The thrilling start to the Phoenix Legacy space opera: “A new classic! Has the sweep and power of Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy” (Jean M. Auel, author of the Earth’s Children series). At the heart of the Concord empire, unrest is festering. Unrecognized by the Elite, the ruling class, an undercurrent of rebellion is surging through the enslaved Bond class. It’s a threat that could bring down all of civilization, creating a third Dark Age. Lord Alexand, first born of the House of DeKoven Woolf, stands to inherit a vast industrial conglomerate along with a seat on the Directorate, the Concord’s ruling body. But he sees the writing on the wall and realizes that if the Bonds explode into total rebellion, there will be nothing to inherit, and the toll in human suffering will be beyond calculation. He makes the difficult decision to “die” and join the Society of the Phoenix, a clandestine organization whose existence is known to only a few Directorate Lords, who consider membership treason and punishable by death. But it may be humanity’s only hope . . .

In The Sword, the first volume of his new fantasy series The Legacy Chronicle, T.H. Paul brings you into a vast world of gods and mortals. The story of The Sword follows the life of Trem Waterhound, a half-elven hermit who, against his own judgment, heals and befriends a wounded young man when he finds his unconscious body in the thick undergrowth of Silverleaf Forest. Together, Trem and his former patient, Jovanaleth, embark on a journey to find Jovan's missing father. Along the way they become embroiled in a conflict that extends across the mortal world of Teth-tenir and even into the Godly Realms, and both are forced to confront their past in order to face an even more dangerous future.

Master of Craving, the third book in the Blood Sword Legacy series, is a sensual historical romance that takes readers into the world of medieval knights. Eight mercenary knights, each of them bound by unspeakable torture in a Saracen prison, each of them branded with the mark of the sword for life. Each of their destinies marked by a woman. It was whispered, but only by the bravest of souls, that each Blood Sword was destined to find only one woman who would bear him and only him sons, and until that one woman was found, he would battle and ravage the land. But the darkest secret whispered was that there was one among them whose violent craving for the one woman he could not have would be the spark that would set an entire region on fire, and nearly bring down a kingdom, with the aftermath to be felt for the next thousand years…

The Blood Sword Legacy Bound by a brotherhood forged in the hell of a Saracen prison, eight Blood Swords -- mercenary knights for William the Conqueror -- set out to claim their legacies the only way they can: by right of arms, by right of victory, by right of conquest. For Sir Rohan du Luc, known as the Black Sword, enemies fall easily beneath his assault...until he comes face-to-face with a foe more worthy than any battle-hardened knight. Bold and courageous though she is, Saxon maiden Isabel of Alethorpe cannot stop Rohan de Luc from seizing Alethorpe and its people in the name of William the Conqueror. Then Rohan demands not just the manor, but Isabel herself. She vows that her heart will remain her own, even if she is forced to allow him to lay claim to her body. But while the lady's lips say no, Isabel's traitorous body is awakened to desire by the seductive attentions of this potent invader. Can she remain true to her Saxon heritage and her hopes that her brother may have survived the battlefield, or will Sir Rohan's skilled touch capture her unwilling heart as surely as his prowess with his sword captured her father's lands?

Snatched by a dragon at the end of book one, Edmund and Elspeth awake to find themselves soaring over the frozen wastes of the Snowlands, hundreds of miles from home. Escaping the dragon's clutches, they are discovered in the soft snow by Fritha. a charcoal burner's daughter. Edmund wants her help to arrange a passage home, but Elspeth has other ideas. The sword is speaking to her, filling her thoughts more and more. It's destiny is nearby, the purpose for which is was hewn, and where the sword goes, Elspeth must follow, increasingly under it's spell. Edmund and Fritha refuse to let Elspeth travel alone, and so they set out together on a perlilous route to Eigg Loki, the mountain which is drawing Elspeth and the sword, and to the dark secrets which lie at its heart.

Returning to one of their best-loved fantasy series, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman bring alive a sweeping tale of intrigue and magic. It is twenty years since the once-magical land of Thimhallan was shattered by the forging of the Darksword. The survivors of that catastrophe now live on Earth, bereft of magic and hope, forbidden to return home. Only Joram remains behind on the world ravaged by his Darksword. Although the magic weapon has been destroyed--and with it, Joram's power--rumors have risen that Joram has forged a second Darksword. Now, as a merciless alien race threatens Earth with annihilation, Earth's desperate leaders look to Joram as their only hope. But even as his old friend Saryon begins the perilous journey to seek his aid, the embittered Joram has his own plans for the weapon. And Joram is not the only one. Soon a new menace looms, foreshadowing betrayal, enslavement, and death to humans and Thimhallans alike.

This dual biography of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King upends longstanding preconceptions to transform our understanding of the twentieth century's most iconic African American leaders. To most Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. represent contrasting ideals: self-defense vs. nonviolence, black power vs. civil rights, the sword vs. the shield. The struggle for black freedom is wrought with the same contrasts. While nonviolent direct action is remembered as an unassailable part of American democracy, the movement's militancy is either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, Peniel E. Joseph upends these misconceptions and reveals a nuanced portrait of two men who, despite markedly different backgrounds, inspired and pushed each other throughout their adult lives. This is a strikingly revisionist biography, not only of Malcolm and Martin, but also of the movement and era they came to define.

Western scholars and educators are generally far less familiar with the samurai in his original-and, ostensibly, primary-role as warrior and masters of arms than in his other functions as landowner, feudal lord, literature, or philosopher. Yet, any attempt to comprehend fully the samurai without considering his military abilities and training (bugei) is futile. With verve and wit, Karl Friday combines the results of nearly two decades of fieldwork and archival research to examine samurai martial culture from a broad perspective: as a historical phenomenon, as a worldview, and as a system of physical, spiritual, and moral education.