The shame of the vanquished beats down mercilessly, as the frail old emperor prostrates himself before Shapur, King of Kings. Ballista looks on helplessly, but vows under his breath to avenge those who have brought the empire to the brink of destruction with their treachery. But first, he must decide what price he will pay for his own freedom. Only the fearless and only those whom the gods will spare from hell can now save the empire from a catastrophic ending. Ballista, the Warrior of Rome, faces his greatest challenge yet. Views: 108
High school is not usually a place people love to be. If you don’t fit into a certain mold or don’t have the right connections, you’d better hope you have a way to defend yourself from the ones that do. Arianna Weller and Evan Drake are from two different groups, forced together for a science fair project. Putting aside their differences is not easy for either of them, but can they do it long enough to realize that they’re not that different after all? Views: 107
Edward L. Wheeler was a 19th century American author whose best known works were about the West and the frontier. This is one of his more popular Westerns. Views: 107
Paul Theroux, one of the world’s most popular authors, both for his travel books and his fiction, has produced an off-beat story of 1960s weirdos unlike anything he has ever written.During the time of Lyndon Johnson’s presidency, Herbie Gneiss is forced to leave college to get a job. His income from the Kant-Brake toy factory, which manufactures military toys for children, keeps his chocolate-loving mother from starvation. Mr. Gibbon, a patriotic veteran of three wars, also works at Kant-Brake. When Herbie is drafted, Mr. Gibbon falls in love with Herbie’s mother and they move in together at Miss Ball’s rooming house. Since Herbie is fighting for his country, Mr. Gibbon feels that he, too, should do something for his country and convinces Miss Ball and Mrs. Gneiss to join him in the venture. They decide to rob the Mount Holly Trust Company because it is managed by a small dark man who is probably a communist. There are some complications. Combine... Views: 107
Every first Sunday in
June, members of the Moses clan gather for an annual reunion at “the old
home place,” a sprawling hundred-acre farm in Arkansas. And every year,
Samuel Lake, a vibrant and committed young preacher, brings his beloved
wife, Willadee Moses, and their three children back for the
festivities. The children embrace the reunion as a welcome escape from
the prying eyes of their father’s congregation; for Willadee it’s a
precious opportunity to spend time with her mother and father, Calla and
John. But just as the reunion is getting under way, tragedy strikes,
jolting the family to their core: John’s untimely death and, soon after,
the loss of Samuel’s parish, which set the stage for a summer of crisis
and profound change.In the midst of it all, Samuel and
Willadee’s outspoken eleven-year-old daughter, Swan, is a bright light.
Her high spirits and fearlessness have alternately seduced and bedeviled
three generations of the family. But it is Blade Ballenger, a
traumatized eight-year-old neighbor, who soon captures Swan’s undivided
attention. Full of righteous anger, and innocent of the peril facing her
and those she loves, Swan makes it her mission to keep the boy safe
from his terrifying father.With characters who spring to life as
vividly as if they were members of one’s own family, and with the
clear-eyed wisdom that illuminates the most tragic—and
triumphant—aspects of human nature, Jenny Wingfield emerges as one of
the most vital, engaging storytellers writing today. In The Homecoming of Samuel Lake she has created a memorable and lasting work of fiction. Views: 107
Get Goosebumps with the startling repackage of a bestselling classic. Now with bonus materials!Tough. That's Freddy Martinez and his friend, Cara. They're not afraid of anything. But that was before they went exploring in Freddy's basement. Before they found the secret room. Before they found the bottle of Vampire Breath.Poor Freddy and Cara. They should have never opened that bottle of Vampire Breath. Because now there's a vampire in Freddy's basement. And he's very, very thirsty.... Views: 107
Wounded, a dragon drops from the sky to crash in front of Marina in an explosion of fire. She does the only reasonable thing a girl can do ... she saves his life. Marina knows any moment may be her last, yet she cannot deny the connection between her and the alluring creature. When two more dragons appear and lead a dangerous assassin to their hiding place, the truth about her dragon is unveiled. The consequences of falling for a creature gifts Marina wonders never before seen ... in this world. Views: 107
Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature is one of the world's leading journals of science fiction. Warriors of the Tao includes 16 essays from this landmark (but little-known) review, distilling its witty and sometimes controversial dialogue about fantastic writing during the last third of a century, including such topics as: the NON-sf writing of Philip K. Dick, sex with an intelligent ape, Cordwainer Smith's astonishing instrumentality and Underpeople stories, Gerald Murnane's unsettling alternate history in The Plains, and many others. The contributors include: Russell Blackford, Terry Dowling, Bruce Gillespie, Van Ikin, Sylvia Kelso, David Lake, Sean McMullen, David Medlen, Helen Merrick, Yvonne Rousseau, Bruce Shaw, Darko Suvin, the late George Turner, and Tess Williams. Views: 107
Of all the authors who followed in the footsteps of Jules Verne, the most important was Albert Robida (1848-1926), a writer-artist who also became the founding father of science fiction illustration. Robida wrote and illustrated his own scientific anticipations, such as The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul (1879), his masterpiece, The Twentieth Century (1883), and La Vie Électrique (1890). The Clock of the Centuries, originally published in 1902, is notable as the first full-length literary account of time in reverse. In it, time starts running backwards, the dead come back to life and human society is thrown into utter chaos. It is more ambitious and adventurous in its speculative range and verve than its modern-day successors, Philip K. Dick's 1967 Counter-Clock World and Brian W. Aldiss's Cryptozoic. This volume also includes Robida's novella Yesterday Now (1890), in which an 1890 scientist brings the Sun King Louis XIV and his court into the future for the Paris Universal Exposition. Views: 106
