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The Intersolar Commonwealth is in turmoil as the Living Dream’s deadline for launching its Pilgrimage into the Void draws closer. Not only is the Ocisen Empire fleet fast approaching on a mission of genocide, but also an internecine war has broken out bet


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<h3>From</h3><p>Reviewers of <em>The Evolutionary Void</em> cited the factors that usually make Hamilton's fiction great: his ability to juggle several different compelling characters, his speculations about future human development, and his ability to balance hard science and riveting space opera. But they were mainly satisfied to read the conclusion of not just the plot arcs of Hamilton's last two books but also a few he initiated in earlier novels set in the same universe. Of particular note is a clever, impressive finale. "Hamilton creates truly epic science fiction that nods both to classic space opera and contemporary SF," wrote <em>SFX</em>. Suffice it to say that critics loved <em>The Evolutionary Void</em>, but it probably won't make much sense unless you've read the earlier books. </p><h3>From</h3><p>As the story of the Void draws to a close, Hamilton takes up an extraordinary number of threads. Araminta, who has evaded pursuit thus far, comes back from the Silfen paths with a risky plan. Earth, and therefore ANA, is trapped behind a force field. Ilanthe, aims to fuse with the Void and create her own twisted utopia. Gore Burnelli and the Delivery Man seek out the Anomine’s means of transcendence. Edeard, in Inigo’s dreams, finally gets it right, and Querencia is fulfilled. Inigo and Araminta are finally brought together at the Spike. Inigo at last reveals his final dream, of Querencia after Edeard’s ascension. Paula Myo and the Cat finally square off in an epic battle. While Living Dream adherents plan their pilgrimage, others—including the Raiel—plan their flight from this galaxy, and some will fight to the very end. Eventually, the scattered threads join in the Heart of the Void, where the truth about Makkrathan’s origins and the Void itself is revealed. It’s an altogether satisfying conclusion to the epic, and one of Hamilton’s strongest outings yet: a spectacular space opera. --Regina Schroeder </p>


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<p class="description">Oscar Wilde's story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is one of his most popular works. Written in Wilde's characteristically dazzling manner, full of stinging epigrams and shrewd observations, the tale of Dorian Gray's moral disintegration caused something of a scandal when it first appeared in 1890. Wilde was attacked for his decadence and corrupting influence, and a few years later the book and the aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by Wilde's homosexual liaisons, trials that resulted in his imprisonment. Of the book's value as autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be--in other ages, perhaps."</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: Peter Hamilton's space opera saga, which began with the Reality Dysfunction continues in The Neutronium Alchemist. Now the battle lines are clearly drawn, and more than half a dozen plot lines are charging ahead as humanity's galaxy-spanning culture faces a terrifying revelation: souls of the dead are returning from the beyond to possess the living. The living, though competent and brave in the best science fiction tradition, must contend with history's greatest generals and leaders, as well as some unexpected champions. Al Capone, it seems, makes an excellent interstellar emperor. How do you fight an enemy whose every soldier is also a hostage and who, if killed, will simply return to possess someone else? The dilemmas are not just technical, but moral, as people face the first real proof of life after death. This conflict is far broader, though, than a simple apocalyptic battle of good versus evil. Among the possessors are some good souls who fight the risen dead even though it's against their best interest. Conversely, plenty of the living see siding with the dead as an opportunity to further their own interests. Action, wonders, and mystery continue to characterize this high-quality series. --Brooks Peck</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: Faced with an interstellar war in which the only weapon is exorcism, the Confederation dissolves into anarchy. For in a desperate act of triage, a few wealthy worlds prepare to sacrifice the mass of humankind to the risen dead souls from the Beyond. Meanwhile, the Possessed are destroying whole planets as they flee the universe in a transdimensional quest to find Heaven. But there are far worse things than death-or resurrection. And the Possessed are about to discover that chasing paradise is the most horrific, irrevocable mistake they could make...</p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. The VanderMeers (_Best American Fantasy_) ably demonstrate the sheer breadth of the New Weird fantasy subgenre in this powerful anthology of short fiction and critical essays. Highlights include strong fiction by authors such as M. John Harrison, Clive Barker, Kathe Koja and Michael Moorcock whose work pointed the way to such definitive New Weird tales as Jeffrey Ford's At Reparata and K.J. Bishop's The Art of Dying. Lingering somewhere between dark fantasy and supernatural horror, New Weird authors often seek to create unease rather than full-fledged terror. The subgenre's roots in the British New Wave of the 1960s and the Victorian Decadents can lend a self-consciously literary and experimental aura, as illustrated by the laboratory, where more mainstream fantasy and horror authors, including Sarah Monette and Conrad Williams, try their hands at creating New Weird stories. This extremely ambitious anthology will define the New Weird much as Bruce Sterling's landmark <em>Mirrorshades</em> anthology defined cyberpunk. <em>(Mar.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>The title of this collection of stories, essays, and online discussion threads refers to a subgenre of modern horror that has roots in New Wave literature and the off-kilter fantasy spawned by Weird Tales. In contrast to the eerie nostalgia of Bradbury or the haunting supernaturalism of Lovecraft, the New Weird more often leans toward grotesque urban noir and cross-genre experimentation. The contributors here constitute a multitalented lineup ranging from such veterans as Clive Barker and Michael Moorcock to rising stars, such as Jay Lake and Alistair Rennie. Kathe Koje’s “The Neglected Garden” follows the transformation of a spurned lover who takes revenge by crucifying herself on her ex’s wire fence. China Miévelle, whose celebrated Perdido Street Station (2000) epitomizes the subcategory’s visceral blend of fantasy and realism, contributes a gritty tale about the veneration and inevitable capture of an outlaw cyborg. In the anthology’s final section, an experimental collaboration between seven authors embellishing a plot hatched by Paul DiFillipo exemplifies the New Weird’s propensity for pushing the boundaries of literary invention. --Carl Hays </p> </div>


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SUMMARY: Life sucks, then you die. Period. Unless you're James Stark, a hitman in Hell for eleven years before escaping back up to Hell-on-earth L.A.—looking for revenge, absolution . . . love, maybe. But Hell's not through with Stark.Heaven's not either.


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>From David Weber to David Feintuch to David Drake, military writers have exploded onto the science fiction scene and continue to leave their mark. Now, bestselling Hammer's Slammers creator David Drake pays homage to his own sub-genre by gathering 10 classic tales of men at arms by SF greats, including Hary Harrison, Joe Haldeman, Richard C. Matheson, Gene Wolfe, Keith Laumer, and David Drake himself. </p><p>A stronghold of bestselling authors </p><p>Contributors to this collection include such notable authors as Hugo and Nebula Award-winner Joe Haldeman, Harry Harrison, Richard C. Matheson, and many more. </p>


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A dazzling fantasy adventure for all ages. The Abarat; a magical otherworld composed on an archipelago of twenty-five islands - one for each hour of the day, plus an island out of time. Candy Quackenbush, escaping her dull, dull life from the most boring place in our world, Chickentown, USA, finds that in the Abarat she has another existence entirely, one which links her to marvels and mysteries-and even to murder... In this, the second volume in Clive Barker's extraordinary fantasy for both adults and children, Candy's adventures in the amazing world of the Abarat are getting more strange by the Hour. Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight, has sent his henchmen to capture her. Why? she wonders. What would Carrion want with a girl from Minnesota? And why is Candy beginning to feel that the world of the Abarat is familiar to her? Why can she speak words of magic she doesn't even remember learning? There is a mystery here. And Carrion, along with his fiendish grandmother, Mater Motley, suspects that whatever Candy is, she could spoil his plans to take control of the Abarat. Now Candy's companions must race against time to save her from the clutches of Carrion, and she must solve the mystery of her past before the forces of Night and Day clash and Absolute Midnight descends upon the islands. A final war is about to begin. And Candy is going to need to make some choices that will change her life forever...


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SUMMARY: Six horror stories include "The Book of Blood," "The Midnight Meat Train," "The Yattering and Jack," "Pig Blood Blues," "Sex, Death, and Starshine," and "In the Hills, the Cities." Reprint.


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SUMMARY: Five stories of horror and intrigue include, "Dread," "Hell's Event," "Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament," "The Skins of the Fathers," and "New Murders in the Rue Morgue." Reprint.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: Five stories of otherworldly murder and terror include, ""Son of Celluloid,"" ""Rawhead Rex,"" ""Confessions of a Pornographer's Shroud,"" ""Scape-Goats,"" and ""Human Remains."" Reprint.


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The Books of Blood combined the ordinary with the extraordinary while radiating the eroticism that has become Barker's signature. Weaving tales of the everyday world transformed into an unrecognizable place, where reason no longer exists and logic ceases to explain the workings of the universe, Clive Barker proves himself once again a master of the genre. From an ancient Roman statue that steals the soul in order to survive, to an old theatre where evil makes longdead movies stars come back to life to fulfill its own deadly purpose, to Rawhide Rex, whose monstrous power brings death to those he catches and insanity to those who escape, The Books Of Blood resonates with a bone-chilling terror that is not for the faint heart. Never one to shy away from the unimaginable or the unspeakable, Clive Barker breathes life into our deepest, darkest nightmares, creating visions that are at once terrifying, tender, and witty. The Books of Blood confirmes what horror fans everywhere have discovered: We will be hearing from Clive Barker for many years to come.


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Comprised of a novel and four long stories, this volume is classic Barker, full of lurid, bloody imagery and action involving large-than-life characters. It's great fun and provides plenty of thrills or giggles, depending on how seriously you take it. In the novel, Cabal , Boone, a recovering psychotic, is cleverly manipulated by his psychiatrist, Decker, into believing that he has committed several savage murders. Decker, of course, is the villain, but Boone does not catch on. Considering himself unfit for human society, Boone flees, eventually to come upon Midian, a large crypt inhabited by the Nightbreed, dead souls in shape-changing bodies, neither good nor evil, who turn Boone into one of their own. Of the shorter works, the best written is "The Life of Death," about a woman who becomes enthralled by death and is transformed into a kind of Typhoid Mary. Another, "The Last Illusion," which concerns the fate of a magician's corpse, is full of intriguing moments. First serial to Penthouse; Doubleday Book Club main selection; Literary Guild featured alternate.


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First time in print! Clive Barker's dark vision follows the last days of a genetically altered and homicidally ecstatic sexual compulsive.


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SUMMARY: Film's most popular action hero needs a place to heal after his surgery has gone terribly wrong. His fiercely loyal agent finds him just such a place in a luxurious forgotten mansion high in the Hollywood Hills. But the original owner of the mansion was a beautiful woman devoted to pleasure at any cost, and the terrible legacy of her deeds has not yet died. There are ghosts and monsters haunting Coldheart Canyon, where nothing is forbidden . . . Clive Barker's Coldheart Canyon showcases the boldly innovative New York Times bestselling master at the very top of his formidable and frightening skills. Clive Barker is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty books for adults and children. He is also a widely acclaimed artist, film producer, screenwriter, and director. He lives in Beverly Hills, California.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: Rich and powerful, the Geary dynasty has reigned over American society for decades. But it is a family with dark, terrible secrets. For the Gearys are a family at war. And their adversaries are the Barbarossas, a clan whose timeless origins lie in myth, whose mystical influence is felt in the intense, sensual exchanges of flesh and soul. Now, their battle is about to escalate... When Galilee, prodigal prince of the Barbarossa clan, meets Rachel, young bride of the Gearys' own scion Mitchell, they fall in love, consumed by a passion that unleashes long-simmering hatreds. Old insanities arise, old adulteries are uncovered, and a seemingly invincible family will begin to wither, exposing its unholy roots...


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SUMMARY: The magical tale of ill-fated lovers lost among worlds teetering on the edge of destruction, where their passion holds the key to escape. There has never been a book like Imajica. Transforming every expectation offantasy fiction with its heady mingling of radical sexuality and spiritual anarchy, it has carried its millions of readers into regions of passion and philosophy that few books have even attempted to map. It's an epic in every way; vast in conception, obsessively detailed in execution, and apocalyptic in its resolution. A book of erotic mysteries and perverse violence. A book of ancient, mythological landscapes and even more ancient magic.


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SUMMARY: The long-awaited return of the great master of horror. Mister B. Gone is Barker's shockingly bone-chilling discovery of a never-before-published demonic āmemoirā penned in the year 1438, when it was printed ā one copy only ā and then buried until now by an assistant who worked for the inventor of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg.This bone-chilling novel, in which a medieval devil speaks directly to his readerāhis tone murderous one moment, seductive the nextāis a never-before-published memoir allegedly penned in the year 1438.The demon has embedded himself in the very words of this tale of terror, turning the book itself into a dangerous object, laced with menace only too ready to break free and exert its power.A brilliant and truly unsettling tour de force of the supernatural, Mister B. Gone escorts the reader on an intimate and revelatory journey to uncover the shocking truth of the battle between Good and Evil.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: *Sacrament* is a novel unlike any that Clive Barker has written. Neither horror nor fantasy, though partaking of both, this masterful work plunges far deeper and soars even higher. It is the story of Will Rabjohns, perhaps the most famous wildlife photographer in the world, who has made his reputation chronicling the fates of endangered species, including his own. For even as Will rises to the pinnacle of his career, he is witnessing his own world the close-knit San Francisco community that has nurtured and liberated him ravaged by AIDS. Then an almost mystical encounter with a bear in the Arctic leaves Will all but dead. In the depths of his coma, he revisits the wildernesses of his youth in England and relives the terrifying encounter that created him, both as an artist and a man. Befriended by a mysterious couple, Rosa McGee and Jacob Steep, the young Will is granted the love he has been denied by his own family. But with that love comes a grim education. For while Rosa shows him the cruelties of passion, Jacob teaches him the purities of death seducing him with the possibility that he might one day slaughter the last of a species and thus change the world forever. When Will stirs from his long sleep, he realizes that this dark dream, which he thought he had put behind him is still very much a part of who he is. Haunted by its echoes and driven by the certainty that he must face Rosa and Jacob one final time, he sets out on a journey of self-discovery a journey that will lead him from the familiar streets of San Francisco, back to the Yorkshire moors and on to the stark beauty of Scotland's Western Isles. There he will penetrate the ultimate mystery *The Domus Mundi* and finally discover the secret that links his destiny to that of the innumerable creatures with whom we share our planet. *Sacrament* is the book Clive Barker's millions of readers knew he had to write someday: the troubling and passionate masterwork from the pen of one of today's most acclaimed authors.


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SUMMARY: In the little town of Palomo Grove, two great armies are amassing; forces shaped from the hearts and souls of America. In this New York Times bestseller, Barker unveils one of the most ambitious imaginative landscapes in modern fiction, creating a new vocabulary for the age-old battle between good and evil. Carrying its readers from the first stirring of consciousness to a vision of the end of the world, The Great and Secret Show is a breathtaking journey in the company of a master storyteller.


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SUMMARY: On the borderland between this world and the world of Quiddity, the sea of our dreams, sits Everville.For years it has lived in ignorance of the gleaming shore on which it lies.But its ignorance is not bliss. Opening the door between worlds, Clive Barker delivers his characters into the heart of the human mystery; into a place of revelation, where the forces which have shaped our past—and are ready to destroy our future—are at work.


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SUMMARY: In a nightworld where decomposing corpse-assassins stalk their prey, Marty Strauss, the bodyguard to a famous industrialist, discovers that someone is coming to collect the soul of his employer as payment for an ancient debt. Reissue,


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SUMMARY: Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for a thousand years, welcoming countless children into its embrace. It is a place of miracles, a blissful rounds of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied...There is a price to be paid, of course, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by Mr. Hood's wonders, does not stop to consider the consequences. It is only when the House shows it's darker face -- when Harvey discovers the pitiful creatures that dwell in its shadows -- that he comes to doubt Mr. Hood's philanthropy.The House and its mysterious architect are not about to release their captive without a battle, however. Mr. Hood has ambitious for his new guest, for Harvey's soul burns brighter than any soul he has encountered in a thousand years...


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SUMMARY: Clive Barker has made his mark on modern fiction by exposing all that is surreal and magical in the ordinary world --- and exploring the profound and overwhelming terror that results. With its volatile mix of the fantastical and the contemporary, the everyday and the otherworldly, Weaveworld is an epic work of dark fantasy and horror -- a tour de force from one of today's most forceful and imaginative artists.


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SUMMARY: A journey beyond imagination is about to unfold. . . . It begins in the most boring place in the world: Chickentown, U.S.A. There lives Candy Quackenbush, her heart bursting for some clue as to what her future might hold. When the answer comes, it's not one she expects. Welcome to the Abarat.


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Some doors are better left closed... In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it's been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever. A young American woman, Apryl, arrives at Barrington House. She's been left an apartment by her mysterious Great Aunt Lillian who died in strange circumstances. Rumours claim Lillian was mad. But her diary suggests she was implicated in a horrific and inexplicable event decades ago. Determined to learn something of this eccentric woman, Apryl begins to unravel the hidden story of Barrington House. She discovers that a transforming, evil force still inhabits the building. And the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something altogether more terrifying...


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A hair-raising tribute to the classic British ghost story. Few believed Professor Coldwell was in touch with an unseen world and could commune with spirits. But in Scotland’s oldest university town something has passed from darkness into light, and now the students are being haunted by night terrors. And those who are visited mysteriously disappear. This is no place for outsiders, especially at night, so what chance do a rootless musician and burnt-out explorer have of surviving their entanglement with an ageless supernatural evil and the ruthless cult that worships it? This chilling occult thriller is both a homage to the great age of British ghost stories and a fast-paced modern tale of diabolism and witchcraft.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Huxley looks backward and forward in this brilliant extended essay published a quarter of a century after his controversial, dark visionary novel. Analyzing America at mid-century against the tomorrow of the BRAVE NEW WORLD, Huxley finds some answers and</p>


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Logan Gyre is king of Cenaria, a country under siege, with a threadbare army and little hope.  He has one chance - a desperate gamble, but one that could destroy his kingdom.



In the north, the new Godking has a plan.  If it comes to fruition, no one will have the power to stop him. 



Kylar Stern has no choice. To save his friends-and perhaps his enemies-he must accomplish the impossible: assassinate a goddess. 

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Beyond the Shadows* is the action-packed conclusion to the Night Angel Trilogy.


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Gavin Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. But Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: Five years to achieve five impossible goals. But when Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.


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You?re the wetboy.? The man cursed. He was sweating, his broad face pasty. His bushy black beard quivered as he trembled. ?Tell me,? Kylar said. ?The Shinga said he pissed off some Cenarian wetboy. We were supposed to kill you if you came here.? ?Where is he?? ?If I tell you, will you let me live?? Kylar looked into the man?s eyes, and curiously didn?t feel or imagine?or whatever it had been the other times?the darkness that demanded death. ?Yes,? he said, though the killing rage was still on him. The man told him of a hideout, another trap, an underground room with only one entrance, and another ten guards. With teeth gritted against the white-cold fury, Kylar said, ?Tell them the Night Angel walks. Tell them Justice is come.?


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EDITORIAL REVIEW:

For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city's most accomplished artist.  



For Azoth, survival is precarious.  Something you never take for granted.  As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks.  Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.



But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name.  As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.


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Fifty-six hard years after the events of The Machine Crusade, after the death of Serena Butler, the bloodiest decades of the Jihad take place. The human worlds begin to hope that the end of the centuries-long conflict with the thinking machines is finally in sight. Unfortunately, Omnius has one last, deadly card to play. In a last-ditch effort to destroy humankind, virulent plagues are let loose throughout the galaxy, decimating the populations of whole planets. The war that has lasted many lifetimes will be decided in the apocalyptic Battle of Corrin. In the greatest battle of science fiction history, human and machine face off one last time, and on the desert planet of Arrakis, the legendary Fremen of Dune become the feared fighting force to be discovered by Paul Maud'Dib in Frank Herbert's classic, Dune.


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The sands of time have not diminished the impact Dune has had on the evolution of SF, and this new prequel by Frank Herbert's son and bestseller Anderson, following 2001's Dune: House Corrino (the concluding volume of their "House" trilogy), offers the kind of intricate plotting and philosophical musings that would make the elder Herbert proud. Reaching back into the beginnings of Arrakis, the authors show us Selim, a boy cast out by his tribe who discovers how to ride the fearsome giant sandworms. Selim tastes and learns the visionary power of the magical spice, melange, and how the future of Arrakis hinges on who controls it. At the same time, on planets far removed from the desolate dunes of Arrakis, others are involved in a Great Revolt. Free League World humans, led by Tercero Xavier Harkonnen and Serena Butler of Salusa Secundus, battle Omnius, a computer "evermind" intent on extending its dominion. The ominous Omnius seeks to conquer all planets not yet incorporated into his Synchronized Worlds system with the help of servile robotic extensions and colleagues, including Erasmus, a Thinking Machine "Hannibal Lecter" whose whimsical Mr. Spock-ish meditations enliven the proceedings immeasurably. Throughout, key revelations regarding the Zensunni Wanderers and their fight for freedom and other historical Dune elements lend an air of discovery to this fast-paced tale.<br />Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Ten thousand years before the fall of the Imperial House Corrino, two grand interplanetary organizations ruled the known universe: the Synchronized Worlds, presided over by thinking machines led by the evermind called Omnius, and the League of Nobles, beleaguered survivors of the machines' revolt against the Old Empire. In this era, a few individuals determined to overturn the rule of the machines sought every opportunity to gain insights into ways to defeat the human race's most intractable enemy. Herbert and Anderson (Dune: House Atreides; Dune: House Harkonnen; Dune: House Corrino) continue their prehistory of Frank Herbert's "Dune" series with a new trilogy opener set in the distant past of Herbert's galactic saga. The authors reveal the origins of the Spacing Guild and the Bene Gesserit, as well as the root of the ancient feud between Houses Atreides and Harkonnen. This compelling saga of men and women struggling for their freedom is required reading for Dune fans and an essential purchase for libraries. <br />Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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THE EPIC PREQUEL TO DUNE"DUNE: HOUSE ATREIDES is a terrific prequel, but it is also a first-rate adventure on its own. Frank Herbert would surely be delighted and proud of this continuation of his vision."—Dean KoontzFrank Herbert's Dune chronicles became an enduring classic and the most popular science fiction series of all time. Working from recently discovered files left by his father, Brian Herbert and best-selling novelist Kevin J. Anderson bring us Dune: House Atreides, the prequel, which captures all the complexity and grand themes of the original work while weaving a new tapestry of great passion and momentous destiny into a saga that expands the tale written by Frank Herbert more than thirty years ago. Complex, brilliant, and prophetic, Frank Herbert's award-winning Dune chronicles captured the imaginations of millions of readers worldwide—and transformed their perception of what the future could be. By his death in 1986, Frank Herbert had completed six novels in the Dune series. But much of his vision—vast, sprawling, and multilayered—remained unwritten. Now, working from recently discovered files left by his father, Brian Herbert and bestselling novelist Kevin J. Anderson collaborate on a new novel, the first volume in the prequel to Dune—where we step onto planet Arrakis...decades before Dune's hero, Paul Atreides, walks its sands. —Beginning nearly four decades before Dune, House Atreides introduces pivotal characters, alliances, base treacheries, and bright hopes that form the foundation of Dune. On the planet Arrakis, an aging tyrant sits on the Golden Lion Throne and rules all of the known universe, while his son grows dangerously impatient for the crown. A quasi-religious order of black-robed women move their secret breeding program one momentous step closer to creating a god-child they call the Kwisatz Haderach. And a minor family among the nobility, House Atreides, chooses a course of honor that will bring it to destruction at the hands of its mortal enemy, House Harkonnen—or take it to new heights of power.Here is the rich and complex world that Frank Herbert created in his classic series, in the time leading up to the momentous events of Dune. As Emperor Elrood's son Shaddam plots a subtle regicide, young Leto Atreides leaves his lush, water-rich planet for a year's education on the mechanized world of Ix; a planetologist named Pardot Kynes is dispatched by the Emperor to the desert planet Arrakis, or Dune, to discover the secrets of the addictive spice known as melange; and the eight-year-old slave Duncan Idaho is hunted by his cruel masters in a terrifying game from which he vows escape and vengeance. But none can envision the fate in store for them: one that will make them renegades—and shapers of history. Covering the decade when Shaddam wins his throne, the teenager Leo Atreides becomes unexpectedly the rule of House Atreides, and Pardot Kynes uncovers one of the planet Dune's greatest secrets, House Atreides stands next to Dune in its power and scope. While this new novel solves some of Dune's most baffling mysteries, it presents new puzzles springing from the sands where one day Paul Muad'Dib Atreides will walk. But now, in the years before Paul's birth, an unforgettable new epic begins. Fans of the Dune chronicles will relish the opportunity to return to the rich and exotic universe created by Frank Herbert, while new readers will be introduced to an incomparable imagination—a future where the fate of the entire cosmos is at stake. The Story Behind Dune: House Atreidesby Brian HerbertWhen my father first sat down with me to go over one of my manuscripts, he told me that he couldn't teach me how to write; instead, he would teach me what he called "the care and feeding of editors": how to make manuscripts look presentable so that they wouldn't be tossed into a slush pile, unread. He then proceeded to teach me how to write. I remember many instances when we would brainstorm ideas and dissect my own novel manuscripts. He taught me how to develop worlds, to create characters, to invent action...and to describe all of it. We collaborated on the novel Man of Two Worlds, Frank Herbert's last published work, and even talked about working together on a new Dune novel, but we'd set no date, had established no specific details or direction.That novel was not to be. When my father died in 1986, he left several projects unfinished. For years there were rumors that I would write another novel set in my father's Dune universe, a sequel to the sixth book in the series, Chapterhouse: Dune. Prominent writers approached me with offers of collaboration, but in tossing ideas around with them I couldn't visualize the project coming to fruition. They were excellent writers, but in combination with them I didn't feel the necessary synergy for such a monumental task. Along with Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and a handful of other works, Dune stood as one of the greatest creative achievements of all time, and arguably the greatest example of science fiction world-building in the history of literature. For the sake of my father's legacy, I could not select the wrong person.It wasn't until I began conversation with Kevin J. Anderson, a critically acclaimed and internationally best-selling author, that I found someone whose enthusiasm and passion for the Dune universe match my own. Much of Kevin's writing had been influenced heavily by the work of Frank Herbert. I read everything I could get my hands on that Kevin had written, and did more checking on him. It soon became clear that he was a brilliant writer and that his reputation was sterling. We hit it off immediately, both on a personal and professional level; new story ideas fairly exploded from our minds and together, we found the energy to tackle such a massive project.Frank Herbert had left behind literally thousands of pages of notes, ideas, and sketches. Of all the possible Dune stories we could tell, Kevin and I chose to concentrate on an immediate prequel, to go back to the heart of Dune's readership, the core characters and situations that had made this the best-selling science fiction novel of all time: The love story of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica; their first battle with Baron Harkonnen; the quest of the planetologist Kynes, sent to the desert world of Dune to investigate the precious spice and the sandworms and the Fremen...and the power-hungry Crown Prince Shaddam, who would do anything to secure the Imperial throne.The Dune universe is a vast canvas, with ample opportunity for many stories, but we have chosen to start here, featuring the characters with whom all Dune fans are familiar. Dune: House Atreides is a personal story that means a great deal to us; we hope booksellers and readers alike will feel the same way. Signed,Brian Herbert


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The sequel to Dune: House Atreides and Dune: House Harkonnen chronicles the origins of the rivalry between Duke Leto and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the actions that transformed Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck into heroes, the birth of Paul Atreides, and the creation of the tyrannical Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino. Reprint.


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Duke Leto Atreides is now the skilful and much-loved ruler of Caladan, served by loyal Duncan Idaho. To his court come Gurney Halleck, despised slave of the Harkonnens - and Jessica, the exquisite, perfectly trained concubine chosen by the Reverend Mothers of the Bene Gesserit to be the mother of Leto's daughter. Meanwhile, on Dune - planet Arrakis - House Harkonnen ruthlessly harvests the precious, mind-enhancing drug called spice. And Baron Vladimir is slowly being consumed by a loathesome disease. Rabban Harkonnen - House Atreides' most implacable enemy - prepares to take over his uncle's empire.


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The breathtaking vision and incomparable storytelling of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, a prequel to Frank Herbert's classic Dune, propelled it to the ranks of speculative fiction's classics in its own right. Now, with all the color, scope, and fascination of the prior novel, comes Dune: The Machine Crusade.. More than two decades have passed since the events chronicled in The Butlerian Jihad. The crusade against thinking robots has ground on for years, but the forces led by Serena Butler and Irbis Ginjo have made only slight gains; the human worlds grow weary of war, of the bloody, inconclusive swing from victory to defeat. The fearsome cymeks, led by Agamemnon, hatch new plots to regain their lost power from Omnius--as their numbers dwindle and time begins to run out. The fighters of Ginaz, led by Jool Noret, forge themselves into an elite warrior class, a weapon against the machine-dominated worlds. Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva are on the verge of the most important discovery in human history-a way to "fold" space and travel instantaneously to any place in the galaxy. And on the faraway, nearly worthless planet of Arrakis, Selim Wormrider and his band of outlaws take the first steps to making themselves the feared fighters who will change the course of history: the Fremen.Here is the unrivaled imaginative power that has put Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson on bestseller lists everywhere and earned them the high regard of readers around the globe. The fantastic saga of Dune continues in Dune: The Machine Crusade.


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. This epic science fiction tale fills in the time gap between Frank Herberts <em>Dune</em> and <em>Dune Messiah</em>. Told by modern-day sci-fi legends Anderson and Brian Herbert (Franks son), this story packs all the punch that the originals did and then some. Relating the life of Paul MuadDib, leader of Dune at the climax of the original novel, this novel explores the events of the MuadDib jihad that subsequently led to Pauls conquering the galaxy. Scott Brick delivers a powerful and entertaining reading reminiscent of a theatrical performance in a brilliant one-man show. Bricks voice is ideally suited to this extraordinary tale; no doubt he studied the prose of each novel to capture the dialect perfectly. This is a superb, solid reading that will appeal to fans and newcomers alike. <em>A Tor Books hardcover. (Sept.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Starred Review. Paul Muad'Dib and his army of Fremen desert warriors have succeeded in their overthrow of the Emperor Shaddam IV, but holding onto a universe of fractious planets proves a challenge even for a man revered by his followers as a god. Set in the years following the late Frank Herbert's classic <em>Dune</em> and its sequel, <em>Dune Messiah</em>, the latest joint effort by Herbert's son Brian and noted sf author Anderson fills in the missing years of empire building and looks into the formative years of Paul's childhood as well as the histories of those closest to him. Drawing on Frank Herbert's massive body of notes, the coauthors of the new Dune series (_Dune: The Battle of Corrin_; <em>The Road to Dune; Hunters of Dune</em>) continue their expansion and illumination of the unexplored pieces of one of the genre's most significant and powerful stories. A priority purchase for libraries of all sizes. Highly recommended. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Set immediately after Frank Herbert's <em>Dune Messiah</em> (1969), this satisfying tale from Herbert's son and Anderson (_Paul of Dune_) follows Jessica, the mother of galactic emperor Paul Atreides, as she returns to the desert planet Dune for her son's funeral. Paul's suicide after his mistress's childbed death leaves his sister, the insane and brutal Alia, as regent for his twin children. Alia releases Princess Irulan, Paul's wife and biographer, from house arrest on the condition that she present Paul as a god, even as Bronso of Ix circulates contrasting writings focusing on Paul's humanity. Alia, Jessica, Bronso and Irulan can describe aspects of Paul, but no single narrative can capture him. Fans of the original Dune series will love seeing familiar characters, and the narrative voice smoothly evokes the elder Herbert's style. <em>(Aug.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>Praise for <em>The Winds of Dune</em>:  </p><p>"Fill[s] in the gaps between the late Frank Herbert's classic <em>Dune</em> and its sequels <em>_</em>Dune Messiah_ and <em>Children of Dune. . . .  </em>This sequel to <em>_</em>Paul of Dune_ is an important addition to the Dune chronology and will be in demand by Herbert fans.”<br />--_Library Journal_ (starred review)  </p><p>"Delivers solid action and will certainly satisfy."<br />_--Booklist<br />_<br />“This satisfying tale from Herbert’s son and Anderson follows Jessica, the mother of galactic emperor Paul Atreides. . . .  Fans of the original Dune series will love seeing familiar characters, and the narrative voice smoothly evokes the elder Herbert’s style.”<br />--Publishers Weekly  </p><p>"Unquestionably, Herbert &amp; Anderson can spin a great yarn; while technically producing a vivid, mystifying universe, filled with characters that are both endearing, and loathsome. I recommend this one highly, but be warned, if this is the first Dune book you are reading, get ready to hit the bookstore, because I promise you, it will not be the last!"<br />_--BookSpotCentral  </p><p><em>"</em><em>_The Winds of Dune</em> is filled with the same psychological complexities that were a hallmark of Frank Herbert’s books. It twists and turns on matters of trust, loyalty and the meaning of honor. Familiar characters are brought back to life with poignant clarity and the suspense and tension never let up. Even knowing what comes next in <em>_</em>Children of Dune, _I was hooked by this tale and enjoyed it immensely. It is a worthy addition to the <em>_</em>Dune_ saga."<br />_--IN Denver Times  </p><p><em>Praise for the bestselling novel, </em>Paul of Dune:  </p><p>_“This vital link between the first two books of the Dune saga begins immediately after the close of <em>Dune. . . .  </em>This is good reading. . . .  Standing well enough on its own for Dune novices, it goes without saying that it’s must reading for established fans.”<br />--_Booklist  </p><p>_“Drawing on Frank Herbert’s massive body of notes, the coauthors of the new Dune series continue their expansion and illumination of the unexplored pieces of one of the genre’s most significant and powerful stories. A priority purchase for libraries of all sizes. Highly recommended.”<br /><em>--Library Journal</em> (starred review)</p><p>Praise for <em>Dune</em>, the timeless classic that began the epic story:  </p><p>“One of the monuments of modern science fiction.”<br />--_The Chicago Tribune__  </p><p>_“I know nothing comparable to it except <em>The Lord of the Rings</em>.”<br />--Sir Arthur C. Clarke_  </p><p>_“A portrayal of an alien society more complete and deeply detailed than any other author in the field has managed . . . a story absorbing equally for its action and philosophical vistas. . . . An astonishing science fiction phenomenon.”<br />--_The Washington Post__  </p><p>_“Powerful, convincing, and most ingenious.”<br />--Robert A. Heinlein_  </p><p>_“Herbert’s creation of this universe, with its intricate development and analysis of ecology, religion, politics, and philosophy, remains one of the supreme and seminal achievements in science fiction.”<br />--_Louisville__ Times_</p>


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A fantastical reimagining of the American West which draws its influence from steampunk, the American western tradition, and magical realismThe world is only half made. What exists has been carved out amidst a war between two rival factions: the Line, paving the world with industry and claiming its residents as slaves; and the Gun, a cult of terror and violence that cripples the population with fear. The only hope at stopping them has seemingly disappeared—the Red Republic that once battled the Gun and the Line, and almost won. Now they’re just a myth, a bedtime story parents tell their children, of hope. To the west lies a vast, uncharted world, inhabited only by the legends of the immortal and powerful Hill People, who live at one with the earth and its elements. Liv Alverhyusen, a doctor of the new science of psychology, travels to the edge of themade world to a spiritually protected mental institution in order to study the minds of those broken by the Gun and the Line. In its rooms lies an old general of the Red Republic, a man whose shattered mind just may hold the secret to stopping the Gun and the Line. And either side will do anything to understand how.


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Hugo Award-winning editor Gardner Dozois_ annual anthology has long been considered the standard by which other best-of-the-year SF collections are judged. After two decades_ worth of superlative science fiction, Dozois now presents a retrospective compilation culling from the last 20 years.Here under one banner is some of the finest work by the genre's leading authors, with a star-studded list of contributors that features among others: Stephen Baxter, Greg Bear, William Gibson, Terry Bisson, Greg Egan, Ursula K. Le Guin, Robert Reed, Robert Silverberg, Bruce Sterling , Charles Stross, Michael Swanwick, Gene Wolfe.A number of the selections are now considered classics. Some notable stories include:_Blood Music_, Greg Bear's Hugo-winning exploration of nanotechnology._Bears Discover Fire_, Terry Bisson's tongue-in-cheek consideration of future ursine evolution._The Left Hand of Darkness_, Ursula K. Le Guin_s coming-of-age SF tale._The Winter Market_, in which William Gibson returns to the subject that made him a cultural icon, cyberpunk.With work spanning two decades, this is the most significant science fiction short story anthology published in years.


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. In this tour de force from bestseller Straub (_In the Night Room_), four high school friends in 1966 Madison, Wis.—Hootie Bly, Dilly Olson, Jason Boatman, and Lee Truax—fall under the spell of charismatic wandering guru Spencer Mallon. During an occult ceremony in which Mallon attempts to break through to a higher reality, something goes horribly awry leaving one participant dead. Decades later, Lee's writer husband interviews the quartet to find out what happened. In Roshomon-like fashion, each relates a slightly different account of the trauma they experienced. Straub masterfully shows how the disappointments, downturns, and failed promise of the four friends' lives may have stemmed from this youthful experience, and suggests, by extension, that the malignant evil they helped unleash into the world has tainted all hope ever since. Brilliant in its orchestration and provocative in its speculations, this novel ranks as one of the finest tales of modern horror. <em>(Feb.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Six book critics venture into a new novel by a best-selling horror writer. The writer is said to have magical abilities to blend horror conventions with literary fiction to keep the pages turning. He is even said to have touched Stephen King! Four of the critics come away convinced that a transcendent supernatural event has occurred, which may have something to do with the nature of evil. But two are horribly scarred by the event--unbearably bored, convinced they have just read a rejected script from Lost. Whose version of events is true? We may never know. All critics agree on is that the only possible way to describe such a plot structure is to reference Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon--so readers may just have to investigate for themselves. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Straub's recent series of books, while excellent, have been dense and rather cerebral as horror books go. This one, while employing many of the same devices about family secrets and mysteries half-buried in the past, has an action storyline with a viscerally satisfying villain and a strong female protagonist. The premise is that the history of a famous fantasy novel not only concerns some eccentric authors, but collides with a wily killer on a rampage. The settings--in seedy motel rooms, New England houses, a bizarre private club and an over-the-hill literary retreat--are especially fun. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Continuing his shift away from occult horror toward terrors inspired by the ragged social fabric of American life, Straub (The Throat) turns in another violent yet richly nuanced thriller. As in much of his work (Mystery; Koko), the past impinges on the present through secrets kept, then revealed. Here, the secrets are both familial and literary. Four women in upscale Westerholm, Conn., have disappeared from blood-spattered bedrooms. Meanwhile, Westerholm resident Nora Chancel, who's newly menopausal, broods about a stalking wolf while her husband, publisher Davey Chancel, a decade her junior, obsesses about the novel trilogy (begun in 1939) written by Chancel House's most popular writer, Hugo Driver. When yet another woman disappears, Nora learns that Davey once had an affair with her. Then the woman shows up, only to accuse Nora of kidnapping and torturing her, leading to Nora's arrest. But also at the police station is Dick Dart, scion of an old local family, who is being questioned about the killings. Dart steals a cop's gun, grabs Nora as his hostage and, he believes, potential future accomplice?and the woman's real agony begins. Dart, a serial killer who has always loved "cutting things up. Loved it," rapes Nora and takes her on a grisly spree of terror. In time, Nora manages to escape, but in a surprising yet, with hindsight, seemingly inevitable turn of events, she again finds herself in mortal danger. Dart is a memorable villain, funny, bold and charming (and as difficult to kill as Rasputin). Nora proves his equal, however, gutsy and clever, and as the two clash, the secrets that Straub intimates early on reveal themselves. These secrets manifest neither easily nor predictably, however, for, as is said of characters in a Driver novel, Straub's own characters are "colorful and involved, full of danger, heroism and betrayal"?as is this supple, exciting book. Major ad/promo. <br />Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. In <em>Black House</em>, Straub and Stephen King wrote of "slippage," whereby the borders between reality and fantasy blur. This entire brilliant novel is an act of slippage. In this sequel to last year's <em>lost boy lost girl</em>, and further chapter in the ongoing adventures of Straub protagonist Tim Underhill (_Koko_, etc.), the most intellectually adventurous of dark fantasy authors takes the apparent slippage of the prequel—in which Underhill's experience of a slain nephew's survival at the hands of a serial killer was indicated to be compensatory imagining by Underhill—several steps into the impressively weird. Underhill, an author, here encounters not the mere survival of a dead relation but the existence of a character he's creating in his journals. Dark fantasy cognescenti will remember that King employed a somewhat similar device in <em>The Dark Half</em>, but Straub's approach is distinctly his own, directed at mining the ambiguous relationship between nature and art, fact and fiction, the real and the ideal. The character Underhill has brought into being is Willy Bryce Patrick, a children's book author soon to be married to coldhearted financier Mitchell Faber, at least until Willy discovers that Faber had her first family murdered. Willy, whom Tim meets during a bookstore reading of his latest novel, <em>lost boy lost girl</em>, believes she is real (as does the reader for the book's first third), and learns otherwise only through Tim's painful, patient revelations. The two fall in deeply in love, but their passion seems doomed—not only is Willy's existence tenuous, but the pair are being pursued with murderous intent by Faber and his goons, as the former is in fact one form of the serial killer of <em>lost boy lost girl</em>, Joseph Kalendar; moreover, a terrible angel is insisting that only when Underhill makes an ultimate sacrifice, righting a wrong he did to Kalendar in <em>lost boy lost girl</em>, will matters resolve. Moving briskly while ranging from high humor to the blackest dread, this is an original, astonishingly smart and expertly entertaining meditation on imagination and its powers; one of the very finest works of Straub's long career, it's a sure bet for future award nominations. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>Though most famous for his collaborations with Stephen King, Straub transcends the conventions of horror fiction. <em>In the Night Room</em> provides more than a good scare; it deals with themes like the nature of reality and the consequences of artistic creation. Despite his cerebral bent, Straub never sacrifices the entertainment value of his story—though one reviewer found its twists hard to follow. The novel, a sequel to his acclaimed <em>lost boy lost girl </em>(<strong></strong> Jan/Feb 2004), offers a combination of gripping plot, well-drawn characters, and philosophical depth. Critics hail <em>In the Night Room</em> as a rewarding read for horror junkies and deep thinkers alike.</p><p><em>Copyright © 2004 Phillips &amp; Nelson Media, Inc.</em></p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Peter Straub is a fine sorcerer of horror whose bag of tricks includes stories of pure, unadulterated horror (<strong> and </strong>), as well as more subtle tales of psychological suspense (<strong> and </strong>). Now Straub conjures up <em>Magic Terror</em>, a collection of seven deeply disturbing tales that display his entire range.</p><p>"Bunny Is Good Bread" is without a doubt the most haunted tale of all, a harrowing account of a childhood from hell. The scary hero Fee was so traumatized as a 5-year-old by abuse from his father that he disconnects himself from the real world and lives as if in a film. Why? "If you forgot you were in a movie, your own feelings would tear you into bloody rags." Ever since the day Fee watches his mother die a horrible death, he's been tormented: "He was one-half dead himself; half of him belonged to his dead mother." </p><p>Fee is not the only character to be struck by a dark epiphany, a life-changing moment. In the lyrical "Porkpie Hat," a famous jazz musician recounts the ghoulish Halloween encounter that charted the course of his destiny, and in the twisted fairy tale "Ashputtle," a fantasy-inclined "princess" seeks retribution for a traumatic incident many years before.</p><p>In Straub's world, horror appears in different disguises--the dark mask of child abuse and the bloodied cloak of war ("The Ghost Village"). Regardless of how it shows itself, the effects will haunt long after lights out. <em>--Naomi Gesinger</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>The war-numbed soldier who asks, "Just suppose...,that you were forced to confront extreme experience directly, without any mediation?" speaks for all of the spiritually traumatized souls who navigate the harrowingly rendered hells of these seven tales of suspense and horror. Straub (Mr. X) effortlessly plumbs the hearts and minds of a range of well-developed charactersAincluding a reflective assassin for hire, a five-year-old victim of domestic violence, an aging black jazz musician and a pompous Wall Street financial adviserAto locate epiphanic moments when their lives careened "out of the ordinary" and into the path of deforming private tragedy. In "Ashputtle," an implied murderess blames her crimes on an emotionally deprived childhood in which she imagines herself a modern Cinderella victimized by her cruel stepsisters. "Bunny Is Good Bread," an unnerving portrait of the psychopath as a young boy, follows young Fee Bandolier as he maladjusts to an unbearably gothic home situation in which his father has beaten his mother into a coma. "Porkpie Hat" is related as an alcoholic saxophonist's confession of a childhood brush with witchcraft, murder and miscegenation that continues to inform his blues-haunted music. In several of the talesAmost notably "The Haunted Village," which links to the novel Koko (1988) and stories from his previous collection, Houses Without Doors (1990)AStraub skillfully evokes the supernatural to suggest the dislocating effect of intense psychological upset. Mixing stark realism with black comedy, and reverberating with echoes of Conrad, Melville and the Brothers Grimm, these excursions to the dark side of life set a high standard for the literature of contemporary magic terror. (July) <br />Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Peter Straub's <em>Mr. X</em> is an enthralling, complex tale of a decent young man troubled since childhood by barely understood flashes of precognition and an awareness of a shadowy "other." </p><p>Ned Dunstan returns home to Edgerton, Illinois, a raffish and atmospheric Mississippi River city, as his mother, Star Dunstan, lies dying. Impelled to trace his tangled paternal lineage after Star's death, Ned finds himself caught up in a web of murder and other heinous crimes, not only in the present but also in a past that his elderly great aunts Nettie, May, and Joy would prefer remained undisturbed. The aunts, whose remarkable gifts include teleportation and telekinesis, frustrate his search for knowledge, partly to protect their own secrets and also to shield Ned from the mysterious and omnipresent force that seems to dodge his every step. He is aided in his efforts to discover the mysteries of his birth by a doppleganger who may or may not be his twin, and also by a lovely young woman, Laurie Hatch. She is the estranged wife of Stewart Hatch, an Edgerton scion whose own history is inexorably linked with Ned's and with the entire Dunstan family.</p><p>The secondary characters, from the elderly aunts to a lawyer named Creech who is the essence of the small-town "fixer," are deftly drawn. <em>--Jane Adams</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Since the publication of Koko in 1988, Straub has specialized in macabre mysteries dense with the details of small-town life and cast with ordinary people who find that the extraordinary crimes they investigate raise doubts about their own moral integrity. In this bravura new outing, he returns to his horror roots, lacing an ingenious whodunit with an intoxicating shot of the supernatural. From childhood, Ned Dunstan has experienced precognitive visions, a recurring dream of being tethered to a shadow and "the sense that something crucially significant, something without which I could never be whole, was missing." Summoned home to Edgerton, Ill., by a premonition of his mother's death on the eve of his 35th birthday, Ned finds himself implicated in a tangle of felonies and murders, all of which point to someone strenuously manipulating events to frame him. Digging into local history, he finds reason to believe that the mysterious father he never knew, or possibly a malignant doppelg?nger, are pulling the strings. Meanwhile, Mr. X, a homicidal misanthrope who reads H.P. Lovecraft's otherworldly horror fiction as gospel, cuts a swath of supernatural destruction across the country, en route to a showdown with his son, the "shadow-self" whom he must annihilate. Discerning readers will recognize this surprise-filled tale of tortuous family relationships as a modern variation on Lovecraft's classic shocker "The Dunwich Horror." But Straub turns his pulp model inside out, transforming its vast cosmic mystery into an ingrown odyssey of self-discovery and a probing study of human nature. His evocative prose, a seamless splice of clipped hard-boiled banter and poetic reflection, contributes to the thick atmosphere of apprehension that makes this one of the most invigorating horror reads of the year. BOMC main selection. (Aug.) FYI: This spring, Subterranean Press published a chapbook, Peter and PTR: Two Discarded Prefaces and an Introduction, that includes framing material that Straub wrote for, and then cut from, Mr. X. <br />Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In a meaty tribute to mystery sub-genres, Straub ( Ghost Story ) serves up a coming-of-age tale, a country-manor murder mystery and a twisted knot of governmental corruption and cover-up. Ten-year-old Tom Pasmore, a rich resident of the Caribbean island of Mill Walk, is hit by a car and, in a near-death experience, sees visions of himself in the future. During his long recuperation, Tom reads mystery stories brought to him by Lamont von Heilitz, an eccentric neighbor, once a famous detective. Action resumes when Tom, now aged 17 and possessed of sharpened deductive skills, gives the police an anonymous tip to help them solve the murder of a government official's sister. Tom's tip backfires, motivating him to join Lamont in trying to solve a murder that took place 20 years earlier in the Wisconsin resort town where Mill Walk's privileged citizens spend their summers. That layered, complex case reveals a long history of corruption, leads to more murders, to realization of the meaning of Tom's early visions and his discovery of his true identity. While evocative of place and time (the early '60s) and peopled with memorable characters, the story tries to fit into too many subgenres to succeed completely at any one. $200,000 ad/promo. <br />Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>“A dark, labyrinthian tale of murder and family relationships. . . . Mesmerizing.” —_Chicago Sun-Times_  </p><p>“Sensational. . . . A terrific page-turner, superbly plotted, unforgettable characters.” —_Kansas City Star_  </p><p>“Intriguing, immensely readable. . . . Engages the mind.” —_Washington Post Book World_  </p><p>“The near perfect mystery. . . . Has everything a classic whodunit should. . . . Full of intricate, engrossing, flesh-and-blood suspects and heroes. . . . Unexpected curves and potholes. . . . The title says it all.” —_Milwaukee Sentinel_  </p><p>“Murder, mayhem, mystery. . . . A complex and satisfying tale. . . . Compelling characters. . . . A pulse-pounding climax.” —_Cleveland Plain Dealer_  </p><p>“A tightly woven-tale, crisply rendered, populated with well-drawn characters.” —_San Francisco Chronicle_  </p><p>“Marvelous. . . . Enormously satisfying. . . . Unashamedly designed to fascinate.” —_Sacramento Bee_  </p><p>“The best of Peter Straub’s writing.” —_Houston Chronicle_   </p><p>“The characters are outstanding. . . . They are the story, enshrouded by a nightmare that never lifts. Peter Straub takes bold risks and he succeeds.” —_San Jose Mercury News_  </p><p>“Enomously entertaining and scary. . . . Rich, complex, dark, and tough to put down.” —_New York Daily News_</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. Anyone concerned about the future of horror will find plenty of reassurance in this outstanding reprint anthology showcasing short fiction by today's best writers in the genre. Straub (_The Throat_) skillfully varies tempo and style, mixing stories of psychological terror with more traditional ghostly tales. Thomas Tessier puts a fresh spin on the empty old house theme in the memorable In Praise of Folly, in which the lonely protagonist pursues his fascination with bizarre structures to the Adirondacks. Tessier subtly raises chills even as the tale proceeds to its inevitable and dark conclusion. Another winner is Dan Chaon's The Bees, a powerful account of a man haunted by mistakes of the past. Ramsey Campbell's terrifying The Voice of the Beach echoes Algernon Blackwood's classic The Willows, with its account of two friends' fateful encounter with a remote beach that may be an entry point to another dimension. Aimed at a general audience, this volume also includes works by Stephen King, Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link and Joe Hill. <em>(Nov.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>With an introduction by the much honored Straub (_Ghost Story_), this collection can be dubbed New Wave horror, considering that most of its 24 stories were published fairly recently and it includes contributions by celebrity horror writers. The tales mostly eschew buckets of blood, instead employing mood and suggestion in the manner of Edgar Allan Poe. "Little Red's Tango," Straub's lengthy quasigospel of a record-collecting obsessive, complete with beatitudes and a seductive demon, ably represents the editor's definition of New Wave horror. All the stories honor Poe, like the moody, contagious delusions of Stephen King's "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet." The genre can be literary, as exemplified by Tia V. Travis's vengeful "The Kiss," Thomas Tessier's surprising "In Praise of Folly," and, probably the most demonstrably Poe-like, Ramsey Campbell's "The Voice of the Beach," featuring a neurasthenic narrator, suffocating suggestibility, and nearly palpable imagery. Brian Evenson's creepy "Body" and Dan Chaon's touching "The Bees" culminate in the horror of bad deeds catching up. The other stories included are without exception excellent. Recommended for all libraries.—Jonathan Pearce, California State Univ.<br /><em>Stanislaus, Stockton </em></p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Buffyand <em>Angel</em> fans are likely to enjoy Kadrey's offbeat supernatural romp, which blends demonic evil and quirky humor. The relatively normal life of San Francisco tattoo artist Spyder Lee goes thoroughly crazy when he's rescued from a mugger by Shrike, a mysterious blind woman who reveals that Lee's assailant was actually a demon. The wounds he suffered in the assault give him the ability to see the Dominions, other spheres of existence that regular mortals are unaware of. Soon Spyder finds himself hip-deep in demonic trouble, protecting his friend Lulu by offering his body to the organ-collecting Black and then dragging her off to join Shrike on a madcap journey to Hell, where they encounter monsters, Lucifer and even an alternate-time version of Lee himself. Kadrey (_Kamikaze L'Amour_) juxtaposes gore and brash insouciance in the face of apocalyptic evil, a blend that may not suit everyone's taste. <em>(July)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Spyder Lee is a happy man who lives in San Francisco and owns a tattoo shop. One night an angry demon tries to bite his head off before he's saved by a stranger. The demon infected Spyder with something awful - the truth. He can suddenly see the world as it really is: full of angels and demons and monsters and monster-hunters. A world full of black magic and mysteries. These are the Dominions, parallel worlds full of wonder, beauty and horror. The Black Clerks, infinitely old and infinitely powerful beings whose job it is to keep the Dominions in balance, seem to have new interests and a whole new agenda. Dropped into the middle of a conflict between the Black Clerks and other forces he doesn't fully understand, Spyder finds himself looking for a magic book with the blind swordswoman who saved him. Their journey will take them from deserts to lush palaces, to underground caverns, to the heart of Hell itself. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Although Laymon died in 2001, his U.K. novels have only recently gotten an American release; this 1997 title is a sordid, flawed gem, both stomach churning and erotic, and not infrequently at the same time. Narrated by paranoid, defiant 26-year-old Alice, the book opens on a peaceful night of house-sitting—but as Alice warns, "You can <em>never</em> be sure it's safe." Indeed, shortly after midnight she spots a strange man emerge from the woods and go swimming naked in the family pool. A fortunately timed phone call that's a wrong number gives Alice the chance to drive off the stranger, but sets in motion a 24-hour whirlwind of murder, terror and madness, beginning when Alice splits open someone's head with a Civil War saber—and escalating precipitously from there. Alice's matter-of-fact attitude toward her grisly handiwork can make her hard to sympathize with ("I felt rotten about killing him, but not particularly guilty"); supporting characters are easier to like, but don't get too attached. As the night wears on, Laymon piles on gory details and violent sex with perverse, over-the-top glee; it's definitely not for everyone and can strain credibility, but Alice proves to be one of Laymon's most original and memorable protagonists, and should keep hardened horror fans reading well past the stroke of midnight. <em>(Mar.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>When Alice's friend Serena goes away she stays in her house, with its sunken bathtub and big-screen TV. Best of all is the outdoor swimming pool. But one night a stranger walks out of the woods and jumps naked into the pool. Alice hopes he won't be coming to get her, like so many have done before. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>There's not a crime novelist around who writes cleaner prose than LaymonAand few who can jack up the tension the way he does. Yet despite his popularity overseas and a minor resurgence here (Bite, Forecasts, May 24), his readership has of late been limited in the States. This new novel, his first since The Midnight Tour, probably won't change that. Laymon likes to grasp readers by the neck with expert wordsmithery, then haul them into a diabolical situation. Here, foxy substitute teacher Sherry Gates goes searching for her boyfriend, who's late returning from a condom-run to a local L.A. market, and gets snatched by a homicidal, sex-crazed teen, Toby Bones. Many readers will find that too much of what ensues focuses, graphically, on Toby's violations of Sherry (and others), including rape, child molestation, slashings, beatings, shootings, a beheading and fratricidal murder by electric drill. Laymon's outrageousness is part of his appeal, but in his best books it's leavened by a gratifyingly sardonic sense of humor. That wickedness flashes at times here, as does a surprising tenderness: the series of scenes in which a naked Sherry is aided by two horny teen boys combines both qualities in a dashing display of emotionally complex writing. Once again, Laymon offers unexpected, well-rounded characters blown about in a narrative that moves like the wind. But the many scenes of sadistic torture cross the line from terror to lurid cruelty and will curdle the enjoyment of all but the most dedicated Laymon fans. <br />Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Kirkus Reviews</h3><p>The master of stomach-churning porno-violence (Quake, 1995, etc.) returns, unredeemed and of no social value whatsoever. Laymon fans must always be telling themselves, I'm sick. Im very sick. I must be absolutely worthless to be enjoying this, but, as the authors numerous villainous psychopaths would undoubtedly say, Kill em all! Let God sort em out! This time, the Santa Ana winds are blowing fire toward L.A., and tubby, teenaged Toby Bones, who with his brother murdered his wealthy parents, is on the loose. Teacher Sherry Gates and her boyfriend Duane are just about to make love when his condom falls to pieces. He'll be right back, Duane says, heading for the nearby convenience store for some fresh booties. He never comes back. After a while, Sherry goes looking for him and eventually is kidnaped by Toby, a student from a recent class. He beats and tries to rape her, then decides they need a bed. Sherry escapes, gets a stranger named Jim to help her get back to Duane's place. They find Duane in bed, his skull crushed, then Toby offs Jim with two butcher knives into his back, jumps a woman in Duane's hallway and knifes her in the back, then re-abducts Sherry for some real fun. And that's just for tasty openers as Laymon's novel slides in slime toward a big sweet hell of pain and orgasm. -- <em>Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.</em></p>


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<h3>Product Description</h3><p>The resort of Boleta Bay is not the carefree place it used to be. A series of unexplained disappearances, and holiday-makers threatened by an army of leering bums, casts a shadow over summer pleasures. But now Boleda Bay is fighting back and their campaign leads them to the abandoned Funhouse. </p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>When Laymon (_Island_, etc.) died in 2001, he left behind numerous unpublished novels that Leisure has been issuing. This one is good but not great, combining the savagery of his earlier work (_Beast House_, etc.) with the spooky wonder of his later books (_The Traveling Vampire Show_, etc.). As the story begins, we see Candyman, a serial killer, at work, then observe teen Deana West watch in horror as her boyfriend is mowed down by a car—driven by Candyman? The narrative then flashes back 20 years to a summer Deana's mother, Leigh, spent in rural Wisconsin; this, the strongest section, details eerie, erotic nighttime forays by Leigh and her lover, a weird local boy, that result in the boy's accidental death. Back in the present, Leigh gets involved with a cop who's a wolf in sheep's clothing, and she and Deana, who's taken to nighttime jogging and who herself gets involved with a mysterious neighbor and his odd, psychic sister, are menaced by the driver of the car that killed Deana's boyfriend. The plot is too complicated, although Laymon does tie all the strands up in a messy knot; but what counts here, as usual for Laymon, is the white-hot pacing, the rivers of blood (which will dismay mainstream readers) and, above all, the memorable evocation of the fathomless mystery of the moonlit hours. <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>“White-hot pacing (with) rivers of blood… memorable evocation of the fathomless mystery of the moonlit hours.” —_Publishers Weekly <em>on</em> The Lake_</p><p>“If you’ve missed Laymon, you’ve missed a treat!”  —Stephen King</p><p>“No one writes like Laymon.” —Dean Koontz</p><p>“The master of stomach-churning violence.” —_Kirkus_</p><p>“Laymon is, was, and always will be king of the hill.” —_Horror World_</p>


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Relating a gruesome story through the first-person narrative of an ingenuous 15-year-old boy, horror novelist Laymon ( The Stake ) appears to aim at the complex tone of Huckleberry Finn . He doesn't even come close, although that parallel might explain his London-born narrator's curiously un-British speech patterns ("gas lamps didn't give off a whole lot of light"). After witnessing Jack the Ripper's final murder on the streets of Whitechapel in 1888, Trevor Bentley is pursued by the psychopath into the Thames and ends up as his prisoner on a yacht bound for America. Improbable plot twists take both characters to Arizona, where the Ripper wreaks havoc while Trevor encounters a couple of snake-oil salesmen, rides with a bandit gang, becomes a crack shot and falls in love with pert, 16-year-old Jesse Sue Longley. The young couple survive a gore-splattered encounter with the Ripper in an Arizona cave, going on to marriage and a career in the snake-oil business. The grisly mutilation scenes induce no horror, Trevor's unrelenting innocence becomes tiresome, and his byplay with Jesse skirts soft-core kiddy-porn. <br />Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>In 1888, Following a disturbance at home, Trevor Bentley's mother sends the 15-year-old to find his uncle, a constable on the London police force. Trevor embarks on a bizarre sequence of adventures, beginning with his witnessing Jack the Ripper at work. Over the next few months, the Ripper and Trevor pursue each other across the Atlantic and on to Arizona, sometimes exchanging roles of hunter and the hunted. Laymon's other horror novels include The Stake (St. Martin's, 1992) and, under the pseudonym Richard Kelly, Midnight's Lair (St Martin's, 1991). He is an accomplished wordsmith, but Savage 's plot falters with too many improbabilities and the author's denigrating peep show presentation of his women characters. Not a necessary puchase.<br /><em>- Robert Jordan, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City</em><br />Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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SUMMARY:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Writings, by Washington Irving, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. The first great American man of letters, Washington Irving became an international celebrity almost overnight upon publication of The Sketch Book in 1820, which included the short stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.” These two tales remain his crowning achievement, but in addition to being a writer of short stories, Irving was also an acclaimed essayist, travel writer, biographer, and historian. This volume showcases Irving’s best work across a variety of genres, including whimsical newspaper articles about New York society, the theater, and contemporary fashions; charming travel pieces that evocatively weave together history and legend; humorous stories and satirical essays from The Sketch-Book and its sequel Bracebridge Hall, and excerpts from A History of New York, considered the first great American book of comic literature. The author’s success enabled him to earn a living by writing alone, unheard of for an American at that time. Irving’s energetic, often tongue-in-cheek prose style, together with his ability to blend roguish satire, pathos, and picturesque description, had a profound influence upon the popular culture of his day. His writings have become a cornerstone in the foundation of the American literary tradition. Peter Norberg received his Ph.D. from Rice University in 1998. Since 1997 he has been Assistant Professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. A specialist on the writers associated with the transcendentalist movement, he has written and lectured extensively on Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and the critical reaction to transcendentalism in the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.


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<div>
 
 <h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3>
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 The cleverness Bakker displayed in his Prince of Nothing fantasy trilogy (The Darkness That Comes Before, etc.) is lacking in this suspense novel introducing Disciple Manning, a Newark, N.J., PI who can remember everything he has ever heard. Jonathan and Amanda Bonjour hire Manning to track down their missing 21-year-old daughter, Jennifer, who's joined a New Age cult known as the Framers, dropped out of nursing school, and is possibly now living at "the Compound," an old horse farm in southeastern Pennsylvania that serves as the cult's retreat. The Framers' leader, former Berkeley philosophy professor Xenophon Baars, has persuaded his followers that the world is more than five billion years older than it is and is about to end. Manning heads to the Compound in search of Jennifer, though he suspects she's already dead. A crude, off-putting hero with a flatulence problem may leave few readers eager for a sequel. (Nov.) (c) <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
 
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 <div><div><p><b>A crime thriller from an acclaimed master of speculative fiction</b></p><p><i>“And you wonder why I’m cynical. I’ve literally ‘seen it all before.’ The truth is we all have, every single one of us past the age of, say, twenty-five. The only difference is that I remember.”</i></p><p>No matter how hard he drinks, gambles, or womanizes, Disciple Manning simply cannot forget: not a word spoken, not an image glimpsed, not a pain suffered.  Disciple Manning has total recall. Whatever he hears, he can remember with 100% accuracy.  He can play it back in his head for an infinite number of times without a single change.  This ability makes him a dangerously unorthodox private investigator.</p><p>When a New Jersey couple hires Manning to find their daughter, who joined a religious cult before vanishing in a small rust-belt town called Ruddick, he finds himself embroiled in a mystery that will pit his unnatural ability to remember against his desperate desire to forget.</p><p> </p></div></div>
 
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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">Nevare Burvelle was destined from birth to be a soldier. The second son of a newly anointed nobleman, he must endure the rigors of military training at the elite King's Cavella Academy&amp;#8212and survive the hatred, cruelty, and derision of his aristocratic classmates&amp;#8212before joining the King of Gernia's brutal campaign of territorial expansion. The life chosen for him will be fraught with hardship, for he must ultimately face a forest-dwelling folk who will not submit easily to a king's tyranny. And they possess an ancient magic their would-be conquerors have long discounted&amp;#8212a powerful sorcery that threatens to claim Nevare Burvelle's soul and devastate his world once the Dark Evening brings the carnival to Old Thares.</p></div>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">Enter the spellbinding world of dragons . . . and those who tend them  </p>
<p class="description"> One of the most gifted fantasy authors writing today, *New York Times* bestselling author Robin Hobb has dazzled readers with brilliantly imaginative, emotionally resonant, and compulsively readable tales set in far-flung realms not unlike our own. In this enthralling new novel, she returns to the territory of her beloved Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies with a story of dragons and humans, return and rebirth, and the search for meaning, belonging, and home.  </p>
<p class="description"> For years, the Trader cities valiantly battled their enemies, the Chalcedeans. But they could not have staved off invasion without the powerful dragon Tintaglia. In return, the Traders promised to help her serpents migrate up the Rain Wild River after a long exile at sea—to find a safe haven and, Tintaglia hopes, to restore her species. But too much time has passed, and the newly hatched dragons are damaged and weak, and many die. The few who survive cannot use their wings; earthbound, they are powerless to hunt and vulnerable to human predators willing to kill them for the fabled healing powers of dragon flesh.  </p>
<p class="description"> But Tintaglia has vanished and the Traders are weary of the labor and expense of tending useless dragons. The Trader leadership fears that if it stops providing for the young dragons, the hungry and neglected creatures will rampage—or die along the river's acidic muddy banks. To avert catastrophe, the dragons decree a move even farther up the treacherous river to Kelsingra, their ancient, mythical homeland whose mysterious location is locked deep within the dragons' uncertain ancestral memories.  </p>
<p class="description"> To ensure their safe passage, the Traders recruit a disparate group of young people to care for the damaged creatures and escort them to their new home. Among them is Thymara, an unschooled forest girl of sixteen, and Alise, a wealthy Trader's wife trapped in a loveless marriage, who attaches herself to the expedition as a dragon expert. The two women share a deep kinship with the dragons: Thymara can instinctively communicate with them, and Alise, captivated by their beauty and majesty, has devoted her life to studying them.  </p>
<p class="description"> Embarking on an arduous journey that holds no promise of return, the band of humans and dragons must make their way along the toxic and inhospitable Rain Wild River—an extraordinary odyssey that will teach them lessons about themselves and one another, as they experience hardships, betrayals, and joys beyond their wildest dreams.</p></div>


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<div><div><p class="description"><b><u>SUMMARY:</u></b><br>Sequel to the extraordinary Name of the Wind, The Wise Man's Fear is the second installment of this superb fantasy trilogy from Patrick Rothfuss. Picking up the tale of Kvothe Kingkiller once again, we follow him into exile, into policital intrigue, courtship, adventure, love and magic ...and further along the path that has turned Kvothe, the mightiest magician of his age, a legend in his own time, into Kote, the unassuming pub landlord. Packed with as much magic, adventure and home-grown drama as The Name of the Wind, this is a sequel in every way the equal to it's predecessor and a must-read for all fantasy fans. Readable, engaging and gripping The Wise Man's Fear is the biggest and the best new fantasy novel out there.</p> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Sequel to the extraordinary Name of the Wind, The Wise Man's Fear is the second installment of this superb fantasy trilogy from Patrick Rothfuss. Picking up the tale of Kvothe Kingkiller once again, we follow him into exile, into policital intrigue, courtship, adventure, love and magic ...and further along the path that has turned Kvothe, the mightiest magician of his age, a legend in his own time, into Kote, the unassuming pub landlord. Packed with as much magic, adventure and home-grown drama as The Name of the Wind, this is a sequel in every way the equal to it's predecessor and a must-read for all fantasy fans. Readable, engaging and gripping The Wise Man's Fear is the biggest and the best new fantasy novel out there.</p></div> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Day Two: The Wise Man's Fear. "There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man." An escalating rivalry with a powerful member of the nobility forces Kvothe to leave the University and seek his fortune abroad. Adrift, penniless, and alone, he travels to Vintas, where he quickly becomes entangled in the politics of courtly society. While attempting to curry favor with a powerful noble, Kvothe discovers an assassination attempt, comes into conflict with a rival arcanist, and leads a group of mercenaries into the wild, in an attempt to solve the mystery of who (or what) is waylaying travelers on the King's road. All the while, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived. Under her tutelage, Kvothe learns much about true magic and the ways of women. In The Wise Man's Fear Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: For the crew of the Leonora Christine, travelling close to the speed of light on a 30-light-year journey, subjective time slows down. Then buffeting by an interstellar dust cloud damages the ship's deceleration system and it achieves light speed, tau zero itself.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling. Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping - based on their correspondence - to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god. But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself. A rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.</p>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">Few books have captivated the imagination and won the devotion and  praise of readers and critics everywhere as has George R. R. Martin’s monumental epic cycle of high fantasy. Now, in **A Feast for Crows**, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth book of his landmark series, as a kingdom torn asunder finds itself at last on the brink of peace...only to be launched on an even more terrifying course of destruction.**A Feast for Crows**It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears....With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist—or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out. But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead. It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes...and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors.*From the Hardcover edition.*</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: The Devil is known by many names: Serpent, Tempter, Beast, Adversary, Wanderer, Dragon, Rebel. His traps and machinations are the stuff of legends. His faces are legion. No matter what face the devil wears, Sympathy for the Devil has them all. Edited by Tim Pratt, Sympathy for the Devil collects the best Satanic short stories by Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Stephen King, Kage Baker, Charles Stross, Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Kelly Link, China Mieville, Michael Chabon, and many others, revealing His Grand Infernal Majesty, in all his forms. Thirty-five stories, from classics to the cutting edge, exploring the many sides of Satan, Lucifer, the Lord of the Flies, the Father of Lies, the Prince of the Powers of the Air and Darkness, the First of the Fallen... and a Man of Wealth and Taste. Sit down and spend a little time with the Devil.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In Albany, New York, William Kennedy has made a crucible to test the American dream. His novels, which range from the middle of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, bubble and crack with the energy of immigrants trying to take the main chance in the land of opportunity. In 1938, Francis Phelan, a murderer, is reduced to flop-houses and hobo jungles. Returning to Albany at the end of the Depression, he roams the familiar streets with his hobo pal Helen, trying to make peace with the ghosts of the past and present.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In the late summer of 1831, in a remote section of southeastern Virginia, there took place the only effective, sustained revolt in the annals of American Negro slavery...The revolt was led by a remarkable Negro preacher named Nat Turner, an educated slave who felt himself divinely ordained to annihilate all the white people in the region.The Confessions of Nat Turner is narrated by Nat himself as he lingers in jail through the cold autumnal days before his execution. The compelling story ranges over the whole of Nat's Life, reaching its inevitable and shattering climax that bloody day in August. The Confessions of Nat Turner is not only a masterpiece of storytelling; is also reveals in unforgettable human terms the agonizing essence of Negro slavery. Through the mind of a slave, Willie Styron has re-created a catastrophic event, and dramatized the intermingled miseries, frustrations--and hopes--which caused this extraordinary black man to rise up out of the early mists of our history and strike down those who held his people in bondage.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Maggie Moran's mission is to connect and unite people, whether they want to be united or not. Maggie is a meddler and as she and her husband, Ira, drive 90 miles to the funeral of an old friend, Ira contemplates his wasted life and the traffic, while Maggie hatches a plant to reunite her son Jesse with his long-estranged wife and baby. As Ira explains, "She thinks the people she loves are better than they really are, and so then she starts changing things around to suit her view of them." Though everyone criticizes her for being "ordinary," Maggie's ability to see the beauty and potential in others ultimately proves that she is the only one fighting the resignation they all fear. The book captured the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1989.</p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>"Brilliant [and] harrowing . . . Historical reality combined with fictional skill and beauty of a high order make [it] a novel of startling importance." ---Elizabeth Hardwick, <em>Vogue</em> </p><p>"What makes it a great book, above and beyond its glowing goodness, has to do with something else altogether: its necessity...This novel, like all great novels reminds us that we must do something." -- Jonathan Safran Foer, author of_ Everything Is Illuminated _ </p><p>"The Fixer deserves to rank alongside the great Jewish-American novels of Saul Bellow and Philip Roth." --_The Independent (London)_ </p><p>"A literary event in any season." --Eliot Fremont-Smith, <em>The New York Times</em><br>-- <em>Review</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Set in Czarist Russia, The Fixer is the story of the strains and anxieties that beset a man who finds himself a stranger in his community and a victim of irrational prejudice as a wave of anti-Semitic hysteria engulfs a town after the murder of a boy. </p> </div>


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Websters paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently assigned readings in English courses. By using a running English-to-French thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington was edited for three audiences. The first includes French-speaking students enrolled in an English Language Program (ELP), an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program, an English as a Second Language Program (ESL), or in a TOEFL or TOEIC preparation program. The second audience includes English-speaking students enrolled in bilingual education programs or French speakers enrolled in English-speaking schools. The third audience consists of students who are actively building their vocabularies in French in order to take foreign service, translation certification, Advanced Placement (AP) or similar examinations. By using the Webster's French Thesaurus Edition when assigned for an English course, the reader can enrich their vocabulary in anticipation of an examination in French or English.TOEFL, TOEIC, AP and Advanced Placement are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.Websters edition of this classic is organized to expose the reader to a maximum number of difficult and potentially ambiguous English words. Rare or idiosyncratic words and expressions are given lower priority compared to difficult, yet commonly used words. Rather than supply a single translation, many words are translated for a variety of meanings in French, allowing readers to better grasp the ambiguity of English, and avoid them using the notes as a pure translation crutch. Having the reader decipher a wordsmeaning within context serves to improve vocabulary retention and understanding. Each page covers words not already highlighted on previous pages. If a difficult word is n</p> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>This compelling satire details irresistible characteristics of social status in a small Midwestern town. Mr. and Mrs. Adams and their two children are members of the lower middle-class. Their daughter, Alice, wrestles with this economic classification and attempts to make the society folk of the town appreciate her. Because Alice has no social influence nor wealth and her presence is held in disregard by prospective suitors, Mrs. Adams tries to improve the situation by persuading her husband to leave a job he's held all his life and to establish a new career. After much apprehension and in possession of a glue formula stolen from his previous employer, he resigns his mediocre but satisfying employment which puts him in a predicament that leads to his professional downfall. Tarkington's understanding of class rivalries, social condescension, and financial avarice is evident in this tale where his main point indicates that in every joyless moment hope, though unexpected, is attainable. He illustrates how the Adams' laborious efforts are ultimately unsuccessful. Any intrusion by Alice and her mother on the upper class is unlikely and Tarkington's depiction of such is secretly amusing.</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Magnificent Ambersons, by Booth Tarkington, is part of the Barnes &amp; Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes &amp; Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices &amp; Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes &amp; Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. Largely overshadowed by Orson Welles’s famous 1941 screen version, Booth Tarkington’s novel The Magnificent Ambersons was not only a best-seller when it first appeared in 1918—it also won the Pulitzer Prize.Set in the Midwest in the early twentieth century—the dawn of the automobile age—the novel begins by introducing the richest family in town, the Ambersons. Exemplifying aristocratic excess, the Ambersons have everything money can buy—and more. But George Amberson Minafer—the spoiled grandson of the family patriarch—is unable to see that great societal changes are taking place, and that business tycoons, industrialists, and real estate developers will soon surpass him in wealth and prestige. Rather than join the new mechanical age, George prefers to remain a gentleman, believing that “being things” is superior to “doing things.” But as his town becomes a city, and the family palace is enveloped in a cloud of soot, George’s protectors disappear one by one, and the elegant, cloistered lifestyle of the Ambersons fades from view, and finally vanishes altogether.A brilliant portrayal of the changing landscape of the American dream, The Magnificent Ambersons is a timeless classic that deserves a wider modern audience. Nahma Sandrow has written extensively about theater and cultural history, including the books Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theater and Surrealism: Theater, Arts, Ideas. For many years a professor at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York, she has lectured at Oxford University, Harvard University, the Smithsonian, and elsewhere.</p>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>This fictionalized autobiography of Daisy Goodwill Flett, captured in Daisy's vivacious yet reflective voice, has been winning over readers since its publication in 1995, when it won the </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Any performer has her work cut out for her when a novel takes place in several settings with inhabitants possessing distinctive regional accents. Shield's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel takes the listener from the plains of central Canada to Bloomington, Ind., and the Orkney Islands. Botsford is an excellent performer with a smooth and easy-to-listen-to reading voice, but she doesn't have a gift for imitating linguistic variations. The women of Daisy's Bloomington circle have Southern lilts worthy of <em>Gone with the Wind</em>. Readers would expect the voices of this coterie to age as Daisy does, but no accommodation is made for this possibility. Within each locale the voices are quite distinct, though the voice of Daisy, the center of the novel, stands out least of all, appropriately enough, for in this work we see her life through the eyes of others. This is an important and deft novel and it's about time that it was recorded, even in this overly abridged version. Shields's writing still makes this worth a listen. <br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p> </div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>If you are either learning German, or learning English as a second language (ESL) as a German speaker, this book is for you. There are many editions of The Age of Innocence. This one is worth the price if you would like to enrich your German-English vocabulary, whether for self-improvement or for preparation in advanced of college examinations. Each page is annotated with a mini-thesaurus of uncommon words highlighted in the text. Not only will you experience a great classic, but learn the richness of the English language with German synonyms at the bottom of each page. You will not see a full translation of the English text, but rather a running bilingual thesaurus to maximize the reader's exposure to the subtleties of both languages.</p>


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<div><div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Set in Manchester County, Virginia, 20 years before the Civil War began, Edward P. Jones's debut novel, <em>The Known World</em>, is a masterpiece of overlapping plot lines, time shifts, and heartbreaking details of life under slavery. Caldonia Townsend is an educated black slaveowner, the widow of a well-loved young farmer named Henry, whose parents had bought their own freedom, and then freed their son, only to watch him buy himself a slave as soon as he had saved enough money. Although a fair and gentle master by the standards of the day, Henry Townsend had learned from former master about the proper distance to keep from one's property. After his death, his slaves wonder if Caldonia will free them. When she fails to do so, but instead breaches the code that keeps them separate from her, a little piece of Manchester County begins to unravel. Impossible to rush through, <em>The Known World</em> is a complex, beautifully written novel with a large cast of characters, rewarding the patient reader with unexpected connections, some reaching into the present day. <em>--Regina Marler</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>In a crabbed, powerful follow-up to his National Book Award-nominated short story collection (Lost in the City), Jones explores an oft-neglected chapter of American history, the world of blacks who owned blacks in the antebellum South. His fictional examination of this unusual phenomenon starts with the dying 31-year-old Henry Townsend, a former slave-now master of 33 slaves of his own and more than 50 acres of land in Manchester County, Va.-worried about the fate of his holdings upon his early death. As a slave in his youth, Henry makes himself indispensable to his master, William Robbins. Even after Henry's parents purchase the family's freedom, Henry retains his allegiance to Robbins, who patronizes him when he sets up shop as a shoemaker and helps him buy his first slaves and his plantation. Jones's thorough knowledge of the legal and social intricacies of slaveholding allows him to paint a complex, often startling picture of life in the region. His richest characterizations-of Robbins and Henry-are particularly revealing. Though he is a cruel master to his slaves, Robbins is desperately in love with a black woman and feels as much fondness for Henry as for his own children; Henry, meanwhile, reads Milton, but beats his slaves as readily as Robbins does. Henry's wife, Caldonia, is not as disciplined as her husband, and when he dies, his worst fears are realized: the plantation falls into chaos. Jones's prose can be rather static and his phrasings ponderous, but his narrative achieves crushing momentum through sheer accumulation of detail, unusual historical insight and generous character writing.<br>Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p> </div> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Set in Manchester County, Virginia, 20 years before the Civil War began, Edward P. Jones's debut novel, The Known World, is a masterpiece of overlapping plot lines, time shifts, and heartbreaking details of life under slavery. Caldonia Townsend is an educated black slaveowner, the widow of a well-loved young farmer named Henry, whose parents had bought their own freedom, and then freed their son, only to watch him buy himself a slave as soon as he had saved enough money. Although a fair and gentle master by the standards of the day, Henry Townsend had learned from former master about the proper distance to keep from one's property. After his death, his slaves wonder if Caldonia will free them. When she fails to do so, but instead breaches the code that keeps them separate from her, a little piece of Manchester County begins to unravel. Impossible to rush through, The Known World is a complex, beautifully written novel with a large cast of characters, rewarding the patient reader with unexpected connections, some reaching into the present day. --Regina Marler</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>1916. Poole worked as a journalist campaigning for social reforms including an end to child labor. On the outbreak of the First World War he worked as a war correspondent for The Saturday Evening Post. His Family won the first Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1918. His Family, a portrait of a New York family, begins: He was thinking of the town he had known. Not of old New York-he had heard of that from old, old men when he himself had still been young and had smiled at their garrulity. He was thinking of a young New York, the mighty throbbing city to which he had come long ago as a lad from the New Hampshire mountains. A place of turbulent thoroughfares, of shouting drivers, hurrying crowds, the crack of whips and the clatter of wheels; an uproarious, thrilling town of enterprise, adventure, youth; a city of pulsing energies, the center of a boundless land; a port of commerce with all the world, of stately ships with snowy sails; a fascinating pleasure town, with throngs of eager travelers hurrying from the ferryboats and rolling off in hansom cabs to the huge hotels on Madison Square. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.</p>


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SUMMARY: From Louisa May Alcotts beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March, and crafted a story filled with the ache of love and marriage and with the power of war upon the mind and heart of one unforgettable man (Sue Monk Kidd). With pitch-perfect writing (USA Today), Brooks follows March as he leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause in the Civil War. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs. A lushly written, wholly original tale steeped in the details of another time, March secures Geraldine Brookss place as a renowned author of historical fiction. A very great book... It breathes new life into the historical fiction genre [and] honors the best of the imagination. Chicago Tribune A beautifully wrought story about how war dashes ideals, unhinges moral certainties and drives a wedge of bitter experience and unspeakable memories between husband and wife. Los Angeles Times Book Review Inspired... A disturbing, supple, and deeply satisfying story, put together with craft and care and imagery worthy of a poet. The Cleveland Plain Dealer Louisa May Alcott would be well pleased. The Economist


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<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Novel that Inspired the Now-Classic Film The Caine Mutiny and the Hit Broadway Play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial Herman Wouk's boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining novel of life-and mutiny-on a Navy warship in the Pacific theater was immediately embraced, upon its original publication in 1951, as one of the first serious works of American fiction to grapple with the moral complexities and the human consequences of World War II. In the intervening half century, The Caine Mutiny has become a perennial favorite of readers young and old, has sold millions of copies throughout the world, and has achieved the status of a modern classic.</p> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Upon its original publication in 1951, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was immediately embraced as one of the first serious works of fiction to help readers grapple with the human consequences of World War II. In the intervening half-century, Herman Wouk's boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining story of life-and mutiny-on a Navy warship in the Pacific theater has achieved the status of a modern classic.</p></div>


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: "Truly one of the most remarkable books to come out of the war. Mr. Michener is a born story-teller."THE NEW YORK TIMESWinner of the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for FictionEnter the exotic world of the South Pacific, meet the men and women caught up in the drama of a big war. The young Marine who falls madly in love with a beautiful Tonkinese girl. Nurse Nellie and her French planter, Emile De Becque. The soldiers, sailors, and nurses playing at war and waiting for love in a tropic paradise. SUMMARY: "Truly one of the most remarkable books to come out of the war. Mr. Michener is a born story-teller."THE NEW YORK TIMESWinner of the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for FictionEnter the exotic world of the South Pacific, meet the men and women caught up in the drama of a big war. The young Marine who falls madly in love with a beautiful Tonkinese girl. Nurse Nellie and her French planter, Emile De Becque. The soldiers, sailors, and nurses playing at war and waiting for love in a tropic paradise.


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<div><div><p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Forty years after its original publication, James Agee's last novel seems, more than ever, an American classic. For in his lyrical, sorrowful account of a man's death and its impact on his family, Agee painstakingly created a small world of domestic happiness and then showed how quickly and casually it could be destroyed. On a sultry summer night in 1915, Jay Follet leaves his house in Knoxville, Tennessee, to tend to his father, whom he believes is dying. The summons turns out to be a false alarm, but on his way back to his family, Jay has a car accident and is killed instantly. Dancing back and forth in time and braiding the viewpoints of Jay's wife, brother, and young son, Rufus, Agee creates an overwhelmingly powerful novel of innocence, tenderness, and loss that should be read aloud for the sheer music of its prose."An utterly individual and original book...one of the most deeply worked out expressions of human feeling that I have ever read."--Alfred Kazin, New York Times Book Review"It is, in the full sense, poetry....The language of the book, at once luminous and discreet...remains in the mind."--New Republic"People I know who read A Death in the Family forty years ago still talk about it. So do I. It is a great book, and I'm happy to see it done anew."--Andre Dubus, author of Dancing After Hours and Meditations From A Moveable Chair</p> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Forty years after its original publication, James Agee's last novel seems, more than ever, an American classic. For in his lyrical, sorrowful account of a man's death and its impact on his family, Agee painstakingly created a small world of domestic happiness and then showed how quickly and casually it could be destroyed. On a sultry summer night in 1915, Jay Follet leaves his house in Knoxville, Tennessee, to tend to his father, whom he believes is dying. The summons turns out to be a false alarm, but on his way back to his family, Jay has a car accident and is killed instantly. Dancing back and forth in time and braiding the viewpoints of Jay's wife, brother, and young son, Rufus, Agee creates an overwhelmingly powerful novel of innocence, tenderness, and loss that should be read aloud for the sheer music of its prose."An utterly individual and original book...one of the most deeply worked out expressions of human feeling that I have ever read."--Alfred Kazin, New York Times Book Review"It is, in the full sense, poetry....The language of the book, at once luminous and discreet...remains in the mind."--New Republic"People I know who read A Death in the Family forty years ago still talk about it. So do I. It is a great book, and I'm happy to see it done anew."--Andre Dubus, author of Dancing After Hours and Meditations From A Moveable Chair</p></div> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Forty years after its original publication, James Agee's last novel seems, more than ever, an American classic. For in his lyrical, sorrowful account of a man's death and its impact on his family, Agee painstakingly created a small world of domestic happiness and then showed how quickly and casually it could be destroyed. On a sultry summer night in 1915, Jay Follet leaves his house in Knoxville, Tennessee, to tend to his father, whom he believes is dying. The summons turns out to be a false alarm, but on his way back to his family, Jay has a car accident and is killed instantly. Dancing back and forth in time and braiding the viewpoints of Jay's wife, brother, and young son, Rufus, Agee creates an overwhelmingly powerful novel of innocence, tenderness, and loss that should be read aloud for the sheer music of its prose."An utterly individual and original book...one of the most deeply worked out expressions of human feeling that I have ever read."--Alfred Kazin, New York Times Book Review"It is, in the full sense, poetry....The language of the book, at once luminous and discreet...remains in the mind."--New Republic"People I know who read A Death in the Family forty years ago still talk about it. So do I. It is a great book, and I'm happy to see it done anew."--Andre Dubus, author of Dancing After Hours and Meditations From A Moveable Chair</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling novel from one of Americaa??s greatest contemporary writers, repackaged as part of the Perennial fiction promotion. Larry Cooka??s farm is the largest in Zebulon County, Iowa, and a tribute to his hard work and single-mindedness. Proud and possessive, his sudden decision to retire and hand over the farm to his three daughters, is disarmingly uncharacteristic. Ginny and Rose, the two eldest, are startled yet eager to accept, but Caroline, the youngest daughter, has misgivings. Immediately, her father cuts her out. In a??A Thousand Acresa??, Jane Smiley transposes the a??King Leara?? story to the modern day, and in so doing at once illuminates Shakespearea??s original and subtly transforms it. This astonishing novel won both of Americaa??s highest literary awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Criticsa?? Circle Award.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>When The Stories of John Cheever was originally published, it became an immediate national bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize. In the years since, it has become a classic. Vintage Books is proud to reintroduce this magnificent collection.Here are sixty-one stories that chronicle the lives of what has been called "the greatest generation." From the early wonder and disillusionment of city life in "The Enormous Radio" to the surprising discoveries and common mysteries of suburbia in "The Housebreaker of Shady Hill" and "The Swimmer," Cheever tells us everything we need to know about "the pain and sweetness of life."From the Trade Paperback edition.</p>


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<div><div><h3>Review</h3><p>Novel by John Hersey, published in 1944 and awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1945. The novel's action takes place during World War II after the occupation of Sicily by Allied forces. Major Victor Joppolo, an American army officer of Italian descent, is part of the Allied military government ruling the town of Adano. In his attempts to reform the town and bring democracy to the people by treating them with respect and decency, Joppolo comes into conflict with his commanding officer, a hard-nosed general who eventually has Joppolo transferred because of his refusal to follow orders. Joppolo's concern for the town is epitomized by his efforts to replace a bell that the fascists had melted down to use for ammunition. -- __</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>An Italian-American major in World War II wins the love and admiration of the local townspeople when he searches for a replacement for the 700 year-old town bell that had been melted down for bullets by the fascists. </p> </div> <p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>An Italian-American major in World War II wins the love and admiration of the local townspeople when he searches for a replacement for the 700 year-old town bell that had been melted down for bullets by the fascists.</p></div>


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SUMMARY: Korean edition of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - a brilliant debut novel and Winner of the Pulitzer Prize by a Dominican-American writer Junot Diaz. Diaz satirizes the bloody history of violence, suppression under Trujillo's tyrannical power through the life of a immigrant family and the surviving struggles.


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SUMMARY: A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize— winning classic, Lonesome Dove, the third book in the Lonesome Dove tetralogy, is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America. Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome Dove and meet an unforgettable assortment of heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Indians and settlers. Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove is a book to make us laugh, weep, dream, and remember.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In 1981, Marilynne Robinson wrote Housekeeping, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award and became a modern classic. Since then, she has written two pieces of nonfiction: Mother Country and The Death of Adam. With Gilead, we have, at last, another work of fiction. As with The Great Fire, Shirley Hazzards's return, 22 years after The Transit of Venus, it was worth the long wait. Books such as these take time, and thought, and a certain kind of genius. There are no invidious comparisons to be made. Robinson's books are unalike in every way but one: the same incisive thought and careful prose illuminate both. The narrator, John Ames, is 76, a preacher who has lived almost all of his life in Gilead, Iowa. He is writing a letter to his almost seven-year-old son, the blessing of his second marriage. It is a summing-up, an apologia, a consideration of his life. Robinson takes the story away from being simply the reminiscences of one man and moves it into the realm of a meditation on fathers and children, particularly sons, on faith, and on the imperfectability of man. The reason for the letter is Ames's failing health. He wants to leave an account of himself for this son who will never really know him. His greatest regret is that he hasn't much to leave them, in worldly terms. "Your mother told you I'm writing your begats, and you seemed very pleased with the idea. Well, then. What should I record for you?" In the course of the narrative, John Ames records himself, inside and out, in a meditative style. Robinson's prose asks the reader to slow down to the pace of an old man in Gilead, Iowa, in 1956. Ames writes of his father and grandfather, estranged over his grandfather's departure for Kansas to march for abolition and his father's lifelong pacifism. The tension between them, their love for each other and their inability to bridge the chasm of their beliefs is a constant source of rumination for John Ames. Fathers and sons. The other constant in the book is Ames's friendship since childhood with "old Boughton," a Presbyterian minister. Boughton, father of many children, favors his son, named John Ames Boughton, above all others. Ames must constantly monitor his tendency to be envious of Boughton's bounteous family; his first wife died in childbirth and the baby died almost immediately after her. Jack Boughton is a ne'er-do-well, Ames knows it and strives to love him as he knows he should. Jack arrives in Gilead after a long absence, full of charm and mischief, causing Ames to wonder what influence he might have on Ames's young wife and son when Ames dies. These are the things that Ames tells his son about: his ancestors, the nature of love and friendship, the part that faith and prayer play in every life and an awareness of one's own culpability. There is also reconciliation without resignation, self-awareness without deprecation, abundant good humor, philosophical queries--Jack asks, "'Do you ever wonder why American Christianity seems to wait for the real thinking to be done elsewhere?'"--and an ongoing sense of childlike wonder at the beauty and variety of God's world. In Marilynne Robinson's hands, there is a balm in Gilead, as the old spiritual tells us. --Valerie Ryan</p>


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SUMMARY: On a grey morning in 1923, Virginia Woolf is awakened by a dream which will become Mrs. Dalloway. In present-day Greenwich Village, Clarissa Vaughan is planning a part for her dearest love, a poet dying of AIDS. And in Los Angeles in 1949, Laura Brown -- pregnant and feeling stifled by her life -- is compulsively reading the works of Virginia Woolf. Cunningham moves seamlessly between the three women in a passionate, profound and deeply moving ode to consciousness.


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SUMMARY: An old man lies dying. Confined to bed in his living room, he sees the walls around him begin to collapse, the windows come loose from their sashes, and the ceiling plaster fall off in great chunks, showering him with a lifetime of debris: newspaper clippings, old photographs, wool jackets, rusty tools, and the mangled brass works of antique clocks. Soon, the clouds from the sky above plummet down on top of him, followed by the stars, till the black night covers him like a shroud. He is hallucinating, in death throes from cancer and kidney failure. A methodical repairer of clocks, he is now finally released from the usual constraints of time and memory to rejoin his father, an epileptic, itinerant peddler, whom he had lost seven decades before. In his return to the wonder and pain of his impoverished childhood in the backwoods of Maine, he recovers a natural world that is at once indifferent to man and inseparable from him, menacing and awe inspiring. Tinkers is about the legacy of consciousness and the porousness of identity from one generation to the next. At once heartbreaking and life affirming, it is an elegiac meditation on love, loss, and the fierce beauty of nature.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: As the American century draws to an uneasy close, Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all our century's promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss. Roth's protagonist is Swede Levov, a legendary athlete at his Newark high school, who grows up in the booming postwar years to marry a former Miss New Jersey, inherit his father's glove factory, and move into a stone house in the idyllic hamlet of Old Rimrock. And then one day in 1968, Swede's beautiful American luck deserts him.For Swede's adored daughter, Merry, has grown from a loving, quick-witted girl into a sullen, fanatical teenager—a teenager capable of an outlandishly savage act of political terrorism. And overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longer-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk. Compulsively readable, propelled by sorrow, rage, and a deep compassion for its characters, this is Roth's masterpiece.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>One of the great classics of American fiction reissued as it was originally written.Winner of the 1947 Pulitzer Prize, All the King's Men is one of the most famous and widely read works in American fiction. Its original publication by Harcourt catapulted author Robert Penn Warren to fame and made the novel a bestseller for many seasons. Set in the 1930s, it traces the rise and fall of demagogue Willie Talos, a fictional Southern politician who resembles the real-life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. Talos begins his career as an idealistic man of the people, but he soon becomes corrupted by success, caught between dreams of service and a lust for power. All the King's Men is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago.In a momentous publishing event, Robert Penn Warren's masterpiece has been restored and reintroduced by literary scholar Noel Polk, whose work on the texts of William Faulkner has proved so important to American literature. Polk presents the novel as it was originally written, and without the deletions required by its original editors. The result restores Warren's complexity and subtlety to an already near-perfect work, charging the characters with an energy and a more tangled web of relationships than previously was available. All the King's Men is a landmark in letters. This new edition brings it fully to life."The publication of a new, corrected edition of All the King's Men is welcome news for all who care about American literature. Robert Penn Warren's prize-winning novel has remained a classic since its publication more than half a century ago. Editor Noel Polk has studied the manuscript and all other available versions of Warren's finest novels, eliminating errors and retrieving deleted material. The result has been to enrich the character of narrator Jack Burden and his protagonist, Willie Talos, in this story of tumultuous Louisiana politics which also has implications for morals and manners in the modern world." -Joseph Blotner, author of Robert Penn Warren: A Biography</p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>Novel by Saul Bellow, published in 1975. The novel, which won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976, is a self-described "comic book about death," whose title character is modeled on the self-destructive lyric poet Delmore Schwartz. Charlie Citrine, an intellectual, middle-aged author of award-winning biographies and plays, contemplates two significant figures and philosophies in his life: Von Humboldt Fleisher, a dead poet who had been his mentor, and Rinaldo Cantabile, a very-much-alive minor mafioso who has been the bane of Humboldt's existence. Humboldt had taught Charlie that art is powerful and that one should be true to one's creative spirit. Rinaldo, Charlie's self-appointed financial adviser, has always urged Charlie to use his art to turn a profit. At the novel's end, Charlie has managed to set his own course. -- __</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>A chronicle of success and failure, this work is Bellow's tale of the writer's life in America. When Humboldt dies a failure in a seedy New York hotel, Charlie Citrine coping with the tribulations of his own success, begins to realize the significance of his own life. </p> </div>


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SUMMARY: Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Willa Cather's Pulitzer Prize-winning narrative of the making of a young American soldierClaude Wheeler, the sensitive, aspiring protagonist of this beautifully modulated novel, resembles the youngest son of a peculiarly American fairy tale. His fortune is ready-made for him, but he refuses to settle for it. Alienated from his crass father and pious mother, all but rejected by a wife who reserves her ardor for missionary work, and dissatisfied with farming, Claude is an idealist without an ideal to cling to. It is only when his country enters the First World War that Claude finds what he has been searching for all his life.In One of Ours Willa Cather explores the destiny of a grandchild of the pioneers, a young Nebraskan whose yearnings impel him toward a frontier bloodier and more distant than the one that vanished before his birth. In doing so, she creates a canny and extraordinarily vital portrait of an American psyche at once skeptical and romantic, restless and heroic.</p>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>This grand misadventure is the story of three unlikely thieves, or reivers: 11-year-old Lucius Priest and two of his family's retainers. In 1905, these three set out from Mississippi for Memphis in a stolen motorcar. The astonishing and complicated results reveal Faulkner as a master of the picaresque. </p><h3>From the Publisher</h3><p>This product is not a traditionally bound book. Many ProQuest UMI products are black-and-white reproductions of original publications produced through the Books On Demand ® program. Alternately, this product may be a photocopy of a dissertation or it may be a collection reproduced on microfiche or microfilm if it is intended for library purchase. </p> </div>


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<div><div>“Well, let me see,” I said, as the innkeeper poured me a beer. “In the morning I discovered the secret of changing base metal into gold. In the afternoon, I murdered my wife.”</div><div><br></div><div>For a man as remarkable as the philosopher Saloninus, just another day.</div><div><br></div><div>Of course, we only have his word for it, and Saloninus has been known to be creative with the truth. Little white lies are inevitable expedients when you’re one jump ahead of the secret police and on the brink of one of the greatest discoveries in the history of alchemy. But why would a scientist with the world’s most generous, forgiving patron be so desperate to run away? And what, if anything, has blue got to do with gold? </div></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>It's the largest oil spill in history: a crashed supertanker in San Francisco Bay. Desperate to avert environmental damageand a PR disasterthe multinational oil company releases an untested "designer microbe" to break up the spill. An "oil-eating" microbe, designed to consume anything made of petrocarbons: oil, gasoline, synthetic fabrics, and of course plastic. What the company doesn't realize is that their microbe propagates through the air. But when every car in the Bay Area turns up with an empty gas tank, they begin to suspect something is terribly wrong. And when, in just a few days, every piece of plastic in the world has dissolved, it's too late...</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Philip Marlowe marries a rich, beautiful society lady who wants him to settledown. But old habits die hard, and Marlowe soon is back in business, enmeshedin a case involving pornography, bigamy, and murder. 2 cassettes.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Nearly a quarter-century after her death, Agatha Christie remains the most popular mystery writer of all time. Now, in a celebrated publishing event, fans and newcomers alike are treated to another Christie novel. Created in 1930 as a stage play and faithfully adapted by Charles Osborne, Black Coffee brings back beloved detective Hercule Poirot to exercise his "little grey cells" one more deliciously deductive time... An urgent call from physicist Sir Claud Amory sends famed detective Hercule Poirot rushing from London to a sprawling country estate. Sir Claud fears a member of his own household wants to steal a secret formula destined for the Ministry of Defense. But Poirot arrives too late. The formula is missing. Worse, Sir Claud has been poisoned by his after-dinner coffee. Poirot soon identifies a potent brew of despair, treachery, and deception amid the mansion's occupants. Now he must find the formula and the killer...while letting no poison slip 'twix his low lips.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Woman in White (1859-60) is the first and greatest "Sensation Novel." Walter Hartright's mysterious midnight encounter with the woman in white draws him into a vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue. This new critical edition is the first to use the original manuscript of the novel. John Sutherland examines Collins's contribution to Victorian fiction, traces his practices as a creator of plot, and provides a chronology of the novel's complicated events.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson, by Emily Dickinson, is part of the Barnes &amp; Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes &amp; Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices &amp; Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes &amp; Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1830, Dickinson began life as an energetic, outgoing young woman who excelled as a student. However, in her mid-twenties she began to grow reclusive, and eventually she rarely descended from her room in her father’s house. She spent most of her time working on her poetry, largely without encouragement or real interest from her family and peers, and died at age fifty-five. Only a handful of her 1,775 poems had been published during her lifetime. When her poems finally appeared after her death, readers immediately recognized an artist whose immense depth and stylistic complexities would one day make her the most widely recognized female poet to write in the English language. Dickinson’s poetry is remarkable for its tightly controlled emotional and intellectual energy. The longest poem covers less than two pages. Yet in theme and tone her writing reaches for the sublime as it charts the landscape of the human soul. A true innovator, Dickinson experimented freely with conventional rhythm and meter, and often used dashes, off rhymes, and unusual metaphors—techniques that strongly influenced modern poetry. Dickinson’s idiosyncratic style, along with her deep resonance of thought and her observations about life and death, love and nature, and solitude and society, have firmly established her as one of America’s true poetic geniuses.Includes an index of first lines.Rachel Wetzsteon is Assistant Professor of English at William Paterson University. She has published two books of poems, The Other Stars and Home and Away.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume II, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is part of the Barnes &amp; Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes &amp; Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices &amp; Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes &amp; Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. The Complete Sherlock Holmes comprises four novels and fifty-six short stories revolving around the world’s most popular and influential fictional detective—the eccentric, arrogant, and ingenious Sherlock Holmes. He and his trusted friend, Dr. Watson, step from Holmes’s comfortable quarters at 221b Baker Street into the swirling fog of Victorian London to combine detailed observation and vast knowledge with brilliant deduction. Inevitably, Holmes rescues the innocent, confounds the guilty, and solves the most perplexing puzzles known to literature. Volume II of The Complete Sherlock Holmes begins with The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, tired of writing about Holmes, had killed him off at the end of “The Final Problem,” the last tale in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (found in Volume I of The Complete Sherlock Holmes). Public demand for new Holmes stories was so great, however, that Conan Doyle eventually resurrected him. The first story in The Return, “The Adventure of the Empty House,” features Conan Doyle’s infamously inventive explanation of how Holmes escaped what seemed like certain death.This volume also includes two other collections of Holmes stories, His Last Bow and The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes; Conan Doyle’s final full-length Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear; a pair of parodies, “The Field Bazaar” and “How Watson Learned the Trick”; and two essays about the “private life” of the beloved sleuth. Kyle Freeman, a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast for many years, earned two graduate degrees in English literature from Columbia University, where his major was twentieth-century British literature.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)A spectacular best seller and now a classic, The Name of the Rose catapulted Umberto Eco, an Italian professor of semiotics turned novelist, to international prominence. An erudite murder mystery set in a fourteenth-century monastery, it is not only a gripping story but also a brilliant exploration of medieval philosophy, history, theology, and logic.In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville is sent to investigate a wealthy Italian abbey whose monks are suspected of heresy. When his mission is overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths patterned on the book of Revelation, Brother William turns detective, following the trail of a conspiracy that brings him face-to-face with the abbey’s labyrinthine secrets, the subversive effects of laughter, and the medieval Inquisition. Caught in a power struggle between the emperor he serves and the pope who rules the Church, Brother William comes to see that what is at stake is larger than any mere political dispute–that his investigation is being blocked by those who fear imagination, curiosity, and the power of ideas. The Name of the Rose offers the reader not only an ingeniously constructed mystery—complete with secret symbols and coded manuscripts—but also an unparalleled portrait of the medieval world on the brink of profound transformation.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Outside the golden city of Troy, Prince Hektor leads the Trojan cavalry in daring raids against the forces led by his young rival, the peerless warrior Achilles. Meanwhile, burning for vengeance after the brutal murder of his wife, Helikaon commands the Trojan fleet, sowing misery and death among the Mykene navy and supply ships. But even these mighty efforts are of scant avail against the hordes of battle-hardened Mykene infantry, the Myrmidon soldiers of Achilles, and the cunning strategies of Odysseus, compelled against his heart’s urgings to aid the cause of Agamemnon.Now, before the gates of Troy, Hektor and Achilles will find themselves inexorably drawn into a battle of champions that will decide the fate of the innocents trapped within the city walls. There, as King Priam slips into madness, Andromache–wife of Hektor, lover of Helikaon, mother, warrior, and priestess–must navigate a maze of treachery and danger to save her children and her city from the massacre about to unfold.</p>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett's archetypally tough San Francisco detective, is more <em>noir</em> than __ and more vulnerable than Raymond Chandler's Marlowe. In <em>The Maltese Falcon</em>, the best known of Hammett's Sam Spade novels (including <strong> and </strong>), Spade is tough enough to bluff the toughest thugs and hold off the police, risking his reputation when a beautiful woman begs for his help, while knowing that betrayal may deal him a new hand in the next moment.</p><p>Spade's partner is murdered on a stakeout; the cops blame him for the killing; a beautiful redhead with a heartbreaking story appears and disappears; grotesque villains demand a payoff he can't provide; and everyone wants a fabulously valuable gold statuette of a falcon, created as tribute for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. Who has it? And what will it take to get it back? Spade's solution is as complicated as the motives of the seekers assembled in his hotel room, but the truth can be a cold comfort indeed.</p><p>Spade is bigger (and blonder) in the book than in the <strong>, and his Mephistophelean countenance is by turns seductive and volcanic. Sam knows how to fight, whom to call, how to rifle drawers and secrets without leaving a trace, and just the right way to call a woman "Angel" and convince her that she is. He is the quintessence of intelligent cool, with a wise guy's perfect pitch. If you only know the movie, read the book. If you're riveted by </strong> or wonder where Robert B. Parker's Spenser gets his comebacks, read the master. <em>--Barbara Schlieper</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>"Dashiell Hammett. . . is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer." --<strong>The Boston Globe</strong>  </p><p>"<strong>The Maltese Falcon</strong> is not only probably the best detective story we have ever read, it is an exceedingly well written novel."--<strong>The Times Literary Supplement</strong> (London)  </p><p>"Hammett's prose [is] clean and entirely unique.  His characters [are] as sharply and economically defined as any in American fiction."--<strong>The New York Times</strong>  </p><p><em>From the Trade Paperback edition.</em> -- <em>Review</em></p></div>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">*The Scarlet Letter*, by **Nathaniel Hawthorne**, is part of the *Barnes &amp; Noble Classics** *series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of *Barnes &amp; Noble Classics*: New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices &amp; Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. *Barnes &amp; Noble Classics *pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. America’s first psychological novel, **Nathaniel Hawthorne’s** *The Scarlet Letter* is a dark tale of love, crime, and revenge set in colonial New England. It revolves around a single, forbidden act of passion that forever alters the lives of three members of a small Puritan community: Hester Prynne, an ardent and fierce woman who bears the punishment of her sin in humble silence; the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a respected public figure who is inwardly tormented by long-hidden guilt; and the malevolent Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband—a man who seethes with an Ahab-like lust for vengeance. The landscape of this classic novel is uniquely American, but the themes it explores are universal—the nature of sin, guilt, and penitence, the clash between our private and public selves, and the spiritual and psychological cost of living outside society. Constructed with the elegance of a Greek tragedy, *The Scarlet Letter* brilliantly illuminates the truth that lies deep within the human heart. **Nancy Stade** is trained as a lawyer and has worked in the federal government and the private sector. She currently lives in Mexico, where she is working on a novel.</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A new caliber of thriller set at the collision of rs"60s counterculture and the rise of dark forces in world government.Heroescreator Tim Kring injects history with a supernatural, hallucinogenic what-if. Set in the crucible of the 1960s,Shiftis the story of Chandler Forrestal, a man whose life is changed forever when he is unwittingly dragged into a CIA mind-control experiment. After being given a massive dose of LSD, Chandler deshy;velops a frightening array of mental powers. With his one-in-a-billion brain chemistry, Chandlerrs"s heightened perception uncovers a plot to assassishy;nate President Kennedy. Propelled to prevent the conspiracy of assassishy;nation and anarchy, Chandler becomes a target for deadly forces in and out of the government and is pursued across a simmering landscape peopled by rogue CIA agents, Cuban killers, Mafia madmen, and ex-Nazi scientistshellip;all the while haunted by a beautiful woman with her own scandalous past to purge, her own score to settle. Chased across America, will Chandler be able to harness his "shift" and rewrite history? Combining the nonstop style of Ludlum with the sinister, tangled conspiracies of DeLillo and Dick, and featuring cameos from Lee Harvey Oswald to Timothy Leary to J. Edgar Hoover,Shiftis a thriller guaranteed to be equal parts heart-stopping and thought-provoking. From the Hardcover edition.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>One of the most influential literary works of our time, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a dazzling and original achievement by the masterful Gabriel García Márquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.   One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women -- brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul -- this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.</p>


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<div><p><em>(N.B.  this new edition has corrected the formatting issues that has been voiced by some Lovecraft fans...)</em><strong> </strong></p> <p><b>CONTENTS:</b></p> <p>The Nameless City<br>The Festival<br>The Colour out of Space<br>The Call of Cthulhu<br>The Dunwich Horror<br>The Whisperer in Darkness<br>Dreams in the Witch-house<br>The Haunter of the Dark<br>The Shadow over Innsmouth<br>The Shadow out of Time<br>At the Mountain of Madness<br>The Case of Charles Dexter Ward<br>Azathoth<br>Beyond the Wall of Sleep<br>Celephais<br>Cool Air<br>Dagon<br>Ex Oblivione<br>Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family<br>From Beyond<br>He<br>Herbert West: Reanimator<br>Hypnos<br>Imprisoned with the Pharaohs<br>In the Vault<br>Medusa's Coil<br>Memory<br>Nyarlathotep<br>Pickman's Model<br>Poetry of the Gods<br>The Alchemist<br>The Beast in the Cave<br>The Book<br>The Cats of Ulthar<br>The Crawling Chaos<br>The Descendant<br>The Doom That Came to Sarnath<br>The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath<br>The Evil Clergyman<br>The Horror at Martin's Beach<br>The Horror at Red Hook<br>The Hound<br>The Lurking Fear<br>The Moon Bog<br>The Music of Erich Zann<br>The Other Gods<br>The Outsider<br>The Picture in the House<br>The Quest of Iranon<br>The Rats in the Walls<br>The Shunned House<br>The Silver Key<br>The Statement of Randolph Carter<br>The Strange High House in the Mist<br>The Street<br>The Temple<br>The Terrible Old Man<br>The Thing on the Doorstep<br>The Tomb<br>The Transition of Juan Romero<br>The Tree<br>The Unnamable<br>The White Ship<br>Through the Gates of the Silver Key<br>What the Moon Brings<br>Polaris<br>The Very Old Folk</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>There is a distinct hint of Armageddon in the air. According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (recorded, thankfully, in 1655, before she blew up her entire village and all its inhabitants, who had gathered to watch her burn), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, the Four Bikers of the Apocalypse are revving up their mighty hogs and hitting the road, and the world's last two remaining witch-finders are getting ready to fight the good fight, armed with awkwardly antiquated instructions and stick pins. Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. . . . Right. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan.   Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon -- each of whom has lived among Earth's mortals for many millennia and has grown rather fond of the lifestyle -- are not particularly looking forward to the coming Rapture. If Crowley and Aziraphale are going to stop it from happening, they've got to find and kill the Antichrist (which is a shame, as he's a really nice kid). There's just one glitch: someone seems to have misplaced him. . . .   First published in 1990, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's brilliantly dark and screamingly funny take on humankind's final judgment is back -- and just in time -- in a new hardcover edition (which includes an introduction by the authors, comments by each about the other, and answers to some still-burning questions about their wildly popular collaborative effort) that the devout and the damned alike will surely cherish until the end of all things.</p>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">The Godfather is the Mafia leader Vito Corleone, a benevolent despot who stops at nothing to gain and hold power. Set in Long Island, Hollywood and Sicily, this is a story of a feudal society within society which does not hesitate to consolidate its power.</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A brilliantly inventive alternate history by the two biggest names in Cyberpunk, Gibson and Sterling, about a 19th century computer revolution arising from the invention of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine--a forerunner of today's computer based on mechanical principles rather than electronic technology.</p>


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<p class="description">From Publishers Weekly Editors Strahan (Eclipse 3) and Anders (Fast Forward 2) present 17 original stories that recall the classic works of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber. To earn the book's subtitle of The New Sword and Sorcery, Gene Wolfe puts on literary airs (Bloodsport); Tim Lebbon contributes some of the graphic horror and moral twists of the New Weird (The Deification of Dal Balmore); and Caitlín R. Kiernan introduces a complicated heroine rescued by the ostensible villain (The Sea Troll's Daughter). But most of the stories are more traditional tales of apprentice mages coming-of-age and down-on-their-luck mercenaries facing unexpected perils. Fans of the classics will appreciate the tie-ins to familiar series by Michael Moorcock, Glen Cook, and Robert Silverberg, plus a fully authorized Cugel the Clever cameo by Michael Shea. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Product Description Seventeen original tales of sword and sorcery penned by masters old and new Elric . . . the Black Company . . . Majipoor. For years, these have been some of the names that have captured the hearts of generations of readers and embodied the sword and sorcery genre. And now some of the most beloved and bestselling fantasy writers working today deliver stunning all-new sword and sorcery stories in an anthology of small stakes but high action, grim humor mixed with gritty violence, fierce monsters and fabulous treasures, and, of course, swordplay. Don't miss the adventure of the decade!</p>


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SUMMARY:
Winner of six Nebula and five Hugo awards, Connie Willis is one of the most acclaimed and imaginative authors of our time.  Her startling and powerful works have redefined the boundaries of contemporary science fiction.  Here in one volume are twelve of her greatest stories, including double award-winner "Fire Watch," set in the universe of Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, in which a time-traveling student learns one of history's hardest lessons.  In "A Letter from the Clearys," a routine message from distant friends shatters the fragile world of a beleaguered family.  In "The Sidon in the Mirror," a mutant with the unconscious urge to become other people finds himself becoming both killer and victim.  Disturbing, revealing, and provocative, this remarkable collection of short fiction brings together some of the best work of an incomparable writer whose ability to amaze, confound, and enlighten never fails.


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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Willis's short novel could hardly be more different from her last, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Doomsday Book , which dealt with a time-travelling jaunt from the 21st-century back to Europe during the days of the Black Plague. On a rather nondescript alien planet, two hardy planetary surveyors (Findriddy and Carson), a visiting "socioexozoologist" (Evelyn Parker) and their alien guide (Bult) embark on a mapping expedition. To avoid any appearance of imperialistic insensitivity, the government has imposed strict rules on the surveyors and allows indigenous guides to fine them. Willis plays it mainly as a farce: Bult takes full advantage of the situation, coming up with creative fines and spending the proceeds on umbrellas, shower curtains, slot machines and the like. Parker prattles on about the bizarre mating habits of various species, while Fin and Carson bicker like an old married couple. It's all fairan old married couple. It's all fairly amusing, though by the end the story hasn't really gone anywhere--Willis ties up the loose ends and returns to the beginning with Fin and Carson resuming the spat over a lost pair of binoculars which they were having on page one. A pleasant diversion, but there's little for the reader to take away when she's done. <br />Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Planetary surveyors Fin and Carson battle hostile terrain, bureaucratic red tape, and renegade "planet crashers" in this latest novella by the talented author of Doomsday Book (LJ 5/15/92). Willis continues to demonstrate her endless versatility in this archly written satire, which is both a love story and a shameless expose of the dark side of political correctness. A first-rate purchase for sf collections.<br />Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In her first novel since 2002, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author Connie Willis returns with a stunning, enormously entertaining novel of time travel, war, and the deeds-great and small-of ordinary people who shape history. In the hands of this acclaimed storyteller, the past and future collide-and the result is at once intriguing, elusive, and frightening. Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place. Scores of time-traveling historians are being sent into the past, to destinations including the American Civil War and the attack on the World Trade Center. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser, Mr. Dunworthy, into letting her go to VE Day. Polly Churchill's next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London's Blitz. And seventeen-year-old Colin Templer, who has a major crush on Polly, is determined to go to the Crusades so that he can "catch up" to her in age. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments for no apparent reason and switching around everyone's schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s, and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history-to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past. From the people sheltering in the tube stations of London to the retired sailors who set off across the Channel to rescue the stranded British Army from Dunkirk, from shopgirls to ambulance drivers, from spies to hospital nurses to Shakespearean actors, Blackout reveals a side of World War II seldom seen before: a dangerous, desperate world in which there are no civilians and in which everybody-from the Queen down to the lowliest barmaid-is determined to do their bit to help a beleaguered nation survive.</p>


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SUMMARY: Introduce your students to award-winning books with these engaging teaching guides. Each guide includes an author biography, chapter summaries, creative cross-curricular activities, vocabulary builders, reproducibles, and discussion questions.


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Amazon.com Review
Each year science fiction's premiere short fiction editor, Gardner Dozois, collects dozens of excellent stories in a chunky volume that is eagerly anticipated by readers and writers alike. The 15th annual collection includes 28 stories in all, culled from the pages of Dozois's magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, as well as from competing publications, anthologies, and even a few online fiction zines. The names read like a Who's Who of the sci-fi field: Robert Silverberg, Nancy Kress, Greg Egan, Peter F. Hamilton, Gregory Benford, Walter Jon Williams, and more. The stories are the best of the best, selected with Dozois's always keen eye for excellence. The anthology also includes an invaluable summation about the state of the science fiction publishing field, and a list of honorable mentions (think of them as almost-made-its) for 1997. --Craig Engler

From Publishers Weekly
There's little doubt that Dozois (Dying for It) is to the 1980s and 1990s what John W. Campbell Jr., was to the 1940s and 1950sAthe finest editor in the world of short SF. Asimov's, which he edits, routinely earns half or more of the short-fiction nominations for the Hugo and Nebula awards each year, and his anthologies are equally strong. This collection features nine clearly deserving stories from Asimov's, plus 19 other excellent pieces from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Analog, Science Fiction Age, Interzone and a variety of original anthologies and less well-known magazines. The stories range widely in type, from the highly literate work of John Kessel and James Patrick Kelly to the hard SF of G. David Nordley and Geoffrey A. Landis; from the alternate history of William Sanders and Howard Waldrop to the upscale space opera of Walter Jon Williams and Robert Reed. Among the best-known writers represented are Robert Silverberg, Nancy Kress and Gregory Benford. Of particular interest is the large number of non-American writers. Brits Paul J. McAuley, Stephen Baxter, Peter F. Hamilton, Gwyneth Jones, Ian McDonald and Brian Stableford, along with the hot Australian writer Greg Egan (represented by two stories), contribute nearly half the volume. Also included are Dozois's usual summation of the year in SF and his valuable list of honorable mentions. This anthology represents contemporary SF at its very best. (June) FYI: Dozois is a nine-time winner of the Hugo Award for best editor.
SUMMARY:
Gardner Dozois, science fiction's foremost editor, consistently selects the field's best work each year with this showcase anthology. This year's collection presents sterling work from veterans and newcomers alike, including Stephen Baxter, Alan Brennert, Carolyn Ives Gilman, James Patrick Kelly, Geoffrey A. Landis, Paul J. McAuley, Robert Reed, William Sanders, Howard Waldrop, and many others. Rounded out with Dozois's insightful Summation of the Year in SF and a long list of Honorable Mentions, this anthology is the book for every science fiction fan.


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SUMMARY:
David Hartwell's guiding principle for his annual science fiction anthologies is that the stories be clearly science fiction--not fantasy, horror, or postmodern. As always, for the 2001 edition he has chosen stories representing the best of the SF field, along with several short pieces published in Nature magazine as part of a millennium celebration. Don't miss Tananarive Due's "Patient Zero," which assumes Greg Egan's frequent spotlight on medical SF (this year Egan covers philosophy vs. science in his alternate history "Oracle"); Stephen Dedman's detective story about amputation, "The Devotee"; Stephen Baxter's hard SF "Sheena 5," which is about an enhanced squid and her mission; Ursula K. LeGuin's anthropological tale "The Birthday of the World"; or Nancy Kress's succinct, pithy "To Cuddle Amy." 2001 Hugo Award nominees include "Seventy-Two Letters" by Ted Chiang, "Oracle" by Greg Egan, and short story winner "Different Kinds of Darkness" by David Langford. --Bonnie Bouman

    * James Patrick Kelly: "Think Like a Dinosaur" (Originally in Asimov's, 1995)
    * Patricia A. McKillip: "Wonders of the Invisible World" (Originally in Full Spectrum 5, 1995)
    * Robert Silverberg: "Hot Times in Magma City" (Originally in Omni Online, 1995)
    * Stephen Baxter: "Gossamer" (Originally in Science Fiction Age, 1995)
    * Gregory Benford: "A Worm in the Well" (Originally in Analog, 1995)
    * William Browning Spencer: "Downloading Midnight" (Originally in Tomorrow, 1995)
    * Joe Haldeman: "For White Hill" (Originally in Far Futures, 1995)
    * William Barton: "In Saturn Time" (Originally in Amazing Stories: The Anthology, 1995)
    * Ursula K. Le Guin: "Coming of Age in Karhide" (Originally in New Legends, 1995)
    * Roger Zelazny: "The Three Descents of Jeremy Baker" (Originally in F&SF, 1995)
    * Nancy Kress: "Evolution" (Originally in Asimov's, 1995)
    * Robert Sheckley: "The Day the Aliens Came" (Originally in New Legends, 1995)
    * Joan Slonczewski: "Microbe" (Originally in Analog, 1995)
    * Gene Wolfe: "The Ziggurat" (Originally in Full Spectrum 5, 1995)


text:
SUMMARY:
Travel farther than you've ever dreamed   Man has mused about the nature of our universe since he first gazed up in wonder at the stars. Now some of the most fertile imaginations in speculative fiction offer bold and breathtaking visions of "what's out there" and "what's next" in the eleventh annual celebration of the very best short SF to appear over the past year.   Once again, acclaimed editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have compiled an extraordinary collection featuring stunning works from modern masters as well as dazzling gems from brilliant new talents -- tales that carry the reader to the far corners of the galaxy and beyond, into hitherto unexplored regions. Get ready to take glorious flight on a journey to the miraculous.

    * David Langford: "New Hope for the Dead" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Hannu Rajaniemi: "Deus Ex Homine" (Originally in Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction, 2005)
    * Gardner R. Dozois: "When the Great Days Came" (Originally in F&SF, 2005)
    * Daryl Gregory: "Second Person, Present Tense" (Originally in Asimov's, 2005)
    * Justina Robson: "Dreadnought" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Ken MacLeod: "A Case of Consilience" (Originally in Nova Scotia, 2005)
    * Tobias S. Buckell: "Toy Planes" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Neal Asher: "Mason's Rats" (Originally in Asimov's, 2005)
    * Vonda N. McIntyre: "A Modest Proposal" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Rudy Rucker: "Guadalupe and Hieronymus Bosch" (Originally in Interzone, 2005)
    * Peter F. Hamilton: "The Forever Kitten" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Matthew Jarpe: "City of Reason" (Originally in Asimov's, 2005)
    * Bruce Sterling: "Ivory Tower" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Lauren McLaughlin: "Sheila" (Originally in Interzone, 2005)
    * Paul McAuley: "Rats of the System" (Originally in Constellations, 2005)
    * Larissa Lai: "I Love Liver: A Romance" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * James Patrick Kelly: "The Edge of Nowhere" (Originally in Asimov's, 2005)
    * Ted Chiang: "What's Expected of Us" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Michael Swanwick: "Girls and Boys, Come Out to Play" (Originally in Asimov's, 2005)
    * Stephen Baxter: "Lakes of Light" (Originally in Constellations, 2005)
    * Oliver Morton: "The Albian Message" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Bud Sparhawk: "Bright Red Star" (Originally in Asimov's, 2005)
    * Alaya Dawn Johnson: "Third Day Lights" (Originally in Interzone, 2005)
    * Greg Bear: "Ram Shift Phase 2" (Originally in Nature, 2005)
    * Gregory Benford: "On the Brane" (Originally in Gateways, 2005)
    * R. Garcia y Robertson: "Oxygen Rising" (Originally in Asimov's, 2005)
    * Adam Roberts: "And Future King..." (Originally in Postscripts, 2005)
    * Alastair Reynolds: "Beyond the Aquila Rift" (Originally in Constellations, 2005)
    * Joe Haldeman: "Angel of Light" (Originally in Cosmos, 2005)
    * Liz Williams: "Ikiryoh" (Originally in Asimov's, 2005)
    * Cory Doctorow: "I, Robot" (Originally in The Infinite Matrix, 2005)


text:
SUMMARY:
The thirteenth annual collection of the previous year's finest short-form sf is at hand. Once again, award-winning editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have gathered together a stunning array of science fiction that spans a veritable universe of astonishing visions and bold ideas. Hitherto unexplored galaxies of the mind are courageously traversed by some of the most exciting new talents in the field—while well-established masters rocket to remarkable new heights of artistry and originality. The stars are closer and more breathtaking than ever before—and a miraculous future now rests in your hands—within the pages of Year's Best SF 13.

    * Johanna Sinisalo: "Baby Doll" (Original English translation in The SFWA European Hall of Fame, 2007)
    * Tony Ballantyne: "Aristotle OS" (Originally in Fast Forward 1, 2007)
    * John Kessel: "The Last American" (Originally in Foundation 100, 2007)
    * Gene Wolfe: "Memorare" (Originally in F&SF, 2007)
    * Kage Baker: "Plotters and Shooters" (Originally in Fast Forward 1, 2007)
    * Peter Watts: "Repeating the Past" (Originally in Nature, 2007)
    * Stephen Baxter: "No More Stories" (Originally in Fast Forward 1, 2007)
    * Robyn Hitchcock: "They Came From the Future" (Originally in Fast Forward 1, 2007)
    * Gwyneth Jones: "The Tomb Wife" (Originally in F&SF, 2007)
    * Marc Laidlaw: "An Evening's Honest Peril" (Originally in Flurb #3, 2007)
    * Nancy Kress: "End Game" (Originally in Asimov's, 2007)
    * Greg Egan: "Induction" (Originally in Foundation 100, 2007)
    * Bernhard Ribbeck: "A Blue and Cloudless Sky" (Original English translation in The SFWA European Hall of Fame, 2007)
    * Gregory Benford: "Reasons Not to Publish" (Originally in Nature, 2007)
    * William Shunn: "Objective Impermeability in a Closed System" (Originally in An Alternate History of the 21st Century, 2007)
    * Karen Joy Fowler: "Always" (Originally in Asimov's, 2007)
    * Ken MacLeod: "Who's Afraid of Wolf 359?" (Originally in The New Space Opera, 2007)
    * Tim Pratt: "Artifice and Intelligence" (Originally in Strange Horizons, 2007)
    * Terry Bisson: "Pirates of the Somali Coast" (Originally in Subterranean 7, 2007)
    * Ian McDonald: "Sanjeev and Robotwallah" (Originally in Fast Forward 1, 2007)
    * Tony Ballantyne: "Third Person" (Originally in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, 2007)
    * Kathleen Ann Goonan: "The Bridge" (Originally in Asimov's, 2007)
    * John G. Hemry: "As You Know, Bob" (Originally in Analog, 2007)
    * Bruce Sterling: "The Lustration" (Originally in Eclipse 1, 2007)
    * James Van Pelt: "How Music Begins" (Originally in Asimov's, 2007)


text:
SUMMARY:
Unique visions and astonishments—new stories by: Tobias S. Buckell and Karl Schroeder Cory Doctorow Neil Gaiman Kathleen Ann Goonan Alastair Reynolds Michael Swanwick Last year's best short-form SF—selected by acclaimed, award-winning editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer—offers stunning new extrapolations on what awaits humankind beyond the next dawn. The art of the story is explored boldly and provocatively in this powerful new collection of Year's Best speculative fiction.

    * Carolyn Ives Gilman: "Arkfall" (2008)
    * Neil Gaiman: "Orange" (2008)
    * Kathleen Ann Goonan: "Memory Dog" (2008)
    * Paolo Bacigalupi: "Pump Six" (Originally in Pump Six and Other Stories, 2008)
    * Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette: "Boojum" (2008)
    * Ted Chiang: "Exhalation" (2008)
    * M. Rickert: "Traitor" (Originally in F&SF, 2008)
    * Cory Doctorow: "The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away" (2008)
    * Vandana Singh: "Oblivion: A Journey" (2008)
    * Robert Reed: "The House Left Empty" (Originally in Asimov's, 2008)
    * Michael Swanwick: "The Scarecrow’s Boy" (Originally in F&SF, 2008)
    * Ted Kosmatka: "N-Words" (2008)
    * Alastair Reynolds: "Fury" (2008)
    * Gwyneth Jones (as Ann Halam): "Cheats" (Originally in The Starry Rift, 2008)
    * Jason Sanford: "The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain" (2008)
    * Mary Rosenblum: "The Egg Man" (Originally in Asimov's, 2008)
    * Daryl Gregory: "Glass" (2008)
    * Jeff VanderMeer: "Fixing Hanover" (Originally in Extraordinary Engines, 2008)
    * Rudy Rucker: "Message Found in a Gravity Wave" (Originally in Nature Physics, 2008)
    * Tobias Buckell & Karl Schroeder: "Mitigation" (2008)
    * Sue Burke: "Spiders" (2008)


text:
SUMMARY:
Building on the unprecedented success of last season's Year's Best, award-winning editor David G. Hartwell has once again scoured the magazines and anthologies to bring together the very best of today's edgy, audacious, and innovative SF. Here are machines that dream and stars that sing; tales from notable pros and heretofore unknowns;wondrously diverse stories that share the sense of wonder that is the mark of great science fiction. " Includes stories by:  Gregory Benford, Terry Bisson, James Patrick Kelly, Damon Knight, Joanna Russ, Bruce Sterling, Connie Willis, and many others!

    * Dave Wolverton: "After a Lean Winter" (Originally in F&SF, 1996)
    * Terry Bisson: "In the Upper Room" (Originally in Playboy, 1996)
    * John Brunner: "Thinkertoy" (Originally in The Williamson Effect, 1996)
    * Gregory Benford: "Zoomers" (Originally in Future Net, 1996)
    * Sheila Finch: "Out of the Mouths" (Originally in F&SF, 1996)
    * James Patrick Kelly: "Breakaway, Backdown" (Originally in Asimov's, 1996)
    * Yves Meynard: "Tobacco Words" (Originally in Tomorrow, 1995)
    * Joanna Russ: "Invasion" (Originally in Asimov's, 1996)
    * Brian Stableford: "The House of Mourning" (Originally in Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex, 1996)
    * Damon Knight: "Life Edit" (Originally in Science Fiction Age, 1996)
    * Robert Reed: "First Tuesday" (Originally in F&SF, 1996)
    * David Langford: "The Spear of the Sun" (Originally in Interzone, 1996)
    * Gene Wolfe: "Counting Cats in Zanzibar" (Originally in Asimov's, 1996)
    * Bruce Sterling: "Bicycle Repairman" (Originally in Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology, 1996)
    * Gwyneth Jones: "Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland" (Originally in Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex, 1996)
    * Allen Steele: "Doblin's Lecture" (Originally in Pirate Writings, 1996)
    * Kathleen Ann Goonan: "The Bride of Elvis" (Originally in Science Fiction Age, 1996)
    * Kate Wilhelm: "Forget Luck" (Originally in F&SF, 1996)
    * Connie Willis: "Nonstop to Portales" (Originally in The Williamson Effect, 1996)
    * Stephen Baxter: "Columbiad" (Originally in Science Fiction Age, 1996)


text:
SUMMARY:
The fourth volume in David G. Hartwell's ongoing Year's Best SF anthology series is something of a departure from his previous efforts. This time around, Hartwell has made a conscious decision to seek out great stories from unexpected places, a move that has paid off handsomely. For instance, several of the stories here are from the British SF magazine Interzone (one is a translation of a French piece that first appeared in Galaxies 4), and he has even taken a story from the pages of Popular Science. As usual, however, all of his selections have two things in common: they are all unquestionably works of "science fiction" (which is to say, they do not cross over into other genres such as horror or fantasy), and they are all of excellent quality. Probably the crown jewel of this book is the most talked-about story of 1998, Ted Chiang's "The Story of Your Life." This is only Chiang's fourth story, but he has already earned an impressive number of awards for his work, including the Nebula Award and the J. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Michael Swanwick's piece "Radiant Doors"--which plays off C.M. Kornbluth's classic story "The Marching Morons"-- is also a standout, as is Alexander Jablokov's "Minority Report." In fact, most of these stories are impressive in one way or another, although--as with any collection--some succeed better than others. Overall, this is probably the most representative "Year's Best" collection to appear in recent memory, and it's a shame that Hartwell is limiting himself to just one volume per year. --Craig E. Engler

    * Alexander Jablokov: "Market Report" (First published in Asimov's, 1998)
    * Gregory Benford: "A Dance to Strange Music" (First published in Science Fiction Age, 1998)
    * Norman Spinrad: "The Year of the Mouse" (First published in Asimov's, 1998)
    * Mary Soon Lee: "The Day Before They Came" (First published in Interzone, 1998)
    * Rob Chilson: "The Side of Independence" (First published in F&SF, 1998)
    * Stephen Baxter: "The Twelfth Album" (First published in Interzone, 1998)
    * Ted Chiang: "Story of Your Life" (First published in Starlight 2, 1998)
    * Robert Reed: "Whiptail" (First published in Asimov's, 1998)
    * Mary Rosenblum: "The Eye of God" (First published in Asimov's, 1998)
    * Michael F. Flynn: "Rules of Engagement" (First published in Analog, 1998)
    * Michael Swanwick: "Radiant Doors" (First published in Asimov's, 1998)
    * Jean-Claude Dunyach: "Unraveling the Thread" (First published in Galaxies 4 as "Déchiffrer la Trame," 1997)
    * Dominic Green: "That Thing Over There" (First published in Interzone, 1998)
    * Mark S. Geston: "The Allies" (First published in F&SF, 1998)
    * Ron Goulart: "My Pal Clunky" (First published in Analog, 1998)
    * David Brin: "Life in the Extreme" (First published in Popular Science, 1998)
    * Michael Skeet: "Near Enough to Home" (First published in Arrowdreams, 1998)
    * David Langford: "A Game of Consequences" (First published in Starlight 2, 1998)
    * Nancy Kress: "State of Nature" (First published in Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction, 1998)
    * Bruce Sterling: "Maneki Neko" (First published in F&SF, 1998)


text:
SUMMARY:
In 1996, editor/critic David G. Hartwell began selecting his best-of-the-year stories in an anthology providing an interesting juxtaposition to Gardner Dozois's long-running Year's Best Science Fiction series. Most of Hartwell's picks are by leading authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert Reed, Gene Wolfe, Brian Aldiss, Stephen Baxter, Brian M. Stableford, and Sarah Zettel; several are by less-well-known writers. Don't miss "Game of the Century," "Visit the Sins," "Kinds of Strangers," or "Huddle." Hugo nominees include "Ancient Engines" by Michael Swanwick, "Fossil Games" by Tom Purdom, "Border Guards" by Greg Egan, and "Macs" by Terry Bisson (which also won the Nebula short story award). Small, light, and less costly than most anthologies, Hartwell's fifth collection is one of the series' strongest; almost every one of the 24 stories (plus one poem) makes an enjoyable read. --Bonnie Bouman

    * Geoff Ryman: "Everywhere" (First published in Interzone, 1999)
    * Elisabeth Malartre: "Evolution Never Sleeps" (First published in Asimov's, 1998)
    * Kim Stanley Robinson: "Sexual Dimorphism" (First published in The Martians, 1999)
    * Robert Reed: "Game of the Century" (First published in F&SF, 1999)
    * Michael Bishop: "Secrets of the Alien Reliquary" (First published in Time Pieces, 1998)
    * Sarah Zettel: "Kinds of Strangers" (First published in Analog, 1999)
    * Cory Doctorow: "Visit the Sins" (First published in Asimov's,1999)
    * Greg Egan: "Border Guards" (First published in Interzone, 1999)
    * Terry Bisson: "Macs" (First published in F&SF, 1999)
    * Chris Lawson: "Written in Blood" (First published in Asimov's, 1999)
    * Gene Wolfe: "Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon?" (First published in Moon Shots, 1999)
    * Robert J. Sawyer: "The Blue Planet" (First published as "Mars Reacts!" in The Globe and Mail, 1999)
    * Mary Soon Lee: "Lifework" (First published in Interzone, 1999)
    * Fred Lerner: "Rosetta Stone" (First published in Artemis, 2000)
    * Brian Aldiss: "An Apollo Asteroid" (First published in Moon Shots, 1999)
    * Curt Wohleber: "100 Candles" (First published in Transversions, 1999)
    * G. David Nordley: "Democritus' Violin" (First published in Analog, 1999)
    * Tom Purdom: "Fossil Games" (First published in Asimov's, 1999)
    * Chris Beckett: "Valour" (First published in Interzone, 1999)
    * Stephen Baxter: "Huddle" (First published in F&SF, 1999)
    * Brian M. Stableford: "Ashes and Tombstones" (First published in Moon Shots, 1999)
    * Michael Swanwick: "Ancient Engines" (First published in Asimov's, 1999)
    * Hiroe Suga: "Freckled Figure" (First published in Japanese in 1994, first English publication in Interzone, 1999)
    * Barry N. Malzberg: "Shiva" (First published in Science Fiction Age, 1999)
    * Lucy Sussex: "The Queen of Erewhon" (First published in F&SF, 1999)


text:
SUMMARY:
David Hartwell's guiding principle for his annual science fiction anthologies is that the stories be clearly science fiction--not fantasy, horror, or postmodern. As always, for the 2001 edition he has chosen stories representing the best of the SF field, along with several short pieces published in Nature magazine as part of a millennium celebration. Don't miss Tananarive Due's "Patient Zero," which assumes Greg Egan's frequent spotlight on medical SF (this year Egan covers philosophy vs. science in his alternate history "Oracle"); Stephen Dedman's detective story about amputation, "The Devotee"; Stephen Baxter's hard SF "Sheena 5," which is about an enhanced squid and her mission; Ursula K. LeGuin's anthropological tale "The Birthday of the World"; or Nancy Kress's succinct, pithy "To Cuddle Amy." 2001 Hugo Award nominees include "Seventy-Two Letters" by Ted Chiang, "Oracle" by Greg Egan, and short story winner "Different Kinds of Darkness" by David Langford. --Bonnie Bouman

    * Paul J. McAuley: "Reef" (First published in Skylife: Space Habitats in Story and Science, 2000)
    * David Brin: "Reality Check" (First published in Nature, 2000)
    * Robert Silverberg: "The Millennium Express" (First published in Playboy, 2000)
    * Tananarive Due: "Patient Zero" (First published in F&SF, 2000)
    * Ken MacLeod: "The Oort Cloud" (First published in Nature, 2000)
    * M. Shayne Bell: "The Thing About Benny" (First published in Vanishing Acts, 2000)
    * Brian Stableford: "The Last Supper" (First published in Science Fiction Age, 2000)
    * Joan Slonczewski: "Tuberculosis Bacteria Join UN" (First published in Nature, 2000)
    * Howard Waldrop: "Our Mortal Span" (First published in Black Heart, Ivory Bones, 2000)
    * David Langford: "Different Kinds of Darkness" (First published in F&SF, 2000)
    * Norman Spinrad: "New Ice Age, or Just Cold Feet?" (First published in Nature, 2000)
    * Stephen Dedman: "The Devotee" (First published in Eidolon, 2000)
    * Chris Beckett: "The Marriage of Sky and Sea" (First published in Interzone, 2000)
    * John M. Ford: "In the Days of the Comet" (First published in Nature, 2000)
    * Ursula K. Le Guin: "The Birthday of the World" (First published in F&SF, 2000)
    * Greg Egan: "Oracle" (First published in Asimov's, 2000)
    * Nancy Kress: "To Cuddle Amy" (First published in Asimov's, 2000)
    * Brian W. Aldiss: "Steppenpferd" (First published in F&SF, 2000)
    * Stephen Baxter: "Sheena 5" (First published in Analog, 2000)
    * Darrell Schweitzer: "The Fire Eggs" (First published in Interzone, 2000)
    * Robert Sheckley: "The New Horla" (First published in F&SF, 2000)
    * Dan Simmons: "Madame Bovary, C'est Moi" (First published in Nature, 2000)
    * Robert Reed: "Grandma's Jumpman" (First published in Century, 2000)
    * Chris Dexter Ward: "Bordeaux Mixture" (First published in Nature, 2000)
    * Robert Charles Wilson: "The Dryad's Wedding" (First published in Star Colonies, 2000)
    * Michael F. Flynn: "Built Upon the Sands of Time" (First published in Analog, 2000)
    * Ted Chiang: "Seventy-Two Letters" (First published in Vanishing Acts, 2000)


text:
SUMMARY:
Once again, the year's finest flights of speculative imagination are gathered in one extraordinary volume, compiled by acclaimed editor and anthologist David G. Hartwell. From some of the most renowned visionaries of contemporary SF -- as well as new writers who are already making an indelible mark -- comes an all-new compendium of unparalleled tales of the possible that will enthrall, astonish, terrify, and elate. Stories of strange worlds and mind-boggling futures, of awesome discoveries and apocalyptic disasters, of universes light years distant and deep within the human consciousness, are collected here as SF's brightest lights shine more radiantly than ever before.

    * Nancy Kress: "Computer Virus" (First published in Asimov's, 2001)
    * Terry Bisson: "Charlie's Angels" (First published in Sci Fiction, 2001)
    * Richard Chwedyk: "The Measure of All Things" (First published in F&SF, 2000)
    * Simon Ings: "Russian Vine" (First published in Sci Fiction, 2001)
    * Michael Swanwick: "Under's Game" (First published in Sci Fiction, 2001)
    * Brian W. Aldiss: "A Matter of Mathematics" (First published in Supertoys Last All Summer Long, 2001)
    * Edward M. Lerner: "Creative Destruction" (First published in Analog, 2001)
    * David Morrell: "Resurrection" (First published in Redshift, 2001)
    * James Morrow: "The Cat's Pajamas" (First published in F&SF, 2001)
    * Michael Swanwick: "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" (First published in Asimov's, 2001)
    * Ursula K. Le Guin: "The Building" (First published in Redshift, 2001)
    * Stephen Baxter: "Gray Earth" (First published in Asimov's, 2001)
    * Terry Dowling: "The Lagan Fishers" (First published in Sci Fiction, 2001)
    * Thomas M. Disch: "In Xanadu" (First published in Redshift, 2001)
    * Lisa Goldstein: "The Go-Between" (First published in Asimov's, 2001)
    * Gene Wolfe: "Viewpoint" (First published in Redshift, 2001)
    * Gregory Benford: "Anomalies" (First published in Redshift, 2001)
    * Alastair Reynolds: "Glacial" (First published in Spectrum SF, 2001)
    * James Patrick Kelly: "Undone" (First published in Asimov's, 2001)


text:
SUMMARY:
Brave New Worlds To Explore and Conquer: The astonishingly possible is once again showcased in a breathtaking volume of the best short form SF the past year had to offer. Contributed by some of the most revered and exciting voices in the genre -- and compiled by acclaimed editor and anthologist David G. Hartwell -- these stories of wonder and terror, astounding technologies and miraculous discovery, stretch the imagination into realms and universes never dreamed of before. Each tale is a dazzling gem, rocketing readers across light years and into unknown dimensions -- exploring the intricate cultures of alien races and the strange, secret workings of the human mind. And together they form an unparalleled whole -- a collection of luminous visions that shines more brightly than a newborn sun. New tales from: Nancy Kress Ursula K. Le Guin Greg Egan Bruce Sterling Michael Swanwick Gene Wolfe and many more.

    * Bruce Sterling: "In Paradise" (Originally in F&SF, 2002)
    * Michael Swanwick: "Slow Life" (Originally in Analog, 2002)
    * Eleanor Arnason: "Knapsack Poems" (Originally in Asimov's, 2002)
    * Geoffrey A. Landis: "At Dorado" (Originally in Asimov's, 2002)
    * Robert Reed: "Coelacanths" (Originally in F&SF, 2002)
    * Ken Wharton: "Flight Correction" (Originally in Analog, 2002)
    * Robert Sheckley: "Shoes" (Originally in F&SF, 2002)
    * Charles Sheffield: "The Diamond Drill" (Originally in Analog, 2002)
    * Ursula K. Le Guin: "The Seasons of the Ansarac" (Originally in The Infinite Matrix, 2002)
    * Richard Chwedyk: "A Few Kind Words for A. E. Van Vogt" (Originally in Tales of the Unanticipated, 2002)
    * Charles Stross: "Halo" (Originally in Asimov's, 2002)
    * Terry Bisson: "I Saw the Light" (Originally in Sci Fiction, 2002)
    * A. M. Dellamonica: "A Slow Day at the Gallery" (Originally in Asimov's, 2002)
    * Paul Di Filippo: "Ailoura" (Originally in Once Upon a Galaxy, 2002)
    * J. R. Dunn: "The Names of All the Spirits" (Originally in Sci Fiction, 2002)
    * Carol Emshwiller: "Grandma" (Originally in F&SF, 2002)
    * Neal Asher: "Snow in the Desert" (Originally in Spectrum SF, 2002)
    * Greg Egan: "Singleton" (Originally in Interzone, 2002)
    * Robert Onopa: "Geropods" (Originally in F&SF, 2002)
    * Jack Williamson: "Afterlife" (Originally in F&SF, 2002)
    * Gene Wolfe: "Shields of Mars" (Originally in Mars Probes, 2002)
    * Nancy Kress: "Patent Infringement" (Originally in Asimov's, 2002)
    * Michael Moorcock: "Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel" (Originally in Mars Probes, 2002)


text:
SUMMARY:
The best short form science fiction of 2003, selected by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, two of the most respected editors in the field. The short story is one of the most vibrant and exciting areas in science fiction today. It is where the hot new authors emerge and where the beloved giants of the field continue to publish. Now, building on the success of the first eight volumes, Eos will once again present a collection of the best stories of the year in mass market. Here, fathered by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, two of the most respected editors in the field, are stories with visions of tomorrow and yesterday, of the strange and the familiar, of the unknown and the unknowable. With stories from some of the best and brightest writers in science fiction, YEAR ' S BEST SF 9 is an indispensable guide for every science fiction fan. This anthology will feature some of the biggest, most popular names in SF today. These stories have only been published previously in magazines. This is their first appearance in book form.

    * Octavia E. Butler: "Amnesty" (Originally in Sci Fiction, 2003)
    * Geoff Ryman: "Birth Days" (Originally in Interzone, 2003)
    * Tony Ballantyne: "The Waters of Meribah" (Originally in Interzone, 2003)
    * Nancy Kress: "Ej-Es" (Originally in Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian, 2003)
    * Joe Haldeman: "Four Short Novels" (Originally in F&SF, 2003)
    * Charles Stross: "Rogue Farm" (Originally in Live Without a Net, 2003)
    * Angélica Gorodischer: "The Violet's Embryos" (Originally in Cosmos Latinos, 2003)
    * Michael Swanwick: "Coyote at the End of History" (Originally in Asimov's, 2003)
    * John Varley: "In Fading Suns and Dying Moons" (Originally in Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian, 2003)
    * Gene Wolfe: "Castaway" (Originally in Sci Fiction, 2003)
    * Gregory Benford: "The Hydrogen Wall" (Originally in Asimov's, 2003)
    * Ricard de la Casa and Pedro Jorge Romero: "The Day We Went Through the Transition" (Originally in Cosmos Latinos, 2003)
    * Cory Doctorow: "Nimby and the Dimension Hoppers" (Originally in Asimov's, 2003)
    * Robert Reed: "Night of Time" (Originally in The Silver Gryphon, 2003)
    * Kage Baker: "A Night on the Barbary Coast" (Originally in The Silver Gryphon, 2003)
    * Nigel Brown: "Annuity Clinic" (Originally in Interzone, 2003)
    * Allen M. Steele: "The Madwoman of Shuttlefield" (Originally in Asimov's, 2003)
    * M. Rickert: "Bread and Bombs" (Originally in F&SF, 2003)
    * Stephen Baxter: "The Great Game" (Originally in Asimov's, 2003)
    * Rick Moody: "The Albertine Notes" (Originally in McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, 2003)


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SUMMARY:
"A banner year for speculative fiction has yielded a crop of superb short form SF. Now the very best to appear over the past twelve months has been amassed into one extraordinary volume by acclaimed editors and anthologists David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, offering bold visions of days to come that are bright, triumphant, breathtaking, and strikingly unique. Once more, celebrated masters of the field join with exciting new voices to sing of explorations and invasions, grand technological accomplishments, amazing flights into the unknown, horrors and miracles, and the human condition. Welcome to amazing worlds that could be -- and, perhaps, sooner than you have ever dared to imagine. New tales from: Gregory Benford Terry Bisson James Patrick Kelly Pamela Sargent Jack McDevitt Gene Wolfe and more.

    * Bradley Denton: "Sergeant Chip" (Originally in F&SF, 2004)
    * Gregory Benford: "First Commandment" (Originally in Sci Fiction, 2004)
    * Glenn Grant: "Burning Day" (Originally in Island Dreams: Montreal Writers of the Fantastic, 2004)
    * Terry Bisson: "Scout's Honor" (Originally in Sci Fiction, 2004)
    * Pamela Sargent: "Venus Flowers at Night" (Originally in Microcosms, 2004)
    * Gene Wolfe: "Pulp Cover" (Originally in Asimov's, 2004)
    * Ken Liu: "The Algorithms for Love" (Originally in Strange Horizons, 2004)
    * Ray Vukcevich: "Glinky" (Originally in F&SF, 2004)
    * Janeen Webb: "Red City" (Originally in Synergy SF: New Science Fiction, 2004)
    * Jack McDevitt: "Act of God" (Originally in Microcosms, 2004)
    * Robert Reed: "Wealth" (Originally in Asimov's, 2004)
    * Matthew Hughes: "Mastermindless" (Originally in F&SF, 2004)
    * Jean-Claude Dunyach: "Time, as It Evaporates..." (Originally in The Night Orchid: Conan Doyle in Toulouse, 2004)
    * James Stoddard: "The Battle of York" (Originally in F&SF, 2004)
    * Liz Williams: "Loosestrife" (Originally in Interzone, 2004)
    * James Patrick Kelly: "The Dark Side of Town" (Originally in Asimov's, 2004)
    * Steven Utley: "Invisible Kingdom" (Originally in F&SF, 2004)
    * Sean McMullen: "The Cascade" (Originally in Agog! Terrific Tales, 2004)
    * Charles Coleman Finlay: "Pervert" (Originally in F&SF, 2004)
    * Steve Tomasula: "The Risk-Taking Gene as Expresed by Some Asian Subjects" (Originally in Denver Quarterly, 2004)
    * Neal Asher: "Strood" (Originally in Asimov's, 2004)
    * James L. Cambias: "The Eckener Alternative" (Originally in All Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories, 2004)
    * Brenda Cooper: "Savant Songs" (Originally in Analog, 2004)


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>This is the story of a lie that became the most powerful kind of truth. A timeless novel as urgently compelling as "War Day" or "Alas, Babylon, " David Brin's "The Postman" is the dramatically moving saga of a man who rekindled the spirit of America through the power of a dream, from a modern master of science fiction. He was a survivor--a wanderer who traded tales for food and shelter in the dark and savage aftermath of a devastating war. Fate touches him one chill winter's day when he borrows the jacket of a long-dead postal worker to protect himself from the cold. The old, worn uniform still has power as a symbol of hope, and with it he begins to weave his greatest tale, of a nation on the road to recovery. "From the Paperback edition."</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Rolencia's ancestry enemy, Merofynia, has invaded and marches on King Rolen's castle. Powerless to help, thirteen yeard old Piro watches as her father, King Rolen, listens to poisoned whispers against Bryen. How could the King doubt his second son? Deshy;termined to prove his loyalty, Bryen races across the path of the advancing army to ask the Abbot to send the warriors monks in defence of the castle.</p>


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SUMMARY: When Jack Churchill and Ruth Gallagher encounter a terrifying, misshapen giant beneath a London bridge they are plunged into a mystery which portends the end of the world as we know it. All over the country, the ancient gods of Celtic myth are returning to the land from which they were banished millennia ago. Following in their footsteps are creatures of folklore: fabulous bests, wonders and dark terrors As technology starts to fail, Jack and Ruth are forced to embark on a desperate quest for four magical items - the last chance for humanity in the face of powers barely comprehended.


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<h3>Review</h3><p>"The third book in the Age of Misrule sage is an excellent finish to a fabulous saga as readers will mark this author for future tales. The story line is action-packed as the follow-up to the stunning defeat in the aptly titled Darkest Hour which is filled with escapades and adventures, but also allows the audience to see into hearts and minds of the fearsome five who have no hope for the future as all seems lost. Fans will admire them for their courage to carry on in spite of their anguish, accentuated by the belief that some of their allies died. The quintet brings the souls to Mark Chadbourn's great trilogy." -- Harriet Klausner review published in 27 magazines: </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The eternal conflict between the Light and Dark once again blackens the skies and blights the land. On one side stand the Tuatha de Danaan, golden-skinned and beautiful, filled with all the might of angels. On the other are the Fomorii, monstrous devils hell-bent on destroying all human existence. And in the middle are the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, determined to use the strange power that binds them to the land in a last, desperate attempt to save the human race. Church, Ruth, Ryan, Laura and Shavi have joined forces with Tom, a hero from the mists of time, to wage a guerrilla war against the iron rule of the gods. This is the stunning conclusion of a powerful fantasy saga by one of Britain's most acclaimed young writers. </p>


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SUMMARY: The eternal conflict between the Light and Dark once again blackens the skies and blights the land. On one side stand the Tuatha de Danaan, golden-skinned and beautiful, filled with all the might of angels. On the other are the Fomorii, monstrous devils hell-bent on destroying all human existence. And in the middle are the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, determined to use the strange power that binds them to the land in a last, desperate attempt to save the human race. Church, Ruth, Ryan, Laura and Shavi have joined forces with Tom, a hero from the mists of time, to wage a guerrilla war against the iron rule of the gods. But they didn't count on things going from bad to worse ...this is the stunning continuation of a powerful fantasy saga by one of Britain's most acclaimed young writers.


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<p class="description">Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight-she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po. She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace-or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.</p>


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SUMMARY: A must-read title for all fans of Patrick Rothfuss and Trudi Canavan, FIREis an exceptional fantasy novel. From the deft characterisation to the gripping story, the fast-paced action to the evocative prose, this is one of the strongest fantasy novels of the year. Set in a world of stunningly beautiful, exceptionally dangerous monsters, Fire is one of the most dangerous monsters ofall - a human one. Marked out by her vivid red hair, she's more than attractive. Fire is mesmerising. But with this extraordinary beauty comes influence and power. People who are susceptible to her appeal will do anything for her attention, and for her affection. They will turn away from their families, their work, and their duties for her. They will forget their responsibilities to please her . . . and worse, crush nations, neglect kingdoms and abuse their power. Aware of her power, and afraid of it, Fire lives in a corner of the world away from people, and away from temptation. Until the day comes when she is needed - a day when, for her king, she has to stand against not only his enemies, but also against herself . . .


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In science fiction, nothing says sensawunda like a Big Dumb Object—a colossal, extremely powerful machine of unknown purpose and origin. It's that feeling that editor Jonathan Strahan was after when he asked six of today's finest authors to write for Godlike Machines. And they succeed brilliantly! • "Troika" Alastair Reynolds unlocks the secrets inside an alien spaceship—secrets that could change the world…if only a repressive regime would believe its last surviving explorer. • Stephen Baxter "Return to Titan" sends wormhole builders to Titan, but what they discover there may fuel their wildest dreams…or destroy them. • Cory Doctorow "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" turns the idea of godlike machines on its head with replicating machines that turn cities back into wilderness. • Sean Williams "A Glimpse of the Marvelous Structure" leads a spacer agent through a subterranean Structure…and into space-time itself. • Robert Reed—in "Alone " a story about the ancient, Jupiter-sized Great Ship—looks at a strange passenger who has been onboard far longer than seems possible. • Greg Egan "Hot Rock" gives us an alien technology only he could imagine—a wandering world that's inexplicably warm enough to support life. Made from the pure stuff of SF, these unique, all-new adventures are nothing less than awesome!


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Tyrone Slothrop, a GI in London in 1944, has a big problem. Whenever he gets an erection, a Blitz bomb hits. Slothrop gets excited, and then (as Thomas Pynchon puts it in his sinister, insinuatingly sibilant opening sentence), "a screaming comes across the sky," heralding an angel of death, a V-2 rocket. The novel's title, <em>Gravity's Rainbow</em>, refers to the rocket's vapor arc, a cruel dark parody of what God sent Noah to symbolize his promise never to destroy humanity again. History has been a big trick: the plan is to switch from floods to obliterating fire from the sky. </p><p>Slothrop's father was an unwitting part of the cosmic doublecross. To provide for the boy's future Harvard education, he took cash from the mad German scientist Laszlo Jamf, who performed Pavlovian experiments on the infant Tyrone. Laszlo invented Imipolex G, a new plastic useful in rocket insulation, and conditioned Tyrone's privates to respond to its presence. Now the grown-up Tyrone helplessly senses the Imipolex G in incoming V-2s, and his military superiors are investigating him. Soon he is on the run from legions of bizarre enemies through the phantasmagoric horrors of Germany. </p><p>That's just the Imipolex G tip of the shrieking vehicle that is Pynchon's book. It's pretty much impossible to follow a standard plot; one must have faith that each manic episode is connected with the great plot to blow up the world with the ultimate rocket. There is not one story, but a proliferation of characters (Pirate Prentice, Teddy Bloat, Tantivy Mucker-Maffick, Saure Bummer, and more) and events that tantalize the reader with suggestions of vast patterns only just past our comprehension. You will enjoy Pynchon's cartoon inferno far more if you consult Steven Weisenburger's brief </p><p>Pynchon doesn't want you to rest easy with solved mysteries, though. <em>Gravity's Rainbow</em> uses beautiful prose to induce an altered state of consciousness, a buzz. It's a trip, and it will last. <em>--Tim Appelo</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>Novel by Thomas Pynchon, published in 1973. The sprawling narrative comprises numerous threads having to do either directly or tangentially with the secret development and deployment of a rocket by the Nazis near the end of World War II. Lieutenant Tyrone Slothrop is an American working for Allied Intelligence in London. Agents of the Firm, a clandestine military organization, are investigating an apparent connection between Slothrop's erections and the targeting of incoming V-2 rockets. As a child, Slothrop was the subject of experiments conducted by a Harvard professor who is now a Nazi rocket scientist. Slothrop's quest for the truth behind these implications leads him on a nightmarish journey of either historic discovery or profound paranoia, depending on his own and the reader's interpretation. The novel won the National Book Award for fiction in 1974. -- __</p> </div>


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SUMMARY: N "aked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century. Exerting its influence on the work of authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, and William Gibson, on the relationship of art and obscenity, and on the shape of music, film, and media generally, it is one of the books that redefined not just literature but American culture. Reedited by Burroughs scholar Barry Miles and Burroughs's longtime editor James Grauerholz, "Naked Lunch: The Restored Text includes many editorial corrections to errors present in previous editions, and incorporates Burroughs's notes on the text, several essays he wrote over the years about the book, and an appendix of 20 percent all-new material and alternate drafts from the original manuscript, which predates the first published version. For the Burroughs enthusiast and the neophyte, this volume is a valuable and fresh experience of this classic of our culture.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Writing separately, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are responsible for a number of science fiction classics, such as the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Ringworld, Debt of Honor, and The Legacy of Heorot, among others.</p>


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<div><p>PerfectBound e-book extra: A Study Guide to The Dispossessed by Paul Brians.</p><p>Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. he will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.</p></div>


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<div><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>In a startling departure from her previous novels ( Lady Oracle , Surfacing ), respected Canadian poet and novelist Atwood presents here a fable of the near future. In the Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States, far-right Schlafly/Falwell-type ideals have been carried to extremes in the monotheocratic government. The resulting society is a feminist's nightmare: women are strictly controlled, unable to have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste, childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the "morally fit" Wives. The tale is told by Offred (read: "of Fred"), a Handmaid who recalls the past and tells how the chilling society came to be. This powerful, memorable novel is highly recommended for most libraries. BOMC featured alternate. Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.<br>Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Review</h3><p>"The most poetically satisfying and intense of all Atwood's novels."-_Maclean's_ </p><p>"The Handmaid's Tale is in the honorable tradition of <em>Brave New World</em> and other warnings of dystopia. It's imaginative even audacious, and conveys a chilling sense of fear and menace."-_The Globe and Mail_ </p><p>"_The Handmaid's Tale_ brings out the very best in Atwood--moral vision, biting humor, and a poet's imagination."-_Chatelaine_ </p><p><em>From the Paperback edition.</em></p> </div>


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SUMMARY: A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions on how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, this classic is a touching and transcendent book of life. This new edition contains an interview with Pirsig and letters and documents detailing how this extraordinary book came to be.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.


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<div><h3>From Library Journal</h3><p>Kesey's new introduction to this anniversary edition could very well be the last thing he worked on before shuffling off this mortal coil in 2001. Additionally, 25 sketches he drew while working at a mental institution in the 1950s, the inspiration for the novel, are littered throughout. Critics are divided on the meaning of the book: Is it a tale of good vs. evil, sanity over insanity, or humankind trying to overcome repression amid chaos? Whichever, it is a great read. <br>Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>An inmate of a mental institution tries to find the freedom and independence denied him in the outside world. </p> </div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: When Machiavelli's brief treatise on Renaissance statecraft and princely power was posthumously published in 1532, it generated a debate that has raged unabated until the present day. Based upon Machiavelli's first-hand experience as an emissary of the Florentine Republic to the courts of Europe, The Prince analyses the usually violent means by which men seize, retain, and lose political power. Machiavelli added a dimension of incisive realism to one of the major philosophical and political issues of his time, especially the relationship between public deeds and private morality. His book provides a remarkably uncompromising picture of the true nature of power, no matter in what era or by whom it is exercised. This fluent new translation is accompanied by an introduction that considers the true purpose of The Prince and dispels some of the myths associated with it. It has the most comprehensive explanatory and critical notes found in any currently available English translation and the most comprehensive bibliography in any edition of the work. It also contains a helpful Glossary of Proper Names, an Index and a map.</p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>A historical figure already larger than life, Capt. Sir Richard Francis Burton, pursues a legendary and violent Victorian creature, Spring Heeled Jack, at the behest of the prime minister in this convincingly researched debut. Fans of steampunk will be intrigued by the alternate history setting, in which the queen dies mid-century; they will also enjoy following Burton and his sidekick, poet Algernon Swinburne, as they investigate the dark secrets of 19th-century England and recall Burton's legendary expedition to find the source of the Nile. Burton is an intriguing character, but the story might have benefited by more than token appearances of his intrepid fiancée, Isabel Arundell, and better integration of the fantastical elements--werewolves, time travelers--into the narrative before a wild ending that pulls everything together. <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> The usual superlatives for really clever fantasy (imaginative, mind-bending, phantasmagorical) aren’t nearly big enough for this debut novel. With this one book, Hodder has put himself on the genre map. The time is 1861; the place, London, England. The country is besieged by loups-garous (werewolves), and Spring Heeled Jack, the notorious (and possibly mythical) creature who appears out of nowhere to accost young women, is causing a bit of a ruckus. To deal with these problems, the prime minister recruits Sir Richard Francis Burton, the noted explorer, linguist, and self-promoter. With the help of his friend, the poet Algernon Swinburne, Burton wades in with both feet and uncovers a frightening conspiracy and a (potentially) world-altering technology. And that’s just the bare-bones story of this wildly inventive—another insufficient superlative—novel. Hodder has brilliantly combined various genre staples—time travel, alternate reality, steampunk—into something you’ve never quite seen before. His mid-nineteenth-century Britain features steam-driven velocipedes, rotorchairs, verbally abusive messenger parrots, a pneumatic rail system, and robotic street cleaners. The book’s supporting characters include Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Francis Galton, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the revolutionary civil engineer (although Hodder uses them in excitingly twisted new ways). The book is incredibly ambitious, and the author pulls it off like an old pro: not only is the setting exciting and fresh, the story is thrilling and full of surprises. Hodder’s only problem now is to find a way to follow up this exhilarating debut, which will appeal not only to sf/fantasy readers but also to mystery and historical-fiction fans. --David Pitt </p> </div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: When Sam Spade gets drawn into the Maltese Falcon case, we know what to expect: straight talk, hard questions, no favors, and no way for anyone to get underneath the protective shell he wears like a second skin. We know that his late partner, Miles Archer, was a son of a bitch; that Spade is sleeping with Archer’s wife, Iva; that his tomboyish secretary, Effie Perine, is the only innocent in his life. What we don’t know is how Spade became who he is. Spade &amp; Archer completes the picture.1921: Spade sets up his own agency in San Francisco and clients quickly start coming through the door. The next seven years will see him dealing with booze runners, waterfront thugs, stowaways, banking swindlers, gold smugglers, bumbling cops, and the illegitimate daughter of Sun Yat-sen; with murder, other men’s mistresses, and long-missing money. He’ll bring in Archer as a partner, though it was Archer who stole his girl while he was fighting in World War I. He’ll tangle with a villain who never loses his desire to make Spade pay big for ruining what should’ve been the perfect crime. And he’ll fall in love—though it won’t turn out for the best. It never does with dames . . .Spade &amp; Archer is a gritty, pitch-perfect, hard-boiled novel—the work of a master mystery writer—destined to become a classic in its own right.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: With more than five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance--until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?An American classic that inspired the award-winning movie Charly.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: Continuing the narrative begun with Nineteen Seventy-Four and Nineteen Seventy-Seven, this electrifying third installment of David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet demonstrates a skill that goes above and beyond the limits of the genre.While Yorkshire is terrorized by the Ripper, the corrupt police continue to prosper. To give the case some new life, Peter Hunter, a “clean” cop from nearby Manchester, is brought in to offer a fresh perspective. As he goes about setting up a new case under the radar, he suffers the same fate as those who previously attempted to get in the way of the Ripper: his house is burned down, his wife threatened. But he soldiers on. And as he comes face to face with unthinkable evil, Hunter struggles to maintain his reputation, his sanity, and his life.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: In Nineteen Eighty-Three, David Peace brings his astonishing series of riveting, gritty crime novels to a shocking conclusion. With three separate narrators whose paths are on a collision course, Peace makes a dark study of perverted justice, retribution, and urban decay. Maurice Jobson is a Yorkshire cop whose greed and corruption has rotted the police force to the core; BJ is a local street thug who finds he can no longer safely lurk in the shadows; and John Piggott, a lawyer, is as honest and forthright as they come. His investigation of a long-cold murder might just be the cure for Yorkshire’s woes, but he’ll need to get through it alive first.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: David Peace proves himself to be a modern master of the crime novel with the exhilarating, explosive second entry in his acclaimed Red Riding Quartet. It's summer in Yorkshire and as the rest of the population anxiously awaits Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee, Detective Bob Fraser and Jack Whitehead, a reporter at the Post, have other things on their minds-mainly the fact that someone is murdering prostitutes. The killer is quickly dubbed “the Yorkshire Ripper” and each man, on his own, works tirelessly to catch him. But their investigations turn grisly as they each engage in affairs with the prostitutes they are supposedly protecting. As the summer moves relentlessly towards the bonfires of Jubilee Night, the killings accelerate and it seems as if Fraser and Whitehead are the only men who suspect or care that there may be more than one killer at large.</p>


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<p class="description"><br>Gene Wolfe takes us to a future North America at once familiar and utterly strange. A young man and woman, Skip and Chelle, fall in love in college and marry, but she is enlisted in the military, there is a war on, and she must serve her tour of duty before they can settle down. But the military is fighting a war with aliens in distant solar systems, and her months in the service will be years in relative time on Earth. Chelle returns to recuperate from severe injuries, after months of service, still a young woman but not necessarily the same person—while Skip is in his forties and a wealthy businessman, but eager for her return.Still in love (somewhat to his surprise and delight), they go on a Caribbean cruise to resume their marriage. Their vacation rapidly becomes a complex series of challenges, not the least of which are spies, aliens, and battles with pirates who capture the ship for ransom. There is no writer in SF like Gene Wolfe and no SF novel like Home Fires.</p>


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SUMMARY:
On Blue's Watersis the start of a major new work by Gene Wolfe, the first of three volumes that comprise The Book of the Short Sun, which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume Book of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk, and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk. The story continues inIn Green's JunglesandReturn to the Whorl. Gene Wolfehas been called "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced" byThe Washington Post. A former engineer, he has written numerous books and won a variety of awards for his SF writing, including the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the Prix Apollo. On Blue's Watersis the start of a major new work by Gene Wolfe.It is the first of three volumes that compriseThe Book of the Short Sun, which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volumeBook of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells us his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the planet's great leader, Silkand the only one who can convince Silk to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now-legendary Patera Silk. The story continues withIn Green's JunglesandReturn to the Whorl. "On Blue's Watersis a rich enough work to stand on its own merits and is further evidence that Wolfe is the finest living writer in his field."The Seattle Times "By any standard, Wolfe's beautifully composed, meditative, thrilling, and tricky-beyond-belief 'science fantasy' is a work of the highest art."The Washington Post Book World "Sentence by sentence, Mr. Wolfe writes as well as anyone in science fiction today."The New York Times "If all you care about in speculative fiction is delightfully inventive ideas, then Gene Wolfe should be one of your favorite writers. If all you care about is deft, witty, dead-on writing, then you must already be reading Wolfe."Orson Scott Card "Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today . . . There is nobody who can even approach Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning."Michael Swanwick


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SUMMARY:
Severian, the Autarch of Urth, leaves the planet and journeys among the aliens in time and space to meet his greatest test


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SUMMARY:
The two novels combined in this omnibus (Caldeacute; of the Long SunandExodus from the Long Sun) comprise the second half of Gene Wolfe's long novel,The Book of the Long Sun. Gene Wolfehas been called "the finest writer the science fiction world has yet produced" byThe Washington Post. A former engineer, he has written numerous books and won a variety of awards for his SF writing. The two complete novels combined in this omnibus,Caldeacute; of the Long SunandExodus from the Long Sun,comprise the second halfthat is, Volumes 3 and 4, respectivelyof Wolfe's masterful tetralogy,The Book of the Long Sun. AsThe Washington Post Book Worldhas noted, this sweeping and brilliantly constructed four-book series is the work of "the best novelist in America that you've never heard of, let alone read, [if] you don't bother with SF . . . [Wolfe's]Book of the Long Sunis as ambitious as Pynchon'sGravity's Rainbow, as intricate and beautifully written as Nabokov'sPale Fire." "[The Book of the Long Sunexhibits] consistently high ambition and achievement."The New York Times "One of the major SF series of the decade . . . A bona fide masterpiece."Publishers Weekly "Few writers dare to attempt a Great Work; Wolfe attempts it [here] and succeeds."The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction


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SUMMARY:
Gene Wolfe's "In Green's Jungles" is the second volume, after "On Blue's Waters," of his ambitious SF trilogy, "The Book of the Short Sun." It is again narrated by Horn, who has embarked on a quest from his home on the planet Blue in search of the heroic leader Patera Silk. Now Horn's identity has become ambiguous, a complex question embedded in the story, whose telling is itself complex, shifting from place to place, present to past. Horn recalls visiting the Whorl, the enormous spacecraft in orbit that brought the settlers from Urth, and going thence to the planet Green, home of the blood-drinking alien inhumi. There, he led a band of mercenary soldiers, answered to the name of Rajan, and later became the ruler of a city state. He has also encountered the mysterious aliens, the Neighbors, who once inhabited both Blue and Green. He remembers a visit to Nessus, on Urth. At some point, he died. His personality now seemingly inhabits a different body, so that even his sons do not recognize him. And people mistake him for Silk, to whom he now bears a remarkable resemblance. "In Green's Jungles" is Wolfe's major new fiction, "The Book of the Short Sun," building toward a strange and seductive climax.


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SUMMARY:
1 The Manteion on Sun Street  Enlightenment came to Patera Silk on the ball court; nothing could ever be the same after that. When he talked about it afterward, whispering to himself in the silent hours of the night as was his custom—and once when he told Maytera Marble, who was also Maytera Rose—he said that it was as though someone who had always been behind him and standing (as it were) at both his shoulders had, after so many years of pregnant silence, begun to whisper into both his ears. The bigger boys had scored again, Patera Silk recalled, and Horn was reaching for an easy catch when those voices began and all that had been hidden was displayed.Few of these hidden things made sense, nor did they wait upon one another. He, young Patera Silk (that absurd clockwork figure), watched outside a clockwork show whose works had stopped—tall Horn reaching for the ball, his flashing grin frozen in forever.—dead Patera Pike mumbling prayers as he slit the throat of a speckled rabbit he himself had bought.—a dead woman in an alley off Silver Street, and the people of the quarter.—lights beneath everyone’s feet, like cities low in the night sky. (And, oh, the rabbit’s warm blood drenching Patera Pike’s cold hands.)—proud houses on the Palatine.—Maytera Marble playing with the girls, and Maytera Mint wishing she dared. (Old Maytera Rose praying alone, praying to Scalding Scylla in her palace under Lake Limna.)—Feather falling, not so lightly as his name implied, shoved aside by Horn, not yet quite prone on the crumbling shiprock blocks, though shiprock was supposed to last until the end of the whorl.—Viron and the lake, crops withering in the fields, the dying fig and the open, empty sky. All this and much else besides, lovely and appalling, blood red and living green, yellow, blue, white, and velvet black, with minglings of other colors and of colors he had never known.* * *Yet all these were as nothing. It was the voices that mattered, only the paired voices (though there were more, he felt sure, if only he had ears for them) and all the rest an empty show, shown to him so that he might know it for what it was, spread for him so that he might know how precious it was, though its shining clockwork had gone some trifle awry and must be set right by him; for this he had been born.He forgot the rest at times, though at others all these things would reoccur to him, rough truths cloaked in a new certainty; but he never forgot the voices that were in fact but one voice, and what they (who were one) had said; never forgot the bitter lesson, though once or twice he tried to push it away, those fell words heard as Feather fell, poor little Feather, as the rabbit’s hot blood spilled from the altar, as the First Settlers took up the homes prepared for them in this familiar Viron, as the dead woman seemed to stir, rags fluttering in the hot wind born halfway ’round the whorl, a wind that blew ever stronger and wilder as clockwork that had never really stopped began to turn again.“I will not fail,” he told the voices, and felt he lied, yet felt the approbation, too.And then.And then…His left hand moved, snatching the ball from Horn’s very fingers.Patera Silk spun about. The black ball flew like a black bird, straight through the ring at the opposite end of the ball court. It struck the hellstone with a satisfying thump and an irruption of blue sparks, and threaded the ring a second time as it bounced back.Horn tried to stop him, but Patera Silk knocked him sprawling, caught the ball again, and smoked it in for a second double. The monitor’s chimes sang their three-note paean, and its raddled gray face appeared to announce the final score: thirteen to twelve.Thirteen to twelve was not a bad score, Patera Silk reflected as he took the ball from Feather and stuffed it into a trousers pocket. The bigger boys would not be too downcast, while the smaller boys would be ecstatic.This last, at least, was already quite apparent. He repressed the impulse to hush them and lifted two of the most diminutive onto his shoulders. “Back to class,” he announced. “Class for all of you. A little arithmetic will do you good. Feather, throw Villus my towel, please.”Feather, one of the larger small boys, obliged; Villus, the boy perched upon Silk’s right shoulder, managed to catch it, though not deftly.“Patera,” Feather ventured, “you always say there’s a lesson in everything.”Silk nodded, mopping his face and rubbing his already disheveled yellow hair. He had been touched by a god! By the Outsider; and although the Outsider was not one of the Nine, he was an undoubted god nevertheless. This, this was enlightenment!“Patera?”“I’m listening, Feather. What is it you want to ask?” But enlightenment was for theodidacts, and he was no holy theodidact—no gaudily painted gold-crowned figure in the Writings. How could he tell these children that in the middle of their game—“Then what’s the lesson in our winning, Patera?”“That you must endure to the end,” Silk replied, his mind still upon the Outsider’s teaching. One of the hinges of the ball-court gate was broken; two boys had to lift the gate to swing it, creaking, backward. The remaining hinge would surely break too, and soon, unless he did something. Many theodidacts never told, or so he had been taught in the schola. Others told only on their deathbeds; for the first time he felt he understood that.“We endured to the end,” Horn reminded him, “but we lost just the same. You’re bigger than I am. Bigger than any of us.”Silk nodded and smiled. “I did not say that the only object was to win.”Horn opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again, his eyes thoughtful. Silk took Goldcrest and Villus from his shoulders at the gate and dried his torso, then reclaimed his black tunic from the nail on which he had hung it. Sun Street ran parallel to the sun, as its name indicated, and as usual at this hour it was blazing hot. Regretfully, he pulled his tunic over his head, smelling his own sweat.“You lost,” he remarked to Villus once the stifling tunic was in place, “when Horn got the ball away from you. But you won when everyone on our team did. What have you learned from that?”When little Villus said nothing, Feather answered, “That winning and losing aren’t everything.”The loose black robe followed the tunic, seeming to close about him. “Good enough,” he told Feather.As five boys shut the court gate behind them, the faint and much-diffused shadow of a Flier raced down Sun Street. The boys glared up at him, and a few of the smallest reached for stones, though the Flier was three or four times higher than the loftiest tower in Viron.Silk halted, raising his head to stare upward with a long-felt envy he struggled to suppress. Had he been shown the Fliers, among his myriad, leaping visions? He felt he had—but he had been shown so much!The disproportionate, gauzy wings were nearly invisible in the glare of the unshaded sun, so that it seemed that the Flier flew without them, arms outstretched, feet together, an uncanny figure black against the burning gold.“If the Fliers are human,” Silk admonished his charges, “it would surely be evil to stone them. If they are not, you must consider that they may be higher than we are in the spiritual whorl, just as they are in the temporal.” As an afterthought he added, “Even if they are spying on us, which I doubt.”Had they, too, achieved enlightenment, and was that why they flew? Did some god or goddess—it would be Hierax, perhaps, or his father, sky-ruling Pas—teach those he favored the art of flight?The palaestra’s warped and weathered door would not open until Horn had wrestled manfully with its latch. As always, Silk delivered the smaller boys to Maytera Marble first. “We won a glorious victory,” he told her.She shook her head in mock dismay, her smooth oval face, polished bright by countless dustings, catching the sunlight from the window. “My poor girls were beaten, alas, Patera. It seems to me that Maytera Mint’s big girls grow quicker and stronger with each week that passes. Wouldn’t you think our Merciful Molpe would make my smaller ones quicker, too? Yet it doesn’t seem she does it.”“By the time they’re quicker, they’ll be the big girls, perhaps.”“That must be it, Patera. While I’m only a small girl myself, snatching at every chance to put off the minuends and subtrahends for as long as possible, always willing to talk, never willing to work.” Maytera Marble paused, her work-worn steel fingers flexing the cubit stick while she studied Silk. “You be careful this afternoon, Patera. You must be tired already, after scrambling around up there all morning and playing with the boys. Don’t fall off that roof.”He grinned. “I’m finished with my repairs for today, Maytera. I’m going to sacrifice after manteion—a private sacrifice.”The old sib tilted her gleaming head to one side, thus lifting an eyebrow. “Then I regret that my class will not participate. Will your lamb be more pleasing to the Nine, do you think, without us?”For an instant Silk was tempted to tell her everything there and then. He drew a deep breath instead, smiled, and closed the door.Most of the larger boys had already gone into Maytera Rose’s room. Silk dismissed the rest with a glance, but Horn lingered. “May I speak with you, Patera? It’ll just take a minute.”“If it is only a minute.” When the boy said nothing, Silk added, “Go ahead, Horn. Did I foul you? If I did, I apologize—it certainly wasn’t intentional.”“Is it…” Horn let the question trail away, staring at the splintering floorboards.“Speak up, please. Or ask your question when I come back. That would be better.”The tall boy’s gaze moved to the whitewashed mud-brick walls. “Patera, is it true that they’re going to tear down our palaestra and your manteion? That you’re going to have to go someplace else, or noplace? My father heard that yesterday. Is it true?”“No.”Horn looked up with new hope, though the flat negative had left him speechless.“Our palaestra and our manteion will be here next year, and the year after that, and the year after that as well.” Suddenly conscious of his posture, Silk stood straighter, squaring his shoulders. “Does that put your mind at rest? They may become larger and better known, and I hope that they will. Perhaps some god or goddess may speak to us through our Sacred Window again, as Pas once did when Patera Pike was young—I don’t know, though I pray for it every day. But when I’m as old as Patera Pike, the people of this quarter will still have a manteion and a palaestra. Never doubt it.”“I was going to say…”Silk nodded. “Your eyes have said it for you already. Thank you, Horn. Thank you. I know that whenever I’m in need I can call on you, and that you’ll do all that you can without counting the cost. But, Horn—”“Yes, Patera?”“I knew all that before.”The tall boy’s head bobbed. “And all the other sprats, too, Patera. There are a couple of dozen that I know we can trust. Maybe more.”Horn was standing as straight as a Guardsman on parade now. With a slight shock of insight, Silk realized that this unaccustomed perpendicularity was in imitation of his own, and that Horn’s clear, dark eyes were very nearly level with his.“And after that,” Horn continued, “there will be others, new boys. And men.”Silk nodded again, gravely reflecting that Horn was already a grown man in every way that mattered, and a man far better educated than most.“And I don’t want you to think I’m mad about it—knocking me over like that, Patera. You hit me hard, but that’s the fun of the game.”Silk shook his head. “That’s merely how the game is played. The fun comes when someone small knocks down someone larger.”“You were their best player, Patera. It wouldn’t have been fair to them if you hadn’t played as well as you can.” Horn glanced over his shoulder at Maytera Rose’s open door. “I have to go now. Thanks, Patera.”There was a line in the Writings that applied to the game and its lessons—lessons more important, Silk felt, than any Maytera Rose might teach; but Horn was already almost to the doorway. To his back, Silk murmured, “‘Men build scales, but the gods blow upon the lighter pan.’”He sighed at the final word, knowing that the quotation had come a second too late, and that Horn, too, had been too late; that Horn would tell Maytera Rose that he, Patera Silk, had detained him, and that Maytera Rose would punish him nevertheless without bothering to find out whether it was true.Silk turned away. There was no point in remaining to listen, and Horn would fare that much worse if he tried to intervene. How could the Outsider have chosen such a bungler? Was it possible that the very gods were ignorant of his weakness and stupidity?Some of them?* * *The manteion’s rusty cash box was bare, he knew; yet he must have a victim, and a fine one. The parents of one of the students might lend him five or even ten bits, and the humiliation of having to beg such poor people for a loan would certainly be beneficial. For as long as it took him to close the unwilling door of the palaestra and start for the market, his resolution held; then the only-too-well-imagined tears of small children deprived of their accustomed supper of milk and stale bread washed it away. No. The sellers would have to extend him credit.The sellers must. When had he ever offered a single sacrifice, however small, to the Outsider? Never! Not one in his entire life. Yet the Outsider had extended infinite credit to him, for Patera Pike’s sake. That was one way of looking at it, at least. And perhaps that was the best way. Certainly he would never be able to repay the Outsider for the knowledge and the honor, no matter how hard or how long he tried. Small wonder, then…As Silk’s thoughts raced, his long legs flashed faster and faster.The sellers never extended a single bit’s credit, true. They gave credit to no augur; and certainly they would not extend it to an augur whose manteion stood in the poorest quarter of the city. Yet the Outsider could not be denied, so they would have to. He would have to be firm with them, extremely firm. Remind them that the Outsider was known to esteem them last among men already—that according to the Writings he had once (having possessed and enlightened a fortunate man) beaten them severely in person. And though the Nine could rightly boast…A black civilian floater was roaring down Sun Street, scattering men and women on foot and dodging ramshackle carts and patient gray donkeys, its blowers raising a choking cloud of hot yellow dust. Like everyone else, Silk turned his face away, covering his nose and mouth with the edge of his robe.“You there! Augur!”The floater had stopped, its roar fading to a plaintive whine as it settled onto the rutted street. A big, beefy, prosperous-looking man standing in its passenger compartment flourished a walking stick.Silk called, “I take it you are addressing me, sir. Is that correct?”The prosperous-looking man gestured impatiently. “Come over here.”“I intend to,” Silk told him. A dead dog rotting in the gutter required a long stride that roused a cloud of fat blue-backed flies. “Patera would be better mannered, sir; but I’ll overlook it. You may call me ‘angur’ if you like. I have need of you, you see. Great need. A god has sent you to me.”The prosperous-looking man looked at least as surprised as Horn had when Silk had knocked him down.“I require two—no, three cards,” Silk continued. “Three cards or more. I require them at once, for a sacred purpose. You can provide them easily, and the gods will smile on you. Please do so.”The prosperous-looking man mopped his streaming brow with a large peach-colored handkerchief that sent a cloying fragrance to war with the stenches of the street. “I didn’t think that the Chapter let you augurs do this sort of thing, Patera.”“Beg? Why, no. You’re perfectly correct, sir. It’s absolutely forbidden. But there’s a beggar on every corner—you must know the kinds of things they say, and that’s not what I’m telling you at all. I’m not hungry, and I have no starving children. I don’t want your money for myself, but for a god, for the Outsider. It’s a major error to restrict one’s worship to the Nine, as I—Never mind. The Outsider must have a suitable offering from me before shadedown. It’s absolutely imperative. You’ll be certain to gain his favor by supplying it.”“I wanted—” the prosperous—looking man began.Silk raised his hand. “No! The money—three cards at least, at once. I’ve offered you a splendid opportunity to gain his favor. You’ve lost that now, but you may still escape his displeasure, if only you’ll act without further delay. For your own sake, give me three cards immediately!” Silk stepped closer, scrutinizing the prosperous-looking man’s ruddy, perspiring face. “Terrible things may befall you. Horrible things!”Reaching for the card case at his waist, the prosperous-looking man said, “A respectable citizen shouldn’t even stop his floater in this quarter. I simply—”“If you own this floater, you can afford three cards easily. And I’ll offer a prayer for you—many prayers that you may eventually attain to…” Silk shivered.The driver rasped, “Shut your shaggy mouth and let Blood talk, you butcher.” Then to Blood, “You want me to bring him along, Jefe?”Blood shook his head. He had counted out three cards, and now held them in a fan; half a dozen ragged men stopped to gawk at the gleaming gold. “Three cards you say you want, Patera. Here they are. Enlightenment? Was that what you were going to ask the gods to give me? You augurs are always squeaking about it. Well, I don’t care about that. I want a little information instead. Tell me everything I want to know, and I’ll hand over all three. See ’em? Then you can offer this wonderful sacrifice for yourself if you want to, or do whatever you want with the money. How about it?”“You don’t know what you’re risking. If you did—”Blood snorted. “I know that no god’s come to any Window in this city since I was a young man, Patera, no matter how you butchers howl. And that’s all I need to know. There’s a manteion on this street, isn’t there? Where Silver Street meets it at an angle? I’ve never been in that part of this quarter, but I asked, and that’s what I was told.”Silk nodded. “I’m augur there.”“The old cull’s dead, then?”“Patera Pike?” Silk traced the sign of addition in the air. “Yes. Patera Pike has been with the gods for almost a year. Did you know him?”Ignoring the question, Blood nodded to himself. “Gone to Mainframe, eh? All right, Patera. I’m not a religious man, and I don’t pretend to be. But I promised my—well, I promised a certain person—that I’d go to this manteion of yours and say a few prayers for her. I’m going to make an offering, too, understand? Because I know she’ll ask if I did. That’s besides these cards here. So is there somebody there who’ll let me in?”Silk nodded again. “Maytera Marble or Maytera Mint would be delighted to, I’m sure. You’ll find them both in the palaestra, on the other side of our ball court.” Silk paused, thinking. “Maytera Mint’s rather shy, though she’s wonderful with the children. Perhaps you’d better ask for Maytera Marble, in the first room to your right. She could leave one of the older girls in charge of her class for an hour or so, I would think.”Blood closed his fan of cards as if about to hand them over to Silk. “I’m not too crazy about chemical people, Patera. Somebody told me you’ve got a Maytera Rose. Maybe I could get her, or isn’t she there any more?”“Oh, yes.” Silk hoped his voice did not reflect the dismay he felt whenever he thought of Maytera Rose. “But she’s quite elderly, sir, and we try to spare her poor legs whenever we can. I feel sure that Maytera Marble would prove completely satisfactory.”“No doubt she will.” Blood counted his cards again, his lips moving, his fat, beringed fingers reluctant to part from each wafer-thin, shining rectangle. “You were going to tell me about enlightenment a minute ago, Patera. You said you’d pray for me.”“Yes,” Silk confirmed eagerly, “and I meant it. I will.”Blood laughed. “Don’t bother. But I’m curious, and I’ve never had such a good chance to ask one of you about it before. Isn’t enlightenment really pretty much the same as possession?”“Not exactly, sir.” Silk gnawed his lower lip. “You know, sir, at the schola they taught us simple, satisfying answers to all of these questions. We had to recite them to pass the examination, and I’m tempted to recite them again for you now. But the actualities—enlightenment, I mean, and possession—aren’t really simple things at all. Or at least enlightenment isn’t. I don’t know a great deal about possession, and some of the most respected hierologists are of the opinion that it exists potentially but not actually.”“A god’s supposed to pull on a man just like a tunic—that’s what they say. Well, some people can, so why not a god?” Watching Silk’s expression, Blood laughed again. “You don’t believe me, do you, Patera?”Silk said, “I’ve never heard of such people, sir. I won’t say they don’t exist, since you assert that they do, although it seems impossible.”“You’re young yet, Patera. If you want to dodge a lot of mistakes, don’t you forget that.” Blood glanced sidelong at his driver. “Get on these putts, Grison. Make them keep their paws off my floater.”“Enlightenment…” Silk stroked his cheek, remembering.“That ought to be easy, it seems to me. Don’t you just know a lot of things you didn’t know before?” Blood paused, his eyes upon Silk’s face. “Things that you can’t explain, or aren’t allowed to?”A patrol of Guardsmen passed, their slug guns slung and their left hands resting on the hilts of their swords. One touched the bill of his jaunty green cap to Blood.“It’s difficult to explain,” Silk said. “In possession there’s always some teaching, for good or ill. Or at any rate that’s what we’re taught, though I don’t believe—In enlightenment, there’s much more. As much as the theodidact can bear, I would say.”“It happened to you,” Blood said softly. “Lots of you say it did, but from you it’s lily. You were enlightened, or you think you were. You think it’s real.”Silk took a step backward, bumping against one of the onlookers. “I didn’t call myself enlightened, sir.”“You didn’t have to. I’ve been listening to you. Now you listen to me. I’m not giving you these cards, not for your holy sacrifice or for anything else. I’m paying you to answer my questions, and this is the last one. I want you to tell me—right now—what enlightenment is, when you got it, and why you got it. Here they are.” He held them up again. “Tell me, Patera, and they’re yours.”Silk considered, then plucked them from Blood’s hand. “As you say. Enlightenment means understanding everything as the god who gives it understands it. Who you are and who everyone else is, really. Everything you used to think you understood, you see with complete clarity in that instant, and know that you didn’t really understand it at all.”The onlookers murmured, each to his neighbor. Several pointed toward Silk. One waved over the drawer of a passing handcart.“Only for an instant,” Blood said.“Yes, only for an instant. But the memory remains, so that you know that you knew.” The three cards were still in Silk’s hand; suddenly afraid that they would be snatched away by one of the ragged throng around him, he slipped them into his pocket.“And when did this happen to you? Last week? Last year?”Silk shook his head, glancing up at the sun. The thin black line of the shade touched it as he watched. “Today. Not an hour ago. A ball—I was playing a game with the boys…Blood waved the game away.“And it happened. Everything seemed to stand still. I really can’t say whether it was for an instant, or a day, or a year, or any other period of time—and I seriously doubt that any such period could be correct. Perhaps that’s why we call him the Outsider: because he stands outside of time, all the time.”“Uh-huh.” Blood favored Silk with a grudging smile. “I’m sure it’s all smoke. Just some sort of daydream. But I’ve got to admit it’s interesting smoke, the way you tell it. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”“It’s not exactly what they teach you in the schola,” Silk conceded, “but I feel in my heart that it’s the truth.” He hesitated. “By which I mean that it’s what I was shown by him—or rather, that it’s one of an endless panorama of things. Somehow he’s outside our whorl in every way, and inside it with us at the same time. The other gods are only inside, I think, however great they may appear inside.”Blood shrugged, his eyes wandering toward the ragged listeners. “Well, they believe you, anyhow. But as long as we’re in here too, it doesn’t make a bad bit’s difference to us, does it, Patera?”“Perhaps it does, or may in the future. I don’t know, really. I haven’t even begun to think about that yet.” Silk glanced up again; the sun’s golden road across the sky was markedly narrower already. “Perhaps it will make all the difference in the whorl,” he said. “I think it will.”“I don’t see how.”“You’ll have to wait and see, my son—and so shall I.” Silk shivered, as he had before. “You wanted to know why I received this blessing, didn’t you? That was your last question: why something as tremendous as this should happen to someone as insignificant as I am. Wasn’t that it?”“Yes, if this god of yours will let you tell anybody.”Blood grinned, showing crooked, discolored teeth; and Silk, suddenly and without in the least willing it, saw more vividly than he had ever seen the man before him the hungry, frightened, scheming youth who had been Blood a generation before.“And if you don’t gibbe yourself, Patera.”“Gibbe?”“If you’ve got no objections. Don’t feel like you’re stepping over his line.”“I see.” Silk cleared his throat. “I’ve no objection, but no very satisfactory answer for you, either. That’s why I snatched my three cards from your hand, and it’s why I need them, too—or a part of it. It may be only that he has a task for me. He does, I know, and I hope that that’s all it is. Or, as I’ve thought since, perhaps it’s because he means to destroy me, and felt he owed this to me before he struck. I don’t know.”Blood dropped to his seat in the passenger compartment, mopping his face and neck with his scented handkerchief, as he had before. “Thanks, Patera. We’re quits. You’re going to the market?”“Yes, to buy him a fine victim with these cards you’ve given me.”“Paid you. I’ll have left your manteion before you get back, Patera. Or anyhow I hope I will.” Sweat dropped onto the floater’s velvet upholstery. “Get the canopy up, Grison.”Silk called, “Wait!”Blood stood again, surprised. “What is it, Patera? No hard feelings, I hope.”“I lied to you, my son—misled you at least, although I didn’t intend to. He—the Outsider—told me why, and I remembered it a few minutes ago when I was talking with a boy named Horn, a student at our palaestra.” Silk stepped closer, until he was peering at Blood over the edge of the half-raised canopy. “It was because of the augur who had our manteion when I came, Patera Pike. A very good and very holy man.”“He’s dead, you said.”“Yes. Yes, he is. But before he died, he prayed—prayed to the Outsider, for some reason. And he was heard. His prayer was granted. All this was explained to me, and now I owe it to you, because it was part of our bargain.”“Then I may as well have it explained to me, too. But make it as quick as you can.”“He prayed for help.” Silk ran his fingers through his careless thatch of straw-colored hair. “When we—when you pray for his help, to the Outsider, he sends it.”“Nice of him.”“But not always—no, not often—of the sort we want or expect. Patera Pike, that good old man, prayed devoutly. And I’m the help—”“Let’s go, Grison.”The blowers roared back to life. Blood’s black floater heaved uneasily, rising stern first and rocking alarmingly.“—the Outsider sent to him, to save the manteion and its palaestra,” Silk concluded. He stepped back, coughing in the billowing dust. Half to himself and half to the shabby crowd kneeling around him, he added. “I am to expect no help from him. I am help.”If any of them understood, it was not apparent. Still coughing, he traced the sign of addition and muttered a brief formula of blessing, begun with the Most Sacred Name of Pas, Father of the Gods, and concluded with that of his eldest child, Scylla, Patroness of this, Our Holy City of Viron.* * *As he neared the market, Silk reflected on his chance encounter with the prosperous-looking man in the floater. Blood, his driver had called him. Three cards was far, far too much to pay for answers to a few simple questions, and in any case one did not pay augurs for their answers; one made a donation, perhaps, if one was particularly grateful. Three full cards, but were they still there?He thrust a hand into his pocket; the smooth, elastic surface of the ball met his fingers. He pulled it out, and one of the cards came with it, flashing in the sunlight as it fell at his feet.As swiftly as he had snatched the ball from Horn, he scooped it up. This was a bad quarter, he reminded himself, though there were so many good people in it. Without law, even good people stole: their own property vanished, and their only recourse was to steal in turn from someone else. What would his mother have thought, if she had lived to learn where the Chapter had assigned him? She had died during his final year at the schola, still believing that he would be sent to one of the rich manteions on the Palatine and someday become Prolocutor.“You’re so good-looking,” she had said, raising herself upon her toes to smooth his rebellious hair. “So tall! Oh, Silk, my son! My dear, dear son!”(And he had stooped to let her kiss him.)My son was what he had been taught to call laymen, even those three times his own age, unless they were very highly placed indeed; then there was generally some title that could be gracefully employed instead, Colonel or Commissioner, or even Councillor, although he had never met any of the three and in this quarter never would—though here was a poster with the handsome features of Councillor Loris, the secretary of the Ayuntamiento: features somewhat scarred now by the knife of some vandal, who had slashed his poster once and stabbed it several times. Silk felt suddenly glad that he was in the Chapter and not in politics, though politics had been his mother’s first choice for him. No one would slash or stab the pictured face of His Cognizance the Prolocutor, surely.He tossed the ball into his right hand and thrust his left into his pocket. The cards were still there: one, two, three. Many men in this quarter who worked from shadeup to dark—carrying bricks or stacking boxes, slaughtering, hauling like oxen or trotting beneath the weighty litters of the rich, sweeping and mopping—would be fortunate to make three cards a year. His mother had received six, enough for a woman and a child to live decently, from some fund at the fisc that she had never explained, a fund that had vanished with her life. She would be unhappy now to see him in this quarter, walking its streets as poor as many of its people. She had never been a happy woman in any case, her large dark eyes so often bright with tears from sources more mysterious than the fisc, her tiny body shaken with sobs that he could do nothing to alleviate.(“Oh, Silk! My poor boy! My son!”)He had at first called Blood sir, and afterward, my son, himself scarcely conscious of the change. But why? Sir because Blood had been riding in a floater, of course; only the richest of men could afford to own floaters. My son afterward. “The old cull’s dead, then?…It doesn’t make a bad bit’s difference to us, does it, Patera?…Nice of him.” Blood’s choice of word and phrase, and his almost open contempt for the gods, had not accorded with the floater; he had spoken better—far better—than most people in this quarter; but not at all like the privileged, well-bred man whom Silk would have expected to find riding in a private floater.He shrugged, and extracted the three cards from his pocket.There was always a good chance that a card (still more, a cardbit) would be false. There was even a chance, as Silk admitted to himself, that the prosperous-looking man in the floater—that this odd man Blood—kept false cards in a special location in his card case. Nevertheless all three of these appeared completely genuine, sharp-edged rectangles two thumbs by three, their complex laby-rinths of gold encysted in some remarkable substance that was almost indestructible, yet nearly invisible. It was said that when two of the intricate golden patterns were exactly alike, one at least was false. Silk paused to compare them, then shook his head and hurried off again in the direction of the market. If these cards were good enough to fool the sellers of animals, that was all that mattered, though he would be a thief. A prayer, in that case, to Tenebrous Tartaros, Pas’s elder son, the terrifying god of night and thieves.* * *Maytera Marble sat watching, at the back of her class. There had been a time, long ago, when she would have stood, just as there had been a time when her students had labored over keyboards instead of slates. Today, now—in whatever year this might be…Might be…Her chronological function could not be called; she tried to remember when it had happened before.Maytera Marble could call a list of her nonfunctioning or defective components whenever she chose, though it had been five years or fifty since she had so chosen. What was the use? Why should she—why ever should anyone—make herself more miserable than the gods had chosen to make her? Weren’t the gods cruel enough, deaf to her prayers through so many years, so many decades and days and languid, half-stopped hours? Pas, Great Pas, was god of mechanisms, as of so much else. Perhaps he was too busy to notice.She pictured him as he stood in the manteion, as tall as a talus, his smooth limbs carved of some white stone finer grained than shiprock—his grave, unseeing eyes, his noble brows. Have pity on me, Pas, she prayed. Have pity on me, a mortal maid who calls upon you now, but will soon stop forever.Her right leg had been getting stiffer and stiffer for years, and at times it seemed that even when she sat so still—A boy to a girl: “She’s asleep!”—that when she sat as still as she was sitting here, watching the children take nineteen from twenty-nine and get nine, add seven and seventeen and arrive at twenty-three—that when she sat so still as this, her vision no longer as acute as it once had been, although she could still see the straying, chalky numerals on their slates when the children wrote large, and all children their age wrote large, though their eyes were better than her own.It seemed to her that she was always on the point of overheating any more, in hot weather anyway. Pas, Great Pas, God of Sky and Sun and Storm, bring the snow! Bring the cold wind!This endless summer, without snow, with no autumn rains and the season for them practically past now, the season for snow nearly upon us, and no snow. Heat and dust and clouds that were all empty, yellow haze. What could Pas, Lord Pas, Husband of Grain-bearing Echidna and Father of the Seven, be thinking of?A girl: “Look—she’s asleep!”Another: “I didn’t think they slept.”A knock at the Sun Street door of the palaestra.“I’ll get it!” That was Asphodella’s voice.This was Ratel’s. “No, I will!”Fragrant white blossoms and sharp white teeth. Maytera Marble meditated upon names. Flowers—or plants of some kind, at least—for bio girls; animals or animal products for bio boys. Metals or stones for us.Both together: “Let me!”Her old name had been—Her old name had been…A crash, as a chair fell. Maytera Marble rose stiffly, one hand gripping the windowsill. “Stop that this instant!”She could bring up a list of her nonfunctioning and defective parts whenever she chose. She had not chosen to do so for close to a century; but from time to time, most often when the cenoby lay on the night side of the long sun, that list came up of itself.“Aquifolia! Separate those two before I lose my temper.”Maytera Marble could remember the short sun, a disk of orange fire; and it seemed to her that the chief virtue of that old sun had been that no list, no menu, ever appeared unbidden beneath its rays.Both together: “Sib, I wanted—”“Well, neither of you are going to,” Maytera Marble told them.Another knock, too loud for knuckles of bone and skin. She must hurry or Maytera Rose might go, might answer that knock herself, an occasion for complaint that would outlast the snow. If the snow ever arrived.“I am going to go myself. Teasel, you’re in charge of the class until I return. Keep them at their work, every one of them.” To give her final words more weight, Maytera Marble paused as long as she dared. “I shall expect you to name those who misbehaved.”A good step toward the door. There was an actuator in her right leg that occasionally jammed when it had been idle for an hour or so, but it appeared to be functioning almost acceptably. Another step, and another. Good, good! Praise to you, Great Pas.She stopped just beyond the doorway, to listen for an immediate disturbance, then limped down the corridor to the door.A beefy, prosperous-looking man nearly as tall as Patera Silk had been pounding the panels with the carved handle of his walking stick.“May every god favor you this morning,” Maytera Marble said. “How may I serve you?”“My name’s Blood,” he announced. “I’m looking at the property. I’ve already seen the garden and so on, but the other buildings are locked. I’d like you to take me through them, and show me this one.”“I couldn’t possibly admit you to our cenoby,” Maytera Marble said firmly. “Nor could I permit you to enter the manse alone. I’ll be happy to show you through our manteion and this palaestra—provided that you have a valid reason for wishing to see them.”Blood’s red face became redder still. “I’m checking the condition of the buildings. All of them need a lot of work, from what I’ve seen outside.”Maytera Marble nodded. “That’s quite true, I’m afraid, although we do everything that we can. Patera Silk’s been repairing the roof of the manteion. That was most urgent. Is it true—”Blood interrupted her. “The cenoby—is that the little house on Silver Street?”She nodded.“The manse is the one where Silver Street and Sun come together? The little three-cornered house at the west end of the garden?”“That’s correct. Is it true, then, that this entire property is to be sold? That’s what some of the children have been saying.”Blood eyed her quizzically. “Has Maytera Rose heard about it?”“I suppose she’s heard the rumor, if that’s what you mean. I haven’t discussed it with her.”Blood nodded, a minute inclination of his head that probably escaped his own notice. “I didn’t tell that tow-headed butcher of yours. He looked like the sort to make trouble. But you tell Maytera Rose that the rumor’s true, you hear me? Tell her it’s been sold already, sib. Sold to me.”We’ll be gone before the snow flies, Maytera Marble thought, hearing her future and all their futures in Blood’s tone. Gone before winter and living somewhere else, where Sun Street will be just a memory.Blessed snow to cool her thighs; she pictured herself sitting at peace, with her lap full of new-fallen snow.Blood added, “Tell her my name.” This is an omnibus edition comprising the novels Nightside the Long Sun, copyright © 1993 by Gene Wolfe


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Gene Wolfe'sReturn to the Whorlis the third volume, afterOn Blue's WatersandIn Green's Jungles, of his ambitious SF trilogy The Book of the Short Sun . . . It is again narrated by Horn, who has embarked on a quest in search of the heroic leader Patera Silk. Horn has traveled from his home on the planet Blue, reached the mysterious planet Green, and visited the great starship, the Whorl and even, somehow, the distant planet Urth. But Horn's identity has become ambiguous, a complex question embedded in the story, whose telling is itself complex, shifting from place to place, present to past. Perhaps Horn and Silk are now one being.Return to the Whorlbrings Wolfe's major new fiction, The Book of the Short Sun, to a strange and seductive climax.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The depth and breadth of science fiction and fantasy fiction continues to change with every passing year. The twenty-nine stories chosen for this book by award-winning anthologist Jonathan Strahan carefully map this evolution, giving readers a captivating and always-entertaining look at the very best the genre has to offer.</p>


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There is a box. Inside that box is a door. Beyond that door is a house.In some rooms forests grow. In some, prisoners wait.At the top of the house, a prisoner sits behind a locked door waiting for a key to turn. The day that happens, the world will end'刎ile under: Modern Fantasy [Worlds within Worlds | Prison Break | Exploring the Unknown | Dark Powers]


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p><em>Starred Review.</em> Earth continues its relentless plunge toward environmental collapse in Robinson's well-done if intensely didactic follow-up to <em>Forty Signs of Rain</em> (2004). As a result of global warming, the Gulf Stream has stalled, and when winter comes, impossibly frigid temperatures hit the Eastern Seaboard and Western Europe. As people starve, multinational corporations explore ways of making a profit from the disaster. When Antarctica's ice shelves collapse, low-lying island nations quite literally slip beneath the rising waters. In Washington, D.C., clear-sighted scientists must overcome government inertia and stupidity to put into effect policies that may begin to salvage the situation. An enormous fleet of ships is dispatched to the North Atlantic to dump millions of tons of salt into the ocean in the hope of restarting the Gulf Stream. This ecological disaster tale is guaranteed to anger political and economic conservatives of every stripe, but it provides perhaps the most realistic portrayal ever created of the environmental changes that are already occurring on our planet. It should be required reading for anyone concerned about our world's future. <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From School Library Journal</h3><p>Adult/High School–Picking up where <em>Forty Signs of Rain</em> (Bantam, 2004) leaves off, this second book in a planned trilogy finds Earth about to experience the most intense winter on record. Governments worldwide blithely go about their routines in spite of the monumental recent flooding in Washington, DC, and other areas around the globe. When the record-setting cold sets in, people begin freezing to death and starving due to crop failures. Large corporations and world governments use the crisis to attempt to rig elections and plan other agendas to tighten their hold on the public. Meanwhile scientists, especially those at the National Science Foundation, frantically search for a way to shift the weather patterns. The answer seems to be to jump-start the Gulf Stream to get it flowing again; the world watches as millions of tons of salt pour from ships into the ocean in this attempt. While the major plot of ecological chaos plays out, the subplots show how the effects of the weather changes, ecological turmoil, and governmental and big business assaults affect the various characters as they try to survive. This well-researched and expertly written novel about a future that might be coming true all too soon will hopefully serve as a wake-up call about Earths current serious situation._–Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA_ <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p>

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<h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Inside-the-Beltway policy wonks and government scientists strive to save the world from environmental collapse in the well-written third installment (after 2005's <em>Fifty Degrees Below</em>) of this hyperrealistic, near-future SF series. The Gulf Stream—slowed by global warming—has been restarted and nuclear-powered naval ships stand by to generate electricity for frigid coastal cities. Phil Chase, an ecologically minded Democrat from California in the Al Gore mold, has won the presidency, due in part to the efforts of NSA scientist Frank Vanderwal and his spook girlfriend, Caroline Barr, who helped foil a right-wing attempt to fix the election. But only time will tell if the world has both the scientific know-how and the political will to reverse the ongoing rush toward an ecological precipice. Combining surprisingly interesting discussions of environmental science with Robinson's trademark tramps through nature and an exciting espionage subplot, this novel should appeal to both the author's regular SF audience and anyone concerned with the ecological health of our planet <em>(Mar.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>By the time Phil Chase is elected president, the world’s climate is far on its way to irreversible change. Food scarcity, housing shortages, diminishing medical care, and vanishing species are just some of the consequences. The erratic winter the Washington, D.C., area is experiencing is another grim reminder of a global weather pattern gone haywire: bone-chilling cold one day, balmy weather the next.  </p><p>But the president-elect remains optimistic and doesn’t intend to give up without a fight. A maverick in every sense of the word, Chase starts organizing the most ambitious plan to save the world from disaster since FDR–and assembling a team of top scientists and advisers to implement it.  </p><p>For Charlie Quibler, this means reentering the political fray full-time and giving up full-time care of his young son, Joe. For Frank Vanderwal, hampered by a brain injury, it means trying to protect the woman he loves from a vengeful ex and a rogue “black ops” agency not even the president can control–a task for which neither Frank’s work at the National Science Foundation nor his study of Tibetan Buddhism can prepare him.   </p><p>In a world where time is running out as quickly as its natural resources, where surveillance is almost total and freedom nearly nonexistent, the forecast for the Chase administration looks darker each passing day. For as the last–and most terrible–of natural disasters looms on the horizon, it will take a miracle to stop the clock . . . the kind of miracle that only dedicated men and women can bring about. </p>


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<h3>Review</h3><p>"Savage, dark, strange and unpredictable." Joe Abercrombie "Genuinely strange, eerie, evocative. A classic." -- Adam Roberts "A unique take on the werewolf mythos, on the Norse pantheon and on magic itself. An enthralling, mesmerising book." -- Mike Carey "Superior thunderous and full-blooded historical fantasy, broiling and smoking with mystery, beautifully written." -- Graham Joyce "A hardcore fantasy epic, mixing Norse saga with brutal violence, uncompromising action and an original take on the werewolf mythology. The intricate plotting had me hooked from the start, and the book ends on a bang that will leave you desperate for more!" -- Andy Remic "A fresh take on the werewolf myth that savages your expectations at every turn. Brutal and relentlessly original." -- Chris Wooding "Sent chills down my spine. Dark, bloody and dangerous, you can almost smell the sweat and iron coming off the pages. There are a lot of werewolves coming our way this year, but Wolfsangel could well be the standard by which they will be judged for some years to come." -- Stephen Deas "A spellbinding and unputdownable fusion of historical and fantasy fiction that is sure to enchant devotees of both genres." -- RJ Ellory MD Lachlan's fantasy debut as all the essential elements of a rollicking historical fantasy: action aplenty, vivid description and strong characterisation. The most powerful and original fantasy I have read for some time." INTERZONE "The strength of Wolfsangel lies in Lachlan's superlative storytelling skill. He evokes the frozen wastes of the Viking kings. We feel the biting cold, see the bleak wilderness, hear the myths of the Gods. Despite the oftentimes dark aspect of the novel, it is anchored by a warm heart and it is this that kept me reading long into the night. I can't wait for the next in this series. M.D. Lachlan has penned a winner." -- Fantasyliterature.com "Fantasy addicts will enjoy every page." TOTAL SCI FI "Wolfsangel truly has the epic and bloodthirsty feel of Norse saga. The tale walks on eerie ground: witches come to men between sleep and waking; gods exist in the place between living and dying; magic and reality intertwine. And this fascination with hinterlands suits the novel, since Wolfsangel itself is successfully poised between fantasy and historical fiction." WATERSONES BOOKS QUARTERLY </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The Viking King Authun leads his men on a raid against an Anglo-Saxon village. Men and women are killed indiscriminately but Authun demands that no child be touched. He is acting on prophecy. A prophecy that tells him that the Saxons have stolen a child from the Gods. If Authun, in turn, takes the child and raises him as an heir, the child will lead his people to glory. But Authun discovers not one child, but twin baby boys. Ensuring that his faithful warriors, witness to what has happened, die during the raid Authun takes the children and their mother home, back to the witches who live on the troll wall. And he places his destiny in their hands. And so begins a stunning multi-volume fantasy epic that will take a werewolf from his beginnings as the heir to a brutal viking king, down through the ages. It is a journey that will see him hunt for his lost love through centuries and lives, and see the endless battle between the wolf, Odin and Loki - the eternal trickster - spill over into countless bloody conflicts from our history, and over into our lives. This is the myth of the werewolf as it has never been told before and marks the beginning of an extraordinary new fantasy series from Gollancz. </p>


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Another action-packed adventure from the new master of fantasy launches Legends of The Raven, a new trilogy starring the cult heroes made famous in Chronicles of The Raven. The Raven travel to a new continent in search of mages to help the ruined college of Julatsa rebuild . . . and find themselves in the midst of an ancient curse - a curse that has unleashed a plague that threatens to wipe out the elven race. Barclay excels with another tale that pitches The Raven against the clock and unseen foes. Full of desperate fights and secret betrayals the story also fills in more of Balaia's history and delves deeper into the ancient emnities between the colleges. Barclay has created a wonderfully appealing group of heroes and with every book their history grows and the land they live in becomes wider and richer. This is landmark fantasy in the making.


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SUMMARY: On the world of Kuf, the Macht are a mystery, a seldom-seen people of extraordinary ferocity and discipline whose prowess on the battlefield is the stuff of legend. For centuries they have remained within the remote fastnesses of the Harukush Mountains. In the world beyond, the teeming races and peoples of Kuf have been united within the bounds of the Asurian Empire, which rules the known world, and is invincible. The Great King of Asuria can call up whole nations to the battlefield.His word is law.But now the Great King零 brother means to take the throne by force, and in order to do so he has sought out the legend. He hires ten thousand mercenary warriors of theMacht, and leads them into the heart of the Empire.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>It is twenty-three years since a Macht army fought its way home from the heart of the Asurian Empire. The man who came to lead that army, Rictus, is now a hard-bitten mercenary captain, middle-aged and tired. He wants nothing more than to lay down his spear and become the farmer that his father was. But fate has different ideas. A young warleader has risen to challenge the order of things in the very heartlands of the Macht. A soldier of genius, he takes city after city, and reigns over them as king. What is more, he had heard of the legendary leader of the Ten Thousand. His name is Corvus, and the rumours say that he is not even fully human. He means to make himself absolute ruler of all the Macht. And he wants Rictus to help him.</p>


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SUMMARY: As Abelyn of Hebrion succumbs to his injuries, leaving his kingdom vulnerable, soldier Corfe Cear-Inaf faces a difficult choice as he rises in rank to his own command, and the evil influence of Aruan, a shapeshifting immortal, begins to seep into the Five Kingdoms. Original.


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: Religious wars, shapeshifter invasions, and political intrigue drive the fourth novel of this epic fantasy series. "Kearney paints the gore, the sex, and the lust for power in vivid colour." (*SFX*)


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EDITORIAL REVIEW: 'In the legends of the pagan Cimbric tribes it is said that a wolf will one day swallow all the world, and regurgitate it in a different corner of the stars. In the darkness there a new race of men will start again with flint and fire, and commence that long, slow journey into the light. 'In all legends, even the most primitive, there is always a grain of truth.' Sixteen years have passed since the battle of Armagedir. The Torunnans and Merduks have become close allies in a world that is growing increasingly strange and fearsome. The Himerian Church rules two thirds of the continent and is become a swollen, corrupt theocracy which strangles independent thought. Only in Torunna, in Ostrabar and in Hebrion do Kings still rule free of the black-clad Inceptines. But now off the coast of Hebrion something astonishing has appeared. A vast fleet of ships comes sailing out of the empty west, and on board them is an entirely new race of men. The immortal arch-mage Aruan has returned to the Old World at last, and he intends to claim it as his own.


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SUMMARY: When a power-hungry fanatic wins himself a highly influential religious position, threeresistant kings must fight a brutal war merely to maintain their thrones.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The thrilling new installment in the ambitious Acacia trilogy, praised by the "Washington" "Post" as "gripping and sophisticated." A few years have passed since the conquering of the Mein, and Queen Corinn is firmly in control of the Known World-perhaps too firmly. With plans to expand her empire, she sends her brother, Daniel, on an exploratory mission to the Other Lands. There Daniel discovers a lush, exotic mainland ruled by an alliance of tribes that poses a grave danger to the stability of the Known World. Is Queen Corinn strong enough to face this new challenge? Readers of this bold, imaginative sequel will not be disappointed in the answer.</p>


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<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; ">Again, Dangerous Visions is the sequel to the sf short story anthology Dangerous Visions, 1st published in '72. It was edited by Harlan Ellison, illustrated by Ed Emshwiller. Like its predecessor, Again, Dangerous Visions &amp; the 46 stories w/in it received many awards. The Word for World is Forest, by Ursula K. Le Guin, won a Hugo for Best Novella. When It Changed by Joanna Russ won a Nebula Award for Best Short Story. For a 2nd time, Ellison received a special Hugo for editing the anthology. Again, Dangerous Visions was to be followed by a 3rd anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. At this point, Ellison has said that it will probably never see the light of day. <br>An Assault of New Dreamers: introduction by Harlan Ellison <br>The Counterpoint of View by John Heidenry <br>Ching Witch! by Ross Rocklynne <br>The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin <br>For Value Received by Andrew J. Offutt <br>Mathoms From the Time Closet--1/Robot's Story, 2/Against the Lafayette Escadrille, 3/Loco Parentis by Gene Wolfe <br>Time Travel For Pedestrians by Ray Nelson <br>Christ, Old Student in a New School (poem) by Ray Bradbury <br>King Of The Hill by Chad Oliver <br>The 10:00 Report Is Brought To You By...from Edward Bryant <br>The Funeral by Kate Wilhelm <br>Harry The Hare by James B. Hemesath <br>When It Changed by Joanna Russ <br>The Big Space Fuck by Kurt Vonnegut <br>Bounty by T.L. Sherred <br>Still-Life by K.M. O'Donnell (Barry N. Malzberg) <br>Stoned Counsel by H.H. Hollis <br>Monitored Dreams &amp; Strategic Cremations--1/The Bisquit Position, 2/The Girl With Rapid Eye Movements by Bernard Wolfe <br>With A Finger In My I by David Gerrold <br>In The Barn by Piers Anthony <br>Soundless Evening by Lee Hoffman <br>(the title is an ink blot) by Gahan Wilson <br>The Test-Tube Creature, Afterward by Joan Bernott <br>And The Sea Like Mirrors by Gregory Benford <br>Bed Sheets Are White by Evelyn Lief <br>Tissue at the fitting shop &amp; 53rd American Dream by James Sallis <br>Elouise &amp; the Doctors of the Planet Pergamon by Josephine Saxton <br>Chuck Berry, Won't You Please Come Home by Ken McCullough <br>Epiphany For Aliens by David Kerr <br>Eye Of The Beholder by Burt K. Filer <br>Moth Race by Richard Hill <br>In Re Glover by Leonard Tushnet <br>Zero Gee by Ben Bova <br>A Mouse In The Walls Of The Global Village by Dean R. Koontz <br>Getting Along by James Blish &amp; Judith Ann Lawrence <br>Totenbuch by A Parra (Y Figueredo) <br>Things Lost by Thomas M. Disch <br>With The Bentfin Boomer Boys On Little Old New Alabama by Richard A. Lupoff <br>Lamia Mutable by M. John Harrison <br>Last Train To Kankakee by Robin Scott <br>Empire Of The Sun by Andrew Weiner <br>Ozymandias by Terry Carr <br>The Milk Of Paradise by James Tiptree, Jr</span></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Starred Review. Abraham (the Seasons of War quartet) starts this rich, exciting, and fresh epic fantasy series opener in a fairly standard fashion: an orphaned girl and a once great general escape from a city under siege with the help of a traveling theater troupe. But that's where the clichés end, for Marcus Wester would far rather guard humble caravans than cruel kings, and Cithrin bel Sarcour's loyalty is not to her long-dead noble parents but to the Medean Bank that took her in. Cithrin and Marcus must smuggle the treasury of the lost city of Vanai through a war zone in which every army seeks new sources of funds and every king wants them dead. With a deft and light hand, Abraham questions and explores the fantasy-world assumptions that most authors take for granted, telling an enjoyable and genuinely innovative adventure story along the way. (Apr.) <br>(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>All paths lead to war... </p><p>Marcus' hero days are behind him. He knows too well that even the smallest war still means somebody's death. When his men are impressed into a doomed army, staying out of a battle he wants no part of requires some unorthodox steps. </p><p>Cithrin is an orphan, ward of a banking house. Her job is to smuggle a nation's wealth across a war zone, hiding the gold from both sides. She knows the secret life of commerce like a second language, but the strategies of trade will not defend her from swords. </p><p>Geder, sole scion of a noble house, has more interest in philosophy than in swordplay. A poor excuse for a soldier, he is a pawn in these games. No one can predict what he will become. </p><p>Falling pebbles can start a landslide. A spat between the Free Cities and the Severed Throne is spiraling out of control. A new player rises from the depths of history, fanning the flames that will sweep the entire region onto The Dragon's Path-the path to war. </p> </div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Welcome to the future. Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, The Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to The Scopuli and rebel sympathizer, Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.</p>


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Jayne Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayne travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College.


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<div> <h3>Product Description</h3> <div> Running away to become a soldier rather than marry the man her family had chosen for her, Paksenarrion, a sheep farmer's daughter, becomes a legendary heroine to her people. Reissue. </div> <h3>About the Author</h3> <div> Elizabeth Moon’s first novel, Sheepfarmer's Daughter (1988) won the Compton Crook Award in 1989. Remnant Population was a Hugo nominee in 1997, and The Speed of Dark was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and won the Nebula in 2004. </div> </div>


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<div> <h3>Product Description</h3> <div> A fantasy novel which follows the adventures of a mercenary company, in this first volume of THE DEED OF PAKSENNARION. Elizabeth Moon is the co-author with Anne McCaffrey of SASSINAK and GENERATION WARRIORS. </div> <h3>About the Author</h3> <div> Elizabeth Moon’s first novel, Sheepfarmer's Daughter (1988) won the Compton Crook Award in 1989. Remnant Population was a Hugo nominee in 1997, and The Speed of Dark was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and won the Nebula in 2004. </div> </div>


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<div> <h3>Review</h3> <div> 'Brilliant . . . the excitement of high heroic adventure' - BOOKWATCH 'A tour de force' - JACK McDEVITT 'This is the real thing. Worldbuilding in the grand tradition, background thought out to the last detail . . . Her military knowledge is impressive' - JUDITH TARR </div> <h3>Product Description</h3> <div> Paksenarrion, once a sheepfarmer's daughter, now a veteran warrior, meets new challenges as she breaks up a robber gang, dispells an ancient evil possessing an elvish shrine and is accepted for training at an academy for knights. Clearly, a high destiny awaits her. Reisssue. </div> </div>


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p><strong>It is 1862, though not the 1862 it should be</strong>...</p><p>Time has been altered, and Sir Richard Francis Burton, the king's agent, is one of the few people who know that the world is now careening along a very different course from that which Destiny intended.</p><p>When a clockwork-powered man of brass is found abandoned in Trafalgar Square, Burton and his assistant, the wayward poet Algernon Swinburne, find themselves on the trail of the stolen Garnier Collection—black diamonds rumored to be fragments of the Lemurian Eye of Naga, a meteorite that fell to Earth in prehistoric times.</p><p>His investigation leads to involvement with the media sensation of the age: the Tichborne Claimant, a man who insists that he's the long lost heir to the cursed Tichborne estate. Monstrous, bloated, and monosyllabic, he's not the aristocratic Sir Roger Tichborne known to everyone, yet the working classes come out in force to support him. They are soon rioting through the streets of London, as mysterious steam wraiths incite all-out class warfare.</p><p>From a haunted mansion to the Bedlam madhouse, from South America to Australia, from seances to a secret labyrinth, Burton struggles with shadowy opponents and his own inner demons, meeting along the way the philosopher Herbert Spencer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Florence Nightingale, and Charles Doyle (father of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).</p><p>Can the king's agent expose a plot that threatens to rip the British Empire apart, leading to an international conflict the like of which the world has never seen? And what part does the clockwork man have to play?</p><p>Burton and Swinburne's second adventure—_The Clockwork Man Of Trafalgar Square_—is filled with eccentric steam-driven technology, grotesque characters, and a deepening mystery that pushes forward the three-volume story arc begun in <em>The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack</em>. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>Mark Hodder</strong> is the creator and caretaker of the BLAKIANA Web site (sextonblake.co.uk), which he designed to celebrate, record, and revive Sexton Blake, the most written-about fictional detective in English publishing history. A former BBC writer, editor, journalist, and Web producer, Mark has worked in all the new and traditional medias and was based in London for most of his working life until 2008, when he relocated to Valencia in Spain to de-stress and write novels. He can most often be found at the base of a palm tree, hammering at a laptop. Mark has a degree in cultural studies and loves British history (1850 to 1950, in particular), good food, cutting-edge gadgets, cult TV (ITC forever!), Tom Waits, and a vast assortment of oddities. </p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: When you're staring evil in the eye, don't forget to watch your back . . .For the first time in forever, Jayne Heller's life is making sense. Even if she routinely risks her life to destroy demonic parasites that prey on mortals, she now has friends, colleagues, a trusted lover, and newfound confidence in the mission she inherited from her wealthy, mysterious uncle. Her next job might just rob her of all of them. At Grace Memorial Hospital in Chicago, something is stirring. Patients are going AWOL and research subjects share the same sinister dreams. Half a century ago, something was buried under Grace in a terrible ritual, and it's straining to be free. Jayne is primed to take on whatever's about to be let loose. Yet the greatest danger now may not be the huge, unseen force lurking below, but the evil that has been hiding in plain sight all alongtaking her ever closer to losing her body, her mind, and her soul. . . .</p>


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<div><p class="style1" style="font-size: 11px; ">SCAR NIGHT: Volume One of the Deepgate Codex <br></p><p style="font-size: 11px; "><span class="style3" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; ">For a hundred generations, the city of Deepgate has hung suspended by giant chains over a seemingly bottomless abyss. In the unfathomable darkness below is said to reside the dread god Ulcis, 'hoarder of souls', with his army of ghosts. Outside the city extend the barren wastes of Deadsands, inhabited by the enemy Heshette, so that safe access is guaranteed only by a fleet of airships. At the hub of the city itself rises the Temple, in one of whose many crumbling spires resides a youthful angel, Dill, the last of his line. Descendant of heroic battle-archons, yet barely able to wield the great sword he has inherited from his forebears, he lives a sheltered existence under the watchful eye of Presbyter Sypes, who rules the Temple. For despite his sense of purposelessness, Dill has a destiny about to unfold - one that will take him down into terrifying depths of the pit in a desperate quest to save the teeming but precarious city from total annihilation at the hands of a cunning and resourceful traitor.</span></p></div>


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<p class="description">When the last of the Gravediggers, an elite imperial infiltration unit, are disbanded and hunted down by the emperor they once served, munitions expert Colonel Thomas Granger takes refuge in the unlikeliest of places. He becomes a jailer in Ethugra - a prison city of poison-flooded streets and gaols in which a million enemies of the empire are held captive. But when Granger takes possession of two new prisoners, he realises that he can't escape his past so readily. Ianthe is a young girl with an extraordinary psychic talent. A gift that makes her unique in a world held to ransom by the powerful Haurstaf - the sisterhood of telepaths who are all that stand between the Empire and the threat of the Unmer, the powerful civilization of entropic sorcerers and dragon-mounted warriors. In this war-torn land, she promises to make Granger an extremely wealthy man, if he can only keep her safe from harm. This is what Granger is best at. But when other factions learn about Ianthe's unique ability, even Granger's skills of warfare are tested to their limits. While, Ianthe struggles to control the powers that are growing in ways no-one thought were possible. Another threat is surfacing: out there, beyond the bitter seas, an old and familiar enemy is rising - one who, if not stopped, will drown the world and all of humanity with it...</p>


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<div><p class="style1" style="margin-top: 0pt;">IRON ANGEL: Volume Two of the Deepgate Codex</p>
                          <p class="style1" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">After
 a destructive battle, the ancient swaying city of Deepgate has been 
overtaken. Most of the chains that suspend it have given way, toxic 
fumes are emanating from blazing structures, and the temple once 
inhabited by the ruling Presbyter now dangles upside down above the 
once-uncharted abyss. The victorious Spine have initiated martial law 
and are ruthlessly pursuing all who attempt to leave. Amid the turmoil, 
two captives are returned.<br></p>
                          <p class="style1" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Arriving
 by ship are the young angel Dill, now toughened by war, and traitor 
assassin Rachel Hael. Incarcerated in the slowly crumbling temple, the 
two await their fate, while from the abyss beneath them ghosts rise--for
 the death of the god Ulcis has left open the gates to Hell.<br></p>
                          <p class="style1" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">But
 on orders from his divine brethren, Cospinol, the god of brine and fog,
 is traveling the world to Deepgate to seal this breach. His great 
skyship is being dragged through the air by the giant John Anchor, a 
monster of a man enslaved to pull the god's vessel, moving slowly, 
inevitably, toward the city.<br></p>
                          <p class="style1" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">As
 the city waits, teetering on the brink, myriad plans for vengeance are 
set in motion, from the continent of Pandemeria to Heaven itself. Among 
them is a ghostly archon sent to deliver a message to the gods on 
earth--using Dill as his vessel. Thrust from his body, Dill's own soul 
returns to Hell. When Dill and Rachel are attacked by Spine assassins, 
Rachel has no choice but to try to escape with the creature that calls 
itself Dill...andto somehow find a way to restore her friend's soul 
before it's too late. For powerful forces are stirring, and in the 
coming battle between gods, it is the world of men that is at stake.</p>
                          <p class="style1" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><br></p></div>


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<div><p class="style1" style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 11px; ">GOD OF CLOCKS: Volume Three of the Deepgate Codex</p><p class="style1" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 11px; ">War, rebellion, betrayal--but the worst is still to come. For in the cataclysm of the battle of the gods, a portal to Hell has been opened, releasing unnatural creatures that were never meant to be and threatening to turn the world into a killing field. And in the middle, caught between warring gods and fallen angels, humanity finds itself pushed to the brink of extinction. Its only hope is the most unlikely of heroes.<br></p><p class="style1" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 11px; ">Former assassin Rachel Hael has rejoined the blood-magician Mina Greene and her devious little dog, Basilis, on one last desperate mission to save the world from the grip of Hell. Carried in the jaws of a debased angel, they rush to the final defensive stronghold of the god of time--pursued all the while by the twelve arconites, the great iron-and-bone automatons controlled by King Menoa, the Lord of the Maze. Meanwhile, in the other direction, the giant John Anchor, still harnessed to his master's skyship, descends into Hell itself to meet Menoa on his own ground.<br></p><p class="style1" style="margin-top: 0pt; font-size: 11px; ">But neither Heaven nor Hell is anything they could ever expect. Now old enemies and new allies join a battle whose outcome could be the end of them all. Rachel's ally, the god Hasp, finds himself in the grip of a parasite and struggles against conflicting orders to destroy his own friends; and a dangerous infant deity comprised of countless broken souls threatens to overcome them all. As Rachel travels to thefinal confrontation she has both sought and feared, she begins to realize that time itself is unraveling. And so she must prepare herself for a sacrifice that may claim her heart, her life, her soul--and even then it may not be enough.</p></div>


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<div><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; ">Starred Review. Grade 8 Up—This inspiring collection of short stories contains contributions from authors who are well known in the science-fiction genre, including Neil Gaiman, Corey Doctorow, Garth Nix, and Scott Westerfeld. As the subtitle indicates, the selections look forward to what life might be like in the distant, and not-so-distant, future. Some common sci-fi tropes are explored, including alien visits to Earth and overpowering computer games, as well as some less familiar styles and topics such as the future of vampirism and a particularly interesting story written as answers to an unseen questionnaire. Each of the tales is not only entertaining to read, but also provides a thought-provoking element to consider. This anthology provides ample opportunities for new readers to sample the genre and will keep die-hard fans content. Quality stories by authors at the height of their craft make this anthology a must-have for any library. </span></h3><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; "><div>ASS-HAT MAGIC SPIDER by Scott Westerfeld</div><div>CHEATS by Ann Halam</div><div>ORANGE by Neil Gaiman</div><div>THE SURFER by Kelly Link</div><div>REPAIR KIT by Stephen Baxter</div><div>THE DISMANTLED INVENTION OF FATE by Jeffrey Ford</div><div>ANDA’S GAME by Cory Doctorow</div><div>SUNDIVER DAY by Kathleen Ann Goonan</div><div>THE DUST ASSASSIN by Ian McDonald</div><div>THE STAR SURGEON’S APPRENTICE by Alastair Reynolds</div><div>AN HONEST DAY’S WORK by Margo Lanagan</div><div>LOST CONTINENT by Greg Egan</div><div>INCOMERS by Paul McAuley</div><div>POST-IRONIC STRESS SYNDROME by Tricia Sullivan</div><div>INFESTATION by Garth Nix</div><div>PINOCCHIO by Walter Jon Williams</div></span></div></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>This solid follow-up anthology to 2007's <em>The New Space Opera</em> includes 19 new stories that show how far space opera has come since its pulp beginnings in the '30s and '40s. These entertaining and provocative tales of interstellar adventure, written by a laundry list of genre heavyweights, range from Mike Resnick's Catastrophe Baker and a Canticle for Leibowitz, a campy misadventure that follows a larger-than-life freelance hero on his quest to regain a musical theater producer's lost song, to John Meaney's From the Heart, set in his Nulapeiron universe, which revolves around spy Carl Blackstone and an unlikely—and surprisingly poignant—love story at the galactic core. The impressive diversity of stories reaffirms that soap opera is alive and well, and where some of the genre's most innovative writing is taking place. <em>(July)</em> </p><p></p><p>INTRODUCTION</p><p>UTRIUSQUE COSMI by Robert Charles Wilson</p><p>THE ISLAND by Peter Watts</p><p>EVENTS PRECEDING THE HELVETICAN RENAISSANCE by John Kessel</p><p>TO GO BOLDLY by Cory Doctorow</p><p>THE LOST PRINCESS MAN by John Barnes</p><p>DEFECT by Kristine Kathryn Rusch</p><p>TO RAISE A MUTINY BETWIXT YOURSELVES by Jay Lake</p><p>SHELL GAME Neal Asher</p><p>PUNCTUALITY by Garth Nix</p><p>INEVITABLE by Sean Williams</p><p>JOIN THE NAVY AND SEE THE WORLDS by Bruce Sterling</p><p>FEARLESS SPACE PIRATES OF THE OUTER RINGS by Bill Willingham</p><p>FROM THE HEART by John Meaney</p><p>CHAMELEONS by Elizabeth Moon</p><p>THE TENTH MUSE by Tad Williams</p><p>CRACKLEGRACKLE by Justina Robson</p><p>THE TALE OF THE WICKED by John Scalzi</p><p>CATASTROPHE BAKER AND A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ by Mike Resnick</p><p>THE FAR END OF HISTORY by John C. Wright</p></div>


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SUMMARY: With Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Eastern Standard Tribe, Cory Doctorow established himself as one of the leading voices of next-generation SF: inventive, optimistic, and comfortable with the sheer strangeness of tomorrow. Now Doctorow returns with a novel of wrenching oddity, heartfelt technological vision, and human pity set on the streets of Toronto today.Alan is a middle-aged entrepeneur in contemporary Toronto, who has devoted himself to fixing up a house in the bohemian neighborhood of Kensington. This naturally brings him in contact with the house full of students and layabouts next door, including a young woman who, in a moment of stress, reveals to him that she has wings--wings, moreover, which grow back after each attempt to cut them off. Alan understands. He himself has a secret or two. His father is a mountain; his mother is a washing machine; and among his brothers are a set of Russian nesting dolls. Now two of the three nesting dolls, Edward and Frederick, are on his doorstep--well on their way to starvation, because their innermost member, George, has vanished. It appears that yet another brother, Davey, who Alan and his other siblings killed years ago, may have returned...bent on revenge.Under such circumstances it seems only reasonable for Alan to involve himself with a visionary scheme to blanket Toronto with free wireless Internet connectivity, a conspiracy spearheaded by a brilliant technopunk who builds miracles of hardware from parts scavenged from the city's dumpsters. But Alan's past won't leave him alone--and Davey is only one of the powers gunning for him and all his friends.Wildly imaginative, constantly whipsawing us between the preposterous, the amazing, and the deeply felt, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town is unlike any novel you have ever read.


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<div><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Brave explorers and mortal enemies across the world clash at a mysterious lost continent. After long voyages, encountering hurricanes and sea monsters, Criston Vora and Saan race to Terravitae, the legendary promised land. Saan's quest is to find the Key to Creation, a weapon that may defeat Uraba's enemies, and Criston wants vengeance against the monstrous Leviathan that ruined his life long ago. </p><p>Back home, two opposing continents and religions clash for the remnants of a sacred city, unleashing their hatred in a war that could end both civilizations. Queen Anjine and Soldan-Shah Omra are driven by mutual hatred, heaping atrocity upon atrocity in an escalating conflict that only their gods can end. </p><p>Meanwhile, the secretive Saedrans. manipulating both sides, come ever closer to their ultimate goal: to complete the Map of All Things and bring about the return of God. </p><h3>About the Author</h3><p>Kevin J. Anderson has written 46 national bestsellers and has over 20 million books in print worldwide in thirty languages. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the <em>SFX </em>Readers' Choice Award. Find out more about Kevin Anderson at www.wordfire.com. </p></div>


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<div><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; ">The first installment in Robinson's new trilogy is an action-packed and thoughtful tale of the exploration and settlement of Mars--riven by both personal and ideological conflicts--in the early 21st century. The official leaders of the "first hundred" (initial party of settlers) are American Frank Chalmers and Russian Maya Katarina Toitova, but subgroups break out under the informal guidance of popular favorites like the ebullient Arkady Nikoleyevich Bogdanov, who sets up a base on one of Mars's moons, and the enigmatic Hiroko, who establishes the planet's farm. As the group struggles to secure a foothold on the frigid, barren landscape, friction develops both on Mars and on Earth between those who advocate terraforming, or immediately altering Mars's natural environment to make it more habitable, and those who favor more study of the planet before changes are introduced. The success of the pioneers' venture brings additional settlers to Mars. All too soon, the first hundred find themselves outnumbered by newcomers and caught up in political problems as complex as any found on Earth. </span></h3></div>


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<h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; ">The sequel to Red Mars details an early 22nd-century Mars controlled by Earth's metanationals, gigantic corporations intent on exploiting Mars. Debate among the settlers--some native-born, some the surviving members of the First Hundred--is divided between the minimalist areoformists, who have come to love Mars in all its harshness, and the terraformists, who want to replicate Earth. As the surface of Mars warms and is seeded with genetically altered plants, the settlers await Earth's self-destruction, which they hope will give them a chance to claim their independence. They travel endlessly over every inch of Mars--no mean feat, since most of the First Hundred are criminals wanted for their roles in the failed revolt of 2061--with each kilometer and each group of settlers they meet described in laborious detail. When they're not traveling, these colonists contemplate the history of which they have been a part and which they can only partially recall as a result of their longevity treatments. With the collapse of Earth society and internecine battles among the metanationals, the Martian settlers liberate their cities and declare their planet free. This wide-ranging novel is loaded with all manner of scientific and historical detail, but the story bogs down under its very breadth and seems almost like a Martian year--twice as long as it needs to be. The next and final volume in the trilogy will be Blue Mars . </span></h3>


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<h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; ">This third book in Robinson's hard-science Mars trilogy follows 1992 Nebula winner Red Mars and 1994 Hugo winner Green Mars. In the 21st century, colonists almost succeed in terraforming Mars. While they fight for independence from Earth and attempt to avert a civil war, they find their new civilization threatened by an ice age. </span></h3>


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<div><p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW:</p>
<p class="description">“CARRION COMFORT is one of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Simple as that.” --**Stephen King**</p>
<p class="description"></p>
<p class="description">"Epic in scale and scope but intimately disturbing, CARRION COMFORT spans the ages to rewrite history and tug at the very fabric of reality. A nightmarish chronicle of predator and prey that will shatter your world view forever.  A true classic." --**Guillermo del Toro**</p>
<p class="description">"CARRION COMFORT* *is one of the scariest books ever written.  Whenever I get the question asked *Who's your favorite author? *my answer is always Dan Simmons." --**James Rollins**</p>
<p class="description">"One of the few major reinventions of the vampire concept, on a par with Jack Finney’s *Invasion of the Body Snatchers*, Richard Matheson’s *I Am Legend*, and Stephen King’s *Salem’s Lot*. --**David Morrell**</p>
<p class="description">THE PAST...  Caught behind the lines of Hitler’s Final Solution, Saul Laski is one of the multitudes destined to die in the notorious Chelmno extermination camp.  Until he rises to meet his fate and finds himself face to face with an evil far older, and far greater, than the Nazi’s themselves...</p>
<p class="description">THE PRESENT...  Compelled by the encounter to survive at all costs, so begins a journey that for Saul will span decades and cross continents, plunging into the darkest corners of 20th century history to reveal a secret society of beings who may often exist behind the world's most horrible and violent events.  Killing from a distance, and by darkly manipulative proxy, they are people with the psychic ability to 'use' humans: read their minds, subjugate them to their wills, experience through their senses, feed off their emotions, force them to acts of unspeakable aggression.  Each year, three of the most powerful of this hidden order meet to discuss their ongoing campaign of induced bloodshed and deliberate destruction.  But this reunion, something will go terribly wrong. Saul’s quest is about to reach its elusive object, drawing hunter and hunted alike into a struggle that will plumb the depths of mankind’s attraction to violence, and determine the future of the world itself...</p></div>


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Neala and her friend Sherri only wanted to do a little backpacking through the woods. Little did they know they would soon be shackled to a dead tree, waiting for Them to arrive. The Dills family thought the small motor lodge in the quiet town of Barlow seemed quaint and harmless enough. Until they, too, found themselves shackled to trees in the middle of the night, while They approached, hungry for human flesh...When this classic novel was first published in 1981, it was heavily cut, with nearly fifty pages removed. What remained was rewritten by both Laymon and a Warner Books line editor. Now, for the first time ever, the missing text has been completely restored along with Laymon's original words and vision and the novel can finally be read the way it was intended.


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<p class="description"><br>Featuring an introduction by Dean Koontz, a gripping tale of suspense follows young librarian Jane Kerry, who discovers an envelope containing money and instructions signed by the Master of Games, as she is hurled into a dark world where she must play a deadly and disturbing game in order to survive. Original.</p>


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Beware!: Elsie doesn't normally shut shop early, but neither is it normal for meat cleavers to fly through the air by themselves, or for Elsie to wind up on the meat counter neatly wrapped and jointed. Something very strange is happening in the small town of Oasis and everyone had better... beware! Dark mountain - It was supposed to be a peaceful escape for the two families camping high in the California mountains. But they made the mistake of camping at Mesquite lake, home to two of the wilderness's most terrifying inhabitants: an aged hag with gruesome powers and her depraved son whose unnatural lusts even she cannot control.


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<div><h3>From Booklist</h3><p><em>Starred Review</em> Whether he's writing Hap Collins-Leonard Pine mysteries, genre-bending horror novels, or his own blend of historical fiction and gritty country noir, cult-favorite Lansdale rarely hits a wrong note. He's a superb stylist and a first-rate storyteller, and his sandpaper wit never fails to scratch out a brand of humor that hovers somewhere between knee-slap funny and painfully revelatory. He's in his country-noir mode here, in what just may be his best novel yet. The tale begins with a hold-your-breath set piece in which red-haired beauty Sunset Jones kills her husband, Pete, who happened to be raping her at the time. Given all that, it comes as a surprise to the residents of Camp Rapture, an ironically named sawmill settlement in Depression-era East Texas, when Sunset's mother-in-law, majority owner of the mill, arranges to have Sunset replace Pete as the settlement's constable. Soon enough, Sunset--with the help of two deputies, both with romantic designs on their boss--is investigating the murder of a woman and her unborn child, a crime that may implicate Pete. Lansdale layers the mystery elements skillfully, building to an action-filled climax, but where he really shines is in his evocation of both the desperation and the determination that grew from the dirt of the Depression. Sunset is a marvelous character; you don't see many feminist heroines in the femme-fatale world of noir, which makes her emergence, her coming-of-age in an age set firmly against her, so exhilarating. <em>Bill Ott</em><br><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>“[<strong>Sunset and Sawdust</strong> is] filled with turns and twists, nastiness, broad humor, moments of grace. . . . Lansdale is a storyteller in the great American tradition.” –_The Boston Globe<br>_<br>“A wonderfully nasty piece of work [that] inspires I-can’t-believe-this laughter. . . . Very entertaining.” –_Newsday_  </p><p>The opening . . . will grab unsuspecting readers by the lapels and pull them right in. . . . Lansdale's prose--laconic and sarcastic--is so thick with slang and regional accent that it's as tasty as a well-cured piece of beef jerky." --_The Denver Post_  </p><p>"Lansdale is an exceptional storyteller . . . readers will feel the Texas heat and hear the story in the author's unique East Texas drawl. The vivid characterization will make readers cheer for the protagonist and boo the villain." --_Rocky Mountain News_  </p><p>“Delivers the unexpected and bizarre that his fans have come to expect. . . . The narrative is entertaining, but Lansdale’s patently unvarnished storytelling–backwoods and brash all at once–is the real reason to crack this cover.” --_Texas Monthly_  </p><p>"Funny, bloody and bizarre. . . . Another five-star doozy of a tale from an immensely talented and original storyteller." --_The Flint Journal_  </p><p>“Sunset Jones is the kind of woman that men who drink in East Texas bars would call a ‘pistol.’ As a tornado rips through the sawmill camp town of Rapture, in the rousing opening scene of Joe R. Lansdale’s historical barnburner <em>Sunset and Sawdust</em>, Sunset finally puts a stop to her husband Pete’s bloody beatings. . . . Soon Sunset has her own posse, including a wonderful dog whose abject adoration of the fiery gunslinger pretty much sums up this reader’s feelings.” --_The New York Times Book Review<br>_<br>"A first-rate whodunnit. . . . [Lansdale] knows how to tell a story." --_The Globe and Mail _(Toronto)  </p><p>“Sly, easy-paced and so comfortable in its setting that it becomes almost seductive. This is what good storytelling is all about.” --_Arizona Republic<br>_<br>"Lansdale can catch that meandering East Texas twang in his writing, but just as quickly he can tighten the plot and our stomachs with a turn of phrase. . . . Lansdale gives us both atmosphere and action." --_Winston-Salem Journal_   </p><p>"Surrealistic. . . . Unpredictable. . . . A darker kind of storytelling." --_Pittsburg Tribune-Review_</p></div>


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p>Start with two best friends who practice martial arts in their free time: one a straight white guy, the other a black gay guy. Add a conniving ex-wife in a blue-jean miniskirt. Throw in half a million in a muddy creekbed somewhere near the Sabine River in East Texas. Add an ex-radical from the '60s and two naive idealists who want to save the world. Mix them all together in a half-assed plan, season with double-crosses, and then top it off with a hilarious and chilling drug dealer named Soldier. Bloody mayhem a la Lansdale. </p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Hap and Leonard put in long days of work for little reward. When Hap's old girlfriend Trudy struts in with a plan to make some serious money, Hap and Leonard cautiously get involved. Just as the money is acquired, Hap and Leonard quickly lose control of the situation. To survive, they need to rely upon each other and use their well-honed fighting skills against a ruthless madman. Phil Gigante's performance is mesmerizing: he infuses this book with attitude and style, imbuing each character with a rich distinct voice that resonates well with each personality. His narration is crisp and smooth, with a good distribution of tension according to the given scene. His sole weakness is that sometimes his character voices carry over into the narration causing momentary confusion for listeners. <em>A Vintage paperback. (Feb.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p><em>Off Season</em> (1980), the tale of a cannibal holocaust in rural Maine, established Ketchum as a writer of hardcore horror and cultivated ground where Splatterpunk fiction eventually took root. This sequel, first published as a paperback original in 1991, reprises characters and themes from its predecessor and far too much of the grisly plot. Survivors of the feral flesh-eating clan, who were all but destroyed at the end of the first novel, are back and chowing their way through the locals again. Amy Halbard and Claire Carey strive to survive their abduction by the cannibals and save their children. A subplot involving Claire's despicable husband, Steven, gives Ketchum another opportunity to cleverly compare predatory civilized folk to the appetite-driven primitives. The story is suspenseful, fast-paced and intelligently written, but readers nurtured on horror fiction that has come up in the wake of this saga may wonder what the fuss is all about. <em>Agent, Alice Martell. (Apr. 5)</em></p><h3>Review</h3><p>Jack Ketchum is probably the scariest author in america. ---- Stephen King  </p><p>Just when you think the worst has already happened... Jack Ketchum goes yet another shock further! --Fangoria  </p><p>OFFSPRING may well be the most horrifying book you will ever read. ---- Robert Bloch </p></div>


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<p class="description">EDITORIAL REVIEW: Joe Hill has been hailed as "a major player in 21st-century fantastic fiction" (*Washington Post*); "a new master in the field of suspense" (James Rollins); "one of the most confident and assured new voices in horror and dark fantasy to emerge in recent years (*Publishers Weekly*); a writer who "builds character invitingly and plants an otherworldly surprise around every corner" (*New York Times*). This gifted and brilliantly imaginative author catapulted to bestsellerdom with the chilling *Heart-Shaped Box* and cemented his reputation with the prizewinning volume of short fiction *20th Century Ghosts*. At last, the *New York Times* bestselling author returns with a relentless supernatural thriller that runs like *Hell* on wheels. . . . Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples. At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real. Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it *all*, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . . Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge. . . . *It's time the devil had his due. . . .*</p>


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<div><p class="description"><br></p><p class="description">Hegel and Manfried Grossbart may not consider themselves bad men - but death still stalks them through the dark woods of medieval Europe. The year is 1364, and the brothers Grossbart have embarked on a naïve quest for fortune. Descended from a long line of graverobbers, they are determined to follow their family's footsteps to the fabled crypts of Gyptland. To get there, they will have to brave dangerous and unknown lands and keep company with all manner of desperate travelers-merchants, priests, and scoundrels alike. For theirs is a world both familiar and distant; a world of living saints and livelier demons, of monsters and madmen. The Brothers Grossbart are about to discover that all legends have their truths, and worse fates than death await those who would take the red road of villainy.</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: Johannes Cabal, necromancer of some little infamy, returns in this riotously clever and terrifically twisted tale of murder and international intrigue. In this genre-twisting novel, infamous necromancer Johannes Cabal, after beating the Devil and being reunited with his soul, leads us on another raucous journey in a little-known corner of the world. This time he’s on the run from the local government. Stealing the identity of a minor bureaucrat, Cabal takes passage on the Princess Hortense, a passenger aeroship that is leaving the country. The deception seems perfect, and Cabal looks forward to a quiet trip and a clean escape, until he comes face-to-face with Leonie Barrow, an enemy from the old days who could blow his cover. But when a fellow passenger throws himself to his death, or at least that is how it appears, Cabal begins to investigate out of curiosity. His minor efforts result in a vicious attempt on his own life—and then the gloves come off. Cabal and Leonie—the only woman to ever match wits with him—reluctantly team up to discover the murderer. Before they are done, there will be more narrow escapes, involving sword fighting and newfangled flying machines. There will be massive destruction, not to mention resurrected dead . . . Steampunk meets the classic Sherlockian mystery in this rip-roaring adventure where anything could happen . . . and does.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In this uproarious and clever debut, it’s time to give the Devil his due.Johannes Cabal, a brilliant scientist and notorious snob, is single-mindedly obsessed in heart and soul with raising the dead. Well, perhaps not soul . . . He hastily sold his years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. But now, tormented by a dark secret, he travels to the fiery pits of Hell to retrieve it. Satan, who is incredibly bored these days, proposes a little wager: Johannes has one year to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned forever. To make the bet even more interesting, Satan throws in that diabolical engine of deceit, seduction, and corruption known as a “traveling circus” to aid in the evil bidding. What better place exists to rob poor sad saps of their souls than the traveling carnivals historically run by hucksters and legendary con men?With little time to lose, Johannes raises a motley crew from the dead and enlists his brother, Horst, a charismatic vampire (an unfortunate side effect of Johannes’s early experiments with necromancy), to be the carnival’s barker. On the road through the pastoral English countryside, this team of reprobates wields their black magic with masterful ease, resulting in mayhem at every turn.Johannes may have the moral conscience of anthrax, but are his tricks sinful enough to beat the Devil at his own game? You’ll never guess, and that’s a promise!Brilliantly written and wickedly funny, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer combines the chills and thrills of old-fashioned gothic tales like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the mischievous humor of Wicked, and the sophisticated charms of Jonathan Strange &amp;Mr. Norrell and spins the Faustian legend into a fresh, irreverent, and irresistible new adventure.</p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p> “Who’s the scariest guy in America? Probably Jack Ketchum.”—Stephen King in <em>Entertainment Weekly</em></p><p>“Ketchum has become a kind of hero to those of us who write tales of horror and suspense. He is, quite simply, one of the best in the business.” —Stephen King</p><p>“You never know what you'll get when you pick up a Ketchum story ... but you can be sure you'll always be surprised – and scared."  – Publishers Weekly</p><p>“[_The Girl Next Door is_] one of the most disturbing reads in the history of horror literature.” –_Rue Morgue_</p><p>“Jack Ketchum is one of America’s best and most consistent writers of contemporary horror fiction.”—Bentley Little</p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>The Woman is the last of her kind, the lone survivor of a tribe of feral cannibals who have terrorized the Maine coast for years. She is wounded and weak, but she's found refuge in a cave overlooking the sea. Christopher Cleek is an amoral—and unstable—lawyer who sees her bathing in a stream one day while he's out hunting. Cleek has dark, cruel secrets and he will now add one more. He will capture the Woman, lock her in his cellar, and attempt to <em>tame </em>her, with the help of his wife and children. But very soon the question will become: Who is more savage, the hunter or the prey?</p></div>


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<p class="description">From the author of Heart-Shaped Box, this is a collection of nightmares. Includes 15 separate stories. Introduction by Christopher Golden.</p>


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<div><p>Imagine an alternate universe where romance and technology reign. Where tinkerers and dreamers craft and re-craft a world of automatons, clockworks, calculating machines, and other marvels that never were. Where scientists and schoolgirls, fair folk and Romans, intergalactic bandits, utopian revolutionaries, and intrepid orphans solve crimes, escape from monstrous predicaments, consult oracles, and hover over volcanoes in steam-powered airships. Here, fourteen masters of speculative fiction, including two graphic storytellers, embrace the genre’s established themes and refashion them in surprising ways and settings as diverse as Appalachia, ancient Rome, future Australia, and alternate California. Visionaries Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant have invited all-new explorations and expansions, taking a genre already rich, strange, and inventive in the extreme and challenging contributors to remake it from the ground up. The result is an anthology that defies its genre even as it defines it. </p> <div>In the first major YA steampunk anthology, fourteen top storytellers push the genre’s mix of sci-fi, fantasy, history, and adventure in fascinating new directions.</div></div>


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<p class="description">A shadow is falling over Collegium. Despite the tenuous peace, Stenwold Maker knows that the Empire will return for his city. Even as he tries to prepare for the resurgence of the black and gold, a hidden threat is steadily working against his people. Ships that sail from Collegium's harbour are being attacked, sunk by pirates. Some just go missing ...Lulled by the spread of lies and false promises Stenwold's allies are falling away from him. He faces betrayal on every side, and the Empire is just waiting for the first sign of weakness to strike. But the Empire is not the only power that has its eyes on Collegium. And even the Wasp-kinden may be powerful enough to stave off the forces massing in the darkness and turning hungry eyes towards Stenwold's city.</p>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>Praise for Stephen Hunt: 'Hunt's imagination is probably visible from space. He scatters concepts that other writers would mine for a trilogy like chocolate-bar wrappers. This is Philip Pullman with a dose of benzedrine. Hold on to your hat and let yourself get carried away.' Tom Holt 'A ripping yarn ! the story pounds along ! constant inventiveness keeps the reader hooked ! the finale is a cracking succession of cliffhangers and surprise comebacks. Great fun' SFX 'An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels' Lisa Tuttle, The Times 'The characters are convincing and colourful, but the real achievement is the setting, a hellish take on Victorian London ! the depth and complexity of Hunt's vision makes it compulsive reading for all ages' Guardian 'Wonderfully assured ! Hunt knows what his audience like and gives it to them with a sardonic wit and carefully developed tension' Time Out 'All manner of bizarre and fantastical extravagance.' Daily Mail 'Rich and colourful !keeps you engrossed !a confident, audacious novel' SFX 'Like a magpie, Stephen Hunt has plucked colourful events from history and politics and used them for inspiration ! Hunts tells his full-blooded tale with lip-smacking relish, revealing a vivid, often gruesome imagination ! [it] brims with originality and, from the first, its chase-filled plot never lets up' Starburst 'Studded with invention' Independent </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>A tale of high adventure and derring-do set in the same Victorian-style world as the acclaimed The Court of the Air and The Rise of the Iron Moon. The isolated island of Jago is the only place Hannah Conquest has ever known as home. Encircled by the magma ocean of the Fire Sea, it was once the last bastion of freedom when the world struggled under the tyranny of the Chimecan Empire during the age-long winter of the cold-time. But now this once-shining jewel of civilization faces an uncertain future as its inhabitants emigrate to greener climes, leaving the basalt plains and raging steam storms far behind them. For Hannah and her few friends, the streets of the island's last occupied underground city form a vast, near-deserted playground. But Hannah's carefree existence comes to an abrupt halt when her guardian, Archbishop Alice Gray, is brutally murdered in her own cathedral. Someone desperately wants to suppress a secret kept by the archbishop, and if the attempts on Hannah's own life are any indication, the killer believes that Alice passed the knowledge of it onto her ward before her saintly head was separated from her neck. But it soon becomes clear that there is more at stake than the life of one orphan. A deadly power struggle is brewing on Jago, involving rival factions in the senate and the island's most powerful trading partner. And it's beginning to look as if the deaths of Hannah's archaeologist parents shortly after her birth were very far from accidental. Soon the race is on for Hannah and her friends to unravel a chain of hidden riddles and follow them back to their source to save not just her own life, but her island home itself. </p></div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>Praise for THE RISE OF THE IRON MOON: 'All manner of bizarre and fantastical extravagance.' Daily Mail 'Hunt's imagination is probably visible from space. He scatters concepts that other writers would mine for a trilogy like chocolate-bar wrappers. This is Philip Pullman with a dose of benzedrine. Hold on to your hat and let yourself get carried away.' Tom Holt, SFX Praise for Stephen Hunt: 'A ripping yarn ! the story pounds along ! constant inventiveness keeps the reader hooked ! the finale is a cracking succession of cliffhangers and surprise comebacks. Great fun' SFX 'An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels' Lisa Tuttle, The Times 'The characters are convincing and colourful, but the real achievement is the setting, a hellish take on Victorian London ! the depth and complexity of Hunt's vision makes it compulsive reading for all ages' Guardian 'Wonderfully assured ! Hunt knows what his audience like and gives it to them with a sardonic wit and carefully developed tension' Time Out 'Studded with invention' Independent 'Rich and colourful !keeps you engrossed !a confident, audacious novel' SFX 'Like a magpie, Stephen Hunt has plucked colourful events from history and politics and used them for inspiration ! Hunts tells his full-blooded tale with lip-smacking relish, revealing a vivid, often gruesome imagination ! [it] brims with originality and, from the first, its chase-filled plot never lets up' Starburst 'To say this book is action packed is almost and understatement ! a wonderful escapist yarn! Definitely a book to take with you on a long flight' Interzone </p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>From the author of The Court of the Air and The Kingdom Beyond the Waves comes a thrilling new adventure set in the same Victorian-style world. Perfect for fans of Philip Pullman and Susanna Clarke. Born into captivity as a product of the Royal Breeding House, friendless orphan Purity Drake suddenly finds herself on the run with a foreign vagrant after accidentally killing one of her guards. Her strange rescuer claims he is on the run himself from terrible forces who mean to enslave the Kingdom of Jackals as they conquered his own nation. Purity doubts his story, until reports begin to filter through from Jackals' neighbours of the terrible Army of Shadows, marching across the continent and sweeping all before them. But there's more to Purity than meets the eye. As Jackals girds itself for war against an army of near-unkillable beasts serving an ancient evil with a terrible secret, it soon becomes clear that their only hope is a strange little royalist girl and the last, desperate plan of an escaped slave. </p></div>


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<p class="description">There’s no police training stronger than a cop’s instinct. Faith Mitchell’s mother isn’t answering her phone. Her front door is open. There’s a bloodstain above the knob. Her infant daughter is hidden in a shed behind the house. All that the Georgia Bureau of Investigations taught Faith Mitchell goes out the window when she charges into her mother’s house, gun drawn. She sees a man dead in the laundry room. She sees a hostage situation in the bedroom. What she doesn’t see is her mother. . . . “You know what we’re here for. Hand it over, and we’ll let her go.” When the hostage situation turns deadly, Faith is left with too many questions, not enough answers. To find her mother, she’ll need the help of her partner, Will Trent, and they’ll both need the help of trauma doctor Sara Linton. But Faith isn’t just a cop anymore—she’s a witness. She’s also a suspect. The thin blue line hides police corruption, bribery, even murder. Faith will have to go up against the people she respects the most in order to find her mother and bring the truth to light—or bury it forever. Karin Slaughter’s most exhilarating novel yet is a thrilling journey through the heart and soul, where the personal and the criminal collide, and conflicted loyalties threaten to destroy reputations and ruin lives. It is the work of a master of the thriller at the top of her game, and a whirlwind of unrelenting suspense.</p>


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<p>The United States is near total collapse. But 87% of the population doesn't care: they're addicted to flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the best moments of their lives. After ex-detective Nick Bottom's wife died in a car accident, he went under the flash to be with her; he's lost his job, his teenage son, and his livelihood as a result.<br><br>Nick may be a lost soul but he's still a good cop, so he is hired to investigate the murder of a top governmental advisor's son. This flashback-addict becomes the one man who may be able to change the course of an entire nation turning away from the future to live in the past.<br><br>A provocative novel set in a future that seems scarily possible, FLASHBACK proves why Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers.</p>


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<p class="description">A Washington Post Best Book of the Year"Man in the Dark is an undoubted pleasure to read. Auster really does possess the wand of the enchanter."--Michael Dirda, The New York Review of BooksFrom a "literary original" (The Wall Street Journal) comes a book that forces us to confront the blackness of night even as it celebrates the existence of ordinary joys in a world capable of the most grotesque violence. Seventy-two-year-old August Brill is recovering from a car accident at his daughter's house in Vermont. When sleep refuses to come, he lies in bed and tells himself stories, struggling to push back thoughts about things he would prefer to forget: his wife's recent death and the horrific murder of his granddaughter's boyfriend, Titus. The retired book critic imagines a parallel world in which America is not at war with Iraq but with itself. In this other America the twin towers did not fall and the 2000 election results led to secession, as state after state pulled away from the union and a bloody civil war ensued. As the night progresses, Brill's story grows increasingly intense, and what he is desperately trying to avoid insists on being told. Paul Auster is the bestselling author of The Book of Illusions, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. In 2006 he was awarded The Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature and inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Among his other honors are the Independent Spirit Award for the screenplay of Smoke and the Prix Médicis étranger for Leviathan. He has also been short-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (The Book of Illusions), the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (The Music of Chance), and the Edgar Award (City of Glass). His work has been translated into thirty-five languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Longlisted for the International IMPAC Literary AwardA work of fiction with a dark political twist, Paul Auster's Man in the Dark speaks to the realities that America inhabits as wars flame around the world. Seventy-two-year-old August Brill is recovering from a car accident in his daughter’s house in Vermont. When sleep refuses to come, he lies in bed and tells himself stories, struggling to push back thoughts about things he would prefer to forget—his wife’s recent death and the horrific murder of his granddaughter’s boyfriend, Titus. The retired book critic imagines a parallel world in which America is not at war with Iraq but with itself. In this other America the twin towers did not fall and the 2000 election results led to secession, as state after state pulled away from the union and a bloody civil war ensued. As the night progresses, Brill’s story grows increasingly intense, and what he is so desperately trying to avoid insists on being told. Joined in the early hours by his granddaughter, he gradually opens up to her and recounts the story of his marriage. After she falls asleep, he at last finds the courage to revisit the trauma of Titus’s death. "This is perhaps Auster’s best book . . . Man In The Dark is so unlike anything Auster has ever written that it doesn’t make sense to compare it with his earlier work . . . Here we have multiple worlds and three generations . . . Auster’s book leaves one with a depth of feeling much larger than might be expected from such a small and concise work of art."—Stephen Elliott, San Francisco Chronicle "'I am alone in the dark, turning the world around in my head as I struggle through another bout of insomnia, another white night in the great American wilderness.' That's the first line from Paul Auster's new novel, Man in the Dark, and in some ways it's a perfect opening, as accurate as anything in describing the world, or worlds, you'll encounter over the coming 180 pages, a world turning in the head of Auster's 72-year-old everyman, August Brill. Auster has captivated generations of readers with his expansive imagination and style—a style that could be called lazy, in the best sense of the word, like a dog with his tongue out, rolling in the sun. But this, his latest novel, is something else. In this book, Auster has taken a turn similar to the turn Philip Roth took in American Pastoral and Leonard Michaels took in his Nachman stories. He's turned his attention outward, to the larger scope of the new century . . . Despite all the threads, which just barely connect, the book works beautifully. And though it's complicated to explain, it's an incredibly clear and easy book to read. Never a minimalist, Auster somehow takes on the largest questions of our time inside small tales of one family. With August as his storyteller, Auster has created a giant canvas out of what seems like a few effortless strokes, strokes often stunning in their simple beauty . . . This is perhaps Auster's best book. But maybe that's an unfair description. Man in the Dark is so unlike anything Auster has ever written that it doesn't make sense to compare it with his earlier work. Sure, you can recognize the author of Oracle Night and Brooklyn Follies. But it's as if that gentle mind has been joined by the ghost of Kurt Vonnegut, the adamant pacifist, author of Slaughterhouse Five and creator of Billy Pilgrim, a prisoner of war who became 'unstuck in time.' Here we have multiple worlds and three generations, also unstuck in time. But like Vonnegut's classic anti-war novel, Auster's book leaves one with a depth of feeling much larger than might be expected from such a small and concise work of art."—Stephen Elliott, San Francisco Chronicle "Are you a Paul Auster fan? Or, perhaps, are you emphatically not? Either way, read Man in the Dark, Auster's latest, which is inventive, tender, and darkly lined with the American predicament . . . Paul Auster has outdone himself, perhaps precisely by not trying to outdo anything."—John Brenkman, The Village Voice "On superficial acquaintance, Paul Auster’s new novel, Man in the Dark, appears to be merely the latest strain in a recent pandemic of dystopian fantasies, in this instance an alternate history of America in which the 9/11 terrorist attacks never happened but something even worse did: A second American civil war. In Auster’s parallel universe, the battle is joined not by the blue and the grey but rather by the Blue and the Red, as the bitterly disputed 2000 election degenerates into secession and an all-out battle for the Union. With 13 million dead and counting, the real-world election and its fusillades of lawsuits and partisan bomb-throwing suddenly seem terribly innocent in contrast to this ugly imagined world in which the only winner is gore. But as it turns out, Auster is after something entirely different, in this haunting and beautifully crafted work, than speculative fiction. The dystopia isn’t Auster’s but rather his central character’s, August Brill, the titular 'man in the dark'. Brill, a 72-year-old retired literary critic, is a deeply traumatized human husk who, like a character out of a Bergman movie, is sharing a house with his equally damaged and desperate daughter and granddaughter . . . The novel weaves in a number of other strands, including the story of Brill’s marriage to his late wife, which Brill recounts to Katya in beautiful and touching detail, a couple of harrowing tales of the Second World War, and the story of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s unhappy and aimless daughter Rose, the subject of a biography-in-progress by Brill’s own daughter Miriam. None of this is ever anything less than absorbing, and all of it connects in weird but fitting ways to the main narrative strand. But all of it, as it turns out, is just a precursor for the horror that Brill and Katya have been avoiding all along: The manner in which Titus died in Iraq. Without giving away too much of the story, I can say that, in preparation for this review, I viewed for the first time a genuinely terrifying true-life video I’d been assiduously avoiding for years. It will be obvious to you, after reading Man in the Dark, which video I am referring to, and why it is even more difficult for the main characters to view the somewhat fictionalized version featured in the novel. Nonetheless, they do watch it, well before the events of the novel, and they 'know it will go on haunting us for the rest of our lives, and yet somehow we felt we had to be there with Titus, to keep our eyes open to the horror for his sake . . . so as not to abandon him to the pitiless dark that swallowed him up.' This superb small novel isn't, despite initial impressions, about war or politics at all. It is about, in the face of guilt and horror, choosing whether to die and how, if that is the choice, to live. It is, at heart, about the stratagems that we, but in particular our best novelists, devise as a means of keeping us going in the face of the 'pitiless dark' that will swallow us all."—Michael Antman, PopMatters"Like Auster's The Brooklyn Follies, the challenge for the central figure of Man in the Dark is to absorb and accept the pain in the final chapters of his life. As the grief-stricken Katya checks in on her grandfather in the wee hours and begins to question him about his life and his decisions, it is clear that Brill is up to that task. For both characters in this surprisingly optimistic book, the morning comes."—Michael McHale, The New York Post "[Auster’s] magic has never flourished more fully than it does in Man in the Dark . . . The novel delivers intense reading pleasure from start to finish."—Chauncey Mabe, Orlando Sentinel"Vivid and arresting . . . a novel that manages, admirably, to be both apocalyptic and tender . . . The universe conceived by Auster is a world worth entering. And all that Brill struggles to forget in the pages of Man in the Dark translates into a book that deserves to be well remembered."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch"In one thread, an ailing 72-year-old named Brill convalesces in Vermont; in the parallel and more eventful thread, a man named Brick wakes up in a dangerous dream—America currently in the middle of a 21st-century civil war. Both plots are propulsive . . . [Auster is] a master of voice, an avuncular confidence man who can spin dark stories out of air."—Entertainment Weekly"Man in the Dark . . . crashes onto shore with a great burst. It suddenly adds up, and what it adds up to can leave you sleepless."—The Buffalo News"[A] fascinating new novel . . . As Auster reminds us, often the worst wars are those fought in one’s own mind."—MSNBC.com"Paul Auster’s twisty Man In The Dark concerns an alternate universe where two planes never toppled the World Trade Center. But Bush is still president, and a civil war rages in America . . . Takes us closer to understanding the emotional wreckage [of 9/11]."—GQ magazine"The real magician here is Auster. Our new century so far has been as bleak and troubled as Brill’s last years. This little dream of a novel invests it with something newly precious. Hope riffles the pages of this beautiful, heartbreaking book."—Paste"No writer is working harder than Auster to give America an existential literature to call its own, and Brill has a ruminative and slightly despairing mood that recalls Camus’ antiheros. Yet Man in the Dark isn't a headlong leap into emptiness . . . Auster treats the theme of isolation straightforwardly, studying the emotional costs of war through Brill’s own vivid memories and his family’s own recent heartbreak. In the process, he arrives at the provocative notion that war stories and love stories aren't as different as we might like to think."—Washington City Paper"The 'parallel' worlds visited and occupied by an aging intellectual's troubled mind and heart assume intriguing metafictional form in Auster's challenging novel . . . Auster's lucid prose and masterly command of his tricky narrative's twists, turns and mirrorings keep us riveted to the pages, as the permutations of August Brill's tortured progress toward self-understanding—and forgiveness—gather together and reconfigure elements from Auster's previous fictions: seemingly innocent characters' immurement in Kafkaesque nightmares; a known world transfigured into a hollowed-out, depopulated shell; the testing of an ingenuous hero's flawed powers. Auster pulls it all together brilliantly in a moving denouement that measures August Brill's intellectual solipsism against the doomed Titus's passionately declared need 'To experience something that isn't about me'—and finds wisdom and grace in both alternatives. Probably Auster's best novel, and a plaintive summa of all the books that—we now see—have gone into its making."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Astute and mesmerizing."—Booklist (starred review)"Darker and more impactful than The Brooklyn Follies and with broader appeal than Travels in the Scriptorium, Auster's latest introduces August Brill, an elderly insomniac with a busted leg . . . To pass the night and ward off memories of his deceased wife and the war stories he's been collecting for 72 years, Brill creates Owen Brick. Brick awakens in a military uniform in a hole, having gone to bed as a young, married magician in Brooklyn. He finds himself in an alternate present: the United States is at civil war, the more liberal states having defected. He's been selected to kill the man who started the war, August Brill, and is threatened with death if he refuses. Brill ends his story of Owen abruptly, spending his night recalling the gruesome reality of the murder of his granddaughter's young boyfriend. Auster's trademark shattering ending that's not a twist but a revelation hauntingly revitalizes the book's theme of the horrors of war. This best-selling author with a cult following of literati finally offers one to please both fan bases."—Anna Katterjohn, Library Journal (starred review)"August Brill lies awake in his daughter's Vermont home, making up stories to fight against insomnia and depression. The stories coalesce around a character, Owen Brick, a professional magician transported to an alternate reality in which the U.S. fell into a civil war after the 2000 election. His mission: to end the war by assassinating August. Back in the real world, August is worried about his 23-year-old granddaughter, who moved back in with her mother after her boyfriend was killed in Iraq. The suspense about whether August's reality and the assassin in his fantasy will collide baits a sharp hook . . . Auster's juxtaposition of two worlds is compelling and intellectually rigorous in Auster's trademark claustrophobic hall-of-mirrors fashion."—Publishers Weekly</p>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p><em>Starred Review.</em> Nathan Glass, a retired life insurance salesman estranged from his family and facing an iffy cancer prognosis, is "looking for a quiet place to die. Someone recommended Brooklyn." What he finds, though, in this ebullient novel by Brooklyn bard Auster (_Oracle Night_), is a vital, big-hearted borough brimming with great characters. These include Nathan's nephew, Tom, a grad student turned spiritually questing cab driver; Tom's serenely silent nine-year-old niece, who shows up on Tom's doorstep without her unstable mom; and a flamboyant book dealer hatching a scheme to sell a fraudulent manuscript of <em>The Scarlet Letter</em>. As Nathan recovers his soul through immersion in their lives, Auster meditates on the theme of sanctuary in American literature, from Hawthorne to Poe to Thoreau, infusing the novel's picaresque with touches of romanticism, Southern gothic and utopian yearning. But the book's presiding spirit is Brooklyn's first bard, Walt Whitman, as Auster embraces the borough's multitudes—neighborhood characters, drag queens, intellectuals manqué, greasy-spoon waitresses, urbane bourgeoisie—while singing odes to moonrise over the Brooklyn Bridge. Auster's graceful, offhand storytelling carries readers along, with enough shadow to keep the tale this side of schmaltz. The result is an affectionate portrait of the city as the ultimate refuge of the human spirit. <em>(Jan.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From The New Yorker</h3><p>After a "sad and ridiculous life" in the suburbs, Nathan Glass retires, gets divorced, and moves to Brooklyn to die. To pass the time, he decides to write an account of mishaps and mistakes, beginning with his own—"The Book of Human Folly." "The tone would be light and farcical throughout," he says, "and my only purpose was to keep myself entertained." Auster seems to have had a similar intent. A chance encounter with a long-lost nephew leads Nathan into an unlikely second act, involving a longer-lost niece, her runaway daughter, and a host of lively Brooklyn caricatures—a gay used-bookstore owner, a tough widow, an H.I.V.-positive drag queen—all in the midst of unlikely second acts themselves. Nathan narrates increasingly absurd events with persistent cheer, a tone mirrored by the blinkered optimism and liberal conviction of pre-9/11 Park Slope; it's a combination that soon seems less hopeful than hollow, and profoundly disengaged.<br>Copyright © 2006 <em>The New Yorker</em></p></div>


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<div><p>One man's obsession with the mysterious life of a silent film star takes him on a journey into a shadow-world of lies, illusions, and unexpected love. After losing his wife and young sons in a plane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in grief. Then, watching television one night, he stumbles upon a lost film by silent comedian Hector Mann, and remembers how to laugh . . .</p><p>Mann was a comic genius, in trademark white suit and fluttering black moustache. But one morning in 1929 he walked out of his house and was never heard from again. Zimmer's obsession with Mann drives him to publish a study of his work; whereupon he receives a letter postmarked New Mexico, supposedly written by Mann's wife, and inviting him to visit the great Mann himself. Can Hector Mann be alive? Zimmer cannot decide - until a strange woman appears on his doorstep and makes the decision for him, changing his life forever.</p><p>Written with breath-taking urgency and precision,...</p></div>


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<div><h3><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;">In "Portrait of an Invisible Man", the first part of Paul Auster's fascinating memoir "Invention of Solitude", Auster writes about his father's life as a means of helping himself come to terms with his father's death. Auster remembers his father as an elusive figure in his life, emotionally detached and disconnected from family and life itself ("he had managed to keep himself at a distance from life"). To Auster, it seemed that the world's attempts to embrace his father simply bounced off him without ever making a breakthrough - it was impossible to enter his solitude. The theme of Solitude runs powerfully through this disturbing, mesmerising memoir.<p>Auster is conscious of how little knowledge he actually has of his father's early childhood years, how unenlightened he is with regard to his father's inner life, how few clues he has to his father's character and how little understanding of the underlying reasons for his father's immunity from the world at large. Through an amazing co-incidence involving his cousin, Auster learns of a terrible secret buried deep in his father's childhood past - the story was splashed across old newspaper reports of the time, sixty years before - of a shocking family tragedy that shattered his father's childhood world and could have seriously affected his mental outlook during his formative years, accounting for the solitariness and elusiveness that characterised the "invisible man" of Auster's childhood. Excellent, compelling writing! Dramatic revelations from a grim, distant past finally brought to light! Highly recommended!</p><p>In the second part, "The Book of Memory", there is a marked shift of perspective (away from the point of view of Auster, as son, writing about his feelings and memories of his father's life, after his death) to an autobiographical account of Auster's own experience, now himself as father, writing about his son. More abstract in content and style than "Portrait of an Invisible Man", "The Book of Memory" comprises autobiographical segments interspersed with commentaries on the nature of chance interspersed with ruminations on solitude and exploration of language. As a confirmed Auster-holic, my favourite Auster book to-date is "Moon Palace". </p></span></font></h3> </div>


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<div><h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; ">First published in 1985–1986, _The New York Trilogy <em>(</em>City of Glass, Ghosts_, and <em>The Locked Room</em>) brought immediate international attention to its author, Paul Auster, and elevated him to near-celebrity status, particularly in France.</span></h3><p>This trilogy and his many works since then (including <em>In the Country of Last Words</em>, <em>Leviathan</em>, <em>Mr. Vertigo</em>, <em>Moon Palace</em>, and others) have been translated into numerous languages and have brought him further world attention. Auster’s trilogy broke ground in its mix of serious fictional techniques and detective and mystery genres. Geoffrey O’Brien of _The Village Voice <em>wrote: "</em>The New York Trilogy _are novels of desire: the desire to write a detective novel, to read one, to -inhabit it. . . . By turning the mystery novel inside out, Auster may have -initiated a whole new round of storytelling." This new edition will delight readers and collectors of Auster’s work.</p><h3>About the Author</h3><p><strong>Paul Auster’s</strong> novels include <em>Brooklyn Follies, Oracle Night</em>, and <em>In the Country of Last Things</em>, as well as two memoirs, a collection of essays, a volume of poems, and the screenplays for several films. </p><p><strong>Luc Sante</strong> is best known for his first book, <em>Low Life</em>. He has also written introductions to books by Georges Simenon, Jacob Riis, and many other authors. </p><p><strong>Art Spiegelman</strong> is a cartoonist who first came to attention in the early 1980s with a magazine he edited called <em>Raw. Maus</em>, his graphic novel about the Holocaust, won him the Pulitzer Prize, and his most recent book is <em>In the Shadow of No Towers</em>. </p> </div>


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<div><h3>Review</h3><p>“Strange and wonderful. Magical and smart. FÉlix J. Palma has done more than written a wonderful novel, he’s concocted a supernatural tour de force. Time travel, tragic love, murder and mystery all combine in what is nothing short of a surprising, satisfying and mesmerizing read.” – M.J. Rose, International Bestseller </p><p>"_The Map of Time_ recalls the science fiction of Wells and Verne, and then turns the early masters on their heads. A brilliant and breathtaking trip through metafictional time." --Scott Westerfeld, <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author of <em>Leviathan</em> </p><p>"Palma makes his U.S. debut with the brilliant first in a trilogy, an intriguing thriller that explores the ramifications of time travel in three intersecting narratives." -- starred <em>Publishers Weekly</em> review </p><p>"Readers who embark on the journey...will be richly rewarded. --starred <em>Booklist</em> review </p><p>"Lyrical storytelling and a rich attention to detail make this prize-winning novel an enthralling read." --starred <em>Library Journal</em> Review </p><p>“_The Map of Time _is a singularly inventive, luscious story with a core of pure, unsettling weirdness. With unnerving grace and disturbing fantasy, it effortlessly straddles that impossible line between being decidedly familiar, and yet absolutely new.” --Cherie Priest, author of <em>Boneshaker</em> </p><p><em>"The Map of Time </em>is a singularly inventive, luscious story with a core of pure, unsettling weirdness. </p><p>With unnerving grace and disturbing fantasy, it effortlessly straddles that impossible line between </p><p>being decidedly familiar, and yet absolutely new." --Cherie Priest, author of <em>Boneshaker</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>THE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERSet in Victorian London with char-acters real and imagined, <em>The Map of Time </em>is a page-turner that boasts a triple play of intertwined plots in which a skeptical H. G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including <em>Dracula </em>and <em>The Time Machine, </em>from being wiped from existence. What happens if we change history? Félix J. Palma explores this question in <em>The Map of Time, </em>weaving a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting—a story full of love and adventure that transports readers to a haunting setting in Victorian London for their own taste of time travel. </p></div>


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p><em>Starred Review.</em> In this sprawling and vividly imagined fantasy, historical novelist Durham (_Pride of Carthage_) chronicles the downfall and reinvention of the Akaran Dynasty, whose empire, called Acacia, was built on conquest, slaving and drug trade. The Acacian empire, encompassing "The Known World," is hated by its subjugated peoples, especially the Mein, who 22 generations earlier were exiled to the icy northland. Having sent an assassin to kill the Acacian king, Leodan, the rebel chieftain, Hanish Mein, declares war on the empire. As Acacia falls, Leodan's treasonous but conflicted chancellor, Thaddeus Clegg, spirits the king's four children to safety. When the Mein's rule proves even more tyrannical than the old, the former chancellor seeks to reunite the now adult Akaran heirs—the oldest son Aliver (once heir to the throne), the beautiful elder daughter Corinn, their younger sister, Mena, and youngest brother, Dariel—to lead a war to regain the empire. Durham has created a richly detailed alternate reality leavened with a dollop of magic and populated by complicated personalities grappling with issues of freedom and oppression. <em>(June)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>David Anthony Durham, the author of three historical novels, envisions a fascinating, fully developed world in <em>Acacia</em>. He delves into great detail-explaining religious beliefs, political philosophies, even courting rituals-to draw the reader into his creation. Critics acknowledge the necessity of these "info dumps" (_Science Fiction and Fantasy News_) as setups for future volumes of the saga, while maintaining that the frequent descriptions did not detract from the absorbing, fast-paced plot. Readers won't find any wizards or dragons in <em>Acacia</em>; it is narrated in the alternating voices of genuine, convincing characters that blur the lines between good and evil. Packed with suspense, intrigue, and adventure, most readers will devour this first <em>Acacia</em> installment and impatiently await the next.<br><em>Copyright © 2004 Phillips &amp; Nelson Media, Inc.</em></p>

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SUMMARY: DARKNESS, TELL US It starts at an end-of-term party. Six college kids and a Ouija board. The board that Professor Coreen Dalton had hidden at the back of a cupboard and sworn never to touch again - not after Jake's death. And now here are these kids falling for the revelations of a spirit called Butler, swallowing it's promise of a fortune hidden in the mountains. Not that Corie believes they would be stupid enough to head off in to the wilderness on the say-so of a child's plaything. To embark on a two-day hike into the unknown where any foul danger may lie in wait to cut and slice and tear them limb from limb. But then, professor or not, Corie could be wrong... ONE RAINY NIGHT The water drops like a shroud on the town of Bixby. Warm, viscous and unnatural, it coats the inhabitants in an unending torrent - and turns them into crazy, hate-filled maniacs. A helpful stranger at a gas station shoves a petrol pump down a customer's throat and squeezes the trigger. A soaking-wet queue of cinema-goers smashes its way inside the movie house to slice up the dry people within. A loving wife attacks her husband, bouncing the back of his head on the marble floor until it sounds like sloppy wet meat...


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SUMMARY: Rupert Conway's getaway cruise with seven others abruptly ends when their yacht explodes and all are stranded on an deserted island. Rupert and the other castaways soon discover that in the dense jungle a murderous maniac--with a clever mind and a taste for blood--is on the loose. He doesn't like his new neighbors and plans to slaughter them--one by one.


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<div><h3>Amazon.com Review</h3><p><em>Night in the Lonesome October</em> is the first book published since the death of author Richard Laymon, and it is ironic that this is among his richest and most atmospheric pieces. </p><p>Laymon's hero Ed Logan is brimming with anticipation for his second year at Willmington University. He's been missing Holly, whom he fell in love with the previous year. But when Ed returns to campus, Holly doesn't. He receives a letter that destroys his hopes; she has fallen in love with another man and won't be coming back. Virtually destroyed by the news, Ed struggles to study and even to sleep. Leaving his apartment one night for a walk, he finds that he has moved into what might almost be a different world. There are others out on the streets; are they human, these figures who hide in the shadows? Certainly, the prey they seek is marked for a grisly end. Needless to say, Ed becomes involved with these sinister figures, particularly a mystery girl who will change his life.</p><p>The fashion in which Laymon insinuates these otherworldly elements into the otherwise normal world of his hero is brilliantly done, with Ed's distraught emotional state seeming to act as a catalyst. In all the best horror tales, the hero is not just menaced by nameless evil, but becomes inextricably involved with it. That is certainly the case here, and the attention paid to his central character is just as rewarding as the horror set pieces: </p><blockquote><p>I swept the beam a small distance to the left. Near the far end of its reach, it dimly illuminated a low, squatting circle of men. Hairy, filthy, bloody. All of them looking at us. Chewing. Blood spilling from their mouths....</p></blockquote><p><em>--Barry Forshaw, Amazon.co.uk</em></p><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>On February 14, Laymon died of a massive heart attack, at age 54. His death carried a particular poignancy because of late, after several years during which he couldn't find an American publisher even as his books climbed bestseller lists in England and Australia, he was enjoying a comeback here, with his current and backlist work being issued by Cemetery Dance and Leisure Books (e.g., his novel The Last Vampire, published by CD in 2000). Some of Laymon's problems with American publishers arose from the downturn in the horror market in the '90s; more came from what many considered excess sexual violence in his books.The poignancy of his death shades into irony because his first posthumous publication (there are more to come) not only features less of the sexual violence that in fact did mar some of his books but also highlights his tremendous strengths as a writer. This is at once one of the eeriest, and one of most immediate, horror novels of recent decades. It details what befalls a lovesick young man as he wanders on successive nights through his college town. Ed Logan, 20, just ditched by his long-term girlfriend, takes a seven-mile walk late one night from his apartment to Dandi Doughnuts the first steps in an odyssey that finds him mixing with a new girlfriend, cannibals ("trolls") living underneath neighborhood bridges, a gay college student with the hots for Ed, violent or potentially violent sexual predators both male and female and, most memorably, a fellow night-traveler: an 18-year-old homeless girl named Casey who teaches him to embrace the wonders and terrors of the night. The novel unfolds like a series of dreams some nightmarish, some amusing, some wet and is related in the extreme detail of moment-to-moment narration that allows Laymon, at his best as he is here, to plunge readers fully into the alternate reality of another's experiences. Due special praise here are the visceral truths of young adult life that Laymon plumbs in his characters. But above all, this novel, like so many of his others, is just good old nasty fun to read; it's a traipse through unknown territory, with jack-in-the-boxes of all sorts lurking just behind the next shadow or page.With Laymon's death, horror has lost one of its rarest talents. Horror fans know this, but, sadly, few others do. That horror remains literature's shunned child needs no further demonstration than that most major media (e.g., the New York Times) ignored the death of Laymon, who was, in addition to the author of more than 30 novels, some of them bestsellers, the president of the Horror Writers Association of America. RIP. </p><p>Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.</p> </div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>In an isolated corner of a deserted hotel, horror writer Larry Dunbar uncovers a grisly relic. It's naked, it's female, and it has a wooden stake through its heart. Bonnie Saxton was a young, innocent high school senior...sacrificed on the altar of a madman's obsession to rid the earth of its most ancient, pitiless evil: the curse of the vampire. A world of horrors was born the day the stake was driven in, and now Dunbar wants to pull it out!</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>When a group of young campers meet and are forced to kill a dangerous psychopath, his mother, a witch, puts a deadly curse on them</p>


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SUMMARY: When Mark and Alison sneak into Beast House, a place once home to unspeakable acts of brutality and murder, they soon discover that the gruesome legends surrounding this evil place are real. Original.


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The shocking discovery of a woman's body naked and headlessDalong the shores of the Silver River in Sierra County, Calif., sets off a series of interrelated events that will have readers guessing about the killer's identity until the final pages of this thriller. The small-town suspects are many, including the victim's husband, Professor Grant Parkington, who has a reputation for fooling around with his students; Bass Paxton, whoDalong with girlfriend Faye Everett (with whom Parkington once had an affair) found the body; and Merton LeRoy, a gay ex-convict who sells drugs and turns tricks inside a van parked down by the river. At the center of the investigation are Sheriff Rusty Hodges and his hotshot female deputy and daughter-in-law, Mary, nicknamed "Pac" because of her father's allegiance to football's Green Bay Packers. The murder occurs almost immediately, and Laymon (Bite, etc.) devotes the rest of his book to the search for the killer, rarely detouring from his primary aim except to throw in an occasional provocative story twist or a bit of gratuitous sex and gore. Outside of Hodges, few characters are worth rooting for, as all of them display despicable qualities. But such flaws make Laymon's one-track story more intriguing and more realistic. (Nov.)


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SUMMARY: It's almost midnight. Cat's on the bed, facedown and naked. She's Sam's former girlfriend, the only woman he's ever loved. Sam's in the closet, with a hammer in one hand and a wooden stake in the other. Together they wait as the clock ticks down because ... the vampire is coming.When Cat first appeared at Sam's door he couldn't believe his eyes. He hadn't seen her intern years, but he'd never forgotten her. Not for a second. But before this night is through, Sam will enter a nightmare of blood and fear that he'll never be able to forget -- no matter how hard he tries.


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<div><p>It is Midsummer's Eve. Three young friends meet in a wood to act out an elaborate masque. But, unknown to them, they are being watched. Each is killed by a single bullet.</p><p>It is Midsummer's Eve. Three young friends meet in a wood to act out an elaborate masque. But, unknown to them, they are being watched. Each is killed by a single bullet. Soon afterwards, one of Inspector Wallander's colleagues is found murdered. Is it the same killer, and what could the connection be? In this investigation Wallander is always, tantalisingly, one step behind.</p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The missing piece of the internationally bestselling Kurt Wallander mystery series: the story of Kurt Wallander's beginnings.Revealing a side of Wallander that we have never seen, the long stories collected in The Pyramid are vintage Mankell. Here, we see Wallander on his homicide first case as a twenty-one-year-old patrolman, as a young father facing unexpected danger on Christmas Eve, as a middle-aged detective with his marriage on the brink, as a newly separated investigator solving the brutal murder of a local photographer, and finally as a veteran detective, with his signature methodical and instinctive work style, discovering unexpected connections between a downed plane and the assassination of a pair of spinster sisters. In these five riveting tales we watch Kurt Wallander come into his own not only as a detective but as a human being</p>


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<div class="blurb">The much-anticipated return of Henning Mankell's brilliant, 
brooding detective Kurt Wallander.<br><br>Håkan von Enke, a retired naval 
officer, disappears during a walk in a forest near Stockholm. Wallander is not 
officially involved in the investigation, but he is personally affected - von 
Enke is his daughter's father-in-law - and Wallander is soon interfering in 
matters that are not his responsibility. He is confounded by the information he 
uncovers, which hints at elaborate Cold War espionage.<br><br>Wallander is also 
haunted by his own past and desperate to live up to the hope that a new 
granddaughter represents, and will soon come face-to-face with his most 
intractable adversary - himself.<br><br>Suspenseful, darkly atmospheric, 
psychologically gripping, <i>The Troubled Man</i> is certain to be celebrated by 
readers and critics alike.</div>


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<p class="description">Like his countrymen Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, Mankell writes mysteries that connect crimes in Sweden to the rest of the world. Faceless Killers (1997), the first of his books about provincial police inspector Kurt Wallender to appear here, involved Turkish immigrants and Eastern European villains. This novel, written in 1993, links the murder of a real estate agent in Wallender's town of Ystad to South Africa, where Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison, and to Russia, where the KGB is busy planning Mandela's fate. Wallender is a classically dour but dedicated policeman whose progress through his cases is a combination of hard slogging and lucky breaks. But several factors render this effort less compelling than its predecessor. The first is the Day of the Jackal syndrome: we know that Mandela wasn't killed by KGB agents or white Afrikaner terrorists, and that knowledge makes the suspense writer's job even harder. Second is the book's length 560 pages is a long haul, even with three exotic settings and dozens of important characters. Third might be Thompson's translation, which unlike Steven T. Murray's work on Faceless Killers often seems excessively deadpan. But Wallender is still a solid character, whose strengths and weaknesses are utterly credible, and Mankell (who now lives in Mozambique) knows how to make the most of his virtues.</p>


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Mystery novelist Harriet Vane knew all about poisons, and when her fiancÉ died in the manner prescribed in one of her books, a jury of her peers had a hangman's noose in mind. But Lord Peter Wimsey was determined to find her innocent--as determined as he was to make her his wife.


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Lord Peter Wimsey takes up employment as a copywriter for an advertising agency in order to discover more about the recent mysterious death of one of the employees. In the process he discovers much of the convoluted private lives of the other employees, as well as getting a feel for what it is like to work for a living. Eventually he traces a connection to a drug-smuggling operation, which he proceeds to infiltrate and uncover. Wimsey makes the connection between the drug-smugglers and the employee who has become their tool and has responded to a blackmail threat with murder.


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Nine tellerstrokes from the belfry of an ancient country church toll the death of an unknown man and call the famous Lord Peter Wimsey to one of his most brilliant cases, set in the atmosphere of a quiet parish in the strange, flat, fen-country of East Anglia


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When Harriet Vane attends her Oxford reunion, known as the "Gaudy," the prim academic setting is haunted by a rash of bizarre pranks: scrawled obsentities, burnt effigies and poison-pen letters -- including one that says, "Ask your boyfriend with the title if he likes arsenic in his soup."Some of the notes threaten murder; all are perfectly ghastly; yet in spite of their scurrilous nature, all are perfectly worded. And Harriet finds herself ensnared in a nightmare of romance and terror, with only the tiniest shreds of clues to challenge her powers of detection, and those of her paramour, Lord Peter Wimsey.


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SUMMARY: Murder is hardly the best way for Lord Peter and his bride, the famous mystery writer Harriet Vane, to start their honeymoon. It all begins when the former owner of their newly acquired estate is found quite nastily dead in the cellar. And what Lord Peter had hoped would be a very private and romantic stay in the country soon turns into a most baffling case, what with the misspelled 'notise' to the milkman and the intriguing condition of the dead man - not a spot of blood on his smashed skull and not a pence less than six hundred pounds in his pocket. Author Biography; Dorothy L. Sayers is the author of novels, short stories, poetry collections, essays, reviews and translations. Although she was a noted Christian scholar, she is most known for her detective fiction. Born in 1893, she was one of the first women to be awarded a degree from Oxford University. Her first book featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, Whose Body?, was published in 1923 and over the next 20 years more novels and short stories about the aristocratic amateur sleuth appeared. Dorothy L. Sayers is recognized as one of the greatest mystery writers of the 20th century.


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SUMMARY: A fleeting killer's green mustache. A corpse clutching a note with misplaced vowels. A telephone with the unmistakable ring of death. A hopeful heir's dreams of fortune done in when nature beats him to the punch. A playwright's unwatered-down honor that is thicker than blood.In each case, the murder baffles the local authorities. For his Lordship and the spirited salesman-sleuth Montague Egg, a corpse is an intriguing invitation to unravel the postmortem puzzles of fascinating falsehoods, mysterious motives and diabolical demises.


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The stark naked body was lying in the tub.Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder -- especially witha pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What's more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better. In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath.


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Rustic old Riddlesdale Lodge was a Wimsey family retreat filled with country pleasures and the thrill of the hunt -- until the game turned up human and quite dead. He lay among the chrysanthemums, wore slippers and a dinner jacket and was Lord Peter's brother-in-law-to-be.His accused murderer was Wimsey's own brother, and if murder set all in the family wasn't enough to boggle the unflappable Lord Wimsey, perhaps a few twists of fate would be -- a mysterious vanishing midnight letter from Egypt...a grieving fiancee with suitcase in hand...and a bullet destined for one very special Wimsey.


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The plot concerns Lord Peter's investigation into the death, three years earlier, of an elderly lady in the last stages of cancer. The lady's death has aroused no suspicion, despite her doctor's dismay at her end coming so quickly, but Wimsey suspects that it may, after all, have been 'unnatural'. The difficulty of discovering the method is compounded by the difficulty of discovering someone with the motive and opportunity to kill.


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90-year-old General Fendman was definitely dead, but no one knew exactly when he had died -- and the time of death was the determining factor in a half-million-pound inheritance.Lord Peter Wimsey would need every bit of his amazing skills to unravel the mysteries of why the General's lapel was without a red poppy on Armistice Day, how the club's telephone was fixed without a repairman, and, most puzzling of all, why the great man's knee swung freely when the rest of him was stiff with rigor mortis.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY: Darian Frey is down on his luck. He can barely keep his squabbling crew fed and his rickety aircraft in the sky. Even the simplest robberies seem to go wrong. It's getting so a man can't make a dishonest living any more.Enter Captain Grist. He's heard about a crashed aircraft laden with the treasures of a lost civilisation, and he needs Frey's help to get it. There's only one problem. The craft is lying in the trackless heart of a remote island, populated by giant beasts and subhuman monsters.Dangerous, yes. Suicidal, perhaps. Still, Frey's never let common sense get in the way of a fortune before. But there's something other than treasure on board that aircraft. Something that a lot of important people would kill for. And it's going to take all of Frey's considerable skill at lying, cheating and stealing if he wants to get his hands on it . . .Strap yourself in for another tale of adventure and debauchery, pilots and pirates, golems and daemons, double-crosses and double-double-crosses. The crew of the Ketty Jay are back!</p>


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<div><p class="description">N. K. Jemisin - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms</p> <p class="description">Inheritance 01</p> <p class="description">Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history.</p> <p class="description">With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate - and gods and mortals - are bound inseparably together.</p></div>


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<h3>Review</h3><p><strong>Praise for Ari Marmell’s <em>The Conqueror’s Shadow</em></strong> </p><p>“A powerful fantasy, with well-drawn heroes and delightfully wicked, complicated villains.”—Paul S. Kemp, author of The Erevis Cale Trilogy </p><p>“Superior storytelling and deft dialogue . . . filled with dark humor as well as scenes of brutal battle and high magic.”—_Library Journal_ </p><p>“A great mix of character and action.”—Robin Hobb, author of <em>Dragon Keeper</em> </p><p>“This action-packed, morally gray fantasy has an intriguingly twisty plot, full of magic and political intrigue.”—_Booklist _ </p><p>“Ari Marmell has a remarkable flair for the sinister.”—Scott Lynch, author of <em>The Lies of Locke Lamora</em></p><h3>Product Description</h3><p>Corvis Rebaine, the Terror of the East, a man as quick with a quip as he is with a blade, returns in this highly anticipated sequel to Ari Marmell’s acclaimed <em>The Conqueror’s Shadow</em>, a debut hailed for its refreshing take on dark fantasy and surprising flashes of sharp, sarcastic wit. Now Marmell raises the stakes in a story that has all the humor and excitement of its predecessor, plus a terrifying new villain so evil that he may well be a match for Rebaine himself. </p><p>For let’s not forget how Corvis Rebaine came by the charming nickname “Terror of the East.” Certainly no one else has forgotten. Corvis Rebaine is no hero. In his trademark suit of black armor and skull-like helm, armed with a demon-forged axe, in command of a demonic slave, and with allies that include a bloodthirsty ogre, Rebaine has twice brought death and destruction to Imphallion in pursuit of a better, more equitable and just society. If he had to kill countless innocents in order to achieve that dream, so be it. </p><p>At least that was the old Rebaine. Before he slew the mad warlord Audriss. Before he banished the demon Khanda. Before he lost his wife and children, who could not forgive or forget his violent crimes. Now, years later, Rebaine lives in a distant city, under a false name, a member of one of the Guilds he despises, trying to achieve change nonviolently, from within the power structure. </p><p>Not even when the neighboring nation of Cephira invades Imphallion and the bickering Guilds prove unable to respond does Rebaine return to his old habits of slaughter. But someone else does. Someone wearing Rebaine’s black armor and bearing what appears to be his axe. Someone who is, if anything, even less careful of human life than Rebaine was. </p><p>Now Baron Jassion, Rebaine’s old nemesis, is hunting him once more, aided by a mysterious sorcerer named Kaleb, whose powers and secrets make him a more dangerous enemy than Rebaine has ever known. Even worse, accompanying them is a young woman who hates Corvis Rebaine perhaps more than anyone else: his own daughter, Mellorin. Suddenly Rebaine seems to have no choice. To clear his name, to protect his country, and to reconcile with his family, must he once again become the Terror of the East? </p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The Coldfire trilogy tells a story of discovery and battle against evil on a planet where a force of nature exists that is capable of reshaping the world in response to psychic stimulus. This terrifying force, much like magic, has the power to prey upon the human mind, drawing forth a person's worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life. This is the story of two men: one, a warrior priest ready to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of humanity's progress; the other, a sorcerer who has survived for countless centuries by a total submission to evil. They are absolute enemies who must unite to conquer an evil greater than anything their world has ever known.</p>


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SUMMARY: A SECRET HIGH-STAKES AUCTION As a wealthy few gather to bid on a predator capable of destroying all life on earth, the sorcerers of the Twenty Palace Society mobilize to stop them. Caught up in the scramble is Ray Lilly, the lowest of the low in the society-an excar thief and the expendable assistant of a powerful sorcerer. Ray possesses exactly one spell to his name, along with a strong left hook. But when he arrives in the small town in the North Cascades where the bidding is to take place, the predator has escaped and the societyrs"s most powerful enemies are desperate to recapture it. All Ray has to do is survive until help arrives. But it may already be too late.


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>A startling, seductive literary novel that entwines suspense, science fiction, adventure, romance and history into an intoxicating new genre.1908: New Venice--"the pearl of the Arctic"--a place of ice palaces and pneumatic tubes, of beautifully ornate carriage-sleds and elegant victorian garb, of long nights and vistas of ice.But as the city prepares for spring, it feels more like qaartsiluni, "the time when something is about to explode in the dark." Local "poletics" are wracked by tensions with the Eskimos circling the city, with suffragette riots led by an underground music star, with drug round-ups by the secret police force known as the Gentlemen of the Night. An ominous black airship hovers over the city, and the Gentlemen are hunting for the author of a radical pamphlet calling for revolt.Their lead suspect is Brentford Orsini, one of the city's most prominent figures. But as the Gentlemen of the Night tighten the net around him, Orsini receives a mysterious message from a long-lost love that compels him to act.What transpires is a literary adventure novel unlike anything you've ever read before. Brilliant in its conception, masterful in its prose, thrilling in its plot twists, and laced with humor, suspense, and intelligence, it marks the beginning of a great new series of books set in New Venice-and the launch of an astonishing new writer.</p>


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<div><h3>From Wikipedia</h3><p>Twenty Palaces is a series of fantasy/mystery novels written by Seattle author Harry Connolly. He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, Ray Lilly, as he recounts his adventures working for the Twenty Palace Society. Although the series is almost always placed in the urban fantasy genre, the stories so far have actually taken place in rural areas in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon</p><p>      <strong>In the article: </strong>Plot | Publishing history</p><h3>Review</h3><p>“Ray Lilly is one of the most interesting characters I’ve read lately, and Harry Connolly’s vision is amazing.”—Charlaine Harris  </p><p>“An edge-of-the-seat read! Ray Lilly is the new high-water mark of paranormal noir.”<br>—Charles Stross, author of _Rule 34<br>_<br>“Excellent reading . . . delicious tension and suspense.”—Jim Butcher, author of <em>The Dresden Files,</em> on <em>Child of Fire</em>  </p><p>“Connolly doesn’t shy away from tackling big philosophical issues . . . amid gory action scenes and plenty of rapid-fire sardonic dialogue.”—_Publishers Weekly_ (starred review), on <em>Game of Cages</em>  </p><p>“This has become one of my must-read series.”—_Locus_</p><p><em>From the Paperback edition.</em></p></div>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>The second novel in the groundbreaking Coldfire trilogy Two men, absolute enemies, must unite to conquer an evil greater than anything their world has ever known. One is a warrior priest ready to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of humanity's progress; the other, a sorcerer who has survived for countless centuries by a total submission to evil. In their joint quest, both will be irrevocably changed.</p>


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<p class="description">SUMMARY:<br>Unlikely allies Damien and Tarrant are faced with an enemy who may prove invulnerable-a demon who has declared war on mankind. Called Calesta, he is a master of illusion and devourer of pain, and he plans to remake the human species until it exists only to sate his unquenchable thirst for suffering. The war against Calesta will take Damien and Tarrant from the depths of Hell to the birthplace of demons and beyond-in a battle that could cost them not only their lives, but the very soul of mankind.</p>


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<h3><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; ">For two thousand years the Arameri family has ruled the world by enslaving the very gods that created mortalkind. Now the gods are free, and the Arameri's ruthless grip is slipping. Yet they are all that stands between peace and world-spanning, unending war.Shahar, last scion of the family, must choose her loyalties. She yearns to trust Sieh, the godling she loves. Yet her duty as Arameri heir is to uphold the family's interests, even if that means using and destroying everyone she cares for.As long-suppressed rage and terrible new magics consume the world, the Maelstrom - which even gods fear - is summoned forth. Shahar and Sieh: mortal and god, lovers and enemies. Can they stand together against the chaos that threatens the kingdom of gods?</span></h3>


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"An accomplished, entertaining blend of historical fiction and dark fantasy." — The Times An accomplished, entertaining blend of historical fiction and dark fantasy THE TIMES A fantastical blend of historical novel and supernatural chiller. DEATHRAY magazine Sharpeski ditches Napoleon to fight the undead...good vampire-hunting fun for a winter's evening. SFX magazine Packed with thrills and witty dialogue, Twelve also boasts rich historical insight and compelling storytelling. A compulsively readable adventure. WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY magazine


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<div><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>Noir SF author Morgan (_Thirteen_) delivers a promising but obscenity-laden epic fantasy trilogy opener. As the Yhelteth Empire recovers from a devastating war, embittered veterans Archeth, Egar and Ringil embark on parallel but vastly different journeys. The emperor sends drug-abusing Archeth to gather details about a rumored invasion. Egar becomes a steppes clanmaster, but the other horsemen despise him for seducing teenagers rather than leading. Ringil attempts to locate and free a cousin sold into slavery. All three soon discover the dwenda, a race of magical beings thought long dead. Despite stereotypical plot elements, including a prophecy that states A dark lord will rise, the well-developed characters and realistic battle scenes ring true, as do some gruesomely explicit sex scenes. The intriguing conclusion to the dark, gritty tale will have readers hoping for a more plot-heavy and less visceral sequel. <em>(Jan.)</em> <br>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From Bookmarks Magazine</h3><p>After reading his film noir take on the future in his science fiction novels, critics were eager to see how Richard Morgan would handle fantasy. In this respect, reviewers were pleased, noting how Morgan takes plot elements that are as old as those of <em>Lord of the Rings</em> or <em>Conan the Barbarian</em> and gives them a freshness by importing many of the themes that drove his sci-fi work. Several critics were a little disappointed by the pacing of the novel, though they seemed to find it more acceptable when they thought of the book as the first of a series. Every critic also warned readers that while they don't detract from the overall quality of the work, many scenes from <em>The Steel Remains</em> contain an awful lot of explicit sex, violence, and harsh language. Perhaps such scenes are right up your alley ...<br>Copyright 2008 Bookmarks Publishing LLC </p></div>


