From A Shattered Sun

Among a growing number of ethnographies of eastern Indonesia that deal with cosmology, exchange, and kinship, From a Shattered Sun is the first to address squarely issues originally broached by Edmund Leach and Claude Lévi-Strauss concerning the relation between hierarchy and equality in asymmetric systems of marriage. On the basis of extensive fieldwork in the Tamimbar islands, Susan McKinnon analyzes the simultaneous presence of both closed, asymmetric cycles and open, asymmetric pathways of alliance--of both egalitarian and hierarchical configurations. In addition, Tamimbarese society is marked by the existence of multiple, differentially valued forms of marriage, affiliation, and residence. Rather than seeing these various forms as analytically separable types, McKinnon demonstrates that it is only by viewing them as integrally related--in terms of culturally specific understandings of "houses," gender, and exchange--that one can perceive the processes through which hierarchy and equality are created.

Nine hundred years ago, the Sun exploded. It shattered into millions of pieces, which swirled about the cosmos and eventually plummeted into the earth. On that day, the world was plunged into an eternal twilight. Without the Sun, life became dependent on its fractured remains, the Sun Shards, for survival. They instantly became the most precious resources on the face of the earth. If you had one, you had light, heat, and the ability to grow food. If you didn't, you died a cold, lonely death. Here's the funny thing though: Life goes on. People adapt, banners change, and the world keeps spinning. In this new age there is no day and no night; just a never-ending twilight. The world is still a place of gods and monsters, but now without the sun overhead these horrors have moved into the cities and alleyways to prey at all hours of the day. This world still needs heroes, someone to bring a light into the dark places and to make sure the boogeyman stays in his closet. Do you have what it takes to shine?

The epic sword-and-sorcery adventure of the Bound Gods fantasy series, which started with In the Shadow of the Gods and The Bones of the Earth, comes to its dark conclusion in this thrilling story of a vibrant world whose fate lies in the hands of vengeful gods and bold warriors. The world has been plunged into darkness...and only the scheming priest Joros might be able to bring back the sun. With his ragtag band of fighters—a laconic warrior, a pair of street urchins, a ruthless priestess, and an unhinged sorcerer—Joros seeks to defeat the ancient gods newly released from their long imprisonment. But the Twins have champions of their own, and powers beyond knowing...and the only sure thing is that they won’t go down without a fight. The fate of the world hangs in the balance as the Twins aim to enact revenge on the parents that imprisoned them, and the world that spurned them. The Long Night has begun, and the shadows hide many secrets—including that the Twins themselves may not be as powerful as they would have everyone think. Joros and his allies must strike now—before the Twins can consolidate their power...and before they are allowed to shape the world in their vision.

A desperate alliance of human and Hroom factions gather to defeat Apex, a brutal alien menace who has vowed to exterminate all civilized races from the sector. The final book of the Sentinel Trilogy.

A small town, forced proximity, love triangle romantic suspense from USA Today bestselling author, Persephone Autumn. When your heart was split in two, how did you choose who to love more? As a young girl, I never imagined a day without Benjamin Wilks by my side. Ben had been more than my best friend. He'd been my person. The ordinary to my quirky. The smart to my foolish. The quiet to my loud. Regardless how opposite we were in personality, together we clicked. Then tragedy struck and changed my life forever. And when Mom could no longer bear the memories our house held, she moved us to Stone Bay. For years, I rebelled. Spilled my hurt in the form of ugly words. In time, I healed and learned to love the lavish small town and the people that called it home. In its borders, I met my soul sisters. I made a life for myself. And I had the attention of the hottest police officer in town. Travis Emerson was more than an attractive man with a badge. Travis was part of the Stone Bay Seven-the town's founding families-and that title came with responsibility. Though we flirted daily, our relationship never evolved beyond friendship. Then Ben showed up in Stone Bay and swept me off my feet. Literally. In response, Travis growled his displeasure and all but claimed me in front of the town gossip mill. One anonymous, disturbing note later, I learned Ben and Travis weren't the only ones vying for my attention. Days after that, when the body of a woman was discovered in the woods, the whispers around town regarding my love triangle fizzled out. In its place... townsfolk claimed I resembled the lifeless woman. Determined to protect me, Travis inserted himself more in my life. And my heart. But as I rekindled my relationship with Ben, I learned it was possible to love more than one person. Before it's too late, I needed to decide which of them I loved more. Because time wasn't on my side.

A small town, forced proximity, love triangle romantic suspense from USA Today bestselling author Persephone Autumn. When your heart was split in two, how did you choose who to love more? As a young girl, I never imagined a day without Benjamin Wilks by my side. Ben had been more than my best friend. He'd been my person. The ordinary to my quirky. The smart to my foolish. The quiet to my loud. Regardless how opposite we were in personality, together we clicked. Then tragedy struck and changed my life forever. And when Mom could no longer bear the memories our house held, she moved us to Stone Bay. For years, I rebelled. Spilled my hurt in the form of ugly words. In time, I healed and learned to love the lavish small town and the people that called it home. In its borders, I met my soul sisters. I made a life for myself. And I had the attention of the hottest police officer in town. Travis Emerson was more than an attractive man with a badge. Travis was part of the Stone Bay Seven-the town's founding families-and that title came with responsibility. Though we flirted daily, our relationship never evolved beyond friendship. Then Ben showed up in Stone Bay and swept me off my feet. Literally. In response, Travis growled his displeasure and all but claimed me in front of the town gossip mill. One anonymous, disturbing note later, I learned Ben and Travis weren't the only ones vying for my attention. Days after that, when the body of a woman was discovered in the woods, the whispers around town regarding my love triangle fizzled out. In its place... townsfolk claimed I resembled the lifeless woman. Determined to protect me, Travis inserted himself more in my life. And my heart. But as I rekindled my relationship with Ben, I learned it was possible to love more than one person. Before it's too late, I needed to decide which of them I loved more. Because time wasn't on my side.

Webb Keane argues that by looking at representations as concrete practices we may find them to be thoroughly entangled in the tensions and hazards of social existence. This book explores the performances and transactions that lie at the heart of public events in contemporary Anakalang, on the Indonesian island of Sumba. Weaving together sharply observed narrative, close analysis of poetic speech and valuable objects, and far-reaching theoretical discussion, Signs of Recognition explores the risks endemic in representational practices. An awareness of risk is embedded in the very forms of ritual speech and exchange. The possibilities for failure and slippage reveal people's mutual vulnerabilities and give words and things part of their power. Keane shows how the dilemmas posed by the effort to use and control language and objects are implicated with general problems of power, authority, and agency. He persuades us to look differently at ideas of voice and value. Integrating the analysis of words and things, this book contributes to a wide range of fields, including linguistic anthropology, cultural studies, social theory, and the studies of material culture, art, and political economy.