towards the unMaking of Heaven, Balant: A Beginning


Book Description

The greatest Sci-fi sagas ask is there anyone out there and how do they live and exist. In towards the unMaking of Heaven, Sam Smith takes us to one of these places, where humans are not necessarily the dominant species and first steps of life are emerging from wherever it desires. Balant is book one in a series of five. Each book is intricately linked and delves deeper into what is known as the Supreme Civilisation, until the ultimate drawing together in the finale. Balant, has Dag Olvess, Malamud Bey and Pi Pandy marooned on the edge of the universe. Narrator is the priggish Pi Pandy. En route from his mother's substation to university in another galaxy, the ship he was travelling upon encountered a storm of cosmic proportions. The ship about to implode, he escaped in the ship's shuttle with two other young men, Malamud Bey and Dag Olvess. They end up on the planet, Balant, where they adapt to life in a cave, and then come across ancient robots, savages, slave traders, the Nautili.




towards the unMaking of Heaven, You Human: the Leander Chronicle


Book Description

You Human: The Leander Chronicle is the dark core, the gravitational mass of the quintet, towards the unMaking of Heaven. Within You Human genetic manipulation and genocide will be encountered, sexual obsession/gratification and the nature of love will be explored. You Human is the book towards which the first two books, Balant and Happiness, led; and spinning off from its gravitational mass will be the final two books, Not Now: Death, Dreams and Reasons for Living and finally the unMaking of Heaven.




towards the unMaking of Heaven, Not Now: Death, Dreams & Reasons for Living


Book Description

An SF exploration of desire, dreams and self-deceit. Okinwe Orbinson is recruited from his artificial city world--part of a moribund space civilisation--his mission is to save a rumoured hybrid-human race, Talkers, from self-extinction. Talkers are telepathic, and individual suicides among the Talkers are becoming epidemic. Left on one of their planets Okinwe is witness to 3 suicides in quick succession. Suspicious of all around him, doubting himself, not knowing if his thoughts are his own, he becomes friends with a Talker woman, worries for her safety and falls in love with her daughter. Their love affair is not easy. Nor is the solution to the suicides.




The Unmaking of Heaven


Book Description

In this the fifth and final book of the series all the characters are post-organic beings, minds become machines, calling themselves Synths or Eternals. Some Synths - led by the Shining Knight - decide that all Synths, including Sexthetes and Puzzlers, are Abominations, themselves included, and they set out to destroy them all. The survivors are those who hid. As initially did the Shining Knight.




towards the unMaking of Heaven, Happiness: a Planet


Book Description

towards the unMaking of Heaven, Happiness: A Planet, is the second novel in a series of five. All five novels can be read and understood independently of the others. Where the first book was about 3 young men being marooned on the planet Balant, this installment is about a planet that finds its moon has gone missing. This story is told in the third person from the viewpoint of its many different characters. At the same time that the moon disappeared all radio communication to and from that planet was blocked. Within Space only farmers and cranks live on planets. An unseen force destroys any craft that tries to leave the planet, except the one Space police ship. During the investigation into the missing moon, and its consequences, the principal one of which is the building of a road though mountainous terrain for the convenience of Nautili, there are 2 love affairs and many considerations upon the nature of government and society.




An Introduction to the Study of Sexuality


Book Description

This book examines some of the ways in which sexuality has been described and interpreted in the West. The main models examined are: the Christian view of sex as sinful; the psychoanalytical model, including such notions as the sexual drive, infantile sexuality, the Oedipus complex, and the distinction between male and female sexuality; the 'social construction' model, which proposes that 'sexuality' is a modern concept; and the links between sexuality and spirituality. There is also some consideration of feminist and gay approaches to sexuality, and the complicated subject of male sexuality.




Florence and Baghdad


Book Description

In this lavishly illustrated study, Belting deals with the double history of perspective, as a visual theory based on geometrical abstraction (in the Middle East) and as pictorial theory (in Europe). Florence and Baghdad addresses a provocative question that reaches beyond the realm of aesthetics and mathematics: What happens when Muslims and Christians look upon each other and find their way of viewing the world transformed as a result?




Hope Lies in the Proles


Book Description

George Orwell was one of the most significant literary figures on the left in the twentieth century. While titles such as 1984, Animal Farm and Homage to Catalonia are still rightly regarded as modern classics, his own politics are less well understood.Hope Lies in the Proles offers a sympathetic yet critical account of Orwell's political thinking and its continued significance today. John Newsinger explores various aspects of Orwell's politics, detailing Orwell's attempts to change working-class consciousness, considering whether his attitude towards the working class was romantic, realistic or patronising - or all three at different times. He also asks whether Orwell's anti-fascism was eclipsed by his criticism of the Soviet Union, and explores his ambivalent relationship with the Labour Party. Newsinger also breaks important new ground regarding Orwell's shifting views on the USA, and his relationship with the New Left and feminism.Focusing on the enduring interest in Orwell and his influence on current political causes, the book is ultimately a unique, nuanced attempt to demonstrate that Orwell remained a committed socialist up until his death.







Mick


Book Description

“He’s a smart little mother******,I’ll give him that.” —KEITH RICHARDS on MICK JAGGER IS he Jumpin’ Jack Flash? A Street Fighting Man? A Man of Wealth and Taste? All this, it turns out, and far more. By any definition, Mick Jagger is a force of nature, a complete original—and undeniably one of the dominant cultural figures of our time. Swaggering, strutting, sometimes elusive, always spellbinding, he grabbed us by our collective throat a half-century ago and—unlike so many of his gifted peers—never let go. For decades, Mick has jealously guarded his many shocking secrets—until now. As the Rolling Stones mark their 50th anniversary, journalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Christopher Andersen tears the mask from rock’s most complex and enigmatic icon in a no-holds-barred biography as impossible to ignore as Jagger himself. Based on interviews with friends, family members, fellow music legends, and industry insiders—as well as wives and legions of lovers—MICK sheds new light on a man whose very name defines an era and candidly reveals: —New details about Jagger’s jaw-dropping sexual exploits with more than four thousand women (including Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Uma Thurman, and France’s First Lady Carla Bruni)—as well as his encounters with several of rock’s biggest male stars. Also, the day Mick’s wife Jerry Hall and Keith Richards pleaded with Jagger to seek treatment for sex addiction. —The backstage drama surrounding Mick’s knighthood, and Jagger’s little-known ties to Britain’s Royal Family, including Prince William and Kate Middleton. —What he really thinks of today’s superstars—including Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, and Justin Bieber. —Never-before-revealed, behind-the-scenes accounts of his often turbulent relationships—from his band-mates, ravenous groupies, and rabid fans to such intimates as Andy Warhol, John Lennon, Jackie Onassis, Bill Clinton, and others. —Cocaine, LSD, hashish, and speed—the flabbergasting truth about the extent of Jagger’s substance abuse, and how long it really went on. —A rare glimpse into Mick’s business dealings and the killer instinct that has enabled him to amass a personal fortune well in excess of $400 million. —The stormy “marriage” between Mick and Keith that nearly ran aground over Keith’s searing comments—and all the scandal, mayhem, excess, madness, and genius that went into making the Rolling Stones “the world’s greatest rock-and-roll band.” Like its subject, this book is explosive and riveting—the definitive biography of a living legend who has kept us thrilled, confounded, and astounded. THIS IS MICK.