Masks And Mirrors

'Utterly captivating. Carrick spins an exciting web of mystery, magic, and political treachery in a richly drawn and innovative world.' S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass Darkly magical and beautifully imagined, The Mask of Mirrors is the unmissable start to the Rook & Rose trilogy, a rich and dazzling fantasy adventure in which a con artist, a vigilante, and a crime lord must unite to save their city. Nightmares are creeping through the city of dreams . . . Renata Virdaux is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadezra -- the city of dreams -- with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house and secure her fortune and her sister's future. But as she's drawn into the aristocratic world of House Traementis, she realises her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as corrupted magic begins to weave its way through Nadezra, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled -- with Ren at their heart. 'Wonderfully immersive--I was unable to put it down.' Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter 'An intricate, compelling dream of a book' Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage 'I was utterly entranced by this glittering world filled with masked vigilantes, cunning conwomen, and dark magic. A sheer delight!' Katy Rose Pool, author of There Will Come A Darkness

As America experiences the growing pains associated with the rapid social changes in the economy, technology, and culture, various groups must develop coping mechanisms to help them deal with the anxiety that is brought on by such changes. Generation Xers, on the cutting edge of these changes, are no exception. More so than any other group, elite Xers, those who are succeeding in the new economy, have adopted a unique personality style, chameleonism, as a defense mechanism. People with a chameleon personality pretend to be what others want them to be in an effort to obtain for themselves the kind of security Xers feel previous generations have enjoyed, but which may not be available to their own generation. Rosen further argues that this personality component, of pretending to be something one is not, becomes a permanent part of the personality when it is practiced and used frequently enough. This riveting examination of the Xer generation sheds new light on the survival mechanisms employed by those who feel threatened by social changes, even as they participate in and benefit from them. The author begins by providing a careful explanation of the chameleon personality before delving into the special problems and obstacles (both real and perceived) that torment elite Xers, and their ways of dealing with these issues. He discusses various sources of anxiety and how the chameleon personality comes into play with regard to conflict between generations, conflict between the genders, and conflict brought on by immigration and foreign competition. While Rosen's approach is primarily socio-psychological, he also provides historical background on issues of social change and other attempts at dealing with it in the past. He presents a reasoned examination of the chameleon personality as it is manifested in America's Generation X in an effort to shed light on this unique segment of our population.

An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors is Curtis Craddock's delightful and engrossing fantasy debut featuring a genius heroine and her guardian, a royal musketeer, which Brandon Sanderson calls, "A great read!" Born with a physical disability, no magical talent, and a precocious intellect, Princess Isabelle des Zephyrs has lived her life being underestimated by her family and her kingdom. The only person who appreciates her true self is Jean-Claude, the fatherly musketeer who had guarded her since birth. All shall change, however, when an unlikely marriage proposal is offered, to the second son of a dying king in an empire collapsing into civil war. But the last two women betrothed to this prince were murdered, and a sorcerer-assassin is bent on making Isabelle the third. Isabelle and Jean-Claude plunge into a great maze of prophecy, intrigue, and betrayal, where everyone wears masks of glamour and lies. Step by dangerous step, Isabelle must unravel the lies of her enemies and discovers a truth more perilous than any deception. “A setting fabulous and strange, heroes to cheer for, villains to detest, a twisty, tricky plot — I love this novel!” —Lawrence Watt Evans “A thrilling adventure full of palace intrigue, mysterious ancient mechanisms, and aerial sailing ships!” —David D. Levine At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Throughout his career, Eduardo Galeano has turned our understanding of history and reality on its head. Isabelle Allende said his works "invade the reader's mind, to persuade him or her to surrender to the charm of his writing and power of his idealism." Mirrors, Galeano's most ambitious project since Memory of Fire, is an unofficial history of the world seen through history's unseen, unheard, and forgotten. As Galeano notes: "Official history has it that Vasco Núde Balboa was the first man to see, from a summit in Panama, the two oceans at once. Were the people who lived there blind??" Recalling the lives of artists, writers, gods, and visionaries, from the Garden of Eden to twenty-first-century New York, of the black slaves who built the White House and the women erased by men's fears, and told in hundreds of kaleidoscopic vignettes, Mirrors is a magic mosaic of our humanity.

Trust is the thread that binds us . . . and the rope that hangs us. In Nadezra, peace is as tenuous as a single thread. The ruthless House Indestor has been destroyed, but darkness still weaves through the city's filthy back alleys and jewel-bright gardens, seen by those who know where to look. Derossi Vargo has always known. He has sacrificed more than anyone imagines to carve himself a position of power among the nobility, hiding a will of steel behind a velvet smile. He'll be damned if he lets anyone threaten what he's built. Grey Serrado knows all too well. Bent under the yoke of too many burdens, he fights to protect the city's most vulnerable. Sooner or later, that fight will demand more than he can give. And Ren, daughter of no clan, knows best of all. Caught in a knot of lies, torn between her heritage and her aristocratic masquerade, she relies on her gift for reading pattern to survive. And it shows her the web of corruption that traps her city. But all three have yet to discover just how far that web stretches. And in the end, it will take more than knives to cut themselves free... 'The Mask of Mirrors is exactly the fantasy adventure novel you're craving: an escape into a vast, enchanting world of danger, secret identities, and glittering prose' Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne 'The Mask of Mirrors kept me up reading way past my bedtime. A web of intrigue, magic, and the art of the con this novel will catch hold of your dreams and keep you from sleeping' Mary Robinette Kowal, author of The Calculating Stars 'The Mask of Mirrors ushers you into the fascinating city of Nadezra, replete with complex politics, intricate magic, and mysteries that readers will be racing to unravel. Wonderfully immersive--I was unable to put it down' Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter 'An intricate, compelling dream of a book that kept me turning pages, with a world and characters that felt deeply real and plenty of riveting twists and turns. I loved it!' Melissa Caruso, author of The Obsidian Tower 'For those who like their revenge plots served with the intrigue of The Goblin Emperor, the colonial conflict of The City of Brass, the panache of Swordspoint, and the richly detailed settings of Guy Gavriel Kay' Booklist (starred review) 'Utterly captivating. Carrick spins an exciting web of mystery, magic, and political treachery in a richly drawn and innovative world.' S. A. Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

«James Downs presents a fascinating and meticulously researched biography of a.

A photographer once remarked to André Maurois, "If I were to take a picture of a village wedding, Jean Cocteau would appear between the bride and groom." And he was right; Cocteau was photographed everywhere, by everyone, in all guises and poses. Cecil Beaton posed him smoking an opium pipe, Lucien Clergue caught him in the romantic ruins of Arles where Cocteau was shooting Orphée, Arnold Newman shot him in Paris, and Philippe Halsman in New York. Cocteau possessed, of course, a modern genius for self-promotion, but he also cared deeply about his own art and the art of a technique he embraced with passion throughout his lifetime -- photography.