THE RING'S THE THING ... Thing was a young girl who hid beneath a mask. Her companions included a crow, a toad, a goldfish, and a kitten. Never had a more unlikely band of unheroic heroes set off on a difficult and dangerous quest. But Thing had a ring with unusual powers. . . . Summer was an orphan who only wanted to find a husband and settle down. But first she had to help out a blind knight with amnesia and a winged pig. But how to get those two, as well as a raggle-tail assortment of other creatures in distress, to the far-distant place where they belonged Summer owned almost nothing¾except a certain magic ring. ... Summer was cast adrift in London by the untimely death of her parents. Then an uncle left her a legacy that would lift her up from poverty¾if she took a dragon's egg into uncharted Asia. The task was daunting and time was short, but her late uncle had also left her a very remarkable ring. ... Three very unusual heroines in widely separated eras, each wearing for a time a ring made from a unicorn's horn, a ring with extraordinary powers. . . . At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). "People who think they hate fantasies are going to like this one." ¾USA Today "Endearing characters. . . . Brown's incredible journey is a find." ¾Publishers Weekly "Compelling ... a rare treat for fantasy lovers." ¾Library Journal "Don't miss this brilliantly conceived, superbly crafted, and eminently beguiling fantasy foray." ¾Romantic Times

Weird fiction with a darkly sensual twist. BLACK PROPAGANDA delves deep into the dark, twisted roots of human nature and human sexuality. Using desire to dissect the delusions and dilemmas of will, choice and identity, this collection challenges genre boundaries and social conventions. Transgressive, confrontational, passionate, poignant, these sinister stories touch on every shade of black, from noir to the Lovecraftian cosmic abyss. Readers may be horrified, touched, tempted - never unmoved. This is the first short story collection from noted British poet and weird fiction writer Paul StJohn Mackintosh. Few British writers have dared trace the borderlines between lust, insanity and terror so graphically since Clive Barker and J.G. Ballard.

Within the pages of Practical Ruby for System Administration, you'll learn the Ruby way to construct files, tap into clouds of data, build domain-specific languages, perform network traffic analysis, and more. Coverage places equal emphasis on fundamental Ruby concepts as well as practical how-tos. Based on author André Ben Hamou's own experiences working as a system administrator, this book will help you pick up practical tips on Ruby coding style, learn how to analyze and improve script performance, and make use of no-nonsense advice on scripting workflow, including testing, documentation, and version control.

So much theology is confusing and intimidating. The concepts themselves are given weighty-sounding names, such as incarnation and justification, and the explanations of the concepts sometimes can be more confusing than the names. Ê Captivating, entertaining, and highly informative,ÊCrazy TalkÊhelps readers navigate their way through that complexity and offers a vocabulary that dares (and equips!) its readers to embrace their own faith in a new, well-informed way. Ê The purpose ofÊCrazy Talk,Êsays editor Rolf A. Jacobson, is to render the heart of our Christian theology in a form that is accessible and appealing to everyone. The format of the book is similar to that of a dictionary of theological terms, but with a twist of humor! Each entry includes the name of the theological term, an ironic definition of the term, and a short humorous essay offering a fuller explanation of the term. In making the term understandable, Jacobson concentrates on the big theological issue that is at stake in the term and why it matters. Ê This revised and expanded edition includes new and expanded entries and all new images.

In this sequel to Pigs Don't Fly, Summer faces seemingly insurmountable odds and an even more arduous journey to be with the only man/dragon for her--even if she has to disguise herself as a young boy, escape an ambushed caravan, figure out to do with a 10-year-old and a dancing bear she accidentally acquired, plus convince her lover's fellow dragons that their relationship is perfectly natural.

McCale Gylfisen is a normal high school kid; getting ready to go to college, dating the girl next door, and fighting with his sisters. Like two of his cousins, Anders Thorsen and Peter Ericksen, he joins the military to pay for school. One of the three, using the assumed name Kristoffer Dragonne, joins a special inter-branch military unit that specializes in taking down terrorist groups. Another cousin of the three boys, Kathe Krieg, is a ruthless drug dealer and a terrorist. An expert at deception and disguise in her own right, she perceives Kristoffer as a threat to her and her family's line of business. She makes it her mission to track down Kristoffer's real identity and take him down. In a series of events that spans several years, three continents, and a family legend, Kristoffer Dragonne uses both his military skills and personal knowledge to fend off an international threat that is as close as his own blood.