A Prophet had appeared in the early part of the twenty-first century, the last in a long line of healers, visionaries and mystics down through the ages. People around the world heard his message of oncoming devastation and his warning that the only shelter that would save them would be their own inner strength and nobility of spirit. Religions and technologies had failed humanity. Only these few men and women inspired by the wisdom transmitted to them by the Prophet could offer desperate people a path to sanity and renewal. But the odds were amassed against them. Not only was the planet facing utter destruction from wild weather changes, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods and a dreaded pole shift, but the world government considered them their fiercest enemies. The time of reckoning was here. Everyone would have to face this age of transition in one of two ways -- in utter horror and despair or with the slim hope that renewal lay on the other side of catastrophic earth changes. The second option would vanish entirely if it was known what forces were at the heart of the destruction, forces that were darker and more savage than Nature's mightiest upheavals.

Michael Theophilos investigates the term 'Abomination of desolation' in Matthew 24:15 proposing a revised model for understanding this enigmatic phrase. He adopts a contextual exegetical approach focusing strongly upon scriptural intertextual prophetic echoes. Because of the primary association of the phrase with Antiochus Epiphanes in the Daniel narrative, many commentators have argued for a contra-Jewish background to Mt 24:15. However, analysis of relevant prophetic literature reveals that similar vocabulary was often used to describe Israel's covenantal infidelity, and its consequences. Given the influence of prophetic literature on Daniel, Theophilos argues that Matthew was theologically motivated to ironically employ the Danielic material in describing Jerusalem's Mt destruction. Matthew envisions the cause for this destruction as rooted in Israel's rejection of Jesus as Messiah. In this sense, the coming 'Son of Man' in Matthew 24 may be seen as a metaphorical representation of the Roman Army destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD. This understanding of 'Son of Man' is consistent with the Danielic depiction where the appearance of the 'Son of Man' signified the destruction of Israel's enemies.

"The relationship [between Aubrey and Maturin]...is about the best thing afloat....For Conradian power of description and sheer excitement there is nothing in naval fiction to beat the stern chase as the outgunned Leopard staggers through mountain waves in icy latitudes to escape the Dutch seventy-four." —Stephen Vaughan, Observer Commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh of Bounty fame, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and surgeon Stephen Maturin sail the Leopard to Australia with a hold full of convicts. Among them is a beautiful and dangerous spy—and a treacherous disease that decimates the crew. With a Dutch man-of-war to windward, the undermanned, outgunned Leopard sails for her life into the freezing waters of the Antarctic, where, in mountain seas, the Dutchman closes.

As the twentieth century draws to a close, a ship heads for Punta Arenas at Chile's southern tip. On board is Oliver Griffin, who is fascinated by the island and spends his life drawing intricate maps of it. He is on an unusual quest, inspired by a photograph of his grandparents embracing a strange automaton that now lives in the Punta Arenas museum. This fearsome metal warrior is a sixteenth-century robot from a proposed mechanical army, commissioned to guard the straight against the English. It was discovered on the island by a grieving woman scouring the archipelago for the bodies of her shipwrecked husband and son, and is now the curious axis around which countless stories spin, surrounded by the terrible yet mesmerizing sea...

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872.

'One of the most true, comic and grizzly journeys in American literature' Time Desolation Angels is the wild and soulful story of the legendary road trip that Jack Kerouac took before the publication of On the Road, told through the persona of Jack Duluoz and accompanied by his thinly-disguised Beat cohorts Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and William Burroughs. As they hitch, hop freight trains, walk and talk their way across the world, from California to Mexico, London to Paris and on to opium-ridden Tangiers, Kerouac chronicles their poetry, partying, mountain vigils and spiritual contemplation with unsurpassable energy and humanity. 'Nerve-jangling, sentimental, sincere and funny' Sunday Times

Shipwrecked on a hostile shore, the only way out is to harness the power within. All Alex ever wanted was to be a sea mage like his father. But though he is gifted with magic, the wind and the waves refuse to answer his call. So when a storm arises and shipwrecks his crew on the barren shores of the Lands of Desolation, it appears that their only option is to walk out. But the Lands of Desolation are no place for lost sailors. Once the seat of a mighty sea-faring empire, the ruins of the land harbor secrets—and dangers—darker than the depths of the deepest sea. And one of the crew’s passengers, a mysterious young woman with magical gifts of her own, knows more about this cursed land than she lets on. To save his crew, Alex must unravel the dark mysteries of this forsaken land, discovering the connection between it and his own latent powers. But will Alex master the magic within him before the curse upon the land consumes them all?

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Edgar Award-winning author William Kent Krueger delivers another heart-pounding thriller filled with “dynamic action scenes” (The New York Times) as Cork O’Connor and his son Stephen work together to uncover the truth behind the death of a senator on Desolation Mountain and the mysterious disappearances of several first responders. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. To Stephen O’Connor, Hamlet’s dour observation is more than just words. All his life, he has had visions of tragedies to come. When he experiences the vision of a great bird shot from the sky, he knows something terrible is about to happen. The crash of a private plane on Desolation Mountain in a remote part of the Iron Lake Reservation, which kills a United States senator and most of her family, confirms Stephen’s worst fears. Stephen joins his father, Cork O’Connor and a few Ojibwe men from the nearby Iron Lake reservation to sift through the smoldering wreckage when the FBI arrives and quickly assumes control of the situation. As he initiates his own probe, Cork stumbles upon a familiar face in Bo Thorson, a private security consultant whose unnamed clients have hired him to look quietly into the cause of the crash. The men agree to join forces in their investigation, but soon Cork begins to wonder if Thorson’s loyalties lie elsewhere. Roadblocked by lies from the highest levels of government, uncertain who to trust, and facing growing threats the deeper they dig for answers, Cork, Stephen, and Bo finally understand that to get to the truth, they will have to face the great menace, a beast of true evil lurking in the woods—a beast with a murderous intent of unimaginable scale. Krueger delivers yet another “punch-to-the-gut blend of detective story and investigative fiction” (Booklist, starred review).

In the Southeast of Aerbon, the elvish country of Gilan prepares for war against the drug-addled orcs of the Gorgon Desolation after the disappearance of the king's daughter, Princess Eaïnne. Together, with the help of the Nardic Tribes of the South, the elves hope to rescue their lost princess and eradicate the orcish race as a whole in an effort to free the continent of Aerbon from its impending doom at the hands of the orcs. The orcs of the Gorgon lands grew and produced a demonic drug called Guaka-Guaka; causing them to become blood-thirsty and schizophrenic where it tainted them more and more with each use. They were addicted to the foul substance and they claimed that it was a gift from their gods, the Masters, who had initially bestowed it upon them in the long-forgotten Age of Myth. It was refined in factories that blackened the skies and the production of the drug was steadily causing their world to die off as a result. So it was that the elves sought to end their foul existence whilst the orcs fought to maintain their lifestyle, seeing nothing wrong with their actions as they claimed that it was the will of their gods.