When Paul Keppel learns that his fanatical, fire-and-brimstone-preaching grandfather is dying from brain cancer, he sees his own chronic headaches as a sign from above that he too has a very short time to live. Driven by pain, a nightmare about work boots, and a sense of impending doom, Paul soon finds himself losing control over his words and actions, to disastrous and comical effect. In order to save his marriage, avenge his sister, and preserve his sanity, he must face the memory of the summer when he was twenty-one, when a tragic steel plant accident sent his life spinning off course. But in the process, Paul begins to suspect that the history he has written in his head may not be as accurate as he once believed.

The advent of the Enlightenment ignited many changes in the philosophical landscape of both the young American republic and its European counterparts.

Judea, 66 AD. A Roman legion suffers a smashing and catastrophic defeat at the hands of an angry band of Hebrews armed with only slings and spears. Knowing Emperor Nero's revenge will be swift and merciless, they must decide how to defend their land against the Roman invasion. Caught up in the tumult is the mason Judah, inadvertent hero of Beth Horon, who now finds himself rubbing shoulders with priests, revolutionaries, generals, and nobles, drafted to help defend the land of Galilee. Denied the chance to marry where he will, he turns all his energy into defending the beseiged city of Jotapata. But with a general suffering delusions of grandeur, friends falling each day, and the Roman menace at the walls, Judah must brave a nightmare to save those he loves and preserve his honor. First book of the Colossus series.

"A Pioneering work on the emergence, development, and current status of a vital but long overlooked tradtition. Enlightening and engaging." --Scott Barretta, musci historian and former editor of Living Blues magazine.

In Stone and Steel, when General Aaliyah returns triumphant to the city of Titus, she expects to find the people prospering under the rule of her Queen, the stone mage Odessa. Instead, she finds a troubling imbalance in both the citizens' wellbeing and Odessa's rule. Aaliyah must rely on all of her allies, old and new, to do right by the city that made her.

Demonstrates the way in which the discovery, application, and adaptation of materials has shaped the course of human history and the routines of our daily existence.