Ragged, starving refugees want to settle in Lindsay Crossing. In a world waking up from a devastating plague, control of resources—and people—is the key to survival. Marissa Loomis has grown used to fighting for herself and her family. The newcomers are a threat, but they can’t be left to die. As the fragile society plans to grow by scavenging the deserted cities, newcomer Gwen finds herself torn between the man who saved her from starvation and the compelling woman who represents reason and power in what’s left of her world. But what can Gwen make of the enforced secrecy about Loomis’s past, and the nightmares that erupt every night? Is there something worse than plague that has driven Loomis to the edge? Love, revenge, cruelty and honor swirl through this page-turning novel from the author of The Sanguire Series.

Collects X-Factor 33, X-Terminators 1, X-Factor 34, X-Terminators 2, Uncanny X-Men 239, X-Factor 35, X-Factor 36, Uncanny X-Men 240, X-Terminators 3, New Mutants 71, X-Terminators 4, New Mutants 72, Uncanny X-Men 241, X-Factor 37, New Mutants 73, Uncanny X-Men 242, X-Factor 38, Uncanny X-Men 243, X-Factor 39, X-Factor 40 & X-Factor Annual 4.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work, the inspiration for HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon “The thrill of Fire & Blood is the thrill of all Martin’s fantasy work: familiar myths debunked, the whole trope table flipped.”—Entertainment Weekly Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart. What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel’s worst crimes? What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed. With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire & Blood is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros. Praise for Fire & Blood “A masterpiece of popular historical fiction.”—The Sunday Times “The saga is a rich and dark one, full of both the title’s promised elements. . . . It’s hard not to thrill to the descriptions of dragons engaging in airborne combat, or the dilemma of whether defeated rulers should ‘bend the knee,’ ‘take the black’ and join the Night’s Watch, or simply meet an inventive and horrible end.”—The Guardian

This work examines expressions of personal hostility and animosity toward presidents-even beloved ones-throughout American history and their impact on policymaking, politics, and culture. People involved or simply interested in politics often ask whether today's political environment is more toxic than ever before. Hatred of America's Presidents: Personal Attacks on the White House from Washington to Trump presents an impartial and authoritative history of invective toward the White House so readers can determine the answer for themselves. The book focuses on the most representative and commonplace attacks of a vitriolic and personal nature, detailing who instigated and trafficked in the attacks and how presidents, administrations, and political parties defended themselves. It also illustrates how honest disagreements about policy-such as FDR's New Deal, Ronald Reagan's Central America policies, George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq, and Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act-fueled expressions of hatred and condemnation. Finally, the book includes perspectives from both the right and the left on the legitimacy of these attacks and the victims' defenses as well as their impact on American politics and policy.

People with only a slight interest in history will enjoy these fascinating, short and easy to understand stories. Serious history buffs will like these lesser-known episodes, not the stories weve heard a million times. For example: try to find anyone who knows about the attempted slave insurrection in Fairfax County, Virginia. With Mary Lincolns spending habits, who knew that Abraham Lincoln actually saved an enormous percentage of his presidential salary? A slave honored in Virginia with a monument; the history of Lee Highway which opened with great fanfare in 1923 as a 3,000 mile road from Washington, DC to San Diego; a story about the Little River Turnpike, the second oldest turnpike in America, built partly by slaves and captured Hessian soldiers. Youll read about two Civil War ships that collided in the Potomac River. Victims included wounded soldiers' wives and one soldiers six-year-old son. Youll read a great account of the massive Civil War corruption. Youll learn about the disastrous condition of the treasury (sound familiar?) during the Revolutionary War. The government tried everything, including a lottery to get the country afloat in a sea of red ink. But the most fascinating story may be about the Revolutionary War soldier who faked his own desertion to defect to the enemy with the highly secretive mission of going behind enemy lines to capture and return for trial the worst traitor in American history: Benedict Arnold. Bet you never heard of this story. There are many other stories in this eclectic, heavily-researched manuscript. Theres a story about the Christmas Truce in World War One, about long-forgotten holidays in Virginia, about the retrocession which sent an area of Washington back to Virginia in 1846, and about the impeachment of a Supreme Court justice (it happened only once). And more!

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work, the inspiration for HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon “The thrill of Fire & Blood is the thrill of all Martin’s fantasy work: familiar myths debunked, the whole trope table flipped.”—Entertainment Weekly Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire & Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart. What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why was it so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What were Maegor the Cruel’s worst crimes? What was it like in Westeros when dragons ruled the skies? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty-five black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley—including five illustrations exclusive to the trade paperback edition. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed. With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire & Blood is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros. Praise for Fire & Blood “A masterpiece of popular historical fiction.”—The Sunday Times “The saga is a rich and dark one, full of both the title’s promised elements. . . . It’s hard not to thrill to the descriptions of dragons engaging in airborne combat, or the dilemma of whether defeated rulers should ‘bend the knee,’ ‘take the black’ and join the Night’s Watch, or simply meet an inventive and horrible end.”—The Guardian

CBC BOOKS BEST CANADIAN POETRY BOOKS OF 2022 LONGLISTED FOR THE RAYMOND SOUSTER AWARD hwæt, another Beowulf translation? Not exactly... Welcome to Denmark’s Heorot Hall, where King Hrothgar invites to his banquet table everyone but Grendel, Saxon’s cradle-made monster. Dissing this ur-outsider initiates a predictable and monstrous backlash, a Mediæval fracas that only the eponymous Beowulf can quash. Sailing across the whaleroads, he arrives to “quell and queltch and quatch the Grendel beast.” Beowulf, that still-recognizable hero, embodies a “blank” function, a motive-driven yet motiveless megastar. He’s the young, fit, male, self-sacrificing protagonist-interloper who will fight any monster to protect his people. Or to defend strangers. Or to gain a reputation. Or because he just really wants to... In her rendering of Beowulf, Nicole Markotić offers a rollicking cover song of fantastical text. These pages will surprise readers as they introduce new ways to embrace, challenge, or click with Anglo-Saxon heroics. Writing original poems, Markotić de-stories the story of one man, who mostly does not play well with others, who fights monsters (and defeats their mothers, too), and who practically invents the poetic tradition of entitled bravery Upending the tale with her fresh and enchanting style, Markotić gives a nod to previous translations, winks at canonical critics, bares historical biases, all while gifting transmogrifying pages that will whet your whimsy! "Nicole Markotić takes the original English-language epic and reprocesses it. That is, she rereads, rewrites, reimagines, rethinks, and retells it, all at the same time. The result is the story re-understood. The phrasing and incantation is Markotić’s own (and our era’s own), deployed with deliciously textured and diverse registers of language. Blake saw infinity in the palm of his hand. Markotić puts a millennium in yours." —Wayde Compton, author of The Outer Harbour "Beowulf, with its unfathomable monsters and monster-slaying hero, its bro world of mead, boasting, weapons, and booty, remains a stubbornly relevant template for much of our contemporary scene. Nicole Markotić’s After Beowulf handles all this with dazzling sprezzatura. It is a pleasure to follow the narrating, condensing, commenting voice as it sashays through a range of verbal registers from high Olsonic to comic book pratfall, snark to scholarship. After Beowulf provides an up-to-date reading of Beowulf through the eyes of a feminist poet. And it continually suggests what things might be like after Beowulf." —Bob Perelman, author of Jack and Jill in Troy "The collision of ancient and colloquial language creates bursts of humour as my dude Beowulf makes his way into the banquet hall and beyond. Linger here to experience the aesthetics of poetry in action: vibrant and intensely moving, we feel the wrenching pain of Grendel’s mother. Markotić’s language is thick with meaning and light with humour: a creation of the most projective of verses." —Jacqueline Turner, author of Flourish

Trish Clark is a talented young musician who profoundly believes in the divine and models a renaissance way of living. She’s a beautiful old soul with a deep faith in God and a self-help expert. However, her father’s death propels her on a wild ride of paranormal activities, unstable relationships, and events she’ll eventually both regret and cherish. With her goodwill and generosity, Trish explores the needs and desires of Mary, a psychotic, bedridden woman who wants to hire Trish as a ghostwriter for her book. Trish’s excursions also bring her to the wild mountains of New Mexico and North Carolina, out to the blue Atlantic Ocean, and deep into the mystical realm. All of these locations assist her in overcoming loss and grief. Within Six Journeys, you will find one beginning, two middles, and three endings, which equals six stories that take Trish and her cohorts in various directions and deliver diverse outcomes. The book’s unique organization, reminiscent of a choose-your-own-adventure story, allows readers to explore the possible paths that Trish can take to find meaning in her life. Trish’s story affirms that an attitude of love, forgiveness, and compassion can soften challenges and build advantages along life’s path.