Publisher: MVP
One of the world's transcendent literary masterpieces, the Inferno tells the timeless story of Dante's journey through the nine circles of hell, guided by the poet Virgil, when in midlife he strays from his path in a dark wood.
Since the beginning of human interaction, there have been storytellers who have spun tales to inspire and capture the imagination. In homage to Golding's Lord of the Flies and the act of flinging a gauntlet before a duel, these two writers, Gordon Bonnet, and Marlon S. Hayes, have shown their multi-genre talents. Two guys in a bar, grandmas, fathers and sons, and myths are a few of the themes in this collection, and the results are noteworthy, entertaining, and soul filling. What if an opportunity arose to have a conversation with one's younger self? Or, what if the pictures on the wall started whispering warnings? Ever imagined how an orc might view humans? What about an epic road trip across America's heartland where anger and grief also ride along? Exactly. It's a duel of well-written short stories, with each writer inspiring the other to continue to ascend with their storytelling skills. It's not a competition, simply an acknowledgement of each other's talents.Show book
This is a charming tale from H.G. Wells about a young boy named Gip who visits a magic shop for his birthday with his father. But this is not just any magic shop — the shopkeeper insists that this is a genuine magic shop. The story is an entertaining adventure as Gip, like any young boy of his age, experiences the pure enjoyment of true magic while his skeptical father grapples with having to draw the line between slight of hand and genuine magic.Show book
Discover MESKLIN - Gravity: 3g at the equator, 700g at the poles!Hal Clement is a Grand Master of SF, and the one most associated with the subgenre of hard SF. From his classic stories in Astounding in the 1940s through his novels of the 1950s and on to the recent Half Life, he has made a lasting impression on SF readers, and on writers, too. For many of them, Clement's work is the model of how to write hard SF, and this book contains the reasons why. Here are all the tales of bizarre, unforgettable Mesklin: the classic novel Mission of Gravity and its sequel, Star Light, as well as the short stories "Under"and "Lecture Demonstration." Also included is "Whirligig World," the famous essay Clement published in Astounding in 1953. It describes the rigorous process he used to create his intriguingly plausible high-gravity planet, with its odd flattened shape, its day less than eighteen minutes long, and its many-limbed, noble natives. Come to Mesklin and learn why The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction called Mission of Gravity "one of the best loved novels in SF."At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.Show book
"Alyosha the Pot" is a short story written by Leo Tolstoy (1905) about the life and death of a simple, uncomplaining worker. It was published after Tolstoy's death in 1911 and received high praise from Tolstoy's contemporaries. Without ever calling Alyosha a holy fool, Tolstoy centers the story on his meekness, aloofness, and foolishness. Alyosha's simple life, soft-spoken manner, and calm acceptance of death epitomizes Tolstoyan principles.Show book
'I'm not an impulsive person. Twice in my life I've done impulsive things. The first time was when I packed a bag, walked out on my wife and kids, left my job and hit the road to follow the Captain. Goodbye was all she wrote.' These wide-ranging stories follow the disparate disciples of the Captain – a mysterious, powerful and magnetic figure whose violent and chaotic death at the hands of the army radically alters their lives in myriad ways. From rural North American farms and dive bars to the suburbs of Ireland and the sands of Palestine, we witness their struggles to find a place, a peace, in a world that is fractured and incomplete. Once We Sang Like Other Men is a surprising, mysterious, lyrical and affecting collection with a stunning range of voice from a recognised master of the form.Show book
