Showing results by narrator "Steve Kelly" in All Categories

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment. Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the Society. Two paths lay before them. All must pick a side. Alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and The Society of Alexandrians will be revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way.

In New Pythos, Griff is facing an execution by the dragonborn, who are furious at his betrayal. He has allies on both sides seeking to defy his fate, but the price of his freedom might come at a dear cost. And Delo will have to make a choice: follow his family, or finally surrender to his conscience.

In this thrilling next instalment, the secret society of Alexandrians is unmasked. Its newest recruits realize the institute is capable of raw world-changing power. It’s also headed by a man with plans to change life as we know it—and these are already under way. But the cost of this knowledge is as high as the price of power, and each initiate must choose which faction to follow. Yet as events gather momentum and dangers multiply, which of their alliances will hold? Can friendships hold true and are enemies quite what they seem?

I did a bad, bad thing. Thanks to a blank in my memory, I'm not sure what that thing was, but it was horrible enough to get me locked up in the mental ward for seven years. Horrible enough that my little sister won't even speak to me. But when I'm released back into a town determined to rub my unknown sins in my face, the past isn't the only thing that's haunting me. The four "imaginary" friends who made my childhood bearable barge into my life in a very real way.

If you’re looking for the hottest, filthiest collection of erotic short stories of the year that will leave you breathless and satisfied, then keep reading…My name is Rayna Russell, and I’m an author, editor, and writing teacher. I’m also an unapologetically rabid consumer of erotica. Like many of you, I think the short story is the perfect format for the genre. I love to meet new characters, explore a unique setting, and see what dirty magic an author can create in a few minutes. This format also pushes your boundaries.

When the world’s best magicians are offered an extraordinary opportunity, saying yes is easy. Each could join the secretive Alexandrian Society, whose custodians guard lost knowledge from ancient civilizations. Their members enjoy a lifetime of power and prestige. Yet each decade, only six practitioners are invited—to fill five places.

In 2008 veteran journalist Evan Wright, acclaimed for his New York Times best-selling book Generation Kill and co-writer of the Emmy-winning HBO series it spawned, began a series of conversations with super-criminal Jon Roberts, star of the fabulously successful documentary Cocaine Cowboys. Those conversations would last three years, during which time Wright came to realize that Roberts was much more than the de-facto “transportation chief” of the Medellin Cartel during the 1980s, much more than a facilitator of a national drug epidemic.

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment. Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

"What Is Man?", the 1906 essay by Mark Twain, is a dialogue between a young man and an older man involving ideas of destiny, free will, and egoism. The old man asserts that the human being is merely a machine, but the young man objects and asks him to go into particulars and provide the reasons for his attitude.

Twain describes how he and his friend, Joe Twichell, tried to learn how to ride a bicycle in May of 1884. The bicycle was a new invention, and it proved to be more difficult than riding a horse. According to Twain, it was a painful and short-lived experience.

"Luck" was published in 1891 in Harper's Magazine and received little attention at the time. The English military hero, Lord Arthur Scoresby, is an idiot who blunders through life on pure good luck. In the Crimean War, he gets confused between his right and left hand to lead a charge in the wrong direction, which surprises a Russian force and ensures an Allied victory.

Winesburg, Ohio is a short story cycle by Sherwood Anderson. The plot revolves around the life of George Willard, from his childhood to him leaving the town as an adult. The work comprises 22 stories, with the first, "The Book of the Grotesque", serving as introduction. The book is considered a pioneering work of modernist literature due to the prominence giving to the psychological insight of the characters and the simple prose style.

Mark Twain’s essay "The Bee" has a comical twist. It deals with the natural pressure on one bee assure that her colony survives. "After the queen, the next bee in importance to the hive is the virgin. All work is done by them. The males do not work, the queen does no work, unless laying eggs is work."

In this short essay, Mark Twain discusses the patriot William Tell, the city of Interlaken, and the Jungfrau mountain. He describes the beauty of the landscape with great admiration.

This is a story within a story by Mark Twain. The one within is the tale of the gambler Jim Smiley and his jumping frog Dan’l. After many winning bets on Dan’l’s jumping ability, a cunning stranger comes along and that day Jim loses.

"The Invalid’s Story", an example of Mark Twain’s frontier-style humor, describes the misadventures of two men - Thompson and the narrator - on a train who mistake a gunbox and a rotting cheese for a corpse in a coffin. Thompson does not know much but his wild imagination has a strong influence on the naïve narrator. In the end, this situation leads to disaster.

Mark Twain compiled some of his experiences and experiments with telepathy in a fascinating article titled ‘Mental Telegraphy.’ In the opening paragraph he states that what many consider to be mere accident or ‘curious coincidence’ is no more accidental than is the sending and receiving of a telegram. He believed that minds resonate with one another by transferring ideas and messages to and fro.

An essay in which Mark Twain destroys the pretensions of the interpretation of divine will in the world. He argues against the apparent ease and certainty of interpreting divine communications.

This 1899 essay describes Mark Twain's method of teaching historical dates to his children. It was first published posthumously in Harper's Monthly Magazine in December 1914.