The epic tale of victory and defeat… The story of the Ramayana had been told innumerable times. The enthralling story of Rama, the incarnation of God, who slew Ravana, the evil demon of darkness, is known to every Indian. And in the pages of history, as always, it is the version told by the victors, that lives on. The voice of the vanquished remains lost in silence. But what if Ravana and his people had a different story to tell? The story of the Ravanayana had never been told. Asura is the epic tale of the vanquished Asura people, a story that has been cherished by the oppressed outcastes of India for 3000 years. Until now, no Asura has dared to tell the tale. But perhaps the time has come for the dead and the defeated to speak. “For thousands of years, I have been vilified and my death is celebrated year after year in every corner of India. Why? Was it because I challenged the Gods for the sake of my daughter? Was it because I freed a race from the yoke of caste-based Deva rule? You have heard the victor’s tale, the Ramayana. Now hear the Ravanayana, for I am Ravana, the Asura, and my story is the tale of the vanquished.” “I am a non-entity – invisible, powerless and negligible. No epics will ever be written about me. I have suffered both Ravana and Rama – the hero and the villain or the villain and the hero. When the stories of great men are told, my voice maybe too feeble to be heard. Yet, spare me a moment and hear my story, for I am Bhadra, the Asura, and my life is the tale of the loser.” The ancient Asura empire lay shattered into many warring petty kingdoms reeling under the heel of the Devas. In desperation, the Asuras look up to a young saviour – Ravana. Believing that a better world awaits them under Ravana, common men like Bhadra decide to follow the young leader. With a will of iron and a fiery ambition to succeed, Ravana leads his people from victory to victory and carves out a vast empire from the Devas. But even when Ravana succeeds spectacularly, the poor Asuras find that nothing much has changed for them. It is when that Ravana, by one action, changes the history of the world.About the AuthorI was born in a quaint little village called Thripoonithura, on the outskirts of Cochin, Kerala. Located east of mainland Ernakulam, across Vembanad Lake, this village had the distinction of being the seat of the Cochin royal family. However, it was more famous for its hundred odd temples; the various classical artists it produced and its music school. I remember many an evening listening to the faint rhythm of Chendas from the temples and the notes of the flute escaping over the rugged walls of the school of music. Gulf money and the rapidly expanding city of Cochin have, however, wiped away all remaining vestiges of that old world charm. The village has evolved into the usual, unremarkable, suburban hell hole, clones of which dot India. Growing up in a village with more temples than was necessary, it was no wonder that the Ramayana fascinated me. Ironically, I was drawn to the anti-hero of the epic Ravana, and to his people, the Asuras. I wondered about their magical world. But my fascination remained dormant for many years, emerging only briefly to taunt and irritate my pious aunts during family gatherings. Life went on... I became an engineer; joined the Indian Oil Corporation; moved to Bangalore; married Aparna and welcomed my daughter Ananya, and my son, Abhinav. But the Asura emperor would not leave me alone. For six years he haunted my dreams, walked with me, and urged me to write his version of the story. He was not the only one who wanted his version of the story to be told. One by one, irrelevant and minor characters of the Ramayana kept coming up with their own versions. Bhadra, who was one of the many common Asuras who were inspired, led and betrayed by Ravana, also had a remarkable story to tell, different from that of his king. And both their stories are different from the Ramayana that has been told in a thousand different ways across Asia over the last three millennia. This is then Asurayana, the story of the Asuras, the story of the vanquished. Views: 605
The perfect communityChris Heron is a witch who loathes the holiday season. What’s even worse is getting expelled from private coven school on Halloween and having to attend public magic school, where Santa’s son is visiting and has all the girls in a frenzy. Fairies, mermaids, elves, even the trolls are swooning over Kris Kringle Jr. All except for one girl, and she’s a North Pole mystery that has Chris intrigued. Will he be able to put his prejudices aside in time to see the true magic all around him? Views: 605
Popular collegian Willy takes his apprehensive friend Spencer out on a double date to experience his first time...killing somebody.The United Kingdom is free of rabies, but the danger is ever-present.Billy Harsley is eleven and hyperactive. School bores him and he longs to have adventures like Huck Finn. He has run away for the third time and is sleeping rough on the marshes near Great Yarmouth, while the police search for him in the town.A German coaster has just tied up in the port, ready to unload, but there are problems on the ship, mechanical and animal. Both the Captain's dogs, unknown to him, have been infected with rabies. As he goes to feed them there is an explosion and the little mongrel, Mukki, escapes while his attention is diverted.Before long both boy and dog are on the same marsh. Add in a meeting with the marsh 'ghost' and the mixture begins to brew. It is soon a question of who will have the last laugh... Views: 605
Leena lived and breathed dogs, working in the kennels of a Baron. Then one day she attracted the attention of the Lady Eliana and was launched headlong into a sea of intrigue and adventure, carried far from her homeland into danger and discovery. Will she and her friends escape certain horrible death? Will Leena learn to control her natural magical abilities?Common born kennel girl Leena had little thought for the nobles she worked for. That is, until she attracted the attention of the noble Baroness, Lady Eliana, who sought to lure Leena into her web of intrigues. Leena's disgusted rejection of the plotting Lady's offer leads her down a road of despair and hope, intrigue and adventure. Along the way Leena discovers that not only is magic not the pure nonsense she'd been taught, but she holds hitherto unsuspected magical abilities of her own. Join Leena and her closest friends, Camryn and Varley, as they journey into the unknown future, barely one step ahead of certain death and destruction. Views: 605
"The seal must not be broken. What's inside must not get out."The 10th century A.D.Fanatical Christians rebelling against the Pope dig deep into the Earth in a quest to find Hell. And for a thousand years, they kept on digging.The present day.A group of American college students stranded in England descend into an abandoned medieval mine, where they encounter a hellish nightmare world.Getting in was easy. Getting out will unleash Hell on Earth. Views: 605
"New York Times" bestselling author Keri Arthur returns to the enthralling Guardian World--and a twilight realm of danger and desire. . . Risa Jones, half-Aedh/half-werewolf, can enter the realm between life and death. She can speak to the dying and the dead, and she can see the reapers, collectors of souls. What she can not yet see is the identity of a stranger murdering women and draining their blood. Now Risa must summon her gifts to find him, even if it means putting her own life in danger. But Risa needn't look far. The killer knows who she is. He tells her his victims are infected by darkness and he's fated to destroy them. Fascinated by Risa, he engages her in a sinister game: the chance to save the life of his next victim by deciphering his series of clues. In a race against time, she enlists the help of the reaper Azriel. But as an attraction between them grows, so does the fear that the stranger's motives are only part of a larger, more dangerous stratagem--one that that has lured Risa and Azriel into the dark. Views: 605
They paid millions of dollars to take part in a ritual of human sacrifice. They are a nameless brotherhood, a collective of bankers, military men, and corporate executives whose endless hunger has been the driving force behind every atrocity ever committed. Tonight, they are going to cook a world-famous chef in an electric chair on live television.They paid millions of dollars to take part in a ritual of human sacrifice. They are a nameless brotherhood, a collective of bankers, military men, and corporate executives whose endless hunger has been the driving force behind every atrocity ever committed. Tonight, they are going to cook a world-famous chef in an electric chair on live television. Sigmund plans to make a great deal of money from this execution. So why does he feel like the guy strapped into the electric chair is pulling one over on him? Come and Watch a Man Die! is a strange story about living things being more than just meat, the universe being more than just molecules rubbing up against one another, and transcendence through unimaginable acts of violence. Views: 605
Deuce's whole world has changed. Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she's a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn't fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight. To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven't changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out. Deuce signs up to serve in the summer patrols―those who make sure the planters can work the fields without danger. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks have grown smarter. They're watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don't intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn back the tide.Outpost is the second book in Ann Aguirre's page-turning The Razorland Trilogy. Views: 605
This is an antiquated plain-text file wedged lost and tagless for years in the memory banks of the main computer, estimated to be written way back in the mid 2100's. It is a diary of a lonely young man orbiting the moldering ball that is the Earth, himself alone and awake among the Dreamers.I don't normally keep a diary but the thoughts of her that plague my mind must find some outlet. I need a confidant - all the better that you are mute, I don't need sounds of affirmation or opinion, and perhaps sharing my thoughts will lessen this aching loneliness.They took my life a month ago and left my soul an empty husk. I sit in my cubical, the rattle and gurgle of pipes driving me slowly insane. Although I am but a shadow of what the man I once was, a glimmer of hope has sparked some life into my pitiful existence.Her. Views: 605
A provocative novel of a New Orleans woman's heartbreaking decision, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Keepers of the House. Joan Mitchell has two suitors, and can't decide whom to marry. A witness to her mother Aurelie's less than successful romantic history, she'd like to skip marriage altogether. Joan and Aurelie live together in a beautiful French Quarter home on Coliseum Street in New Orleans, along with Joan's many half-sisters born of Aurelie's five disastrous marriages. Joan lives a mostly carefree life, but when she becomes pregnant, she chooses to end her pregnancy rather than marry a man she doesn't love—a decision with grave consequences in conservative 1950s New Orleans. The second novel by a National Book Award finalist and one of the most acclaimed voices of the American South, The House on Coliseum Street is a brave, heartbreaking love letter to New Orleans and "a sad, wistful, young,... Views: 605
When a rogue Mogadorian meets up with a mysterious amnesiac in Santa Monica, he knows that there's more to this guy than meets the eye. In fact, he might just hold the key to everything. In I Am Number Four: The Lost Files #4, discover what has happened to one of the people with information crucial to the Garde coming together to fight to save Lorien—and Earth. Views: 605
Thirteen creepy short stories designed to disturb even the most jaded horror fan.Thirteen creepy short stories designed to disturb even the most jaded horror fan.A Strange Kind of JournalStill LifeStaring ContestFinal ExamThe Everest CorpsesSomething’s WrongAn Overheard ConversationSmoke and MirrorsAn Unhappy AwakeningThe Unseen HandsThe Hungry LightsThe TelevisionAn Impossible Window Views: 605
Hannah Lassiter lost a year of her life to cancer, so now she's in remission, she's all about seizing the day...or a steamy hot night with her broodingly handsome, workaholic boss, Dr Gregory Mason! She can't get their sizzling encounter out of her mind — especially when the pregnancy test shows up positive... Views: 605
An automaton, a man and a woman who can never meet, two stories of love—all are brought to incandescent life in this hauntingly moving novel from one of the finest writers of our time.
London 2010: Catherine Gehrig, conservator at the Swinburne museum, learns of the sudden death of her colleague and lover of thirteen years. As the mistress of a married man, she must struggle to keep the depth of her anguish to herself. The one other person who knows Catherine’s secret—her boss—arranges for her to be given a special project away from prying eyes in the museum’s Annexe. Usually controlled and rational, but now mad with grief, Catherine reluctantly unpacks an extraordinary, eerie automaton that she has been charged with bringing back to life.
As she begins to piece together the clockwork puzzle, she also uncovers a series of notebooks written by the mechanical creature’s original owner: a nineteenth-century Englishman, Henry Brandling, who traveled to Germany to commission it as a magical amusement for his consumptive son. But it is Catherine, nearly two hundred years later, who will find comfort and wonder in Henry’s story. And it is the automaton, in its beautiful, uncanny imitation of life, that will link two strangers confronted with the mysteries of creation, the miracle and catastrophe of human invention, and the body’s astonishing chemistry of love and feeling. Views: 605
Dawson has seen miscarriages of justice before - firsthand, and it cost him his family - so when Kristine Seleski tells him about the man who brutally beat and raped her daughter, Amy, and how the district attorney's office suddenly refused to prosecute the case, Dawson doesn't hesitate to help.
But, while trying to track down Amy's assailant, what Dawson discovers makes his blood run cold. Refusing to accept the compromises the legal system is willing to settle for, Dawson sets in motion his own plan for justice, one that will be bloody and violent... and absolute. Views: 605
