Legacy Of Lightning

Embrace destiny. Defend Olympus. Unleash the gods of war! Enter a world where mythic powers collide, and the fate of our world hangs in the balance. Stavros, the new King of Olympus, faces overwhelming forces in a shattered realm. Mount Olympus lies in ruins, its pantheon decimated. But Stavros remains steadfast in his mission to end the devastating war that has ravaged the heavens. As alliances form with the Asgaardian gods, Stavros encounters Hilde, a formidable sorceress. Together, they navigate a treacherous landscape, driven by a common purpose. But when an evil coalition kidnaps Odin, seeking to seize the Odin Force, Stavros and Hilde find themselves thrust into a cataclysmic conflict that threatens to plunge the mortal realm into the brink of Armageddon. Experience a gripping saga where divine destiny and epic battles converge. Join the ranks of devoted readers and unlock the secrets of a war that will shape the very fabric of existence.

It’s the Heian era, a time of peace, of Japanese cultural aristocracy, national identity, and pursuit of beauty through art and poetry. A long-forgotten race, the Hotaru-Raikō, as they have come to be known, part human and part firefly, dwells secretly alongside man. This noble clan once lived near the tree of life. Now they make their home in a thicket near the Fukui Castle moat in the Echizen Province, just north of the capital in Kyōto, Japan. Often mirroring man’s culture, they are particularly fascinated by the budding “way of the warrior” philosophy. However, in this time of peace, a foul creature escapes the bottomless pit, and a traitor emerges among the clan. Seduced by a spider yōkai seeking to release an army from the abyss, the traitor helps form the treacherous Tsuchigumo clan. With their help, the temptress is able to assassinate the Hotaru-Raikō lord and his faithful samurai. In the wake of this devastation, the daimyō’s eighteen-year-old daughter is tasked by an angel to defeat the spider yōkai, destroy her traitorous clan, and raze the Abaddon gate to the ground. Can she rise through the grief to lead the remnants of her father’s army as onna-musha? Who will stand by her side? What gift does the angel bring her? Will the Hotaru-Raikō find the gate to the abyss and complete their quest in time?

I had always known that there was something special and magical inside me, but I had never sought answers. Why uncover the past, when I was happy with my foster family, my books and my job at the bookstore? However, fate had other plans for me and the arrival of Scarlett Leclerc, my twin sister, whose existence I did not suspect, had completely overwhelmed my life. Suddenly all those questions I had never had the courage to ask myself had been answered and... a family claiming me. Keeping my life in balance with that news had been complicated, but I had always managed, until my sister asked me to make an exchange: to live her life for a week in New York, while she went to France to discover the Leclerc magic that had been taken from us. I had accepted, thus realising a dream of mine. Everything was going well, until a student with blue eyes tinged with violet had threatened me: ”When you made fun of me, maybe you forgot that I could kill you at any moment.” What did that boy want from me? Why was he chasing me? Why was he acting like I was his girlfriend? Translator: LRizzi-Erneste PUBLISHER: TEKTIME

After a thousand years of curses, the Thunderbird's secrets are about to be unleashed in the charming town of Galena, Illinois. Ivy is a normal fifteen-year-old girl . . . if you consider yellow eyes and storm-chasing urges normal. Life gets even more normal when she runs away from home to find Walter Nimiki, the grandfather she's never met. It's he who tells her the truth-Ivy is a descendant of the cursed Thunder Clan, so the boy she'll someday fall in love with will die young. Walter believes Ivy is the hope the clan has waited for, the one who can end the curse. Before she can learn more, a terrible accident leaves Walter in a coma. Ivy can't save Walter without the help of three boys: Gabe is keeping a promise to Walter, Cal always knows what she's feeling, and Dan can't stand the sight of her. Ivy doesn't know what would be worse-failing to save Walter, or accidentally falling in love with a boy. Either way, someone will die.

Cinema, Religion and the Romantic Legacy surveys the ways in which notions of religion and spirituality have impinged upon the cinema. Cinema is conceived as a post-Romantic form for which religion and spirituality can be unified only problematically. While inspecting many of the well-established themes and topoi of writing on religion and film (such as films about priests and 'Christ-figures') it also seeks to problematize them, focusing primarily upon the issues of religious representation foregrounded by such European directors as Kieslowski and Godard. Coates draws on theories of theologians, philosophers and cultural and literary critics including: Otto, Kant, Schiller and Girard. Addressing the relationship between religion and spirituality from a film studies specialist's perspective, this book offers all those concerned with film, media or religious studies an invaluable examination of artistic interaction with the theological and aesthetic issues of representation and representability. Paul Coates is Reader in Film Studies at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and author of many books including: The Gorgon's Gaze (CUP), Film at the Intersection of High and Mass Culture (CUP), The Story of the Lost Reflection (Verso).

Now that Lightning, the colt she raised from an orphan, is back, Ann Collins sees her chance to restore her family?s acclaimed position in horse racing. Many years ago, her grandfather nearly bankrupted Stormy Hill, the Collins family thoroughbred breeding farm. Ann?s well-bred black colt is now two years old, and in her eyes, has all the makings of a champion. Ann tries to convince her father and their horse trainer, Scotty, that Lightning has what it takes to be a stakes winner. But before he can race, Lightning must overcome many obstacles, including finding a qualified rider. During the time the colt was stolen, he was mistreated by the men who took him. Now Lightning is afraid of all male riders and will only trust Ann on his back. Ann would love to be the one to ride Lightning to victory, but she lives at a time when women cannot be professional jockeys. She hopes that her friend, Ted, can ride the horse in the big race, one which no other Stormy Hill horse has ever won. Will Ann be able to ensure Stormy Hill?s Legacy in the greatest proving ground of them all, the Kentucky Derby?