The Usurper's Crown


Book Description

Ingrid Lotfield was a good woman, doing right by her parents, protecting her sensitive sister, and reliably completing her fair share of the chores necessary for life in their fishing village in 1872, on the cold shore of Lake Superior. Then Avan came. He said he was Norwegian, as many of the fisherman were. He was different—kind and quiet and strong—and one day he somehow miraculously helped to save her sister form a terrible fate in a watery grave. She knew Avan was from a far land, knew he loved her. They would be married, have children . . . be fisherfolk as had generations before them. But before they could wed, he was called back to the land of his birth, a land beyond the shore of Superior, beyond Earth, a magical land where he was more than a fisherman. He had to go. He wouldn’t see her hurt, and there were untold forces in his homeland, Isavalta, that could harm her beyond her wildest imaginings. But her love was too strong for him to resist. She would go with him, no matter the risks. So brave, so dear. Together they would face danger and excitement: to save an empire and its empress, and find their own fate, no matter what peril, mo matter how strange.




The Usurper


Book Description

Kedryn, the young prince prophesied the sacred Book of Kyrie, has led the Three Kingdoms to victory over the barbaric northern Hordes commanded by the demonic Taws, the fire-born Messenger of the war-god Ashar. But victory had a terrible price. Kedryn was blinded by an ensorcelled sword in his hour of triumph. Now he must journey into the abode of the dead, accompanied by his beloved Wynett, on a perilous quest to confront the shade of the warrior who wielded the blade. In Kendryn's absence, Taws the Messenger rises again, using his terrible magic to foment bloodshed and rebellion among the Kingdoms. A vivid and exciting tale of courage, adventure, and dark magic by an exciting new fantasy talent, The Usurper is the second spellbinding novel in The Books of the Kingdoms.




Oh My Gods


Book Description

The author, a professor of classics and visiting scholar at the Harvard Divinity school presents modern interpretations of traditional Greek and Roman myths that render classic themes accessible to a new generation of readers. Here he retells some of the most popular myths and tales of errant gods, fantastic creatures, and human heroes, including powerful Zeus, his wife Hera, Apollo, beautiful Aphrodite, fierce Athena, the dauntless heroes Theseus and Hercules, the doomed lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, as well as the tales of the Argonauts, and the narrative of the Battle of Troy. These Greek and Roman myths are as relevant today as ever in their sharp observations about human nature; they still inspire awe, give us courage, and break our hearts. They have inspired plays, operas, and paintings, and live on today in movies and video games. -- From back cover.




The Golden Bough: The Dying God. The Mortality of the Gods The Killing of the Divine King


Book Description

Frazer's series which attempted to define the shared elements of religious belief and scientific thought, discussing fertility rites, human sacrifice, the dying god, the scapegoat, and many other symbols and practices whose influences had extended into 20th-century culture. His thesis is that old religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship and periodic sacrifice of a sacred king. Frazer proposed that mankind progresses from magic through religious belief to scientific thought.










Sermons


Book Description







Between Woman, Man and God


Book Description

According to the demands of the Decalogue, manhood entails the avoidance of stealing, killing, and coveting, not to mention apostasy and violation of the Sabbath and other men's property. What, then, would be the essence of womanhood, if different? By selecting female characters' narratives as interpretative clues for the "law," this book presents a legal, behavioral, and representational reading of the Decalogue. Beginning with an analysis of the legal contents of each Commandment through allied legal texts which relate to women and to the feminine, each chapter continues with an investigation of the ways in which the activities of the female and male protagonists of select narratives elucidate the range of Commandments.