The Magic Sequence Volume Two

Young people time-travel to historical and magical realms in three fantasies by the legendary author of the Witch World series and “a superb storyteller” (The New York Times). In the six stand-alone novels that comprise her Magic Sequence series, Andre Norton, a “pioneer” in sci-fi and fantasy, conjures the perfect alchemy of enchanting fantasy and poignant human drama as ordinary kids travel through a variety of portals into historical and magical adventures (Anne McCaffrey). In the three novels collected here, the young heroes are transported to a time of dragons, witch hysteria in colonial New England, and the England of King James. As always, “Andre Norton can be relied upon to convert her magic formulas into adroit entertainment” (Kirkus Reviews). Dragon Magic: When four boys find a jigsaw puzzle with four pictures of dragons in an abandoned house, each of them travels to a different enchanted time. Sig becomes a Viking warrior who must slay a dragon who was once a man and now guards a cursed treasure. Ras is a Nubian prince sold into captivity who can only escape by killing a deadly Egyptian serpent. Artie wages war to defend King Arthur and the Pendragon flag. A sword bearer and page in the imperial palaces of a great Chinese emperor, Kim must follow the path of the slumbering dragon. Lavender-Green Magic: Sent to live with their grandparents in a small Massachusetts town after their father is declared MIA in Vietnam, Holly, Judy, and Crockett Wade walk through an opening in a maze in a junkyard and enter another time. In colonial New England, they are caught in the cross fire between dueling witches. Red Hart Magic: When Chris Fitton and his new stepsister, Nan Mallory, find an exquisite model of an old English inn called the Red Hart, they are able to travel in their dreams to tumultuous times in England’s history, where they try to save the innkeeper of the Red Hart from being executed, come to the assistance of a man hiding from smugglers, and struggle to prove Chris innocent of burning down a squire’s barn with the help of a Bow Street runner.

Young people are transported to historical and magical adventures in three fantasies by the author of the Witch World series and “a superb storyteller” (The New York Times). In the six stand-alone novels that comprise her Magic Sequence series, Andre Norton, a “pioneer” in sci-fi and fantasy, conjures the perfect alchemy of enchanting fantasy and poignant human drama as ordinary kids travel through a variety of portals into historical and magical realms (Anne McCaffrey). In the first three novels collected here, the young heroes are transported to the days of King Arthur, the time of the American Civil War, and the supernatural world of Native American myth. As always, “Andre Norton can be relied upon to convert her magic formulas into adroit entertainment” (Kirkus Reviews). Steel Magic: On a picnic in the Hudson Valley, Sara Lowry and her brothers Greg and Eric discover a medieval castle, where suddenly they’re enveloped by a gray mist and emerge in the time of King Arthur. To save Avalon, they must recover three magic talismans—Arthur’s sword, Excalibur; Merlin’s ring; and the horn of Huon—or remain forever trapped in the distant past. Octagon Magic: There are lots of scary stories about the strange eight-sided house in Lorrie’s neighborhood. Does a witch live there? Is it haunted? But when Lorrie meets the mysterious lady of the house, she’s granted access to explore. In one room, she finds a rocking horse and an exact miniature of the big house. When Laurie climbs on the rocking horse, she is transported into the eight-sided dollhouse and the past, where she meets people who once found this home a refuge. Fur Magic: When his father is called to active duty in Vietnam, Cory Alder leaves Florida to live on his adopted Native American uncle’s Idaho ranch. There, an encounter with an old Nez Perce Medicine Man called Black Elk catapults Cory into an alternate universe where animals live in tribes, hunt, and go on the warpath. Transformed into a spirit animal—a beaver named Yellow Shell—he soon finds himself in the middle of a war between humans and beasts with supernatural powers.

The Larion spell table has been dormant for nearly a thousand Twinmoons. It waits in a forgotten chamber in Sandcliff Palace, the abandoned Larion Senate stronghold on Eldarn's North Sea. The spell table holds the power to see the people of the five lands safely through the oppression and brutality that have haunted them for generations, but without Lessek's key it is a worthless slab of granite - and Lessek's key itself is just a nondescript stone Steven Taylor and Mark Jenkins overlooked on the night they fell through the far portal into Eldarn. Retrieving the key and freeing Eldarn's people rests with Steven Taylor, the would-be sorcerer from Colorado, who is racing across America with Nerak, the fallen Larion dictator, hot on his heels. Steven must reach Idaho Springs and find Lessek's key before it falls into Nerak's hands and is lost for ever - and with it, the lives of untold millions, in both of Steven's worlds.

Why are films by Sergei Eisenstein, Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa or Stanley Kubrick works of art? What elements of style and film technique are involved? What is vital to their personal vision? Here is everything you need to know about feature cinema: the films which have withstood the test of time and are well worth watching today, although many have been unjustly neglected. These are books for film buffs (or for the simply curious) as well as a reliable reference work for students taking film and media courses. The first volume chronologically discusses 410 films from all over the world made in 1913-1950 and the second volume 451 films made in 1951-1963, giving the most correct credits to be found anywhere (superior to any single Internet database or printed source) preserving the diacritical signs in every language and giving correct running times. There is a synopsis of the most important events in cinema history and extensive footnotes explaining various terms as well as giving information about people and historical events mentioned in the text. No previous expertise is assumed and the information should be equally accessable to people without an extensive background in European, Asian or American culture. The individual essays always set each film in its historical context, outlining contemporary trends and styles in literature and the visual arts. This is a work of original film criticism, as well as a reference source. When read in order, the essays amount to an account of the development of individual directors, movements and indeed cinema history itself. The relative newness of the art of cinema makes it possible to discuss the entire key opus of feature-length films in a text of reasonable length. In a few years’ time, this will no longer be possible: until the Second World War no more than approximately twenty truly valuable films were being made worldwide each year, by the late 1950s their number exceeded forty and is now at least sixty. The book is intended both as a look at cinema as a whole and a description of individual works which have not become devalued with the passage of time.

A final stand for Avalon... Sara, Greg, and Eric Lowry are exploring the woods near their uncle's Hudson Valley estate when they are magically transported to the land of Avalon. There they meet Huon, Warden of the West. When he tells them that the forces of darkness have stolen the three talismans that protect Avalon-King Arthur's sword, Excalibur; Merlin's ring; and Huon's horn-the children set off on a quest to find the three tokens of power. For Avalon stands as a wall between the Dark and the mortal world. And if Avalon falls, so does Earth....

The last member of a murdered House tries to protect his ward from forced marriage to a monster while uncovering clues to his own tortured past. The Tarot Sequence imagines a modern-day Atlantis off the coast of Massachusetts, governed by powerful Courts based on the traditional Tarot deck. Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Throne, is backed into a fight of high court magic and political appetites in a desperate bid to protect his ward, Max, from a forced marital alliance with the Hanged Man. Rune's resistance will take him to the island's dankest corners, including a red light district made of moored ghost ships; a surreal skyscraper farm; and the floor of the ruling Convocation, where a gathering of Arcana will change Rune's life forever.

Need for religion seems independent of culture or training, and many exist throughout the world. This book describes religions that had or continue to have some impact on the USA.

Topics include binding spells, curse tablets, and the demonization of magic and sorcery by Christianity.