Publisher: BookRix
This is the first part of an account, a personal memory about Mountain Giants, who supposedly still roam some remote areas of this earth. Meet a successful entrepreneur, who encounters dreadful Giants on his way to search for more gold.
In his second collection of stories, author and filmmaker R.W. Gray (Crisp) once again finds the place where the beautiful, the strange, and the surreal all meet—sometimes meshing harmoniously, sometimes colliding with terrible violence, launching his characters into a redefined reality. A lovestruck man discovers the secret editing room where his girlfriend erases all her flaws; a massage artist finds that she can alleviate her clients’ pain in more ways than one; a beautiful man invites those who want him to do whatever they wish with his unconscious body; and a gay couple meets what appear to be the younger versions of themselves, and learns that history can indeed repeat itself.Show book
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born on 26th May 1799 in Moscow into a family of Russian nobility. Raised by nursemaids and French tutors in French he learnt Russian only via the household staff. He graduated from the prestigious Imperial Lyceum, near St Petersburg and plunged into the vibrant and raucous intellectual youth culture of what was then the capital of the Russian Empire. In 1820, he published his first long poem, ‘Ruslan and Ludmila’, with much controversy about both subject and style. Pushkin was heavily influenced by the French Enlightenment and gravitated, with other literary radicals, towards social reform angering the Government. His early literary work and reputation was poetic and written as he travelled around the Empire or engaged himself in various rebellions against the Ottoman Empire. A clash with his own government after his poem, ‘Ode to Liberty’, was found among the belongings of the Decembrist Uprising rebels meant two years of internal exile at his mother's rural estate. His friends and family continually petitioned for his release, sending letters and meeting with Tsar Alexander I and then Tsar Nicholas I. In 1825, whilst at his Mother’s estate, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, the drama ‘Boris Godunov’. Upon meeting with Tsar Nicholas I, Pushkin obtained his release and began work as the Tsar's Titular Counsel of the National Archives. However, because of the earlier problems the tsar retained control of everything Pushkin published, and he was banned from travelling at will. Around 1828, Pushkin met the 16-year-old Natalia Goncharova, one of the most talked-about beauties of Moscow. After much hesitation, Natalia accepted his marriage proposal after she received assurances that the government had no intentions to persecute the libertarian poet. When the Tsar gave Pushkin the lowest court title, Gentleman of the Chamber, he became enraged, feeling that the Tsar intended to humiliate him. In the year 1831, during Pushkin's growing literary influence, he met Nikolai Gogol. Recognising his gifts Pushkin supported him and published his short stories in his own magazine ‘The Contemporary’. By the autumn of 1836, Pushkin was falling into greater and greater debt and facing scandalous rumours that his wife was having an affair. In January 1837, Pushkin sent a ‘highly insulting letter’ to his wife’s pursuer, Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès. The only answer could be a challenge to a duel. It took place on 27th January. D'Anthès fired first, critically wounding Pushkin; the bullet entered at his hip and penetrated his abdomen. Two days later Alexander Pushkin died of peritonitis. He was 37. One of Pushkin’s most lauded stories ‘The Queen of Spades’ takes on gambling and the need for just a tiny piece of information that will turn the game in his favour and take life to a level that is sure to be both deserved and his by right.Show book
At this magic academy, corpses roam campus and spirits haunt the halls. College student Nadine is done with other students tormenting her about her powers. To show her classmates what she's capable of, Nadine teams up with her two best friends and her boyfriend, Lucas, to compete in the school's annual magical sporting event. Join the team as they fight zombies, face ghosts, and brew potions on their quest to win the spooky Haunted Tournament. This short story follows characters from the Hidden Legends: College of Witchcraft series and may contain spoilers. This series is part of the Hidden Legends Universe, which features college-aged protagonists attending magical academies, dual points-of-view, disabled and diverse main characters, and steamy, empowering romances.Show book
To get what we want is often the greatest curse of all. The fisherman here accidentally catches a mermaid in his net. He falls in love with the Mermaid and tells her that he wants to marry her. She tells him that he can only marry her if he sends away his soul. From a Witch, the Fisherman learns how to send his soul away. The Soul makes several attempts to persuade the Fisherman to take him back, eventually convincing him to do so with the tale of a beautiful dancer who lives nearby. Too late does the Fisherman discover that the soul which he sent out into the world without a heart has become evil. So be careful what you set your heart on. This story was first published in 1896 in the book A House of Pomegranates. - Summary by phil chenevertShow book
Some Adventures Begin and End Small Life after the Apocalypse is one daily grind after another. It's a good thing for Wendy that she's got friends. A lot of friends as a fairy summoner. But life in Exeter is not easy, even for a summoner and the grind of daily jobs and never-ending quests is getting to her. She's got one shot at getting a place for her own, a place of safety and maybe getting ahead. But it'll require Wendy to do the one thing she swore she'd never do again. Fight monsters. This is a short in the System Apocalypse universe, featuring a new character in Exeter, UK.Show book
A new collection of stories by one of America's greatest writers These new, recent, and reformulated stories by Joyce Carol Oates showcase a wide range of crime fiction and psychological suspense. A young, insecure woman finds her relationship changing as she grows more and more dependent on a man who likes to take her on long walks beside a dangerously roaring creek. Another woman, nervous around men, not quite knowing how to act when paid a compliment, becomes flustered when a doctor suggests they go out for coffee, or possibly a drink. She finally decides that she will join him when he suggests they meet at his home. A man is so forgetful that his wife panics and yells into his phone, asking where their daughter has gone. A young man is curious to see why sirens have filled the night and the police arrest him, beginning an unimaginable nightmare. A woman resents that a colleague has achieved greater success and thinks she ought to do something about it. It is impossible to know where a story by the creative genius of Joyce Carol Oates will end and what frightening paths will lead to that end.Show book
