Although both know it is forbidden, Amy and Axel hope that by following the countless ramps leading upward they can escape from their filthy subterranean world.

Starscape series.

Three hundred years ago, she sold her soul to a demon. Now she wants it back. For centuries, the woman calling herself Maliha Crayne has lived a second life—as an assassin for the malevolent creature who owns her soul. A haunted killer with the blood of countless victims on her hands, she has finally discovered a way to nullify the demonic pact that chains her: If she saves a life for every one she has taken, she will be free. But if she fails, her punishments will be unspeakable, unendurable . . . and neverending.

A book by Spain's greatest living writer weaves fiction and fact into a completely original and unforgettable hybrid. Called by its author a "false novel," Dark Back of Time begins with the tale of the odd effects of publishing All Souls, his witty and sardonic 1989 Oxford novel. All Souls is a book Marías swears to be fiction, but which its "characters"--the real-life dons and professors and bookshop owners who have "recognized themselves"--fiercely maintain to be a roman à clef. With the sleepy world of Oxford set into fretful motion by a world that never "existed," Dark Back of Time begins an odyssey into the nature of identity and of time. Marías weaves together autobiography, a legendary kingdom, strange ghostly literary figures, halls of mirrors, a one-eyed pilot, a curse in Havana, and a bullet lost in Mexico.

"Anyone looking at the condition of the world today will be struck by the dramatic changes taking place. On the one hand is the visible deterioration in so many fundamental processes and institutions, from the financial world, politics and the fabric of society to climate change and energy. On the other is an enlivening upsurge in knowledge, in concern for human rights and in technologies that bring people together. These energies are spiritual in nature and result from the coming of God's most recent representative to humankind, Bahá'u'lláh. He has set in motion processes that are creating a new, divine civilization. In response to this, negative forces have risen to resist the divine purpose. The nature of these spiritual forces is a prominent theme in the Bahá'í writings, particularly in those of Shoghi Effendi. They convey vital principles and laws, systematic processes and insights into the workings of the world. They explain the changes that are taking place and give us a glimpse into our own nature and reality. In this book Hooper Dunbar examines the character of the spiritual forces as set out in writings of Shoghi Effendi. The first part considers the terms 'force', 'energy' and 'power' in these writings, while the second comprises a selection of quotations drawn from the writings of Shoghi Effendi - many published here for the first time - arranged chronologically, so readers may consider the ideas in their original context."--Publisher's website

In a world that has become dark and cold, Clay Stratford finds himself the unlikely leader of a motley band of survivors as they struggle to scratch out an existence among the hostile aftermath left behind by the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera. With no electricity, no government, and no help, they push themselves through the hardships of life without modern comforts. Battling the extreme new elements, they find themselves fighting against feral animals, roaming cannibals, and their own sanity, doing their best to adapt to life in the newly formed and sunless world as they search for food, water, and safety.