The shadow of war stretches over the northlands. The elven wood burns as Zarrum invaders encroach from the north. Ogres, orcs, and goblin hoards wreak havoc and take strongholds, leaving slaughtered people and burned out villages in their wake. Jayde, a young elvish battlemage, burns as well . . . with vengeance. Her village destroyed, her mother murdered, she takes up her sword and bow, cloaking herself in spellcraft, to becoming the Butterfly Assassin, a thorn in the side of the Zarrum invaders. Still, hiding and killing is lonely work until she meets a human paladin from the south. A man of faith that calls her deeds to task. Mathus, Paladin of Thon the Thunderer, doesn’t know quite what to make of the elf girl he’s fallen in with. Swift with her blade and spells, Fiona doesn’t fit into any of the carefully crafted boxes he’s created for women or elves. Could she be the object of his god-given quest? The Butterfly Illusion is the second book in the Heroes of Harth series, an epic adventure across a sprawling fantasy world.

A zine about change and stability, reality and illusion.

"The Dream of the Butterfly: Experimental Illusions in Motion Graphics is a series of motion graphics and applications defined from visual illusions, which are based on the study of patterns and interactive multimedia. This project is not only focused on making and showing motion graphic pieces, but also providing a basis of studies and enough of the experimental process of creating them, by incorporating sections for the user to interact with. By creating a web-based interface, it provides people with a chance to experiment with the elements of basic patterns and understand visual illusions which were chosen by me for my thesis"--Abstract.

In this “deeply personal and lyrical book” (Publishers Weekly) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Horse, Wendy Williams explores the lives of one of the world’s most resilient creatures—the butterfly—shedding light on the role that they play in our ecosystem and in our human lives. “[A] glorious and exuberant celebration of these biological flying machines…Williams takes us on a humorous and beautifully crafted journey” (The Washington Post). From butterfly gardens to zoo exhibits, these “flying flowers” are one of the few insects we’ve encouraged to infiltrate our lives. Yet, what has drawn us to these creatures in the first place? And what are their lives really like? In this “entertaining look at ‘the world’s favorite insect’” (Booklist, starred review), New York Times bestselling author and science journalist Wendy Williams reveals the inner lives of these delicate creatures, who are far more intelligent and tougher than we give them credit for. Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles each year from Canada to Mexico. Other species have learned how to fool ants into taking care of them. Butterflies’ scales are inspiring researchers to create new life-saving medical technology. Williams takes readers to butterfly habitats across the globe and introduces us to not only various species, but “digs deeply into the lives of both butterflies and [the] scientists” (Science magazine) who have spent decades studying them. Coupled with years of research and knowledge gained from experts in the field, this accessible “butterfly biography” explores the ancient partnership between these special creatures and humans, and why they continue to fascinate us today. “Informative, thought-provoking,” (BookPage, starred review) and extremely profound, The Language of Butterflies is a “fascinating book [that] will be of interest to anyone who has ever admired a butterfly, and anyone who cares about preserving these stunning creatures” (Library Journal).

Embracing Illusion is an interdisciplinary study of a classic Korean novel. It argues that a work of narrative fiction can be taken seriously as Buddhist philosophical discourse. The capacity of fiction to speak on behalf of Buddhist truths is set in the larger context of how the literary imagination approaches the exploration of reality.

David Henry Hwang’s beautiful, heartrending play featuring an afterword by the author – winner of a 1988 Tony Award for Best Play and nominated for the 1989 Pulitzer Prize Based on a true story that stunned the world, M. Butterfly opens in the cramped prison cell where diplomat Rene Gallimard is being held captive by the French government—and by his own illusions. In the darkness of his cell he recalls a time when desire seemed to give him wings. A time when Song Liling, the beautiful Chinese diva, touched him with a love as vivid, as seductive—and as elusive—as a butterfly. How could he have known, then, that his ideal woman was, in fact, a spy for the Chinese government—and a man disguised as a woman? In a series of flashbacks, the diplomat relives the twenty-year affair from the temptation to the seduction, from its consummation to the scandal that ultimately consumed them both. But in the end, there remains only one truth: Whether or not Gallimard's passion was a flight of fancy, it sparked the most vigorous emotions of his life. Only in real life could love become so unreal. And only in such a dramatic tour de force do we learn how a fantasy can become a man's mistress—as well as his jailer. M. Butterfly is one of the most compelling, explosive, and slyly humorous dramas ever to light the Broadway stage, a work of unrivaled brilliance, illuminating the conflict between men and women, the differences between East and West, racial stereotypes—and the shadows we cast around our most cherished illusions. M. Butterfly remains one of the most influential romantic plays of contemporary literature, and in 1993 was made into a film by David Cronenberg starring Jeremy Irons and John Lone.

Explains how butterfly colours and designs have evolved and how they are protected by camouflage, mimicry and deception.

The Art of Spiral Drawing offers a fresh, modern take on everyone’s favorite childhood toy from the 1960s through today, the Spirograph®. With The Art of Spiral Drawing, no complicated tools are needed, as artists of all skill levels learn to create their own spiral art using little more than paper and a pen or pencil. Written and illustrated by Jonathan Stephen Harris, the author of the popular The Art of Drawing Optical Illusions, the book opens with helpful sections on tools and materials, perspective, and shading, ensuring that beginning artists know the basics before getting started on the step-by-step projects that follow. Instructions for creating basic shapes, including a triangle, a circle, and a square, progress into more detailed patterns featuring perspective, florals, and more. Instructions are also included for creating a variety of subjects, from flowers to animals, all featuring a spiral pattern as their framework. Artists can even add color to their spiral artwork using the tips featured in the book and simple tools like colored pencils and markers. Beginning and intermediate artists, doodlers, optical illusionists, and more will love creating their own spiral and geometric art with the help of The Art of Spiral Drawing!

“Sometimes ideas change the world. This astonishing, miraculous, shattering, inspiring book captures the origins and the arc of the movement for sex equality. It’s a book whose time has come—always, but perhaps now more than ever.” —Cass Sunstein, coauthor of Nudge Under certain conditions, small simple actions can produce large and complex “butterfly effects.” Butterfly Politics shows how Catharine A. MacKinnon turned discrimination law into an effective tool against sexual abuse—grounding and predicting the worldwide #MeToo movement—and proposes concrete steps that could have further butterfly effects on women’s rights. Thirty years after she won the U.S. Supreme Court case establishing sexual harassment as illegal, this timely collection of her previously unpublished interventions on consent, rape, and the politics of gender equality captures in action the creative and transformative activism of an icon. “MacKinnon adapts a concept from chaos theory in which the tiny motion of a butterfly’s wings can trigger a tornado half a world away. Under the right conditions, she posits, small actions can produce major social transformations.” —New York Times “MacKinnon [is] radical, passionate, incorruptible and a beautiful literary stylist... Butterfly Politics is a devastating salvo fired in the gender wars... This book has a single overriding aim: to effect global change in the pursuit of equality.” —The Australian “Sexual Harassment of Working Women was a revelation. It showed how this anti-discrimination law—Title VII—could be used as a tool... It was the beginning of a field that didn’t exist until then.” —U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg