The truth is, when you banish the gods from the world, they eventually come back—with a vengeance. In the near future, Justin March lives in exile from the Republic of United North America. After failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims, Justin is surprised when he is sent back with a peculiar assignment—to solve a string of ritualistic murders steeped in seemingly unexplainable phenomena. Justin’s return comes with an even bigger shock: His new partner and bodyguard, Mae Koskinen, is a prætorian, one of the Republic’s technologically enhanced supersoldiers. Mae’s inexplicable beauty and aristocratic upbringing attract Justin’s curiosity and desire, but her true nature holds more danger than anyone realizes. As their investigation unfolds, Justin and Mae find themselves in the crosshairs of mysterious enemies. Powers greater than they can imagine have started to assemble in the shadows, preparing to reclaim a world that has renounced religion and where humans are merely gamepieces on their board.

the final book of this fabulous trilogy from the bestselling author of the Magicians' Guild.As protector of the Siyee, Auraya goes to investigate when a landwalker stranger is seen in Siyee lands and meets a mysterious woman claiming to be a friend of Mirar's, the founder of the Dreamwalkers. Auraya's growing respect for this woman puts her on a path of direct conflict with the gods. the Pentadrians, frustrated by their defeat at the hands of the Circlians, plot and scheme to bring down their enemies by means other than direct conflict. the White send the Siyee into Southern Ithania to assist in fighting the Pentadrians and the gods allow Auraya to accompany them ... under certain conditions.In the south, Mirar enjoys acceptance and respect as he reclaims his place among his people. But that freedom will come at a cost.

Over the past fifty years, the vacuum created by the retreat from Biblical Christianity has been swiftly filled by naturalism, relativism, subjectivism, and cultic religions. Dr. Carl Henry's call for evangelistic engagement and cultural participation strikes a note that offers fresh hope in a time of intense spiritual challenge. From the founding editor of Christianity Today.

Pursued by the inhuman Tangata, Lukys flees on foot through the wilderness. He and his companions make for the ocean, a stolen ship their only hope-but even that may prove fleeting. For should they reach the island of Perfugia, a war is brewing between the kingdoms of humanity. Lukys fears he will find only more death on the shores of their homeland. But they have nowhere else left to go. Meanwhile, the Queen's Archivist might hold the key to peace. Standing before the City of the Gods, Erika has dreamed of this moment her entire life-so why does she feel such dread? The City is nothing like she imagined, plain stone buildings in place of soaring towers. And the Gods have sworn against interference in the struggles of lesser beings. She must make them see the truth, convince them to abandon their ancient laws, or humanity will fall. And the Tangata will rule, ascendant.

The early twenty-first century has seen an explosion of animation. Cartoon characters are everywhere—in cinema, television, and video games and as brand logos. There are new technological objects that seem to have lives of their own—from Facebook algorithms that suggest products for us to buy to robots that respond to human facial expressions. The ubiquity of animation is not a trivial side-effect of the development of digital technologies and the globalization of media markets. Rather, it points to a paradigm shift. In the last century, performance became a key term in academic and popular discourse: The idea that we construct identities through our gestures and speech proved extremely useful for thinking about many aspects of social life. The present volume proposes an anthropological concept of animation as a contrast and complement to performance: The idea that we construct social others by projecting parts of ourselves out into the world might prove useful for thinking about such topics as climate crisis, corporate branding, and social media. Like performance, animation can serve as a platform for comparisons of different cultures and historical eras. Teri Silvio presents an anthropology of animation through a detailed ethnographic account of how characters, objects, and abstract concepts are invested with lives, personalities, and powers—and how people interact with them—in contemporary Taiwan. The practices analyzed include the worship of wooden statues of Buddhist and Daoist deities and the recent craze for cute vinyl versions of these deities, as well as a wildly popular video fantasy series performed by puppets. She reveals that animation is, like performance, a concept that works differently in different contexts, and that animation practices are deeply informed by local traditions of thinking about the relationships between body and soul, spiritual power and the material world. The case of Taiwan, where Chinese traditions merge with Japanese and American popular culture, uncovers alternatives to seeing animation as either an expression of animism or as “playing God.” Looking at the contemporary world through the lens of animation will help us rethink relationships between global and local, identity and otherness, human and non-human.

Explains "the nature of sacrifice in antiquity" and "different aspects of the subject: the notion of flesh for the gods; rites of fire and blood; the significance of defleshing heads and of skulls; suffocation ... ; the selection of victims and the evidence for the sacrifice of children." Author "puts forward some reasons for ritual murder and shows how" certain practices "illustrate the importance of place in the sacrificial rite" and "highlights the essential role of the priesthood in sacrificial murder."--Jacket.

Gods and Heroes is the first volume of the Itan—Legends of the Golden Age trilogy about the thousand-year story of the Yoruba people. It starts with the establishment of Ile-Ife by Oduduwa and the great sacrifice of the heroine Moremi. The ancient gods of Yorubaland, Obatala, Orunmila, Ogun, and Olokun all play their part, as well as the great heroes and heroines of antiquity—Oranmiyan, Sango, Oya, Oba Esigie of Benin, and Obanta of Ijebuland. The author uses the genre of the historical novel in a refreshing and imaginative fashion to present the whole tableau of Yoruba history. The result is a vast and rich panorama enlivened with traditional myths and legends seen through the eyes of a single Yoruba family and the Old Woman, the fabled storyteller.