From a New York Times bestseller, a sci-fi “novel of great charm and freshness, with improbable situations, weird complications, vital characters . . . ” (Kirkus Reviews). What if the entire universe happened to be the creation of alien minds? Dreens are extraordinary storytellers—and they can actually make the worlds they imagine come to life—and this is the origin of Earth and the entire known universe. Even though Dreens live far across the universe, the human race has the technology for interstellar travel and the military power to destroy the aliens’ core planet. But Earth itself is only sustained by the continued existence of the Dreens. If the last Dreen dies, all of humanity will disappear! A science fiction adventure showcasing the imagination that made Frank Herbert famous and the wry wit and satire that brought Brian Herbert critical acclaim.

H.G. Wells is an English author best known as a sci-fi writer, though he was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, and even writing text books and rules for war games. The first great novel to imagine time travel, The Time Machine (1895) follows its scientist narrator on an incredible journey that takes him finally to Earth's last moments—and perhaps his own. The scientist who discovers how to transform himself in The Invisible Man (1897) will also discover, too late, that he has become unmoored from society and from his own sanity. The War of the Worlds (1898)—the seminal masterpiece of alien invasion adapted by Orson Welles for his notorious 1938 radio drama, and subsequently by several filmmakers—imagines a fierce race of Martians who devastate Earth and feed on their human victims while their voracious vegetation, the red weed, spreads over the ruined planet...

History, Religion, and American Democracy provides a fundamental review of four major themes: naturalism and supernaturalism in an American context; issues in the history of Judaism; American social philosophy; and the teaching and learning of democratic ideals in a pluralistic postmodern environment. This book provides a naturalistic context for the deep analysis of religious, theological, as well as social and political themes.

In the 1600s, over 350,000 intrepid English men, women, and children migrated to America, leaving behind their homeland for an uncertain future. Whether they settled in Jamestown, Salem, or Barbados, these migrants -- entrepreneurs, soldiers, and pilgrims alike -- faced one incontrovertible truth: England was a very, very long way away. In Between Two Worlds, celebrated historian Malcolm Gaskill tells the sweeping story of the English experience in America during the first century of colonization. Following a large and varied cast of visionaries and heretics, merchants and warriors, and slaves and rebels, Gaskill brilliantly illuminates the often traumatic challenges the settlers faced. The first waves sought to recreate the English way of life, even to recover a society that was vanishing at home. But they were thwarted at every turn by the perils of a strange continent, unaided by monarchs who first ignored then exploited them. As these colonists strove to leave their mark on the New World, they were forced -- by hardship and hunger, by illness and infighting, and by bloody and desperate battles with Indians -- to innovate and adapt or perish. As later generations acclimated to the wilderness, they recognized that they had evolved into something distinct: no longer just the English in America, they were perhaps not even English at all. These men and women were among the first white Americans, and certainly the most prolific. And as Gaskill shows, in learning to live in an unforgiving world, they had begun a long and fateful journey toward rebellion and, finally, independence

THE ALCHEMICAL MAGIC EMERGES, WITHIN THE CONSCIOUS MERGER OF OPPOSITES In any such merger, the primary elements are fire and water, applied through a process of friction and non-attachment. However, for the magical miraculous to emerge, this must be done with conscious harmony, immersed in care and grounded on Truth. The surreal existence of the hybrid-human being, is the product of this: As a physical, sentient, mindful, yet also psychic and spiritual entity, its reality seems improbable, yet somehow, it magically is. If adding to the enigma, that this being is of a finite and temporal form, with an acknowledged understanding of the existant reality of infinity, that exists within a timeless construct known as the Cosmos, the wondrous mystery takes the next level. When then considering its collective organism called ‘civilization’, with all its joy, beauty, innovation and achievement, balanced against fear-based greed and destructive barbarism, then certainly, none of it by rights should exist – and yet it does – and it gets better: This microscopic human being, who exists for only a flash of Time, within the absurdly complex yet magnificent, endless and eternal Universe, can – within that single spark of Time – become aware of the whole: the All and Everything! By Merging the Inner and Outer World of Man we will find, that nothing is random and everything has purpose; the good and bad, the beautiful and ugly. It contemplates WHY this is so, which enables us to understand HOW to live, love and accept, every part – unconditionally. This is important, as non-understanding leads to fear, anger, greed and a cyclic realm of non-existence. The effects of the phenomena, as described in Book I & II, The Inner Evolution of Man, and The Outer World of Man, now enable us to enhance magic, and transcend out of the illusory, by Merging the Inner and Outer World of Man.

Originally published in 1968.

This is the third and final battle. Even with all the knowledge and wisdom we have gained, daily we make choices between the material world and the ethereal world - choices between our ego or our true selves. Underpinning these personal choices are two ethereal destinations that are actively courting us. One of these destinations offers material rewards for its loyalty while the other offers spiritual rewards. This final book will shed light onto the masters of these two destinations and the characteristics of their servants. The ancient Greeks referred to the two sets of servants as Nymphs and Muses. Each Nymph specialized in a different vice, ready to offer material reward for loyalty. Each Muse specializes in one of the virtues and offers wisdom for loyalty. I will start by looking at the life of Abram and examine how these two masters attempted to influence his life. By taking what science has uncovered about the life of Abram and what religions teach about his life, and the lives of his children, we can begin to discover the spiritual battle that has raged on earth since the beginning of time. The Archangel Michael was there at the beginning of this battle, and now it is our turn to finish the battle; this is the purpose of life in the material world. The enlightened Greeks celebrated the emergence of Aphrodite from the Bitter Sea, escaping its ruler Poseidon and starting her journey back to Olympus. The cover also shows how they depicted Hercules, disguised in a lion skin, the symbol for the ruler of this world and of the Bitter Sea - Hades.

An intriguing exploration of the great transition between life and the after-life.

A new scholarly edition of a major late-Victorian scientific romance novelMarie Corelli's A Romance of Two Worlds is regarded as one of the most culturally important Victorian bestsellers. This critical edition offers instructive access to this multifaceted but still largely underappreciated novel that is a key text for scholars and students of late-Victorian women's writing. It also raises urgent questions about a wide array of textual and cultural concerns, especially the form and function of the Victorian 'bestseller'.Key FeaturesContains a thorough critical and analytical introduction, annotations and appendicesProvides context and underlines the aesthetic significance of Corelli's supernatural romanceEngages with the full range of secondary scholarship on this neglected late-Victorian author