The Calamity of Desire and Other Stories


Book Description

Told from the female gaze, these stories explore the intersection of history, ambition, heartbreak, and desire, with the work of art at the center of each narrative.







Vassal


Book Description

"The empty classroom Etienne had chosen for their incantation no longer resembled a quiet place of learning. He had shoved the desks against the walls, their legs standing rigid in the damp air like things newly dead and haphazardly piled out of his way. The floor was all but covered in a vast, perfectly circular rune chalked in intricate, swirling patterns. Candles in different stages of melting decay stood at regular intervals, casting flickering light onto stone walls... "Let's just get this over with," Alphonse murmured, holding her free hand out for the incantation." One Goddess. One mortal woman. An entire world at stake. Allee and Etienne have been friends since they first came to the Moxous school of Magics, but when they unwittingly release a terrible, ancient power, their bond will be tested in the journey toward fixing their mistakes. Delyth was raised to faithfully serve the Goddess Enyo at the temple where she was abandoned as a babe, so when the sword, Calamity, is thrust into her keeping, she faces the task of protecting the Goddess's Vassal with equanimity. Only, no amount of training could have prepared Delyth for the strain on her loyalties caused by the beautiful Vassal herself; under enough pressure, even the beliefs of a lifetime will bend. Love, friendship, and betrayal will all blossom on the path to Thlonandras in this first book of The Call of Calamity Series. What readers are saying: "I would definitely recommend this to a friend. This book was a must-read for any LGBT+ fantasy lover. The characters are complex, root-able, and at times infuriating (in the best way). The book dives into themes of religion, sexuality, and inner strength. If you are looking for a tender story between two women, in a world that allows you to escape our own, this book contains an epic journey and one hell of a love story!" -Lauren L. "I would describe it as an old world where Gods once walked the earth. Gods with personality, Gods with flaws just like the humans they rule over. A world where magic coexists with the people in it. A world where everything has a price." -Joseph S. "The conversations, thoughts, and emotions of the characters are the greatest strengths of this book. It never fails to meet expectations, nor does it ever fail to make sense. There is humor, wit, sorrow, angst, and so much else to enjoy." -Franz K.




A Paradise Built in Hell


Book Description

The author of Men Explain Things to Me explores the moments of altruism and generosity that arise in the aftermath of disaster Why is it that in the aftermath of a disaster? whether manmade or natural?people suddenly become altruistic, resourceful, and brave? What makes the newfound communities and purpose many find in the ruins and crises after disaster so joyous? And what does this joy reveal about ordinarily unmet social desires and possibilities? In A Paradise Built in Hell, award-winning author Rebecca Solnit explores these phenomena, looking at major calamities from the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco through the 1917 explosion that tore up Halifax, Nova Scotia, the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. She examines how disaster throws people into a temporary utopia of changed states of mind and social possibilities, as well as looking at the cost of the widespread myths and rarer real cases of social deterioration during crisis. This is a timely and important book from an acclaimed author whose work consistently locates unseen patterns and meanings in broad cultural histories.




Bel-Ami & Other Stories


Book Description

Bel Ami (The History of a Scoundrel): The story chronicles journalist Georges Duroy's corrupt rise to power from a poor ex-NCO to one of the most successful men in Paris, most of which he achieves by manipulating a series of powerful, intelligent, and wealthy mistresses. The novel is set in Paris in the upper-middle class environment of the leading journalists of the newspaper La Vie Française and their friends. Pierre et Jean - is a naturalist or psycho-realist story, notably so by the subjects on which it treats, including knowledge of one's heredity (whether one is a legitimate son or a bastard), the bourgeoisie, and the problems stemming from money. Notre Coeur (A Woman's Pastime): The novel tells the story of a woman without a heart, frigid and probably a lesbian. The hero, facing this fascinating and awesome being, takes another mistress, who can hardly satisfy him. He is devastated by this passionate love, violent, melancholic and cruel. A Life is a satirical novel about the folly of romantic illusion. The novel tells the story of young Jeanne, full of hope and dreams of love, who discovers the outside world after finishing an education in a convent. She is looking forward to her new life and she is dreaming of the day when she will find the man who loves her. All her expectations are fulfilled, however… Mont Oriol Strong as Death. Guy de Maupassant was a French writer, remembered as a master of the short story form, and as a representative of the naturalist school of writers.




The Mountain Of green Tea and other Stories


Book Description

Yahya Taher Abdullah writes with a poetic vividness that is unblurred by outside influences. His raw material is the harsh life of the peasants of Upper Egypt, or of Cairo seen through the eyes of peasants who have migrated there in search of work. Few writers delve so subtly into a society that is strictly bounded by religious and social mores and rigid codes of behavior. It is a society without sophistication, whose members concern themselves with such basic matters as money and personal honor, and where death is ever-present to put an end to their futile endeavors. Abdullah deals with a psychological world that has no equivalent in Western life or literature. Unfamiliar though it may be, it is made real and significant by his sensitivity and artistry.







The Lake Gun and Other Stories


Book Description

James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the first half of the 19th century. "The Lake Gun" is a satirical short story named after the mysterious loud exploding sound coming from Seneca Lake, called The Lake Gun by European American settlers to the area, and known today as the Seneca Guns. These sounds remain unexplained to this day, with no clear or agreed-upon cause.




Dungeon Calamity


Book Description

Weapons, power, wealth! All of this can be found within the dungeons of the world. You just need to survive long enough to claim them.