The young Sain Forth has it made. As the famed Holy Knight, he enjoys the love of his people, the respect of his ruler, and the blessings of a literal goddess. Or, at least, he should enjoy them, but Sain’s aspirations lie elsewhere. His assistant, Melia, by his side, he sets sail for the academy of a foreign kingdom, only to be treated as a deviant by his peers. It’s his own fault, mind you—his stubborn insistence on wearing a custom, all-black uniform makes him stick out like a sore thumb. But he isn’t the only outcast at the academy. His classmate, Alicia—born into the Clan of Light yet unable to use anything but fire magic—faces a similar struggle, and so the two quickly become allies. However, when she proposes they go searching for a holy sword hidden deep within the academy’s dungeon, he hesitates—dungeons are dangerous, monster-ridden places, after all. Eventually he reconsiders, but on one condition: “I want a doom sword. Not a holy sword, okay? A doom sword.” And so, his friends in tow, Sain ventures forth into the perilous unknown, driven by his one true wish: To become the coolest, edgiest, and most awesome existence imaginable, the Dark Knight. There’s just one problem: He can’t use dark magic. Like, at all.

After trekking through a labyrinth and coming back in one piece — with a new friend, to boot — Sain finally has time to actually study at Jenifa. In its hallowed chambers of learning, he applies himself to the acquisition of dark magic. A month later, he emerges... ...Still utterly worthless at dark magic. On top of that, his teachers have given up on him, and his classmates are calling him the Darkness Dork. Just when despair begins to set in, a chance encounter with an enigmatic girl brings him new hope. Her features are unmistakably those of a dark elf — known for their natural affinity for dark magic. He immediately asks to be her apprentice, only to be coldly rejected. This is Sain, though, and “giving up” just isn't in his vocabulary. Through his tireless — and arguably obnoxious — efforts, he chips away at her armor of indifference. Little does he know, though, that an upcoming school event will put their budding friendship to the ultimate test.

Summer is upon Jenifa, which means it’s time for the academy’s most well-known event — the magic battle expo. Though the numerous stalls and attractions filling the school grounds offer plenty of excitement, the greatest draw of the event is undoubtedly the one-on-one tournament between students. People come from far and wide every year to watch Jenifa’s best go at it against each other. What better chance, then, for Sain to put his burgeoning dark magic skills to the test? So, the strongest holy knight in history takes another step toward becoming the antithesis of everything he’s supposed to stand for and joins the tournament. With his faithful friends at his side and his dark magic actually starting to shape up, he was set to have a blast at the battle expo... until he runs into the student council president, Cain Theresia, whose attitude toward him has been growing increasingly suspicious and hostile. With both of them participating in the tournament and vying for the top, the stage is set for a fierce clash of words and swords. “You know what you need to do, Cain? Lose. Just once. Then, you’d realize that you’re not fighting on your own.”

For countless centuries, I've been the assassin for the infamous Merlin, even though the woman who birthed me sits at the right hand of our enemy, Morgen le Fey. Now both my mother and Morgen have decided that it's time I take my place on their side of this conflict. Normally, telling them no wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that the good guys I protect think that I'm an even worse demon than the ones we fight. Hmm, maybe they're right. I have to say that I do enjoy maiming anyone who gets in my way. At least until my mother gives me a simple choice: join Morgen's Circle of the Damned or see an innocent woman die. I'm all for saving the innocent, but Merewyn isn't as innocent as she seems. And she's none too fond of the fact that her fate is in my dubious hands. Personally I'm all for taking the easy way out, but leaving her to Morgen is rough, even for me. Now the only way to save both our lives is to face the evilest forces ever known—my mother and Morgen. And two people who know nothing of trust must learn to rely on each other or die: provided we don't kill each other first.

Three siblings embark on an epic quest for a mythic grail in this first installment of Susan Cooper’s epic and award-winning The Dark Is Rising Sequence, now with a brand-new look! All through time, the two great forces of Light and Dark have battled for control of the world. Now, after centuries of balance, the Dark is summoning its terrifying forces to rise once more…and three children find themselves caught in the conflict. The Drew siblings—Simon, Jane, and Barney—are on a family holiday in Cornwall when they discover an ancient map in the attic of the house they are sharing with their Great Uncle Merry. They know immediately that the map is special but have no way of knowing how much. For the map leads to a grail: a vital weapon for the Light’s fight against evil. In taking on the quest to find the grail, the Drews will have to race against the sinister human beings who serve the dreadful power of the dark—an adventure that puts their own lives in grave peril.

In the second book of the Arcana Chronicles Evie has now fully come into her powers as the tarot Empress. And Jackson was there to see it all. In the aftermath of killing Arthur, the tarot Alchemist, Evie realizes that a war is brewing between the other teens that, following the apocalypse, have been given powers and its kill or be killed. Things get even more complicated when Evie meets Death, the mysterious, sexy Endless Knight. Somehow the Empress and Death share a romantic history - one that Evie can't remember, but Death can't forget. She is drawn to the Endless Knight, but is in love with Jack. Determined to discover why she's been granted these powers, Evie struggles to accept her place in a prophecy that will either save the world, or completely destroy it.

The president of New York University offers a love letter to America’s most beloved sport and a tribute to its underlying spirituality. For more than a decade, John Sexton has taught a wildly popular New York University course about two seemingly very different things: religion and baseball. Yet Sexton argues that one is actually a pathway to the other. Baseball as a Road to God is about touching that something that lies beyond logical understanding. Sexton illuminates the surprisingly large number of mutual concepts shared between baseball and religion: faith, doubt, conversion, miracles, and even sacredness among many others. Structured like a game and filled with riveting accounts of baseball’s most historic moments, Baseball as Road to God will enthrall baseball fans whatever their religious beliefs may be. In thought-provoking, beautifully rendered prose, Sexton elegantly demonstrates that baseball is more than a game, or even a national pastime: It can be a road to enlightenment.