Longbeard, a loathed and prickly pirate, and his cranky crew have been stirring up trouble in the English Channel. Luckily, Sir Gadabout is on a mission to save sailors from the scurvy scoundrels. But Sir Gadabout's never sailed a ship before and the pirates don't have much love for landlubbers . . . A shiver-yer-timbers sea story exploding with cannonballs and cutlasses and starring Camelot's crassest knight!

The adventure continues... Ordained by an ancient goddess of mercy and light, former knight Allystaire Coldbourne has become a paladin, a hero out of legend. But evil stalks him, angry gods align against him, and greedy warlords want him dead. With the help of his friends, each blessed with extraordinary powers by the Goddess, Allystaire must escape the clutches of sorcerers and wicked rulers who will stop at nothing to destroy him as he continues his dangerous quest to bring peace and unity to the fractured and war-torn Baronies. With the Longest Night of mid-winter approaching, the Goddess weakens and armies march—armies determined to bring destruction and horror to the paladin and all who follow him. Allystaire is soon left with only his powers, his handful of friends, and his mission to be a beacon of hope, still and bright, in the encroaching darkness.

This story examines Peer's yearning for knowledge. In this novel, Peer is shoved around from foster home to foster home. Interestingly, Peer exemplifies immense tenacity in conquering his social and economic circumstances. An encounter with his birth father, a man of highly regarded military rank and wealth, brings hope by agreeing to provide sufficient funds regularly to ensure Peer's social advancement. However, following his father's unexpected death, the estate's legal heirs severed all financial ties to him. He decides to commit himself to the goal of education, despite the pitifully small funds available to him through his labor, and even invites his impoverished half-sister, Louise, to live with him in his home, which is little more than a hovel. Will Peer achieve his goal?

A New York Times Notable Book for 2011 One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year One of NPR's 10 Best Novels of 2011 From the National Book Award-winning author Denis Johnson (Tree of Smoke) comes Train Dreams, an epic in miniature, and one of Johnson's most evocative works of fiction. Suffused with the history and landscapes of the American West—its otherworldly flora and fauna, its rugged loggers and bridge builders—this extraordinary novella poignantly captures the disappearance of a distinctly American way of life. It tells the story of Robert Grainer, a day laborer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century—an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainer struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime.