The Secret Country

What happens when your fantasy world turns real...? Each vacation for the past nine years, cousins Patrick, Ruth, Ellen, Ted, and Laura have played a game they call the “Secret”—and invented, scripted world full of witches, unicorns, a magic ring, court intrigue, and the Dragon King. In the Secret, they can imagine anything into reality, and shape destiny. Then the unbelievable happens: by trick or by chance, they actually find themselves in the Secret Country, their made-up identities now real. The five have arrived at the start of their games, with the Country on the edge of war. What was once exciting and wonderful now looms threateningly before them, and no one is sure how to stop it… or if they will ever get back home. "An intricate sparkling web of intrigue and magic. One of me very favorites.”—Patricia C. Wrede, author of Dealing with Dragons

Having learned from a talking cat that he and his sisters are the half-elfin royalty of a parallel world called Eidolon, twelve-year old Ben Arnold attempts to stop his evil uncle from smuggling magical creatures between the two worlds to sell on the black market.

Expatriate journalist and film-maker John Pilger writes about his homeland with life-long affection and a passionately critical eye. In this fully updated edition of A Secret Country, he pays tribute to a little known Australia and tells a story of high political drama.

The five cousins are still trapped in the Secret Country, and must play their parts. When the King is poisoned, Ted-Prince Edward-must take the throne, even though he has no idea how to rule a country, battle magic, or inspire followers. Soon enough he will have to do all three because the Country is on the verge of war with the treacherous Dragon King.

The Third and Final book of the Secret Country Trilogy! Three things have the power to destroy the Secret Country: the Border Magic, the Crystal of Earth, and the whim of the dragon. The cousins Ted, Laura, Ruth, Patrick, and Ellen have faced the first two; now, summoned back to the Secret Country, they must face the third. The Country's most trusted counselors now know that the five are impostors, somehow thrust into the roles of royalty, but no one knows who has been playing with their destinies. The truth lies with only Chryse, the unicorn, and Belaparthalion, the dragon. But getting to them, and speaking with them, is more complex and dangerous than it seems…. “Pamela Dean’s Secret Country books are required reading for anyone who loves fantasy. Get them!”—Will Shetterly, author of Dogland

The tale begins over three-hundred years ago, when the Fair People—the goblins, fairies, dragons, and other fabled and fantastic creatures of a dozen lands—fled the Old World for the New, seeking haven from the ways of Man. With them came their precious jewels: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls... But then the Fair People vanished, taking with them their twelve fabulous treasures. And they remained hidden until now... Across North America, these twelve treasures, over ten-thousand dollars in precious jewels, are buried. The key to finding each can be found within the twelve full color paintings and verses of The Secret. Yet The Secret is much more than that. At long last, you can learn not only the whereabouts of the Fair People's treasure, but also the modern forms and hiding places of their descendants: the Toll Trolls, Maitre D'eamons, Elf Alphas, Tupperwerewolves, Freudian Sylphs, Culture Vultures, West Ghosts and other delightful creatures in the world around us. The Secret is a field guide to them all. Many "armchair treasure hunt" books have been published over the years, most notably Masquerade (1979) by British artist Kit Williams. Masquerade promised a jewel-encrusted golden hare to the first person to unravel the riddle that Williams cleverly hid in his art. In 1982, while everyone in Britain was still madly digging up hedgerows and pastures in search of the golden hare, The Secret: A Treasure Hunt was published in America. The previous year, author and publisher Byron Preiss had traveled to 12 locations in the continental U.S. (and possibly Canada) to secretly bury a dozen ceramic casques. Each casque contained a small key that could be redeemed for one of 12 jewels Preiss kept in a safe deposit box in New York. The key to finding the casques was to match one of 12 paintings to one of 12 poetic verses, solve the resulting riddle, and start digging. Since 1982, only two of the 12 casques have been recovered. The first was located in Grant Park, Chicago, in 1984 by a group of students. The second was unearthed in 2004 in Cleveland by two members of the Quest4Treasure forum. Preiss was killed in an auto accident in the summer of 2005, but the hunt for his casques continues.

Learn to “see” the forecast in the hidden weather signs all around you—from the New York Times–bestselling author of How to Read a Tree and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs In The Secret World of Weather, bestselling author Tristan Gooley turns his gaze up to the sky, bringing his signature brand of close observation and eye-opening deduction to the fascinating world of weather. Every cloud, every change in temperature, every raindrop, every sunbeam, every breeze reveals something about our weather—if you know what to look for. Before you know it, you’ll be able to forecast impending storms, sunny days, and everything in between, all without needing to consult your smartphone. But The Secret World of Weather goes far beyond mere weather prediction, changing the very way we think about weather itself. Weather is not something that blankets an area; rather, it changes constantly as you walk through woods or turn down a street. The weather is never identical on two sides of a tree—or even beneath it. Take, for example, Gooley’s remarkable discovery that breezes accelerate beneath a tree. To Gooley, this is “weather,” a tiny microclimate that explains why people sit beneath a tree to cool down—not only for the shade but, subconsciously, for cooler breeze. And so Gooley shows us not only what the weather will be like five days from now, but also what to expect about the weather around every corner. By carefully observing the subtle interplay of wind, cloud, fog, temperature, rain and many other phenomena, we not only form a deeper understanding of weather patterns, but also unlock secrets about our environment. Weather forms our landscape, and landscape forms our weather. Everything we see in the sky reflects where we are. When we learn to read weather’s signs, Gooley shows us, the weather becomes our map, revealing to us how it has made our towns, cities, woods, and hills what they are. You’ll never see your surroundings the same way again.

Explore the wild beauty of your soul for healing, clarity, and purpose The secret country of yourself is your unique inner cosmos, the place you visit in your dreams and fantasies. The experiences you have there reflect all that has happened and all that can happen, and when you visit your secret country with intention, you can transform your life. This book is a gateway to your secret country. It's a tour guide for an experiential journey to your inner temple and library, your sanctuary and your shadow house. With hands-on techniques such as spells, prayers, elemental workings, guided visualizations, and shamanistic journeys, this book's goal is to help you know yourself, heal yourself, and become more of who you are. Praise: "In The Secret Country of Yourself, Jenya T. Beachy takes us on a transformational journey through shadowlands and starry steppes into the deepest heart of Self. On this magickal quest you will discover and retrieve parts of yourself that you lost along the way, you will heal parts that have been hurting, and you will come out with a more complete awareness and understanding of the Secret Country within."—Lasara Firefox Allen, author of Jailbreaking the Goddess