![]() ![]() She grew up imbued with the culture and poetry of the troubadours, and her beauty was famous. Eleanor was a true daughter of the south of France, raised in a society in which women were valued more highly than elsewhere, and morals were lax.Both Eleanor and Henry were larger-than-life, charismatic characters. ![]() Her marriage to Henry II of England, which is the focus of Captive Queen, was one of the most passionate and tempestuous in history.The transfer of that landed inheritance, first to France and then to England, set the pattern of European diplomacy and warfare for the next four centuries. Her lands comprised half of what is now France, making her the greatest heiress in Europe.Eleanor was queen first to Louis VII of France and then to Henry II of England.Captive Queen tells the epic and dramatic tale of this strong and remarkable woman who held her own in a male-dominated world.Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) is arguably the most important and admired female figure in medieval European history.Interesting Facts About Eleanor of Aquitaine, from Alison Weir ![]()
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![]() ![]() In Stone Blind, classicist and comedian Natalie Haynes turns our understanding of this legendary myth on its head, bringing empathy and nuance to one of the earliest stories in which a woman-injured by a powerful man-is blamed, punished, and monstered for the assault. Until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon. Cursed with the power to destroy all she loves with one look, Medusa condemns herself to a life of solitude. Writhing snakes replace her hair and her gaze will turn any living creature to stone. Punished for Poseidon’s actions, Medusa is forever transformed. Furious by the violation of her sacred space, Athene takes revenge-on the young woman. When the sea god Poseidon assaults Medusa in Athene’s temple, the goddess is enraged. ![]() Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know. ![]() Unlike her siblings, Medusa grows older, experiences change, feels weakness. The only mortal in a family of gods, Medusa is the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. They will fear you and flee you and call you a monster. The national bestselling author of A Thousand Ships and Pandora's Jar returns with a fresh and stunningly perceptive take on the story of Medusa, the original monstered woman. She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories.”- Telegraph (UK) Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() In the eyes of spirit, little things count. Dan discovers that the life and practice of the peaceful warrior is action. ![]() As Dan learns to live the life of a peaceful warrior, he is led toward a final confrontation that will deliver or destroy him. With this inauspicious meeting, Dan begins an odyssey of understanding that takes him through the door of awakening. one morning, while trying to walk off the confusion and dissatisfaction of his life as a college student and athlete. Dan meets Socrates at a gas station at 3 a.m. We travel with Dan on his journey as he is guided by a powerful old warrior named Socrates, and tempted by an elusive, playful woman named Joy. ![]() It's said that there's one journey but many paths. This audio edition of the international bestseller Way of the Peaceful Warrior is based on the story of Dan Millman, a world champion athlete who journeys into realms of romance and magic, light and dark, body, mind, and spirit. Print Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives ![]() ![]() ![]() However… this is also offset by the fact that I’ve sold two short stories–one sale I think I can’t announce yet, and the other… Sheila Williams let me know she was taking “Starsong” for Asimov’s. to doing Vietnamese early in the morning, which always makes me feel inadequate as a language learner (but offset by the fact that I think I’m getting somewhere with the latest short story brainstorming, yay!). With my favourite secondary characters ever, the cabal of aunts who know what is good for you (even if you don’t!). ![]() Set in the postcolonial corner of Xuya (except no mindships this time around!). She does what she’s told to, an obedient daughter beholden to her elders, never raising a fuss or complaining– the shining example of filial piety extolled in the tales her girlfriend Thuy so painstakingly reconstitutes in her spare hours. By now, she doesn’t question the aunts’ knowledge or how they came by it. This one took a lot of work whipping into shape, so many thanks to Ken Liu, Bo Balder, Joe Crow, Pam Wallace–and special ones to Tricia Sullivan, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz and Benjanun Sriduangkaew for keeping up my faith in the story.Ĭam finds Pham Thi Thanh Ha in her house, as she expected. Also quite pleased to announce I sold my novelette “Memorials” to Asimov’s. Haven’t seen a TOC yet, but I know the volume contains at least “The Waves” from Ken Liu–nice company to be in :p Hartwell’s Year’s Best Science Fiction, out from Tor sometime this year. “Two Sisters In Exile” will be reprinted in David G. ![]() ![]() But he created a financial strategy to prepare for it. Taleb knew an extreme and unpredictable event would happen, he just didn’t know when. They didn’t even seem to realize the massive risks they were taking every day, while acting like they were being conservative. And the professional investors can’t predict stock prices at all. The economists at the worlds best universities can’t predict where the market will go even with all their fancy models. He was surprised to find out none of these people really know what is going on. Afterwards he worked for an investment firm in Manhattan where he worked alongside professional traders. ![]() Near the end of his studies, Nassim Taleb went to the prestigious Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania where he listened to distinguished professors and top executives from big companies. He offers a new perspective for how we can deal with randomness, risk and uncertainty in our lives. ![]() He’s also been professor at several universities, including now being Professor of Risk Engineering at NYU. Nassim Taleb is an author and scholar, and he used to be a financial trader. ![]() ![]() ![]() The seventh sub-series, The Broken Code (2019–2021), focuses on the cats' connection to their religion, and what happens when they are cut off from it by a vengeful spirit. The sixth sub-series, A Vision of Shadows (2016–2018) details the return of a lost Clan as well as a troublesome group of outsiders. The fifth sub-series, Dawn of the Clans (2013–2015) details the formation of the Clans. The third sub-series, Power of Three (2007–2009), centers around three prophesied cats with extraordinary powers, and the fourth sub-series, Omen of the Stars (2009–2012) details said cats using their powers to defeat evil spirit cats. Warriors: The New Prophecy (2005–2006) continues with a focus on the next generation of cats, and chronicles the four Clans' journey to a new home. It details the adventures of a "kittypet" ( housecat) named Rusty who joins ThunderClan, one of the warrior cat clans who inhabit the forest. The first, Warriors: The Prophecies Begin, was published from 2003 to 2004. There are currently eight sub-series, each containing six books. The concept and plot of the pilot series was developed by series editor Victoria Holmes. Published by HarperCollins, the series is written by authors Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry, as well as others, under the collective pseudonym Erin Hunter. ![]() The series is primarily set in fictional forests. Warriors (also known as Warrior Cats) is a series of novels based on the adventures and drama of multiple Clans of feral cats. ![]() ![]() Today, he's got multiple space objects named after him-an asteroid, a crater on the moon, a landing site on Mars. ![]() So Bradbury went very quickly from a science fiction writer who would be read by science fiction fans and no one else to one of America's greatest short story writers. And with a bunch of stories about people trying to explore and colonize Mars, The Martian Chronicles didn't seem poised to change that.īut The Martian Chronicles got a positive review from Christopher Isherwood, who was a Very Serious Novelist. When this book first came out, in 1950, it was published as science fiction, a genre that didn't get much respect at the time (see " Genre" for more about that). It was The Martian Chronicles that put Bradbury on the map. We're talking timeless literature, here.Īlong with Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles is the best-known and most-loved book by Ray Bradbury. ![]() It's about racial prejudice, colonization, the devastation of war, the struggle between men and women, and, most of all, the triumph of the human spirit. Thing is, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles isn't really about Mars. (Or that our cars are still firmly on the ground in 2015.) The problem with setting your science fiction book in a definite future-in, say, 1999-is that it's kind of a bummer to get to 1999 and realize that we still haven't landed people on Mars. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Now Beatrice has one last shot at answers… and at life.Īnd so begins the Neverworld Wake. Blithely, he announces the impossible: time for them has become stuck, snagged on a splinter that can only be removed if the former friends make the harshest of decisions. Then a mysterious man knocks on the door. But as the night plays out in a haze of stilted jokes and unfathomable silence, Beatrice senses she’s never going to know what really happened. One year after graduation, Beatrice is returning to Wincroft-the seaside estate where they spent so many nights sharing secrets, crushes, plans to change the world-hoping she’ll get to the bottom of the dark questions gnawing at her about Jim’s death. Then the shocking death of Jim-their creative genius and Beatrice’s boyfriend-changed everything. ![]() Once upon a time, back at Darrow-Harker School, Beatrice Hartley and her six best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. *Huge thanks to PRHInternational/PRHGlobal for sending me an e-galley. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book. Genre : Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction ![]() ![]() ![]() At one time Turner, like God, seemed to be everywhere, whether it was her face staring back at us through record store windows, or the woman herself strutting across stage in one of her trademark black leather miniskirts and gravity-defying wigs. It seems almost redundant to again trot out the chronology of a life that was chronicled in no fewer than three memoirs, a biopic, a jukebox musical, and the well-received 2021 HBO/Sky joint production Tina, which drew the best TV documentary ratings since the Michael Jackson expose, Leaving Neverland. ![]() ![]() That was the life trajectory of the artist known to the world as Tina Turner, who died Wednesday at the age of eighty-three. Even rock and roll can have produced few stranger paths than the one that led a then physically unprepossessing, raspy-voiced African-American named Anna Mae Bullock from her early days as a devoutly Baptist sharecropper’s daughter in Depression-era Tennessee, to her final years as a practicing Buddhist living in a whitewashed mansion overlooking the dove-blue haze of Lake Geneva. ![]() ![]() So eventually, decades later, I wrote about it. Monsters, magic, transformations, impossibly grand adventures, kidnappings and other crimes, and an Underworld where you could visit the dead-I loved this world. I think what I especially loved was that it felt far more like fantasy than religion. ![]() We didn’t know how to pronounce half the names, but we gave it our best shot, and got to know all these different gods and nymphs and heroes. It’s an excellent book, beautifully illustrated, and written simply enough for kids to understand but without being too sanitized it’s still got enough violence and craziness to do justice to the original stories. Thanks for having me, Jamie! My first introduction to the myths was when I was nine years old, and my grandmother gave me a copy of D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths for Christmas. I’m intrigued to know how that came about. Welcome to the blog, Molly! It’s clear from reading your Chrysomelia Stories that you have a real love for the Greek myths. ![]() Immortal’s Spring, the final instalment in the series, will be released on June 1st, and Molly has agreed to indulge me by answering a few questions. ![]() ![]() I’m thrilled today to be playing host to my good friend and critique partner Molly Ringle, author of The Chrysomelia Stories, a NA romantic trilogy inspired by the Greek myths. ![]() |