A year with the boy geniuses of the nation's top high school chess team, now in paperback with a new afterword Edward R. Murrow High School has long been one of New York's public-education success stories, a school where there are no varsity sports, and the closest thing to jocks is found on the powerhouse chess team. Award-winning sportswriter Michael Weinreb follows the members of the Murrow chess team through an entire season. Weinreb delves into the history of chess in America, following the stories of greats such as Bobby Fischer, for whom the world within the chessboard is as easy to comprehend as the world beyond it is difficult.

For the first time, all five novels in the epic fantasy series that inspired HBO’s Game of Thrones are together in one eBook bundle. An immersive entertainment experience unlike any other, A Song of Ice and Fire has earned George R. R. Martin—dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine—international acclaim and millions of loyal readers. Now this bundle collects the entire monumental cycle in the most convenient format available: A GAME OF THRONES A CLASH OF KINGS A STORM OF SWORDS A FEAST FOR CROWS A DANCE WITH DRAGONS “One of the best series in the history of fantasy.”—Los Angeles Times Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King’s Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert’s name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse—unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen’s brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister—the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms. Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki—whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys. “Long live George Martin . . . a literary dervish, enthralled by complicated characters and vivid language, and bursting with the wild vision of the very best tale tellers.”—The New York Times

Becoming the best of friends after a series of adventures fighting against vast conscripted armies, a bandit and a duke's son become the rival leaders of separate factions with very different ideas about justice and politics.

The perfect gift for fans of HBO's Game of Thrones—a boxed set featuring the first four novels! George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has become, in many ways, the gold standard for modern epic fantasy. Martin—dubbed the "American Tolkien" by Time magazine—has created a world that is as rich and vital as any piece of historical fiction, set in an age of knights and chivalry and filled with a plethora of fascinating, multidimensional characters that you love, hate to love, or love to hate as they struggle for control of a divided kingdom. This bundle includes the following novels: A GAME OF THRONES A CLASH OF KINGS A STORM OF SWORDS A FEAST FOR CROWS

Arya continues to travel north to the Wall, and makes the acquaintance of a most unusual character – Jaqen H’ghar– but when the recruits for the Night’s Watch are stopped by the Gold Cloaks, a confrontation seems inevitable... Meanwhile, Catelyn Stark must come to terms with her son, Robb, is now also the King in the North – and that sometimes family and politics conflict.

The Worlds of George RR Martin is a showcase of the huge variety of influences behind the legendary fantasy writer.

Mary Hastings Bradley (1882-1976) wrote historical novels, travelogues, and mysteries, and was a journalist for Colliers Magazine during World War II. She traveled extensively, and wrote many articles and novels about her experiences.

The Shahnama, written in the tenth century by Firdawsi, is the national epic poem of Persia. It chronicles at great length (nine volumes in the full English translation, currently out of print) the reigns and deeds of the earliest Persian kings, over fifty of them, in four dynasties - the Pishdadians, Kayanians, Ashkanians, and Sasanians. This book, illustrated with early Persian paintings which depict the deeds described, presents in easily accessible language a summary and re-telling of the Shahnama. It covers the entire epic in one volume, includes an introduction, together with lists of kings and dynasties, and thereby provides a concise overview of, and introduction to, this key work.

Complaints are replete on social media, and everywhere people gather to sip coffee and opine about the world's ills. Something is wrong with American society. A few years ago, people were saying, "I don't know how it can get worse." It is worse and going to get worse. The reality and angst of watching it disintegrate have pressed many people into apathy. They have latched onto the belief that God will not permit them to suffer the consequences of the world's wicked rebellion. Instead, Christ will snatch them off the earth and out of danger during a split-second secret coming. There is an alternative to apathy and fantastical notions. It is the central focus of biblical eschatology, the superwhelming, glorioustounding, megamiraculous return of the King of kings.