The Roof Of Voyaging

When Kupe, one of the great Polynesian voyagers, chases a huge octopus across the ocean, he discovers the strange and mysterious Land of Mists and rescues a man and a woman from the wild sea. He carries them back to the island of Raiatea where the pale strangers witness the momentous events that follow the death of the king and the struggle for succession. But the gods are watching also, and when Prince Tangiia and his followers secretly flee the island in search of a new home, their intervention becomes inevitable. Delighting in the rich and colourful detail and myth of Polynesian life, The Roof of Voyaging is the first part of a wonderful tale which will become a landmark in fantastic fiction.

Long before GPS, Google Earth, and global transit, humans traveled vast distances using only environmental clues and simple instruments. John Huth asks what is lost when modern technology substitutes for our innate capacity to find our way. Encyclopedic in breadth, weaving together astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, and ethnography, The Lost Art of Finding Our Way puts us in the shoes, ships, and sleds of early navigators for whom paying close attention to the environment around them was, quite literally, a matter of life and death. Haunted by the fate of two young kayakers lost in a fog bank off Nantucket, Huth shows us how to navigate using natural phenomena—the way the Vikings used the sunstone to detect polarization of sunlight, and Arab traders learned to sail into the wind, and Pacific Islanders used underwater lightning and “read” waves to guide their explorations. Huth reminds us that we are all navigators capable of learning techniques ranging from the simplest to the most sophisticated skills of direction-finding. Even today, careful observation of the sun and moon, tides and ocean currents, weather and atmospheric effects can be all we need to find our way. Lavishly illustrated with nearly 200 specially prepared drawings, Huth’s compelling account of the cultures of navigation will engross readers in a narrative that is part scientific treatise, part personal travelogue, and part vivid re-creation of navigational history. Seeing through the eyes of past voyagers, we bring our own world into sharper view.

How have Pacific Islanders voyaged across the vast ocean around them and navigated their small crafts from one distant place to another for thousands of years? This reference guide describes the literature on indigenous navigation and voyaging in the Pacific. The annotated bibliography covers journal articles and books written in several languages, including English, German, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Dutch, pointing to materials of both recent and early origin. The entries are arranged alphabetically by author under Pacific (General), Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia chapters. Indexes to authors, geographic areas, and to subjects provide the reader with easy access to the entries and to a wealth of interesting research on a complex subject with many perplexing questions.

This ground-breaking bibliography by distinguished Pacific researcher Nicholas Goetzfridt examines mathematical concepts and practices in Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. It covers number systems, counting, measuring, classifying, spatial relationships, symmetry, geometry, and other aspects of ethnomathematics in relation to a wide range of activities such as trade, education, navigation, construction, rituals and festivals, divination, weaving, tattooing, and music. In compiling nearly five hundred citations, Goetzfridt makes use of the vast resources of writing about the Pacific from the 1700s to the present. In addition to discussing Pacific knowledge systems in general, his introductory chapter includes a helpful overview of the relatively new field of ethnomathematics and important theoretical reflections on the discipline as a research program. Extensive subject and geographic indexes provide numerous ways to experience the rich heritage and history of Pacific ethnomathematical concepts covered in this book, including: the 256 possible knotted fates enabled by the Carolinian sky god Supwunumen, etak segmentation concepts in stellar based voyaging, the highly diverse counting systems of Papua New Guinea, the alignment of stone structures with stars to mark the appearance of the equinox and solstice, and contemporary educational issues in the standardized teaching of Western mathematics.

From the vaults of the SF Gateway, the most comprehensive digital library of classic SFF titles ever assembled, comes an ideal introduction to the work of the WORLD FANTASY AWARD-winning author, Garry Kilworth. In addition to a decorated career in SF and fantasy, Garry Kilworth has been twice shortlisted for the prestigious CARNEGIE MEDAL for his children's writing and is a highly regarded writer of historical military adventure novels. This omnibus collects his critically acclaimed Navigator Kings trilogy, THE ROOF OF VOYAGING, THE PRINCELY FLOWER and LAND-OF-MISTS.

It was always Keito's destiny to lead the Polynesian armies against the Celts and the Picts of the Land-of-Mists. And now the time has come. The Warriors are assembled, the boats are ready, and the gods are preparing for the confrontation. Only Seumas, the Celtic warrior taken from his homeland years before, speaks out against the great adventure. But Seumas is an old man now, embittered by the loss of his beloved wife, Dorcha. Not even the love of his son, Craig, can console him. Soon the mighty army is on the move, crossing the sea towards the unknown land, and Seumas and Craig swell its numbers. They encounter storms, magic, monsters and tragedy even before they reach their destination - the cold, rainy land of muted colours that will decide their fate - and that of their gods. LAND-OF-MISTS is the thrilling climax to the wonderfully epic Navigator Kings series.