The legends of a fabled land of the lost have floated for centuries around the bazaars of North Africa and the sand-surrounded oases of the vast Sahara. They tell of treasure caravans that have never returned, of weird monsters forgotten by time, of savage peoples surviving out of antiquity. Eric Carstairs had heard these tales but until he met Professor Potter he did not really believe them. But the famous palaeontologist had the location of the entrance to the Underground World pinned down, and wanted only a man of courage to fly him there. Carstairs and Potter took the chance - and pierced the pit to Zanthodon, a world within the world, where cavemen and cave-beasts roamed side by side with dinosaur-monsters of millions of years ago.

The incomprehensible notion of a very large chunk of ice or rock from outer space smashing into the Earth has only become mainstream within the past two centuries. Though early writers imagined the utterly fantastic consequences of comet collisions and speculated on the devastation they might wreak, it was not until the 1980s when scientists finally resolved that dinosaurs were extinguished by an asteroid 66 million years ago. This startling announcement captivated the media and tilted the science fiction world but in reality, history may have been punctuated repeatedly by such events. This book collects and analyzes ideas of asteroid, comet, and planetary impacts with Earth spanning two centuries, from the first realization of extinctions in fossil records to the new millennium, reflected in scores of sci-fi stories, films, and televised science documentaries. The author examines social and geopolitical fears tied to the prospect of a cosmic-borne catastrophe. Science, fiction, and speculation are artfully melded.

Tenashar, a young member of the Senetha tribe, has made it his lifes mission to find out why his ancient world is dying. After traveling into the future, he returns back to his own time a changed manone who has discovered his hidden abilities and learned much about other worlds. Now he is more determined than ever to find out why biological machines known as the Orbs are depleting the life force from his land. Tenashar bids farewell to the friends who accompanied him on his last journey and sets out across the grasslands, trudging for days in search of answers that will save his people and his world from destruction. Led by two silent guardians, Tenashar seeks the truth in odd flying ships, from a villager who tells him of strange things, and from warriors who fight their own battles with the Orbs. But it is only after he finds refuge in ruins and is rescued by a ghost girl that Tenashar is propelled on a new voyage across the rough seas. In this continuing saga, a man pursuing resolution for his beloved tribe will soon discover the reason for his life-altering journey as his world slowly transforms.

This book, first published in 1979, presents a portrait of science fiction as a distinct form of serious and creative literature. Contributors are drawn from Britain, America and Europe, and range from well-known academic critics to young novelists. The essays establish the common properties of science fiction writing, and assess the history and significance of a field in which critical judgements have often been unreliable. The material ranges from the earliest imaginative journeys to the moon, to later developments of British, American and European science fiction.

An extraordinary life-story of a Tibetan monk and his spiritual path of Yungdrung Bön: Nagru Gelek Jinpa made a life-changing decision at the age of nineteen to leave behind his life as a shepherd in eastern Tibet and to become a monk. Five years later, after having met a great Bönpo master, Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, Gelek escaped from his homeland to receive teachings on Bön philosophy and its highest system of meditation, dzogchen, from this great master in Kathmandu, Nepal. He tells, with deep insight and humour, of his early years as an uneducated boy herding cows, pigs and yaks; of his studies in various monasteries in Tibet and India and finally in Nepal with his beloved master Yongdzin Rinpoche. He also makes a pilgrimage to Tibet in search of the ancient kingdom of Zhang Zhung and explores age-old holy sites in Nepal. Later on he starts to teach in the West, write books on his adventurous journeys and study filmmaking in Mexico. This thought-provoking and remarkable story of a Tibetan monk and scholar, teacher, author and documentary filmmaker, gives witness to his extraordinary life and spiritual path linked to Tibet's original cultural and spiritual tradition.

Over forty years as a missionary traveling through four continents has brought A. W. Trenholm in contact with many divergent doctrines and, often, misrepresentations of the existence, nature, and purpose of hell. Hell is usually represented as a place of eternal suffering, but in his own journey there, unlike in Dante's trip to the Inferno, Trenholm was directed by what the Bible actually says about it, all the while escorted by a very lovely and knowledgeable guide. He discovered a hell vastly different from the one he had been led to expect and came to realize that many of his notions about the devil and the eternal fate of souls were not as fixed as he had thought. He found that, surprisingly, demons are not confined to a burning lake of fire. In fact no one was--at least not yet.

The heroine's journey echoes throughout ancient legend. Each young woman combats her dark side and emerges stronger. This quest is also a staple of American comic books. Wonder Woman with semi-divine powers gives us a new female-centered creation story. Batgirl, Batwoman and Black Widow discover their enemy is the dark mother or shadow twin, with the savagery they've rejected in themselves. Supergirl similarly struggles but keeps harmony with her sister. From Jessica Jones and Catwoman to the new superwomen of cutting-edge webcomics, each heroine must go into the dark, to become not a warrior but a savior. Women like Captain Marvel and Storm sacrifice all to join the ranks of superheroes, while their feminine powers and dazzling costumes reflect the most ancient tales.

Behm illustrates that a life abused and nearly destroyed can be redeemed. She encourages readers to press on and reach deeper and higher despite worldly trials.

This adaptation of the original story is presented in the format of a novel study, complete with exercises and vocabulary lists, and is geared for the language arts classes of grades 4 and 5.