After Aedre overturns the mafia and hides two victims in her master’s temple, she discovers one of them—YuFang—is a mass murderer. But the rain has stopped, and she can’t teleport back to the temple. She lays paralysed in a hospital bed, too far from a magic river. When she finally grabs the chance to teleport in her paraplegic state, a volcano explodes, ten years earlier than the prophesy. She must find that key to lead villagers to a safer future.

In a world devastated by an alien invasion, Maki, a courageous boy with a secret, holds the key to stopping the Chairman's merciless campaign. With his future homeworld destroyed and a new life in a distant solar system, Maki's father urges him to keep the truth hidden. But Maki's determination knows no bounds. Against all odds, Maki infiltrates the secret service's teleportation room, stumbling upon classified information that propels him into the role of the youngest agent in their ranks. His heroic deeds garner praise, but deep down, he faces an agonizing dilemma: he cannot save his world alone. Bound by a promise to his father, Maki finds himself torn between loyalty and the dire fate of an entire population. Will he dare to defy his father's trust and seek the help he desperately needs? Or will he sacrifice everything in a race against time, knowing that the chairman's massacre will unfold once more? Invaders of the Firesnake is a thrilling tale of bravery, sacrifice, and the resilience of a young hero determined to rewrite the course of history. This captivating story is the third instalment in the second edition of the Plan8 Slaves series. It lays the foundation for the colonisation and de-radiation project of a red-sun world which was tragically hit by a nuclear war, forty years before, as told in Rayner's Cyborg Assassin trilogy.

Amidst unwavering determination, Maki comes to a profound realisation—his desires can only be fulfilled through the mastery of metaphysical sorcery and the art of teleportation. Yet burdened with an overwhelming task, he must avert a cataclysmic future alien invasion on his beloved homeworld, halt the merciless massacre of Noirplasts on Planet Artheus, and rescue his aunt and her daughters from the far reaches of Plan8’s interstellar boundaries. But destiny pulls him to a distant city, forcibly severing his ties to the teleportation abilities of his fellow agents. Stripped of his powers, Maki faces a deep sense of helplessness in the face of mounting threats. And the relentless ticking of time only adds to the gravity of his mission. As the Keeper of Keys seeks to close the portals, the Plan8 Alliance hurtles toward interstellar war and chaos. With the imminent closure of the portals, Maki’s chances of attaining his desires dwindle. The fate of Plan8 and the destiny of countless worlds hang in the balance as Maki’s odyssey unfolds. Will he find the strength to traverse the portals of time and space, or will the universe succumb to an eternity of darkness?

On a backwater planet, overflowing with crime and violence, she is their only hope. Aedre always dreamed of living on another world. But the slums of the Firesnake, was not what she had in mind. Amidst the poverty and crime, Aedre finally finds hope in an ancient mystic tradition. A hope that is threatened by a Mafia Godfather, who's becoming obsessed with her. As Aedre's powers grow, she dares to think of revenge, and saving the slaves of the Firesnake, but the risks are high, and so is the price of failure. This Sci-Fi Fantasy series will whisk you away to bizarre worlds, and unexpected realities.

After a daring prison break by STAR terrorists, YuFu and his team of cyborg agents face a critical task: infiltrate their destination, a refuge located on a hostile planet devoid of atmosphere and wracked by extreme temperatures. Yearning for respite from agency life, YuFu feels adrift when his daughters no longer need his guidance. But when a secret service and military operation requires his expertise to infiltrate an enemy stronghold, he can't refuse. Tragedy strikes as they journey through space, leaving YuFu shattered. Yet, as the plot unravels, the survival of humanity becomes his sole responsibility. Amidst enemies, YuFu discovers a vaccine meant for the 'pure', but the danger escalates. He must secure a virus intended to eradicate entire societies across seven worlds. In a treacherous mission on an unforgiving planet, can YuFu prevent genocide and save humanity? This fourth instalment in YuFu's Space Opera Techno-Thriller series promises swift interstellar Sci-Fi action, unexpected twists, and relentless cyborg agents. If you crave an exhilarating space adventure, this is your ticket.

Units of study are rich in folklore, traditions, customs, and ecology. Eight to fifteen lesson plans are included for each of the six cultural areas. Also includes recipes, vocabulary and common words and phrases, descriptions of holidays and events, and a bibliography of resources.

122 fantastic stories from Britain's best crime writers For ten years the Mammoth Best British Crime series has been publishing an annual volume of the most outstanding crime and mystery short fiction published in the UK. Over 400 stories by the very best writers in the field have been published. Contributors have included, among many others, Mark Billingham, Liza Cody, Roger Jon Ellory, Reginald Hill, Peter James, Simon Kernick, Alexander McCall Smith, Val McDermid, John Mortimer, Anne Perry, Ian Rankin, Derek Raymond and Andrew Taylor. On several occasions, stories published in The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime have won some of the most prestigious awards in the field, including the Crime Writers Association Short Story Dagger, The Mystery Writers of America Edgar award and the Anthony award, while countless others have featured on the respective shortlists. This truly bumper collection of over 120 stories, an omnibus edition of Volumes 7, 8 and 9, showcases as ever the impressive breadth of crime writing, from cosy tales of detection to noir mayhem and psychological suspense and terror. There are puzzles to solve, nagging questions about the nature of the society in which we live, but, above all, there is an abundance of first-class entertainment. Over 1600 pages of outstanding crime fiction by: Lin Anderson, Kate Atkinson, Ian Ayris, Ray Banks, Robert Barnard, Colin Bateman, Mark Billingham, Nigel Bird, Tony Black, Stephen Booth, Paul D. Brazill, Simon Brett, Gerard Brennan, Christopher Brookmyre, Alison Bruce, Ken Bruen, Declan Burke, Col Bury, Tom Cain, Ann Cleeves, Liza Cody, Natasha Cooper, Bernie Crosthwaite, Judith Cutler, Colin Dexter, Martin Edwards, Matthew J. Elliott, Kate Ellis, R. J. Ellory, Chris Ewan, Christopher Fowler, Simon R. Green, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Allan Guthrie, Sophie Hannah, John Harvey, Mick Herron, David Hewson, Reginald Hill, Matt Hilton, Kate Horsley, Peter James, Paul Johnston, L. Kennedy, Bill Kirton, John Lawton, Simon Levack, Michael Z. Lewin, Toby Litt, Peter Lovesey, Phil Lovesey, Stuart MacBride, Adrian Magson, Barry Maitland, Alexander McCall Smith, Keith McCarthy, Val McDermid, Brian McGilloway, Denise Mina, Steve Mosby, Edward Marston, Amy Myers, Barbara Nadel, Stuart Neville, Christine Poulson, Ian Rankin, Sarah Rayne, Peter Robinson, Nicholas Royle, Zoë Sharp, Roz Southey, Sally Spedding, Jay Stringer, Andrew Taylor, Marilyn Todd, Peter Turnbull, L. C. Tyler, Simon Kernick, Nick Quantrill, Sheila Quigley, Louise Welsh, Marc Werner and Kevin Wignall.

"In the Beginning when nothing was created yet, God created NUMBER ... " Classical Occultism - i.e. Spiritual Tradition - very often rests on imitation of old usages and forgotten rituals - or on texts and images the inner (i.e. esoteric) content of which is recognized only by Initiates. This most typically applies for old sacred scriptures where cosmic and supracosmic processes are commented on under the veils of ciphers, myths, pseudo-history, and tales about countries or family clans. Creation myths of all cultures throughout space and time most clearly illustrate this fact: They report how a God - or a community of gods - conjure "out of nothing" a Universe along with its physical and spiritual processes that are, usually, consciously perceived again only by Initiates. Modern Science since the century of "Enlightenment" has always tried to supplant such myths by so-called "objective" discoveries and "facts". However, it has become clear, more and more, that those "scientific" views are just another myth - but which remains blind to the essence of things, namely: to what we call Spirit, Light and Life. The popular myth of the "Big Bang" - so typical for noise and aggression in our modern world - is the grossest cankerous outgrowth thereof. The present book brings a Genesis in twelve Theses, in a modern language on the basis of the simplest symbols ever. Its elucidations by P. Martin, occasionally using some neologisms for relations never described before, include the paradigmata of oldest myths, but in the meantime formulate a consequent synthesis of modern Physics and classic spirituality: It also shows where the fundamental Hermetic laws come from; how divine idea-forms grow into material realities; how the Kingdoms of Nature came forth - and the principles of the spiritual Path of Transfiguration leading to the redemption of Humanity. Besides the Aquarius Genesis this book contains two tales in a typical mythic style, making visible the inner Plan of the Universe, along with a scenic dialogue and a classic philosophical treatise: "About the Essence of Being" is a modern theory of ideas which - authored 60 years ago - already achieves to reduce all processes to vibration cycles, and to Energy. Numerous pictures, some of them full-page, and in-depth Notes explaining further the text and images complete this book. An international review comments: "Thus it must be: Old Truths of the Past are being confirmed by the new Truths of today !"