A failed mage learns that just because he's not the chosen one it doesn't mean he can't be a hero in the fifth book of an adventure fantasy series from Sebastien de Castell. Kellen Argos is an outlaw spellslinger with a bad reputation, a long list of enemies, and zero luck. When he accidently smears blood on the Daroman flag, he's dragged before the queen to be executed for his act of treason. Face-to-face with the young monarch, Kellen is offered a chance to save himself. If he can defeat the queen at a game of cards, he'll walk free. . .if not, his life is forfeit. But what begins as a game reveals a conspiracy against the queen's life. And now, Kellen is not only playing for his own freedom, but also for the future of an empire. Spellslinger SeriesSpellslingerShadowblackCharmcasterSoulbinderQueenslayer For more from Sebastien de Castell, check out: The Greatcoats QuartetTraitor's BladeSaint's BloodKnight's ShadowTyrant's Throne span

A failed mage learns that just because he's not the chosen one it doesn't mean he can't be a hero in the fourth book of an exciting adventure fantasy series from Sebastien de Castell. For an outlaw spellslinger, the only way to survive is to hide. Kellen's curse is growing stronger, promising a future of madness and murder. And now that the bounty hunter sworn to kill ever last shadow black have caught his trail, he knows his days are numbered Desperate, Kellen braves a barren desert to find a mysterious order of monks rumored to posses a cure. But there are secrets darker and more dangerous than Kellen expected, and the price of his salvation may be more than he's willing to pay. Spellslinger SeriesSpellslingerShadowblackCharmcasterSoulbinder For more from Sebastien de Castell, check out: The Greatcoats QuartetTraitor's BladeSaint's BloodKnight's ShadowTyrant's Throne

Simon Spicer is a lonely, melancholy professor in Maine. A widower, he was once a talented poet, but writes no more. At the age of thirty-five, he simply exists, aged beyond his years by disappointment. Spice is unaware of the physical and mental properties that set him apart from his fellows and fit him for a bizarre missionbut he will soon find out. In the world of the Keepers, one of their own has gone rogue. Calling himself ShadowCaster, he has taken over the planet Talar and bred an environment of evil and death. The Keepers need a hero, but they are incapable of destroying ShadowCaster on their own. They require an outsider with the proper skills, and Spice is their manalthough before he can take on the task, he must first die. Once he does, his true powers awaken: powers of mind control and non-oral communication. With nothing to lose, Spice accepts his fated mission: to find ShadowCaster and stop him. Once a lonely, hopeless man, Spice is now the hope of the universe, ordered to redeem a fallen world and perhaps also himself.

A failed mage turned outlaw must use guile and a handful of spells to challenge a dangerous rival in the second book of an exciting adventure fantasy series from Sebastien de Castell. Forced to live as an outlaw, Kellen relies on his wits and his allies to survive the unforgiving borderlands. When he meets a young woman cursed with a deadly plague, he feels compelled to help. But her secrets draw powerful enemies and it's not long before Kellen is entangled in a conspiracy of blackmail, magic, and murder. As the bodies begin to pile up, Kellen fears he's next. The second novel in a compelling six-book series, bursting with tricks, humor, and a whole new way to look at magic. Spellslinger SeriesSpellslingerShadowblackCharmcaster For more from Sebastien de Castell, check out: The Greatcoats QuartetTraitor's BladeSaint's BloodKnight's ShadowTyrant's Throne

A failed mage learns that just because he's not the chosen one it doesn't mean he can't be a hero in the third book of an exciting adventure fantasy series from Sebastien de Castell. Kellen's life as an outlaw spellslinger is about to get a lot worse. In Gitabria, a miraculous discovery draws spies from all over the continent willing to kill to get their hands on it. Swept up in the race for power, Kellen is forced to join the pursuit. But the invention holds a dark secret-one that could spark a war. Spellslinger SeriesSpellslingerShadowblackCharmcasterSoulbinder For more from Sebastien de Castell, check out: The Greatcoats QuartetTraitor's BladeSaint's BloodKnight's ShadowTyrant's Throne

In this brilliant debut fantasy, a story of secrets, rebellion, and murder are shattering the Hollows, where magic costs memory to use, and only the son of the kingdom’s despised traitor holds the truth. Michael is branded a traitor as a child because of the murder of the king’s nine-year-old son, by his father David Kingman. Ten years later on Michael lives a hardscrabble life, with his sister Gwen, performing crimes with his friends against minor royals in a weak attempt at striking back at the world that rejects him and his family. In a world where memory is the coin that pays for magic, Michael knows something is there in the hot white emptiness of his mind. So when the opportunity arrives to get folded back into court, via the most politically dangerous member of the kingdom’s royal council, Michael takes it, desperate to find a way back to his past. He discovers a royal family that is spiraling into a self-serving dictatorship as gun-wielding rebels clash against magically trained militia. What the truth holds is a set of shocking revelations that will completely change the Hollows, if Michael and his friends and family can survive long enough to see it.

New Masters of Flash is both a global showcase and practical tutorial. Nineteen of the planet's most awe-inspiring Flash designers share their influences, ideas and objectives in individual introductory essays. They then take the reader through a step-by-step tutorial explaining in detail how to create in Flash 5 the interfaces, applications and effects that they have made famous. The author-designers are some of the most legendary Flash innovators currently working—from the U.S. to Japan, Europe to South Africa: Yugo Nakamura, Joshua Davis, Manuel Clement, Irene Chan and Tomato Interactive's Joel Baumann, together with 14 other leading Flash practitioners. These are the designers who are expanding the horizons of interactive interface design with Flash. Join them! With the book is a CD-ROM containing animated movie versions of the tutorials from the book, together with the finished interactive effects. If you're in a real hurry, you can download the source-code FLAs for many of the tutorials, in both Flash 5 and Flash 4 versions, from the CD-ROM New Masters folder. Also on the CD-ROM are video QuickTime interviews with the designers from the book.