The Darker Ages 3

Before she marries Prince Jonah, Arienne longs to fulfill a final wish. She wants to take back the kingdom that was stolen from her. To avenge her father's murder, she'll need the help of Alfred Du Bois... but can the backstabbing rogue be trusted? Hilda launches a mission of her own... and Jonah follows, much to her dismay. The henpecked heroine can't stand to be near him, nor can she stand to be away from him. The real world identity of every major character is finally revealed, including Alfred Du Bois.

In this indispensable book, urban visionary Jane Jacobs argues that as agrarianism gives way to a technology-based future, we’re at risk of cultural collapse. Jacobs—renowned author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities and The Economy of Cities—pinpoints five pillars of our culture that are in serious decay: community and family; higher education; the effective practice of science; taxation, and government; and the self-regulation of the learned professions. The corrosion of these pillars, Jacobs argues, is linked to societal ills such as environmental crisis, racism, and the growing gulf between rich and poor. But this is a hopeful book as well as a warning. Drawing on a vast frame of reference—from fifteenth-century Chinese shipbuilding to Ireland’s cultural rebirth—Jacobs suggests how the cycles of decay can be arrested and our way of life renewed. Invigorating and accessible, Dark Age Ahead is not only the crowning achievement of Jane Jacobs’ career, but one of the most important works of our time.

Once a formidable MechWarrior, Mirach Governor Sergio Ortega now believes that diplomacy will win the day. His sons, Dale and Austin, are also stalwarts of the Republic and aspiring MechWarriors—but very hotheaded. Against growing civil unrest, they urge a military show of force before events spiral out of control. But Mirach has no military equipment up to BattleMech status. And the pacifistic Governor is slashing military spending—a move that could spell defeat for the Republic. Marta Kinsolving’s Mirach Business Association has been converting industrial ‘Mechs into fighting machines. After putting down a small civil uprising, MBA may field a force in the imminent civil war and split Mirach three ways. Although Austin Ortega believes that Marta may be complicit his brother’s death, when open warfare erupts—she may turn out to be strongest ally the Ortegas have.

LET SLEEPING GIANTS LIE! As Angel languishes in chains, Mentor comes to the rescue — but this escape attempt may cause more harm than good. Meanwhile, construction continues on Castle Wyvern, but the noise awakens something that was better left undisturbed! Writer and Gargoyles creator GREG WEISMAN and artist DREW MOSS (Red Sonja) continue their epochal exploration of the Gargoyles’ origins in this third issue of Dark Ages, whose 40 pages include a new text story from Weisman and all cardstock covers featuring art by CLAYTON CRAIN, ALAN QUAH, MIRK

The Dark Ages Clan Novel Saga is a 13-volume series of novels set in the world of Dark Ages: Vampire, released by White Wolf from 2002 to the end of 2004. The series begins with Dark Ages Clan Novel 1: Nosferatu and ends with Dark Ages Clan Novel 13: Tzimisce. Inspired by the original modern-day Clan Novel Saga for Vampire: The Masquerade, this series begins with the end of the original Vampire: The Dark Ages era and continued into the time-frame of Dark Ages: Vampire. The 13 novels are written from the POV of one clan each during the turbulence that swept through the mortal and Cainite societies of Europe following the fall of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade. These novels, unlike the original Clan Novel Series, are chronological, happening one after the other rather than overlapping. The Dead Rise

The chaotic winds of fate have swept away the mighty Byzantine Empire. Now they threaten to eradicate the Cappadocians, one of the ancient clans of vampires. Constancia, high priestess of the clan, leaves her mountain monastery to seek out Markus Giovanni, the one vampire who holds the key to the dark future she has foreseen. Markus, however, has plans of his own. Fleeing the destruction of Constantinople, he sets out for the deserts of Egypt in a quest for glory. When the two come together, the dead rise to fight their battles for them. But will it be enough to save either of them from the force that has lured them there? Dark Ages: Cappadocian continues the epic thirteen-part series of Dark Ages Clan Novels, chronicling a vast conflict among the vampires of the Middle Ages. The War of Princes explodes beyond Constantinople.

**_Guardians of the Galaxy_'s Dan Abnett!** Fortified in a secluded monastery, the heathen mercenaries discover a strange new ally in their war against the demons from the sky. But this new discovery reveals a conflict much olderand much more deadlythan any of them could have imagined! * From the creators of Vertigo's _The New Deadwardians_! * Written by _New York Times_ best-selling novelist Dan Abnett.

Updated with the latest archaeological research new chapters on the most influential yet widely unrecognised people of the British isles, In Search of the Dark Ages illuminates the fascinating and mysterious centuries between the Romans and the Norman Conquest of 1066. In this new edition, Michael Wood vividly conjures some of the most important people in British history such as Hadrian, a Libyan refugee from the Arab conquests and arguably the most important person of African origin in British history, to Queen Boadicea, the leader of a terrible war of resistance against the Romans. Here too, warts and all, are the Saxon, Viking and Norman kings who laid the political foundations of England: Offa of Mercia, Alfred the Great, Athelstan, and William the Conqueror, whose victory at Hastings in 1066 marked the end of Anglo-Saxon England. Reflecting the latest historical, textual and archaeological research, this revised and updated edition of Michael Wood's classic book overturns preconceptions of the Dark Ages as a shadowy and brutal era, showing them to be a richly exciting and formative period in the history of Britain.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The bestselling author of Morning Star returns to the Red Rising universe with the thrilling sequel to Iron Gold. “Brown’s plots are like a depth charge of nitromethane dropped in a bucket of gasoline. His pacing is 100% him standing over it all with a lit match and a smile, waiting for us to dare him to drop it.”—NPR (Best Books of the Year) He broke the chains. Then he broke the world…. A decade ago Darrow led a revolution, and laid the foundations for a new world. Now he’s an outlaw. Cast out of the very Republic he founded, with half his fleet destroyed, he wages a rogue war on Mercury. Outnumbered and outgunned, is he still the hero who broke the chains? Or will he become the very evil he fought to destroy? In his darkening shadow, a new hero rises. Lysander au Lune, the displaced heir to the old empire, has returned to bridge the divide between the Golds of the Rim and Core. If united, their combined might may prove fatal to the fledgling Republic. On Luna, the embattled Sovereign of the Republic, Virginia au Augustus, fights to preserve her precious demokracy and her exiled husband. But one may cost her the other, and her son is not yet returned. Abducted by enemy agents, Pax au Augustus must trust in a Gray thief, Ephraim, for his salvation. Far across the void, Lyria, a Red refugee accused of treason, makes a desperate bid for freedom with the help of two unlikely new allies. Fear dims the hopes of the Rising, and as power is seized, lost, and reclaimed, the worlds spin on and on toward a new Dark Age. Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga: RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE • LIGHT BRINGER