Born and raised in nowhere villages, having moved to more of the same, and with a worthless drunk for a master, all Tolan really wants out of life is his own shop and a steady income. Given he's usually left to train himself in Finding magic and do his master's job, that's probably not happening anytime soon. Watching the shop one day while his master is out drinking yet again, Tolan gets an unexpected client: a child barely old enough to walk, screaming that Tolan 'find secret', and who clings to Tolan like he's all that's left in the world. But finding secret proves to be a far greater task than Tolan ever could have guessed and leads him right into the arms of a man, and a life, that he never dared hope to find.

Eighteen years ago, Goss was nearly murdered as a baby—by his own parents, who wanted to sacrifice him to strengthen the Seabolt bloodline's magic. Thankfully, he was rescued by his guardian Shaw, and a Finder, Tolan, who was unwittingly dragged into the mess. Since then, they have raised him to someday reclaim the Seabolt title. But much to his fathers' dismay, Goss has Tolan's temper and Shaw's affinity for trouble, and a terrible incident from three years ago has left him with zero friends, constant harassment, unable to finish his magical training, and the possible loss of the title he's waited so long to reclaim. And while Goss isn't remotely sorry for the choices he made, he desperately wishes that someone, anyone, would look beyond his miserable past, his infamous fathers, and a terrible accident that isn't at all what it seems...

In the new Novel of the Stone Circles by the USA Today bestselling author of Raging Sea, the ancient and wrathful goddess of fire plots her escape as the future depends on the untapped powers of two lovers. Tolan of Durlington is a farmer whose ancestors have tended the same lands for centuries with astonishing success. His hope for the future is that his son—and his sons yet to come—will carry on the traditions. But, his carefully laid plans are shaken by the village healer he’s come to love. Unable to bear children, Elethea can offer Tolan only companionship and physical comfort. When hidden powers in their blood—powers to command the fertile earth, to draw from the healing sun—explode into being, their world and lives are changed forever. Soon, the fate of humankind is in their hands as the wrathful goddess grows closer to escaping her prison and destroying the world as they know it. Battling the goddess’ followers and their own fears, can these two lovers protect mankind and still survive to find their own future?

FINDER TOLANBorn and raised in nowhere villages, having moved to more of the same, and with a worthless drunk for a master, all Tolan really wants out of life is his own shop and a steady income. Given he's usually left to train himself in Finding magic and do his master's job, that's probably not happening anytime soon.Watching the shop one day while his master is out drinking yet again, Tolan gets an unexpected client: a child barely old enough to walk, screaming that Tolan 'find secret', and who clings to Tolan like he's all that's left in the world.But finding secret proves to be a far greater task than Tolan ever could have guessed and leads him right into the arms of a man, and a life, that he never dared hope to find.LORD SEABOLTEighteen years ago, Goss was nearly murdered as a baby-by his own parents, who wanted to sacrifice him to strengthen the Seabolt bloodline's magic. Thankfully, he was rescued by his guardian Shaw, and a Finder, Tolan, who was unwittingly dragged into the mess. Since then, they have raised him as their own and prepared him to take up the Seabolt title.Much to his fathers' dismay, Goss has Tolan's temper and Shaw's affinity for trouble, and a terrible incident from three years ago has left him with zero friends, enduring frequent bullying and harassment, unable to finish his magical training, and the possible loss of the title he's waited so long to reclaim.While Goss isn't remotely sorry for the choices he made, he desperately wishes that someone, anyone, would look beyond his miserable past, his infamous fathers, and a terrible accident that isn't at all what it seems...

The properties of soft-matter thin films (e.g. liquid films, polymer coatings, Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers) nowadays play an important role in materials science. They are also very exciting with respect to fundamental questions: In thin films, liquids and polymers may be considered as trapped in a quasi-two-dimensional geometry. This confined geometry is expected to alter the properties and structures of these materials considerably. This volume is dedicated to the scattering of x-rays by soft-matter interfaces. X-ray scattering under grazing angles is the only tool to investigating these materials on atomic and mesoscopic length scales. A review of the field is presented with many examples.

How do James Bond’s X-ray glasses work, the ones he uses to see whether the lady at the roulette table has a pistol concealed in her underwear? Is it really possible to launch oneself into the air and catch up with a plane that is free-falling towards the earth? Or to shoot down a helicopter with a pistol? In this lively and informative book, Germany's boldest physics professor Metin Tolan analyses the stunts and gadgets of the 007 films and even answers the question of all questions: Why does Bond drink his vodka martini shaken, not stirred? "So much entertaining science is a rare thing." Spiegel Online

"Talisman is a book about a book: It's the book that's never there when you wake up, no matter how hard you try to take it with you. The book you steal when you're too young to understand it's not the only copy in the world. Talisman is about hunger and magic, and the power of stories made solid."--Back cover.