When she wrote The Robber Bride, Margaret Atwood created a really villainous villain who happened to be a woman, partly in reaction to the fact that in Western literature the most meaty, wicked, and therefore interesting parts always seemed to go to male characters. Aguiar (English, Murray State U.) cites the beacon shone by Atwood in introducing her study, which discusses the dawning in contemporary literature of "the season of the bitch": a re-evaluation and reclaiming of female toughness, thorniness, and just plain badness in which women characters are also portrayed as more complete, possessed of motivations, and strongly individual. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

This science fiction novel is for those seeking to understand what it means to be human. During this interstellar journey one will; commit an original sin or few, bear witness to the end of the world, journey to far-flung regions of outer space, discover strange cities to adore, explore alien planets with peculiar kinds of friends, rebuild an empire within a crystallized dome, go from being hero to having zero with a sun-bright shriek, recall a lifetime once worn, ponder the reasoning for being, rebel upon a scheme, recreate a Lazarus act, fight with marines to retain the keep, implant a cultured seed beneath icy seas, build a life inside a utopian dream, make love with an elegant golden flower dancer from the lake, go on a quest to discover the truth of vampiric robbers and king, have a gladiatorial fight in an amphitheatre beneath the stars, stare down a quartet of samurai sentinels, recall the last days of the civilization of man, stand before an exotic queen and her imperial guards, lock swords with a devious other and a band of brothers, resolve a mystery only to discover a greater mystery is at hand, then struggle to accept what it was all for. So sit back into a comfortable chair; put your feet up with a cuppa, and let’s go on an adventure to distant stars, via that movie screen in your mind. PG - 13 : Parental Guidance Recommended This novel does contain descriptions of moderate action violence, suggestive adult content, controlled drug use, political themes, and some persons could interpret that it has religious connotations. Events and behaviours have been presented as realistic as possible; so as to be true to the human condition. Technical Notes The technologies described in this novel are based on the extrapolations (over the next 100 years) of existing 21st century engineering and science. The technical solutions proposed are derived specifically to resolve the engineering (as well as social and economic) problems resulting from the story’s premise and associated situational circumstances. Alas, the storyline does not utilize advanced technologies such as; faster than light travel (e.g. warp drives), wormholes, jump gates, teleportation, time travel, parallel dimensioning, and other such techno wizardry.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets The Craft when modern witches must save teens stolen by an ancient demon in this YA fantasy-thriller debut. Dan and Liss are witches. The Black Book granted them that power. Harnessing that power feels good, especially when everything in their lives makes them feel powerless. During a spell gone wrong, Liss's boyfriend is snatched away by an evil entity and presumed dead. Dan and Liss's friendship dies that night, too. How can they practice magic after the darkness that they conjured? Months later, Liss discovers that her boyfriend is alive, trapped underground in the grips of an ancient force. She must save him, and she needs Dan and the power of The Black Book to do so. Dan is quickly sucked back into Liss's orbit and pushes away her best friend, Alexa. But Alexa has some big secrets she's hiding and her own unique magical disaster to deal with. When another teenager disappears, the girls know it's no coincidence. What greedy magic have they awakened? And what does it want with these teens it has stolen? Set in the atmospheric wilds of California's northern coast, Sasha Laurens's thrilling debut novel is about the complications of friendship, how to take back power, and how to embrace the darkness that lives within us all.

London Hughes is very content to surf daily, tend bar, hang out with her group of friends, and slowly orient herself in the years after college. When a wave knocks her for a loop one morning, then Luke Sutter's flirtatious smile knocks her for another that evening, she veers slightly off course-- and into his path. Why not-- it's only one night. As much as she enjoys her fling with Luke, when London learns about his past-- more specifically, who's in it-- everything becomes the brand of complicated she strives to avoid. Can Luke manage things so he's not something she'll outright avoid as well?

Soon-to-be new parents Kiera and her husband, Sebastian Gage, have been hoping for a respite from their inquiries, but murder and mayhem have a startling way of dropping into their laps in the all-new historical mystery in this national bestselling series. Edinburgh, Scotland. March 1832. Kiera and Gage have been eagerly awaiting their bundle of joy but trouble has been brewing in the form of the roguish criminal Bonnie Brock Kincaid. A new book and subsequent play features some of Kincaid's daringly heinous exploits, although he swears he had nothing to do with it or the characters which are obvious representations of Kiera and Gage. While the scoundrel's fury seems genuine, as well as his determined quest to uncover the real identity of the author, the Gages still hold doubts about his innocence. A rash of crimes break out across the city, seemingly inspired by the play and book. When the publisher is found brutally murdered--in an imitation of a gruesome scene--the finger not only points to Bonnie Brock as the possible culprit, but also the Gages, who have been outspoken in their condemnation of the tale. Now, the Gages are on a hunt to unmask the killer. Between the infamy garnered by the play, the cholera outbreak still wreaking havoc throughout the city, and the impending birth of their child, they will need all the resources they can garner. But family quarrels and the revelation of a secret Kiera has been keeping from Sebastian threaten to undermine everything they have overcome. When they find themselves in the crosshairs of the killer, trapped in the squalid underground vaults of the city, they will soon discover that the truth does not always set you free, and death can lurk around any corner.

A brief foray into a moral thicket, exploring why we should protect nature despite tsunamis, malaria, bird flu, cancer, killer asteroids, and tofu. Most of us think that in order to be environmentalists, we have to love nature. Essentially, we should be tree huggers—embracing majestic redwoods, mighty oaks, graceful birches, etc. We ought to eat granola, drive hybrids, cook tofu, and write our appointments in Sierra Club calendars. Nature's splendor, in other words, justifies our protection of it. But, asks Benjamin Hale in this provocative book, what about tsunamis, earthquakes, cancer, bird flu, killer asteroids? They are nature, too. For years, environmentalists have insisted that nature is fundamentally good. In The Wild and the Wicked, Benjamin Hale adopts the opposite position—that much of the time nature can be bad—in order to show that even if nature is cruel, we still need to be environmentally conscientious. Hale argues that environmentalists needn't feel compelled to defend the value of nature, or even to adopt the attitudes of tree-hugging nature lovers. We can acknowledge nature's indifference and periodic hostility. Deftly weaving anecdote and philosophy, he shows that we don't need to love nature to be green. What really ought to be driving our environmentalism is our humanity, not nature's value. Hale argues that our unique burden as human beings is that we can act for reasons, good or bad. He claims that we should be environmentalists because environmentalism is right, because we humans have the capacity to be better than nature. As humans, we fail to live up to our moral potential if we act as brutally as nature. Hale argues that despite nature's indifference to the plight of humanity, humanity cannot be indifferent to the plight of nature.

Being a bitch may seem to come naturally... ...but it is, in fact, an art form. And unless you practice your craft, you're just not going to rise to the top of the bitch hierarchy. Complete with spells, brews, exercises and affirmations, this guidebook is for self-proclaimed and emerging bitches everywhere. Learn how to: Use Bitchcraft in the real world Form your own bitch's coven with like-minded sisters Repel the dark side of Bitchcraft Deal with bitch hunts, bitch trials, and bitch-induced mass hysteria Ensure a blissful life Here it is: A survival manual for the enlightened bitch