The tale of Magic Casement begins gently, even slowly, with Inosolan enjoying an idyllic childhood in a tiny backwater kingdom, too carefree and innocent even to understand that the feelings she shares with her friend Rap are more than friendship. Mystery, menace, and the gods appear in short order, and from then on the story grows in scope and power to straddle the world, and adversity thrusts rapid maturity on Rap and Inos. Populated by unforgettable characters—Aunt Kade, Little Chicken, Doctor Sagorn, and many more—Pandemia is an incredible world of credible people and infinite surprises.

All three books are written with an enduring view of the dark corners of the American psyche. Cain hammered high art out of the crude matter of betrayal, bloodshed, and perversity.

Finders Keepers is the first book in the delightful Mill Brook trilogy—a classic romance from New York Times bestseller Carla Neggers, author of Secrets of the Lost Summer, The Widow, Cold Ridge and the acclaimed Sharpe and Donovan suspense series. Professional storyteller Holly Paynter sneaks into tiny Mill Brook, Vermont, in search of a pair of Paul Revere silver goblets, a long-missing family heirloom. Only good-looking, hard-headed Julian Stiles, proprietor of Mill Brook Post and Beam, has other ideas...and not just about the goblets. "It's simply wonderful." RT Books Review on That Night on Thistle Lane Also in the Mill Brook Trilogy Within Reason #2 That Stubborn Yankee #3

Audrey Dane rents a quiet cottage to write her biography of the Hollywood star, Rosalie Hart. But the portrait and diaries given her by the actress are stolen—along with Audrey’s typewriter and manuscript. Audrey is suspicious of the handsome college professor who has taken the cottage next door—and whose income appears to far exceed that of his profession. Contemporary Romantic Suspense by Joan Smith; originally published by Jove

This funky, rude, unpretentious first novel traces the short, funny, and furious career of a group of working-class Irish kids who form a band, The Commitments. Their mission: to bring soul to Dublin!

The crew of the Desiree was unprepared. The Simiu were unexpected... Earth's first contact with an alien race turns to disaster when a friendly encounter erupts into inexplicable violence and the threat of interstellar war. But two ordinary individuals--Mahree Burroughs, an ordinary woman with a gift for friendship, and Dhurrrkk', a male Simiu with boundless curiosity--have forged a bond of understanding that bridges their many differences. Along with a reluctant Robert Gable, brilliant young ship's physician, they make an astounding journey across the stars, to seek a way to save the future of both species!Review"This the type of rousing adventure story which Heinlein made so popular a generation ago... excellent!" -- Andre Norton"With its touches of Humor and intriguing set of characters, the action-packed plot races along!" -- LocusAbout the AuthorA. C. Crispin is the bestselling author of Sarek and Yesterday's Son. She has written six books in the StarBridge series. Crispin's other books include V and Time for Yesterday. She may be reached via email at: A.CRISPIN@GENIE.COM.

From before the days of Moses up through the 1960s, slavery was a fact of life in the Middle East. Pagans, Jews, Christians, and Muslims bought and sold at the slave markets for millennia, trading the human plunder of wars and slave raids that reached from the Russian steppes to the African jungles. But if the Middle East was one of the last regions to renounce slavery, how do we account for its--and especially Islam's--image of racial harmony? How did these long years of slavery affect racial relations? In Race and Slavery in the Middle East, Bernard Lewis explores these questions and others, examining the history of slavery in law, social thought, and practice over the last two millennia. With 24 rare and intriguing full-color illustrations, this fascinating study describes the Middle East's culture of slavery and the evolution of racial prejudice. Lewis demonstrates how nineteenth century Europeans mythologized the region as a racial utopia in debating American slavery. Islam, in fact, clearly teaches non-discrimination, but Lewis shows that prejudice often won out over pious sentiments, as he examines how Africans were treated, depicted, and thought of from antiquity to the twentieth century. "If my color were pink, women would love me/But the Lord has marred me with blackness," lamented a black slave poet in Arabia over a millennium ago--and Lewis deftly draws from these lines and others the nuances of racial relations over time. Islam, he finds, restricted enslavement and greatly improved the lot of slaves--who included, until the early twentieth century, some whites--while blacks occasionally rose to power and renown. But abuses ring throughout the written and visual record, from the horrors of capture to the castration and high mortality which, along with other causes, have left few blacks in many Middle Eastern lands, despite centuries of importing African slaves. Race and Slavery in the Middle East illuminates the legacy of slavery in the region where it lasted longest, from the days of warrior slaves and palace eunuchs and concubines to the final drive for abolition. Illustrated with outstanding reproductions of striking artwork, it casts a new light on this critical part of the world, and on the nature and interrelation of slavery and racial prejudice.Review"A realistic, well-documented study. Important illustrations and primary evidence now made accessible."--Irving R. Mix, Elmira College"An important book which explains the issue of slavery in the Middle East."--Robert A. Hess, Messiah College"An excellent and timely work on an important and rather neglected issue."--Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University"Splendid--should supplant all previous discussions."--Paul A. Rahe, University of Tulsa"A splendid discussion of a difficult subject."--Paul A. Rahe, University of Tulsa"Deceptively brief, delightfully easy to read, and beautifully illustrated."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History"...Bernard Lewis an exceptionally distinguished historian of the Middle Eastern world....authoritative addresses to reality like his will serve excellently instead, and they make him a matchless guide to the background of Middle East conflict today."--David Pryce-Jones, Commentary"...pioneering work."--David Warren Bowen, Magill's Literary Annual"Highly readable."--The New York Review of Books"This book will foster Bernard Lewis's reputation as the doyen of Middle Eastern studies."--The New York Times Book Review"Mr. Lewis's knowledge of Islamic history, literature, and jurisprudence is so detailed, expansive, and profoundly integrated that it is enough for him to merely refer to a period or an instance to be able to envision the entire context."--The Washington Times"His scholarship must be respected....He skillfully sets up and explicates the primary paradoxes of the Islamic view of slavery and of race....[A book] that surely should be read."--Journal of Social HistoryAbout the AuthorBernard Lewis is Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies Emeritus at Princeton University. He is the author of several books, including The Muslim Discovery of Europe, The Assassins, and The Political Language of Islam

Read this classic romance by New York Times bestselling author Penny Jordan, now available for the first time in e-book! Once bitten...Rue didn't need a man in her life. She didn't want one, either. The past had taught her only too well the chaos that love could bring. She was happy enough, building her small dried-flower business and learning to enjoy life on her own. Neil Saxton, however, seemed determined to break down all her defences. Neil made it clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer when he offered to buy her land.But somehow, Rue got the distinct feeling that it was more than her property he was after...Originally published in 1989

FREEDOM’S HAZARD In the nuclear-ravaged 21st century, liberty still thrives in free cities under the ground of a wasted America—until Pattonville, second largest of these bastions of freedom, is seized by the power-crazed General Hanover. Using a newly developed lethal gas, Hanover holds the city captive in a dark and brutal reign of terror. But word has reached the one man who can save democracy for America: Ted Rockson, the Doomsday Warrior. Together with his brave team of freedom fighters, Rockson races across the ruined landscape. Their destination is Pattonville, but before they can liberate the city, Rockson and his “Rock Team” must overcome the mad dictator’s ferocious guard force. Pitted in mortal combat against mighty men and vicious beasts alike, Rockson knows he must win—before Hanover captures every free city in the nation! DOOMSDAY WARRIOR

Tim Kendall is 23 - a shy loner working in a department store outside London. The two most significant relationships in his life involve a young autistic boy, and the sinister Harold, with whom Tim plays role-playing games.

Hugo Best Novella nominee (1990) Nebula Best Novella nominee (1990)

THE HUMANS ARE DEADBut their history survives. The inspiring saga of a race that dared the stars—and the darkness between. The Rift is the River Darkness between the arms of the galactic spiral, a standing wave of nothingness, a region filled only with visions and voices, innocent terror and mortal atrocity, sacrifice, tragedy, victims.. .and heroes.A teenager finds an intimate friend in the utter void.A space hermit reunites with the lost love of his youth—twice.Explorers cross impassable chasms of language, biology, and hallucination to prevent a new age of war.Adventures of passion and courage are the seeds of this epic of humanity's conquest of the galactic frontier. And the epic becomes a whisper, echoing down the rays of starlight, shimmering up through time....