In the days leading up to Christmas, struggling actress Esther Diamond is working as a singing-and-dancing elf at Fenster & Co, a major Manhattan department store. As if dealing with hordes of holiday shoppers isn't bad enough, Esther's ex-almost-boyfriend, Detective Connor Lopez, is on the scene investigating a series of mob-related truck hijackings of Fenster's merchandise. Semi-retired hitman Lucky Battistuzzi is also nosing around, since the mob resents being implicated in thefts they didn't commit. But when supernatural mishaps occur, Esther realizes this is more than the usual holiday insanity—it's time to call in her friend Max, Manhattan's resident mage. Esther and Max discover that Fenster's has become the staging ground for the rebirth of an ancient demon that's plotting to escape its mystical prison on the winter solstice. As dimensional barriers crumble, can Esther rescue her fellow elves, save her city from demonic disaster, and collect her paycheck in time to make rent? Polterheist is the thrilling fifth installment of the Esther Diamond series.

The sixth book in Lisanne Norman's Sholan Alliance long-running science fiction series of alien contact and interspecies conflict The Primes are the upper class of the original Valtegan home world, pacifistic intellectuals who are unable to defend themselves from either their own warrior class—the Valtegans who have been making war on the entire galaxy—or any other species. To protect themselves, the Primes have made secret alliances with other races while concealing their own true identities and the location of their home world. Now, after an ill-advised, accidental kidnapping of the vessel carrying Kusac, Carrie, and Kaid, the Primes have been forced to reveal themselves to the members of the Sholan Alliance. But in the midst of delicate diplomatic negotiations to create a new pact between the Sholan Alliance and the Primes, power struggles on both Shola and the Prime world threaten to jeopardize the treaty. Still recovering from being tortured by a rogue Prime group, Kusac is about to set out on a secret mission of his own, a mission which could see him branded as a traitor to his own kind. And what he discovers could well lead to the overthrow of the Prime leadership and to the destruction of the delicate balance that is the only thing staving off interstellar war....

India has the largest concentrationof tribals in the world. In recent years, a vibrant feature of North-East Region has been the rise of ethnic consciousness leading to tribal movement and ethnic unrest. This vital problem faced by us today is largely on inheritance from our recent past and a close look back is called for to unravel some trends for second thought to solve this burning problem. In the present book, Dr. Paul has tried to explain the various dimensions of tribal movements witha special reference to 'Udayachal Movement' in Assam Valley. This ia pioneering attempt where he explored sociologically the genesis of plain's tribal movement of Assam Valley. His contention is that Udayachal Movement has not come out from a vacuum. The contradictions introduced by the Unequal socio-political forces in the tribal communal social system during the colonial era and the consolidation of the same in the post-Independence period challenged their existence.

He was Tiger, born of the desert winds, raised as a slave and winning his freedom by weaving a special kind of magic with a warrior's skill. She was Del, born of ice and storm, trained by the greatest of Northern sword masters. Together, they discover a kinship and friendship that grows to love while facing dangers of both sword and sorcery.

Sword-Singer once again unites Del and Tiger--she among the greatest of Northern sword masters, he a Southron warrior of legendary skills--on a new and perilous journey into the North, to the Place of Swords, where Del must submit to trial-by-combat for the slaying of her sword-master.

The third book in the smart, snarky, and action-packed Heroine series completes the "Heroic Trio" as Bea Tanaka joins her sister, Evie, and diva Aveda Jupiter in their quest to free San Francisco from its demon portal problem If there's one thing Beatrice Tanaka never wanted to be, it's normal. But somehow, her life has unfolded as a series of "should haves." Her powers of emotional projection should have made her one of the most formidable superheroes of all time. And she should have been allowed to join her older sister Evie as a full-fledged protector of San Francisco, pulverizing the city's plethora of demon threats. But Evie and her superheroing partner, Aveda Jupiter, insist on seeing Bea as the impulsive, tempestuous teenager she used to be--even though she's now a responsible adult. And that means Bea is currently living a thoroughly normal life. She works as a bookstore lackey, hangs out with best friends Sam Fujikawa and Leah Kim, and calms her workplace's more difficult customers. Sure, she's not technically supposed to be playing with people's mental states. But given the mundanity of her existence, who can blame her? When a mysterious being starts communicating with Bea, hinting at an evil that's about to overtake the city, she seizes the opportunity, hoping to turn her "should haves" into the fabulous heroic life she's always wanted. But gaining that life may mean sacrificing everything--and everyone--she holds dear...

This 2003 book is a full-length study of Octauia, the only complete Roman drama of an historical subject, or fabula praetexta. The play deals with Nero's divorce from the princess Octavia, Claudius' daughter by Valeria Messalina, and with his subsequent marriage to Poppaea Sabina. Professor Ferri presents a critical edition of the text based on a fresh re-examination of the relevant manuscripts and provides a full discussion of textual issues. In the Introduction he argues that the play, wrongly ascribed to Seneca in our MSS, was composed in the late Flavian period, and that the author relied on pre-existing historical accounts written after the death of Nero. He also discusses in detail the style and language of the play, strongly influenced by Senecan tragedy, its relationship to the other plays of the Senecan corpus, and particularly to Hercules Oetaeus, its stagecraft and post-Classical dramatic conventions, and the author's political position.