Jacqueline Carey is back with an amazing adventure not seen since her New York Times bestselling Kushiel's Legacy series. Lush and sensual, Starless introduces us to an epic world where exiled gods live among us, and a hero whose journey will resonate long after the last page is turned. I was nine years old the first time I tried to kill a man... Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him. In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity...but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction. If Khai is to keep his soul’s twin Zariya alive, their only hope lies with an unlikely crew of prophecy-seekers on a journey that will take them farther beneath the starless skies than anyone can imagine. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Lexi is content with the teenage life she is living. At school she is popular and she has numerous friends. There is only one thing that could seem wrong, and that is her fear and dislike of horses. But she doesn't have any real contact with horses, and that could hardly be considered a problem. It is always far from her mind. But when summer comes, and Lexi's parents decide to go on a long cruise in the Pacific, she ends up at her uncle's horse ranch. There is no way to escape the big animals now. Everything is wrong then. It is hard to get used to her life on the ranch. Her friends and popularity are back in her old city. Her only source of real entertainment is the horses. And she can hardly guess what that might mean for her--and them.

"Dane, the starless" is an old yet very much timely tale. It is a story full of miracles, of stars and poems, of beautiful meadows and an ancient, holy tree. A fable written in a corner more calmly than our fast modern world. But in this old and peaceful setting, Dane walks us through a rough spiritual journey, exploring what every human being on this earth is wrestling with, since our consciousness awoke. Nothing is harder than questioning what you believe, what you think, what you feel. What is real about you? Where does your mask end, and where does your truth begin? What is it that truly makes you "you"? And where do you draw the line between adaptations and intuition, between fear and love, between "you" and what story you tell yourself? The answers are locked tightly behind three copper locks, in a large wooden chest. And that chest belongs to Dane, the starless, who is very special and completely useless in his world. This chest is his fate.

This thesis presents studies of the starless core populations of three nearby molecular clouds made as part of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Gould Belt Survey. These studies combine observations made using the SCUBA-2 submillimetre camera with data from several other instruments, including the Herschel Space Observatory, to identify and characterise starless cores in the Ophiuchus, Taurus and Cepheus molecular clouds. The temperatures, masses and stability against collapse of the starless cores are measured, the latter through detailed virial analysis, including a determination of the external pressure on the cores. The book illustrates core stability on the “virial plane”, in which core stability is plotted against core confinement mode, showing that starless cores are typically confined by external pressure rather than self-gravity. It also presents an analytical model of the evolution of starless cores in the “virial plane”, demonstrating that a pressure-confined starless core may evolve due to virial stability rather than gravitational collapse, which means that a core can only be definitively considered to be prestellar if it is gravitationally bound.

When you are afraid to dream, you value your consciousness. FBI agent Jack Abrahams is afraid to dream. The recurring nightmare that haunts his sleep fills him with fear and dread. When reality starts to twist and turn, playing out a series of bizarre events, Jack is asked to investigate them. A priest nailed to the side of a log cabin and a homicidal biker are just the beginning of these strange events. Fellow agent, Helen Foster wants to travel to England to investigate a man called Adam Blake. Helen suspects that Blake was responsible for the mock crucifixion of the priest, but Jack is reluctant to begin the investigation. He changes his mind when he sees a photo of Blake, the man who lives in his nightmares. The Last Days of Planet Earth is an amusing and interesting re-working of history, myths and religious icons, with references to popular culture threading neatly throughout. Gods and Monsters is the first book in the series, The Last Days of Planet Earth. Tribes, the second book in the series, will be released in November 2014.

Prog Rock FAQ traces the controversial, but much misunderstood musical genre through its five-decade history, highlighting the rise, eventual decline, and recent resurgence of one of the most inventive and storied popular musical forms of the latter half of the 20th Century. Prog Rock FAQ digs deep to deliver a view of progressive rock as you've never known it: Technical wizards, cosmic messengers, visionary producers, groundbreaking album-cover illustrators, and even innovative musical instrument vendors separate memory from myth, fact from fiction, to recount prog rock's most historically significant milestones and little-known tales. This interview-rich, unapologetic volume addresses topics taboo and burning alike, while welcoming the reader on an enthralling journey replete with rapturous visions, wondrous stories, and endless enigmas.

Where do stars come from and how do they form? These are profound questions which link the nature of our Universe to the roots of mankind. Yet, until a recent revolution in understanding, the proposed answers have been raw speculation. Now, accompanying penetrating observations, a new picture has come into prominence.This book presents the latest astounding observations and scientific ideas covering star formation, star birth and early development. It encompasses all aspects, from the dramatic stories of individual objects, to the collective influence of entire stellar systems.The very first stars to come into existence and the nurturing of planets are discussed to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview. Presenting background information with only the essential mathematics, this book will appeal to scientists wishing to expand their horizons, students seeking solid foundations, and general readers with enquiring minds./a