Martin's seatbelt has just saved his life. While his fiancée lies dead inside the car, Martin staggers up a hillside to summon help. He stumbles on a recently purchased, oddly shaped box that has survived the accident and, acting on impulse, opens it for the first time, revealing an iridescent golden bubble. Tempted by the vision he sees inside, Martin enters a portal that transports him straight into a strange, new world. Soon followed by Tony, Thom, and Aleks, who have all had similar bizarre experiences, Martin and his new friends have no idea they have been gifted with the Touch, an energy field power that everyone lives and breathes in their whimsical new home. Unbeknownst to the four, the Touch has the potential to create great things, but also has the power to destroy. When Martin, Tony, Thom and Aleks realize their new world is in jeopardy, they must not only learn how to use their power wisely, but also control it within themselves. Meanwhile, a Dark One waits in the shadows to annihilate everything. In this engaging fantasy tale, four unlikely heroes must learn to manipulate their new powers in order to stop a war none of them wants to fight-before it is too late.

A priest investigates his murdered sister and the ghosts of an ancient order come back to threaten him and his country.

Jean felt the speed of his horse increase and made a great effort to keep in line with his Templar brothers. The clash of the two armies made a noise similar to a peal of thunder. From then on, there were only shouts, bodies of men and animals falling to the ground, and blood staining the sand, mixed with the noise of the steel weapons clanking on their impact.

This book is a new approach to the Rastafari movement. It connects the ancient history of Nile River Valley civilizations, the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church and its monastic heritage, to the global phenomenon of Rastafari. At the heart of the story, is the legend of the Abba Keddus, the sacred elder who arrives to transform the world and return us to our primordial origins.

An instant New York Times bestseller, from the author of Crusaders, that finally tells the real story of the Knights Templar—“Seldom does one find serious scholarship so easy to read.” (The Times, Book of the Year) A faltering war in the middle east. A band of elite warriors determined to fight to the death to protect Christianity's holiest sites. A global financial network unaccountable to any government. A sinister plot founded on a web of lies... In 1119, a small band of knights seeking a purpose in the violent aftermath of the First Crusade set up a new religious order in Jerusalem, which was now in Christian hands. These were the first Knights Templar, elite warriors who swore vows of poverty and chastity and promised to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Over the next 200 years, the Templars would become the most powerful network of the medieval world, speerheading the crusades, pionerring new forms of finance and warfare and deciding the fate of kings. Then, on October 13, 1307, hundreds of brothers were arrested, imprisoned and tortured and the order was disbanded among lurid accusations of sexual misconduct and heresy. But were they heretics or victims of a ruthlessly repressive state? Dan Jones goes back to the sources to bring their dramatic tale, so relevant to our own times, to life in a book that is at once authoritative and compulsively readable.

This second novel based on the bestselling computer game describes the world of Bhekar Ro as a wasteland. When a violent storm unearths an alien artifact, Bhekar Ro becomes the greatest prize in the Terran Sector. Now, forces from the Zerg, the Portoss, and Humanity converge to claim the lost secrets of the most powerful species the universe has ever known.

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, better known as the Knights Templar or simply the Templars, are the most famous of the Crusading knightly orders. Formed in 1119 to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, this curious hybrid of military unit and monastic brotherhood were the staunchest defenders of the Crusader States of Outremer for nearly two centuries. Knights joining the Templars renounced their worldly possessions and vowed to follow a strict code, which included the command to fight the infidel enemy bravely regardless of the odds. They provided Christian armies with a lethal cutting edge in open battle, launching fanatical charges to break the enemy formations, as well as garrisoning a network of forts as a stubborn bulwark against reconquest. Zvonimir Grbasic outlines their history, narrating many of their greatest victories and defeats in detail (such as Montgisard and the Horns of Hattin), describes their organization and hierarchy, training and daily life. These elite warriors, both the knights and the lowlier ranks, are illustrated with the author's beautiful original paintings and drawings.

Religion.

Shrouded in myth and conspiracy, the history of the Knights Templar is little understood. Geordie Torr pulls fact from fiction, revealing the astonishing tale of this military-religious order that dominated the politics of the medieval Middle East. Initially created to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land in the wake of the First Crusade, the Templars soon became an institution of incredible power, possessing wealth and influence throughout the courts of Europe. Yet just two centuries later they dramatically fell as its members were accused of heresy and burned at the stake. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the wars between Christians and Muslims, this illustrated book brings to life the legacy of this secretive order and the characters who defined the era.

The trial of the Knights Templar is one of the most infamous in history. Accused of heresy by the king of France, the Templars were arrested and imprisoned, had their goods seized and their monasteries ransacked. Under brutal interrogation and torture, many made shocking confessions: denial of Christ, desecration of the Cross, sex acts, and more.This narrative follows the everyday reality of the trial, from the early days of scandal and scheming in 1305, via torture, imprisonment and the dissolution of the order, to 1314, when leaders Jacques de Molay and Geoffroy de Charnay were burned at the stake. Through first-hand testimony and written records of the interrogations of 231 French Templars, this book illuminates the stories of hundreds of ordinary members, some of whom testified at the trial, as well as the many others who denied the charges or retracted their confessions.This is a deeply researched and immersive account that gives a striking vision of the relentless persecution, and the oft-underestimated resistance, of the once-mighty Knights Templar.