Product DescriptionThe gathering forces of the Dark Powers threaten the world of man. The legions of Faery, aided by trolls, demons and the Wild Hunt itself, are poised to overthrow the Realms of Light. Holger Carlsen, a bemused and puzzled twentieth-century man mysteriously snatched out of time, finds himself the key figure in the conflict. Arrayed against him are the dragons, giants and elven warriors of the armies of Chaos, and the beautiful sorceress Morgan le Fay. On his side is a vague prophecy, a quarrelsome dwarf and a beautiful woman who can turn herself into a swan, not to mention Papillon, the magnificent battle-horse, and a full set of perfectly fitting armour, both of which were waiting for him when he entered the magical realm. The shield bears three hearts and three lions - the only clue to Holger Carlsen's true identity. Could Carlsen really be a legendary hero, the only man who can save the world? Views: 9
Born in California, Ursula K. Le Guin is the author of over twenty books. She is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Hugo and Nebula awards for her science fiction. Ms. Le Guin lives in Portland, Oregon.
Contents The Fountains The Barrow Ile Forest Conversations at Night The Road East Brothers and Sisters A Week in the Country An die Musik The House The Lady of Moge Imaginary Countries
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 1976 by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following: The Barrow first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1976. Brothers and Sisters first appeared in The Little Magazine, Vol. 10, Nos. 1 & 2, Summer 1976. A Week in the Country first appeared in The Little Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 4, Spring 1976. An die Musik first appeared in The Western Humanities Review, Vol. XV, No. 3, Summer 1961. Imaginary Countries first appeared in the Harvard Advocate. First HarperPaperbacks printing: May 1991 Views: 9
Maugham’s enchanting tale of secrets and fatal attractionThe Magician is one of Somerset Maugham’s most complex and perceptive novels. Running through it is the theme of evil, deftly woven into a story as memorable for its action as for its astonishingly vivid characters. In fin de siècle Paris, Arthur and Margaret are engaged to be married. Everyone approves and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves—until the sinister and repulsive Oliver Haddo appears.ReviewMaugham tells his tale of the weird and the horrible with simple sincerity and a constant matching of the unhallowed practices with the clean, sweet things of common life that make its effect uncommonly impressive. (The New York Times) About the AuthorW. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) was a successful playwright and the celebrated author of short stories and novels, including Of Human Bondage.Robert Calder is a professor of English at the University of Saskatchewan and the author of numerous nonfiction books, including two biographies of Somerset Maugham. Views: 9
From the Inside FlapHere, in one volume, are two remarkable novels by the chief spokesman of the so-called "new novel" which has caused such discussion and aroused such controversy. "Jealousy," said the New York Times Book Review "is a technical masterpiece, impeccably contrived." "It is an exhilirating challenge," said the San Francisco Chronicle. The Times Literary Supplement of London called Robbe-Grillet an "incomparable artist" and the Guardian termed Jealousy "an extraordinary book." In his native France, leading critic Maurice Nadeau wrote in France-Observateur that "In the Labyrinth is better than an excellent novel: it is a great work of literature," and fellow novelist and critic Claude Roy judged the same work Robbe-Grillet's "best book," while here in America the "Parade of Books" column called In the Labyrinth "a highly emotional experience for the reader" and went on to predict: "Robbe-Grillet will take his place in world literature as a successor of Balzac and Proust." This volume, which offers incisive essays on Robbe-Grillet by Professor Bruce Morrissette of the University of Chicago and by French critics Roland Barthes and Anne Minor, also contains a helpful bibliography of writings by and about the author. Alain Robbe-Grillet was born in 1922 in Brest, France. The Erasers, his first novel, was published in 1953, and as his next novels appeared--The Voyeur in 1955, Jealousy in 1957, In the Labyrinth in 1959, and La Maison de Rendez-vous in 1965--his importance as the chief spokesman for the noveau roman became apparent. He gives his own theories of the novel in a collection of essays, For a New Novel. Robbe-Grillet wrote the film script for Last Year at Marienbad. Views: 9
End of the Tiger and Other Stories, a classic collection of short fiction from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook.As prolific a novelist as John D. MacDonald was in his time, his output as a short-story writer is simply astonishing. All told, just a fraction of the five hundred pieces he produced as a working writer were anthologized, and End of the Tiger and Other Stories is the first of just a few such collections. Although renowned primarily as a noir author, these fifteen handpicked gems showcase MacDonald's tremendous range. Written between 1947 and 1966, during the golden age of short fiction in America, and appearing in such national magazines as Cosmopolitan, The Saturday Evening Post,Collier's, and Ladies' Home Journal,* these stories are a timeless testament to a writer at the top of his craft.This collection includes "Hangover," "The Big Blue," "The Trouble with Erica," "Long Shot," "Looie Follows Me," "Blurred View," "The Loveliest Girl in the World," "Triangle," "The Bear Trap," "A Romantic Courtesy," "The Fast Loose Money," "The Straw Witch," "End of the Tiger," "The Trap of Solid Gold," and "Afternoon of the Hero." Features a new Introduction by Dean KoontzPraise for John D. MacDonald"The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." - Stephen King"My favorite novelist of all time." - Dean Koontz"To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen." - Kurt Vonnegut"A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about *thebest." - Mary Higgins Clark Views: 9
"She turned her head, young, pale, with enormous black eyes. She looked at me, but she didn't see me. I saw her: the round smooth face and the deep black eyes and the full curved glossy mouth, a red underlip protruding in a pout that flicked at your libido despite the flung-about furniture and the dead man turned to the ceiling and the narrow wind pushing in through the broken window and the blue gun in both her hands."Meet Stella, whose eighteen-year-old cry is that Cleopatra was Queen of Egypt at seventeen.Stella, who makes the merely voluptuous seem passé. But then, she is only a teen-ager, and doesn't even a Private Richard have a conscience? Views: 9
Lieutenant Fred O'Connor of the NYPD Narcotics Bureau has a secret: an apartment on Central Park West, jointly purchased with ill-gotten gains by Fred and a corrupt fellow officer. The place is a refuge for Fred from a society he finds repellently ill-ordered. But his own equilibrium is disturbed, first by a series of brutal murders of his colleagues, then by the appearance at the apartment's door of wan Leo Smith, who claims to be the cop-killer... 'Fleetwood is a compulsive pattern-maker, and a master of the ambiguous thread which finally pulls all together. It is a rich, gruesome, irresistibly readable book.' Times 'Fleetwood can write like a dream... and really get into your head. He reaches down and stirs with venomous delight the nameless, faceless things swimming far below the level of consciousness.' Scotsman Views: 9
The Allied Occupation of Japan was more than an amazing military operation: it also created one of the most singular civilizations of modern history. It was made up of some of America's best minds and some of its worst, of some genuine idealists and some who simply "never had it so good," of women hungry for men, men hungry for power, and a fortunate leavening of ordinary, decent people. It was an astonishing and often terrifying little empire—now as dead as those of the Medes and Persians.All these characters—and many more—are skillfully set into the living mosaic which was the Occupation of Japan, in a dramatic story which pulls no punches. And if the reader thinks he detects himself or his friends (or enemies) among its pages, he will agree this historical novel is quite historical. But it's not often that history gets such controversial, sometimes infuriating, often hilarious, and always stimulating novel—which builds up to a final climax... Views: 9
THE SHOOTIST is John Bernard Books, a man of principle and the only surviving gunfighter in a vanishing American West.He rides into El Paso in the year 1901, on the day Queen Victoria died, there to be told by a doctor that he must soon confront the greatest shootist of all: Death himself. In such a showdown, against such an antagonist, he cannot win.Most men may end their days in bed or take their own lives, but a man-killer has a third option, one which Books decides to exercise. He may choose his own executioner.As word spreads that the famous assassin has reached the end of his rope, an assortment of vultures gathers to feast upon his corpse - among them a gambler, a rustler, an undertaker, an old love, a reporter, even a boy. Books outwits them, however, by selecting the where, when, who, and why of his death and writing in fire from a pair of Remingtons the last courageous act of his own legend. The climatic gunfight itself is an incredible performance by an incredible man, and by his creator, Glendon Swarthout.THE SHOOTIST will rank with such classics as Shane and The Ox-Bow Incident, but is is much more than a Western. When, in the final afternoon of his life, J. B. Books crosses a street and enters a saloon to make something of his death, we cross, we enter, with him. He is us. Views: 9
What readers first notice about Bill Bradley's exceptional book about his life as a pro-athlete, key basketball player for the New York Knicks, is his incredible candor. Bradley holds nothing back—giving us the straight story, describing in full detail the physical and emotional position on the court, to what was said and how it was said, to the somewhat surreal experience of seeing and experiencing the fans in their seats as they applaud or throw things.Bradley's on-court writing is as fast and direct and full of vigor as the game of basketball. The book conveys to us what it was really all about: how it felt to be him in the moment. And he succeeds. What is more striking perhaps is that Bradley balances this with his off-court writing: scenes of driving on the bus with the team through a grey downtown Cleveland as they make their way to the airport—industrial cities that have long ago burnt out, he tell us, the car wheels sucking on the wet pavement. Bradley... Views: 9
Kenway Holland is a respectable bank teller who is alone in the city since his wife is visiting her mother. Kenny’s friend Parker convinces him to take advantage of the situation inviting him to phone a “very special” call girl. That’s the worse movement in his life, because the girl will be murdered and Kenny will become the main suspect. Views: 9
On September 9, 1919, an American nightmare came true. The entire Boston police force deserted their posts, leaving the city virtually defenseless. Women were raped on street corners, stores were looted, and pedestrians were beaten and robbed while crowds not only looked on but cheered. The police strike and the mayhem that followed made an inconspicuous governor, Calvin Coolidge, known throughout America, turning him into a national hero and, eventually, a president. It also created a monster: for two days, more than 700,000 residents of Boston's urban core were without police protection, and the mob ruled the streets.From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 8
