Rule 68: Don’t accept a jewelled egg from a Rhombian. Certainly not when you’re already trying to hock illicit goods … though are they really illicit if you found them on a long, lost treasure ship that you uncovered for a greedy gangster and calculating noble? Having found the Celeste and escaped both death and imprisonment, the crew of the cargo ship Lyra just wants to get back to hauling bugs for unscrupulous harvesters so they can earn enough for food and fuel. Unfortunately, the crew is missing one of its members. Navigator Ishmael Damath is in the hands of gangster Ludovicus Visi after sacrificing himself for the safety of the others. Said gangster has given him the impossible task of translating an ancient book written in a long-dead language. If Ish doesn’t translate it, he’ll be thrown to the tigers … too bad he didn’t pay more attention in school. The crew suspects Ish didn’t go with the gangster entirely willingly. They plan to rescue him … but that’s hard to do when they have no money and no idea where he is. Captain Rebeka Mino is no closer to her plan to retire to a quiet planet where she can drink whiskey and read romance novels all day. Especially since her estranged daughter, Juniper, seems to be mixed up with the Celeste. Alek finds himself facing a return to a planet he recently escaped from and had hoped never to see again … and he’s still in debt to those who helped him escape. And to launch any sort of rescue, daring or otherwise, Tink is faced with the daunting choice: her home or her family. Can they rescue Ish from the gangster’s clutches? Can they survive the sands of Thraxa? And, most importantly, can they deal with an angry Grim? Find out now as the adventures of the Lyra and her crew continue!

These are the collected stories of People of the Tribes, People of the Nations, settlers and those Texians, who were defenders at the Alamo. They speak of how all paths converge. The footsteps of the hesitant meet those of the brave and any day is but a moment- when a person is faced with making a stand. These stories show what led to the battle of the Alamo; and they are written in the manner in which they were told- to be read like campfire stories when the shadows of the day blend into the darkness of night. It is here where Spirits live and travelers seek their destiny.

One of the secrets of the immense power exercised by the novels of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez is that they are literary projections of his dynamic personality. Not only the style, but the book, is here the man. This is especially true of those of his works in which the thesis element predominates, and in which the famous author of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appears as a novelist of ideas-in-action. It is, of course, possible to divide his works into the "manners" or "periods" so dear to the literary cataloguers, and it may thus be indicated that there are such fairly distinct genres as the regional novel, the sociological tale and the psychological study; a convenient classification of this sort would place among the regional novels such masterpieces as La Barraca and Cañas y Barro,—among the novels of purpose such powerful writings as La Catedral, La Bodega and Sangre y Arena,—among the psychological studies the introspective La Maja Desnuda. The war novels, including The Four Horsemen and the epic Mare Nostrum, would seem to form another group. Such non-literary diversions as grouping and regrouping, however, had perhaps best be left to those who relish the task. It is for the present more important to note that the passionate flame of a deeply human purpose welds the man's literary labors into a larger unity. His pen, as his person, has been given over to humanity. He is as fearless in his denunciation of evil as he is powerful in his description of it; he has lived his ideas as well as fashioned them into enduring documents; he reveals not only a new Spain, but a new world. While Blasco Ibáñez does not desire to be known as regional novelist—nor does a complete view of his numerous works justify such a narrow description—he[Pg vi] has nevertheless in his earlier books made such effective and artistic use of regional backgrounds that some critics have found this part of his production best.

A story of heroism, friendship, and courage in World War 2—as seen in the award-winning HBO miniseries The Pacific. In 1944, the U.S. Marines were building the 5th Marine Division—also known as “The Spearhead”—in preparation for the invasion of the small, Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima... When Chuck Tatum began Marine boot camp, he was just a smart-aleck teenager eager to serve his country. Little did he know that he would be training under a living legend of the Corps—Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone, who had almost single-handedly fought off a Japanese force of three thousand on Guadalcanal. It was from Basilone and other sergeants that Tatum would learn how to fight like a Marine and act like a man—skills he would need when he hit the black sand of Iwo Jima with thirty thousand other Marines. Red Blood, Black Sand is the story of Chuck’s two weeks in hell, where he would watch his hero, Basilone, fall, where the enemy stalked the night, where snipers haunted the day, and where Chuck would see his friends whittled away in an eardrum-shattering, earth-shaking, meat grinder of a battle. This is the island, the heroes, and the tragedy of Iwo Jima—through the eyes of one who survived it.

The Broken Kingdoms have all but forgotten the existence of magic after a century of warfare and intrigue. Into this chaos an ancient evil – the stuff of legendary nightmares – emerges from the mists of time. The kingdoms as they now stand, shorn of their past glories, cannot stand against this onslaught. The time of legends may be past, but when wizards and heroes are nowhere to be found, perhaps two wounded, flawed people can make the difference.

Intriguing Book of Poetry Published by a Brain Injury Survivor Gray Matters, Brain Injury: The Inside Perspective is a book filled with poetic insights of a woman who lived through a near-fatal brain injury. Her intimate knowledge and sense of humor can help survivors cope, as well as better understand their injuries and themselves. This book gives a personal sense or Inside Perspective of brain injury, thus enabling readers to better understand brain injury survivors. Brain injury occurs around the world in a variety of circumstances; in sports events, motor-vehicle accidents, terrorist attacks & war (and the list goes on)... According to the International Brain Injury Association, head injury is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Thirty percent of the soldiers that have returned from Iraq and are returning from Afghanistan have Traumatic Brain Injuries; more than two percent of the United States' population has sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury. Even with brain injury being so widespread, it is still hard to identify people living with the complications of this “invisible disability.” Ms. Lerner knows that the lack of awareness regarding brain injury makes survivors’ lives quite problematic. Writing Gray Matters was aimed at easing the integration of survivors back into the community. With a creative flair, she informs her readers about brain injury; she strikes a chord by sharing personal changes, loss and challenges, thus giving readers a sense of what it is like to walk in the shoes of a brain injury survivor. The chapters of the book cover topics including: brain injury, the symptoms of injury, rehabilitation, the brain, academic rehab, recreational therapy (including nature & the ocean's healing influence) and brain injury peer support. This book will considerably help brain injury survivors to better understand their injury and themselves, it will also aid them by being better understood by others. Gray Matters has helped family members and friends to better understand their loved ones. This book can also be a great asset to rehab professionals, by giving them a more intimate understanding of the dilemmas of a brain injury; for only when you know what an individual’s problem is, can you treat it. Gray Matters offers an articulate, introspective and sometimes humorous view of what it is like to suffer a near-fatal blow to the head and live with its complications. The author presents a thorough, subjective viewpoint as well as a professional and objective understanding of brain injury. Gray Matters presents a deeper understanding of the inner-workings of the mind and how in many ways, brain injury effects life as we know it.