Tales of Heights and Depths

Tales of Heights and Depths
Author: Humberto Ibarra
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 63
Release: 2011-07-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1462846726

A dozen years ago, I read Cuentos de Cima y Sima in Spanish. I was struck by the imagery, lyricism, and natural dialogue, and began a translation to English. Later, while teaching at the American School in El Salvador, I became acquainted with the author’s grandson. We agreed that because Central American literature is almost unknown in the United States, it would be good to publish the Tales of Heights and Depths in English. Humberto Ibarra, a Salvadoran journalist who was exiled to Guatemala, later became the ambassador to Chile and to Argentina. He also wrote a book of poetry as well as a novel that portrays Zacatecoluca, his hometown, and deals with social justice. Guatemala is a land of enchantment, so it is not surprising to find zombies, witchcraft, and magic amid the Mayan ruins. I have chosen a pen name for my role as translator. Pax is my mother’s maiden name and seems to blend well with short Mayan surnames like Yoc and Tul. Jose Pax

ZANE GREY Ultimate Collection: Historical Novels, Western Classics, Adventure Tales & Baseball Stories (60+ Titles in One Volume)

ZANE GREY Ultimate Collection: Historical Novels, Western Classics, Adventure Tales & Baseball Stories (60+ Titles in One Volume)
Author: Zane Grey
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 12148
Release: 2024-01-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

In Zane Grey's Ultimate Collection, readers will find a treasure trove of historical novels, western classics, adventure tales, and baseball stories all compiled into one comprehensive volume. Grey's literary style is characterized by vivid descriptions of the American West, engaging dialogue, and thrilling plotlines that keep readers on the edge of their seats. Set against the backdrop of the rugged frontier, Grey's stories offer a unique blend of action, romance, and exploration, making them a must-read for fans of the genre. This collection showcases Grey's versatility as a writer, with each story offering a new and exciting adventure for readers to embark on. Zane Grey's deep connection to the American West and his love for the outdoors heavily influenced his writing. As an avid outdoorsman and angler, Grey drew inspiration from his own experiences to create unforgettable characters and settings that resonate with readers to this day. His passion for storytelling shines through in each tale, capturing the spirit of the Wild West and bringing it to life for modern audiences. I highly recommend Zane Grey's Ultimate Collection to readers who enjoy immersive historical fiction, gripping westerns, and thrilling adventure stories. With over 60 titles to choose from, this compilation offers hours of entertainment and a glimpse into the rich tapestry of American literature.

The Heights, the Depths, and Everything in Between

The Heights, the Depths, and Everything in Between
Author: Sally Nemeth
Publisher: Yearling
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2010-12-15
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0307770249

“[A] satisfying tale of platonic best friends.”—Booklist It's the 1970s, and Lucy can’t imagine anything worse than being a giant with the last name of Small . . . unless it’s entering junior high: a whole new set of kids with the same old jokes. Even worse, her dad has headed out of town to “find himself.” At least she still has Jake, the friend she’s been with since forever. And when school begins, they get each other through everything, from the humiliation of stinking at basketball (Lucy) to the agonies of Mom’s new boyfriend (Jake). Then Jake starts hanging out with resident bad boy Gary Geary. Lucy can’t help worrying about Jake, but somehow her heart races every time Gary looks her in the eye. Despite everything, Lucy and Jake know they can count on each other . . . until their friendship is tested in an unexpected way. Will they be able to stick together? Or is junior high when things change for good? This fastpaced, entertaining, humorous story about friendship and loyalty vividly captures the highs and lows of growing up.

Castaway Tales

Castaway Tales
Author: Christopher Palmer
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2016-05-10
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0819576220

A wide-ranging and appreciative literary history of the castaway tale from Defoe to the present Ever since Robinson Crusoe washed ashore, the castaway story has survived and prospered, inspiring a multitude of writers of adventure fiction to imitate and adapt its mythic elements. In his brilliant critical study of this popular genre, Christopher Palmer traces the castaway tales' history and changes through periods of settlement, violence, and reconciliation, and across genres and languages. Showing how subsequent authors have parodied or inverted the castaway tale, Palmer concentrates on the period following H. G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau. These much darker visions are seen in later novels including William Golding's Lord of the Flies, J. G. Ballard's Concrete Island, and Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory. In these and other variations, the castaway becomes a cannibal, the castaway's island is relocated to center of London, female castaways mock the traditional masculinity of the original Crusoe, or Friday ceases to be a biddable servant. By the mid-twentieth century, the castaway tale has plunged into violence and madness, only to see it return in young adult novels—such as Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins and Terry Pratchett's Nation—to the buoyancy and optimism of the original. The result is a fascinating series of revisions of violence and pessimism, but also reconciliation.

Risuko

Risuko
Author: David Kudler
Publisher: Stillpoint Digital Press
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2016-06-15
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1938808339

Samurai, assassins, warlords -- and a girl who likes to climb A historical coming-of-age tale of a young girl who is purchased away from her family to become an assassin. Can she come to terms with who she must be? Though Japan has been devastated by a century of civil war, Risuko just wants to climb trees. Growing up far from the battlefields and court intrigues, the fatherless girl finds herself pulled into a plot that may reunite Japan -- or may destroy it. She is torn from her home and what is left of her family, but finds new friends at a school that may not be what it seems. One of the students — or perhaps one of the teachers — is playing the kitsune. The mischievous fox spirit is searching for… something. What do they want? And what will they do to find it? Magical but historical, Risuko follows her along the first dangerous steps to discovering who she truly is. The first volume of the Seasons of the Sword series! Can one girl win a war? Kano Murasaki, called Risuko (Squirrel) is a young, fatherless girl, more comfortable climbing trees than down on the ground. Yet she finds herself enmeshed in a game where the board is the whole nation of Japan, where the pieces are armies, moved by scheming lords, and a single girl couldn't possibly have the power to change the outcome. Or could she? Historical adventure fiction appropriate for teen readers As featured in Kirkus, Foreword, and on the cover of Publishers Weekly! Tight, exciting, and thoughtful... The characters are nicely varied and all the pieces fit into place deftly. -- Kirkus Reviews Risuko is an artfully crafted novel that evokes a heavy sense of place and enchantment.... Risuko's development and evolution are fascinating to watch in this powerful and relentless coming-of-age adventure. -- Foreword Reviews (spotlight review) Vividly portrayed, flush with cultural detail, and smoothly written. -- BookLife

The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales
Author: Geoffrey Chaucer
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2005-09-29
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 0141966793

The most complete of all remaining surviving fragments sections of The Canterbury Tales, the First Fragment contains some of Chaucer's most widely enjoyed work. In The General Prologue, Chaucer introduces his pilgrims through a set of speaking portraits, drawn with a clarity that makes no attempt to conceal their peculiarities. The four tales that follow - those of the Knight, Miller, Reeve and Cook - reveal a wide variety of human preoccupations: whether chivalrous, romantic or simply sexual. Brilliantly bawdy and subtly complex, each of these tales is alive with Chaucer's skills as a poet, storyteller and creator of comedy.

ARTHUR MACHEN Ultimate Collection: Dark Fantasy Classics, Supernatural Tales & Horror Stories (Including Essays, Translations & Autobiography)

ARTHUR MACHEN Ultimate Collection: Dark Fantasy Classics, Supernatural Tales & Horror Stories (Including Essays, Translations & Autobiography)
Author: Arthur Machen
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 4007
Release: 2024-01-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Arthur Machen's Ultimate Collection features a compendium of dark fantasy classics, supernatural tales, and horror stories that exemplify the author's unique storytelling style. Machen's works are characterized by their exploration of mystical elements, eerie atmospheres, and philosophical themes. His prose is richly descriptive, evoking a sense of dread and wonder in equal measure. Set in a backdrop of Victorian and Edwardian England, Machen's narratives blur the lines between dream and reality, diving deep into the subconscious desires and fears of his characters. This collection also includes a selection of Machen's essays, translations, and autobiography, offering readers a comprehensive look into the life and mind of this influential author. Arthur Machen, a Welsh writer and mystic, was deeply influenced by his interest in the occult, folklore, and spirituality. His exploration of the unknown and the supernatural in his works reflects a fascination with the hidden depths of human experience. Machen's personal experiences and philosophies undoubtedly shaped the eerie and thought-provoking tales he is most renowned for. Fans of gothic literature, dark fantasy, and supernatural fiction will find Arthur Machen's Ultimate Collection a captivating and essential read. With its diverse range of stories and insights into the author's life, this anthology is a must-have for anyone seeking to delve into the world of a master of the macabre.

Modern Fantasy

Modern Fantasy
Author: Colin N. Manlove
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2020-04-16
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 153269184X

After a decade from 1965 which had seen the growth in Britain and America of an enormous interest in fantasy literature, and a rise in its academic repute from cold to lukewarm, a serious study of the subject seemed long overdue. In this first critical book in its time on modern English fantasy, Colin Manlove surveys a representative group of modern fantasies—in the Victorian period in the children's scientific and Christian fantasy The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley and the mystical fantasy of the Scottish writer George MacDonald; and from the twentieth century the interplanetary romances of C. S. Lewis, the post-war fantasy of rebellious youth in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books, and the quest to avert apocalypse in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The aim with all these works is to show the peculiar literary experiences they offer and to assess their strengths and limitations in relation to wider English literature. In the introduction to his book, Manlove gives a definition of fantasy, marking off the genre from its near neighbors science fiction and “Gothic” or horror story, and distinguishing between fantasies that are serious works of imagination and those that are fanciful or escapist. Each chapter that follows is primarily a literary analysis set in a context of the writer's life, thought, and other works. As the book proceeds, there begins to emerge a picture of the originality and merit of the writers, but at the same time the sense of a division in the purpose of each writer, whereby their works fail to abide by their own laws. In the conclusion to this book Manlove draws the different types of division found into one and argues that the problem is one that is endemic to the writing of modern fantasy.

Phenomenal Stories, Vol. 1, No. 2

Phenomenal Stories, Vol. 1, No. 2
Author: Shawn M. Tomlinson
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2018-09-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0359104304

In this second issue of Phenomenal Stories, we continue the Cyberpunk serial 'Closer' and the more traditional science fiction serial 'After: The End of the World's Not All It's Cracked Up To Be.' Richard H. Nilsen returns with a horror story in collaboration with Shawn M. Tomlinson titled "The 9 Corners." It takes place at Nine Corners Lake in the Adirondacks. J.D. Hayes-Canell is back, too, with another horror tale, this one titled, "Julie in a Jar." The story of Robert and Cara continues with "A Visitor in Arkham." Over on the non-fiction side, there's Gosh! Wow! A Personal History of the Pulps Chapter 2: The Start of It All. And Shawn M. Tomlinson rounds out the issue with his Hitchhiker in Time column, The Lurking Fear, about H.P. Lovecraft and the need to write.

Phenomenal Stories, Vol. 1, No. 2 • Special Collectors' Edition

Phenomenal Stories, Vol. 1, No. 2 • Special Collectors' Edition
Author: Shawn M. Tomlinson
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2018-10-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0359150748

In this second issue of Phenomenal Stories, we continue the Cyberpunk serial 'Closer' and the more traditional science fiction serial 'After: The End of the World's Not All It's Cracked Up To Be.' Richard H. Nilsen returns with a horror story in collaboration with Shawn M. Tomlinson titled "The 9 Corners." It takes place at Nine Corners Lake in the Adirondacks. J.D. Hayes-Canell is back, too, with another horror tale, this one titled, "Julie in a Jar." The story of Robert and Cara continues with "A Visitor in Arkham." Over on the non-fiction side, there's Gosh! Wow! A Personal History of the Pulps Chapter 2: The Start of It All. And Shawn M. Tomlinson rounds out the issue with his Hitchhiker in Time column, The Lurking Fear, about H.P. Lovecraft and the need to write.