Tyrannia: Schools of Magic


Book Description

This is the story of three wizards from different regions and backgrounds who are all starting their first year at the famour Sigor Narak University of magic. This school is the only magical institution to allow wizards from different sects to study under the same roof. There is tension and animosity between the various orders but not all are so hostile. The three wizards are all outcast some by choice and some by circumstance, however together they feel like they are finally where they belong. The world of magic erupts as war breaks out between the factions and as the fighting intensifies the three students must realise their potential in order to survive and protect the ones they love. The book is a fantasy book heavily based around the world of magic. It inspired from a very odd dream but also my general love for the fantasy genre.




The School Revolution


Book Description

Twelve-term Texas Congressman, Presidential candidate, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Ron Paul returns with a highly provocative treatise about how we need to fundamentally change the way we think about America's broken education system in order to fix it. Whether or not you have children, you know that education is vital to the prosperity and future of our society. Yet our current system simply doesn't work. Parents feel increasingly powerless, and nearly half of Americans give our schools a grade of "C". Now, in his new book, Ron Paul attacks the problem head-on and provides a focused solution that centers on strong support for home schooling and the application of free market principles to the American education system. Examining the history of education in this country, Dr. Paul identifies where we've gone wrong, what we can do about it, and how we can change the way we think about education in order to provide a brighter future for Americans.




Furies of Calderon


Book Description

In this extraordinary fantasy epic, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files leads readers into a world where the fate of the realm rests on the shoulders of a boy with no power to call his own... For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bond with the furies—elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal. But in the remote Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. Yet as the Alerans’ most savage enemy—the Marat horde—return to the Valley, Tavi’s courage and resourcefulness will be a power greater than any fury, one that could turn the tides of war...




Bambert's Book of Missing Stories


Book Description

ONE DAY, MR. Bambert, a sweet but shy man, decides to send 11 stories out into the world. He attaches them to little hot-air balloons and lets them go on windy nights with a letter asking that whoever finds them send them back. Wherever the stories are returned from is where they will be set. The 11th story is blank—Bambert hopes it will write itself. Slowly the stories come back, with postmarks from all over the world, including one from the past. All that’s left is the last one, the one that has to write itself. . . . In this magical little story with a twist, the power of kindness, stories, and hope is woven together to create a soul-warming, poignant tale that readers will want to read again and again. Praise for Dreaming in Black and White: “A short, quiet, yet memorable, novel that challenges its audience with questions worth asking.”—Booklist




Dragon's Milk


Book Description

"You must go to the dragon. You must leave tonight." Before she even hears the words, Kaeldra already knows what she must do. She must search out the mother dragon whose draclings have just hatched and somehow get some of her precious milk. It's the only way to save her foster-sister's life. Kaeldra would rather not go. It's much too terriffying, much too dangerous. But Kaeldra knows that she's the only one who can do it. For she is the only one who can actually communicate with dragons. But little does Kaeldra know what she's getting into. She's about to begin a journey that will entwine her fate with that of three little draclings and one would-be dragonslayer. A journey the will become a struggle for life.




The Formation and Transmission of Western Legal Culture


Book Description

This volume surveys 150 law books of fundamental importance in the history of Western legal literature and culture. The entries are organized in three sections: the first dealing with the transitional period of fifteenth-century editions of medieval authorities, the second spanning the early modern period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, and the third focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The contributors are scholars from all over the world. Each ‘old book’ is analyzed by a recognized specialist in the specific field of interest. Individual entries give a short biography of the author and discuss the significance of the works in the time and setting of their publication, and in their broader influence on the development of law worldwide. Introductory essays explore the development of Western legal traditions, especially the influence of the English common law, and of Roman and canon law on legal writers, and the borrowings and interaction between them. The book goes beyond the study of institutions and traditions of individual countries to chart a broader perspective on the transmission of legal concepts across legal, political, and geographical boundaries. Examining the branches of this genealogical tree of books makes clear their pervasive influence on modern legal systems, including attempts at rationalizing custom or creating new hybrid systems by transplanting Western legal concepts into other jurisdictions.




Emma Tupper's Diary


Book Description

Emma is spending the summer with her Scottish cousins—who are wonderful material for her attempt to win the School Prize for most interesting holiday diary. The cousins, lofty Andy, reserved Fiona, and fierce Roddy, are experimenting with their grandfather's dilapidated old mini-submarine to see if they can find a monster in the family loch. Emma Tupper's Diary is a sometimes terrifying, sometimes broadly hilarious adventure novel in the spirit of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and I Capture the Castle. Praise for Emma Tupper's Diary: "Fish out of water Emma must spend the summer in Scotland with cousins she’s never met. They’re somewhat older and get along fine with minimal adult supervision. Even when they plot to take an old submarine out on the nearby loch for a spin, adding a Nessy-like monster head to the top for fun, there’s no one around to urge caution. It’s the sort of family where everyone is whip-smart, conversations are fast and fascinating, and statements of fact are rarely truthful. All of which makes for one extremely suspenseful and surprisingly thought-provoking adventure."—Gwenyth Swain (author of Chig and the Second Spread) "One of my favorite childhood books. . . . Its themes and plot have come around again, and a smart production company should scoop it up for a film adaptation."—Atomic Librarian "An enthralling book, with fascinating characters, told with humor and wit, and with a story that just might, barely, be possible."—Book Loons "Comedy of manners? Ecological allegory? Adventure? Farce?"—Kirkus Reviews Praise for Peter Dickinson's children's books: "One of the real masters of children's literature."—Philip Pullman "Peter Dickinson is a national treasure."—The Guardian "Magnificent. Peter Dickinson is the past-master story-teller of our day."—The Times Literary Supplement Peter Dickinson is the author of over fifty books including Eva, Earth and Air, The Dancing Bear, and the Michael L. Printz honor book The Ropemaker. He has twice received the Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger as well as the Guardian Award and Whitbread Prize. He lives in England and is married to the novelist Robin McKinley.




Hermenegildo and the Jesuits


Book Description

This book explores the cultural conditions that led to the emergence and proliferation of Saint Hermenegildo as a stage character in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It considers how this saint became a theatrical trope enabling the Society of Jesus to address religious and secular concerns of the post-Tridentine Church, and to discuss political issues such as the supremacy of the pope over the monarch and the legitimacy of regicide. The book goes on to explain how the Hermenegildo narrative developed outside of Jesuit colleges, through works by professional dramatist Lope de Vega and Mexican nun Juana Inés de la Cruz. Stefano Muneroni takes a global approach to the staging of Hermenegildo, tracing the character’s journey from Europe to the Americas, from male to female authors, and from a sacrificial to a sacramental paradigm where the emphasis shifts from bloodletting to spiritual salvation. Given its interdisciplinary approach, this book is geared toward scholars and students of theatre history, religion and drama, early modern theology, cultural studies, romance languages and literature, and the history of the Society of Jesus..




Totalitarianism and Political Religions, Volume 1


Book Description

We are used to distinguishing the despotic regimes of the 20th century - communism, fascism, National Socialism, Maoism - very precisely according to place and time, origins and influences. But what should we call that which they have in common? On this question, there has been and is still a passionate debate. This book documents the first international conference on this theme, a conference that took place in September of 1994 at the University of Munich. The book shows how new models for understanding political history arose from the experience of modern despotic regimes. Here, the most important concepts - totalitarianism and political religions - are discussed and tested in terms of their usefulness.




Lemography


Book Description

'Lemography' is a unique collection of critical essays on Stanislaw Lem, writer and philosopher hailed on more than one occasion as a literary Einstein. Its aim is to introduce aspects of his work hitherto unknown or neglected by scholarship and evaluate his influence on twentieth-century literature and culture - and beyond.




Recent Books