It is the end of the Dark Ages. Macans (a.k.a. Gnomes) live peacefully and mind their own business. While most of the men are out on patrol, Trolls kidnap Brodo’s wife Ada and his sons, Morel and Rada. Led by Toki, a small group of Macans track the kidnappers through the forest to a cave at the foot of a mountain range. The ensuing battle, together with an earlier similar attack, marks the beginning of a war of attrition. Trolls are five times bigger than Macans but they are rather stupid and somewhat cowardly. Intelligence, bravery, ingenuity, poisoned arrows and a little bit of magic gives the Macans a small advantage. Trolls usually operate in pairs or small groups but a crackpot king has organised them more and formed a small army. This seriously undermines the Macans’ superiority. Read this action-packed drama to see how things turn out...

The final instalment of the Last Dragonslayer Chronicles, demonstrating that with a small band of committed followers, a large tin of resolve and steely determination, almost anything can be achieved . . . Sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange and her sidekick and fellow Orphan Tiger Prawns have been driven to the tip of the UnUnited Kingdoms - Cornwall - by the invasion of the Trolls. Their one defence is a six-foot-wide trench full of buttons, something which the Trolls find unaccountably terrifying (it's their clickiness). Worse than being eaten by Trolls is the prospect of the Mighty Shandar requisitioning the Quarkbeast and using him to achieve supreme power and domination - an ambition that has been four hundred years in the planning and which will ultimately leave the Earth a cold cinder, devoid of all life. Nothing has ever looked so bleak, but Jennifer, assisted by a renegade vegan Troll, a bunch of misfit sorcerers, the Princess (or is she now the ruler?) of the UnUnited (or are they now United?) Kingdoms, and Tiger, must find a way to vanquish the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen, and along the way discover the truth about her parents, herself, and what is in the locked glovebox of her VW Beetle . . .

As magic fades from the world, 15-year-old Jennifer Strange is having trouble keeping her magician employment agency business afloat, until she begins having visions that foretell the death of the last dragon and the coming of Big Magic.

There was a time. A time long before the Troll-Wars and the days of Noah. A time long forgotten and lost to recorded history, where kings, men, Elves, Dwarves and El’dwars ruled in harmony in their separate nation-states. And there were Wizards who used their mystical powers to serve the inhabitants of the realm, building the peace, projecting and overseeing all that was good within the lands of these allied nations. It was a good time. Oh, that’s not to say there weren’t a few minor incidents amongst the usual unsavory types. But isn’t that always the case in any normal society? Or is it? To the North lay the lands of Norsada where all was not good. Norsada was home to the Muzoule, despicable creatures who had a growing hatred for the inhabitants of the Realm. Their loathing for all that was good became a religion to them, and they rallied the defeated Trolls and Gnomes to war against the believers of the Lord of Creation. Since their defeat and loss of territories at the end of the Troll-Wars, their evil was ever growing. It was a vile festering malevolent influence that slowly began sweeping its way South to the Realm, insidiously infecting the weak of mind, the faint of heart and those who lust for power. The source of this evil emanated from the glowing Eye. The Eye of Illumination that sat in place of the capstone upon a pyramid in the midst of Northern most area of the Muzoule territories. The glowing eye was a source connection to a greater evil sealed within the portal of the Second Heaven. It was a dimensional prison reserved for the devil, the so called Shinning-One, along with his fallen angles. For them, there was no way out. No way to rule. No way to control and torture, until the Sword of Leahanna. The Sword by itself was a killing machine, created by the Elfin Warrior Leahanna. The Sword as created was not controllable. However in the past, it was a most effective tool paramount to winning the Troll-Wars. But, it was indiscriminate of who it killed when held high as it took control of its wielder. The Elfin Queen Leahanna employed the Sword in battle; and in doing so, it unintentionally and without discretion murdered her late husband K’Thilladorn. From that point on, Queen Leahanna could not bear to look upon the murderous weapon. To bring the Sword under control, the Elfin Priestess Lynthena nurtured from a small speck a Pearl within the crystalline waters of I’Thilliander. When inserted within the pommel of the Sword, it brought this killing machine under usable control and was tested in battle by Commander K’Leander. It worked. Still, the Queen could not tolerate its presence within the Elfin forest of I’Thillianne. She ordered that both the Pearl and the Sword be separated and hidden in separate locations, never to be used again. However, there was another unexpected component to the Pearl and Sword’s functionality. When reunited, the Pearl with the Sword became a Key. As prophesied by the dying King K’Thilladorn, beware during the time of a full Blood-Moon. If the blade of this Sword, now the key were to be inserted into the slot of the fractured lock at the top of the Evil-One’s Ziggurat, hell would break loose. An open floodgate to evil would be unleashed. The porthole to another dimension, the second heaven reserved for the devil and his angles would be free to come crawling out to infect all living things. Evil would once again rein supreme over the land. Torture and agony would be the rule-of-day. The Illuminated One will have won. This is the story of how good God fearing men, women and the inhabitants of their era prevailed and overcame corruption and wickedness. It is a story of impaling evil and keeping it from ever becoming the worst disaster in unrecorded history. The Wizards of the High Tower would see to it!

From acclaimed and New York Times bestselling YA authors Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff comes The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories. ? A vampire locked in a cage in the basement, for good luck. ? Bad guys, clever girls, and the various reasons why the guys have to stop breathing. ? A world where fires never go out (with references to vanilla ice cream). These are but a few of the curiosities collected in this volume of short stories by three acclaimed practitioners of paranormal fiction. But The Curiosities is more than the stories. Since 2008, Maggie, Tessa, and Brenna have posted more than 250 works of short fiction to their website www.merryfates.com. Their goal was simple: create a space for experimentation and improvisation in their writing?all in public and without a backspace key. In that spirit, The Curiosities includes the stories and each author's comments, critiques, and kudos in the margins. Think of it as a guided tour of the creative processes of three acclaimed authors.

What are the reasons behind, and trajectories of, the rapid cultural changes in Ukraine since 2013? This volume highlights: the role of the Revolution of Dignity and the Russian-Ukrainian war in the formation of Ukrainian civil society; the forms of warfare waged by Moscow against Kyiv, including information and religious wars; Ukrainian and Russian identities and cultural realignment; sources of destabilization in Ukraine and beyond; memory politics and Russian foreign policies; the Kremlin’s geopolitical goals in its 'near abroad'; and factors determining Ukraine’s future and survival in a state of war. The studies included in this collection illuminate the growing gap between the political and social systems of Ukraine and Russia. The anthology illustrates how the Ukrainian revolution of 2013–2014, Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, and its invasion of eastern Ukraine have altered the post-Cold War political landscape and, with it, the regional and global power and security dynamics.

A critical and multifaceted analysis of the problems created by the politics and communicated representation of contemporary warfare.