This combination of two key works by the Italian avant-garde writer Giorgio Manganelli (1922-90) is a major addition to the small number of his works available in English. In the 1960s Manganelli was a member, along with Umberto Eco and Eduardo Sanguinetti, of the Gruppo 63 movement, and a close friend of Italo Calvino, who provides an enthusiastic foreword that describes "To Those Gods Beyond" (1972) as a "heraldic bestiary" that "launches into a crescendo of variations on its main theme, the self-aggrandisement of a lucid megalomaniac." Perhaps the best known of his works included here, "An Impossible Love," comprises an epistolary exchange between Hamlet and the Princess of Cleves conducted with a "verbal catapult" as the universes about them descend into oblivion. All is overseen by gods beyond whom an endless array of other gods lie in wait, intent on torment. Everything seemingly finite or known in our world becomes infinite and unknown. The book is prefaced by Manganelli's notorious manifesto "Literature as Deception" (1967), in which he describes the "literary object" as something cynical, corrupt and devoted only to turning human suffering into exquisite figures of speech. This is a major new offering of work by this important writer, heralded by Calvino as an "erudite acrobat who twirls around the trapeze of rhetoric above the timeless void of meaning."

First published in 1974 Beyond the Gods argues that true mystics transcend religious boundaries, and that Eastern mysticism has increasing relevance for the troubled minds and spirits of the West. Blofeld’s approach is a highly personal one based on encounters with monks, lamas, and recluses in their mountain retreats. He also includes a vivid description of the Chinese religious scene and chapters on the mystical practices of Taoism, Ch’an (Zen) and the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet. The book seeks to answer broader questions like – what has Eastern mysticism to offer the West, how can we free ourselves from the pressures of modern life or benefit from eastern methods of cultivating the sublime mystical experience? This is an interesting read for scholars and researchers of Buddhism, Taoism, and religion in general.

Two leading physicists discuss the importance of the Higgs Boson, the future of particle physics, and the mysteries of the universe yet to be unraveled. On July 4, 2012, the long-sought Higgs Boson--aka "the God Particle"--was discovered at the world's largest particle accelerator, the LHC, in Geneva, Switzerland. On March 14, 2013, physicists at CERN confirmed it. This elusive subatomic particle forms a field that permeates the entire universe, creating the masses of the elementary particles that are the basic building blocks of everything in the known world--from viruses to elephants, from atoms to quasars. Starting where Nobel Laureate Leon Lederman's bestseller The God Particle left off, this incisive new book explains what's next. Lederman and Hill discuss key questions that will occupy physicists for years to come:* Why were scientists convinced that something like the "God Particle" had to exist?* What new particles, forces, and laws of physics lie beyond the "God Particle"?* What powerful new accelerators are now needed for the US to recapture a leadership role in science and to reach "beyond the God Particle," such as Fermilab's planned Project-X and the Muon Collider? Using thoughtful, witty, everyday language, the authors show how all of these intriguing questions are leading scientists ever deeper into the fabric of nature. Readers of The God Particle will not want to miss this important sequel.

Elliot's life is spiralling out of control and his mum's health is worsening. The gods are determined to embark on the quest for the third chaos stone. But Elliot has heard of a mythical potion rumoured to cure all ills ... could he save his mum, even if it means sacrificing the fate of the world?

Millennia ago Starquin visited the Solar System. Because he is huge - some say bigger than the Solar System itself - he could not set foot on Earth personally. yet events here were beginning to interest him, and he wanted to observe more closely. So he sent down extensions of himself, creatures fashioned after Earth's dominant life-form. In one of Earth's languages they became known as Dedos, or Fingers of Starquin. Disguised, they mingled with Mankind. We know this now, here at the end of Earth's time. The information is all held in Earth's great computer, the Rainbow. The Rainbow will endure as long as Earth exists, watching, listening, recording and thinking. I am an extension of the Rainbow, just as the Dedos are extensions of Starquin. My name is Alan-Blue-Cloud. It is possible you cannot see me but are aware of me only as a voice speaking to you from a desolate hillside, telling you tales from the Song of Earth. I can see you, the motley remains of the human race, however. You sit there with our clubs and you chew your roots, entranced and half-disbelieving as I sing the Song - and in our faces are signs of the work of your great geneticist, Mordecai N. Whirst. Catlike eyes here, broad muzzles there, all the genes of Earth's life, expertly blended, each having its purpose. Strong people, adapted people, people who survived. The story I will tell is about people who were not so strong. It is perhaps the most famous in the whole Song of Earth, and it tells of three simple human beings involved in a quest who unwittingly became involved in much greater events concerning the almighty Starquin himself. It is a story of heroism and love, and it ends in triumph - and it will remind the humans among you of the greatness that was once yours.

From the popular EWTN TV and radio personality comes a to-do list that's just divine. Scripture tells us only God knows the desires of our hearts. It was, after all, God who placed them there because they are designed to lead us to His will for our lives. Why, then, is it so challenging at times to figure out if we are on the right track when it comes to what we believe we want or need? God's Bucket List will examine what God wants for each of us: mercy, fruitfulness, fellowship, and peace, just to name a few, and will explain what the Christian faith teaches about these gifts and how we can begin to achieve and cross out, one by one, the items on that heavenly list.