They were masters of the darkness, searching through eternity for a mistress of the light... Gabriel woke deep within the ground, and the first sensation he felt was hunger. An overwhelming hunger for blood that demanded satisfaction. But as he hunted the dark streets of Paris for prey, a voice called to him, soothing, calming, giving him the strength to control his craving. Francesca Del Ponce was a healer, a woman who radiated goodness as powerfully as the sun did light. But surely his obsession with her would turn him as his twin brother had turned, leaving the world with two monsters instead of one. Though he knew she would be like hot silk in his arms, though he knew the taste of her would be addictive, he feared for her life and his soul if he took her. Then with one mind-shattering vow she gave herself—“I offer freely, without reservation, I offer my life for your as is my right”—and with a firestorm of long-forgotten feelings, he glimpsed salvation.

The year is 1944. As Allied forces fight the enemy on Europe’s war-torn beaches, another battle begins in a child’s bedroom in Brooklyn. When the nightmarish Boogeyman snatches a boy and takes him to the realm of the Dark, the child’s playthings, led by the toy soldier known as the Colonel, band together to stage a daring rescue. On their perilous mission they will confront the boy’s bitter and forgotten toys, as well as betrayal in their own ranks. Can they save the boy from the forces of evil, or will they all perish in the process? The Stuff of Legend is a haunting and ultimately redemptive tale of loyalty, camaraderie, and perseverance. This edition includes a brand-new story featuring the Colonel’s war journal, maps, sketches, and other original material!

In 17th century Japan, a battle between the shoguns and the Lees raged for a lengthy period of time. The shoguns wanted the Lees to come join their elite army, but the Lees remained neutral and peaceful people. After much harassing, the husband and wife became supreme warriors. The Lees began killing whatever shoguns threatened them. After a particularly violent, gruesome battle with the shoguns, the Lees disappeared into the Oakla Mountains for about twenty years . The mastermind, an ancient wizard siding with the shoguns, commanded what was left of the shoguns to patrol the mountains of Oakla trying to find the Lees. Decades would pass. In those twenty long years, the Lees raised a son who would become known as “the Master.” Phenomenal genetics would breed an individual who became a far better warrior and stronger fighter then both of his parents put together. In the Master’s infantile years, the mother and father went up on the mountains of Oakla, similar to Moses’ summoning of God, where they asked their God for a sacrifice. He answered, and in return of this sacrifice, he would give their extraordinary son, the Master, the power of immortality in the form of Five Scrolls of Terror. Their God asked for the skin from their baby’s head, a threatening request, but would ultimately create a child who would grow into that of the Master: the Skulled Warrior. As the Lees returned from Oakla on that twentieth or so year, they got ambushed and killed—an attack decades in the making. When the Master found the bodies of his parents, he naturally flew into a blind rage and killed many shoguns, slaughtering anyone who stood in his way. As he battled on Oakla Mountain, his scrolls disappeared off the mountain and were never seen again. As the Master went to the end of Oakla searching for the ancient wizard for retribution, he came across an ancient hut, and inevitably the wizard and the Master did battle. The Master would ultimately kill the wizard, but he would put a curse on the Master that would remain with the Master for nearly four hundred years. As the Master’s statue, which in reality was the curse turning him to stone, was moved by cult followers and believers, it eventually found its way to New Amsterdam, which as we know, would evolve into present-day New York City. An adventure unfolds as the Master awakens after a four-hundred-year slumber, masked as a mysterious piece of art, to deal with our current world as we know it. And so begins The Dark Legend of The Foreigner.

The conflict between the drow of the Underdark and the dwarves of Mithral Hall comes to a head—and Drizzt Do’Urden and Bruenor find themselves on the frontlines. While Mithral Hall teems with whispers of the war to come, chaos erupts both above and below ground. On the surface of Faerûn, the first signs of the Time of Troubles make themselves known, forcing deities to assume their mortal forms. Beneath them in the Underdark, all but one drow house has lost their magical powers, and Lolth has handed the reins of leadership over to the demon Errtu. But even this turmoil cannot keep the drow from rising up from the black depths of the Underdark to battle the dwarves of Mithral Hall. Bruenor Battlehammer, with Drizzt at his side, will not go down without a fight—but they will have to fight without Wulfgar and Catti-brie at their sides. Siege of Darkness is the third book in the Legacy of the Drow series and the ninth book in the Legend of Drizzt series.

The phrase “The Black Legend” was coined in 1912 by a Spanish journalist in protest of the characterization of Spain by other Europeans as a backward country defined by ignorance, superstition, and religious fanaticism, whose history could never recover from the black mark of its violent conquest of the Americas. Challenging this stereotype, Rereading the Black Legend contextualizes Spain’s uniquely tarnished reputation by exposing the colonial efforts of other nations whose interests were served by propagating the “Black Legend.” A distinguished group of contributors here examine early modern imperialisms including the Ottomans in Eastern Europe, the Portuguese in East India, and the cases of Mughal India and China, to historicize the charge of unique Spanish brutality in encounters with indigenous peoples during the Age of Exploration. The geographic reach and linguistic breadth of this ambitious collection will make it a valuable resource for any discussion of race, national identity, and religious belief in the European Renaissance.

Nearly 200 stunningly realistic paintings and drawings bring the greatest fantasy epic of all time to life. Classical realism unites with contemporary storytelling as artist Donato Giancola explores the mythic grandeur and the iconic characters of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings saga. Donato has made it his life's work to translate Tolkien's words into compelling visuals, with gorgeous oil paintings and drawings reminiscent of Rembrandt and Caravaggio. His interpretations of Middle-earth span his entire career, from private commissions to the 2001 edition of the graphic novel adaptation of The Hobbit, all collected in this massive compendium--a must-have for collectors of Tolkien and fantasy "What struck me about J.R.R. Tolkien's work was how he filled Middle-earth with a wealth of history," says Author Donato Giancola. "From the simple beginnings of Bilbo and the dwarves in The Hobbit, to the personal trials of Frodo and the Fellowship in The Lord of the Rings, to the epic tragedies in The Silmarillion, these tales are woven together by a grand fabric of unifying mythologies, bringing depth to the cultures and characters within." "Amazing work from an astounding talent." - George R.R. Martin

An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery” (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles). After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus. A flying demon feeding on human energies. A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down. And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw. The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates. She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

Reveals the dependence of American ethnic identity on Spain and Spanish imperialism.

Mankind has been fascinated with and drawn to the macabre for many years. This is particularly evident in the growing popularity of dark tourism, which centers on locations known for death and suffering. Virtual Traumascapes and Exploring the Roots of Dark Tourism is a pivotal reference source featuring the latest scholarly research in which the rise of new technology platforms is not only changing tourism worldwide, but also facilitating the access to areas of war, mourning, and disaster. Including coverage on a number of topics such as sexual tourism, disaster recovery, and capitalism, this publication is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on concepts and methodologies of the dark tourism industry.