Cloud Ashes

Winner of the Tiptree Award and a Mythopoeic Award finalist, Cloud & Ashes is a slow whirlwind of language, a button box of words, a mythic fable that invites revisitation. Praise for Cloud & Ashes: "A rich poetic prose laden with fetching archaisms that's unlike anything else being written today. Brilliant and truly innovative fiction, not to be missed."—The Washington Times Greer Gilman is the author of Moonwise. A graduate of Wellesley and the University of Cambridge, she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She likes to quip that she does everything James Joyce ever did, only backward and in high heels.

Welcome to Nortna, a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by unceasing wars and battles and reduced to nothing but ashes, leaving burnt shells of villages where vestiges of humanity and civilization are nothing more than the smoke that rises from the death and destruction. In the midst of despair, a lone warrior named Naflaine will rise to fight for the last of his kind. Armed with courage and conviction, Naflaine, half elf, half dragon, will do what those before him failed to do in order to save his dragon kin from complete annihilation before it is too late. The few dragon survivors that still tenuously exist will band together on a journey to face tremendous odds against all who are trying to destroy and defeat them. In The Era of Ashes, Barshay Tabor creates a fantasy world that is hypnotic and spellbinding in the tradition of renowned writers such as Christopher Paolini and J.R.R. Tolkien. Evocative in its detail and ability to transport you to the realm of its netherworld, The Era of Ashes is a truly unique and imaginative work.

Phoenix Rising from the Ashes tells of a man’s journey from a dark seemingly endless pit of addiction into the light. Draw inspiration from his struggles and discover how he, after having stumbled onto a path of self-destruction, got up on his feet and walked onward to recovery. Read, witness, and realize how there will always be hope even in the bleakest of moments and the most desperate of times.

Presented with impossible odds, the riders struggle to overcome the grief left behind by the last battle knowing they will soon have more to face. While enemies from within are discovered and unexpected alliances are formed, a journey into Maiadar reveals a desperate choice to be made. As the war escalates, one dragon rider may have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save all.

Is there such a thing as “someone else’s” war? Or are we all affected by the actions of others, both from the past and the present, and even those far away? Flying Through the Ashes follows the story of two women, a mother and her daughter, and their journey through times of war. World War Two has begun. Edith is a young and spirited English beauty living in London, England with her family. She tries to navigate her teen life through wartime measures and air strikes. While out dancing, she meets and falls in love with a Norwegian pilot, Harald, who flies with the RAF after training on Toronto Island. A devasting event leaves Edith heartbroken, and she must hold her head high and start her life over. A generation later, the Vietnam War dominates the news. Edith’s daughter, Sarah, attends university in Toronto. Sarah’s boyfriend, Roger, who—like Harald—is a pilot, begins protesting the war in Vietnam. As they fly Roger’s plane from Toronto Island, their perspectives change. Despite her involvement in the protests, unlike Roger, Sarah feels separated from the Vietnam War—they live in Canada, not the United States. When tragedy strikes during a protest, she can never look at war, anywhere, the same. Two women, connected by war and by blood, must seek meaning, memory, and forward momentum. Flying Through the Ashes is an immersive, touching story about the strength and resilience of the human heart.

Living is more than mere survival... Young widow AJ Sinclair has persevered through much heartache. Has she met her match when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, leaving her separated from her youngest son and her brother? Tens of thousands are dead or missing in a swath of massive destruction. She and her nine-year-old autistic son Will embark on a risky road trip from Maine to the epicenter to find her family. She can't lose another loved one. Along the way, they meet Reid Gregory, who travels his own road to perdition looking for his sister. Drawn together by AJ's fear of driving and Reid's military and local expertise, their journey to Colorado is fraught with the chaotic aftermath of the eruption. AJ's anxiety and faith in humanity are put to the test as she heals her past, accepts her family's present, and embraces uncertainty as Will and Reid show her a world she had almost forgotten.

Volcanic eruptions are the clear and dramatic expression of dynamic processes in planet Earth. The author, one of the most profound specialists in the field of volcanology, explains in a concise and easy to understand manner the basics and most recent findings in the field. Based on over 300 color figures and the model of plate tectonics, the book offers insight into the generation of magmas and the occurrence and origin of volcanoes. The analysis and description of volcanic structures is followed by process oriented chapters discussing the role of magmatic gases as well as explosive mechanisms and sedimentation of volcanic material. The final chapters deal with the forecast of eruptions and their influence on climate. Students and scientists of a broad range of fields will use this book as an interesting and attractive source of information. Laypeople will find it a highly accessible and graphically beautiful way to acquire a state-of-the-art foundation in this fascinating field. "Volcanism by Hans-Ulrich Schmincke has photos of the best quality I have ever seen in a text on the subject... In addition, the schematic figures in their wide range of styles are clear, colorful, and simplified to emphasize the most important factors while including all significant features... "I have really enjoyed reading and rereading Schmincke’s book. It fills a great gap in texts available for teaching any basic course in volcanology. No other book I know of has the depth and breadth of Volcanism... I have shared Volcanism with my colleagues to their significant benefit, and I am more convinced of its value for a broad range of Earth and planetary scientists. Undoubtedly, I will use Volcanism for my upcoming courses in volcanology. I will never hesitate to recommend it to others. Many geoscientists from very different subdisciplines will benefit from adding the book to their personal libraries. Schmincke has done us all a great service by undertaking the grueling task of writing the book – and it is much better that he alone wrote it." Stanley N. Williams, ASU Tempe, AZ (Physics Today, April 2005) "Schmincke is a German volcanologist with an international reputation, and he has done us all a great favour because he sensibly channelled his fascination with volcanoes into writing this beautifully illustrated book... [he] tackles the entire geological setting of volcanoes within the earth and the processes that form them... And, with more than 400 colour illustrations, including a huge number of really excellent new diagrams, cutaway models and maps, plus a rich glossary and references, this book is accessible to anyone with an interest in the subject." New Scientist (March 2004) "The science of volcanology has made tremendous progress over the past 40 years, primarily because of technological advances and because each tragic eruption has led researchers to recognize the processes behind such serious hazards. Yet scientists are still learning a great deal because of photographs that either capture those processes in action or show us the critical factors left behind in the rock record.Volcanism by Hans-Ulrich Schmincke has photos of the best quality I have ever seen in a text on the subject. I found myself wishing that I had had the photo of Nicaragua’s Masaya volcano, which was the subject of my dissertation, but it was Schmincke who was able to include it in his book. In addition, the schematic figures in their wide range of styles are clear, colorful, and simplified to emphasize the most important factors while including all significant features. The book’s paper is of such high quality that at times I felt I had turned two pages rather than one. I have really enjoyed reading and rereading Schmincke’s book. It fills a great gap in texts available for teaching any basic course in volcanology. No other book I know of has the depth and breadth of Volcanism. I was disappointed that the text did not arrive on my desk until last August, when it was too late for me to choose it for my course in volcanology. I am also disappointed about another fact—the book’s binding is already becoming tattered because of my intense use of it! Schmincke is a volcanologist who, in 1967, first published papers on sedimentary rocks of volcanic origin, the direction traveled by lava flows millions of years ago, and the structures preserved in explosive ignimbrites, or pumice-flow deposits, that reveal important details of their formation. Since then, his studies in Germany’s Laacher See, the Canary Islands, the Troodos Ophiolite of Cyprus, and many other regions have forged great fundamental advances. Such contributions have been recognized with his receipt of several international awards and clearly give him a strong base for writing the book. However, as a scientist who has focused on the challenges of monitoring the very diverse activities of volcanoes, I think that the text’s overriding emphasis on the rock record has its cost. The group of scientists who are struggling with their goals to reduce or mitigate the hazards of the eruptions of tomorrow need to learn more about the options of technology, instrumentation, and methodology that are currently available. More than 500 million people live near the more than 1500 known active volcanoes and are constantly facing serious threats of eruptions. An extremely energetic earthquake caused the horrific tsunamis of 2004. However, the tsunamis of 1792, 1815, and 1883, which were caused by the eruptions of Japan’s Unzen volcano and Indonesia’s Tambora and Krakatau volcanoes, each took a similar toll. " ( Stanley N. Williams, PHYSICS TODAY, April 2005)