Научная фантастика и фэнтэзи

Larry Niven created his popular "Magic Goes Away" universe in 1967, and it has been a source of delight and inspiration ever since. By asking the simple question, What if magic were a finite resource?, Niven brought to life a mesmerizing world of wonder and loss, of hope and despair. The success of his first story collection, The Magic Goes Away, birthed two sequel anthologies, The Magic May Return and More Magic. All three volumes are collected here for the first time, with stories by Niven himself, as well as contributions by such luminaries of fantasy as Roger Zelazny, Fred Saberhagen, Steven Barnes, and Poul Anderson. Featuring a brand-new introduction by Larry Niven, The Magic Goes Away Collection gives readers insight into the breathtaking world of Niven and Jerry Pournelle's The Burning City and Burning Tower and stands on its own as a landmark in fantasy fiction.

Hobbits and wizards and Sauron--oh, my! Mild-mannered Oxford scholar John Ronald Reuel Tolkien had little inkling when he published The Hobbit; Or, There and Back Again in 1937 that, once hobbits were unleashed upon the world, there would be no turning back. Hobbits are, of course, small, furry creatures who love nothing better than a leisurely life quite free from adventure. But in that first novel and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the hobbits Bilbo and Frodo and their elfish friends get swept up into a mighty conflict with the dragon Smaug, the dark lord Sauron (who owes much to proud Satan in Paradise Lost ), the monstrous Gollum, the Cracks of Doom, and the awful power of the magical Ring. The four books' characters--good and evil--are recognizably human, and the realism is deepened by the magnificent detail of the vast parallel world Tolkien devised, inspired partly by his influential Anglo-Saxon scholarship and his Christian beliefs. (He disapproved of the relative...

Pax Galactica. Enemies become allies. Old secrets are at last revealed. Long-held beliefs and widely accepted truths are challenged. Man turns to leisurely pursuits. In this golden age, two old friends are drawn together. They seek to understand, and wonder how what they have long believed, what they have been taught, was never so. Over two hundred years ago, the life of one of Starfleet's earliest pioneers came to a tragic end, and Captain Jonathan Archer, the legendary commander of Earth's first warp-five starship, lost a close friend. Or so it seemed for many years. But with the passage of time, and the declassification of certain crucial files, the truth about that fateful day -- the day that Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III didn't die -- could finally be revealed. Why did Starfleet feel it was necessary to rewrite history? And why only now can the truth be told?

YA-Move over gutsy female detectives-here's a daring woman spaceship commander waiting to claim a place in readers' hearts. Honor Harrington is sent in disgrace to the forlorn outpost of Basilisk Station, where military authorities hope she will be forgotten about. Instead, with her woefully under-armed vessel, the Fearless, she executes incredible flying manuevers in an attempt to stop foreign takeover of a major space station.

Book Description At last, we will learn the truth about humankind’s origins... But do we really want to know? The Ark of the Covenant ... Excalibur...The Holy Grail ... Finally, the world’s legendary artifacts havebeen unearthed, their secret powers revealed. Now, as the fate of Earth hangs in the balance, humans and aliens race for control of the final secret: the location of the alien mothership--our last best chance for survival. For Area 51 commander Mike Turcotte, the stakes are higher than ever...because the secret lies buried in the repressed memory of his former love, Lisa Duncan. Still battle-weary from alien wars that killed most of his Area 51 team, Mike is thrust into a final showdown--up against an alien army bent on total domination. With aliens in possession of the Final Option Missile codes, nuclear holocaust is a chilling possibility. The only bargaining chip is the mothership. For Mike, the questions...

This title takes a comprehensive look at the dragons of the D&D world from a variety of perspectives. It includes information on playing dragons and dragon-like creatures, how to run a dragon in a fight, and how to both fight dragons and work with them as allies. There are statistics on dragons of every type and at every age category, in addition to examples of lairs, hoards, and dragon minions. There are new rules, feats, spells, prestige classes, magic items, and other materials associated specifically with interaction with dragons including illustrated lairs and rules for creating treasure hoards. The book itself is designed in a prestige format, with heavy use of art throughout and constructed of premium materials.

Book DescriptionPopulist Huey Long once said that when fascism comes to America it'll come in the guise of anti-fascism. And in America in the year 2048 that is just what has happened. Multiculturalism, praised by many contemporaries, has become an absolute and indomitable force in a future where a tyrannical regime hands down the ultimate penalty to anyone accused of politically incorrect actions or attitudes. Liam Eustace is a lonely corporate nobody struggling to get by day-to-day in a world thatrejects him. But when he's mistakenly identified as a seditious military rogue he becomes swept up in a maelstrom of danger, deception and intrigue. Suddenly, Liam finds himself among a motley crew of rebels and patriots, not knowing whom to trust, and in possession of secret information that could bring down the most powerful man in the nation. He's scared, desperate and running for his life in a utopia that's more Hell than Heaven.Download DescriptionPopulist Huey Long once said that...

The only person who gets called Ballardesque more often than Chuck Palahniuk is, well... J.G. Ballard. So, does Portland, Oregon's "torchbearer for the nihilistic generation" deserve that kind of treatment? Yes and no. There is a resemblance between Fight Club and works such as Crash and Cocaine Nights in that both see the innocuous mundanities of everyday life as nothing more than the severely loosened cap on a seething underworld cauldron of unchecked impulse and social atrocity. Welcome to the present-day U.S. of A. As Ballard's characters get their jollies from staging automobile accidents, Palahniuk's yuppies unwind from a day at the office by organizing bloodsport rings and selling soap to fund anarchist overthrows. Let's just say that neither of these guys are going to be called in to do a Full House script rewrite any time soon. But while the ingredients are the same, Ballard and Palahniuk bake at completely different temperatures. Unlike his British counterpart, who...

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In the realm of Alera, where people bond with the furies-elementals of earth, air, fire, water, and metal-fifteen-year-old Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. But when his homeland erupts in chaos-when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies-Tavi's simple courage will turn the tides of war.

Book DescriptionBestselling author Kate Forsyth's mesmerizing return to the magical land of Eileanan. Condemned for lacking the horns so prized by her people, One-Horn's daughter must escape by riding one of the legendary flying horses to freedom-if she can stay on its back long enough. But to save a land where the dead walk and ghosts haunt the living, this strange, feral girl-renamed Rhiannon, the rider no one can catch-must convince the human apprentice witches she meets to trust the word of a wild, half-human girl.

Book Description Scientific genius Dr. Reed Richards's lifelong dream is close to being realized--a trip to space and to the center of a cosmic storm to unlock the secrets of the human genetic code. Financed by rival-turned-billionaire-industrialist Victor Von Doom, Reed's crew for the mission includes his best friend, astronaut Ben Grimm; Susan Storm, Von Doom's director of genetic research and Reed's ex-girlfriend; and Sue's hot-headed younger brother, pilot Johnny Storm. With benefactor Von Doom intow, the four set off for the exploration of a lifetime. But something goes terribly wrong, as cosmic radiation irrevocably alters their DNA...and their future. Back on Earth, the effects of the exposure are quickly revealed: Reed gains the ability to stretch and contort his body into any shape he can imagine...Sue is able to render herself invisible and to create and project powerful force fields...Johnny can now engulf his body in flames and take flight at will... and Ben, whose...