The Shapeshifters

This tale of missing children and mythic monsters is “a fantastic novel in every sense of the word” (Karl Ove Knausgård). Summer 1978. A young boy disappears without a trace from a summer cabin. His mother claims he was carried away by a giant. He is never found. Twenty-five years later, another child goes missing. This time there’s a lead, a single photograph taken by Susso Myrén. She’s devoted her life to the search for trolls, legendary giants known as stallo who can control human thoughts and assume animal form. Convinced that the fabled beasts are real, she follows the trail of missing children to northern Sweden. But humans, some part stallo themselves, have been watching over the creatures for generations, and this hidden society of protectors won’t hesitate to close its deadly ranks. Mixing folklore and history, suspense and the supernatural, The Shapeshifters is an extraordinary journey into a frozen land where myth bleeds into reality. “Spjut has accomplished the masterstroke of writing convincingly about the existence of trolls and other mythical creatures in the Nordic forests . . . all this unfolds in a language that captures the everyday reality we know so well, with such precision and exquisite style that the words seem to sparkle on the page.” —Karl Ove Knausgård, author of My Struggle “A fun, cunning crime thriller . . . If you enjoy the novels of Michael Koryta or Tana French’s The Secret Place . . . you might eat up The Shapeshifters.” —Chicago Tribune “Spjut turns Scandinavian mythology upside down in a shades-of-gray world built for lovers of fantastical suspense.” —Publishers Weekly

This striking collection of forty-five illustrated cards and an in-depth guidebook entertain and empower with sage advice. The wisdom of magickal familiars—once the companions of shamans, witches, wizards, and wise ones—is now directly accessible in this deck of forty-five cards and comprehensive guidebook. These mystical allies possess the hidden knowledge of shapeshifting, camouflage, invisibility, and metamorphosis. They are ready to share their very honest, truly instinctual guidance for personal and planetary times of transition. These trustworthy companions will lend you their courage, point out new paths, help you make fresh discoveries, spark your creativity, inspire you with encouragement, and teach you to develop abilities to adapt and change—not only for survival, but to thrive and find peace, joy, accomplishment, and satisfaction in a changing world. With a 176-page guidebook by Lucy Cavendish revealing the history, legends, lore, and magick of the shapeshifters—including practical spreads for accurate readings—and 45 colorful cards featuring stunning art by Jasmine Becket-Griffith, the Oracle of the Shapeshifters is truly a unique and empowering deck.

Despite billions of dollars spent on decades of research, no vaccine has been found for the deadly HIV. Why has it been so difficult to find an effective vaccine for HIV, or the herpes simplex virus-2, while we have managed to find those for rabies, polio and smallpox? After years stalking the HIV and other viruses with a computer, the author detected something very strange in the outer shell protein of HIV-1. He believes that the virus is literally acting as a shapeshifter in evading the host immune system. This book is about a scientific adventure that covers the HIV, SARS, Yellow Fever, Ebola and other viruses. As this book explains, each virus has its own story in terms of evolution and its interactions with humans. It also argues that early vaccine successes with the smallpox, rabies and polio viruses were due to the hard shells of those viruses. The concept of viral shapeshifting also opens up a new world of possibilities in improved treatments for cancers and infectious diseases. The presentation in this book is aimed both at the curious layman and researchers.

In recent years, shapeshifting characters in literature, film and television have been on the rise. This has followed the increased use of such characters as metaphors, with novelists and critics identifying specific meanings and topics behind them. This book aims to unravel the shapeshifting trope. Rather than pursue a case-based study, the works are grouped around specific themes—adolescence, gender, sexuality, race, disability, addiction, and spirituality—that are explored through the metaphor of shapeshifting. Because of the transformative possibilities of this metaphor and its flexibility, the shapeshifter has the potential to change how we see our world. With coverage of iconic fantasy texts and a focus on current works, the book engages with the shapeshifting figure in popular culture from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Into the Looking Glass, an analytical guide for Fringe viewers and science fiction fans in general, explores the influence of these traditions on Fringe. It also reveals how the show reflects - and sometimes critiques - the society from which it emerges. Along with many other post-9/11 television shows, Fringe has demonstrated the West's collective paranoia about foreign invaders and domestic corruption. It also lays bare the spread of radical advances in technology and urges its viewers to ponder the ethical limitations of science.

Fourteen-year-old Emily Prince has just moved to Windsor, Ontario. As if trying to make friends in a new school is not stressful enough, Emilys abusive mother does not care if she ever fits in. Emily is her victim. With a vanished father and a mother who hates her, it seems there is no one who can rescue Emily from her fateuntil she meets her neighbor across the street. Dean Bouche is drop-dead gorgeous and blessed with an intoxicating laugh. Better yet, he attends St. Gervases Catholic High School, just like her. As Emily and Dean begin a complicated relationship, her secret life is exposed and she discovers that Dean is not who he appears to be. But when all her new friends suddenly become obsessed with the bird-like birthmark she sports on her shoulder and Dean goes missing, Emily suddenly realizes that something is wrongvery wrong. Shapeshifters Mark is the gripping story of one girls struggle to overcome abuse as she is unwittingly immersed into a strange new world where she soon discovers the truth about her destiny.

Douglas Eagle Greyeyes, shapeshifter and member of the Blackfoot tribe, rescues a beautiful woman, but the signs in the stars tell him her arrival in his world is not accidental. His mortal enemy will soon attack, and the woman could either save or destroy him. Vanessa O’Casey witnesses her mother’s hit-and-run death. Descended from Irish Travelers, she and her mother never settled anywhere, and Vanessa finally realizes they were running from someone. But she never asked to be sent to another time. When the killer finds Vanessa, she and Greyeyes must fight—not just for their lives but against their growing attraction—if they are to defeat a common enemy as powerful as the forces of nature.

With diverse contributions from scholars in English literature, psychology, and film and television studies, this collection of essays contextualizes Fringe as a postmodern investigation into what makes us human and as an examination of how technology transforms our humanity. In compiling this collection, the editors sought material as multifaceted as the series itself, devoting sections to specific areas of interest explored by both the writers of Fringe and the writers of the essays: humanity, duality, genre and viewership.