Title Search Results

Set in Vienna on the eve of World War I, this great novel of ideas tells the story of Ulrich, ex-soldier and scientist, seducer and skeptic, who finds himself drafted into the grandiose plans for the 70th jubilee of the Emperor Franz Josef. This new translation--published in two elegant volumes--is the first to present Musil's complete text, including material that remained unpublished during his lifetime.

"Musil belongs in the company of Joyce, Proust, Kafka, and Svevo. . . . (This translation) is a literay and intellectual event of singular importance."--New Republic.

The long-awaited moment is here, as Robert Newcomb brings his epic trilogy, The Destinies of Blood and Stone, to a triumphant close. Old questions will receive unexpected answers. Ancient prophecies will come to pass. New wonders and horrors will be revealed. And the lives of Prince Tristan and his sister, Shailiha–the Chosen Ones who alone can unite the sundered powers of the beneficent Vigors and the evil Vagaries–will change forever.On the far side of the impassable Tolenka Mountains, where the countries of Rustannica and Shashida fight an endless War of Attrition, a turning point has come. Vespasian, emperor of Rustannica, is desperate. The relentless battle has left his country battered and the treasury all but empty. Unless he can achieve a breakthrough his armies will crumble and the cause of the Vagaries will go down in abject defeat. But if he gathers all his strength in one daring throw of the dice, Vespasian may yet prevail.Meanwhile, in Eutracia, the wizards Faegan and Wigg make a startling discovery–a new form of magic that grants its users amazing powers. Among them may be an unforeseen method of crossing the Tolenka Mountains and entering directly into the War of Attrition, tilting the balance in favor of the Vigors . . . and bringing Tristan into full possession of the mystic endowments in his blood.But a new threat has surfaced in Eutracia. An ancient Vagaries spell has borne its poisonous fruit: half-human, half-serpent monstrosities who live only to slay and are commanded by a hideously transformed sorcerer-demon known as the Viper Lord.Now, as Tristan departs on a risky mission to cross into Rustannica and meet his destiny in an apocalyptic confrontation with Vespasian, Shailiha will remain behind to battle the Viper Lord and his murderous horde. Failure is unthinkable. But the cost of victory may be impossibly high.From the Hardcover edition.

Not since Terry Goodkind unsheathed the Sword of Truth has there been such an epic tale of heroism and magic that so captures the imagination as this monumental new work by a master storyteller. In The Fifth Sorceress, Robert Newcomb conjures a time and place wrought with exquisite detail, characters vividly drawn and deeply felt, and a history rich in glory and horror, splendor and secrets. . . .“We gave them a chance once, long ago. . . . We offered to share power equally, and in peace. But they refused and chose war. With them it was all or nothing. Wizard against Sorceress. Male against female. Light against dark.”It is more than three centuries since the ravages of a devastating war nearly tore apart the kingdom of Eutracia. In its wake, those who masterminded the bloodshed—a quartet of powerful, conquest-hungry Sorceresses—were sentenced to exile, with return all but impossible and death all but inevitable. Now a land of peace and plenty, protected and guided by a council of immortal wizards, Eutracia is about to crown a new king. And as the coronation approaches, the spirit of celebration fills every heart. Except one.Prince Tristan is a reluctant monarch-to-be. Though born with the “endowed” blood that will give him the power to master magic, and destined by tradition to succeed his father as ruler, he is a rebel soul. And when he discovers the ancient, hidden caves where strange red waters flow—possessed of their own mysterious magic—it only makes him yearn all the more to escape his future of duty . . . and succumb to the stirrings of enchantment within him.But more than tradition compels Tristan to ascend the throne. The very existence of Eutracia depends upon it. For after these long centuries of peace, dreadful omens have begun to appear, heralding something too unspeakable to ponder. And if indeed the old evil has returned, hungry to wreak vengeance, Tristan’s role in an ages-old prophecy must be fulfilled—or the cost to his kingdom and his people will be beyond imagination. It will be a battle like none ever known, against an enemy whose thirst for blood and domination is depthless and unyielding. And for Tristan, it will be the ultimate challenge: facing an adversary whose greatest weapon is the person he loves most—transformed into the instrument of his annihilation . . . and the catalyst that will doom Eutracia forever to darkness.

Epic fantasy found an exhilarating new voice in Robert Newcomb, whose monumental debut novel, The Fifth Sorceress, was hailed by readers and critics alike. And now, for all those spellbound by the tale of Prince Tristan, heir to the throne of Eutracia, his twin sister Princess Shailiha, the ancient wizard Wigg, and the fate of their enchanted land, there is indeed more—much more—to be told. . . .THE GATES OF DAWNFor three centuries, Eutracia was a kingdom at peace, ruled by a benevolent monarchy and guided by a council of wizards. But a horror from the past, long believed vanquished, returned with devastating fury. And when the battle against the bloodthirsty Sorceresses of the Coven was finally won, victory was not without its price. Now, the royal palace lies in ruins; the king and queen, the royal guard, and the Directorate of Wizards are dead; the land is lawless; and Prince Tristan— forced by the Coven to murder his father, the King—is a wanted man.In a cavernous underground labyrinth, once headquarters of the wizards’ council, Tristan has taken refuge with his sister, Shailiha, her infant daughter, the wizard Wigg—the lone surviving member of the Directorate—and the crippled wizard Faegan, returned from self-imposed exile in the forest of Shadowood. Together they face the daunting task of restoring order to Eutracia and winning back the allegiance of her subjects. But suddenly, even these challenges pale beside a truly terrifying turn of events. The sacred jewel that is the source of all magic has inexplicably begun to lose its power. Without its age-old enchantment to sustain their spells, the immortal wizards will perish . . . and magic will vanish from Eutracia forever.At the same time, a mysterious and ruthless mercenary has declared a bounty upon the head of Prince Tristan. And an army of wizards on a mission to rid Eutracia of monsters created by the Coven has fallen prey to an insidious breed of creatures—beings that can only have sprung from forbidden use of malevolent magic. With time and their powers dwindling, Wigg and Faegan desperately seek to discover who, or what, has succeeded the dead Sorceresses in laying siege to Eutracia. But when the shocking truth is revealed, and an evil that transcends life itself is made known, it is Tristan, more than any other, who will be stunned to his very soul. And it is Tristan who will be thrust into the ultimate battle—for his life, his land, and the course of his destiny.

With The Fifth Sorceress and The Gates of Dawn, the two previous volumes of the masterful epic The Chronicles of Blood and Stone, Robert Newcomb surged to the forefront of fantasy, proving himself the peer of Goodkind, Jordan, and Martin. Now, in The Scrolls of the Ancients, he takes his spellbinding saga of magic and adventure to harrowing new heights as Prince Tristan and his twin sister, Shailiha, face an ancient evil that threatens to bring death—or a corruption worse than death—to all that lives. . . . THE SCROLLS OF THE ANCIENTSVolume III of The Chronicles of Blood and StoneTristan and Shailiha are the Chosen Ones, prophesied to unite the opposing magics of the dark Vagaries and the benevolent Vigors. With the destruction of the Gates of Dawn, it seems that the wounded kingdom of Eutracia will at last have the chance to heal—and the Chosen Ones, under the tutelage of wizards Wigg and Faegan, can fulfill their rightful destiny.Alas, such is not to be. For there is another who unknowingly possesses magic in his blood—great magic that, in the wrong hands, could unleash unspeakable evil. To find this unsuspecting soul, the Chosen Ones and their allies embark on a dangerous quest that will lead from the mysterious Chambers of Penitence to the sacred Isle of Sanctuary. A quest that will change everything Tristan and Shailiha think they know about themselves and their purpose.But they are not the only ones searching. Krassus, a devoted servant of the Vagaries, has dispatched ships of demonic slavers to scour the coasts of Eutracia, capturing men and women and bringing them in chains across the monster-filled Sea of Whispers to the impregnable island fortress of the Citadel, where evil dreams take the form of living nightmares. Aided by Tyranny, a pirate as fierce as she is beautiful, Tristan and Shailiha struggle to destroy the wicked demonslaver fleet. Meanwhile, the ill-fated pawn of magic is being held by Krassus at the Citadel. It is there that Krassus seeks to awaken the magic in his blood, imbuing him with dark enchantments from the mystic Scrolls of the Ancients—and transforming him into a weapon of evil such as the world has never known . . . and will not long survive.From the Hardcover edition.

Lively tales of asceticism, wickedness, and virtue from one of India's great religious traditions Beautifully translated from the Sanskrit, the stories in this volume reflect the vital tradition of Jain storytelling between the seventh and fifteenth centuries. Some of their characters find bliss by renouncing the world, others by living within it in peace and moderation. There are stories depicting the painful consequences of a loved one's becoming a monk and the triumph of Jain women who win their husbands over to their religion. The climactic story follows an unsuspecting traveler's journey through a forest of destructive passions. Ranging from simple folk tales to sophisticated narratives of rebirth, The Forest of Thieves and the Magic Garden opens a window onto a rich religious tradition.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Every spy has a past. Every man has his price.   Long ago, a brutal war between the countries of Chaldus and Yndor left the mages with blood on their hands. To rid the world of destructive magic, they performed the Binding and vowed that never again would a magical war be fought upon the land. But the Unbinding has begun.   Someone is killing former Chaldean ministers and leaving a unique calling card: a gold coin in their mouths. Galatine Hazard recognizes the sign, because once it was his own trademark. He’s a respected man now, but someone is setting him up. To clear his name, Hazard has to reach back into his bag of tricks to catch the killer, a wily assassin who could bring the country to the brink of war and unleash the power of the ancients.

Filled with sex and violence--in and out of time and space--the three books of The Illuminatus are only partly works of the imagination. They tackle all the coverups of our time--from who really shot the Kennedys to why there's a pyramid on a one-dollar bill.

An NYRB Classics OriginalRobert Sheckley was an eccentric master of the American short story, and his tales, whether set in dystopic city­scapes, ultramodern advertising agencies, or aboard spaceships lighting out for hostile planets, are among the most startlingly original of the twentieth century. Today, as the new worlds, alternate universes, and synthetic pleasures Sheckley foretold become our reality, his vision begins to look less absurdist and more prophetic. This retrospective selection, chosen by Jonathan Lethem and Alex Abramovich, brings together the best of Sheckley’s deadpan farces, proving once again that he belongs beside such mordant critics of contemporary mores as Bruce Jay Friedman, Terry Southern, and Thomas Pynchon.