A world in which only four humans remain, including Tom and Cathie, two young people who, for 19 years, have managed to survive against the injustices of the world using their skills. Four humans, seemingly different, each with their own strengths, who come together over issues of desperation and coexistence, representing the last human civilization. Each of them has a tragic story behind them and new adventures to face in order to survive the Extinction that has been striking humanity for years now. Tom (Thomas Baskerville), was born in Manchester but moved to North Wales only a few years later. It was not long before he was falling behind in class, he was eventually diagnosed as dyslexic. His parents and teachers wanted him to read more to practice, but he found children’s books far too dull for him. Instead, he turned to longer, more difficult books containing far more interesting stories. He enjoyed getting lost in fictional worlds designed by other people, but eventually found it easier to lose himself in worlds of his own imagination. This was especially true during the more challenging periods of his life. His interest in science played an important role in developing believable worlds; an interest which eventually led to studying for a master’s degree in Chemistry, but also opened his eyes to new possibilities for exploration of the stories trapped inside his head. Putting the stories to paper began more as a hobby, a time alone with his thoughts where he could let his imagination run riot. The more he wrote, the more he wanted to write. During his exams in school, he could use an offline computer to type his answers because of terrible handwriting and dyslexia. Spending so much time writing helped enormously with his spelling difficulties through the sheer volume of repetition. Now he is letting loose the stories from his imagination in the hopes others may get lost in his world, as he did with others.

Arthur turned and strode toward us. He was magnificent, and I will never forget that, in that moment, I first loved him. And I believe--had I known what the future held for us: all the trouble, torment, battle, and grief of our lives--I still believe that I would have yielded my heart into his keeping as I did then . . . In a sweeping epic of the imagination, Alice Borchardt enters the wondrous realm of Arthurian legend and makes it her own. The Dragon Queen is the first volume in a trilogy of novels that boldly re-imagines Camelot--and casts Guinevere as a shrewd, strong-willed, magical warrior queen. Born into a world of terrible strife, where war is constant and weapons are never far from the hands of men or women, Guinevere, daughter of a mighty pagan queen, is a threat to her people and a prize to the dreaded sorcerer Merlin. Sent into hiding, she grows up under the protection of a shapeshifting man-wolf and an ornery Druid. But even on the remote coast of Scotland, where dragons feed and watch over her, she is not safe from the all-seeing High Druid Merlin. He knows the young beauty's destiny, and he will stop at nothing to prevent what has been foretold. For if Guinevere becomes Queen and Arthur, King, they will bring a peace to the land that will leave the power-hungry Merlin a shriveled magician in a weary cloak. Yet Guinevere possesses power of her own--dazzling power to rival even that of Merlin. Summoned from her home by forces she cannot fathom, she travels from the Underworld to an Otherworld of the Past, at each step calling on ancient powers to aid her way. When young Guinevere proves her mettle to an embarrassed Merlin, even her faithful dragon protectors cannot prevent the evil that the sorcerer rains down. Seeking revenge, Merlin banishes Arthur to a world from which the only escape is death. Now Guinevere must face Merlin's wrath without him--and prove that she is worthy of being Arthur's Queen. From the glass-roofed Great Hall at Tintigal to the lush garden forts of Wales, Alice Borchardt details the travels of Guinevere in a rich fabric of prose. The Dragon Queen is a novel of great emotional depth, timeless romance, and soul-stirring adventure.

For generations, people waged war on dragons, driving them ever farther into the mountains. When the dragons finally turn and fight, catastrophe threatens to overwhelm everyone. To save the world from ruin, a hero from each side takes actions to stop the war thus creating opportunities for other brave people and dragons to advance the cause of coexistence by challenging fear, prejudice, ignorance, and their societies' beliefs to create a world of peace, acceptance, and friendship. Will their efforts be enough to change the world?

For fans of Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss, The House of Always is the fourth epic fantasy in Jenn Lyons' Chorus of Dragons series that began with The Ruin of Kings. What if you were imprisoned for all eternity? In the aftermath of the Ritual of Night, everything has changed. The Eight Immortals have catastrophically failed to stop Kihrin's enemies, who are moving forward with their plans to free Vol Karoth, the King of Demons. Kihrin has his own ideas about how to fight back, but even if he's willing to sacrifice everything for victory, the cost may prove too high for his allies. Now they face a choice: can they save the world while saving Kihrin, too? Or will they be forced to watch as he becomes the very evil they have all sworn to destroy. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Dragons in the Stars and Dragon Rigger —two Star Rigger novels in one! Between the stars, says legend, there lives a realm of dragons. When a young star rigger named Jael flies the forbidden route, she learns the reality—that the dragons are real, and deadly. Only after a dragon named Highwing befriends her does Jael realize she has been caught up in an ancient battle of good and evil, her appearance foretold by an ancient prophecy. Science fiction with mythic dimension, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End! Individual novels appeared in print from Tor Books. Map included. DRM-free ebook omnibus edition. Review Quotes: DRAGONS IN THE STARS: “Carver writes powerfully and clearly.” —Booklist “An interesting and entertaining blend of genres.” —Don D’Ammassa, Science Fiction Chronicle “Carver’s prose effectively lends a spare yet evocative resonance to the draconian realm. Like a good stage performer, this story should leave its audience wanting more.” —John Bunnell, Amazing Stories “Carver is a strong SF writer, with a good feel for both the hard SF elements and the people he populates them with... he is not only comfortable working with fantasy elements, but able to succeed at the tough job of melding them into a science-fictional environment.” —C. von Rospach, Amazing Stories DRAGON RIGGER: “A refreshingly unique setting and excellently realized characters.” —Publishers Weekly “Dragon Rigger is a most excellent adventure that would make a grand movie.... there is immense verve, energy, momentum, and power... the reader stays with Carver all the way.” —Thomas A. Easton, Analog

A realm at war. The star dragons struggle under the oppression of an unseen foe—a creature of terrible power, who seeks to shape all of space-time into a web of subjugation and death. The Dream Mountain, source of knowledge and life to the dragons, is held by the enemy; and yet, hope burns in the dragons’ hearts. According to ancient prophecy, One will come from outside to challenge the darkness. Star pilot Jael LeBrae may be that savior. Once before, she aided the dragons in their struggle, and now she must return to face at last the terrible wrath of Tar-skel. But if the prophecy holds true, the price of victory over the darkness will be Jael’s own life. Captivating sequel to Dragons in the Stars, Dragon Rigger is science fiction with mythic dimension, from the Nebula-nominated author of Eternity’s End and The Chaos Chronicles. REVIEWS: “Dragon Rigger is a most excellent adventure that would make a grand movie if it were not that the special effects budget would surely be quite brutal even in this age of computer animation.... If there is a motto for this novel, it is solidarnosc, solidarity, the power to be gained by sticking with one’s friends, even by sacrificing for the good of others...there is immense verve, energy, momentum, and power...the reader stays with Carver all the way.” —Thomas A. Easton, Analog “A refreshingly unique setting and excellently realized characters.” —Publishers Weekly

Stories to Caution the World is the first complete translation of Jingshi tongyan, the second of Feng Menglong's three collections of stories which were pivotal in the development of Chinese vernacular fiction. These tales, whose importance in the Chinese literary canon and in world literature is without question, have been compared to Boccaccio's Decameron and the stories of A Thousand and One Nights. Peopled with scholars, emperors, ministers, generals, and a gallery of ordinary men and women in their everyday surroundings -- merchants and artisans, prostitutes and courtesans, matchmakers and fortune-tellers, monks and nuns, servants and maids, thieves and imposters -- the stories in this collection provide a vivid panorama of the bustling world of imperial China before the end of the Ming dynasty. Feng Menglong collected popular stories from a variety of sources (some dating back centuries) and circulated them via the flourishing seventeenth-century publishing industry. He not only saved them from oblivion but elevated the status of vernacular literature and provided material for authors of the great late-Ming and Qing novels to draw upon. As in their translation of the first collection of Feng's trilogy, Stories Old and New, Shuhui and Yunqin Yang include all forty stories as well as Feng's interlinear and marginal comments and all of the verse woven throughout the stories. For other titles in the collection go to http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/books/ming.html

Silver RavenWolf dishes out tried-and-true Witch wisdom, covering the essentials of Witchcraft. She leads us to the next step in craft practice, focusing on intermediate-level magical practices, such as the proper mechanics of circle casting and 10 ways to raise power.

Discover all the secrets and mechanics of the famous Japanese video game Dragon Quest ! This book looks back at the entire Dragon Quest saga, tells the story of the series' birth, retraces its history and deciphers its mechanics. In this book, the author shares us all his expertise and his passion in Japanese gaming to decipher the creation and the story of this saga and his creator, Yuji Horii. EXTRAIT Even with only limited knowledge of Japanese and somewhat difficult technical conditions, the story was very well told. This was perhaps what surprised players most. Dragon Quest V is a large family cycle of emotions, as transparent as an epic tale by Alexandre Dumas, the author of famous works such as The Three Musketeers. In the end, I was lucky that my first taste of the series was this excellent episode, since VI was far more extravagant, with its tales of parallel universes and heroes traveling on flying beds. A slightly puzzling game, but not without levity nor offbeat humor. One of the most emotional moments of Dragon Quest V is when we end up going back in time to change the past, thus saving the future. The time travel theme has been so often used in science fiction, particularly during the 1980s, that it should have left me impassive. It was not even the first time I had experienced it in a video game. But this adventure, with its simple graphics and persistent melodies, glanced lightly upon feelings that leave no one unmoved. “What would I have done differently if I could have changed things” is a very common concept used in fiction, from A Distant Neighborhood by Jirô Taniguchi to the Quantum Leap series. Well-told, it is so simple and so effective that it affects each and every one of us. CE QU'EN PENSE LA CRITIQUE Un libre passionnant que j'ai dévoré au point de rogner sur mes heures de sommeil. Ici, l'auteur ne nous bassine pas avec des tartines de textes pour nous conter avec détails l'histoire de chaque épisode, les ventes incommensurables de la série ou encore un almanach des jeux estampillés DraQue. - Kaisermeister, Sens Critique Un livre plein d’anecdotes qui feront vibrer votre corde nostalgique et qui donne envie, une fois terminé, de replonger dans l'aventure. - neotsubasa, Sens Critique C'est une biographie très détaillée, riche en anecdotes et bien romancée, Yuji Horii est un personnage fascinant au CV bien rempli et la genèse de la saga est tout aussi passionnante à tel point que j'ai parfois eu du mal à décrocher. - Nixotane, Sens Critique À PROPOS DE L'AUTEUR Daniel Andreyev is an author and journalist of Russian origin. His career in video game journalism began twenty years ago, during the golden years of video gaming, with Player One, Consoles + and Animeland, with a particular interest in Japan. Having spent some time on translation, he is now part of the New Games Journalism movement, which places the player at the heart of the video game experience. He produces the After Hate and Super Ciné Battle podcasts. He also trades memories with his friends in Gaijin Dash, the Gamekult show on Japanese video games. He is a fan of far too many things to list them all here. But when he is not writing, not watching a movie, not reading comics and graphic novels, not climbing mountains or exploring ruined buildings, he might be cooking, exercising or dreaming of one day owning a dog.

A naturalist deals informally with the way in which totally unexpected twists in the evolutionary process bring renewal of hope in the life of our planet.