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Oxford Reading Tree, Treetops Myths and Legends, Level 16, Dark Blue: Mythical Beasts And Fabulous Monsters (PDF)
by Timothy Knapman Mike Phillips Harris Sofokleous Andrés Martínez Ricci Lily TrotterIn Mythical Beasts and Fabulous Monsters a prince faces the man-eating Minotaur, a Viking challenges the hungry Kraken, an adventurer rises with the immense Roc and a boy quizzes the wise Phoenix. Captivating versions of some of the best myths and legends from around the world. TreeTops Myths and Legends are fascinating and action-packed stories that will motivate and inspire readers. These are some of the oldest and most enduring stories in the world, retold by leading contemporarychildren's authors to bring out all of the action, drama, humour and depth of the original stories in a way that makes them as exciting and meaningful today as ever. The stories are beautifully illustrated in a range of styles to bring each tale to life. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development also available at a href="http://www. oxfordowl. co. uk/"www. oxfordowl. co. uk/a. The books are finely levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book.
Stories about Stories: Fantasy and the Remaking of Myth
by Brian AtteberyMyth is oral, collective, sacred, and timeless. Fantasy is a modern literary mode and a popular entertainment. Yet the two have always been inextricably intertwined. Stories about Stories examines fantasy as an arena in which different ways of understanding myth compete and new relationships with myth are worked out. The book offers a comprehensive history of the modern fantastic as well as an argument about its nature and importance. Specific chapters cover the origins of fantasy in the Romantic search for localized myths, fantasy versions of the Modernist turn toward the primitive, the post-Tolkienian exploration of world mythologies, post-colonial reactions to the exploitation of indigenous sacred narratives by Western writers, fantasies based in Christian belief alongside fundamentalist attempts to stamp out the form, and the emergence of ever-more sophisticated structures such as metafiction through which to explore mythic constructions of reality.
Stories about Stories: Fantasy and the Remaking of Myth
by Brian AtteberyMyth is oral, collective, sacred, and timeless. Fantasy is a modern literary mode and a popular entertainment. Yet the two have always been inextricably intertwined. Stories about Stories examines fantasy as an arena in which different ways of understanding myth compete and new relationships with myth are worked out. The book offers a comprehensive history of the modern fantastic as well as an argument about its nature and importance. Specific chapters cover the origins of fantasy in the Romantic search for localized myths, fantasy versions of the Modernist turn toward the primitive, the post-Tolkienian exploration of world mythologies, post-colonial reactions to the exploitation of indigenous sacred narratives by Western writers, fantasies based in Christian belief alongside fundamentalist attempts to stamp out the form, and the emergence of ever-more sophisticated structures such as metafiction through which to explore mythic constructions of reality.
As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality
by Michael SalerMany people throughout the world "inhabit" imaginary worlds communally and persistently, parsing Harry Potter and exploring online universes. These activities might seem irresponsibly escapist, but history tells another story. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, when Sherlock Holmes became the world's first "virtual reality" character, readers began to colonize imaginary worlds, debating serious issues and viewing reality in provisional, "as if" terms rather than through essentialist, "just so" perspectives. From Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and Tolkien's Middle-earth to the World of Warcraft and Second Life, As If provides a cultural history that reveals how we can remain enchanted but not deluded in an age where fantasy and reality increasingly intertwine.
Classics and Comics (Classical Presences)
by George Kovacs C. W. MarshallSince at least 1939, when daily-strip caveman Alley Oop time-traveled to the Trojan War, comics have been drawing (on) material from Greek and Roman myth, literature and history. At times the connection is cosmetic-as perhaps with Wonder Woman's Amazonian heritage-and at times it is almost irrelevant-as with Hercules' starfaring adventures in the 1982 Marvel miniseries. But all of these make implicit or explicit claims about the place of classics in modern literary culture. Classics and Comics is the first book to explore the engagement of classics with the epitome of modern popular literature, the comic book. This volume collects sixteen articles, all specially commissioned for this volume, that look at how classical content is deployed in comics and reconfigured for a modern audience. It opens with a detailed historical introduction surveying the role of classical material in comics since the 1930s. Subsequent chapters cover a broad range of topics, including the incorporation of modern theories of myth into the creation and interpretation of comic books, the appropriation of characters from classical literature and myth, and the reconfiguration of motif into a modern literary medium. Among the well-known comics considered in the collection are Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City, DC Comics' Wonder Woman, Jack Kirby's The Eternals, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and examples of Japanese manga. The volume also includes an original 12-page "comics-essay," drawn and written by Eisner Award-winning Eric Shanower, creator of the graphic novel series Age of Bronze.
Classics and Comics (Classical Presences)
by C. W. Marshall George KovacsSince at least 1939, when daily-strip caveman Alley Oop time-traveled to the Trojan War, comics have been drawing (on) material from Greek and Roman myth, literature and history. At times the connection is cosmetic-as perhaps with Wonder Woman's Amazonian heritage-and at times it is almost irrelevant-as with Hercules' starfaring adventures in the 1982 Marvel miniseries. But all of these make implicit or explicit claims about the place of classics in modern literary culture. Classics and Comics is the first book to explore the engagement of classics with the epitome of modern popular literature, the comic book. This volume collects sixteen articles, all specially commissioned for this volume, that look at how classical content is deployed in comics and reconfigured for a modern audience. It opens with a detailed historical introduction surveying the role of classical material in comics since the 1930s. Subsequent chapters cover a broad range of topics, including the incorporation of modern theories of myth into the creation and interpretation of comic books, the appropriation of characters from classical literature and myth, and the reconfiguration of motif into a modern literary medium. Among the well-known comics considered in the collection are Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City, DC Comics' Wonder Woman, Jack Kirby's The Eternals, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and examples of Japanese manga. The volume also includes an original 12-page "comics-essay," drawn and written by Eisner Award-winning Eric Shanower, creator of the graphic novel series Age of Bronze.
The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction (Oxford Handbooks)
The excitement of possible futures found in science fiction has long fired the human imagination, but the genre's acceptance by academe is relatively recent. No longer marginalized and fighting for respectability, science-fictional works are now studied alongside more traditional art forms. Tracing the capacious genre's birth, evolution, and impact across nations, time periods, subgenres, and media, The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction offers an in-depth, comprehensive assessment of this robust area of scholarly inquiry and considers the future directions that will dictate the terms of the scholarly discourse. The Handbook begins with a focus on questions of genre, covering topics such as critical history, keywords, narrative, the fantastic, and fandom. A subsequent section on media engages with film, television, comics, architecture, music, video games, and more. The genre's role in the convergence of art and everyday life animates a third section, which addresses topics such as UFOs,
Fantastic Worlds: Myths, Tales, and Stories (Galaxy Books)
by Eric S. RabkinAs the first international anthology to cover the entire scope of fantastic narrative, Fantastic Worlds presents over fifty tales, myths, and stories, ranging from Genesis to Ovid, Hans Christian Andersen to J.R.R. Tolkien, Edgar Allan Poe to James Thurber, and Franz Kafka to Italo Calvino. Including tales of fairies and elves, ghost stories, high fantasy, and stories of social criticism and the conflict between science and religion, this volume presents a diverse selection of writings that all share the same capacity to liberate the human spirit through the wild mental acrobatics of fantasy.
As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality
by Michael SalerMany people throughout the world "inhabit" imaginary worlds communally and persistently, parsing Harry Potter and exploring online universes. These activities might seem irresponsibly escapist, but history tells another story. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, when Sherlock Holmes became the world's first "virtual reality" character, readers began to colonize imaginary worlds, debating serious issues and viewing reality in provisional, "as if" terms rather than through essentialist, "just so" perspectives. From Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and Tolkien's Middle-earth to the World of Warcraft and Second Life, As If provides a cultural history that reveals how we can remain enchanted but not deluded in an age where fantasy and reality increasingly intertwine.
Wallis's War: A Novel of Diplomacy and Intrigue
by Kate AuspitzScandalous divorcée. Nazi sympathizer. Style icon. Her Grace the Duchess of Windsor. Such are the many—and many times questionable—monikers of the infamous Wallis Simpson. And with Wallis’s War, Kate Auspitz adds another to this list: unwitting heroine. The facts: reviled by the British as a social-climbing seductress even as Time magazine named her its 1936 Woman of the Year, Simpson was the American socialite whose affair with King Edward VIII led him to abdicate the throne on the eve of WWII. In this fanciful novel written in the form of a fictional memoir, Auspitz imagines an alternative history in which Simpson was encouraged by Allied statesmen to remove defeatist, pro-German Edward from the throne, forever altering the course of the war. A comically unreliable narrator who knows more than she realizes, and reveals more than she knows, Simpson leads us from historic treaties and military campaigns to dinner parties and cruises as she describes encounters with everyone from Duff and Diana Cooper to Charles Lindbergh, Coco Chanel, and Hitler—all the while acting as a willing but seemingly oblivious pawn of international intrigue. A rare blend of diplomacy and dalliance, fashion and fascists, this meticulously researched satire offers witty and erudite entertainment and leaves us speculating: who really brought about the abdication and—always—what were they wearing?
Wallis's War: A Novel of Diplomacy and Intrigue
by Kate AuspitzScandalous divorcée. Nazi sympathizer. Style icon. Her Grace the Duchess of Windsor. Such are the many—and many times questionable—monikers of the infamous Wallis Simpson. And with Wallis’s War, Kate Auspitz adds another to this list: unwitting heroine. The facts: reviled by the British as a social-climbing seductress even as Time magazine named her its 1936 Woman of the Year, Simpson was the American socialite whose affair with King Edward VIII led him to abdicate the throne on the eve of WWII. In this fanciful novel written in the form of a fictional memoir, Auspitz imagines an alternative history in which Simpson was encouraged by Allied statesmen to remove defeatist, pro-German Edward from the throne, forever altering the course of the war. A comically unreliable narrator who knows more than she realizes, and reveals more than she knows, Simpson leads us from historic treaties and military campaigns to dinner parties and cruises as she describes encounters with everyone from Duff and Diana Cooper to Charles Lindbergh, Coco Chanel, and Hitler—all the while acting as a willing but seemingly oblivious pawn of international intrigue. A rare blend of diplomacy and dalliance, fashion and fascists, this meticulously researched satire offers witty and erudite entertainment and leaves us speculating: who really brought about the abdication and—always—what were they wearing?
Wallis's War: A Novel of Diplomacy and Intrigue
by Kate AuspitzScandalous divorcée. Nazi sympathizer. Style icon. Her Grace the Duchess of Windsor. Such are the many—and many times questionable—monikers of the infamous Wallis Simpson. And with Wallis’s War, Kate Auspitz adds another to this list: unwitting heroine. The facts: reviled by the British as a social-climbing seductress even as Time magazine named her its 1936 Woman of the Year, Simpson was the American socialite whose affair with King Edward VIII led him to abdicate the throne on the eve of WWII. In this fanciful novel written in the form of a fictional memoir, Auspitz imagines an alternative history in which Simpson was encouraged by Allied statesmen to remove defeatist, pro-German Edward from the throne, forever altering the course of the war. A comically unreliable narrator who knows more than she realizes, and reveals more than she knows, Simpson leads us from historic treaties and military campaigns to dinner parties and cruises as she describes encounters with everyone from Duff and Diana Cooper to Charles Lindbergh, Coco Chanel, and Hitler—all the while acting as a willing but seemingly oblivious pawn of international intrigue. A rare blend of diplomacy and dalliance, fashion and fascists, this meticulously researched satire offers witty and erudite entertainment and leaves us speculating: who really brought about the abdication and—always—what were they wearing?
Wallis's War: A Novel of Diplomacy and Intrigue
by Kate AuspitzScandalous divorcée. Nazi sympathizer. Style icon. Her Grace the Duchess of Windsor. Such are the many—and many times questionable—monikers of the infamous Wallis Simpson. And with Wallis’s War, Kate Auspitz adds another to this list: unwitting heroine. The facts: reviled by the British as a social-climbing seductress even as Time magazine named her its 1936 Woman of the Year, Simpson was the American socialite whose affair with King Edward VIII led him to abdicate the throne on the eve of WWII. In this fanciful novel written in the form of a fictional memoir, Auspitz imagines an alternative history in which Simpson was encouraged by Allied statesmen to remove defeatist, pro-German Edward from the throne, forever altering the course of the war. A comically unreliable narrator who knows more than she realizes, and reveals more than she knows, Simpson leads us from historic treaties and military campaigns to dinner parties and cruises as she describes encounters with everyone from Duff and Diana Cooper to Charles Lindbergh, Coco Chanel, and Hitler—all the while acting as a willing but seemingly oblivious pawn of international intrigue. A rare blend of diplomacy and dalliance, fashion and fascists, this meticulously researched satire offers witty and erudite entertainment and leaves us speculating: who really brought about the abdication and—always—what were they wearing?
Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet
by Mike Ashley“I was suddenly struck with the sight of a trail of rich red vegetation of several miles in the midst of the eternal snows. I approached with curiosity this oasis in the frozen desert.” An antique-shop owner gets a glimpse of the Red Planet through an intriguing artifact. A Martian’s wife contemplates the possibility of life on Earth. A resident of Venus describes his travels across the two alien planets. From an arid desert to an advanced society far superior to that of Earth, portrayals of Mars have differed radically in their attempts to uncover the truth about our neighboring planet. Since the 1880s, after an astronomer first described “channels” on the surface of Mars, writers have been fascinated with the planet, endlessly speculating on what life on Mars might look like and what might happen should we make contact with the planet's inhabitants. This wonderful collection offers ten wildly imaginative short stories from the golden age of science fiction by such classic sci-fi writers as H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and J. G. Ballard, as well as hard-to-find stories by unjustly forgotten writers from the genre. Assembled and introduced by acclaimed anthologist Mike Ashley, these stories vividly evoke a time when notions of life on other planets—from vegetation and water to space invaders and utopian societies—were new and startling. As we continue to imagine landing people on Mars, these stories are well worth revisiting as gripping and vivid dispatches from futurists past.
Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet
by Mike Ashley“I was suddenly struck with the sight of a trail of rich red vegetation of several miles in the midst of the eternal snows. I approached with curiosity this oasis in the frozen desert.” An antique-shop owner gets a glimpse of the Red Planet through an intriguing artifact. A Martian’s wife contemplates the possibility of life on Earth. A resident of Venus describes his travels across the two alien planets. From an arid desert to an advanced society far superior to that of Earth, portrayals of Mars have differed radically in their attempts to uncover the truth about our neighboring planet. Since the 1880s, after an astronomer first described “channels” on the surface of Mars, writers have been fascinated with the planet, endlessly speculating on what life on Mars might look like and what might happen should we make contact with the planet's inhabitants. This wonderful collection offers ten wildly imaginative short stories from the golden age of science fiction by such classic sci-fi writers as H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and J. G. Ballard, as well as hard-to-find stories by unjustly forgotten writers from the genre. Assembled and introduced by acclaimed anthologist Mike Ashley, these stories vividly evoke a time when notions of life on other planets—from vegetation and water to space invaders and utopian societies—were new and startling. As we continue to imagine landing people on Mars, these stories are well worth revisiting as gripping and vivid dispatches from futurists past.
Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet
“I was suddenly struck with the sight of a trail of rich red vegetation of several miles in the midst of the eternal snows. I approached with curiosity this oasis in the frozen desert.” An antique-shop owner gets a glimpse of the Red Planet through an intriguing artifact. A Martian’s wife contemplates the possibility of life on Earth. A resident of Venus describes his travels across the two alien planets. From an arid desert to an advanced society far superior to that of Earth, portrayals of Mars have differed radically in their attempts to uncover the truth about our neighboring planet. Since the 1880s, after an astronomer first described “channels” on the surface of Mars, writers have been fascinated with the planet, endlessly speculating on what life on Mars might look like and what might happen should we make contact with the planet's inhabitants. This wonderful collection offers ten wildly imaginative short stories from the golden age of science fiction by such classic sci-fi writers as H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and J. G. Ballard, as well as hard-to-find stories by unjustly forgotten writers from the genre. Assembled and introduced by acclaimed anthologist Mike Ashley, these stories vividly evoke a time when notions of life on other planets—from vegetation and water to space invaders and utopian societies—were new and startling. As we continue to imagine landing people on Mars, these stories are well worth revisiting as gripping and vivid dispatches from futurists past.
Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet
by Mike Ashley“I was suddenly struck with the sight of a trail of rich red vegetation of several miles in the midst of the eternal snows. I approached with curiosity this oasis in the frozen desert.” An antique-shop owner gets a glimpse of the Red Planet through an intriguing artifact. A Martian’s wife contemplates the possibility of life on Earth. A resident of Venus describes his travels across the two alien planets. From an arid desert to an advanced society far superior to that of Earth, portrayals of Mars have differed radically in their attempts to uncover the truth about our neighboring planet. Since the 1880s, after an astronomer first described “channels” on the surface of Mars, writers have been fascinated with the planet, endlessly speculating on what life on Mars might look like and what might happen should we make contact with the planet's inhabitants. This wonderful collection offers ten wildly imaginative short stories from the golden age of science fiction by such classic sci-fi writers as H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and J. G. Ballard, as well as hard-to-find stories by unjustly forgotten writers from the genre. Assembled and introduced by acclaimed anthologist Mike Ashley, these stories vividly evoke a time when notions of life on other planets—from vegetation and water to space invaders and utopian societies—were new and startling. As we continue to imagine landing people on Mars, these stories are well worth revisiting as gripping and vivid dispatches from futurists past.
Heaven's Net is Wide (Tales of the Otori #5)
by Lian Hearn'A beautifully realized setting, action and romance played out across a couple of generations, a high-class voyage to the long ago and far away – Lian Hearn has written a saga that will continue to give pleasure to many.' – Ursula K. Le GuinThe Middle Country, home of the Otori clan is ruled by a benign but weak leader while in the East, the warrior-like Tohan are gathering power. On the plain of Yaegahara the clans clash in a bloody battle that leaves Otori Shigeru desperate for vengeance. Meanwhile, in a remote mountain village, a boy is born gifted with the supernatural skills of his father, once the deadliest assassin of the Tribe. Set in the years before the beginning of Across the Nightingale Floor, Heaven's Net is Wide by Lian Hearn is the first and last Tale, which both closes the circle and introduces new readers to the fantastical, beautiful and thrilling world of the Otori. It is an epic story of betrayal, revenge, magic and love.
Jinx
by Meg CabotJinx is a spine-tingling tale of magic and mayhem from New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot.It wasn't just the power failure the night Jean Honeychurch was born that earned her the nickname Jinx: misfortune seems to follow her wherever she goes. Which is why she's been shipped off to New York to stay with relatives – including her sophisticated cousin Tory – until the trouble she's caused back in her small hometown dies down. Tory couldn't care less about Jinx – until Jinx's chronic bad luck starts wreaking havoc in Tory's perfect world. Only then does Jinx learn that beneath Tory's big-city glamour lies a world of hatred and revenge. And now Jean's jinx could be the only thing that can save her life . . .
Stealing Light (Shoal #1)
by Gary GibsonFor a hundred and fifty thousand years, the alien Shoal have been hiding a terrible secret behind a façade of power. In the twenty-fifth century, they dominate the galaxy and control all trade and exploration, possessing the secret of faster-than-light travel. Mankind has established just a handful of interstellar colonies; their freedom and knowledge of the galaxy limited by the Shoal’s punitive colonial charter. Dakota Merrick is a machine-head pilot on the run from one of the Consortium’s most powerful criminals. Desperate for escape, she contracts to ferry an expert team to a remote star system. Her passengers hope to scavenge a functioning FTL-drive from a derelict starship – rumoured to pre date the Shoal. But they’ll expose an ancient genocide the Shoal will do anything to hide. And Dakota will be forced to face demons from her own military past. ‘Packed with massive concepts and dark psychological twists . . . seriously entertaining’ SFX ‘Fast, confident, daring, skilful … A big book in scope and imagination’ Vector “The depth and scale of a writer coming into his own’ Sci-Fi-London.com
Verdigris Deep
by Frances Hardinge'Everyone should read Frances Hardinge. Everyone. Right now.' Patrick NessVerdigris n. a blue-green rust that tarnishes ageing and forgotten copper coins, altering them entirely . . . One evening, Ryan and his friends steal some coins from a well. Soon after, strange things begin to happen. Peculiar marks burn on Ryan's knuckles and light bulbs mysteriously explode. Then the well witch appears, with her fountains for eyes and gargled demands. From now on the children must serve her - and the wishes rotting at the bottom of her well.In the tradition of truly fantastic story-telling, Verdigris Deep is a darkly witty, utterly creepy and clever novel by Frances Hardinge, author of The Lie Tree.
A Fire in the North: Annals Of Lindormyn (The Annals of Lindormyn #2)
by David BilsboroughThis second volume picks up the ongoing story in a tunnel leading out of enchanted mountain realm of Eotunlandt. Fighting their way through subterranean dangers, Nibulus and his diminished retinue of ‘questers’ finally reach the open again, only to discover that their rivals the Thieves have mysteriously disappeared. Meanwhile, Gapp and a sinisterly altered Methuselech continue towards Wrythe, the last settlement. They find the population strangely degenerated, under the influence of a local leader, in fact the evil being Scathur who has been hiding there for five hundred years, awaiting his moment of vengeance. Scathur recognises that inside Methuselech is the outcast soul of a rival necromancer, Mauglad, so imprisons them both till they manage to flee for their lives. The rest of the original questers also turn up for a scary sojourn in Wrythe, before heading on to Melhus island with Scathur’s deathly henchmen in pursuit. During strange dreams, the wanderer Bolldhe learns he must use a strange sword he has found to kill the evil demigod Drauglir, once and for all. They all venture into Melhus (the Underworld), contesting with the hosts of the dead sent against them. There ensues a colossal battle, with thrills and spills and monumental destruction, before the questers achieve an unexpected victory –and most of them will return to Nordwas sadder but wiser.
Line War: The Fifth Agent Cormac Novel (Agent Cormac #5)
by Neal AsherLine War is the fifth and final novel in Neal Asher's popular Agent Cormac series.The human Polity worlds are under attack from Erebus, a renegade AI. And it’s now merged with lethal Jain technology, and isn’t afraid to use it. When Erebus kills millions, on a world of no apparent significance, Agent Ian Cormac is sent to investigate. He’s also secretly struggling with an ability no human should possess – and starts questioning the motives of his AI masters.Further indiscriminate attacks attract the Polity’s most dangerous individuals. Mr Crane, a brass killing machine, seeks vengeance. Orlandine, part AI and part human, hunts a weapon of appalling power. And Dragon plans to wake the makers of Jain technology from their ancient slumber. But can Erebus be stopped – or is this the end for the Polity?
The Gabble - And Other Stories
by Neal Asher'What has six arms, a large beak, looks like a pyramid, has more eyes than you'd expect and talks nonsense? If you don't know the answer to that, then 1) you should and 2) you haven't been reading Neal Asher (see point 1)' Jon Courtenay GrimwoodNeal Asher has firmly established himself as one of the leading British writers of Science Fiction. Most of his stories are set in a galactic future-scape called 'The Polity', and with The Gabble - And Other Stories, a collection of marvellously inventive and action-packed short stories, he takes us further into the manifold diversities of that amazing universe. No one does monsters better than Neal Asher, so be prepared to discover the lives and lifestyles of such favourites as the gabbleduck and the hooder, to savour alien poisons, the walking dead, the Sea of Death, and the putrefactor symbiont.
Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt #1)
by Adrian TchaikovskyEmpire in Black and Gold is the first novel in Adrian Tchaikovsky's critically acclaimed fantasy series, The Shadows of the Apt.The days of peace are over . . .The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace and prosperity for decades: bastions of civilization and sophistication. That peace is about to end.In far-off corners, an ancient Empire has been conquering city after city with its highly trained armies and sophisticated warmaking . . . And now it's set its sights on a new prize. Only the ageing Stenwold Maker, spymaster, artificer and statesman, can see the threat. It falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of his people - as soon a tide will sweep down over the Lowlands and burn away everything in its path.But first he must stop himself from becoming the Empire's latest victim.Empire in Black and Gold is followed by the second book in the Shadows of the Apt series, Dragonfly Falling.