A Dark Of Endless Days

Cyraria is a hostile world with weather extremes beyond imagination. With Opposition, the worst portion of the heat season on the way, Dirck Brightstar and his father, Laren take on the challenge of modifying their primitive shelter to withstand the hostile environment in what is rapidly becoming a dystopian nightmare. Their attempt to build a heat exchanger (air conditioner) to maintain a survivable temperature is interrupted when Laren is arrested in a midnight raid and incarcerated as a political prisoner as a part of Augustus Troy's Integration recruiting efforts. Dirck is thus left on his own to fend for his family, more separated now than ever before. His friend, Win, proves to be a valuable ally though his little brother, Deven, becomes the real hero thanks to his strange alliance with an indigenous race known as the bnolar.Creena, another family member separated from the family in a previous incident, experiences increasing trouble as well when she and her 'troid, Aggie and vegemal, Thyron, land on a planet seeking a more capable vehicle for the trip back to the family's homeworld, Mira III, to obtain assistance. Their efforts are thwarted when authorities impound their ship and separate them as targets for government scrutiny and investigation. Creena's options are severely limited and further complicated by Integrator attempts to abduct her, the evil purpose of which she can sense but doesn't understand. With no other choice but to adapt to a primitive and alien lifestyle until her situation is resolved, when it finally comes time to leave she discovers she's grown more attached to this backward world than she ever thought possible.[NOTE:--Readers with a strong interest in science will particularly enjoy these stories in which the author demonstrates numerous scientific principles and their importance through entertaining plot action. This is Volume II of the Star Trails Tetralogy. Enjoying this episode does not depend on reading Volume I.]

Winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize for Best First Novel "Both shocking and subtle, brilliant and beautiful, a poised and elegant work that recalls the early work of Ian McEwan in the delicacy of its prose and the way that this is combined with some very dark undertones." — Desmond Elliott Prize Jury In the tradition of Winter’s Bone and The Outlander, Our Endless Numbered Days is a powerful and mysterious debut about a father and his eight-year-old daughter who abandon their family to live alone in the forest for nine years. In 1976 Peggy Hillcoat is eight. She spends her summer camping with her father, playing her beloved record of The Railway Children, and listening to her mother’s grand piano. But her life is about to change. Her survivalist father, who has been stockpiling provisions to prepare for the end of the world, takes her from London to a cabin in a remote European forest. There he tells Peggy the rest of the world has disappeared. She is not seen again for another nine years. In 1985, Peggy has returned to the family home. But what happened to her in the forest? And why — and how — has she come back now? Our Endless Numbered Days is the most unputdownable and extraordinary novel you will read this year.

This fourth and final volume of the Star Trails Tetralogy provides the action-packed and surprise ridden conclusion to the Brightstar saga that began in Beyond the Hidden Sky.Guilt ridden by their failure to prevent their father's ambush and exile Dirck and Creena remain at odds over cristobalite's usefulness. Eventually Dirck and Win depart for the Clique base at Apoca Canyon while Creena and the others remain in the Caverns to continue the controversial research. When little brother, Deven, finds a new crystal with even more amazing properties hope returns that saving their father may yet be possible. But before she can uncover its secrets Integrator forces invade the Caverns necessitating a harrowing escape loaded with unexpected consequences.Believing they're all lost forever, Dirck endures a dark and lonely time that changes him forever. The strange circumstances of their return vindicate Creena's faith in the crystals but now they're in a lethal race against the Integrator to develop the technology that will assure victory with time itself the ultimate prize.

The Dead Horse Canyon Saga Continues. . . When Charlie Littlewolf and Sara Reynolds discovered why her husband, Bryan, was murdered, their lives changed forever. While Charlie swore to avenge his white brother's death, the path to do so remains unclear. His job with Lone Star Operations allows him to use his college education and earn a generous income. However, it conflicts with everything he knows to be right. Is violating the Earth wrong or not? Little does he realize that his work will ultimately return him to the Northern Cheyenne reservation where his true destiny will manifest in ways he never imagined. Sara is determined to fulfill Bryan's last request to expose the government corruption coupled with the lethal forces that stole his life. Releasing the scandalous Top Secret data via WikiLeaks infuriates those with much to lose, who place a high price on her demise. When her response gets too personal, the next attempt to silence her forever comes close to home. While miles apart, each struggles with life-threatening situations as a result of their dedication to Bryan's legacy. Their lives remain entangled through a series of fateful decisions and circumstances that define a future fraught with unknowns for them both.

In 1972, Italo Calvino published Invisible Cities, a literary book that masterfully combines philosophy and poetry, rigid structure and free play, theoretical insight and glittering prose. The text is an extended meditation on urban life, and it continues to resonate not only among literary scholars, but among social scientists, architects, and urban planners as well. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Invisible Cities, this collection of essays serves as both an appreciation and a critical engagement. Drawing from a wide array of disciplinary perspectives and geographical contexts, this volume grapples with the theoretical, pedagogical, and political legacies of Calvino’s work. Each chapter approaches Invisible Cities not only as a novel but as a work of evocative ethnography, place-writing, and urban theory. Fifty years on, what can Calvino’s dreamlike text offer to scholars and practitioners interested in actually existing urban life?