The old powers try to come back, and the planet is plunged into chaos, and civilization is destroyed, and it gets all violent and evil...the old legends tell that a hero...with the sacred turtle, always... Los Angeles, California. Neddie Wentworthstein is the guy with the turtle. Sandor Eucalyptus is the guy with the jellybean. Sholmos Bunyip wants the turtle...and he'll stop at nothing to get it. This is the story of how Neddie, three good friends, a shaman, a ghost, and a little maneuver known as the French substitution determine the fate of the world.

From Graham Hancock, bestselling author of Fingerprints of the Gods, comes a mesmerizing book that takes us on a captivating underwater voyage to find the ruins of a lost civilization that’s been hidden for thousands of years beneath the world’s oceans. While Graham Hancock is no stranger to stirring up heated controversy among scientific experts, his books and television documentaries have intrigued millions of people around the world and influenced many to rethink their views about the origins of human civilization. Now he returns with an explosive new work of archaeological detection. In Underworld, Hancock continues his remarkable quest underwater, where, according to almost a thousand ancient myths from every part of the globe, the ruins of a lost civilization, obliterated in a universal flood, are to be found. Guided by cutting-edge science and the latest archaeological scholarship, Hancock begins his mission to discover the truth about these myths and examines the mystery at the end of the last Ice Age. As the glaciers melted between 17,000 and 7,000 years ago, sea levels rose and more than 15 million square miles of habitable land were submerged underwater, resulting in a radical change to the Earth’s shape and the conditions in which people could live. Using the latest computer techniques to map the world’s changing coastlines, Hancock finds astonishing correspondences with the ancient flood myths. Filled with thrilling accounts of his own participation in dives off the coast of Japan, as well as in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Arabian Sea, we watch as Hancock discovers underwater ruins exactly where the myths say they should be—sunken kingdoms that archaeologists never thought existed. Fans of Hancock’s previous adventures will find themselves immersed in Underworld, a provocative book that provides both compelling hard evidence for a fascinating, forgotten episode in human history and a completely new explanation for the origins of civilization as we know it. From the Hardcover edition.

In Beyond Civilization, Daniel Quinn thinks the unthinkable. We all know there's no one right way to build a bicycle, no one right way to design an automobile, no one right way to make a pair of shoes, but we're convinced that there must be only one right way to live -- and the one we have is it, no matter what. Beyond Civilization makes practical sense of the vision of Daniel Quinn's best-selling novel Ishmael. Examining ancient civilizations such as the Maya and the Olmec, as well as modern-day microcosms of alternative living like circus societies, Quinn guides us on a quest for a new model for society, one that is forward-thinking and encourages diversity instead of suppressing it. Beyond Civilization is not about a "New World Order" but a "New Personal World Order" that would allow people to assert control over their own destiny and grant them the freedom to create their own way of life right now -- not in some distant utopian future. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Running - The Alien in the Mirror can be considered the prequel to the military scifi Iron Series but might also be the prequel to other science fiction thriller series. Ishmael Bodd 'wakes up' for the first time, a billion years in the future. He is a Citizen of Supercity, a city with no crime. But he suddenly feels compelled to commit a crime and goes on the run. He can never stop running.

Lofty, improbable thoughts. This should never have been a novel. But it is. Sorry. "Decline and Fall of Alternative Civilization" is literary fiction that may appeal to misguided men, unsettled women, disgruntled music enthusiasts and anyone fond of examining the strings from which physicists' yoyos spin.June McClunaghan, a luckless waitress and ex-flight attendant, ends up in Seattle in the early 1990s after a life of post-Joycean, Cubs-style defeat, and learns to play bass guitar at the height of that good ol’ coffee-swilling “Grunge Mania.” She loves coffee, hates grunge, so she and her friend Dedra Fatiuchka try to start a trashy garage band instead. No dice. But… …Dedra, a talented singer and computer geek who is disillusioned with the digital revolution, pranks together an impressively bogus press kit for the band and, in conspiracy with a studio-geek friend, her voice is overdubbed onto the dead tracks of a defunct band (that couldn’t pay their studio bill) and presto! A demo tape! No one the wiser, the whole shebang is sent to the offices of South By SouthWest in Austin, TX as a joke. SXSW, however, respond by offering the band—which doesn’t exist—a high profile showcase at the 1994 edition of the great, ballyhooed music conference. With the help of two guy friends, a guitarist and a drummer, they manage to slap together a functional combo and then embark to the big event only to lose their showcase by running afoul of one of the head festival honchos who pointedly yanks the rug from under them. But… …another disappointment in June’s doggedly optimistic life, they begin the long trek back to Seattle. When inclement weather forces them off the road, June gets caught in a flash flood incident that leaves her stranded and injured in the middle of nowhere. Rescued by a mysterious hot-rodder, she is thrust into yet another post-Joycean world with even more surreal elements. Here she begins to sense that this strange but benevolent character may actually be the fabled “Seattle Capper” himself—the unseen phantom responsible for a history of distributor cap thefts—and the same one who stole their cap in Arizona while the band was enroute to Austin.

Ming, born in a bleak outpost of Sichuan province, finds an unexpected glimpse of the world beyond when she when she meets a talking monkey with golden eyes and supernatural abilities—the immortal Monkey King, with whom Ming's destiny is inextricably intertwined. Determined to become a writer, Ming finds her way to New York, but she becomes employed by a by a crime ring to make ends meet and returns to China on the lam. Hope arrives in the form of her American friend Zoe. Together, they travel to the village of Ming's birth, where the clouds writhe like phantoms and the rain never stops, and where Ming and Zoe join forces with a certain down-and-out immortal who has an ambitious plan to save the world from capitalism run amok.When a nation of tycoons and financiers suddenly and inexplicably decide that the key to happiness lies in sharing one's wealth and pursuing a contemplative life, nobody suspects the newly formed tech company run by Ming, Zoe, and William Sun....

The STORY OF CIVILIZATION by Will Durant represents the most comprehensive attempt in our times to embrace the vast panorama of man's history and culture. This 11 volume set includes: Vo1 : Our Oriental Heritage; Vol 2: The Life of Greece; Vol.3: Caesar and Christ; Vol 4: The Age of Faith; Vol 5: The Renaissance; Vol 6: The Reformation; Vol 7: The Age of Reason Begins; Vol 8: The Age of Louis XIV; Vol 9:The Age of Voltaire; Vol. 10: Rousseau and Revolution; Vol 11: The Age of Napoleon

At 17, Kadsa is weary of traveling with her grandpa in search of their lost mystical home world. She yearns for a normal life—a chance to go to college, have friends, and a stable home. However, a web of lies about her identity leads her to a startling discovery and a quest to save her kidnapped grandfather. In a realm of dark forces and ancient deities, Kadsa must find the courage to prevent the world's annihilation. This adventure is a transformative odyssey, offering insights into resilience, truth-seeking, and the power of youth.

In the 23rd century, humanity has discovered the means warp space and time in order to explore the universe. Sean Philips, a research scientist, with his two children Jimmy and Amy travel the Milky Way galaxy in a private vessel known as the S.E. Dragonfly. On an expedition to a strange new world, Sean Philips is lost while at work and the children embark on an adventure to find him.In the 23rd century, humanity has discovered the means warp space and time in order to explore the universe. Sean Philips, a research scientist, with his two children Jimmy and Amy travel the Milky Way galaxy in a private vessel known as the S.E. Dragonfly. On an expedition to a strange new world, Sean Philips is lost while at work and the children embark on an adventure to find him.This book can be perceived as an educational adventure for children. It has elements of biology, geology, chemistry, mathematics, physics and astronomy. It is intended to promote all that can be achieved through the wonders of science and engineering.

Graham Hancock's multi-million bestseller Fingerprints of the Gods remains an astonishing, deeply controversial, wide-ranging investigation of the mysteries of our past and the evidence for Earth's lost civilization. Twenty years on, Hancock returns with the sequel to his seminal work filled with completely new, scientific and archaeological evidence, which has only recently come to light... Near the end of the last Ice Age 12,800 years ago, a giant comet that had entered the solar system from deep space thousands of years earlier, broke into multiple fragments. Some of these struck the Earth causing a global cataclysm on a scale unseen since the extinction of the dinosaurs. At least eight of the fragments hit the North American ice cap, while further fragments hit the northern European ice cap. The impacts, from comet fragments a mile wide approaching at more than 60,000 miles an hour, generated huge amounts of heat which instantly liquidized millions of square kilometers of ice, destabilizing the Earth's crust and causing the global Deluge that is remembered in myths all around the world. A second series of impacts, equally devastating, causing further cataclysmic flooding, occurred 11,600 years ago, the exact date that Plato gives for the destruction and submergence of Atlantis. The evidence revealed in this book shows beyond reasonable doubt that an advanced civilization that flourished during the Ice Age was destroyed in the global cataclysms between 12,800 and 11,600 years ago. But there were survivors - known to later cultures by names such as 'the Sages', 'the Magicians', 'the Shining Ones', and 'the Mystery Teachers of Heaven'. They travelled the world in their great ships doing all in their power to keep the spark of civilization burning. They settled at key locations - Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, Baalbek in the Lebanon, Giza in Egypt, ancient Sumer, Mexico, Peru and across the Pacific where a huge pyramid has recently been discovered in Indonesia. Everywhere they went these 'Magicians of the Gods' brought with them the memory of a time when mankind had fallen out of harmony with the universe and paid a heavy price. A memory and a warning to the future... For the comet that wrought such destruction between 12,800 and 11,600 years may not be done with us yet. Astronomers believe that a 20-mile wide 'dark' fragment of the original giant comet remains hidden within its debris stream and threatens the Earth. An astronomical message encoded at Gobekli Tepe, and in the Sphinx and the pyramids of Egypt,warns that the 'Great Return' will occur in our time...

I Reincarnated As The Evil God Of My Favorite Civilization. Takuto Ira succumbed to illness at a young age and ended up reincarnating in a world that resembles the fantasy turn-based strategy game Eternal Nations. Not only did he reincarnate into his favorite game, but as the god who commands the evil civilization Mynoghra. With Mynoghra's beautiful hero unit, Sludge Witch Atou by his side, not even legendarily difficult race traits will stand in the way of restarting their civilization! "Lord Takuto...won't you start over with me?" Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate! A tactical fantasy world is waiting for heroes like you! Join Eternal Nations today!

Will Barrent had no memory of his crime . . . but he found himself shipped across space to a brutal prison-planet. On Omega, his only chance to advance himself - and stay alive - is to commit an endless series of violent crimes. The average inmate\'s life expectancy from time of arrival is three years. Can Barrett survive, escape, and return to Earth to clear his name? "Yes sir. Well, there are three men outside trying to kill me...." "Quite right," Mr. Frendlyer said. "And today is Landing Day. You came off the ship that landed today, and have been classified a peon.... I\'m happy to say that everything is in order. The Landing Day Hunt ends at sundown. You can leave here with the knowledge that everything is correct and that your rights have not been violated." "Leave here? After sundown, you mean." Mr. Frendlyer shook his head and smiled sadly. "I\'m afraid not. According to the law you must leave here at once." "But they\'ll kill me!" "That\'s very true. Unfortunately it can\'t be helped. A victim by definition is one who is to be killed.... We protect rights, not victims." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Publishers WeeklySmith, a UCLA geography professor, explores megatrends through computer model projections to describe "with reasonable scientific credibility, what our world might look like in forty years' time, should things continue as they are now." Laying out "ground rules" for himself--including an assumption of incremental advances rather than big technology breakthroughs and no accounting for "hidden genies" such as a decades-long depression or meteorite impact--he identifies four global forces likely to determine our future: human population growth and migration; growing demand for control over such natural resource "services" as photosynthesis and bee pollination; globalization; and climate change. He sees the "New North" as "something like America in 1803, just after the Louisiana Purchase... harsh, dangerous, and ecologically fragile." Aside from his observations of "a profound return of autonomy and dignity to many aboriginal people" through increasing political power and integration into the global economy, Smith's predictions, limited by his conservative rules, are far from earthshaking, and suspending his rules for a chapter, he admits that "the physics of sliding glaciers and ice sheet collapses" as well as melting permafrost methane release are beyond current models, and that even globalization could reverse, with "political genies even harder to anticipate than permafrost ones." Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. FromHow will civilization change over the next 40 years if humanity balloons to nine billion, sea level rises by a foot and atmospheric temperature by several degrees, and globalization continues apace? From those assumptions, Smith, a university-employed geophysicist, posits answers with a focus on the Arctic Ocean and its coastline. Familiar with the Far North through scientific field trips, Smith embeds personal observations into his predictions about the effects of boreal warming. Becoming more accessible to ships, Arctic regions in Russia, Alaska, and Canada will experience a raw-materials bonanza, with oil, natural gas, minerals, and water resources likely to be exploited as permafrost melts and summer sea ice recedes. Festooned with data, his discussions of such prospects valuably avoid either environmental or industrial advocacy and lay a factual foundation for his readers to learn how demographic and economic trends in the world’s southerly population belts might influence development of the Arctic. Concluding with a half-dozen events that could upset his forecast, Smith exhibits trend-spotting skill in this readable account of the Arctic frontier. --Gilbert Taylor

One third of the angels rebelled and a bitter war followed. Some of the defeated rebels fled to Earth, becoming the bene elohim. There they raised mortal kingdoms. Avenging shining ones followed, and for a thousand years war raged. In the end, the shining ones dragged the bene elohim off Earth and chained them within Stygian prisons. But the Nephilim remained. They were the offspring of the bene elohim and mortal women. By studying ancient scripts, the Nephilim discovered a way to regain dominion over the Earth. The ancient war was reborn. GIANTS is the start of the saga of the war between Nephilim and men in the days before the oceans overran the Pre-Cataclysmic World. GIANTS is a novel by Vaughn Heppner, Writers of the Future winner.

In Beyond Civilization, Daniel Quinn thinks the unthinkable. We all know there's no one right way to build a bicycle, no one right way to design an automobile, no one right way to make a pair of shoes, but we're convinced that there must be only one right way to live -- and the one we have is it, no matter what. Beyond Civilization makes practical sense of the vision of Daniel Quinn's best-selling novel Ishmael. Examining ancient civilizations such as the Maya and the Olmec, as well as modern-day microcosms of alternative living like circus societies, Quinn guides us on a quest for a new model for society, one that is forward-thinking and encourages diversity instead of suppressing it. Beyond Civilization is not about a "New World Order" but a "New Personal World Order" that would allow people to assert control over their own destiny and grant them the freedom to create their own way of life right now -- not in some distant utopian...

SUMMARY: Captain Dominic Flandry has been knighted for his many services to the Terran Empire—an Empire which is old, jaded, and corrupt, as Flandry well knows. And while that “Sir” before his name may be an added attraction to comely ladies (not that he has ever lacked for the pleasant company of the same), he expects that it will also bring him less welcome attention from envious “colleagues” within the empire. What it is not likely to do is make him more of an object of interest to the Merseians, whose plots he has repeatedly foiled and who are much too aware of how much simpler their plans to replace the Empire would be if he were the late Sir Dominic Flandry. Flandry himself has come to understand that there may be no more point to all his victories than that a few trillion of his fellow creatures may live out their lives before the inevitable coming of the Long Night of galactic barbarism. At best, he may have postponed its coming and shortened its duration. But if that is the most he can achieve, so be it—he'll keep on fighting, hoping that the barbarians too will pass, followed by a new round of civilization.

Review". . . a case in support of a much greater antiquity for civilization, a convincing argument for the existence of advanced technologies in prehistory, and the outline of a lost fountainhead of world culture."(_SirReadaLot.org, June 2005_ ) “. . .essays by such well-known investigators as Robert Schoch, Christopher Dunn or Rand Flem-Ath examine surprisingly sophisticated technology in Pharaonic Egypt, and reconsider possibilities for a global catastrophe that may have altered the course of civilization. . . . this superb new book. . . has much to offer anyone questioning the official party-line concerning mankind’s ancient past.”(_Frank Joseph, Ancient American, Issue # 63_ ) "This is a great compilation. . . . the type of book that makes you question what you have been told and makes you want to discover more for yourself."(__Ladyfogg_, Oct 2005_ ) "These thoughtful, well-presented and impeccably researched essays form a foundation of history itself, presenting a totally different viepoint of who we are, where we come from, ans why we are here--not to mention where we may be heading."(__Curled Up with a Good Book_, Nov 2005_ ) "Read what researchers have to say about prehistoric technologies, evolution versus creation, earth changes, and even the case for extraterrestrial intervention. Look through the eyes of mystics, scientists, and researchers at the top of their fields and see what they have to say about some of the latest finds and discoveries. . . ."(_Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide, Feb 2005_ ) "_Forbidden History_ brings out why it’s so difficult to accept new ideas and how those with vested interests are firmly entrenched and filter out most everything that might threaten the accepted world view. This book slipped through the cracks." (_Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide, Feb 2007_ ) "The days of secrecy and suppression need to come to an end because challenging deeply entrenched and outdated scientific and religious worldviews are the hallmark of a civilized society evolving toward higher ideals and truth." (_Rahasya Poe, _Lotus Guide magazine, Issue No. 29, Jan/Feb 2009 ) "The book serves as an excellent introduction to hitherto suppressed and alternative accounts of history as contributors raise questions about the origins of civilization and humanity, catastrophism, and ancient technology." (_TheCrit.com, Jan 2008_ ) "This is an excellent compilation of the work of some of the key thinkers on some very highly charged issues, such as creationism and Darwinism." (_Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide, May/June 08_ ) Product DescriptionChallenges the scientific theories on the establishment of civilization and technology • Contains 42 essays by 17 key thinkers in the fields of alternative science and history, including Christopher Dunn, Frank Joseph, Will Hart, Rand Flem-Ath, and Moira Timmes • Edited by Atlantis Rising publisher, J. Douglas Kenyon In Forbidden History writer and editor J. Douglas Kenyon has chosen 42 essays that have appeared in the bimonthly journal Atlantis Rising to provide readers with an overview of the core positions of key thinkers in the field of ancient mysteries and alternative history. The 17 contributors include among others, Rand Flem-Ath, Frank Joseph, Christopher Dunn, and Will Hart, all of whom challenge the scientific establishment to reexamine its underlying premises in understanding ancient civilizations and open up to the possibility of meaningful debate around alternative theories of humanity's true past. Each of the essays builds upon the work of the other contributors. Kenyon has carefully crafted his vision and selected writings in six areas: Darwinism Under Fire, Earth Changes--Sudden or Gradual, Civilization's Greater Antiquity, Ancestors from Space, Ancient High Tech, and The Search for Lost Origins. He explores the most current ideas in the Atlantis debate, the origins of the Pyramids, and many other controversial themes. The book serves as an excellent introduction to hitherto suppressed and alternative accounts of history as contributors raise questions about the origins of civilization and humanity, catastrophism, and ancient technology. The collection also includes several articles that introduce, compare, contrast, and complement the theories of other notable authors in these fields, such as Zecharia Sitchin, Paul LaViolette, John Michell, and John Anthony West.

Ferguson is the most brilliant British historian of his generation ... he writes with splendid panache The Times One of the world's leading historians -- Hamish McRae Independent [Praise for The Ascent of Money] Beautifully written... Breathtakingly clever -- Martin Van Weyer Sunday Telegraph [Praise for The Ascent of Money] The tales he tells of boom and bust, of triumph and disaster, of bubbles that inflate... are the very essence of financial history -- Bill Emmott Financial Times [Praise for The Ascent of Money] An often enlightening and enjoyable tour through the underside of great events, a lesson in how the most successful great powers have always been underpinned by smart money

On a late September day in 480 B.C., Greek warships faced an invading Persian armada in the narrow Salamis Straits in the most important naval battle of the ancient world. Overwhelmingly outnumbered by the enemy, the Greeks triumphed through a combination of strategy and deception. More than two millennia after it occurred, the clash between the Greeks and Persians at Salamis remains one of the most tactically brilliant battles ever fought. The Greek victory changed the course of western history -- halting the advance of the Persian Empire and setting the stage for the Golden Age of Athens. In this dramatic new narrative account, historian and classicist Barry Strauss brings this landmark battle to life. He introduces us to the unforgettable characters whose decisions altered history: Themistocles, Athens' great leader (and admiral of its fleet), who devised the ingenious strategy that effectively destroyed the Persian navy in one day; Xerxes, the Persian king who fought bravely but who ultimately did not understand the sea; Aeschylus, the playwright who served in the battle and later wrote about it; and Artemisia, the only woman commander known from antiquity, who turned defeat into personal triumph. Filled with the sights, sounds, and scent of battle, The Battle of Salamis is a stirring work of history.From Publishers WeeklyThis engaging and informative account of the 480 B. C. showdown between Greece and Persia relies on the conflict’s foremost ancient chronicler, Herodotus, whom Strauss deems an "excellent historian" and "mainly reliable." While gently correcting some of Herodotus’s claims, military historian Strauss (Athens After the Peloponnesian War) stays faithful to his trademark blend of sensationalism and skepticism. He regales readers with lurid Herodotian anecdotes about oracles and omens, vengeful eunuchs and labyrinthine double crosses among the fractious Greeks, and paints colorful portraits of the cruel and impious Xerxes, the admiral-queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus ("combines the cunning of Athena and the seductiveness of Aphrodite") and the Athenian leader Themistocles, whose blend of military genius, charisma and manipulativeness obliterated the line between statesmanship and treason. Also in keeping with the spirit of Greek sources, Strauss celebrates their victory as a triumph of democracy and nationalism over a polyglot despotism, of the common Greek rower over the Persian aristocrat. At the same time, Strauss draws on other contemporary accounts as well as on modern scholarship to detail the Persian campaign in Greece and flesh out a picture of society and warfare in the ancient world, illuminating such topics as Persian court protocol, the prayers of Corinthian temple prostitutes and the proper method of ramming an enemy trireme. His combination of erudite scholarship, well-paced storytelling and vivid color commentary make this an appealing popular history for the general reader.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library JournalAdult/High School - This account of one of history's most famous battles has a fresh, invigorating tone. In 480 B.C., Xerxes, king of the Persian Empire, took a huge army and navy to invade Greece. Ten years earlier, his father's invasion to punish Greece for aiding Persia's rebelling subject states had failed. This time, Xerxes intended to get it right. Herodotus, Aeschylus, and Plutarch are the author's main sources, but he enriches the telling with details obtained from archaeological digs. Sights, sounds, and smells are evocatively described, whether Strauss is showing how the rowers powered their triremes or speculating about the dress of the participants at Xerxes's council. Although the improbable Greek victory is well known, the tension builds as Themistocles's traps are carefully sprung. Strauss is respectful toward his sources, but he corrects probable errors and exaggerations. Despite the huge number of known participants, he focuses on the most significant, so that readers aren't swamped by a recitation of names. When unfamiliar places are mentioned, he gives the modern names as well. In addition to being an engrossing story of an improbable battle, this book is an excellent, compact study of daily life in the fifth century. A timetable and photographs of Salamis and archaeological artifacts are included. - Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

100 Cats Who Made a Difference If you don't believe that one cat has the power to alter civilization, then you've obviously never heard of Tibbles (p. 12), the cat who single-handedly wiped out an entire species. Or Ahmedabad (p. 61), a Siamese kitten who sparked riots throughout Pakistan. Or Snowball (p. 14), the cat who helped to convict dozens of murderers and criminals. Or Felix (p. 155), the first cat to explore outer space. These are just four of the 100 Cats Who Changed Civilization, and this book honors their extra-ordinary contributions to science, history, art, government, religion, and more. You'll meet a cat who filed a lawsuit (p. 66) and a cat who was slapped with a restraining order (p. 75). You'll meet cats who have inspired great works of literature (p. 90) and classical music (p. 102). You'll even meet a cat who telephoned the police to save the life of his owner (p. 162). These beautifully illustrated true stories are a tribute to...

SUMMARY: Historian Brownworth presents an absorbing look at the forgotten Byzantine Empire, its surprising role in shaping Western civilization, and the lessons it holds for modern societies.

SUMMARY:Sir Dominic Flandry is now an Admiral, but takes little joy in his new rank. He sees the rot in the Terran Empire on every hand and knows that the Long Night will inevitably fall upon the galaxy. His consolation is that measures he has taken while doing what he can to postpone the Empirers"s final collapse may shorten the coming galactic dark age and hasten the rise of a new interstellar civilization. In the meantime, hers"ll enjoy the comforts of a decadent civilization-and hers"ll always be ready for one more battle against the Empirers"s enemies. This concluding volume of the Technic Civilization saga, one of the milestones of modern science fiction includes two full-length novels:A Stone in Heaven-When the daughter of Flandryrs"s mentor asks for help, he intervenes, and finds he must thwart a would-be dictatorrs"s plans to seize control of the Empire. The Game of Empire-The Merseians, alien enemies of the Empire, have put into motion an insidious plan to bring the Terran Empire down. Flandryrs"s daughter, Diana, and her feline-like alien friend have discovered the conspiracy, but can they stop it in time? Plus three novellas and a novelette set in the time of the Long Night and the renaissance of civilization which followed it, concluding one of the grandest adventure sagas in science fiction.

For readers who loved Prague or White Teeth: An inspired, sweeping debut novel that hopscotches from Arizona to Central Asia to Istanbul. With captivating insight, realism, and humor, this stunning debut novel tells the parallel stories of two native villages, each facing cultural extinction. It's the end of the twentieth century, and in the towering mountains of post-Soviet Central Asia, Anarbek Tashtanaliev is single-handedly providing for his small village in the face of a collapsed economy. But the cheese factory he manages no longer produces any cheese, and his favorite daughter has been stolen in an ancient nomadic courting ritual. When he is ruthlessly blackmailed, Anarbek finds himself at a crossroads between the traditional past and the uncertain future. He stands to lose everything he loves. Half a world away, in the high canyons of Arizona, Adam Dale is a young Apache basketball star and the future hope of his tribe. He struggles to...

From Publishers WeeklyHere Comes Civilization: The Complete Science Fiction of William Tenn, Volume II, edited by James A. Mann and Mary C. Tabasko, celebrates the achievement of a preeminent SF author of the 1950s. With numerous stories published for the first time since their initial appearance in magazines, the complete body of Tenn's only novel and an analytic essay, this second volume should receive as much praise as the first, Immodest Proposals.

The year is 2393, and a senior scholar of the Second People's Republic of China presents a gripping and deeply disturbing account of how the children of the Enlightenment, the political and economic elites of the so-called advanced industrial societies, entered into a Penumbral period in the early decades of the twenty-first century, a time when sound science and rational discourse about global change were prohibited and clear warnings of climate catastrophe were ignored. What ensues when soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, drought, and mass migrations disrupt the global governmental and economic regimes? The Great Collapse of 2093.This work is an important title that will change how readers look at the world. Dramatizing climate change in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, this inventive, at times humorous work reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do and reveals the self-serving interests of the so called "carbon industrial complex" that have...

"With shades of Umberto Eco and Paul Auster, this brilliant, addictive adventure novel is about the search for a mythical lost city located somewhere in modern-day Iran. As a succession of explorers and shady characters dig deeper into the landscape, the ancient secret of Suolucidir is gradually revealed. This is brainy, escapist fiction at its best."—Publishers Weekly, Starred & Boxed Review"The author's prose is rich with winking allusions and sendups of modern tomb-raiding tropes, down to an explorer with 'a long stiff braid down her back.'"—The New Yorker" . . . cerebral, satirical, and entertaining archaeological thriller . . . this richly crafted and handsomely written novel rewards rereading."—David Cooper, New York Journal of Books"It's always a delight to discover a voice as original as Susan Daitch's."—Salman Rushdie"One of the most intelligent and attentive writers at work in the US...

From Publishers WeeklyThis sprawling text reconstructs the history of civilization in order to illuminate the importance of water in human development from the first civilizations of the Fertile Crescent and the Indus River Valley to the present. Solomon (The Confidence Game) advances a persuasive argument: the prosperity of nations and empires has depended on their access to water and their ability to harness water resources. The story he tells is familiar, but his emphasis on water is unique: he shows how the Nile's flood patterns determined political unity and dynastic collapses in Egypt. He suggests that the construction of China's Grand Canal made possible a sixth-century reunification that eluded the Roman Empire. Finally, he attributes America's rise to superpower status to such 20th-century water innovations as the Panama Canal and Hoover Dam. Solomon surveys the current state of the world's water resources by region, making a compelling case that the U.S. and other leading democracies have untapped strategic advantages that will only become more significant as water becomes scarcer. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistStarred Review Solomon’s unprecedented, all-encompassing, and resounding inquiry into the science and politics of water is predicated on two incontrovertible yet disregarded facts: water is essential to life and civilization. After elucidating water’s defining role in the planet’s climate and quantifying the earth’s limited supply of freshwater, Solomon describes in vivid detail the water technologies of the ancient river societies of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. On to Rome and its world-altering aqueducts and advanced sanitation, a crucial subject covered in depth when Solomon turns to nineteenth-century London, after telling the fascinating story of China’s bold and transforming waterworks. By the time Solomon reaches America and its water-powered industrialization, it becomes clear that the technological marvels of one era deliver the environmental challenges of the next. The triumphs of water harnessed, therefore, give way to accounts of water polluted and squandered. Solomon shares sobering revelations about the harsh disparities between the lives of those who have water and those who don’t, reports on the cruel consequences of today’s water scarcities, and assesses the potential for a nightmarish impending freshwater famine. Seeking to inspire us to place a higher value on water and establish wiser approaches to its use, Solomon has created a brilliantly discursive and compelling epic of humankind and earth’s most vital and precious resource. --Donna Seaman