From *New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the second installment in the world-renowned   Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.* "The greatest writer of historical adventures today." —*Washington Post* Richard Sharpe. Soldier, hero, rogue—the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears.

At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron. After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever. Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived. From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut. From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Transmutation is transgender/transsexual/intersex sci-fi: A 20,000-year-old alien from outer space evolves her dog into a human and gives a machine to humanity that can rejuvenate with any kind of body desired. Sex/gender variance becomes common. Closets and bigotry disappear, but not before religion is confronted. When other aliens reveal themselves, their influence on humanity is also revealed.What would happen to people and society in general if a machine were revealed that could rejuvenate everyone in seconds—with any body of their choosing? A spectrum of intersex and gender diversity? The end to closets and bigotry? War? Chaos? How would we manage material resources? What about overpopulation?What would happen if that machine were presented by an alien from outer space, who evolved her dog into a human being, whose people have been here on the earth for 100,000 years? How has humanity been influenced? How could that affect religions? Social organization? How would human thought process mature if we lived for thousands of years?Transmutation is a Sci-Fi novel, satire, commentary on sex, gender and intersex-related social issues, which brings trans life to every person on earth. A fast read, it moves through tragedy, desperation, and excitement, to fun and humor, ending on a very positive note. Lori Faraday is 20,000 years old and has been living as a human on Earth for 12,000 years. She came from an advanced culture. In pain from losing yet another loved-one, she breaks with her code of ethics to give a technology to the world that allows people to rejuvenate for health and longevity, to transmute into a new, young-adult body of individual choosing—retaining the original brain (with health improvements) so the person is not a copy—curing all physical ailments and extending life indefinitely. Transmutation spans the solar system including the United States, the Middle East, Russia, Indonesia, and the White House on planet Earth, and also to various locations in outer space—dealing rapidly with a number of issues:Life and Death: Chapter 1 is desperate. Lori’s husband is dying. She fights for his life, unable to help.Change of Sex or Gender: Chapters 11-34. There are several characters who change physical sex or gender—in fact, it turns out, when a new one is available, a lot of people choose it.Reparative Therapy: Chapter 31. Scenes make it clear, the importance of saving helpless children from misguided attempts to “fix” gender issues in children. With conversion therapy and from a thousand other sources, children are denied needed, relevant health care and get the message their gender needs are demeaned, and that is not tolerated in this social evolution. Matter of fact— Well, you’ll see....On and on for more.

A group of friends end up having the craziest summer solstice of all time due to occurrences none of them seem to understand.Nate Bray and Cady Steward were an average eighteen year old couple. They juggled their time between enjoying each others company and enjoying the company of their friends Mike, Cera, and Taylor. But one disrupted summer solstice party and militant ambush later, everything changed. Now, with Cady and Cera taken hostage by these mysterious terrorists, Nate and the remaining group must work against time as well as their own shortcomings to ensure they save their friends and survive the night. And maybe they'll have a decent epiphany along the way...maybe.

Eile and Sunny of Team Girl love to go pub-crawling in the Dreamlands, especially when a mysterious patron offers them adventure and financial reward. However, trouble follows them like a love-starved puppy, and this Friday night will be anything but relaxing. This is a short story.Eile and Sunny of Team Girl have been lured to a slum tavern with an offer of adventure, sweetened by a rich advance in gold. When they arrive, however, they quickly discover that the deal isn't kosher, and they refuse the offer. Afterwards they decide to enjoy a relaxing evening just having fun.Unfortunately, trouble always seems to follow them like a love-starved puppy, and if two bruisers have their way, this Friday night will be anything but relaxing.

A new life, a new beginning on the ocean planet Mosa VI, commonly known as Blue, goes awry for one colonist and his family. A short sci-fi story. 2300 words.This is a short science fiction story of 1,800 words, plus a few hundred of Afterword.When a man decides to take his family to the clean, sparsely-populated ocean world of Mosa VI, commonly known as Blue, he gets more than he bargained for.This story went from brain-to-published in one afternoon. Hope you like it. Please leave a review on whichever site you found it.

All Henry has ever known is the fact that it is his destiny to save his kingdom. A child of royal birth, with magical powers at his disposal, Henry is the prophesied saviour of Mythesti. But can he survive his training, or will the pressure to be perfect be his undoing?All Henry has ever known is the fact that it is his destiny to save his kingdom. A child of royal birth, with magical powers at his disposal, Henry is the prophesied saviour of Mythesti. Learning what he needs to fulfill that role is a difficult path to tread, and the pressure to succeed is enormous. Can Henry survive his training, or will his need to be perfect be his undoing?This novella accompanies the Pursuing Victory trilogy, providing the backstory for the last of the King's Assassin antagonists.

Although the war rages between the Limphelm and the Mentilm, no danger is as great as the warrior Daleli. The only half-breed between the two kingdoms, he fights and lives for his beloved Juniel alone. But with Juniel's death at the hands of the barbarous Mentilm and the Limphelm plot to assassinate him, the monster within Daleli will be unleashed, ready to wash the world with waves of blood.The Autobiography of a Granada Cat: As told to Harley White "They call me Mama-cat and I answer to it, so I suppose that is my name, though it wasn't always. I was born in Andalusia, southern Spain, in Granada, an area that is hot in summer and cold in winter." So begins the picaresque, picturesque tale, true in the telling by its feline protagonist. Her lodging had been the street, along with all its dangers and discomforts, in magical Granada, whose charms were not entirely lost on this resourceful feline, even when in the throes of her own troubles. She describes the old city on the hill, with its labyrinth of narrow winding lanes, often sinister in their twists and turns, the Albaicín's spectacular vistas and crumbling old-style Arabic abodes, full of tourists and passers-by, thieves and outcasts, bohemians, donkeys, dogs, etc. Many original full color photos and illustrations accompany the text, putting the reader into the picture as the yarn unfolds. The great affection she and the lady hold for one another rises above all and dissolves the distinctions of their species. For she also realizes herself as part of a whole web of realities of cause and effect… “If there is any impression I would wish my autobiography to engender, with those readers who have remained throughout, it may be that there are deep dimensions of love (and spheres of its opposites) which resonate eternally– bonds of connectedness that even death cannot destroy.”And, ultimately, the cycle continues… for, in the end, “… the waves of life and death roll on, as they have for thousands of years and shall for thousands more …”

The crimson blossoms of the alien firedrop flower pull mankind into the stars. Though the firedrop offers no taste nor nutritional value, there is little humanity would not sacrifice to serve the firedrop upon a household's finest china. Space knows a thousand ways to kill those who dare float amid the stars, and yet the simple pulse and glow of an alien weed make all the dangers worthwhile.Catastrophe promotes Sal Maddox to the position of a harvester aboard the starship Klondike. But Sal is a green recruit, having served aboard the Klondike for only a few hops between the stars. Sal's education in harvesting the glowing firedrop, in collecting that treasure that swoons the hearts of women and men, must be a quick one. For he must face the dangers of descending to that small moon crowded by a giant and angry planet, where gravity and the void kill so easily those who dare journey to look upon the firedrop teeming in its strange soil. The harvest changes more than just Sal's bones, until that young spacer's heart calls a new landscape home.

Angelmass, a black hole deep in space, emits "angels," small particles that render humans calm, reasonable, and virtually incapable of lying. The Empyrean, human colonies in the far reaches of the galaxy, has discovered the angels and the power they wield. All members of Empyrean government must carry an angel. The Earth-based Empire, the Pax, view the angels as an alien plot to subvert humanity. They dispatch Jereko Kosta, an innocent academic, to spy on the Empyrean and find out the truth about angels. With Chandris, a grifter who dogs his steps, he enlists on an "angel-hunting" ship. Close up, Kostas learns the angels may be more dangerous than the Pax fear. Before he can react, the Pax dispatches their most powerful warship to confront the Empyrean. Now, Kosta and Chandris, among the few who know the truth about the angels, stand between the Empyrean, the Pax, and war.

Benji and Red couldn't be more different. They aren't friends. They don't even live in the same town. But their fates are entwined. A chance meeting leads the boys to discover that they have more in common than meets the eye. Both of them have encountered a strange presence in the forest, watching them, tracking them. Could the Madman of Piney Woods be real?

Rhis, princess of a small kingdom, is invited along with all the other princesses in her part of the world to the coming of age party of the Crown Prince of Vesarja, which is the central and most important kingdom. When Iardith, the prettiest and most perfect of all the princesses, is abducted, Rhis and her friends go to the rescue. What happens to Rhis and her posse has unexpected results not only for the princesses, but for the princes who chase after them. Everyone learns a lot about friendship and hate, politics and laughter, romantic ballads and sleeping in the dirt with nothing but a sword for company. But most of all they learn about the many meanings of love.

The Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, has uncovered actionable intelligence regarding an daring terror strike against the State of Israel and large Jewish population centers in major cities around the world."The Project," already in development for several years, will be Israel's response to this newest and most deadly of threats to its very existence.WARNING TO READERS:If you're anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-Muslim, pro-terrorism, a bigot, pro-hate, anti-Mormon, expect sex scenes and vulgar language for "realism;" don't read this book, you won't enjoy it.But if you love great sci-fi/espionage books and are generous enough to overlook errors (the author is partly blind), you will enjoy this exciting story. Please note that in some instances the writing is altered to reflect how Russians today, and Civil War era American Southerners of the past actually speak. (For example: In the Russian language the indefinite articles "a," "an," and "the" do not exist.) This is to provide an extra measure of authenticity to the characters and story line. (While he speaks several languages, the author is a native English speaker with an extensive vocabulary and textbook grammar.)DESCRIPTION:The Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, has uncovered actionable intelligence detailing a daring and highly organized, well-funded, strike against the State of Israel and large Jewish population centers in major cities around the world. Terrorists have obtained, modified and weaponized two biological pathogens secreted from a Level Four Bio Research Lab outside Moscow.A former Special Ops scholar from the U.S. is recruited to work with "The Project," an ultra-secret program. It is anticipated that a drastic and last ditch response to the attacks, utilizing advances in technology, will thwart the terrorists from executing their plan of annihilation.Before exploiting this extraordinary scientific discovery it must first be field tested in as controlled an environment as possible with measurable, history altering results. A violent and racist family, with criminal roots dating back to the American Civil War, has been identified for the first phase. The objective: Eliminate the sociopath patriarch of this family and carefully measure the time-line 'ripple' effects that could adversely affect the current timeline.The American Operative, Jeff Stauffenburg, is sent to Civil War era Virginia where he is taken prisoner during a surprise Confederate raid to capture fleeing slaves and their sympatizers. Critically wounded during the raid, Jeff finds himself facing death from a leg wound that is going septic. Should he survive that he still faces the hangman's noose as a northern spy.Without the successful completion of this first critical phase, the second phase comes to a halt even as the terror leaders continue to strengthen their presence with sleeper cells inserted within Israel and strategic cities worldwide. Should they prevail the terrorists will succeed in wiping Israel off the face of the map, guaranteeing that no survivors of world Jewry will be able to rebuild their country. Millions will die in abject agony.In Los Angeles one of the bio-agents is released early, by accident, in an apartment building killing the residents within minutes of its dispersion. This crises brings in the full weight of the United States counter-terror units, FBI, CIA, and the Centers for Disease Control; even as a Mossad agent monitoring the the foot traffic and conversations of the 'safe house' of two known leaders of the terror network, learns that this accidental release half a world away has moved the scheduled strike date well ahead of schedule.The story interweaves the lives, hopes and differing perspectives of the main characters who are well defined, leaving you to feel toward some as you would a friend while pitying and perhaps loathing others. The thrilling conclusion leaves you hungering for the next two books as you become emotionally invested in the lives and unfolding stories of the people in the trilogy.A complete story in and of itself, the exciting book takes you through twists that are at times expected, sometimes completely unanticipated and surprising - even shocking. As a bonus the first several chapters of the second book in the "Pendulum of Time" are included at the end of you

With a plot that twists and turns, super-villains in training, and a child prodigy as hero, this comic-book-style novel in prose is a darkly brilliant page-turner exploring the fine line between good and evil.