Aberforth, home world to dragons and people is at war. Dragons are fighting each other and the human race is in danger of extinction. Einarr is born in a dragon’s companion line. Due to an ancient magical ritual performed by Zavat, a powerful dragon, Einarr is chosen to help bring about the end of the war and issue peace back to Aberforth. This will be no easy task for Einarr since the war will last throughout his lifetime. As a child, Einarr develops a hatred for all dragons after witnessing their cruelty in battle, yet he accepts Zavat’s request to help find a solution to the dragons’ disagreements. Together, Einarr and Zavat make a formidable team who learn to work together and along the way Einarr realizes that there are good and evil dragons, just like there are good and evil people.

An authoritative guide to the action-packed film genre With 24 incisive, cutting-edge contributions from esteemed scholars and critics, A Companion to the Action Filmprovides an authoritative and in-depth guide to this internationally popular and wide-ranging genre. As the first major anthology on the action film in more than a decade, the volume offers insights into the genre’s historical development, explores its production techniques and visual poetics, and provides reflections on the numerous social, cultural, and political issues it has and continues to embody. A Companion to the Action Film offers original research and critical analysis that examines the iconic characteristics of the genre, its visual aesthetics, and its narrative traits; considers the impact of major directors and stars on the genre’s evolution; puts the action film in dialogue with various technologies and other forms of media such as graphic novels and television; and maps out new avenues of critical study for the future. This important resource: Offers a definitive guide to the action film Contains insightful contributions from a wide range of international film experts and scholars Reviews the evolution of the genre from the silent era to today’s age of digital blockbusters Offers nuanced commentary and analysis of socio-cultural issues such as race, nationality, and gender in action films Written for scholars, teachers and students in film studies, film theory, film history, genre studies, and popular culture, A Companion to the Action Film is an essential guide to one of international cinema’s most important, popular, and influential genres.

This book presents papers by eleven European scholars that explore the ambivalent representations of an American West that follows “no single trajectory, creating instead a series of lines and rhythms, always moving, crossing, and folding” (Neil Campbell). The papers explore the use of the American West as an ideal or a realistic setting in different cultural productions, ranging from music (“Sing-along Melodies of the West”) to film (“Western Images in Motion”) or comics (“Graphic Representations of the American West”), and including popular cultural fields like podcasts, fashion, and gastronomy (“Performing the West”).

The Middle Ages is a time of upheaval, radical changes, knighthood, and the annihilation of dragons on Earth, but the knight Laurence Di Draco and his old dragon friend Zavat from Aberforth team up to save the dragons from extinction.

Founding a startup is a challenging endeavor that works best in a well-balanced team. Different thinking styles are needed throughout the founding journey. Archetypes are deeply engrained templates in the collective unconscious and can be used to reveal the hidden aspects of social interactions within teams. This book employs an archetypical personality test to uncover the eight most significant team roles needed in a startup: the leader, the mentor, the artist, the friend, the hero, the femme fatale, the rebel and the manager. The artist, for example, always finds unconventional solutions, the femme fatale attracts support for the idea, and the hero is undaunted in the face of setbacks. Archetypical roles can manifest in individuals or at the group level, and they can and should change throughout the journey. With the included personality test, this book offers entrepreneurs, investors and mentors alike a tool to improve the interpersonal processes in startup teams.

Movies are filled with scenes of people of all ages, sexes, races, and social classes reading and writing in widely varied contexts and purposes. Yet these scenes go largely unnoticed, despite the fact that these images recreate and reinforce pervasive concepts and perceptions of literacy. This book addresses how everyday literacy practices are represented in popular culture, specifically in mainstream, widely-distributed contemporary movies. If we watch films carefully for who reads and writes, in what settings, and for what social goals, we can see a reflection of the dominant functions and perceptions that shape our conceptions of literacy in our culture. Such perceptions influence public and political debates about literacy instruction, teachers' expectations of what will happen in their classrooms, and student's ideas about what reading and writing should be.

This book examines how American foreign policy and the commercial film industry's economic interests influenced the portrayal of international terrorism in Hollywood blockbuster films from the time of the Iran hostage crisis to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Part I provides a historical overview of modern international terrorism and how it relates to the United States, its news media, and its film industry. Part II covers depictions of terrorism during the Cold War under President Reagan, including films like Commando and Iron Eagle. Part III covers the Hollywood terrorist after the Cold War, including European terrorists in the Die Hard franchise, Passenger 57, Patriot Games, Blown Away, The Jackal and Ronin; fundamentalist Islamic terrorists in True Lies and Executive Decision; the return of the communist threat in Air Force One; and 9/11 foreshadowing in The Siege.

The great German novelist Thomas Mann implored readers to resist the persistent and growing militarism of the mid-twentieth century. To whom should we turn for guidance during this current era of global violence, political corruption, economic inequality, and environmental degradation? For more than two millennia, the worldÕs great thinkers have held that the ethically Ògood lifeÓ is the highest purpose of human existence. Renowned political philosopher Fred Dallmayr traces the development of this notion, finding surprising connections among Aristotelian ethics, Abrahamic and Eastern religious traditions, German idealism, and postindustrial social criticism. In Search of the Good Life does not offer a blueprint but rather invites readers on a cross-cultural quest. Along the way, the author discusses the teachings of Aristotle, Confucius, Nicolaus of Cusa, Leibniz, and Schiller, in addition invoking more recent writings of Gadamer and Ricoeur, as guideposts and sources of hope during our troubled times. Among contemporary themes Dallmayr discusses are the role of the classics in education, proper and improper ways of spreading democracy globally, the possibility of transnational citizenship, the problem of politicized evil, and the role of religion in our predominantly secular culture. Dallmayr restores the notion of the good life as a hallmark of personal conduct, civic virtue, and political engagement, and as the road map to enduring peace. In Search of the Good Life seeks to arouse complacent and dispirited citizens, guiding them out of the distractions of shallow amusements and perilous resentments in the direction of mutual learning and civic pedagogyÑa direction that will enable them to impose accountability on political leaders who stray from fundamental ethical standards.

The original Star Wars trilogy famously follows Joseph Campbell's model for the hero's journey, making Luke Skywalker's story the new hero quest for a modern age. With the nine-plus film saga complete, however, new story patterns have emerged as the hero's journey is imagined over and over for characters of different ages, genders, and backgrounds. The prequels offer the plot arc of the villain's journey through Anakin. Leia and Padme, while damsels in the men's story, break out to undergo their own ordeals. The heroine's journey is exemplified by Rey and Jyn. Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Vader must accept the loss of power and fade into spirit guardians, perpetuating the lifecycle. By the sequel era, the original trio become mentors to the younger generation and finally must do the same. Meanwhile, the Mandalorian explores a different form of the quest as he transforms from immature warrior to patriarch. This book tracks the journeys of over 20 characters throughout the franchise.

AS Media Studies has been specifically written to cover the requirements at AS level for each awarding body. It examines a comprehensive range of topics set by AQA and OCR and is organised using the WJEC format of 'Analysis of Media Forms', 'Representation and Reception' and 'Making Media Texts'. Linking theory to practice, this book has been designed to help students develop practical production skills, while giving a thorough and accessible introduction to the key principles, issues and debates of media studies.