Requiem For The Conqueror

This rich and exciting sci-fi trilogy follows the search of one man—raised to be the ultimate general, the penultimate killing machine—for his own humanity and for the son he's never known. The final conflict is about to begin.... The Forbidden Borders form a seemingly unassailable gravity-powered barrier, cutting humankind off from the wider universe, confining rival empires to a few star systems, and leaving them to strive endlessly against one another for total control. But now the weakest have fallen, only two mighty empires remain, and each must once again turn to the man both fear more than they fear one another. The man each is determined to hire—or, failing that, to assassinate—Staffa kar Therma, Lord Commander of the Companions. Trained to be the ultimate killing machine, the penultimate general, Staffa has led his crack Companion mercenary troops to victory time and again. Throughout the human worlds, the Lord Commander is cursed as the Star Butcher, bringer of death and destruction. And never before has he turned his back from undertaking a new contract. But along with his most recent victory has come a discovery that will have repercussions throughout all the star systems within the Forbidden Borders. For Staffa has learned that the son stolen from him in infancy may still be alive, and nothing will stand between Staffa and the search for his son—even though his quest may well lead to his own destruction....

A guide to series fiction lists popular series, identifies novels by character, and offers guidance on the order in which to read unnumbered series.

La Florida del Inca (Lisbon, 1605) is a key text in the history and culture of the Americas. In this chronicle, its author, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, born in Cuzco, the son of an Inca princess and a Spanish conquistador, offers a unique representation of Hernando de Soto's expedition (1539-43) to the vast territory then known as La Florida. The studies collected here analyze the period of early contact in La Florida, study the chronicle of the Cuzcan writer and the works that influenced it, with the objective of affirming its central place in colonial, cultural, and transatlantic studies and its importance in understanding the intertwined history of the Americas. An introduction, a chronology, a general bibliography, and fifty-six images offer a frame for these sections. The various essays are written in a direct manner, and are free of jargon with the aim of attracting both general and academic readers. Raquel Chang-Rodriguez is Distinguished Professor of Hispanic Literature and Culture at the City University of New York.

It is AD 312. Rome teeters on the brink of war. Constantine's army is on the move. On the Rhine frontier, Brandulf Rex, a pagan Germanic barbarian, joins the Roman army as a spy and special forces operative. Down in Rome, Junia Flavia, the lovely and pious daughter of a nominally Christian senator, finds herself embroiled in anti-Christian politics as she works on behalf of the church. As armies converge and forces beyond Rex's and Flavia's controls threaten to destroy everything they have worked for, these two people from different worlds will have to work together to bring down the evil Emperor Maxentius. But his villainous plans and devious henchmen are not easily overcome. Will the barbarian warrior and the senator's daughter live to see the Empire bow the knee to Christ? Or will their part in the story of Constantine's rise meet an untimely and brutal end? Travel back to one of the most pivotal eras in history--a time when devotion to the pagan gods was fading and the Roman Empire was being conquered by the sign of the cross.

A marvelous, moving new collection of poems, Requiem, Rwanda has its roots in 2006, when Laura Apol made her first trip to Rwanda. Apol’s initial goal was to develop, in conjunction with Rwandan and American colleagues, a project using narrative writing to facilitate healing among young survivors of the 1994 genocide. During the time she spent leading workshops, Apol felt moved to write her own poems, and after the writing-for-healing project ended, she returned to Rwanda several times to continue her creative work. The legacy of the genocide—on the people, on the land itself—makes its presence felt in many of the poems. The poems are also accounts of Apol’s relationships with and understandings of people post-genocide—where their stories go, how they reenter their lives, and how a country that has been deeply wounded by its history continues on. These poems don’t shy away from exploring the complications of being a white woman, a Westerner, and a witness in this setting: Apol relates her sense of compassion, privilege, horror, guilt, voyeurism, obligation, and love. This new collection is a rich testimonial to the strength of a nation and its people. The collection includes a closing essay, "Writer as a Witness."

"True power rests in one's own self-will! Worshipping no gods, only his own Homodeus - the microcosm of strength & wisdom that is the conqueror!" -- Page 44.

Makine's most ambitious and uncompromising work, "Requiem for a Lost Empire" is a three-generation epic unfolding across 80 years of Russian history, from Czarist times to the fall of Communism. Sweeping readers into a Graham Greene-style thriller that opens up like a sinister Russian doll, this novel rivals the depth and ingenuity of Nabokov and the sweep of Tolstoy.