacute; Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with a very special mission--and the first to recognize her for who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Phegrave;dre has trained in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Having stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren't far off the mark. The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phegrave;dre's brow, and they are not yet done with their charge--for while the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe that other heads should wear the crown. And those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge. To protect and serve, Phegrave;dre will once again leave her beloved homeland. From the sun-drenched villas of La Serenissima to the wilds of old Hellas, from a prison designed to drive the very gods mad to an island of immutable joy. Phegrave;dre will meet old friends and new enemies and discover a plot so dreadful as to make the earth tremble, masterminded by the one person she cannot turn away from.


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SUMMARY: From Jacqueline Carey, New York Times bestselling author of Kushiel's Scion, comes the second adventure in the Imriel trilogy. Imriel de la Courcel's blood parents are history's most reviled traitors, while his adoptive parents, Phèdre and Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in beauty, art, and desire. After a year abroad to study at university, Imriel returns from his adventures a little older and somewhat wiser. But perhaps not wise enough. What was once a mere spark of interest between himself and his cousin Sidonie now ignites into a white-hot blaze. But from commoner to peer, the whole realm would recoil from any alliance between Sidonie, heir to the throne, and Imriel, who bears the stigma of his mother's misdeeds and betrayals. Praying that their passion will peak and fade, Imriel and Sidonie embark on an intense, secret affair. Blessed Elua founded Terre d'Ange and bestowed one simple precept to guide his people: Love as thou wilt. When duty calls, Imriel honors his role as a member of the royal family by leaving to marry a lovely, if merely sweet, Alban princess. By choosing duty over love, Imriel and Sidonie may have unwittingly trespassed against Elua's law. But when dark powers in Alba, who fear an invasion by Terre d'Ange, seek to use the lovers' passion to bind Imriel, the gods themselves take notice. Before the end, Kushiel's justice will be felt in heaven and on earth.


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In this sequel to 2009's <em>Naamah's Kiss</em>, Moirin, the devoted servant of a sex goddess, journeys across half of a fantasy version of Asia in search of her soulmate, Bao. In Tatar territory, she finds Bao... and his wife. His father-in-law, the Great Khan, is willing to go to great extremes to keep Bao and Moirin apart. Captured by the fanatic Patriarch of Riva, Moirin escapes to find that Bao has vanished again, this time headed toward the distant lair of the Spider Queen and her army of assassins. The romantic tale is marred by Moirin's narcissistic awareness that she is destined for a glorious fate that lesser mortals like Bao's jealous wife may only envy. Carey's storytelling ability is top-notch, however, and readers will applaud her willingness to resolve major plot threads in the middle book of a trilogy. <em>(June)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Still chasing her destiny in the sequel to Naamah's Kiss (2009), Moirin follows the urging of her diadh-anam across Tatar territory, looking for Bao, her Ch'in lover, who holds the other half of her divine soul-spark. She finds him married to the Great Khan's daughter, and their plans to smooth this wrinkle go disastrously wrong when the Great Khan arranges to have Moirin kidnapped by fanatical, pious Vralians, while Bao is led into the lands of the Spider Queen. Though this book is packed with new people, new lands, and new gods, the pacing is slow and the tone reflective. Carey's involving depictions of several religions also grow rather pointed. While Bao is never present long enough to gain depth, Moirin grows in strength and compassion, confronting several interesting crossroads in her faith and her way of life. Despite a “middle book” feel, series fans will love it, and an ominous warning about Raphael de Merliot, whom Moirin must “reckon with,” gives us something to look forward to in the next book. --Krista Hutley </p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Buffyesque baker Rae "Sunshine" Seddon meets Count Dracula's hunky Byronic cousin in Newbery-Award-winner McKinley's first adult-and-then-some romp through the darkling streets of a spooky post-Voodoo Wars world. Now that human cities have been decimated, the vampiric elite holds one-fifth of the world's capital, threatening to control all the earth in less than 100 years, unless human SOFs (Special Other Forces) can hold them at bay by recruiting Sunshine, daughter of legendary sorcerer Onyx Blaise. As breathlessly narrated by Sunshine herself, the Cinnamon Roll Queen of Charlie's Coffeehouse, in the inchoate idiom of Britney, J. Lo and the Spice Girls, Sunshine's coming-of-magical-age launches when she is swarmed by noiseless vampires one night and chained in a decrepit ballroom as an entr‚e for mysterious, magnetic, half-starved Constantine, a powerful vampire whose mortal enemy Bo (short for Beauregard) shackled him there to perish slowly from daylight and deprivation. Most of the charm of this long venture into magic maturation derives from McKinley's keen ear and sensitive atmospherics, deft characterizations and clever juxtapositions of reality and the supernatural that might, just might, be lurking out there in "bad spots" right around a creepy urban corner or next to a deserted lake cabin. McKinley knows very well-and makes her readers believe-that "the insides of our own minds are the scariest things there are."<br>Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, lives a quiet life working at her stepfather's bakery. One night, she goes out to the lake for some peace and quiet. Big mistake. She is set upon by vampires, who take her to an old mansion. They chain her to the wall and leave her with another vampire, who is also chained. But the vampire, Constantine, doesn't try to eat her. Instead, he implores her to tell him stories to keep them both sane. Realizing she will have to save herself, Sunshine calls on the long-forgotten powers her grandmother began to cultivate in her when she was a child. She transforms her pocketknife into a key and unchains herself--and Constantine. Surprised, he agrees to flee with her when she offers to protect him from the sun with magic. They escape back to town, but Constantine knows his enemies won't be far behind, which means that he and Sunshine will have to face them together. A luminous, entrancing novel with an enthralling pair of characters at its heart. <em>Kristine Huntley</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p></div>


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Moorcock is off at full throttle. Every scene has ironic meaning. A couple of minor stories, and we're into the lush, manic rush to Armageddon that is STORMBRINGER! Still the greatest plot on the planet, build and build until the final, cataclysmic - and said to be the best in all fantasy fiction - ending, which is completely stunning. Long before Pullman won the Whitbread Moorcock was offering this mad, bad and thoroughly humane fantasy to the world. He remains a giant.


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Forced to flee his city of Melnibone, Elric and his sorcerous blade Stormbringer journey through barren hills to the edge of a black sea. Elric finds a dark ship and begins a voyage that will bring him face-to-face with all the champions Time can summon--and more. Reissue.


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SUMMARY: Forced to flee his city of Melnibone, Elric and his sorcerous blade Stormbringer journey through barren hills to the edge of a black sea. Elric finds a dark ship and begins a voyage that will bring him face-to-face with all the champions Time can summon--and more. Reissue.


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In The Weird of the White Wolf, Elric returns to Imrryr after a long journey and confronts Yyrkoon, who usurped the throne in his absence. Yyrkoon has regained Mournblade through unknown means and uses it to attack. Elric and Stormbringer kill Yyrkoon, and no further mention is made of Mournblade until it is later disclosed that it was recovered by the Seers of Nihrain, to be wielded by Elric's cousin, Dyvim Slorm. Imrryr is sacked, though the pillagers' fate is not much better, being pursued by the golden battle barges and the few dragons who were awakened, led by Dyvim Tvar. Only Elric's ship escapes, propelled by the aid of his sorcery.


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SUMMARY: Elric of Melnibonè, proud prince of ruins, last lord of a dying race, wanders the lands of the Young Kingdoms in search of the evil sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. His object is revenge. But to achieve this, he must first brave such horrors as the Creatures of Chaos, the freezing wilderness of World's Edge, the golden-skinned Kelmain hordes, King Urish the Seven-fingered with his great cleaver Hackmeat, the Burning God, the Sighing Desert, and the terrible stone-age men of Pio. Although Elric holds within him a destiny greater than he could ever know, and controls the hellsword Stormbringer, stealer of souls, his task looks hopeless - until he encounters Myshella, Empress of the Dawn, the sleeping sorceress...


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After much wandering and seeking Elric finally discovers the location of the sorcerer who had earlier inconvenienced him. A meeting of old friends and scattered brothers evolves into a union of vengeance. A demon sent hoping to devour an albino is thwarted, but it's master's aim's are met with Elric's capture. A bargain made with a well intentioned merchant wins Elric his freedom, but only half of him is allowed to escape. Elric restored with his symbiotic blade calls upon unholy aide to finally vanquish his meddlesome sorceress enemy. The final assault brings a grievous death as the dragon caves will no longer have a master. A promise broken and an unwanted soul taken by Elric's hungry companion. Another hollow victory causes Elric much discomfort.


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Elric of Melniboné is a requisite title in the hard fantasy canon, a book no fantasy fan should leave unread. Author Michael Moorcock, already a major player in science fiction, cemented his position in the fantasy pantheon with the five-book Elric saga, of which Elric of Melniboné is the first installment. The book's namesake, the brooding albino emperor of the dying nation of Melniboné, is a sort of Superman for Goths, truly an archetype of the genre. The youthful Elric is a cynical and melancholy king, heir to a nation whose 100,000-year rule of the world ended less than 500 years hence. More interested in brooding contemplation than holding the throne, Elric is a reluctant ruler, but he also realizes that no other worthy successor exists and the survival of his once-powerful, decadent nation depends on him alone. Elric's nefarious, brutish cousin Yrkoon has no patience for his physically weak kinsman, and he plots constantly to seize Elric's throne, usually over his dead body. Elric of Melniboné follows Yrkoon's scheming, reaching its climax in a battle between Elric and Yrkoon with the demonic runeblades Stormbringer and Mournblade. In this battle, Elric gains control of the soul-stealing Stormbringer, an event that proves pivotal to the Elric saga. --Paul Hughes


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SUMMARY: After much wandering and seeking Elric finally discovers the location of the sorcerer who had earlier inconvenienced him. A meeting of old friends and scattered brothers evolves into a union of vengeance. A demon sent hoping to devour an albino is thwarted, but it's master's aim's are met with Elric's capture. A bargain made with a well intentioned merchant wins Elric his freedom, but only half of him is allowed to escape. Elric restored with his symbiotic blade calls upon unholy aide to finally vanquish his meddlesome sorceress enemy. The final assault brings a grievous death as the dragon caves will no longer have a master. A promise broken and an unwanted soul taken by Elric's hungry companion. Another hollow victory causes Elric much discomfort.


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Elric of Melnibonè, proud prince of ruins, last lord of a dying race, wanders the lands of the Young Kingdoms in search of the evil sorcerer Theleb K'aarna. His object is revenge. But to achieve this, he must first brave such horrors as the Creatures of Chaos, the freezing wilderness of World's Edge, the golden-skinned Kelmain hordes, King Urish the Seven-fingered with his great cleaver Hackmeat, the Burning God, the Sighing Desert, and the terrible stone-age men of Pio. Although Elric holds within him a destiny greater than he could ever know, and controls the hellsword Stormbringer, stealer of souls, his task looks hopeless - until he encounters Myshella, Empress of the Dawn, the sleeping sorceress...


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SUMMARY: Elric of Melniboné is a requisite title in the hard fantasy canon, a book no fantasy fan should leave unread. Author Michael Moorcock, already a major player in science fiction, cemented his position in the fantasy pantheon with the five-book Elric saga, of which Elric of Melniboné is the first installment. The book's namesake, the brooding albino emperor of the dying nation of Melniboné, is a sort of Superman for Goths, truly an archetype of the genre. The youthful Elric is a cynical and melancholy king, heir to a nation whose 100,000-year rule of the world ended less than 500 years hence. More interested in brooding contemplation than holding the throne, Elric is a reluctant ruler, but he also realizes that no other worthy successor exists and the survival of his once-powerful, decadent nation depends on him alone. Elric's nefarious, brutish cousin Yrkoon has no patience for his physically weak kinsman, and he plots constantly to seize Elric's throne, usually over his dead body. Elric of Melniboné follows Yrkoon's scheming, reaching its climax in a battle between Elric and Yrkoon with the demonic runeblades Stormbringer and Mournblade. In this battle, Elric gains control of the soul-stealing Stormbringer, an event that proves pivotal to the Elric saga. --Paul Hughes


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Lucifer's Hammer is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1977. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1978. A comic book adaptation was published by Innovation Comics in 1993. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Literary significance and reception</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival--a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known....<br>"Massively entertaining."<br>CLEVELAND PLAIN-DEALER </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Lucifer's Hammer is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1977. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1978. A comic book adaptation was published by Innovation Comics in 1993. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot summary | Literary significance and reception</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival--a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known....<br>"Massively entertaining."<br>CLEVELAND PLAIN-DEALER </p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece.A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.</p>


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The Belgariad Book #3

Ce'Nedra, Imperial Princess of Tolnedra, was confused. Everyone knows the tales of the Orb protecting the West from the evil God Torak are just silly legends. But here she is, forced to join a dangerous quest to recover that stolen Orb. No one believes in sorcery, but Garion's aunt and grandfather seem to be the fabled sorcerers Polgara and Belgarath. Even young Garion is learning to do socerey. Garion, a farm boy is totally unsuitable for an Imperial Princess. Yet, for some reason she has the urge to brush back his hair, and comfort him. Now he is going to a strange evil tower to face some horrible, powerful magician, and she cannot be there to watch over him. He might be killed, and she may never see him again.


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Selected as a 2003 Popular Paperback for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association Long ago, so the storyteller claimed, the evil God Torak sought dominion over all and drove the world to war. Now the one talisman keeping this sinister force from seizing power has been disturbed—and no one will be safe. . . . Raised on a quiet farm by his Aunt Pol, Garion spends his days lounging in his aunt’s warm kitchen and playing in the surrounding fields with his friends. He has never believed in magic, despite the presence of a cloaked, shadowless stranger who has haunted him from a distance for years. But one afternoon, the wise storyteller Wolf appears and urges Garion and his aunt to leave the farm that very night. Without understanding why, Garion is whisked away from the only home he has ever known—and thrown into dark and unfamiliar lands. Thus begins an extraordinary quest to stop a reawakened evil from devouring all that is good. It is a journey that will lead Garion to discover his heritage and his future. For the magic that once seemed impossible to Garion is now his destiny. The first exciting adventure in David Eddings’s The Belgariad Pawn of Prophecyis the newest addition to the Del Rey Imagine program, which offers the best in fantasy and science fiction for readers twelve and up.


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SUMMARY: ''洗Come, Belgarion, Child of Light. I await thee in the City of Night . . .' A confrontation that has been prophesied for thousands of years is racing towards a conclusion. For as Garion comes into his heritage as the Rivan King, Overlord of the West, and takes up the Orb of Aldur to protect the land, Torak awakes and his evil hordes of Murgo soldiers and Grolim priests march in his name. While the princess Ce'Nedra mobilises the forces of the free lands to repel the invaders, Garion heads for his duel with Torak - a duel upon which the fate of the whole world depends...


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SUMMARY: END OF THE QUEST It had all begun with the theft of the Orb that had so long protected the West from the evil God Torak. Before that, Garion had been a simple farm boy. Afterward, he discovered that his aunt was really the Sorceress Polgara and his grandfather was Belgarath, the Eternal Man. Then, on the long quest to recover the Orb, Garion found to his dismay that he, too, was a sorcerer. Now, at last, the Orb was regained and the quest was nearing its end. Of course, the questors still had to escape from this crumbling enemy fortress and flee across a desert filled with Murgo soldiers searching for them, while Grolim Hierarchs strove to destroy them with dark magic. Then, somehow, they must manage to be in Riva with the Orb by Erastide. After that, however, Garion was sure that his part in these great events would be finished. But the Prophecy still held future surprises for Garion--and for the little princess Ce'Nedra. This continues the magnificent epic of The Belgariad,  begun in Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, and Magician's Gambit--a fantasy set against a background of the war of men, Kings, and Gods that had spanned seven thousand years--a novel of fate, strange lands, and a prophecy that must be fulfilled!


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"BELGARIAD is exactly the kind of fantasy I like. It has magic, adventure, humor, mystery, and a certain delightful human insight."PIERS ANTHONYThe master Sorcerer Belgarath and his daughter Polgara the arch-Sorceress were on the trail of the Orb, seeking to regain its saving power before the final disaster prophesized by the legends. And with them went Garion, a simple farm boy only months before, but now the focus of the struggle. He had never believed in sorcery and wanted no part of it. Yet with every league they traveled, the power grew in him, forcing him to acts of wizardry he could not accept.


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SUMMARY: Selected as a 2003 Popular Paperback for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association Long ago, so the storyteller claimed, the evil God Torak sought dominion over all and drove the world to war. Now the one talisman keeping this sinister force from seizing power has been disturbed—and no one will be safe. . . . Raised on a quiet farm by his Aunt Pol, Garion spends his days lounging in his aunt’s warm kitchen and playing in the surrounding fields with his friends. He has never believed in magic, despite the presence of a cloaked, shadowless stranger who has haunted him from a distance for years. But one afternoon, the wise storyteller Wolf appears and urges Garion and his aunt to leave the farm that very night. Without understanding why, Garion is whisked away from the only home he has ever known—and thrown into dark and unfamiliar lands. Thus begins an extraordinary quest to stop a reawakened evil from devouring all that is good. It is a journey that will lead Garion to discover his heritage and his future. For the magic that once seemed impossible to Garion is now his destiny. The first exciting adventure in David Eddings’s The Belgariad Pawn of Prophecyis the newest addition to the Del Rey Imagine program, which offers the best in fantasy and science fiction for readers twelve and up.


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SUMMARY: "BELGARIAD is exactly the kind of fantasy I like. It has magic, adventure, humor, mystery, and a certain delightful human insight."PIERS ANTHONYThe master Sorcerer Belgarath and his daughter Polgara the arch-Sorceress were on the trail of the Orb, seeking to regain its saving power before the final disaster prophesized by the legends. And with them went Garion, a simple farm boy only months before, but now the focus of the struggle. He had never believed in sorcery and wanted no part of it. Yet with every league they traveled, the power grew in him, forcing him to acts of wizardry he could not accept.


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SUMMARY: The Belgariad Book #3 Ce'Nedra, Imperial Princess of Tolnedra, was confused. Everyone knows the tales of the Orb protecting the West from the evil God Torak are just silly legends. But here she is, forced to join a dangerous quest to recover that stolen Orb. No one believes in sorcery, but Garion's aunt and grandfather seem to be the fabled sorcerers Polgara and Belgarath. Even young Garion is learning to do socerey. Garion, a farm boy is totally unsuitable for an Imperial Princess. Yet, for some reason she has the urge to brush back his hair, and comfort him. Now he is going to a strange evil tower to face some horrible, powerful magician, and she cannot be there to watch over him. He might be killed, and she may never see him again.


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''洗Come, Belgarion, Child of Light. I await thee in the City of Night . . .' A confrontation that has been prophesied for thousands of years is racing towards a conclusion. For as Garion comes into his heritage as the Rivan King, Overlord of the West, and takes up the Orb of Aldur to protect the land, Torak awakes and his evil hordes of Murgo soldiers and Grolim priests march in his name. While the princess Ce'Nedra mobilises the forces of the free lands to repel the invaders, Garion heads for his duel with Torak - a duel upon which the fate of the whole world depends...


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END OF THE QUEST It had all begun with the theft of the Orb that had so long protected the West from the evil God Torak. Before that, Garion had been a simple farm boy. Afterward, he discovered that his aunt was really the Sorceress Polgara and his grandfather was Belgarath, the Eternal Man. Then, on the long quest to recover the Orb, Garion found to his dismay that he, too, was a sorcerer. Now, at last, the Orb was regained and the quest was nearing its end. Of course, the questors still had to escape from this crumbling enemy fortress and flee across a desert filled with Murgo soldiers searching for them, while Grolim Hierarchs strove to destroy them with dark magic. Then, somehow, they must manage to be in Riva with the Orb by Erastide. After that, however, Garion was sure that his part in these great events would be finished. But the Prophecy still held future surprises for Garion--and for the little princess Ce'Nedra. This continues the magnificent epic of The Belgariad,  begun in Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, and Magician's Gambit--a fantasy set against a background of the war of men, Kings, and Gods that had spanned seven thousand years--a novel of fate, strange lands, and a prophecy that must be fulfilled!


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Genly Ai is an emissary from the human galaxy to Winter, a lost, stray world. His mission is to bring the planet back into the fold of an evolving galactic civilization, but to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own culture and prejudices and those that he encounters. On a planet where people are of no gender--or both--this is a broad gulf indeed. The inventiveness and delicacy with which Le Guin portrays her alien world are not only unusual and inspiring, they are fundamental to almost all decent science fiction that has been written since. In fact, reading Le Guin again may cause the eye to narrow somewhat disapprovingly at the younger generation: what new ground are they breaking that is not already explored here with greater skill and acumen? It cannot be said, however, that this is a rollicking good story. Le Guin takes a lot of time to explore her characters, the world of her creation, and the philosophical themes that arise.</p><p>If there were a canon of classic science fiction, <em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em> would be included without debate. Certainly, no science fiction bookshelf may be said to be complete without it. But the real question: is it fun to read? It is science fiction of an earlier time, a time that has not worn particularly well in the genre. <em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em> was a groundbreaking book in 1969, a time when, like the rest of the arts, science fiction was awakening to new dimensions in both society and literature. But the first excursions out of the pulp tradition are sometimes difficult to reread with much enjoyment. Rereading <em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em>, decades after its publication, one feels that those who chose it for the Hugo and Nebula awards were right to do so, for it truly does stand out as one of the great books of that era. It is immensely rich in timeless wisdom and insight.</p><p><em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em> is science fiction for the thinking reader, and should be read attentively in order to properly savor the depth of insight and the subtleties of plot and character. It is one of those pleasures that requires a little investment at the beginning, but pays back tenfold with the joy of raw imagination that resonates through the subsequent 30 years of science fiction storytelling. Not only is the bookshelf incomplete without owning it, so is the reader without having read it. <em>--L. Blunt Jackson</em></p><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books by Le Guin all set in the fictional Hainish universe. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p> <strong>In the article: </strong>Setting and premise | Plot summary | Reception | Introduction | Character Analysis | Background | Themes | Style | Translations</p></div>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Genly Ai is an emissary from the human galaxy to Winter, a lost, stray world. His mission is to bring the planet back into the fold of an evolving galactic civilization, but to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own culture and prejudices and those that he encounters. On a planet where people are of no gender--or both--this is a broad gulf indeed. The inventiveness and delicacy with which Le Guin portrays her alien world are not only unusual and inspiring, they are fundamental to almost all decent science fiction that has been written since. In fact, reading Le Guin again may cause the eye to narrow somewhat disapprovingly at the younger generation: what new ground are they breaking that is not already explored here with greater skill and acumen? It cannot be said, however, that this is a rollicking good story. Le Guin takes a lot of time to explore her characters, the world of her creation, and the philosophical themes that arise.</p><p>If there were a canon of classic science fiction, <em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em> would be included without debate. Certainly, no science fiction bookshelf may be said to be complete without it. But the real question: is it fun to read? It is science fiction of an earlier time, a time that has not worn particularly well in the genre. <em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em> was a groundbreaking book in 1969, a time when, like the rest of the arts, science fiction was awakening to new dimensions in both society and literature. But the first excursions out of the pulp tradition are sometimes difficult to reread with much enjoyment. Rereading <em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em>, decades after its publication, one feels that those who chose it for the Hugo and Nebula awards were right to do so, for it truly does stand out as one of the great books of that era. It is immensely rich in timeless wisdom and insight.</p><p><em>The Left Hand of Darkness</em> is science fiction for the thinking reader, and should be read attentively in order to properly savor the depth of insight and the subtleties of plot and character. It is one of those pleasures that requires a little investment at the beginning, but pays back tenfold with the joy of raw imagination that resonates through the subsequent 30 years of science fiction storytelling. Not only is the bookshelf incomplete without owning it, so is the reader without having read it. <em>--L. Blunt Jackson</em></p><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books by Le Guin all set in the fictional Hainish universe. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Setting and premise | Plot summary | Reception | Introduction | Character Analysis | Background | Themes | Style | Translations</p></div>


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SUMMARY: This is the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories, first published by H.G. Wells in 1898. The novel begins ominously, as the lone voice of a narrator tells readers that "No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's..."Things then progress from a series of seemingly mundane reports about odd atmospheric disturbances taking place on Mars to the arrival of Martians just outside of London. At first the Martians seem laughable, hardly able to move in Earth's comparatively heavy gravity even enough to raise themselves out of the pit created when their spaceship landed. But soon the Martians reveal their true nature as death machines 100-feet tall rise up from the pit and begin laying waste to the surrounding land. Wells quickly moves the story from the countryside to the evacuation of London itself and the loss of all hope as England's military suffers defeat after defeat. With horror his narrator describes how the Martians suck the blood from living humans for sustenance, and how it's clear that man is not being conquered so much a corralled.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>This is the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories, first published by H.G. Wells in 1898. The novel begins ominously, as the lone voice of a narrator tells readers that "No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's..."Things then progress from a series of seemingly mundane reports about odd atmospheric disturbances taking place on Mars to the arrival of Martians just outside of London. At first the Martians seem laughable, hardly able to move in Earth's comparatively heavy gravity even enough to raise themselves out of the pit created when their spaceship landed. But soon the Martians reveal their true nature as death machines 100-feet tall rise up from the pit and begin laying waste to the surrounding land. Wells quickly moves the story from the countryside to the evacuation of London itself and the loss of all hope as England's military suffers defeat after defeat. With horror his narrator describes how the Martians suck the blood from living humans for sustenance, and how it's clear that man is not being conquered so much a corralled.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Luna is an open penal colony and the regime is a harsh one. Not surprisingly, revolution against the hated authority is planned. But the key figures in the revolt are an unlikely crew: Manuel Garcia OKelly, an engaging jack of all trades, the beautiful Wyoming Knott - and Mike, a lonely computer who likes to make up jokes...</p>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone.</p>
<p class="description"> </p>
<p class="description">An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him.</p>
<p class="description"> </p>
<p class="description">By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn....</p>
<p class="description"> </p>
<p class="description">Richard Matheson’s classic novel has now been transformed by Warner Bros. into a major motion picture starring Academy Award nominee Will Smith. Directed by Francis Lawrence (“Constantine”), the film opens nationwide in December 2007.</p></div>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p> <p class="description">Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone.</p> <p class="description"> </p> <p class="description">An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him.</p> <p class="description"> </p> <p class="description">By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn....</p> <p class="description"> </p> <p class="description">Richard Matheson’s classic novel has now been transformed by Warner Bros. into a major motion picture starring Academy Award nominee Will Smith. Directed by Francis Lawrence (“Constantine”), the film opens nationwide in December 2007.</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Creating "true narrative magic" (The Washington Post) at every revelatory turn, Stephen King surpasses all expectation in the stunning final volume of his seven-part epic masterwork. Entwining stories and worlds from a vast and complex canvas, here is the conclusion readers have long awaited -- breath-takingly imaginative, boldly visionary, and wholly entertaining.Roland Deschain and his ka-tet have journeyed together and apart, scattered far and wide across multilayered worlds of wheres and whens. The destinies of Roland, Susannah, Jake, Father Callahan, Oy, and Eddie are bound in the Dark Tower itself, which now pulls them ever closer to their own endings and beginnings . . . and into a maelstrom of emotion, violence, and discovery.</p>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">The Man in Black is dead, and Roland is about to be hurled into 20th-century America, occupying the mind of a man running cocaine on the New York/Bermuda shuttle. A brilliant work of dark fantasy inspired by Browning's romantic poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came".</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Set in a world of extraordinary circumstances, filled with stunning visual imagery and unforgettable characters, the DARK TOWER series is unlike anything you have ever read.Here is the fifth installment, "one of the strongest entries yet in what will surely be a master storyteller's magnum opus" (Locus).Roland Deschain and his ka-tet are bearing southeast through the forests of Mid-World on their quest for the Dark Tower. Their path takes them to the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis. But beyond the tranquil farm town, the ground rises to the hulking darkness of Thunderclap, the source of a terrible affliction that is stealing the town's soul. The wolves of Thunderclap and their unspeakable depredation are coming. To resist them is to risk all, but these are odds the gunslingers are used to. Their guns, however, will not be enough....</p>


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<p class="description">Roland and his band have narrowly escaped the city of Lud and boarded Blaine, a train that will take them to, of all places, Kansas, where the ghost city of Topeka has been depopulated by a superflu and where, alongside Interstate 70, an emerald palace rises enchantingly. Before Roland and the companions of his ka-tet continue along the Path of the Bean, Roland must tell his companions the tale that defines him both as a man and hero, a long-ago romance of witchery and evil, of the beautiful, unforgettable Susan Delgado, of the Big Coffin Hunters and Reah of the Coos. And when his tale is finished, Roland confronts a man who goes by many names, a man who "darkles and tincts" and who holds perhaps the key to the Dark Tower.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Roland, The Last Gunslinger, moves ever closer to The Dark Tower of his dreams-and nightmares-as he crosses a desert of damnation in a macabre world that is a twisted image of our own...</p>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p> <p class="description">The Man in Black is dead, and Roland is about to be hurled into 20th-century America, occupying the mind of a man running cocaine on the New York/Bermuda shuttle. A brilliant work of dark fantasy inspired by Browning's romantic poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came".</p></div>


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<p class="description">There's something about a crippled, black, schizophrenic, civil rights activist-turned-gunslinger whose body has been hijacked by a white, pregnant demon from a parallel world that keeps a seven-volume story bracingly strong as it veers toward its Armageddon-like conclusion. When Susannah Dean is transported via a magic door on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis (the scene of much of The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla) to New York City in the summer of 1999, the "demon-mother" who possesses her, Mia, has only one thing on her mind. She must give birth to her "chap" at a predetermined location in Manhattan's East 60s, as instructed by the henchmen-or "Low Men"-of the evil Crimson King. Pressed for time, Father Callahan, preteen Jake and talking pet "billy-bumbler" Oy follow Susannah and Mia's trail in an effort to prevent an act that would quicken the destruction of the Dark Tower and, in turn, of all worlds. Meanwhile, gunslingers Roland and Eddie travel to 1977 Maine in search of bookstore owner Calvin Tower, who is being hunted down by mobster Enrico Balazar and his gang, who first appeared in Eddie's version of New York in The Drawing of the Three Avid readers of the series will either be completely enthralled or extremely irritated when, in a gutsy move, the author weaves his own character into this unpredictable saga, but either way there's no denying the ingenuity with which King paints a candid picture of himself. The sixth installment of this magnum opus stops short with the biggest cliffhanger of King's career, but readers at the edge of their seats need only wait a few short months (Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower) to find out how-and if-King's fictional universe will come to an end. 10 full-color illus. not seen by PW.<br>SUMMARY:<br>Stephen KingThe Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah with 10 full-color illustrations by Darrel AndersonThe next-to-last novel in Stephen King's seven-volume magnum opus, Song of Susannah is at once a book of revelation, a fascinating key to the unfolding mystery of the Dark Tower, and a fast-paced story of double-barreled suspense.To give birth to her "chap," demon-mother Mia has usurped the body of Susannah Dean and used the power of Black Thirteen to transport to New York City in the summer of 1999. The city is strange to Susannah...and terrifying to the "daughter of none," who shares her body and mind.Saving the Tower depends not only on rescuing Susannah but also on securing the vacant lot Calvin Tower owns before he loses it to the Sombra Corporation. Enlisting the aid of Manni senders, the remaining katet climbs to the Doorway Cave...and discovers that magic has its own mind. It falls to the boy, the billy-bumbler, and the fallen priest to find Susannah-Mia, who, in a struggle to cope -- with each other and with an alien environment -- "go todash" to Castle Discordia on the border of End-World. In that forsaken place, Mia reveals her origins, her purpose, and her fierce desire to mother whatever creature the two of them have carried to term.Eddie and Roland, meanwhile, tumble into western Maine in the summer of 1977, a world that should be idyllic but isn't. For one thing, it is real, and the bullets are flying. For another, it is inhabited by the author of a novel called 'Salem's Lot, a writer who turns out to be as shocked by them as they are by him.These are the simple vectors of a story rich in complexity and conflict. Its dual climaxes, one at the entrance to a deadly dining establishment and the other appended to the pages of a writer's journal, will leave readers gasping for the saga's final volume (which, Dear Reader, follows soon, say thank ya).</p>


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In 1978, science fiction writer Spider Robinson wrote a scathing review of The Stand in which he exhorted his readers to grab strangers in bookstores and beg them not to buy it. The Stand is like that. You either love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it. Stephen King's most popular book, according to polls of his fans, is an end-of-the-world scenario: a rapidly mutating flu virus is accidentally released from a U.S. military facility and wipes out 99 and 44/100 percent of the world's population, thus setting the stage for an apocalyptic confrontation between Good and Evil. "I love to burn things up," King says. "It's the werewolf in me, I guess.... The Stand was particularly fulfilling, because there I got a chance to scrub the whole human race, and man, it was fun! ... Much of the compulsive, driven feeling I had while I worked on The Stand came from the vicarious thrill of imagining an entire entrenched social order destroyed in one stroke." There is much to admire in The Stand: the vivid thumbnail sketches with which King populates a whole landscape with dozens of believable characters; the deep sense of nostalgia for things left behind; the way it subverts our sense of reality by showing us a world we find familiar, then flipping it over to reveal the darkness underneath. Anyone who wants to know, or claims to know, the heart of the American experience needs to read this book. –Fiona Webster SUMMARY: Arguably the greatest horror novel ever written by the greatest horror novelist, this is a true Modern Classic that was first published in 1978, and then re-published in 1990, complete and unabridged, with 150,000 words cut from the first edition restored, and now accompanied by unusual and imaginative line art. The total copies for both editions, in hardcover and paperback, exceeds 4 million worldwide. The Stand is a truly terrifying reading experience, and became a four-part mini-series that memorably brought to life the cast of characters and layers of story from the novel. It is an apocalyptic vision of the world, when a deadly virus runs amok around the globe. But that lethal virus is almost benign compared to the satanic force gathering minions from those still alive to destroy humanity and create a world populated by evil. Stephen King is a brilliant storyteller who has the uncanny gift of putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, giving readers an experience that chills and thrills on every page. SUMMARY: This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral comlexity of a true epic.For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival. SUMMARY: This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral comlexity of a true epic.For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.


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In 1978, science fiction writer Spider Robinson wrote a scathing review of The Stand in which he exhorted his readers to grab strangers in bookstores and beg them not to buy it. The Stand is like that. You either love it or hate it, but you can't ignore it. Stephen King's most popular book, according to polls of his fans, is an end-of-the-world scenario: a rapidly mutating flu virus is accidentally released from a U.S. military facility and wipes out 99 and 44/100 percent of the world's population, thus setting the stage for an apocalyptic confrontation between Good and Evil. "I love to burn things up," King says. "It's the werewolf in me, I guess.... The Stand was particularly fulfilling, because there I got a chance to scrub the whole human race, and man, it was fun! ... Much of the compulsive, driven feeling I had while I worked on The Stand came from the vicarious thrill of imagining an entire entrenched social order destroyed in one stroke." There is much to admire in The Stand: the vivid thumbnail sketches with which King populates a whole landscape with dozens of believable characters; the deep sense of nostalgia for things left behind; the way it subverts our sense of reality by showing us a world we find familiar, then flipping it over to reveal the darkness underneath. Anyone who wants to know, or claims to know, the heart of the American experience needs to read this book. –Fiona Webster
SUMMARY:
Arguably the greatest horror novel ever written by the greatest horror novelist, this is a true Modern Classic that was first published in 1978, and then re-published in 1990, complete and unabridged, with 150,000 words cut from the first edition restored, and now accompanied by unusual and imaginative line art. The total copies for both editions, in hardcover and paperback, exceeds 4 million worldwide. The Stand is a truly terrifying reading experience, and became a four-part mini-series that memorably brought to life the cast of characters and layers of story from the novel. It is an apocalyptic vision of the world, when a deadly virus runs amok around the globe. But that lethal virus is almost benign compared to the satanic force gathering minions from those still alive to destroy humanity and create a world populated by evil. Stephen King is a brilliant storyteller who has the uncanny gift of putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, giving readers an experience that chills and thrills on every page.

SUMMARY:
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral comlexity of a true epic.For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.

SUMMARY:
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral comlexity of a true epic.For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>It is December 1999, the dawn of the millennium, and a team of international scientists is poised for the most fantastic adventure in human history. After years of scanning the galaxy for signs of somebody or something else, this team believes they've found a message from an intelligent source--and they travel deep into space to meet it. Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan injects <em>Contact</em>, his prophetic adventure story, with scientific details that make it utterly believable. It is a Cold War era novel that parlays the nuclear paranoia of the time into exquisitely wrought tension among the various countries involved. Sagan meditates on science, religion, and government--the elements that define society--and looks to their impact on and role in the future. His ability to pack an exciting read with such rich content is an unusual talent that makes <em>Contact</em> a modern sci-fi classic. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Who could be better qualified than the author of the highly successful Cosmos to turn the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, and humankind's first contact with it, into imaginative reality? This is precisely what Sagan does in this eagerly awaited and, as it turns out, engrossing first novel. The basic plot is very simple. A worldwide system of radio telescopes, in the charge of brilliant astrophysicist Ellie Arroway, picks up a "Message" from outer space. Ellie is instrumental in decoding the message and building the "Machine" for which it gives instructions (despite stiff opposition from religious fundamentalists and those scientists and politicians who fear it may be a Trojan Horse). Then she and fellow members of a small multinational team board the machine, take a startling trip into outer spaceand on their return must convince the scientific community that they are not the perpetrators of a hoax. Sagan's characters, mostly scientists, are credible without being memorable, and he supplies a love interest that is less than compelling. However, his informed and dramatically enacted speculations into the mysteries of the universe, taken to the point where science and religion touch, make his story an exciting intellectual adventure and science fiction of a high order. First serial to Discover Magazine; BOMC selection. Foreign rights: S &amp; S. October 1<br>Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>

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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>It is December 1999, the dawn of the millennium, and a team of international scientists is poised for the most fantastic adventure in human history. After years of scanning the galaxy for signs of somebody or something else, this team believes they've found a message from an intelligent source--and they travel deep into space to meet it. Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan injects <em>Contact</em>, his prophetic adventure story, with scientific details that make it utterly believable. It is a Cold War era novel that parlays the nuclear paranoia of the time into exquisitely wrought tension among the various countries involved. Sagan meditates on science, religion, and government--the elements that define society--and looks to their impact on and role in the future. His ability to pack an exciting read with such rich content is an unusual talent that makes <em>Contact</em> a modern sci-fi classic. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Who could be better qualified than the author of the highly successful Cosmos to turn the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, and humankind's first contact with it, into imaginative reality? This is precisely what Sagan does in this eagerly awaited and, as it turns out, engrossing first novel. The basic plot is very simple. A worldwide system of radio telescopes, in the charge of brilliant astrophysicist Ellie Arroway, picks up a "Message" from outer space. Ellie is instrumental in decoding the message and building the "Machine" for which it gives instructions (despite stiff opposition from religious fundamentalists and those scientists and politicians who fear it may be a Trojan Horse). Then she and fellow members of a small multinational team board the machine, take a startling trip into outer spaceand on their return must convince the scientific community that they are not the perpetrators of a hoax. Sagan's characters, mostly scientists, are credible without being memorable, and he supplies a love interest that is less than compelling. However, his informed and dramatically enacted speculations into the mysteries of the universe, taken to the point where science and religion touch, make his story an exciting intellectual adventure and science fiction of a high order. First serial to Discover Magazine; BOMC selection. Foreign rights: S &amp; S. October 1<br>Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p> </div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In the year 2130, a mysterious and apparently untenanted alien spaceship, Rama, enters our solar system. The first product of an alien civilisation to be encountered by man, it reveals a world of technological marvels and an unparalleled artificial ecology.But what is its purpose in 2131?Who is inside it?And why?</p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>In this Hugo-winning 1991 SF novel, Vernor Vinge gives us a wild new cosmology, a galaxy-spanning "Net of a Million Lies," some finely imagined aliens, and much nail-biting suspense. </p><p>Faster-than-light travel remains impossible near Earth, deep in the galaxy's Slow Zone--but physical laws relax in the surrounding Beyond. Outside that again is the Transcend, full of unguessable, godlike "Powers." When human meddling wakes an old Power, the Blight, this spreads like a wildfire mind virus that turns whole civilizations into its unthinking tools. And the half-mythical Countermeasure, if it exists, is lost with two human children on primitive Tines World. </p><p>Serious complications follow. One paranoid alien alliance blames humanity for the Blight and launches a genocidal strike. Pham Nuwen, the man who knows about Countermeasure, escapes this ruin in the spacecraft <em>Out of Band</em>--heading for more violence and treachery, with 500 warships soon in hot pursuit. On his destination world, the fascinating Tines are intelligent only in combination: named "individuals" are small packs of the doglike aliens. Primitive doesn't mean stupid, and opposed Tine leaders wheedle the young castaways for information about guns and radios. Low-tech war looms, with elaborately nested betrayals and schemes to seize <em>Out of Band</em> if it ever arrives. The tension becomes extreme... while half the Beyond debates the issues on galactic Usenet. </p><p>Vinge's climax is suitably mindboggling. This epic combines the flash and dazzle of old-style space opera with modern, polished thoughtfulness. Pham Nuwen also appears in the nifty prequel set 30,000 years earlier, __. Both recommended. <em>--David Langford, Amazon.co.uk</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>It has been six years since Vinge's last book ( Marooned in Realtime ), but the wait proves worthwhile in this stimulating tale filled with ideas, action and likable, believable characters, both alien and human. Vinge presents a galaxy divided into Zones--regions where different physical constraints allow very different technological and mental possibilities. Earth remains in the "Slowness" zone, where nothing can travel faster than light and minds are fairly limited. The action of the book is in the "Beyond," where translight travel and other marvels exist, and humans are one of many intelligent species. One human colony has been experimenting with ancient technology in order to find a path to the "Transcend," where intelligence and power are so great as to seem godlike. Instead they release the Blight, an evil power, from a billion-year captivity. As the Blight begins to spread, a few humans flee with a secret that might destroy it, but they are stranded in a primitive low-tech world barely in the Beyond. While the Blight destroys whole races and star systems, a team of two humans and two aliens races to rescue the others, pursued by the Blight's agents and other enemies. With uninterrupted pacing, suspense without contrivance, and deftly drawn aliens who can be pleasantly comical without becoming cute, Vinge offers heart-pounding, mind-expanding science fiction at its best. <br />Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature -- a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future. In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes. Seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of twentieth-century literature -- a chilling and still-provocative look at a post-apocalyptic future.   In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes. Seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze. It is now, as it always has been, a masterpiece.</p>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>The stunning continuation of the epic adventure begun in </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>This densely plotted book concludes the futuristic tale begun in Hyperion . Earth has long since been destroyed, and humans now occupy more than 150 worlds linked by the Web, an instantaneous travel system created and operated by artificial intelligences (AIs--self-aware, highly advanced computers). These worlds are about to war with the Ousters, a branch of humanity that has disdained dependency on the AIs. At risk are the planet Hyperion, its mysterious Tombs that travel backward in time, and the Shrike, its god/avatar of pain or retribution. The narrative focuses on the government of the Web and its leader, Meina Gladstone, as observed by Joseph Severn, a cybernetic re-creation of the poet John Keats, and seven Shrike pilgrims, who may affect the war's outcome. Simmons pits good against evil, with the religions of man and those of the machines battling for supremacy. Despite his grand scale, however, he fashions intensely human individuals whom the reader will take to heart. <br>Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p> </div>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>This conclusion of the Hyperion saga ( </p><h3>From</h3><p>The latest episode (following last year's <em>Endymion</em>) of Simmons' Foundation-like saga of the far future tells of the struggle for dominance between humanity and its siblings, one of which is a highly evolved race with artificial intelligence and another of which has experimented upon its own DNA until it is no longer quite human. What might be called classical humankind is under the rule of a newly established, dominant Catholic Church, which undertakes to exterminate one of its rivals, the Ousters, and also seeks the girl Aenea, part-human and part-machine and a messiah for whom the adventurer Endymion is guardian. But Endymion and Aenea part as their destinies begin to fulfill themselves, and before they meet again, Endymion leaps through time portals from world to world. These worlds, including a gas giant with jellyfishlike lifeforms in its upper atmosphere and an ice kingdom carved among mountain peaks, are brilliantly realized. Thus Simmons pushes his vast entertainment along unfalteringly. <em>John Mort</em></p>


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On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike.  There are those who worship it.  There are those who fear it.  And there are those who have vowed to destroy it.  In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.  On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives.  Each carries a desperate hope--and a terrible secret.  And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.


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SUMMARY: On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope--and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Two hundred and seventy-four years after the fall of the WorldWeb in <em>Fall of Hyperion</em>, Raoul Endymion is sent on a quest. Retrieving Aenea from the Sphinx before the Church troops reach her is only the beginning. With help from a blue-skinned android named A. Bettik, Raoul and Aenea travel the river Tethys, pursued by Father Captain Frederico DeSoya, an influential warrior-priest and his troops. The shrike continues to make enigmatic appearances, and while many questions were raised in <em>Hyperion</em> and <em>Fall of Hyperion</em>, still more are raised here. Raoul's quest will continue in at least one more volume. </p><p>This series has something for everyone: Simmons's prose is imaginative and stylistically varied; point-of-view and time-scale are handled with finesse; the action is always gripping; the device of Old Earth allows Simmons to work in entertaining references to present-day culture; and the technology raises bizarre questions of ethics and morality in its use of repeated death and resurrection. </p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>After a recent foray into the horror field (Fires of Eden, LJ 11/15/94), the multitalented Simmons returns to the sf genre with a sequel to the Hugo Award-winning Hyperion (Doubleday, 1989) and The Fall of Hyperion (LJ <br />Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<p>In the stunning continuation of the epic adventure begun in <i>Hyperion</i>, Simmons returns us to a far future resplendent with drama and invention.  On<br>the world of Hyperion, the mysterious Time Tombs are opening.  And the secrets they contain mean that nothing--nothing anywhere in the universe--will ever be the same.<br><br><i>From the Paperback edition.</i>


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LovelornLoveworn Love LostPerplexed Prince Dolph, Xanth's precocious shapeshifter, should be in love but isn't. Nonetheless, he must chose between two fiancées -- Nada the uninterested and Electra the uninteresting -- or all three of them will suffer the most dire consequences. Luckily a convenient catastrophe has popped up to distract Dolph form his dilemma -- the foal-napping of young Che Centaur by goblins. And the only one who knows where Che is is a nice but remarkably naive elflike gir named Jenny from the World of Two Moons. If anyone can save the missing centaur...she sure can't.


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"Do you think the puns will ever run out?" a character asks early in Anthony's 26th funny Xanth adventure. "If they do, Xanth will dissolve into chaos... It is mostly made of puns," another character sagely replies. And so it goes. This fantasy confection is full of puns,clever mathematical and grammatical lessons and some gratuitous sexual innuendo. Cynthia Centaur and her companions must find the Six Rings ofXanth (Fire, Earth, Idea, Water, Air and Void) in order to rescue the Demon Earth from the thrall of the Swell Foop. These rings are the only artifacts capable of locating the Foop. When they are stacked and aligned, a person who sights through them will be able to see the Foop if the stack is pointing the right way, and if that person is destinedto use it. The rings also control the six known Regions of Xanth. Thering bearers, who include Jaylin, a Mundanian human girl, as well as five Xanth creatures, must use their creativity and sense of humor tofind Demon Earth, or else the gravity needed in Xanth and Earth will disappear forever.


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SUMMARY: Smash, himself, was part ogre. Although ogres were considered so stupid they coud hardly speak, and spent their time eating young girls, seven assorted females had suddenly turned to him for guidance and saftety? In Xanth, one visit to the Good Magician Humfrey worked wonders....


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SUMMARY: Gloha is the only creature of her kind in all the world of Xanth, the beautiful offspring of a chance mating between a harpy and a goblin. As she grew to womanhood, she wondered where where she would find the one true love with whom she could share her life.So, naturally, she sets off to find the Good Magician Humfrey to ask him for an Answer to the riddle of her heart's desire. But hUmfrey, for mysterious reason of his own, propels her instead on a perilous quest in search of truth, friendship, and, just possibly, happiness.


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SUMMARY: Seeking a solution to a perplexing personal problem, the delectable Demoness Metria asks for help from the wise Magician Humfrey. But before he will help her, she must perform a perilous mission: Rove the length and breadth of Xanth in search of a suitable jury for the trial of Roxanne Roc-a notably noble and virtuous bird charged with a most improbable offense.Exciting, exhilarating, and brimming with hilarious high jinks, Roc and a Hard Place is Xanth at its most enchanting.


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SUMMARY: In the mind of Xanth's precious shapeshifting Prince Dolph, the perfect was to see the world is to search for the missing sorcerer, Humfrey. Setting off with his faithfuls companion, Marrow, an enchanted skeleton, Dolph will penetrate an island of illusion, escape a goblin kingdom, outwit a husband-hungry mermaid, save marrow from bone-starved harpies, and find romance with a slinky snake princess--all on his way to discovering a magic coin with all the answers!


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SUMMARY: Millie, a ghost for 800 years wants only one man--Jonathan, and he's a zombie. To prove himself, Magician Dor volunteers to get the potion that can restore Jonathan to full life. But he has to go back through time to do it, to a peril-haunted, ancient Xanth, where danger lurks at every turn....


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A Spot of Trouble An innocent piece of Mundane Snail Mail has provoked the dreaded Demon Jupiter to hurl his Red Spot at the magical land of Xanth. As the dire Dot draws closer, the unwelcome ordeal of saving the enchanted realm falls to Umlaut, an unlikely lad with an unknown past and an uncertain future. With a handful of colorful companions at his side, Umlaut must unravel a high-stakes intergalactic puzzle, uncover the secret of his mysterious past, and learn to understand the urgings of his own heart. It might have been the merest chance that brought Umlaut to Castle Zombie that morning and launched him on a harrowing adventure. But in the magical land of Xanth, things are seldom left to chance, and adventures lurk around every corner. An unassuming young man with a uncanny knack for attracting lovely young ladies and an uncommon talent for emulating anyone he wished, Umlaut was forced to flee a flock of overly friendly females by disguising himself as a Zombie girl. In his haste to find a hiding place, he found himself face-to-face with a dreadful dragon and feared he would soon meet his end. But in Xanth, things are seldom exactly as they seem, and he soon discovered that the dragon was really a sinuous female sea serpent named Sesame, with a gift similar to his own, who had become accidentally entrapped in the Castle's dungeon. When the two happen upon a packet of mail from Earth delivered by mischance to the Zombie King, they inadvertently set in motion a sinister scheme that could spell the end of Xanth. A letter they forward to the Demon Jupiter unexpectedly enrages him, causing him to send his own Red Spot hurtling toward Xanth. Soon everything is up in a heaval, for no one knows how to avert this interplanetary peril. Even the Good Magician Humfrey is baffled, for some strange force has obscured the future. In desperation, he instructs Umlaut and Sesame to deliver the remaining letters to their far-flung recipients, in the faint hope that this may somehow stop the Spot. As they set out on their appointed rounds, Umlaut and Sesame are soon joined by two feline friends, Jenny Elf's companion, Sammy Cat, and a lovely, prescient creature named Claire Voyant who can sometimes see the future. Beguiled and bedeviled by the delicious Demoness Metria, who uses her shapely assets to distract him from his goal, Umlaut leads his allies on an unforgettable odyssey to the farthest reaches of the enchanted realm, from the submicroscopic Nth Moon of Ida, and the home of all dreams and nightmares, to the unmagical land of Euphoria, where he meets a sweet and sprightly young girl named Surprise who captures his heart. But before Umlaut can complete his quest and return to his beloved, he must unravel the unfathomable puzzle of his own existence, which is somehow inextricably entwined with the fate of Xanth. A satisfyingly suspenseful tale filled with mystery, magic, and merriment, Up in a Heaval is exciting and entertaining fantasy adventure from the pen of a master


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SUMMARY: For a bored, young princess of Xanth, there's nothing more exciting than a Quest. Especially when all you do is sit around Castle Roogna. But when Ivy uses the Heaven Cent, it takes her not to the top of Mount Rushmost, where the winged monsters gather, not to the sea where the merfolk swim--but to Mundania, a world much like out own (that is, boring). It is here that she meets a young college student so dull that he doesn't even believe in magic, or princesses, or Xanth!Does he have a lot to learn.The thrilling climax to the trilogy started in Vale of the Vole and continued in Heaven Cent.


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Dor agreed to act as King of Xanth so long as Trent was gone for a week. But the weeks passed and Trent did not return. Dor knew he had to rescue his king but with no magic powers, how could it be done...?


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SUMMARY: Grundy Golem got no respect. So, to prove himself, he volunteered for a quest to find the long-lost dragon, Stanley Steamer. On the way, he somehow manages to free a damsel in distress-- but not without incurring the wrath of the Sea Hag in the process. And when it comes to avenging herself on Grundy, the Sea Hag will never give up....From the Paperback edition.


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SUMMARY:
Seeking a solution to a perplexing personal problem, the delectable Demoness Metria asks for help from the wise Magician Humfrey. But before he will help her, she must perform a perilous mission: Rove the length and breadth of Xanth in search of a suitable jury for the trial of Roxanne Roc-a notably noble and virtuous bird charged with a most improbable offense.Exciting, exhilarating, and brimming with hilarious high jinks, Roc and a Hard Place is Xanth at its most enchanting.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: When Clio, the Muse of History, sat down to pen the twenty-eighth volume in the Chronicles of Xanth, she was stunned to discover it was already there! And, what was worse, it was totally unreadable, for the words on its pages were fuzzed beyond comprehension. Vexed and bewildered, and more than a little concerned, Clio resolved to leave the quiet comfort of her study on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and ask her old friend, the Good Magician Humfrey, to search a solution to her problem in his Book of Answers. But, much to her consternation, Humfrey required her to perform a magical Service before she could acquire her Answer: to rescue Xanth's dragons from the verge of extinction before the delicate balance of its wildlife was permanently thrown out of whack. Her momentous mission lead her to a dangerous Dragon World hidden amongst the Moons of Ida, across a perilous landscape filled with wonder and danger, in search of the fabled Currant, a very rare red berry that might hold the secret she sought. Along the way she acquired a fellowship of companions, including the brave and beautiful Becka Dragongirl, a pair of pocket dragons named Drew and Drusie, a charming young child called Ciriana whose destiny was somehow entwined with hers, and Sherlock, a sweet but homely man from Mundania who might just be a master magician himself. Together they gradually began to unravel the momentous mystery of Xanth's missing history. And Clio began to realize that Sherlock's enchantments had begun to work their way into her heart.


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Since Xanth began, the gargoyles of that magical place have been under a magical compulsion to protect the purity of the Swan Knee River which flows in to Xanth from dreary Mundania. But recently the pollution from the outside world has grown ever greater, and young Gary Gar, latest in a long line of gargoyle guardians, is finding it ever more difficult to fulfill his responsibilities.So Gary does what any sensible Xanth resident with a dire dilemma would do. He goes to see the Good Magician Humfrey, who sends him on a peculiar quest--to transform himself into human shape, tutor a precocious child with more than her share of wild magical talents, and find a philter which can restore the river to its previous pristine state.


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Smash, himself, was part ogre. Although ogres were considered so stupid they coud hardly speak, and spent their time eating young girls, seven assorted females had suddenly turned to him for guidance and saftety? In Xanth, one visit to the Good Magician Humfrey worked wonders....


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SUMMARY: When the Good Magician Humfrey's son Hugo suddenly vanishes, his disappearance sets in motion a series of madcap misadventures that send a collection of colorful characters on a perilous pair of parallel quests. Among them are Debra, a pretty young girl beset by an obnoxious curse; Hugo's beloved wife Wira, whose sightlessness is balanced by a talent for sensitivity, Happy and Fray, a pair of sprightly storm-spirits; Nimbus, the Demon Xanth's own son; and the mysterious outlaw known as the Random Factor.As they travel through some of the magical realm's most astonishing locales, these unwitting adventurers discover they are key players in a grand drama whose origins reach back to the origins of time itself. Filled with exhilaration and excitement, ribaldry and romance, "Air Apparent "is a fabulous new fantasy saga from the lively imagination of master storyteller Piers Anthony.


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SUMMARY: When Esk, a young ogre-nymph-human, began his pilgrimage to the Good Magician Humfrey to rid himself of a seductive demoness, little did he know it would become a mission of mercy. A running river paradise and its harmless inhabitants were perishing in the wrathful wake of a greedy demon horde. Now it is up to Esk and his companions--a beautiful winged centaur named Chex and a brave burrower Called Volney--to search Xanth's treacherous reaches, gathering together a mind-boggling company of creatures to defend the precious Vale of the Vole.


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SUMMARY: Dor agreed to act as King of Xanth so long as Trent was gone for a week. But the weeks passed and Trent did not return. Dor knew he had to rescue his king but with no magic powers, how could it be done...?


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Although the Nextwave of barbarian warriors was invading Xanth, Mare Imbrium discovered that ever since she had gained the half soul, the night mare had begun to mishandle her job of delivering bad dreams. Exiled to the day world with a message for King Trent, Mare met the relentless, unforgiving Horseman. For the night mare, it began to be all a horrible nightmare!


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SUMMARY: There is trouble in Xanth again. The Gap Dragon had escaped and was ravaging across the land, the forget-spell was causing mass amnesia, three-year old Ivy was headed right for a hungry dragon. Could things get any worse? Probably.... From the Paperback edition.


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For a bored, young princess of Xanth, there's nothing more exciting than a Quest. Especially when all you do is sit around Castle Roogna. But when Ivy uses the Heaven Cent, it takes her not to the top of Mount Rushmost, where the winged monsters gather, not to the sea where the merfolk swim--but to Mundania, a world much like out own (that is, boring). It is here that she meets a young college student so dull that he doesn't even believe in magic, or princesses, or Xanth!Does he have a lot to learn.The thrilling climax to the trilogy started in Vale of the Vole and continued in Heaven Cent.


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Two young adventurers are drawn into theworld of Xanth through a computer game and find themselves in adesperate race against time when treachery, danger, and deceit placeXanth itself in peril, as they learn that some things are moreimportant than winning.


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Ordered by King Trent to determine the source of Xanth's magic, Bink and his companions were harried by an unseen enemy determined to thwart them. When even their protector turned against them, Blink still managed to reach his goal and carry out the King's orders...but the king did not expect Blink's next act--to destroy utterly the magic of Xanth!


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: Though already developing a successful career in SF with such heady novels as *Chthon* and *Omnivore*, Piers Anthony did not reach brand-name status until he cooked up some fantasy in 1977. And it was cheerful, humorous fantasy at that, as in his first Xanth series novel, *A Spell for Chameleon*. The book's young hero, Bink, is without magical powers in a world ruled entirely by magic. Worse still, if he doesn't discover his own magical talent soon, he will be forever banished from his homeland. Naturally, it takes an epic quest for Bink to learn what his unique talent truly is--and perhaps to win the girl of his dreams as well. *A Spell for Chameleon* was the very first of Anthony's bestselling (and still ongoing) humorous fantasy series. Noteworthy for their outrageous word puns and bizarre characters, the Xanth books are a light yet often satisfying brew, especially when compared with the author's sometimes nihilistic and ultraviolent hard SF. *--Stanley Wiater*


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SUMMARY: Youth is Wasted on the Young Being grown up is a drag . . . or so thinks Lacuna, one of the michievous Castle Zombie twins. So she makes the Good Magician Grey an an offer he can't refuse. Thirsty for a taste of the Elixir of Youth, she'll help him outwit the evil Com-Pewter if he'll send her to Hell (in a handbasket, no less) to find Humphrey, the missing sorcerer. And while there, she'll learn the True History of Xanth (simplified) and help rescue a blushing Rose from the demon X(A/N) . . . with the help of a gorgon or two.


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SUMMARY: Although the Nextwave of barbarian warriors was invading Xanth, Mare Imbrium discovered that ever since she had gained the half soul, the night mare had begun to mishandle her job of delivering bad dreams. Exiled to the day world with a message for King Trent, Mare met the relentless, unforgiving Horseman. For the night mare, it began to be all a horrible nightmare!


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SUMMARY: Surprise Golem has just lost her brand-new baby. The Stork assigned to deliver her eagerly awaited Bundle of Joy has inexplicably refused to surrender it, flying off instead through a hole in the fabric of reality.  Now, to track down her offspring, Surprise must lead an ill-assorted assemblage of confederates on a desperate quest through dozens of different Xanths. But sinister, unseen forces are determined to stop her. And in order to find her child, Surprise may have to lose her heart. Startling, stimulating, stirring, and surprising, Stork Naked is a rollicking and revealing new fantasy adventure lusciously laced with dozens of dangers and delights, lovingly fashioned with all of Piers Anthony’s celebrated storytelling skills.


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SUMMARY: For nearly three decades, Piers Anthony's bestselling Xanth series has been delighting tens of thousands of fantasy fans around the world. Now, with Cube Route, the series' twenty-seventh adventure, Anthony has penned a tale that adds another dimension to this exciting saga.In the magical land of Xanth, wishes are far more than mere words. So when a Plain Jane called Cube whispers a wistful wish to be beautiful, she finds herself leading a company of colorful companions on a search for the mysterious Cube Route--a perilous path that leads to danger, adventure, and perhaps her heart's desire as well.This curious quest takes them all over Xanth, into the mythical realm of Phaze, and even to our own world, where Cube rescues a beautiful human woman from a very ugly situation, ending at last in a mysterious Counter-Xanth where things can be transformed into their opposites in the wink of an eye.A rollicking tale brimming with laughter, wonder, and enchantment, Cube Route is also a moving exploration of the beauty that dwells within all of us.


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SUMMARY: Ordered by King Trent to determine the source of Xanth's magic, Bink and his companions were harried by an unseen enemy determined to thwart them. When even their protector turned against them, Blink still managed to reach his goal and carry out the King's orders...but the king did not expect Blink's next act--to destroy utterly the magic of Xanth!


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SUMMARY:
When Esk, a young ogre-nymph-human, began his pilgrimage to the Good Magician Humfrey to rid himself of a seductive demoness, little did he know it would become a mission of mercy. A running river paradise and its harmless inhabitants were perishing in the wrathful wake of a greedy demon horde. Now it is up to Esk and his companions--a beautiful winged centaur named Chex and a brave burrower Called Volney--to search Xanth's treacherous reaches, gathering together a mind-boggling company of creatures to defend the precious Vale of the Vole.


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For nearly three decades, Piers Anthony's bestselling Xanth series has been delighting tens of thousands of fantasy fans around the world. Now, with Cube Route, the series' twenty-seventh adventure, Anthony has penned a tale that adds another dimension to this exciting saga.In the magical land of Xanth, wishes are far more than mere words. So when a Plain Jane called Cube whispers a wistful wish to be beautiful, she finds herself leading a company of colorful companions on a search for the mysterious Cube Route--a perilous path that leads to danger, adventure, and perhaps her heart's desire as well.This curious quest takes them all over Xanth, into the mythical realm of Phaze, and even to our own world, where Cube rescues a beautiful human woman from a very ugly situation, ending at last in a mysterious Counter-Xanth where things can be transformed into their opposites in the wink of an eye.A rollicking tale brimming with laughter, wonder, and enchantment, Cube Route is also a moving exploration of the beauty that dwells within all of us.


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Piers Anthony's most exceptional Xanth adventure ever reveals wnodrous new worlds of mirth and magic!The miraculous and mirth-filled land of Xanth holds many marvels. But now an extraordinary new aspect of this remarkable realm unfolds as young Forrest Faun's quest takes him to a tiny planet hidden in the heart of Xanth. There, with a delightful "day mare" as his constant companion, Forrest will find more marvels then he ever dreamed of.Packed with magic, mystery, and mirth, Faun &amp; Games is the freshest and most exciting Xanth adventure in a month of Pundays!


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Jordan was a ghost in Castle Roogna now. Although once he had been themost valorus of knights--that is, until he was betrayed by two wily magicians and the woman he loves. Now, if he only can remember how he was killed, he'll be able to reassemble his body. And he is getting impatient....


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When the Good Magician Humfrey's son Hugo suddenly vanishes, his disappearance sets in motion a series of madcap misadventures that send a collection of colorful characters on a perilous pair of parallel quests. Among them are Debra, a pretty young girl beset by an obnoxious curse; Hugo's beloved wife Wira, whose sightlessness is balanced by a talent for sensitivity, Happy and Fray, a pair of sprightly storm-spirits; Nimbus, the Demon Xanth's own son; and the mysterious outlaw known as the Random Factor.As they travel through some of the magical realm's most astonishing locales, these unwitting adventurers discover they are key players in a grand drama whose origins reach back to the origins of time itself. Filled with exhilaration and excitement, ribaldry and romance, "Air Apparent "is a fabulous new fantasy saga from the lively imagination of master storyteller Piers Anthony.


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Piers Anthony's comical chronicles of his enchanted realm of Xanth are among the most beloved fantasy series ever written, with millions of readers worldwide. Now, Anthony returns with an all-new adventure that blends high hilarity with super-scary suspense.Many malevolent menaces have imperiled the magical land of Xanth in its long and storied history. But none has been as despicably dangerous as the Dastard. Once a common country boy, he sold his soul to a detestable demon for the power to erase events and rewrite history for his own devious ends. Now the entire future of Xanth is at the mercy of the Dastard's every whim.But this depraved desperado underestimates the courage and cleverness of a young girl named Becka, who can transform herself into a fearsome dragon at the speed of thought. With the help of a colorful band of brave companions, Becka challenges the Dastard with the greatest magic of all - the power of the human heart.


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The future of Xanth is in frightful peril. A powerful magical bird named Ragna Roc has embarked on a campaign to become absolute ruler of that mystical realm. Those who swear loyalty to him are spared. The rest have simply disappeared.So powerful are Ragna’s sorceries that even the Good Magician Humfrey dares not confront him directly. Instead he enlists Cyrus the Cyborg, a handsome half-human playwright with little knowledge of the world, in a stealthy subterfuge. Cyrus must assemble a troupe of traveling players to attract Ragna’s interest. And hidden in disguise among the bevy of beautiful young actresses are the young princesses, Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, whose magics might just be a match for the evil bird.But Ragna has planted a spy in the midst of the troupe, one who knows their deepest secrets, including the true nature of Cyrus’s forbidden love for one of the young princesses. Only a mysterious child called Kadence, and a cryptic clue — “Two to the Fifth" — may give the companions the edge they need to defeat Ragna’s dictatorial dreams.Brimming with passion and merriment, drama and deception, Piers Anthony’s thirty-second Xanth fantasy is a pun-packed performance sure to provoke applause and ovations from the series’ myriad fans.


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SUMMARY: The future of Xanth is in frightful peril. A powerful magical bird named Ragna Roc has embarked on a campaign to become absolute ruler of that mystical realm. Those who swear loyalty to him are spared. The rest have simply disappeared.So powerful are Ragna’s sorceries that even the Good Magician Humfrey dares not confront him directly. Instead he enlists Cyrus the Cyborg, a handsome half-human playwright with little knowledge of the world, in a stealthy subterfuge. Cyrus must assemble a troupe of traveling players to attract Ragna’s interest. And hidden in disguise among the bevy of beautiful young actresses are the young princesses, Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, whose magics might just be a match for the evil bird.But Ragna has planted a spy in the midst of the troupe, one who knows their deepest secrets, including the true nature of Cyrus’s forbidden love for one of the young princesses. Only a mysterious child called Kadence, and a cryptic clue — “Two to the Fifth" — may give the companions the edge they need to defeat Ragna’s dictatorial dreams.Brimming with passion and merriment, drama and deception, Piers Anthony’s thirty-second Xanth fantasy is a pun-packed performance sure to provoke applause and ovations from the series’ myriad fans.


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Millie, a ghost for 800 years wants only one man--Jonathan, and he's a zombie. To prove himself, Magician Dor volunteers to get the potion that can restore Jonathan to full life. But he has to go back through time to do it, to a peril-haunted, ancient Xanth, where danger lurks at every turn....


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After a year filled with harrowing adventures, all Breanna of the BlackWave and her newfound love, Justin Tree, want is a little time to getto know each other better and explore the wonders of the enchanted landof Xanth. But their incipient idyll is soon shattered by a stunningdiscovery. A climatic catastrophe is causing a massive meltdown thatthreatens to inundate the ancient forests of Xanth.


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Youth is Wasted on the Young Being grown up is a drag . . . or so thinks Lacuna, one of the michievous Castle Zombie twins. So she makes the Good Magician Grey an an offer he can't refuse. Thirsty for a taste of the Elixir of Youth, she'll help him outwit the evil Com-Pewter if he'll send her to Hell (in a handbasket, no less) to find Humphrey, the missing sorcerer. And while there, she'll learn the True History of Xanth (simplified) and help rescue a blushing Rose from the demon X(A/N) . . . with the help of a gorgon or two.


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SUMMARY: Since Xanth began, the gargoyles of that magical place have been under a magical compulsion to protect the purity of the Swan Knee River which flows in to Xanth from dreary Mundania. But recently the pollution from the outside world has grown ever greater, and young Gary Gar, latest in a long line of gargoyle guardians, is finding it ever more difficult to fulfill his responsibilities.So Gary does what any sensible Xanth resident with a dire dilemma would do. He goes to see the Good Magician Humfrey, who sends him on a peculiar quest--to transform himself into human shape, tutor a precocious child with more than her share of wild magical talents, and find a philter which can restore the river to its previous pristine state.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

When Clio, the Muse of History, sat down to pen the twenty-eighth volume in the Chronicles of Xanth, she was stunned to discover it was already there! And, what was worse, it was totally unreadable, for the words on its pages were fuzzed beyond comprehension.



Vexed and bewildered, and more than a little concerned, Clio resolved to leave the quiet comfort of her study on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and ask her old friend, the Good Magician Humfrey, to search a solution to her problem in his Book of Answers.



But, much to her consternation, Humfrey required her to perform a magical Service before she could acquire her Answer: to rescue Xanth's dragons from the verge of extinction before the delicate balance of its wildlife was permanently thrown out of whack.



Her momentous mission lead her to a dangerous Dragon World hidden amongst the Moons of Ida, across a perilous landscape filled with wonder and danger, in search of the fabled Currant, a very rare red berry that might hold the secret she sought. 



Along the way she acquired a fellowship of companions, including the brave and beautiful Becka Dragongirl, a pair of pocket dragons named Drew and Drusie, a charming young child called Ciriana whose destiny was somehow entwined with hers, and Sherlock, a sweet but homely man from Mundania who might just be a master magician himself.



Together they gradually began to unravel the momentous mystery of Xanth's missing history. And Clio began to realize that Sherlock's enchantments had begun to work their way into her heart.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

**An All-New Xanth Adventure****First Paperback Edition!**A fickle flux in the fabric of space has allowed a horrendous hurricane to blast into Xanth, stirring up mischief and madness wherever she goes. Trapped in a preposterous form by a cosmic wager, the Demon  X(A/N)th  must join forces with a vexatious vixen named Chlorine to save Xanth from this terrifying and tempestuous threat.Their companions on this haphazard quest are a hapless human family - Jim and Karen Baldwin and their two teenaged sons, David and Sean -  gusted into Xanth from the mundane world beyond.  Together they encounters a host of turbulent misadventures as they struggle to keep Xanth from being blown off the map forever.A brisk and breezy adventure in the grand Xanth tradition,* Yon Ill Wind* is sure to bring gales of laughter and excitement to Piers Anthony's legion of loyal readers.


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A relentless horde of renegade robots has plunged the fate of Xanth in dire peril. All that stands between the enchanted land and destruction is a most unlikely hero, a moody, mild-mannered Goblin named Goody, who must summon all of his courage and determination to overcome this abominable army of automatons.Brimming with heart-stopping adventure and heart-warming delight, overflowing with wicked wit and wanton wordplay, Pet Peeve is Piers Anthony in rare form, an exceptional new chapter in the continuing chronicles of Xanth.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

In the thirty-third thrilling escapade in Piers Anthony’s rousing Xanth fantasy series, an adventurous arachnid named Jumper must assume human form to save the enchanted realm from a cosmic peril.

A cataclysmic battle between two all-powerful Demons has severed a mystical connection that joins Xanth to our own world. The key to restoring it is hidden within a cryptic prophecy that Jumper discovers when he is suddenly transformed from spider to man. As he sets out to discern the prophecy's meaning, he gathers about him a half dozen alluring damsels who do their best to help him solve the riddle while vying for his attentions. 

But a seductive siren and her demonic consort have determined to use their wiles to lure Jumper and his lovely companions away from their urgent mission.  In a madcap adventure that is alternately harrowing and hilarious, they soon discover that danger, deception, and even true love may be found where they least expect it.

In *Jumper Cable*, master storyteller Piers Anthony spins a wild and witty web of wonder that is sure to captivate fans of fantastic adventure everywhere!


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: Piers Anthony's tales of the magical land of Xanth are among the most popular fantasies ever written, with more than 20 titles on The New York Times bestseller list and millions of devoted fans around the world.Zombie Lover, Anthony's newest Xanth adventure, is the thrilling tale of Brianna, a beautiful, brassy young black girl with a distressing dilemma. She has unwittingly attracted the affections of King Xeth, ruler of Xanth's Zombies, who yearns to make her Queen of the Undead!Her quest to preserve her innocence; and escape a fate that is literally worse than death; leads from the regions of Madness to the evanescent Isle of Women, which is ruled by voracious vamps, and on to Xanth's myriad worlds of maybe orbiting Queen Ida's head. And it brings the return of many familiar Xanth characters, including King Dor, Prince Dolph, Bink and Chameleon, and Justin Tree, who becomes her spirit guide on this oddest of odysseys.Packed with perils, puzzles and piles of puns, Zombie Lover provides much macabre merriment for Xanth's many fans.


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Surprise Golem has just lost her brand-new baby. The Stork assigned to deliver her eagerly awaited Bundle of Joy has inexplicably refused to surrender it, flying off instead through a hole in the fabric of reality. Now, to track down her offspring, Surprise must lead an ill-assorted assemblage of confederates on a desperate quest through dozens of different Xanths. But sinister, unseen forces are determined to stop her. And in order to find her child, Surprise may have to lose her heart. Startling, stimulating, stirring, and surprising, Stork Naked is a rollicking and revealing new fantasy adventure lusciously laced with dozens of dangers and delights, lovingly fashioned with all of Piers Anthony’s celebrated storytelling skills.


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Though already developing a successful career in SF with such heady novels as Chthon and Omnivore, Piers Anthony did not reach brand-name status until he cooked up some fantasy in 1977. And it was cheerful, humorous fantasy at that, as in his first Xanth series novel, A Spell for Chameleon. The book's young hero, Bink, is without magical powers in a world ruled entirely by magic. Worse still, if he doesn't discover his own magical talent soon, he will be forever banished from his homeland. Naturally, it takes an epic quest for Bink to learn what his unique talent truly is--and perhaps to win the girl of his dreams as well. A Spell for Chameleon was the very first of Anthony's bestselling (and still ongoing) humorous fantasy series. Noteworthy for their outrageous word puns and bizarre characters, the Xanth books are a light yet often satisfying brew, especially when compared with the author's sometimes nihilistic and ultraviolent hard SF. --Stanley Wiater


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In the fifteenth novel of his Xanth series, Piers Anthony has captured again the fantasy world loved by generations of devoted readers. Brand-new excitement and humor from the author of Question Quest, The Color of Her Panties explodes with phantasmagorical, pun-filled adventure. In the struggle for the Goblin crown, Gwenny Goblin is forced to compete with her awful half brother Gobble in a battle of the wits. To prove herself worthy, Gwenny, with her secret contact lenses, enlists the aid of Che Centaur and Jenny Elf to help her perform the tasks that will win her the chieftainship of the Goblin horde, including bringing back the fabulous egg that sits between the Roc and the hard place. But the most precious secret lies in Mela Merwoman's undergarments; in particular, their color. But Mela, Ida Human, and Okra Ogress, using Magician Humphrey's confusing advice, are stuck in a wild-goose chase around Xanth, meeting up with the likes of dragons and the Simurg, and eventually joining the Adult Conspiracy. Meanwhile, Gwenny is still on her quest for the answer to the all-important question: What color are the Merwoman's panties? With outrageous wit and fantastic escapades, The Color of Her Panties will thrill the fans who have entered before into this fabulous adventure of space and thyme, as well as new discoverers of the world of Xanth.


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SUMMARY: New York Times bestselling author of Zombie Lover A wild and wonderful new magical adventure that leads from Xanth to Earth - and back again! A cataclysmic cloud hangs over the enchanted land of land of Xanth. Three courageous couples must venture into the O-Xone, a cybernetic interface between Xanth and our own world, to rescue the enchanted realm from destruction. A xany new fantasy xaga from the Master of Merriment, Xone of Contention is chock-filled with danger, excitement and xillions of laughs! After a year filled with harrowing adventures, all Breanna of the Black Wave and her newfound love Justin Tree want is a little time to get to know each other better, and explore the wonders of the enchanted land of Xanth. But their incipient idyll is soon shattered by a stunning discovery. A climatic catastrophe is causing a massive meltdown that threatens to inundate the ancient forests of Xanth. The only way to avert this dire disaster is to undertake a voyage into the distant mists of the past, to find the moment when this ghastly greenhouse effect began. And the only people who can safely make that journey are those unaffected by Xanth's magic - normal, ordinary humans from our own world. So Breanna and Justin turn for help to the Demon X(A/N)th (a.k.a. Nimby) and his lovely consort Chlorine. Together, they devise a daring plan. Making use of the O-Xone, a magical computer network that links the worlds of Xanth and Earth, Nimby and Chlorine make contact with Pia and Edsel, a young couple from Earth who are working on a Xanth game, and arrange to exchange bodies with them. But an unexpected surprise awaits them on their arrival. The Demon Earth has challenged the Demon Xanth to a deadly duel for the highest possible stakes - dominion over both worlds. While Pia and Edsel range through the farthest reaches of time and space to save Xanth from destruction, Nimby must learn to live by the strange rules of our world, and defeat his ancient enemy without the benefit of his own awesome powers. Brimming with magic, merriment, laughter and love, Xone of Contention is a rousing new fantasy saga in the grand Xanth tradition.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: In the thirty-third thrilling escapade in Piers Anthony’s rousing Xanth fantasy series, an adventurous arachnid named Jumper must assume human form to save the enchanted realm from a cosmic peril. A cataclysmic battle between two all-powerful Demons has severed a mystical connection that joins Xanth to our own world. The key to restoring it is hidden within a cryptic prophecy that Jumper discovers when he is suddenly transformed from spider to man. As he sets out to discern the prophecy's meaning, he gathers about him a half dozen alluring damsels who do their best to help him solve the riddle while vying for his attentions. But a seductive siren and her demonic consort have determined to use their wiles to lure Jumper and his lovely companions away from their urgent mission. In a madcap adventure that is alternately harrowing and hilarious, they soon discover that danger, deception, and even true love may be found where they least expect it. In *Jumper Cable*, master storyteller Piers Anthony spins a wild and witty web of wonder that is sure to captivate fans of fantastic adventure everywhere!


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: **An All-New Xanth Adventure****First Paperback Edition!**A fickle flux in the fabric of space has allowed a horrendous hurricane to blast into Xanth, stirring up mischief and madness wherever she goes. Trapped in a preposterous form by a cosmic wager, the Demon X(A/N)th must join forces with a vexatious vixen named Chlorine to save Xanth from this terrifying and tempestuous threat.Their companions on this haphazard quest are a hapless human family - Jim and Karen Baldwin and their two teenaged sons, David and Sean - gusted into Xanth from the mundane world beyond. Together they encounters a host of turbulent misadventures as they struggle to keep Xanth from being blown off the map forever.A brisk and breezy adventure in the grand Xanth tradition,* Yon Ill Wind* is sure to bring gales of laughter and excitement to Piers Anthony's legion of loyal readers.


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Gloha is the only creature of her kind in all the world of Xanth, the beautiful offspring of a chance mating between a harpy and a goblin. As she grew to womanhood, she wondered where where she would find the one true love with whom she could share her life.So, naturally, she sets off to find the Good Magician Humfrey to ask him for an Answer to the riddle of her heart's desire. But hUmfrey, for mysterious reason of his own, propels her instead on a perilous quest in search of truth, friendship, and, just possibly, happiness.


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>A brassy 15-year-old, Breanna, stars in this cheeky new installment in Anthony's popular series about Xanth (Faun &amp; Games, 1997, etc.), a quirky magical realm where everything is taken literally. Since she spent most of her life in Mundania, Breanna knows all about stork-summoning, but she needs help to escape the unwelcome attentions of King Xeth of the Zombies, who stirs up his grisly minions to try to make her his queen. Anthony combines Breanna's tale with a sweeter one, that of Jenny Elf's love for handsome werewolf Prince Jeremy. He also revives several engaging characters from earlier novels to spice up the girls' adventures. His punny goings-on, liberally salted with reader-submitted howlers like a barrister/bare aster flower, zip and zoom around his traditional themes: be considerate of other people's feelings, apologize for temper tantrums, learn how to be tolerant even of zombies who shed gobbets of decaying flesh. Xanth devotees should be delighted; others may scratch their heads. <br />Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Booklist</h3><p>There are so many books in Anthony's most durable creation, the Xanth series, that one can justifiably call this the umpteenth novel of Xanth. A gorgeous black girl named Brianna finds herself lusted after by Xeth, king of the Zombies. Being inclined, even grimly determined, to decline his attentions, she thereupon must flee to the Isle of Women, then onward, past many Xanth landmarks and through meetings with a good many characters whom dedicated Xanthropologists will recognize, from King Dor on down. Anthony's guided-tour-of-Xanth approach in this and other recent books in the series makes them much more entertaining for Xanth newcomers. Meanwhile, newcomers and old-timers alike will enjoy Anthony's latest collection of truly mind-boggling puns. Every so often, most readers get a craving for a book like this; be grateful to Anthony for continuing to satisfy it. <em>Roland Green</em></p>


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Grundy Golem got no respect. So, to prove himself, he volunteered for a quest to find the long-lost dragon, Stanley Steamer. On the way, he somehow manages to free a damsel in distress-- but not without incurring the wrath of the Sea Hag in the process. And when it comes to avenging herself on Grundy, the Sea Hag will never give up....From the Paperback edition.


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In the mind of Xanth's precious shapeshifting Prince Dolph, the perfect was to see the world is to search for the missing sorcerer, Humfrey. Setting off with his faithfuls companion, Marrow, an enchanted skeleton, Dolph will penetrate an island of illusion, escape a goblin kingdom, outwit a husband-hungry mermaid, save marrow from bone-starved harpies, and find romance with a slinky snake princess--all on his way to discovering a magic coin with all the answers!


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SUMMARY: LovelornLoveworn Love LostPerplexed Prince Dolph, Xanth's precocious shapeshifter, should be in love but isn't. Nonetheless, he must chose between two fiancées -- Nada the uninterested and Electra the uninteresting -- or all three of them will suffer the most dire consequences. Luckily a convenient catastrophe has popped up to distract Dolph form his dilemma -- the foal-napping of young Che Centaur by goblins. And the only one who knows where Che is is a nice but remarkably naive elflike gir named Jenny from the World of Two Moons. If anyone can save the missing centaur...she sure can't.


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SUMMARY: In the fifteenth novel of his Xanth series, Piers Anthony has captured again the fantasy world loved by generations of devoted readers. Brand-new excitement and humor from the author of Question Quest, The Color of Her Panties explodes with phantasmagorical, pun-filled adventure. In the struggle for the Goblin crown, Gwenny Goblin is forced to compete with her awful half brother Gobble in a battle of the wits. To prove herself worthy, Gwenny, with her secret contact lenses, enlists the aid of Che Centaur and Jenny Elf to help her perform the tasks that will win her the chieftainship of the Goblin horde, including bringing back the fabulous egg that sits between the Roc and the hard place. But the most precious secret lies in Mela Merwoman's undergarments; in particular, their color. But Mela, Ida Human, and Okra Ogress, using Magician Humphrey's confusing advice, are stuck in a wild-goose chase around Xanth, meeting up with the likes of dragons and the Simurg, and eventually joining the Adult Conspiracy. Meanwhile, Gwenny is still on her quest for the answer to the all-important question: What color are the Merwoman's panties? With outrageous wit and fantastic escapades, The Color of Her Panties will thrill the fans who have entered before into this fabulous adventure of space and thyme, as well as new discoverers of the world of Xanth.


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There is trouble in Xanth again. The Gap Dragon had escaped and was ravaging across the land, the forget-spell was causing mass amnesia, three-year old Ivy was headed right for a hungry dragon. Could things get any worse? Probably....From the Paperback edition.


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SUMMARY: A relentless horde of renegade robots has plunged the fate of Xanth in dire peril. All that stands between the enchanted land and destruction is a most unlikely hero, a moody, mild-mannered Goblin named Goody, who must summon all of his courage and determination to overcome this abominable army of automatons. Brimming with heart-stopping adventure and heart-warming delight, overflowing with wicked wit and wanton wordplay, Pet Peeve is Piers Anthony in rare form, an exceptional new chapter in the continuing chronicles of Xanth.


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SUMMARY: Piers Anthony's comical chronicles of his enchanted realm of Xanth are among the most beloved fantasy series ever written, with millions of readers worldwide. Now, Anthony returns with an all-new adventure that blends high hilarity with super-scary suspense.Many malevolent menaces have imperiled the magical land of Xanth in its long and storied history. But none has been as despicably dangerous as the Dastard. Once a common country boy, he sold his soul to a detestable demon for the power to erase events and rewrite history for his own devious ends. Now the entire future of Xanth is at the mercy of the Dastard's every whim.But this depraved desperado underestimates the courage and cleverness of a young girl named Becka, who can transform herself into a fearsome dragon at the speed of thought. With the help of a colorful band of brave companions, Becka challenges the Dastard with the greatest magic of all - the power of the human heart.


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SUMMARY: Piers Anthony's most exceptional Xanth adventure ever reveals wnodrous new worlds of mirth and magic!The miraculous and mirth-filled land of Xanth holds many marvels. But now an extraordinary new aspect of this remarkable realm unfolds as young Forrest Faun's quest takes him to a tiny planet hidden in the heart of Xanth. There, with a delightful "day mare" as his constant companion, Forrest will find more marvels then he ever dreamed of.Packed with magic, mystery, and mirth, Faun &amp; Games is the freshest and most exciting Xanth adventure in a month of Pundays!


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SUMMARY: A Spot of Trouble An innocent piece of Mundane Snail Mail has provoked the dreaded Demon Jupiter to hurl his Red Spot at the magical land of Xanth. As the dire Dot draws closer, the unwelcome ordeal of saving the enchanted realm falls to Umlaut, an unlikely lad with an unknown past and an uncertain future. With a handful of colorful companions at his side, Umlaut must unravel a high-stakes intergalactic puzzle, uncover the secret of his mysterious past, and learn to understand the urgings of his own heart. It might have been the merest chance that brought Umlaut to Castle Zombie that morning and launched him on a harrowing adventure. But in the magical land of Xanth, things are seldom left to chance, and adventures lurk around every corner. An unassuming young man with a uncanny knack for attracting lovely young ladies and an uncommon talent for emulating anyone he wished, Umlaut was forced to flee a flock of overly friendly females by disguising himself as a Zombie girl. In his haste to find a hiding place, he found himself face-to-face with a dreadful dragon and feared he would soon meet his end. But in Xanth, things are seldom exactly as they seem, and he soon discovered that the dragon was really a sinuous female sea serpent named Sesame, with a gift similar to his own, who had become accidentally entrapped in the Castle's dungeon. When the two happen upon a packet of mail from Earth delivered by mischance to the Zombie King, they inadvertently set in motion a sinister scheme that could spell the end of Xanth. A letter they forward to the Demon Jupiter unexpectedly enrages him, causing him to send his own Red Spot hurtling toward Xanth. Soon everything is up in a heaval, for no one knows how to avert this interplanetary peril. Even the Good Magician Humfrey is baffled, for some strange force has obscured the future. In desperation, he instructs Umlaut and Sesame to deliver the remaining letters to their far-flung recipients, in the faint hope that this may somehow stop the Spot. As they set out on their appointed rounds, Umlaut and Sesame are soon joined by two feline friends, Jenny Elf's companion, Sammy Cat, and a lovely, prescient creature named Claire Voyant who can sometimes see the future. Beguiled and bedeviled by the delicious Demoness Metria, who uses her shapely assets to distract him from his goal, Umlaut leads his allies on an unforgettable odyssey to the farthest reaches of the enchanted realm, from the submicroscopic Nth Moon of Ida, and the home of all dreams and nightmares, to the unmagical land of Euphoria, where he meets a sweet and sprightly young girl named Surprise who captures his heart. But before Umlaut can complete his quest and return to his beloved, he must unravel the unfathomable puzzle of his own existence, which is somehow inextricably entwined with the fate of Xanth. A satisfyingly suspenseful tale filled with mystery, magic, and merriment, Up in a Heaval is exciting and entertaining fantasy adventure from the pen of a master


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<p>From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes a legendary standalone novel that navigates the seas and the stars of a far-future Cosmere. Illustrated by Esther Hi’ilani Candari. All his life, Sixth of the Dusk has been a traditional trapper of Aviar—the supernatural birds his people bond with—on the deadly island of Patji. Then one fateful night he propels his people into a race to modernize before they can be conquered by the Ones Above, invaders from the stars who want to exploit the Aviar. But it’s a race they’re losing, and Dusk fears his people will lose themselves in the effort. When a chance comes to sail into the expanse of the emberdark beyond a mystical portal, Dusk sets off to find his people’s salvation with only a canoe, his birds, and all the grit and canniness of a Patji trapper. Elsewhere in the emberdark is a young dragon chained in human form: Starling of the starship Dynamic. She and her ragtag crew of exiles are deep in debt and on the brink of losing their freedom. So when she finds an ancient map to a hidden portal between the emberdark and the physical realm, she seizes the chance at a lucrative discovery. These unlikely allies might just be the solution to each other’s crisis. In their search for independence, Dusk and Starling face perilous bargains, poisonous politics, and the destructive echo of a dead god. Sanderson expands his thrilling novella “Sixth of the Dusk” into a mythic novel of legends, lore, and warring galactic superpowers.</p>


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<b>After two <i>New York Times</i> bestsellers, Nick Offerman returns with the subject for which he's known best&#8212;his incredible real-life woodshop.</b><br> <br> Nestled among the glitz and glitter of Tinseltown is a testament to American elbow grease and an honest-to-god hard day's work: Offerman Woodshop. Captained by hirsute woodworker, actor, comedian, and writer Nick Offerman, the shop produces not only fine handcrafted furniture, but also fun stuff&#8212;kazoos, baseball bats, ukuleles, even mustache combs.<br> Now Nick and his ragtag crew of champions want to share their experiences of working at the Woodshop, tell you all about their passion for the discipline of woodworking, and teach you how to make a handful of their most popular projects along the way. This book will take readers behind the scenes of the woodshop, both inspiring and teaching them to make their own projects and besotting them with the infectious spirit behind the shop and its complement of dusty...


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<p>When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In <i>Misquoting Jesus</i>, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative views of the Bible.</p><p>Since the advent of the printing press and the accurate reproduction of texts, most people have assumed that when they read the New Testament they are reading an exact copy of Jesus's words or Saint Paul's writings. And yet, for almost fifteen hundred years these manuscripts were hand copied by scribes who were deeply influenced by the cultural, theological, and political disputes of...


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<div><p>When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In <i>Misquoting Jesus</i>, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative views of the Bible.</p><p>Since the advent of the printing press and the accurate reproduction of texts, most people have assumed that when they read the New Testament they are reading an exact copy of Jesus's words or Saint Paul's writings. And yet, for almost fifteen hundred years these manuscripts were hand copied by scribes who were deeply influenced by the cultural, theological, and political disputes of...</p></div>


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<b>"In this eye-opening debut study, Frerick, an agricultural policy fellow at Yale University, reveals the ill-gained stranglehold that a handful of companies have on America's food economy...It's a disquieting critique of private monopolization of public necessities." <i>&#8212;Publishers Weekly</i>, starred</b><br><br><i>Barons</i> is the story of seven corporate titans, their rise to power, and the consequences for everyone else. Take Mike McCloskey, Chairman of Fair Oaks Farms. In a few short decades, he went from managing a modest dairy herd to running the Disneyland of agriculture, where school children ride trams through mechanized warehouses filled with tens of thousands of cows that never see the light of day. What was the key to his success? Hard work and exceptional business savvy? Maybe. But more than anything else, Mike benefitted from deregulation of the American food industry, a phenomenon that has consolidated wealth in the hands of select tycoons, and along the...


