The Games Were Coming

Leon Seal is training for the Southern Games, a forerunner of the Commonwealth Games. In his zeal, Leon ignores his girlfriend and is not even interested in participating in Trinidad's heady Carnival festivities. The novel asserts the need for balance between Leon's disciplined restraint and the fevered abandon of the Carnival. Leon's mischievous brother, Dolphus, serves as counterpart to the single-mindedness of both Leon's rigidity and the Carnival's joyful, chaotic energy.

The story of Leon, an ascetic young bicyclist who neglects the annual carnival in order to train for an upcoming race.

A group biography of seven enduring and beloved games, and the story of why—and how—we play them. Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable. Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across forty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against “modern rationalism”; and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon program so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each game: backgammon boards in ancient Egypt, the Indian origins of chess, how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones. Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself. Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programs better than any human player, and what that means for the games—and for us. Funny, fascinating, and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history, and how play makes us human.

Several prominent South Carolina football players of the past share their fondest single-game experience and memories. Some of these games are the greatest in school history, while others are ordinary save for significant personal meaning. In each case, it is the player who singles out the game, the moment in time that to him is the most defining of his Gamecock football career. Together these stories weave a tapestry of South Carolina Gamecock football history. Heisman Trophy-winner George Rogers, as well as other legends like ponytailed QB Steve Taneyhill; record-setting QB Todd Ellis; Dan Reaves, an eventual Super Bowl head coach; running back Brandon Bennett; and running back Rob DeBoer are profiled in this unique book. Game of My Life South Carolina Gamecocks takes readers down memory lane, while also providing an in-depth look into the men and games that helped shape and build the Gamecock football heritage.

"Readers will be riveted by this genuinely scary holiday phantasmagoria."– Publishers Weekly A group of motorists become stranded on a lonely stretch of highway during a Christmas Eve blizzard and fight for survival against an unnatural force in the storm. The gathered survivors realize a tenuous connection among them means it may not be a coincidence that they all ended up on this highway. An attempt to seek help leads a few of the travelers to a house in the woods where a twisted toymaker with a mystical snow globe is hell bent on playing deadly games with a group of people just trying to get home for the holidays. FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

Computer role-playing games (CRPGs) are a special genre of computer games that bring the tabletop role-playing experience of games such as Dungeons & Dragons to the computer screen. This genre includes classics such as Ultima and The Bard's Tale as well as more modern games such as World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. Written in an engaging style for