Ori has spent her whole life in the Mystical Forest of Regailia, now that she is almost sixteen she must set out on a quest to wake the dragon of Mandoria and defeat, Moroth, the tyrant who killed her father and mortally wounded her mother. Ori is reluctant to leave her home to go on a quest that she never asked for; but dreams of a green dragon and the promise she gave her mother compel her to go. With the help of her parents’ chief advisor, Yorel, she sets out across Mandoria, along with Brayden a young boy who’s on the run from the Shadow guard. In their travels they meet interesting and frightening creatures. But when they are trapped in a giant spiders’ web, Ori wishes she was still back home in her tree house.

A fascinating survey of the entire history of tall tales, folklore, and mythology in the United States from earliest times to the present, including stories and myths from the modern era that have become an essential part of contemporary popular culture. Folklore has been a part of American culture for as long as humans have inhabited North America, and increasingly formed an intrinsic part of American culture as diverse peoples from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania arrived. In modern times, folklore and tall tales experienced a rejuvenation with the emergence of urban legends and the growing popularity of science fiction and conspiracy theories, with mass media such as comic books, television, and films contributing to the retelling of old myths. This multi-volume encyclopedia will teach readers the central myths and legends that have formed American culture since its earliest years of settlement. Its entries provide a fascinating glimpse into the collective American imagination over the past 400 years through the stories that have shaped it. Organized alphabetically, the coverage includes Native American creation myths, "tall tales" like George Washington chopping down his father's cherry tree and the adventures of "King of the Wild Frontier" Davy Crockett, through to today's "urban myths." Each entry explains the myth or legend and its importance and provides detailed information about the people and events involved. Each entry also includes a short bibliography that will direct students or interested general readers toward other sources for further investigation. Special attention is paid to African American folklore, Asian American folklore, and the folklore of other traditions that are often overlooked or marginalized in other studies of the topic.

With the race intensifying to reach the Throne Room, Chason along with his friends fight to gain knowledge about the Guardians and the flame they possess through their mentor, Tom. As President Nox works to bring order after the chaotic resignation of President Cline, and as the spiritual world begins to clash with the physical, Tom realizes it won't be long until the horrible dark leader, Natas, arrives. The further they progress in the flame though, the more dystopian society becomes, and the more they have to fight back against the dark hornets. To get to the Throne Room, they have to advance to the Sanctums. The only way they will reach the Sanctums is by seeking the Time Keeper. They are the last Guardians of the Fire, and their time is now. The only question is will they make it?

This is a continuation of Time Machine Emergency and is a Sequel. After finding their way to a utopia in Time Machine Emergency, new developments come on the horizon. The other countries of the world develop their own weapons shutdown system and attack the United American Republics. This sends the time travelers into the past again because their present country is being overrun. Stopping in the 1500s to sit on a sandy beach and watch a herd of buffalo, they discussed possible solutions to their problem. The decision turned out to be an attempt to win the Chinese civil war for Chiang Kai-shek and hope the resulting democracy would eliminate the modern Chinese threat. The result was an even more aggressive Chinese threat which prompted them to plan another trip. Lex then spoke up in their next meeting to determine the next threat. She suggested an intervention in World War Two. She was convincing enough for the group to buy her idea. They ended up simply dropping in on a British Colonel getting ready for a bombing raid of Berlin, Germany. The Colonel was extremely impressed at the future technology of scanners and joined forces with the time travelers. One raid was enough to pretty much win the war for the Britts, and the time travelers left them with a huge pile of scanners to finish the job. The next stop was at Pearl Harbor, and Hickam Field. Derek landed there in the same fashion as he did in Britain. The same convincing evidence won the heart and mind of the colonel at Hickam field. He actually went with them to the future and saw the destruction of the Japanese navy. He was duly impressed and returned to his time as a conquering hero. But the troubles were not over for this group of time travelers. They had to endure many more trips to improve the future before this would be over. Their determination thus earned them the title of Guardians of Time.

The agricultural sector can benefit immensely from developments in the field of smart farming. However, this research area focuses on providing specific fixes to particular situations and falls short on implementing data-driven frameworks that provide large-scale benefits to the industry as a whole. Using deep learning can bring immense data and improve our understanding of various earth sciences and improve farm services to yield better crop production and profit. Smart Agricultural Services Using Deep Learning, Big Data, and IoT is an essential publication that focuses on the application of deep learning to agriculture. While highlighting a broad range of topics including crop models, cybersecurity, and sustainable agriculture, this book is ideally designed for engineers, programmers, software developers, agriculturalists, farmers, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.

A celebration of Taoist art traces the influence of philosophy on the visual arts in China.