Eleven-year-old Shahumin, who has just begun learning the wisdom of the elders, befriends an odd-looking youth whom she meets in the woods, not realizing he is an Other, one of the people not created by YAWH, and an enemy of her people.

The world has become a battleground in a war which no side is winning. But for those determined to retain power, the prolonged stalemate cannot be tolerated so desperate measures must be taken. Max Halloran has no idea. He's living the brief and glorious life of a hunter-killer pilot. He's an ace in the air, on his way up through the ranks, in love, and with his family's every need provided for in thanks for his service, Max has everything . . . . . . right up until he hears something he shouldn't have, and refuses to let it go. Suddenly he's risking his life and the lives of all those he cares about for a secret which could expose corruption at the highest levels, and change the course of the war. One man, one brief conversation . . . a whole world of trouble . . .

There is one True World, and then there are the four Mirror Worlds: Fire, Water, Air, and Stone. Audrey and Dorotea are “ otherselves”—twin copies of each other who live on different Mirror Worlds. On Air, Audrey has the ability to communicate with wind spirits. As war looms, she’s torn between loyalty to her country and her feelings for a roguish phantom who may be a dangerous spy. Blackouts and earthquakes threaten the few remaining humans on Stone, who have been forced to live underground. To save her injured sister, Dorotea breaks taboo and releases an imprisoned gargoyle. Brooding, sensitive Jasper makes her wonder if gargoyles are truly traitors, as she’s always been told. Unbeknownst to them, they both face the same enemy—an evil sorceress bent on shattering all the Mirror Worlds. The Otherselves series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Through Fire and Sea Book #2 Amid Wind and Stone Book #3 In Truth and Ashes

As one of the most widely accessible building materials available to man, natural stone has been in extensive use for many centuries. It is a significant component, andin places the only one, of man-made structures the world over, and its properties, applications, and behavior over long periods of time constitute a story that is almost unbelievably complex. Important elements of the story are described and interrelated in this volume. That the exposed parts of the earth's crust provide a considerable variety of rock types is evident to any thoughtful observer. To the geologist falls the task of characterizing and explaining this variety, but many other kinds of specialists who are involved in the commercial use of stone also have an essential stake in the matter. From quarryman to mason, from architect to structural engineer, and certainly from purchaser to future observer, there is compelling interest in the nature, appearance, and durability of one stone as compared with another, or of stone as compared with some other material. Small wonder, then, that much has been written on the subject, and that numerous aspects of commercial stone and its properlies have appealed to a host of investigators. Research in this area also has been an official concern of many organizations, which in the United States include the American Society for Testing and Materials, the National Bureau of Standards, the U. S. Bureau of Mines, the U. S. Geological Survey, and several state agencies.