Traditional or cultural fiction and true stories, tales and retellings

Book SynopsisIn this lively and accessible account, with illustrations on nearly every page, Michael Loewe gives us a vivid picture of the lives of peasants working the land, the lives of town inhabitants, and the elaborate hierarchy of institutions and civil servants that sustained the vast imperial government. In a new Preface and an updated Bibliography, Loewe calls our attention to the significance of scholarly research and discoveries since the original publication of his classic work.

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Book SynopsisA collection of epics from the Miao (Hmong) ethnic group of southwest China. The poetic narratives, traditionally performed by two groups of singers, relate the creation of the world and the people and creatures in it. These mythic narratives serves as encyclopedias of traditional myths, legends, and folk customs of the Miao people.Trade ReviewBender has published translations and studies of Chinese minority nationality epics and folktales since the early 1980s. The current volume brings together about 20 Miao (Hmong) epic songs, grouped into six parts: 'Prelude', 'Song of Gold and Silver', 'Song of the Ancient Sweet Gum', 'Song of Butterfly Mother,' 'The Great Flood', and 'Westwards, Upriver'. Historical, geographic, ethnographic, linguistic, and folkloristic introductions help the reader understand the internal logic of the songs and the myths, legends, and folk customs of the Miao. Including ample notes and a selected bibliography, this is a book for those interested in folklore, epics, mythology, and ethnography. Summing up: Recommended. --J. W. Walls, CHOICETalk about 'persistent cultures'--this translation of the great epic, mythic tellings of the Miao/Hmong peoples is a window into a huge ancient soul of sustainable spirit and practice. Mark Bender's commentary provides context and details of places and singers that makes it even richer. This book provides new insights into how deeply oral recitation and performance can be embedded in a whole society, and some fresh, stunning stories. --Gary Snyder, author of Mountains and Rivers Without End

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Book Synopsis Butterfly Mother is a collection of epic songs from the rich oral tradition of the Miao (Hmong) people of southwest China. These poetic narratives, traditionally performed by two groups of singers, relate the creation of a world in which everything is alive, and listeners find that besides mountains, rivers, trees, and creatures, inanimate objects are also ''born'' and have spirits. In his engaging introduction, Mark Bender places these mythic narratives in their social and historical context, describing the workings and traditions of Miao society. Brimming with cultural lore, Butterfly Mother is a virtual encyclopedia of time-honored myths, legends, and folk customs of the Miao people. Trade ReviewBender has published translations and studies of Chinese minority nationality epics and folktales since the early 1980s. The current volume brings together about 20 Miao (Hmong) epic songs, grouped into six parts: 'Prelude', 'Song of Gold and Silver', 'Song of the Ancient Sweet Gum', 'Song of Butterfly Mother,' 'The Great Flood', and 'Westwards, Upriver'. Historical, geographic, ethnographic, linguistic, and folkloristic introductions help the reader understand the internal logic of the songs and the myths, legends, and folk customs of the Miao. Including ample notes and a selected bibliography, this is a book for those interested in folklore, epics, mythology, and ethnography. Summing up: Recommended. --J. W. Walls, CHOICETalk about 'persistent cultures'--this translation of the great epic, mythic tellings of the Miao/Hmong peoples is a window into a huge ancient soul of sustainable spirit and practice. Mark Bender's commentary provides context and details of places and singers that makes it even richer. This book provides new insights into how deeply oral recitation and performance can be embedded in a whole society, and some fresh, stunning stories. --Gary Snyder, author of Mountains and Rivers Without End

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Book SynopsisA cornerstone of Chinese popular culture, the legend of the White Snake the admirable demon who loves her victim has been continually rewritten, reinterpreted, and readapted for over five hundred years. This title opens a window into the variety of pre-modern Chinese popular literature.Trade ReviewBoth by introducing the legend in such artfully rendered translations and showing its evolution over time, Idema has opened an extraordinary window on traditional Chinese popular culture.In keeping with his record, Idema's scholarship is outstanding. His ability to translate popular texts into comparably idiomatic English is an outstanding achievement. An extremely valuable text for teaching. --Hugh R. Clark, Ursinus CollegeThese are very readable translations . . . [this] book would serve well as a textbook in Chinese folklore or religion classes as well as a sourcebook for the comparativist who knows little or no Chinese. --David Elton Gay, Indiana University, in the Journal of Folklore ResearchThis slim volume actually contains a microcosm of premodern Chinese literature in which we see the growth and transformations of a core theme through several genres. We thereby learn much about the story of White Snake, of course, but this approach also has much to teach us about the nature and dynamics of Chinese popular literature in general--and about the methodology of its study.--Philip Clart, University of Leipzig

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Book SynopsisTurn the page, and step into a stunning, evocative world where nature, magic and fate are inextricably linked, and one wrong - or right - step can take you from the modern world into one filled with both danger and wonder.This beautiful volume contains the award-winning novellas A Pocketful of Crows, The Blue Salt Road and Orfeia. Fully illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, with a brand new introduction by the author and three original short stories, this is a landmark collection which gloriously reimagines traditional British folktales into a timely, relevant and powerful new stories.''Perfect reading for a chilly autumn evening'' thesenovelthoughts''Stunning and original modern fairytales'' calturnerreviews''Thought-provoking and evocative'' Tor.comTrade ReviewOrfeia is tragic, emotional, beautiful, thought-provoking, moving and poignant * Bookmarks and Stages *This dreamy, melancholy novella is saturated with sacrifice, richness and a sense of layered worlds. * Metro *

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Book SynopsisRussian Folk Tales: A Reader is designed for English-speaking students of Russian language and literature. Each of the eight texts, which are graded from simple to more advanced, provides important pieces of original Russian, a glimpse into the culture of Russia through folktales and an understanding of basic and idiomatic grammar. It includes an introduction to the work or genre, vocabulary, and a variety of pedagogical materials to facilitate classroom discussion.

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Book SynopsisOf the many ballads, tales, and plays extolling filial piety (xiao)--the foundational virtue of imperial China--none was more popular in that era than the legend of Dong Yong and his heavenly helpmate, Weaving Maiden. Continually revised and embellished over a millennium, the tale's popularity remains, finding new expression in Chinese film and opera in the twentieth century.The five versions of the legend presented here, alongside a selection of related texts, illustrate changing perceptions of xiao from the tenth century through the first part of the twentieth in a variety of genres. An appendix traces the development of the related legend of Weaving Maiden and Buffalo Boy from myth to folktale.Wilt L. Idema's Introduction traces the evolution of the central legend and its significance in the history of Chinese popular culture. Annotations explaining terms and references that may be unfamiliar to Western readers, a glossary, and a comprehensive bibliography further enhance the value of this book for both scholars and students.Trade ReviewWilt L. Idema is Professor of Chinese Literature, Harvard University.

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Book SynopsisThe late-imperial legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the Butterfly Lovers--a story as central to Chinese culture as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is to Western culture--also relates a tale of two lovers help apart by social strictures. To audiences of the many Chinese ballads, plays, and films based on the story, the tragic ending offers proof that equality and happiness can only be achieved in a China freed from the traditional family system.This volume offers translations of the earliest versions of the popular ballad along with later literary reinventions of the tale; a variety of related documents reveal the historical and cultural origins of the legend. In his Introduction, Wilt L. Idema provides essential contextual information and discusses how the story of the Butterfly Lovers fits into modern Chinese concepts of gender roles and sexual freedom.Trade ReviewIdema's scholarship . . . [and his] ability to translate popular texts into comparably idiomatic English are outstanding achievements. --Hugh R. Clark, Ursinus CollegeA judiciously chosen selection of the highlights of the famous Liang-Zhu story cycle with a particular focus on earlier and little-known redactions in a multiplicity of genres. Expertly translated with glosses on cultural items, this volume will prove a boon to the English reader with an interest in the riches of Chinese oral and vernacular culture. Scholars and students of Chinese literature and culture will value this volume for the insight it gives into the emergence and development of the story at key points in the tradition. Teachers of Chinese literature, history, and gender studies too will find much to draw inspiration from in the introduction, the translated stories and the background material presented in this book. --CHINOPERL PapersA significant contribution to our understanding of pre-modern vernacular Chinese literature and the society which it reflects. An informative and insightful study that both specialists and general readers interested in Chinese culture, thanks to accurate and felicitous translations and concise and edifying commentaries, will find a delight to read. --Richard John Lynn, University of Toronto, in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

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Book SynopsisThe Essential Metamorphoses, Stanley Lombardo's abridgment of his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, preserves the epic frame of the poem as a whole while offering the best-known tales in a rendering remarkable for its clarity, wit, and vigor. While making no pretense of offering an experience comparable to that of reading the whole of Ovid’s self-styled history from the world's first origins down to my own time, this practical and judicious selection of myths at the heart of Roman mythology and literature yet manages to relate many of the most fascinating episodes in that world-historical march toward the Age of Augustus--and is accompanied by an Introduction that deftly sets them in their cosmological, theological, and Augustan contexts.

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Book SynopsisThe Essential Metamorphoses, Stanley Lombardo's abridgment of his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, preserves the epic frame of the poem as a whole while offering the best-known tales in a rendering remarkable for its clarity, wit, and vigor. While making no pretense of offering an experience comparable to that of reading the whole of Ovid’s self-styled history from the world's first origins down to my own time, this practical and judicious selection of myths at the heart of Roman mythology and literature yet manages to relate many of the most fascinating episodes in that world-historical march toward the Age of Augustus--and is accompanied by an Introduction that deftly sets them in their cosmological, theological, and Augustan contexts.

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Book SynopsisNo cycle of historical legends has enjoyed greater or more enduring popularity in China than that of the Three Kingdoms, which recounts the dramatic story of the civil wars (c. AD 180–220) that divided the old Han empire into the Shu-Han, Wei, and Wu states, and the eventual reunification of the realm under the Western Jin in AD 280.Trade ReviewBeginning with the swearing of brotherhood in the Peach Orchard and continuing on to the most famous battles and betrayals of the Three Kingdoms era, this selection of expertly translated plays enables readers to discover how the major heroes of the legend were portrayed on the Yuan and Ming stage. Informative introductions and annotations enhance enjoyment of the plays, as do appendices that expand on the core selections by providing alternate versions of some famous episodes. Translations of selected incidents from a popular history, the Sanguo zhi pinghua, enable comparisons between a popular historical account of these heroes’ careers and dramas about them. [This book is] indispensable as a companion to translations of the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as a student introduction to Chinese culture and theater, or as a guide for any readers simply interested in Three Kingdoms lore. --Catherine Swatek, University of British ColumbiaBattles, Betrayals, and Brotherhood is a brilliant introduction to one of China's best-loved heroic traditions. And of course the translations are wonderful—very lively! --Katherine Carlitz, University of Pittsburgh

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Book SynopsisNo cycle of historical legends has enjoyed greater or more enduring popularity in China than that of the Three Kingdoms, which recounts the dramatic story of the civil wars (c. AD 180–220) that divided the old Han empire into the Shu-Han, Wei, and Wu states, and the eventual reunification of the realm under the Western Jin in AD 280.Trade ReviewBeginning with the swearing of brotherhood in the Peach Orchard and continuing on to the most famous battles and betrayals of the Three Kingdoms era, this selection of expertly translated plays enables readers to discover how the major heroes of the legend were portrayed on the Yuan and Ming stage. Informative introductions and annotations enhance enjoyment of the plays, as do appendices that expand on the core selections by providing alternate versions of some famous episodes. Translations of selected incidents from a popular history, the Sanguo zhi pinghua, enable comparisons between a popular historical account of these heroes’ careers and dramas about them. [This book is] indispensable as a companion to translations of the classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as a student introduction to Chinese culture and theater, or as a guide for any readers simply interested in Three Kingdoms lore. --Catherine Swatek, University of British ColumbiaBattles, Betrayals, and Brotherhood is a brilliant introduction to one of China's best-loved heroic traditions. And of course the translations are wonderful—very lively! --Katherine Carlitz, University of Pittsburgh

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Book SynopsisIn the late 18th and early 19th centuries, attitudes toward history and national identity fostered a romantic rediscovery of folk and fairy tales. This is the period of the Golden Age of folk and fairy tales, when European folklorists sought to understand and redefine the present through the common tales of the past, and long neglected stories became recognized as cultural treasures.In this rich collection, distinguished expert of fairy tales Jack Zipes continues his lifelong exploration of the story-telling tradition with a focus on the Golden Age. Included are one hundred eighty-two tales--many available in English for the first time--grouped into eighteen tale types. Zipes provides an engaging general Introduction that discusses the folk and fairy tale tradition, the impact of the Brothers Grimm, and the significance of categorizing tales into various types.Short introductions to each tale type that discuss its history, characteristics, and variants provide readers with important background information.Also included are annotations, short biographies of folklorists of the period, and a substantial bibliography.Eighteen original art works by students of the art department of Anglia Ruskin University not only illustrate the eighteen tale types, but also provide delightful—and sometimes astonishing—21st-century artistic interpretations of them.Trade Review"Jack Zipes is back with a massive, beautifully produced volume. It is basically an anthology of mostly translated texts, but with a thirty-seven-page presentation and illuminating introductions to each of the eighteen thematic sections. At the end, we get fifteen pages of short biographies of the collectors of the tales and a twenty-eight-page bibliography of collections, reference works, and criticism. . . . A master in his field has to be congratulated on yet another achievement." --Hans Kuhn, Australian National University, in Journal of Folklore Research"Those with a particular interest in the early attempts at what is now considered the heart of the discipline of folklore will be delighted by what Zipes has gathered. . . . The stories are divided by ATU numbers into eighteen different categories that contain the most well-known tales. . . . Each category has at least seven tales, often more, and Zipes provides each with a concise but helpful introduction that describes the "general format" of the tale type and an overview of its history. The tales themselves are annotated, always including the precise source in which the text was found. Every category begins with the earliest Grimm version of the text and, if possible, a later version of two from the brothers. Also included in the book is a large variety of less familiar versions of tales. . . . I was excited to discover so many tales and tellers I had never come across before. . . . The book has an extensive bibliography, which by itself is an enormous contribution to nineteenth-century fairy-tale scholarship, and, helpfully a section with short biographies of the contributing collectors. . . . The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales fills a neglected gap by gathering the brightest examples of oral fairy-tale collection in its golden age. Such a text aids immeasurably the work of scholars who are interested in both folklore and the nineteenth century but his highly recommended for anyone fascinated by the fairy-tale form and its history." —Brittany Warman, The Ohio State University, in Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies"With the publication of The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales, Zipes has presented us with a rich and comprehensive anthology which functions equally well as a reference/resource book and a textbook, thus being well-suited for both the seasoned researcher and the novice scholar. It seems to lend itself particularly well for use in the classroom. This accessible and highly useful volume will certainly make an excellent addition to the library of any scholar or student interested in folk narratives in general, and folk and fairy tales in particular." —Nada Kujundžić, in Libri & Liberi

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Book SynopsisIn the late 18th and early 19th centuries, attitudes toward history and national identity fostered a romantic rediscovery of folk and fairy tales. This is the period of the Golden Age of folk and fairy tales, when European folklorists sought to understand and redefine the present through the common tales of the past, and long neglected stories became recognized as cultural treasures.In this rich collection, distinguished expert of fairy tales Jack Zipes continues his lifelong exploration of the story-telling tradition with a focus on the Golden Age. Included are one hundred eighty-two tales--many available in English for the first time--grouped into eighteen tale types. Zipes provides an engaging general Introduction that discusses the folk and fairy tale tradition, the impact of the Brothers Grimm, and the significance of categorizing tales into various types.Short introductions to each tale type that discuss its history, characteristics, and variants provide readers with important background information.Also included are annotations, short biographies of folklorists of the period, and a substantial bibliography.Eighteen original art works by students of the art department of Anglia Ruskin University not only illustrate the eighteen tale types, but also provide delightful—and sometimes astonishing—21st-century artistic interpretations of them.Trade Review"Jack Zipes is back with a massive, beautifully produced volume. It is basically an anthology of mostly translated texts, but with a thirty-seven-page presentation and illuminating introductions to each of the eighteen thematic sections. At the end, we get fifteen pages of short biographies of the collectors of the tales and a twenty-eight-page bibliography of collections, reference works, and criticism. . . . A master in his field has to be congratulated on yet another achievement." --Hans Kuhn, Australian National University, in Journal of Folklore Research"Those with a particular interest in the early attempts at what is now considered the heart of the discipline of folklore will be delighted by what Zipes has gathered. . . . The stories are divided by ATU numbers into eighteen different categories that contain the most well-known tales. . . . Each category has at least seven tales, often more, and Zipes provides each with a concise but helpful introduction that describes the "general format" of the tale type and an overview of its history. The tales themselves are annotated, always including the precise source in which the text was found. Every category begins with the earliest Grimm version of the text and, if possible, a later version of two from the brothers. Also included in the book is a large variety of less familiar versions of tales. . . . I was excited to discover so many tales and tellers I had never come across before. . . . The book has an extensive bibliography, which by itself is an enormous contribution to nineteenth-century fairy-tale scholarship, and, helpfully a section with short biographies of the contributing collectors. . . . The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales fills a neglected gap by gathering the brightest examples of oral fairy-tale collection in its golden age. Such a text aids immeasurably the work of scholars who are interested in both folklore and the nineteenth century but his highly recommended for anyone fascinated by the fairy-tale form and its history." —Brittany Warman, The Ohio State University, in Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies"With the publication of The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales, Zipes has presented us with a rich and comprehensive anthology which functions equally well as a reference/resource book and a textbook, thus being well-suited for both the seasoned researcher and the novice scholar. It seems to lend itself particularly well for use in the classroom. This accessible and highly useful volume will certainly make an excellent addition to the library of any scholar or student interested in folk narratives in general, and folk and fairy tales in particular." —Nada Kujundžić, in Libri & Liberi

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Book SynopsisThis brisk retelling of Le Morte D'Arthur highlights the narrative drive, humor, and poignancy of Sir Thomas Malory’s original while updating his fifteenth-century English and selectively pruning over-elaborate passages that can try the patience of modern readers. The result is an adaptation that readers can enjoy as a fresh approach to Malory's sprawling masterpiece. The book's most famous episodes--the sword in the stone, the cataclysmic final battle--are all here, while lesser-known key episodes stand forth with new brightness and clarity. The text is accompanied by an up-to-date bibliography, including websites and video resources, and a descriptive index keyed--like the retelling itself--to the book and chapter divisions of William Caxton's first printed edition of 1485.Trade Review"I've just finished reading Joseph Glaser's Le Morte D'Arthur. I'm very pleased with it: the introduction is helpful without becoming an extended essay, the suggested reading seems solid and diverse, and the index is VERY useful, even for someone who has read Malory before. At last, a reader can keep all the knights and ladies straight! A fine entry point to a grand text, and when I next have an occasion to teach a course involving chivalry, I'll plan to use this very affordable edition." —Craig Caldwell, Department of History, Appalachian State University"A highly readable, reduced, and modernized Malory. . . . The effective condensation of a seemingly uncontainable network of narratives is an impressive feat. . . . Glaser's storylines are distinct, not dense, his dialogue is concise, not digressive, and his language is unassuming, not luxuriant. While these features do not match most readers' impressions of Malory's style, his Arthurian tales of adventure, love, death, and betrayal are all here for a new readership to relish. "[T]his new narrative brings the intersections of plot lines to the fore, helping readers to see the larger structural connections between seemingly disparate episodes and themes. With some of the density removed, readers can more readily see storylines that often get submerged, such as the ongoing feud between the families of King Pellinor and King Lot that starts, stops, and reignites across multiple books. Glaser even appends a detailed index of characters and important objects that includes short descriptions of their appearances in sequence throughout the text. This index is exceedingly helpful because it highlights unifying themes and character development as well as clearly demonstrates that the main character of the Morte is Lancelot, not Arthur. Whereas Arthur's index entry is approximately a page and a half long, Tristram's is two pages, and Lancelot's is close to three. The index also reveals amusing repetitions and contradictions, including two dead Colgrevaunces and five Elaines." —Alex Mueller, University of Massachusetts, Boston, in The Medieval Review"Glaser's project of modernizing and condensing Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur is refreshingly successful. Both an extremely accessible introduction to the text for beginners and a handy reference tool for experts, the compact volume can easily be enjoyed by all modern readers." —Rachel Levinson-Emley, University of California, Santa Barbara, in Comitatus"Preserves most of the original and provides a simplified reduction for the bewildering array of plot lines and characters who wind in, and out, and often back in again to the narrative thread. Hackett Publishing Company and Joseph Glaser have provided an aesthetically appealing, serviceable, and inexpensive addition to the Malory shelf.” —Katherine Haynes, Aquinas College Nashville, in Sixteenth Century Journal

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Book SynopsisThe time of peace is over. The time of war has begun.Bera is struggling to reconcile her desire to be an ordinary woman with the weight of her Valla duty to shape the future. Love and friendship vie with her longing for freedom at sea on her beloved longboat. Warned that Chaos is coming and that Vikings have taken her kin as slaves, Bera realises her destiny is to follow them to Wolf Island, a land that has abandoned the old gods. In a quest to save her loved ones, Bera must use her smith’s iron lore and the knowledge of her Valla ancestors to follow an ancient path into a dark labyrinth, where human time is meaningless. There, she confronts her worst foe to finally bring peace – at the cost of a life.The voyage that began with Sea Paths and continued with Obsidian ends with Landfall, Bera’s most dangerous and important journey of all.

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Book SynopsisCowrie travels to Hawaii and as she circles the island in an old pick-up truck we discover the tokens of her heritage. Sensual and sexual language brings the earth to life, and Cowrie too as she tests the limits of her endurance and explores her erotic connection with the earth. Island life erupts through the descriptions and you can taste the tropical fruit, the fish cooked in banana leaves and coconut, and smell the sweet fresh ginger.Trade Review"There is freshness, humour and honesty in the writing ... It both charms and enlightens." --"Canberra Times"

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Book SynopsisEvery retelling of a myth is a reworking of it. Every hearing or reading of a myth is a recreation of it. It is only when we engage with a myth that it resonates, becomes charged and recharged with meaning. And so it is in Building Babel, a book that re-engages with myth through the cyberworld, where worlds intersect and are transformed.Trade Review"Suniti Namjoshi is an inspired fabulist." --Marina Warner

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of the acclaimed 'Godmothers' comes a new and startling novel. Beginning in the South Pacific and stretching back to a Mediterranean past, Sandi Hall explores a friendship that could affect the history of the world. When Dory Previn asked Did Jesus have a sister? Sandi Hall discovered that he did.Trade Review"Move over, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: this is a Gospel for the new millennium." --Denis Welch, "NZ Listener"

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Book SynopsisThe Edinburgh Festival brings together artists from all over the world, and Cowrie is among them, telling stories and giving readings. But even Cowrie can’t anticipate the chemistry that will begin when a group of traditional storytellers sets off to the Orkney Islands with Ellen, to stay at her coastal family cottages. For Ellen turns out to be Morrigan, and Morrigan is a selkie, living in the sea and on land. As an ancient mystery unravels, Cowrie and Sasha must turn detective to discover the truth behind Morrigan and the song of the selkies.

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Book SynopsisOn the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche What mountains mean to me: in one word, awe-inspiring. Although we can measure them, our minds are incapable of actually grasping the very small or the very large things in nature: neither atomic particles nor astronomical distances. How big is a mountain, how much does it weigh? Our limited minds can only cope with subjective assessments such as how difficult is it to climb, how dangerous would an avalanche be? So the feelings it produces are awe, a little fear, and possibly exhilaration if and when we think that we have conquered the mountain - but in reality we never can. ~ Professor David Hunt All the stories presented in this collection contain shamanic elements, so the obvious starting point is to explain what is meant by this. The term ''shaman'' is a controversial one. Initially employed by early anthropologists to refer to a specific category of magical practitioners from Siberia, the term is now widely used to denote similar practitioners from a variety of cultures around the world. This application of an originally culture-specific term to a more general usage has caused problems with regard to definition, with disagreements among scholars over whether certain features, such as soul flight or possession, or certain types of altered states of consciousness, should or should not be listed among the core characteristics of shamanism (Wilby, 2011, p.252). Introduction What are Mountains for you? Soul Captivation on White Bone Mountain The Magic Brush and the Golden Mountain The Legend of Amirani The Story of Jumping Mouse The Children of Hamelin: A Shamanic Journey into Mount Poppenberg The Crystal Clear Waters of Mount Elbruz The Vision Quest, Mount Sinai, and a Dream Fulfilled Mount Ararat Mount Koya-san, the Hermit''s Cave, and Fujiyama Sacred Towers The Fool on the Hill and the Book of Mysteries The Tobacco of Harisaboqued The Princess of the Tower Appendix: The Baal Shem Tov - Rabbi, Religious Formulator or Shaman?

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Book SynopsisSandor Esterhazy is descended from a long line of talented pianists, but has no desire to play. So, one snowy afternoon, he promises his soul to the devil in exchange for a life of his own choosing. Afterwards, he laughs it off as a joke, but that night the devil arrives dragging someone - or something - with him. Uncertain what to do with the bewildered creature, Sandor locks it in the basement, allowing it out only once a night to visit the piano room - the creature, who he names Ferdi, is desperate to play. Sandor slips easily into his new role of captor, but as Ferdi learns what it is to be human, tensions between the two escalate, and Ferdi escapes into the world...Trade Review'Like a beautiful melody played on the very edge of hearing, The Piano Room demands your attention while remaining elusive. Utterly captivating' —Lynda Clark, author of 'Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories'; 'A dark and beautifully written tale, seeped in music, yearning and breathless intrigue' —Edward Vass, author of 'Milton in Purgatory'

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Book SynopsisMidgard is a funeral pyre. RagnarÖk, the doom of the gods, has brought the Empire of the Heavens to ruin. For some, the harrowing promises a new beginning. Mother JÖrÐ will rise again, and new gods will return to the golden tables of old. But IÐunn Lind, keeper of the great World Tree Yggdrasil, no longer believes in ancient prophecy or the hand of fate. Across the veil, Churchwarden Michaels is stuck dealing with his own personal RagnarÖk - and just how to save his neck now that three Viking crosses have appeared overnight at St. Mary's. When the boundaries between realities fracture, the two guardians discover that the gods not only play dice with the Vikingverse, they are rolling snake-eyes. In this new chapter of the Vikingverse, the tapestry of time unfurls in deadly new ways.

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Book SynopsisTEXT IN GERMAN. The fairy-tales by the Brothers Grimm presented in this book were selected and illustrated by the artist Dorothee Menzel, who lives with the German scholar Carl Wege in a little village near Bremen. The artist's pictures seem to restore the unity of man and nature. The charm of the numerous colour illustrations makes it possible for both children and adults to relate to the world of folk poetry in a new way.

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Book SynopsisTales from old Siam depict a land of waterways, temples, monks, rice paddies, fishermen, mountains, jungles, palm trees, and beaches. Stories of Kings, Queens, love, life, rich, poor, wicked, and humble.

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Book SynopsisCollectors in the 19th and early 20th centuries published stories from around the world in English translations for general readers. Kirin Narayan is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of "Storytellers, Saints and Scoundrels."

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Book SynopsisEach story will thrill your imagination and offer a gentle yet profound lesson at the end. Accompanied by striking artwork, A Treasury of Indian Fables brings witty and adventurous stories from across the subcontinent!

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Book SynopsisIn the not-so-distant future, India has fallen, and the world is on the brink of an apocalyptic war. An attack by the terrorist group Invisible Hand has brutally eliminated the Indian Prime Minister and the union cabinet. As a national emergency is declared, chaos, destruction and terror reign supreme.

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