In this second book of the series, TA returns to the Philippines to clarify what happened 12 months previous when he became a pawn in a national armed uprising. After meeting his saviour on his earlier misadventure, he journeys south. There, mistaken for a rich businessman, he is kidnapped. The businessman is intent on recovering gold buried by his grandfather during the Japanese occupation.In this second book of the series, TA has re-visited the Philippines to discover what happened to his co-guests at the holiday resort of Apuao Grande after the political uprising. After finally reconnecting with the mysterious ex-pat former resident of Apuao Grande, he journeys south to visit other resorts. A wealthy local resident of Japanese descent, with multi-national businesses, befriends him and offers his business connections and transport for TA to use. Unknown to TA, the businessman is the target of a revenge kidnapping and ransom. The kidnappers unknowingly snatch the wrong man. The businessman uses the distraction to track down gold deposits confiscated and buried by his grandfather, a colonel in the Japanese Army occupying the Philippines in WW2. No officials know that TA is missing, but his mysterious ex-pat friend suspects something is wrong and sets out to find TA. Views: 825
A 'traditional style' childrens story about a very timid spider and his friendsA 'traditional style' childrens story about a very timid spider and his friends. Views: 824
Revised and Expanded
With the same trademark compassion and erudition he brought to The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition. In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls “musical misalignments.” Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with “amusia,” to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans; and a man whose memory spans only seven seconds-for everything but music. Illuminating, inspiring, and utterly unforgettable, Musicophilia is Oliver Sacks' latest masterpiece.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
--penguinrandomhouse.com Views: 824
The Lost Worlds of 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke was published in 1972 by Signet as an accompaniment to the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The book itself consists in part of behind-the-scenes notes from Clarke concerning scriptwriting (and rewriting), as well as production issues. The core of the book, however, is contained in excerpts from the proto-novel and an early screenplay that did not make it into the final version.
Alternative settings for launch preparation, the EVA scene where astronaut Frank Poole is lost, and varying dialogues concerning the HAL 9000 unit are all featured in the book. Also included is the original short story The Sentinel on which 2001 is loosely based. Views: 822
*The only thing you’ll find on the summit of Mount Everest is a divine view. The things that really matter lie far below. – Peak Marcello
After fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. But Peak quickly learns that his father's renewed interest in him has strings attached. Big strings. As owner of Peak Expeditions, he wants his son to be the youngest person to reach the Everest summit--and his motives are selfish at best. Even so, for a climbing addict like Peak, tackling Everest is the challenge of a lifetime. But it's also one that could cost him his life.
Roland Smith has created an action-packed adventure about friendship, sacrifice, family, and the drive to take on Everest, despite the incredible risk. The story of Peak’s dangerous ascent—told in his own words—is suspenseful, immediate, and impossible to put down. Views: 815
In 1977, two extraodinary spacecraft called Voyager were launched to the stars. Affixed to each Voyager craft was a gold-coated copper phonograph record as a message to possible extra-terrestrial civilizations that might encounter the spacecraft in some distant space and time. Each record contained 118 photographs of our planet; almost 90 minutes of the world's greatest music; an evolutionary audio essay on "The Sounds of Earth"; and greetings in almost sixty human languages (and one whale language). This book is an account, written by those chiefly responsible for the contents of the Voyager Record, of why they did it, how they selected the repertoire, and precisely what the record contains. Views: 814
Carl Sagan, writer & scientist, returns from the frontier to tell us about how the world works. In his delightfully down-to-earth style, he explores & explains a mind-boggling future of intelligent robots, extraterrestrial life & its consquences, & other provocative, fascinating quandries of the future we want to see today. Views: 811
“As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe.”
So begins Alan Lightman’s playful and profound new novel, Mr g, the story of Creation as told by God. Barraged by the constant advisements and bickerings of Aunt Penelope and Uncle Deva, who live with their nephew in the shimmering Void, Mr g proceeds to create time, space, and matter. Then come stars, planets, animate matter, consciousness, and, finally, intelligent beings with moral dilemmas. Mr g is all powerful but not all knowing and does much of his invention by trial and error.
Even the best-laid plans can go awry, and Mr g discovers that with his creation of space and time come some unforeseen consequences—especially in the form of the mysterious Belhor, a clever and devious rival. An intellectual equal to Mr g, Belhor delights in provoking him: Belhor demands an explanation for the inexplicable, requests that the newly created intelligent creatures not be subject to rational laws, and maintains the necessity of evil. As Mr g watches his favorite universe grow into maturity, he begins to understand how the act of creation can change himself, the Creator.
With echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, combining science, theology, and moral philosophy, Mr g is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale. Views: 810
A sequel to I. B. Singer's classic memoir In My Father's Court, these stories, published serially in the Daily Forward, depict the beth din in his father's home on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw. A unique institution, the beth din was a combined court of law, synagogue, scholarly institution, and psychologist's office where people sought out the advice and counsel of a neighborhood rabbi.The twenty-seven stories gathered here show this world as it appeared to a young boy. From the earthy to the ethereal, these stories provide an intimate and powerful evocation of a bygone world. Views: 807
Lex & Ricky had it all in the big city, lots of friends and plenty of distractions. Suddenly they are uprooted to a house in the bush outside a small town in the mountains. Before they could walk to school and the worst thing they had to worry about was the traffic. Now they have to wait for the school bus and there are things out there that might eat them.Everything has changed.Amy is hot on a story as she tries to discover what life is like for teenage girls living on the street. When her disguise almost gets her killed, she’s saved by one of New York’s most eligible bachelors. His private life is filled with secrets and his story sparks Amy’s interest. Discovering the truth lands her in a world of vampires and werewolves that she never dreamed existed. She also didn't dreamed she could truly love a man or vampire but Marcus shows her the light. Now the two must fight the one person who can destroy their chance at love. With the help of Marcus’ clan of werewolves the war begins. Views: 804
In this second volume of the series, the French history of the continent is expanded to tell the story of the Huguenots. As in volume 1, some of the early history is an accurate portrayal of the Huguenot exodus from France. But this is also a work of fiction -- in this case a description of the growing conflict between their values and the values of the Catholic North.In this second volume of the series, the French history of the continent is expanded to tell the story of the Huguenots. As in volume 1, some of the early history is an accurate portrayal of the Huguenot exodus from France. Theirs is a story worth telling. But this is also a work of fiction -- in this case a description of the growing conflict between their values and the values of the Catholic north. Threading its way through the story of that growing conflict is another story - the story of how history is made and remade to serve contemporary interests. Maybe the truest story in this volume is that final story of history remanufactured and manipulated for political ends. Views: 800
John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.
The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-- and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.
Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.
John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine--and what he will become is far stranger. Views: 798
John Scalzi visits the universe of his bestselling novel The Android's Dream for this exclusive short story, featuring fan favorite character Judge Nugan Bufan Sn -- a brilliant alien jurist whose misanthropy and lack of social graces is matched only by his futile, unrequited for the game of golf. When he hits the links at the absymal Dulles Woods golf course, the unexpected happens: He begins to play well. But there are more hazards on the course for Sn than just sand traps and disaffected caddies…
Long a staple of Scalzi's live readings, "Judge Sn Goes Golfing" has never seen print until now. Read what you've been missing. Views: 795
Gregory Benford expands Arthur C. Clarke's novella, Against the Fall of Night, into a novel-length adventure set billions of years in the future about human destiny among the stars. Views: 787
