His thousand years of exile were meant to teach Hedin, Sage of Darkness, the error of his ways. Instead, he had ten centuries to learn new and powerful magics, knowledge he intends to use to challenge not just the Mages of his Generation who sentenced him but the very gods themselves. From bestselling Russian fantasist Nick Perumov, voted best European SF writer in 2004, comes a sword-and-sorcery adventure in the classic mode of Robert E. Howard with an added dash of Beowulf.

From warrior to diplomat, his destiny awaits. Heralded as the Hero of the North, Ludwig returns home, expecting to reconcile with his father, only to learn a mysterious illness has taken him. Thrust into the role of baron, he quickly discovers his stepbrother left his lands teetering on the edge of ruin. The barony is nearly bankrupt, the army weak, and its traditional enemy is making threats of war. Before he has the opportunity to rectify the situation, King Otto reminds him of his obligation to continue the family name. Now entangled in the tumultuous politics of court, he is forced to deal with petty jealousies and a country torn apart by strife. All while a powerful enemy prepares to invade! Can he successfully master the complexity of being a warrior lord, or will it ultimately lead to his own destruction? The story of a seasoned hero continues in Warrior Lord, Book Four of the Power Ascending series. Ready your weapons and pick up a copy of Warrior Lord to see what he must do to be victorious.  New to the series? Meet Charlaine and Ludwig in Tempered Steel, the series prequel, then crack open a copy of Temple Knight to learn how a leader is forged. What readers are saying about Paul J Bennett’s books: ★★★★★ -"Fantastic Fantasy!" ★★★★★ -"Epic Battle Scenes! ★★★★★ -"I’m hooked on this series!" ★★★★★ -"Exciting Sword and Sorcery" ★★★★★ -"Fabulously written, loved it." ★★★★★ -"Outstanding work of fantasy" ★★★★★ -"The most amazing adventure" ★★★★★ -"Another excellent book series!!" Books by Paul J Bennett Power Ascending Series: Tempered Steel - Prequel Temple Knight Warrior Knight Temple Captain Warrior Lord Temple Commander Warrior Prince Heir to the Crown Series: Battle at the River - Prequel Servant of the Crown Sword of the Crown Mercerian Tales: Stories of the Past Heart of the Crown Shadow of the Crown Mercerian Tales: The Call of Magic Fate of the Crown Burden of the Crown Mercerian Tales: The Making of a Man Defender of the Crown Fury of the Crown Mercerian Tales: Honour Thy Ancestors War of the Crown Triumph of the Crown Guardian of the Crown Enemy of the Crown Peril of the Crown The Frozen Flame Series: The Awakening/Into the Fire - Prequels Ashes Embers Flames Inferno Maelstrom Vortex Torrent Cataclysm Power Ascending Series: Tempered Steel - Prequel Temple Knight Warrior Knight Temple Captain Warrior Lord Temple Commander The Chronicles of Cyric: Into the Maelstrom - Prequel A Midwinter Murder The Beast of Brunhausen A Plague in Zeiderbruch More of what readers are saying: ★★★★★ -"I just could not stop reading them" ★★★★★ -"Wow! Best book I’ve read in a LONG time!" ★★★★★-"Thoroughly absorbing, exciting and mystical." ★★★★★ -"If you like fantasy fiction, then this is a must-read!" ★★★★★ -"This story gripped me and kept me turning the pages." ★★★★★ -"Action, Intrigue, Adventure, Romance and some twists!" ★★★★★ -"I love the book, had me on edge, could not put it down!" ★★★★★ -"Full of suspense, intrigue and action throughout the story" ★★★★★ -"The characters you love in the books come to life in such a fabulous way." ★★★★★ -"The tale flows effortlessly along, blending action, adventure and heartwarming scenes."

In 1876, sixteen-year old mail-order bride Ellen O'Hara sets off westward from Salina, Kansas to meet her husband-to-be, a cavalry officer stationed at Fort Walla Walla in Washington Territory. En route, her traveling party is attacked by Indians near Elko, Nevada. Badly wounded, Ellen can think of nothing more than heading north to her fianc. But she wanders off into the wilderness and disappears. Eventually found near death by a band of Shoshone Indians, she becomes immersed in a doomed alien culture she grows to admire. Knowing tragedy is in their future, she fights against her own race for the survival of her new friendsand for her man, the Shoshone chief Bear Paw. When she is returned to white society, and on trial for murder, she must choosebetween the culture she was born to and the one in which she became a woman, between the man she was promised to and the man she has grown to love. Bill Scott, author, Light On A Distant Hill, winner of the 2011 WILLA Literary Award for Original Soft Cover Fiction by Women Writing the West.

This unique book concerns those veteran inmates who have failed to complete a readjustment process and who continue to wage their own personal wars to regain a sense of normalcy – those veterans who have not yet redeployed home from combat even though they have relocated to the inherently traumatizing confinement setting. Aside from identifying factors that will help those seeking to be aware of the unique problems of incarcerated veterans and those advocating for them, the book attempts to help these individuals as well as correctional professionals understand veteran inmates and their “unique” needs, which stem from military service. The text offers that programs must be implemented flexibly despite operational and budgetary challenges. The book clearly provides guidelines to develop relevant programs that do far more than simply warehouse troublesome individuals. Major topics include: components of veterans’ readjustment; military discipline and military discharge; the relationship between military service and crime; criminal manifestations of military service, war zone deployment, and combat trauma; veterans’ benefits and outreach during incarceration; popular approaches to divert veterans from confinement; attributes of veterans’ groups in confined settings; institutionally-based programs for veterans; veterans’ dorms; and urgency in the preparation for the coming “storm” of veteran offenders. This book, which represents years of research and the author’s experience as a military lawyer in both prosecution and defense, is an important reference for a variety of readers, including law enforcement and first responders, corrections professionals, mental health providers, lawyers, judges, and anyone who desires to understand the challenges faced by military veterans in conflict with the law.

In his second novel Garfinkle shows again his own brand of large-scale imagination. All of an Instant is a groundbreaking SF novel that chronicles the discovery of a medium of existence outside of time--the Instant--from which one can influence all past and future history. War dominates this strange, abstract place--war among forces contending for control of all times and places.

The most successful film franchise of all time, Star Wars thrillingly depicts an epic multigenerational conflict fought a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But the Star Wars saga has as much to say about successful strategies and real-life warfare waged in our own time and place. Strategy Strikes Back brings together over thirty of today’s top military and strategic experts, including generals, policy advisors, seasoned diplomats, counterinsurgency strategists, science fiction writers, war journalists, and ground‐level military officers, to explain the strategy and the art of war by way of the Star Wars films. Each chapter of Strategy Strikes Back provides a relatable, outside‐the‐box way to simplify and clarify the complexities of modern military conflict. A chapter on the case for planet building on the forest moon of Endor by World War Z author Max Brooks offers a unique way to understand our own sustained engagement in war-ravaged societies such as Afghanistan. Another chapter on the counterinsurgency waged by Darth Vader against the Rebellion sheds light on the logic behind past military incursions in Iraq. Whether using the destruction of Alderaan as a means to explore the political implications of targeting civilians, examining the pivotal decisions made by Yoda and the Jedi Council to differentiate strategic leadership in theory and in practice, or considering the ruthlessness of Imperial leaders to explain the toxicity of top-down leadership in times of war and battle, Strategy Strikes Back gives fans of Star Wars and aspiring military minds alike an inspiring and entertaining means of understanding many facets of modern warfare. It is a book as captivating and enthralling as Star Wars itself.

Why do some conflicts escalate into violence while others dissipate harmlessly? Under what circumstances will people kill, and why? While homicide has been viewed largely in the pathological terms of "crime" and "deviance," violence, Mark Cooney contends, is a naturally-occurring form of conflict found throughout history and across cultures under certain social conditions. Cooney has analyzed the social control of homicide within and across over 30 societies and interviewed several dozens of prisoners incarcerated for murder or manslaughter, as well as members of their families. Violence such as homicide can only be understood, he argues, by transcending the traditional focus on the social characteristics of the killer and victims, and by looking at the role played by family members, friends, neighbors, onlookers, police officers, and judges. These third parties can be a source of peace or violence, depending on how they are configured in particular cases. Violence flourishes, Cooney demonstrates, when authority is either very strong or very weak and when third-party ties are strong and boundaries between groups sharply defined. Drawing on recent theory in the lively new sociological speciality of conflict management, Mark Cooney has culled a vast array of evidence from modern and preindustrial societies to provide us with the first general sociological analysis of human violence.

One man. One planet. One destiny. Frederick Frater leads a hum-drum existence working in a Victorian bookshop. But one day an apparition walks into the shop – a beautiful young woman. Her father's extraordinary invention changes Frederick's life. The adventure that follows takes us back to Roman-occupied Britain and into the future, in which magic has become science. It is a future that Frederick can influence through his interventions – for he is one of the Chosen, a select and privileged group with the fate of the world in their hands.

Warlords, refugees, warriors, child soldiers, and priests drive the high stakes action in this great fantasy series. New Religion - Join the faithful or die. Up next in this sweeping saga... Cruce Chenomet returns home ready to enjoy life. The pleasures of love beckon him toward happiness, but a hostile world denies him the peace he craves. The rys monarchs Dacian and Onja continue to plot the destruction of his home Nufal. Onja opens a two front campaign meant to expand her dominion over the western tribal kingdoms and bring misery and ruin to Nufal. She commands Amar to lead marauders into Nufal. Excited to be set loose upon new lands, he attacks without mercy and even dares to fight magical tabre. In the west, Onja’s holy war rages as she continues to crush old idols. Amar’s lovers, Demeda and Loxane expand their influence as the messengers of the conquering faith. In Nufal the rivalry between tabre Sects threatens their delicate alliance. Tempet and Alloi begin to attract the loyalty of the people. This epic fantasy on Google Play continues the series with passion, courage, and rising magical powers. Falbe's style of writing takes inspiration from the tough and gritty story telling of George R. R. Martin in A Game of Thrones. This English language fantasy series has been enjoyed by numerous readers in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.

The Way of the Mindful Warrior provides a fresh, authentic, and structured path to using mindfulness to embrace living in awareness and reconnecting with our innermost nature of peace, wisdom, and compassion. Mindfulness is a 2,500-year-old Buddhist meditation practice that involves focusing awareness on the present moment, the only place where an individual can truly embrace and experience life. In recent decades, mindfulness has gained popularity amongst scientists, healthcare practitioners, and the public more generally. An abundance of popular books has subsequently emerged providing different interpretations of how to practice mindfulness and apply it in daily-living contexts. However, most current approaches to mindfulness have removed it from its traditional spiritual context or overlook important scientific insights from research into this ancient contemplative technique. The Way of Mindful Warrior addresses this oversight and integrates the traditional Buddhist teachings on mindfulness with emerging insights from the scientific study of mindfulness, wellbeing and the human mind. This book is timely and presents a fresh, easily digestible, and structured path to using mindfulness not only as a tool for coping with the stresses and strains of contemporary living, but also as a means to cultivating unconditional wellbeing and for flourishing as a human being.