Out on the edge of the desert, things get a bit feral.Anais, the eleven-year-old daughter of a fishmonger, enters the Great House of Brightshire as a scullery maid. Isolated from her peers, she fears a life of solitude and menial chores. In Brightshire magic is strictly prohibited and after the tedium of the kitchens, when Anais discovers a manuscript that outlines methods for practicing the art of blood magic, she throws herself full throttle into practicing magic. At first she just practices simple spells for her own amusement, but when one of the girls from the kitchens goes missing - amidst rumors of monsters rising in the south and devouring townspeople - Anais decides to use her new skills to find the missing girl. In her search, she accidentally befriends the Lord of Brightshire's youngest son, Cedric, and then his cousin Mediera. Finally having friends she cares for is great, but practicing illegal magic and fraternizing with those above her station leave Anais in more danger than she can handle.The first ebook in this series is available for free. Views: 843
Benny Dugan came to live in the shadow of his underworld boss, Red DelGatti. His introverted brother Marion took another direction in life. In this somewhat dark comedy, tragedy strikes affecting all of them, but in different ways. The two brothers had no idea how their actions would intersect and send them running from the cops, as well as DelGatti, in order to salvage Benny's grand plan.Rather than party at his friend's house for the end of the world, Jared elects to spend his last day before the zombie apocalypse in the office in the hopes that he can get to know pretty Sheila. When the zombie's do arrive, neither he, Sheila, or their boss are ready. Views: 741
Adam Rothstein's series of essays interviewing thinkers about what technology means for the future, the present, and for our understanding of history.There are two poems here, the first of which is The Reign of Drops: I am a memory of my birth, and the sea of my being yearns for union with others people's seas.The second poem is The Dynamics of Growth: Will we water one another's buds so that they may blossom, or will we withhold and wilt in the light of being?No adult-only content. Views: 658
Maybe I can be like those handsome men on the shaving ads.The invitation to join the secretive Guadel should have been the fulfillment of dreams Va'del didn't even realize he had. When his sponsors are killed in an ambush a short time later, he instead finds his probationary status revoked, and becomes a pawn between various factions inside the Guadel ruling body.Jain's never known any life but that of a Guadel in training. She'd thought herself reconciled to the idea of a loveless marriage for the good of her people, but meeting Va'del changes everything. Their growing attraction flies against hundreds of years of precedent, but as wide-spread attacks threaten their world, the Guadel have no choice but to use even Jain and Va'del in their fight for survival.Publisher's Note: Frozen Prospects is a YA Epic Fantasy book, and is the first novel in the Guadel Chronicles Series which is written so that it can be safely enjoyed by teens and adults alike. Frozen Prospects is followed by Thawed Fortunes.The Guadel Chronicles: All the scope of an epic fantasy combined with the action of a sword and sorcery book! Views: 525
Things get pretty crazy with a broken tandoor oven a dodgy supplier and the pressure of a big opening day.A light yet thought provoking sci-fi adventure. "Dwarg" is a "Whisp" from a non-physical world, who is on a mission to stop Humans sending rockets into the Aura. He becomes an entity of a young and dying Aggie who accepts him. Dwarg infuses her with health, wisdom and maturity. With her aunt, they go on an adventure to France to solve a puzzle of a painting by Vincent van Gogh and learn more of his life and the story of his ear. Dwarg realizes that there are alien viruses landing on the planet and infecting Humans in different ways. Aggie, his host, is from the Abenaki nation and Dwarg is fascinated by the rituals of that culture. Aggie graduates from the University of Oklahoma at age 11 and participates in an exclusive experiment utilizing the LHC (which she cleverly used to sent Dwarg back to his own non-physical world). Views: 304
Ken has been waiting for this day for a long time.*** 4 1/2 STARS FROM RT BOOK REVIEWS***Arden Lesstymine (known to everyone as Trouble) likes attention as much as the next girl, but this is getting ridiculous. When an insane stranger is murdered at the inn where she works, Trouble becomes the next Soulbearer for the disembodied god of chaos, Loku. Yes, it comes with the ability to channel the god’s limitless power, but at the cost of her sanity — literally. Now she has a sexy but cynical knight claiming to be her protector, a prince trying to seduce her to his cause (and his bed), and a snarky chaos god who offers a play-by-play commentary on it all, whether she wants to hear it or not. To make matters worse, a necromancer wants to capture the soul of Loku for his own dark purposes, and the only way he can get it is by killing her first. Views: 290
Everything you are about to read is true. Mostly. After US Postmaster Theodore Roosevelt showed the Nazis who was boss in 1942, the Postal Bureau—part of the Department of Transportation—ushered in an era of scientific marvels: simulcast via satellite, sub-orbital transnational flights, dazzle pistols, and electromagnetic driverless cars. However, long-simmering feuds between the Shamans of Commerce and the Wizards of Technology were not forgotten, and it isn't until the age of Sputnik and the Space Race that the secret organizations buried deep within the US Weather Service and Census Bureau make their move against the Department of Transportation. To regain control of the Administration, they'll need to rely on older—more esoteric—technologies: astrology, blood rituals, and strange creatures long thought extinct. It's up to G-man Fred Mackey of the Electromagnetic Bureau, Domestic Interference Engineering Section, to figure out how to science... Views: 162
After Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he was sent into exile on Saint Helena. He became an 'eagle in a cage', reduced from the most powerful figure in Europe to a prisoner on a rock in the South Atlantic. But the fallen emperor was charmed by the pretty teenage daughter of a local merchant, Betsy Balcombe.Anne Whitehead brings to life Napoleon's last years on Saint Helena, revealing the central role of the Balcombe family. She also lays to rest two centuries of speculation about Betsy's relationship with Napoleon.After Napoleon's death, Betsy travelled to Australia in 1823 with her father, who was appointed the first Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales. When the family lost their fortune, she returned to London and published a memoir which made her a celebrity.With her extraordinary connections to royalty and high society, Betsy Balcombe led a life worthy of a Regency romance, but she was always fighting for her independence. This new account... Views: 38
