The author of The New York Times bestseller Spock's World continues the story of Freehorn, Herewiss, Segnbora, Sunspark, and Hasai in an entertaining and magical sequel to The Door into Fire. "Expands the limits of the Swords and Sorcery genre . . . exciting, magical, intelligent".--Publishers Weekly. Views: 803
*Alternate Cover Edition can be found here. *
A Fire upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale.
Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.
Fleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue mission, not entirely composed of humans, must rescue the children-and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization. Views: 800
A deadly truth… When Victor Holland comes flying out of the night, he runs straight into the path of Catherine Weaver’s car. Having uncovered a terrifying secret which leads all the way to Washington, Victor is running for his life – and from the men who will go to any lengths to silence him. Victor’s story sounds like the ravings of a madman, but the haunted look in his eyes – and the bullet hole in his shoulder – tell a different story. As each hour brings pursuers ever closer, Cathy has to wonder, is she giving her trust to a man in danger or trusting her life to a dangerous man? “Gerritsen has enough in the locker to seriously worry Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben and even the great Denis Lehane. Brilliant. ” Crimetime “Gerritsen is tops in her genre. ” USA Today “Tess Gerritsen writes some of the smartest, most compelling thrillers around. ” Bookreporter Views: 800
On August 5, 1949, a crew of fifteen of the United States Forest Service's elite airborne firefighters, The Smoke Jumpers, stepped into the sky above a remote forest fire in the Montana wilderness. Two hours after their jump, all but three of these men were dead or mortally burned from a "blowup" -- an explosive, 2,000-degree firestorm 300 feet deep and 200 feet tall -- a deadly explosion of flame and wind rarely encountered and little understood at the time. Only seconds ahead of the approaching firestorm, the foreman, R. Wagner Dodge, throws himself into the ashes of an "escape fire " - and survives as most of his confused men run, their last moments obscured by smoke. The parents of the dead cry murder, charging that the foreman's fire killed their boys. Exactly what happened in Mann Gulch that day has been obscured by years of grief and controversy. Now a master storyteller finally gives the Mann Gulch fire its due as tragedy.
These first deaths among the Forest Service's elite firefighters prompted widespread examination of federal fire policy, of the field of fire science, and of the frailty of young men. For Maclean, who witnessed the fire from the ground in August of 1949, and even then he knew he would one day become a part of its story. It is a story of Montana, of the ways of wildfires, firefighters, and fire scientists, and especially of a crew, young and proud, who "hadn't learned to count the odds and to sense they might owe the universe a tragedy." This tale is also Maclean's own, the story of a writer obsessed by a strange and human horror, unable to let the truth die with these young men, searching for the last - and lasting - word. A canvas on which to tell many stories, including the story of his research into the story itself. And finally Nature's violence colliding with human fallibility.
Haunted by these deaths for forty years, Norman Maclean returned to the scene with two of the survivors and pursues the mysteries that Mann Gulch has kept hidden since 1949. From the words of witnesses, the evidence of history, and the research of fire scientists, Maclean at last assembles the scattered pieces of the Mann Gulch tragedy; in his last work that consumed 14 years of his life, and earned a 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award.
The excruciating detail of this book makes for a sobering reading experience. Maclean -- a former University of Chicago English professor and avid fisherman -- also wrote A River Runs Through It and Other Stories , which is set along the Missouri River, one gulch downstream from Mann Gulch.
"A magnificent drama of writing, a tragedy that pays tribute to the dead and offers rescue to the living.... Maclean's search for the truth, which becomes an exploration of his own mortality, is more compelling even than his journey into the heart of the fire. His description of the conflagration terrifies, but it is his battle with words, his effort to turn the story of the 13 men into tragedy that makes this book a classic."
— from New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, Best Books of 1992
The Men who Perished in the Mann Gulch Fire:
Robert J. Bennett
Eldon E. Diettert
James O. Harrison
William J. Heilman
Phillip R. McVey
David R. Navon
Leonard L. Piper
Stanley J. Reba
Marvin L. Sherman
Joseph B. Sylvia
Henry J. Thol, Jr.
Newton R. Thompson
Silas R. Thompson
Survivors of the Fire:
R. Wagner Dodge, foreman
Walter B. Rumsey
Robert W. Sallee Views: 798
The tragedy of Flight #116 will be life-altering—for those who survive
Seventeen-year-old Patrick is a junior EMT, fully qualified to deliver babies and give CPR. But in high school, he still needs a hall pass to leave class, which, in his estimation, is ridiculous. Also ridiculous is the fact that he can’t be a full-time EMT yet. He needs a way to show everyone he’s an adult, like the cops and paramedics he admires.
Heidi’s family owns the Dove House estate, with its beautiful grounds, at the edge of town. She has all the advantages money can buy, but can’t seem to make good grades or fit in with her private school classmates. Should happiness be so hard to achieve?
Daniel and Tucker are flying to their father’s wedding. He’s remarrying, to a woman who is not their mother. Daniel is angry. Angry at his parents for splitting up, angry at his younger brother, Tucker, for turning into such a little creep after the divorce, angry at his counselors for being idiots.
Each of these teenagers has something to prove. To their parents, to their town, to themselves. And they all get the chance when Flight #116 crashes in the woods on the Dove House estate. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Caroline B. Cooney including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. Views: 798
Fiametta Beneforte dreamed of making beautiful and enchanted "objets d'art, " but alas her magician-goldsmith father was more likely to have her scrub the kiln than study magic. After all, it was a waste to train a mere daughter beyond the needs of the moment.Thur Ochs dreamed of escaping the icy mines of Bruinwald. But the letter from his brother Uri arranging his apprenticeship to Master Beneforte was not the only force that drew him over the mountains to the Duchy of Montefoglia...
A betrayal at a banquet plunges Thur and Fiametta into a struggle against men who would use vile magic for vile ends. Needs of this desperate moment will require all their wits, all their talents, and all their courage, if they are to rescue both Montefoglia and the souls of those they most love. Views: 796
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with their grandfather, and they find a mysterious painting hidden in the attic.
The children learn that it is a portrait of their grandmother, whom they never knew, wearing the necklace Grandfather gave her when they were married. The necklace disappeared on their first anniversary - and was never found. Can the Boxcar Children track down a necklace missing for so many years? Views: 793
/MEGA-BOOKS Nancy and Bess are offered a behind-the-scenes look at Mitchell's department store's Thanksgiving parade. But someone is determined to flatten the floats, burst the balloons, and sabotage the spectacle--no matter who get hurts. And the parade's not the only potential disaster--the police suspect Nancy's best friend Bess of Views: 793
In 1935, the Spokane police regularly extorted sex, food, and money from the reluctant hobos (many of them displaced farmers who had fled the midwestern dust bowls), robbed dairies, and engaged in all manner of nefarious crimes, including murder. This history was suppressed until 1989, when former logger, Vietnam vet, and Spokane cop Tony Bamonte discovered a strange 1955 deathbed confession while researching a thesis on local law enforcement history. Bamonte began to probe what had every appearance of widespread police crime and a massive cover-up whose highlight was the unsolved murder of Town Marshall George Conff. The fact that many of those involved, now in their 80s and 90s, were still alive made it imperative that Bamonte unravel this mystery. The result is Breaking Blue, a white-knuckle ride through institutional corruption and cover-up that vividly documents Depression-era Spokane and an extraordinary case that few believed would ever be brought to light. Views: 785
Betsey's teddy bear has disappeared without a trace! Join Betsey the Detective as she enlists the help of Prince, the detective dog, to solve the mystery!
This book is one of five short story collections featuring Betsey Biggalow from Children's Laureate, Malorie Blackman. Beautifully illustrated by Jamie Smith, these warm and funny stories are ideal for building confidence in readers aged 7 and over, whether reading aloud or reading alone. Views: 784
"Love stories aren't about how they end."A chance meeting on a street corner with her childhood friend Orfe plunges Enny into the tough world of popular music. As Orfe's business manager, Enny sees Orfe and her band, the three Graces, arrive at the brink of success -- and watches Orfe's dangerous obsession with Yuri.
Yuri, with his black, tightly curled hair that hangs like the tendrils of grape vines. Yuri, with his dark eyes that look right into yours as if he doesn't want to miss anything about you. Yuri, with a problem that may be deeper and stronger than the love he and Orfe share. Orfe's music has always been her salvation, but it may not be enough to save Yuri. And without Yuri, what will become of Orfe herself? Views: 781
Set in Las Vegas, Last Call concerns the fate of Scott Crane, former professional gambler, recent widower, blind in one eye--and also the lost natural son of the man who is determined to kill him. In this novel, Crane is forced to resume the high-stakes game of a lifetime--and wager it all. Views: 771
From the acclaimed author of Marnie and the Poldark series comes Stephanie, a novel laced with suspense and surprises. She was the beautiful young daughter of a prominent gentleman, so the coroner was naturally reluctant to bring a verdict of suicide. But what he didn't know was that it was actually murder. Set in Goa, India, Oxford, and London, this story introduces a absorbing cast of characters: Stephanie, a happy young woman with a brilliant future; Errol Colton, her worldly lover; James, her father, a man of courage and determination who will fight for justice even if it costs him his life; and Nari, a young Indian blackmailed into degredation. When Stephanie discovers that Errol is not at all what she believed him to be, she must make a choice about what to do with the damning knowledge. If someone finds out that she knows, her life, as well as her lover's, will be at risk. The fate of these people is revealed by one of the finest practitioners of literate suspense writing in the English language. Stephanie is a novel that ranks with Winston Graham's best. Winston Graham is one of the great writers of the graceful, wholly enjoyable mystery and historical novel. Stephanie may well be the most engaging novel yet from the pen of this master. Views: 770
At a club in Missing Mile, N.C., the children of the night gather, dressed in black, looking for acceptance. Among them are Ghost, who sees what others do not. Ann, longing for love, and Jason, whose real name is Nothing, newly awakened to an ancient, deathless truth about his father, and himself.
Others are coming to Missing Mile tonight. Three beautiful, hip vagabonds - Molochai, Twig, and the seductive Zillah (whose eyes are as green as limes) are on their own lost journey; slaking their ancient thirst for blood, looking for supple young flesh.
They find it in Nothing and Ann, leading them on a mad, illicit road trip south to New Orleans. Over miles of dark highway, Ghost pursues, his powers guiding him on a journey to reach his destiny, to save Ann from her new companions, to save Nothing from himself... Views: 766
Tamson House, in modern, urban Ottawa, is a rambling, eccentric curiosity of a house - and a place of hidden Power. Built at a point where the leylines meet, upon land that was once a sacred site, it is the gateway to a spirit-world where Celtic and Native American magicks mingle and leak into our own.
In the overgrown garden of Tamson House, a Coyote Man waits, green children walk, and music rises to greet the moon. From the garden, a vast and primal wood is just one spirit-step away...and in that wood is something that threatens the very existence of Tamson House, and all who dwell within. Views: 761
