Guardians of the Galaxy meets Ann Leckie's Provenance in this action-packed space opera with a husband-and-wife pair of artifact hunters (she's the last scion of a warrior race, he's an academic from Baltimore), their snarky cyborg pilot, and a desperate rebellion against an empire of tentacle-armed tyrants.

While ruling for ages, Aria Governess Supreme has kept a tight rein on her subjects, eliminating free will through brain-computer interface and hippocampus manipulation. Aria commands life or the disposal of it without fear of retribution or affliction of conscience. When a nuclear holocaust destroys the world she created, her disaffected scout, Cliff, gazes over the barren land seemingly devoid of life and wonders what is next in his journey to survive. Even with the employment of Aria’s scientific prowess, one subject remains untamed. Emery, both a hindrance and a marvel to the Governess Supreme, has tested the bounds of Aria’s resolve at every point in her life. Despite the brain-computer interface and governing control, Emery has managed to lean on the teachings of her Grand Nanny for guidance, fight the restraints placed upon her, and ultimately find her way through life. Now as she wanders the desert afraid and alone, Emery vacillates between her memories and her harsh new reality. But when her path ultimately crosses with Cliff’s, everything is about to change. In this post-apocalyptic tale set in the remnants of a destroyed United States, an untamed subject and a defiant scout attempt to survive in a world run by governors desperate to exert absolute power.

Karen Osborne continues her science fiction action and adventure series the Memory War with Engines of Oblivion, the sequel to Architects of Memory—the corporations running the galaxy are about to learn not everyone can be bought. Natalie Chan gained her corporate citizenship, but barely survived the battle for Tribulation. Now corporate has big plans for Natalie. Horrible plans. Locked away in Natalie's missing memory is salvation for the last of an alien civilization and the humans they tried to exterminate. The corporation wants total control of both—or their deletion. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A premier singer and master teacher here tells other singers how to get the most from 151 famous arias selected for their popularity or their greatness from 66 operas, ranging in time and style from Christopher Gluck to Carlisle Floyd, from Mozart to Menotti. "The most memorable thrills in an opera singer's life," according to the author's Introduction, "may easily derive from the great arias in his or her repertoire." This book continues the work Martial Singher has done, in performances, in concerts, and in master classes and lessons, by drawing attention "not only to precise features of text, notes, and markings but also to psychological motivations and emotional impulses, to laughter and tears, to technical skills, to strokes of genius, and even here and there to variations from the original works that have proved to be fortunate." For each aria, the author gives the dramatic and musical context, advice about interpretation, and the lyric--with the original language (if it is not English) and an idiomatic American English translation, in parallel columns. The major operatic traditions--French, German, Italian, Russian, and American--are represented, as are the major voice types--soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass-baritone, and bass. The dramatic context is not a mere summary of the plot but is a penetrating and often witty personality sketch of an operatic character in the midst of a situation. The musical context is presented with the dramatic situation in a cleverly integrated way. Suggestions about interpretation, often illustrated with musical notation and phonetic symbols, are interspersed among the author's explication of the music and the action. An overview of Martial Singher's approach--based on fifty years of experience on stage in a hundred roles and in class at four leading conservatories--is presented in his Introduction. As the reader approaches each opera discussed in this book, he or she experiences the feeling of participation in a rehearsal on stage under an urbane though demanding coach and director. The Interpretive Guide will be of value to professional singers as a source of reference or renewed inspiration and a memory refresher, to coaches for checking and broadening personal impressions, to young singers and students for learning, to teachers who have enjoyed less than a half century of experience, and to opera broadcast listeners and telecast viewers who want to understand what goes into the sounds and sights that delight them.

A contribution to the study of 19th century opera, this text focuses on the relationship between music and gesture to provide a new perspective that yields an array of insights.

In her final battle, The Girl Who Walked Through Fire faces her fiercest foe yet - Lord Kyros, the demon who corrupted the ancient city of Mythania. With his resurrection, illness, destruction, and bloodshed will follow. She must forgo her powers of magic and fire, and instead embrace the legacy of her silver mark if she wants to save the world one last time and reclaim Mythania.

Max is cheery xeno-archeologist from Earth, stranded and trying to find a way home.Lahra is a stern warrior of a nearly extinct race searching for her people's heir.Wheel is the couple's cybernetic pilot running from her past and toward an unknown future.On Wheel's ship, the Kettle, the trio traverses the galaxy, dodging Imperial patrols and searching ancient temples and ruins for anything they can sell. Back on the Wreck, their home and base of operations, the crew of the Kettle are deeply in debt to the drifting's city's most powerful gangster, and she wants her money back. So when a dangerous, but a promising job comes their way, Max, Lahra, and Wheel have little choice but to take it if they have any hope of keeping their ship, and themselves, afloat. But the crew of the Kettle gets more than they bargained for when they find themselves in possession of a powerful artifact, one that puts them in the crosshairs of the Vsenk, the galaxy's ruthless and oppressive imperial overlords. Before they know it, Max, Lahra, and Wheel are pulled into a web of galactic subterfuge, ancient alien weaponry, a secret resistance force, lost civilizations, and giant space turtles. The Vsenk will stop at nothing to recover what the crew of the Kettle has found and Max's brains, Lahra's muscle, and Wheel's skills may be all that stands between entire planets and annihilation. Can they evade space fascists, kick-start a rebellion, and save the galaxy all while they each try to find their own way home?"ANNIHILATION ARIA is the found family space opera you've been waiting for." - Adam Rakunas, Philip K. Dick Award-finalist author of WINDSWEPT and LIKE A BOSS"... Underwood takes us for an intense ride through a cacophony of alien civilizations in conflict. This is an exuberant space opera that dares us to lose ourselves in battle songs and nonstop action. I can't sing its praises enough!" - TJ Berry, author of SPACE UNICORN BLUES and FIVE UNICORN FLUSH."Fast, fun, inventive! ANNIHILATION ARIA is a wild, delightful ride for fans of explosive space fantasy like Thor: Ragnarok." - Valerie Valdes, author of CHILLING EFFECT"... If the characters of The Mummy had been transported onto the Millennium Falcon, ARIA would be the result--a rollicking space opera, both literary and musical, with a diverse cast and strong relationships. ..." - Gregory A. Wilson, author of THE THIRD SIGN, ICARUS, and GRAYSHADE

The Anthropology of Islamic Law shows how hermeneutic theory and practice theory can be brought together to analyze cultural, legal, and religious traditions. These ideas are developed through an analysis of the Islamic legal tradition, which examines both Islamic legal doctrine and religious education. The book combines anthropology and Islamicist history, using ethnography and in-depth analysis of Arabic religious texts. The book focuses on higher religious learning in contemporary Egypt, examining its intellectual, ethical, and pedagogical dimensions. Data is drawn from fieldwork inside al-Azhar University, Cairo University's Dar al-Ulum, and the network of traditional study circles associated with the al-Azhar mosque. Together these sites constitute the most important venue for the transmission of religious learning in the contemporary Muslim world. The book gives special attention to contemporary Egypt, and also provides a broader analysis relevant to Islamic legal doctrine and religious education throughout history.