The Bronze Age. The era of Troy, of Gilgamesh, of the dawning of human mastery over the earth. For decades, fantasists have set tales of heroism and adventure in imagined worlds based on the real Bronze Age, from the "Hyborean Age" of the Conan stories to the Third Age of Middle-earth. Now bestselling science fiction and fantasy author Harry Turtledove, a noted expert on the ancient world, teams up with author and Egyptologist Noreen Doyle to present fourteen new tales of the real Bronze Age from some of the best writers in science fiction. In The First Heroes: here is Gene Wolfe's mock-journal of a man from the future who travels with figures out of history and mythology; Judith Tarr's tale of a town that sends its resident goddess to try to learn the secrets of the morose God of Chariots; Harry Turtledove's story about mythological beings witnessing the devastating effect of the first humans on the Earth's natural order; and a poignant new story from the late Poul Anderson, in which a modern scholar is sent to the late Bronze Age to witness the end of an era, emerging with memories from the past as vibrant and intact as those from his accustomed life. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

"Jack Ainsworth's account tells the story of the Company C's ordeal, from the landing on 15 September to the withdrawal of its shattered remnant from the front line five days later. It is often written in the present tense, as the fighting raged around him. ... AInsworth's account is not only a unique combat narrative. It is also an important historical document that adds previously unknown details to our understanding of the battle itself, from the narrow but intense perspective of one rifle company of the 1st Marines." --From Preface.

Heroic figures, invested with a common pattern that satisfies the human desire for idealization, are the focus of this intriguing study of legendary characters — from Oedipus and King Arthur to heroes of the Trojan War and Robin Hood. A fascinating study that will appeal to students of folklore, mythology, and history.

The great American Westerns can be profoundly meaningful when read metaphorically. More than mere shoot 'em up entertainment, they are an essential part of a vibrant, evolving national mythology. Like other versions of the archetypal Hero's Journey, these films are filled with insights about life, love, nature, society, ethics, beauty and what it means to be human, and are key to understanding American culture. Part film guide, part historical survey, this book explores the mythic and artistic elements in 52 great Westerns--some orthodox, some subversive--from the genre's first half-century. Each film is given detailed critical analysis, from the earliest silent movies to Golden Age classics like Red River (1948), High Noon (1952) and Shane (1953).

The islands of Britain have been a crossroads of gods, heroes, and kings-those of flesh as well as those of myth-for thousands of years. Successive waves of invasion brought distinctive legends, rites, and beliefs. The ancient Celts displaced earlier indigenous peoples, only to find themselves displaced in turn by the Romans, who then abandoned the islands to Germanic tribes, a people themselves nearly overcome in time by an influx of Scandinavians. With each wave of invaders came a battle for the mythic mind of the Isles as the newcomer's belief system met with the existing systems of gods, legends, and myths. In Gods, Heroes, and Kings, medievalist Christopher Fee and veteran myth scholar David Leeming unearth the layers of the British Isles' unique folkloric tradition to discover how this body of seemingly disparate tales developed. The authors find a virtual battlefield of myths in which pagan and Judeo-Christian beliefs fought for dominance, and classical, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Celtic narrative threads became tangled together. The resulting body of legends became a strange but coherent hybrid, so that by the time Chaucer wrote "The Wife of Bath's Tale" in the fourteenth century, a Christian theme of redemption fought for prominence with a tripartite Celtic goddess and the Arthurian legends of Sir Gawain-itself a hybrid mythology. Without a guide, the corpus of British mythology can seem impenetrable. Taking advantage of the latest research, Fee and Leeming employ a unique comparative approach to map the origins and development of one of the richest folkloric traditions. Copiously illustrated with excerpts in translation from the original sources,Gods, Heroes, and Kings provides a fascinating and accessible new perspective on the history of British mythology.

The Lost Tales of Power is a collection of novels that describe an immense persistent multiverse. The books are a mixture of standalone and miniseries all set in the same universe with overlapping and intertwining story lines. Included in this collection is the full text of Enemy of an Enemy, The Academy, and Rise of Shadows. In addition to the three complete novels, included is a brief introduction to each book. Enemy of an Enemy: Everything seemed to be going Vydor’s way, until the Dragon Claw was sent on a rather unusual assignment to investigate a minor incident deep within the Empire’s space. That would send Vydor down a path filled with fantastically powerful enemies and extraordinary friends that would obliterate everything he ever understood to be true and threaten the very foundations of the Empire itself. The Academy: The Empire had fallen, and the Imperial Navy was disbanded leaving James with nothing but his nightmares to remind him of the role he once played in The Great War. James must now face his new life in a new era where science and technology must share the stage with sorcery and wizardry, and a new ever-present shadow of evil lurks over the remnants of the once great Empire. Rise of Shadows: In The Enemy of an Enemy, darkness came to the Empire, and magic was born from the bowels of men’s fears. The great and mighty Imperial Navy had to face and overcome unspeakable horrors. In The Academy, fledgling wizards were gathered and trained to fight back and keep the light, while the darkness laid in wait, biding its time and silently gathering its forces. Now as warriors of light, those wizards must begin to make a stand against the rising tide of darkness or watch their realm be overcome! The Lost Tales of Power is an open-ended series of Science-Fantasy books set in a vast multiverse. Lost Tales Series Volume I - The Enemy of an Enemy Volume II - The Academy Volume III - Rise of Shadows Volume IV - Resurgence of Ancient Darkness Volume V - The Sac’a’rith Volume VI - Spectra’s Gambit Volume VII - Sac'a'rith: Rebirth Volume VIII – Mage Hunter Keywords: magic, space, space opera, science fantasy, space exploration, military space, future, military sci-fi, science fiction series, aliens, adventure, war, navy, series, science fiction novels, science fiction ebooks