Shumaisi

Shumaisi
Author: Turki al-Hamad
Publisher: Saqi
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2013-11-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0863565654

The year is 1970, a period of crisis in the Arab world. Twenty-year-old Hisham has left home for the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, where he's enrolled at university to study politi and economi. But this city has more than academic qualifications to offer a man of Hisham's mettle, and he soon discovers a strange underworld of alcohol and prostitution where fear, pleasure and politi merge. Here hospitals prove the richest cruising grounds; the desert is the place for illicit couplings; and now Hisham is spying on the bedroom activities of his next-door neighbour's wife, who has taken to leaving her door ajar. Meanwhile, Hisham's disillusioned childhood friend Adnan abandons his artistic ambitions in favour of a loftier cause - Islam. The two friends - who rapidly grow estranged - come to symbolise the opposite extremes of life in a repressive closed society. But their shared past soon conspires to reunite them in a new and terrifying way. 'Just to experience the world in the person of a young Saudi man in the wake of the June war is a privilege.' James Buchan, Guardian 'Shumaisi articulates the bathos and tragedy of the individual's struggle against an absolutist system.' Alev Adil, Independent

The Spirit Keeper

The Spirit Keeper
Author: K. B. Laugheed
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2013-09-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101627344

This is the account of Katie O’Toole, late of Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania, removed from her family by savages on March the 2nd in the year of our Lord 1747 The thirteenth child conceived of miserable Irish exiles, Katie O’Toole dreams of a different life. Little does she know that someone far away is dreaming of her. In 1747, savages raid her family home, and seventeen-year-old Katie is taken captive. Syawa and Hector have been searching for her, guided by Syawa’s dreams. A young Holyman, Syawa believes Katie is the subject of his Vision: the Creature of Fire and Ice, destined to bring a great gift to his people. Despite her flaming hair and ice-blue eyes, Katie is certain he is mistaken, but faced with returning to her family, she agrees to join them. She soon discovers that in order to fulfill Syawa’s Vision, she must first become his Spirit Keeper, embarking on an epic journey that will change her life—and heart—forever. Ideal for fans of The Son and Empire of the Summer Moon, this riveting novel will transport and enchant readers.

The Disenchantment

The Disenchantment
Author: Celia Bell
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2024-07-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593468910

This radiant and thrilling debut follows a passionate love affair between two noblewomen who wish to free themselves from their repressive society, whatever the cost. In 17th century Paris, everyone has something to hide. The noblemen and women and writers consort with fortune tellers in the confines of their homes, servants practice witchcraft and black magic, and the titled poison family members to obtain inheritance. But for the Baroness Marie Catherine, the only thing she wishes to hide is how unhappy she is in her marriage, and the pleasures she seeks outside of it. When her husband is present, the Baroness spends her days tending to her children and telling them elaborate fairy tales, but when he’s gone, Marie Catherine indulges in a more liberated existence, one of forward-thinking discussions with female scholars in the salons of grand houses, and at the center of her freedom: Victoire Rose de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Conti, the androgynous, self-assured countess who steals Marie Catherine’s heart and becomes her lover. Victoire possesses everything Marie Catherine does not—confidence in her love, and a brazen fearlessness in all that she’s willing to do for it. But when a shocking and unexpected murder occurs, Marie Catherine must escape. And what she discovers is the dark underbelly of a city full of people who have secrets they would kill to keep. The Disenchantment is a stunning debut that conjures an unexpected world of passion, crime, intrigue, and black magic.

The Sorcerer's Death Mask

The Sorcerer's Death Mask
Author: Dan Jerris
Publisher: Lothian Children's Books
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2011-09-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0734412363

Deep in Alleric Castle lies an ancient book telling the story of a sorcerer who was buried with his treasure long ago on Dragon Island. Al and Owen are keen to investigate - but will they find what they are looking for? Just try to resist the action-packed Dragon Blood Pirates series - and the lure of adventure and mystery on the high seas.

Spindrift

Spindrift
Author: Ben Hassen
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2010-08-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 145023643X

An exciting account of ship to ship battle on the high seas. One family's struggle to survive after losing everything to the crown .

The Mammoth Book of SF Wars

The Mammoth Book of SF Wars
Author: Ian Watson
Publisher: Robinson
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2012-05-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1780335466

War is becoming increasingly 'SF-ized' with remotely controlled attack drones and robot warriors already in development and being tested. Over the past 100 years the technology of war has advanced enormously in destructive power, yet also in sophistication so that we no longer seem to live under the constant threat of all-out global thermonuclear cataclysm. So what will future wars be like? And what will start them: religion, politics, resources, refugees, or advanced weaponry itself? Watson and Whates present a gripping anthology of SF stories which explores the gamut of possible future conflicts, including such themes as nuclear war, psychological and cyberwars, enhanced soldiery, mercenaries, terrorism, intelligent robotic war machines, and war with aliens. All the stories in this collection of remarkable quality and diversity reveals humankind pressed to the limits in every conceivable way. It includes 24 stories with highlights such as: The Pyre of the New Day' - Catherine Asaro. The Rhine's World Incident' - Neal Asher. Caught in the Crossfire' - David Drake. Politics' - Elizabeth Moon. The Traitor' - David Weber. And others from: Dan Abnett, Tony Ballantyne, Fredric Brown, Algis Budrys, Simon R. Green, Joe Haldeman, John Kessel, John Lambshead, Paul McAuley, Andy Remic, Laura Resnick, Mike Resnick & Brad R. Torgersen, Fred Saberhagen, Cordwainer Smith, Allen Steele, William Tenn, Walter Jon Williams, Michael Z. Williamson, Gene Wolfe.

The 13th Valley

The 13th Valley
Author: John M. Del Vecchio
Publisher: Warriors Publishing Group via PublishDrive
Total Pages: 586
Release: 2012-07-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

A work that has served as a literary cornerstone for the Vietnam generation, The 13th Valley follows the strange and terrifying Vietnam combat experiences of James Chelini, a telephone-systems installer who finds himself an infantryman in territory controlled by the North Vietnamese Army. Spiraling deeper and deeper into a world of conflict and darkness, this harrowing account of Chelini's plunge and immersion into jungle warfare traces his evolution from a semipacifist to an all-out warmonger. The seminal novel on the Vietnam experience, The 13th Valley is a classic that illuminates the war in Southeast Asia like no other book.

Edge Of The Moon

Edge Of The Moon
Author: Rebecca York
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2003-08-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101097876

The first person to disappear was an older woman. Then it was a child…then a teenage boy. When Kathryn Reynolds’ tenant and friend goes missing, she has no idea that her vanishing could be part of a larger, sinister pattern. But the moment she meets Detective Jack Thornton, times seems to stop—literally. The attraction between them is so strong and undeniable, there’s almost something dangerous about it… Jack Thornton had assumed that this was just a routine missing persons report, but there was nothing routine about his response to Kathryn. He’s never reacted so quickly or so strongly to any woman before, and the erotic dreams they share threaten to overwhelm his control. But the more he investigates her friend’s disappearance, the more uneasy he feels. For he’s starting to sense that he and Kathryn are being manipulated by someone…or something. They seem to be playing cat-and-mouse with an unseen enemy—but what Jack doesn’t realize is that a killer is on the hunt, and he will stop at nothing to attain his goal. And that the killer is convinced that Kathryn is the key to his dreams of unholy power…