This Rough Magic

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL PRIZE 2019 'Such an addictive and likeable book...One of this year's best memoirs' The Telegraph 'It's the resistance to the obvious narratives that makes Rough Magic so appealing: the book undermines lazy women-in-the-wilderness tropes at every turn.' Sarah Moss, Guardian 'A heroic tale beautifully told' TLS 'Rough Magic is transporting, beguiling and terrifically entertaining' Daily Mail The Mongol Derby is the world's toughest horse race. A feat of endurance across the vast Mongolian plains once traversed by the people of Genghis Khan, competitors ride 25 horses across a distance of 1000km. Many riders don't make it to the finish line. In 2013 Lara Prior-Palmer - nineteen, underprepared but seeking the great unknown - decided to enter the race. Driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses, she raced for seven days through extreme heat and terrifying storms, catching a few hours of sleep where she could at the homes of nomadic families. Battling bouts of illness and dehydration, exhaustion and bruising falls, she found she had nothing to lose, and tore through the field with her motley crew of horses. In one of the Derby's most unexpected results, she became the youngest-ever champion and the first woman to win the race. A tale of adventure, fortitude and poetry, Rough Magic is the extraordinary story of one young woman's encounter with oblivion, and herself.

"This Rough Magic" represents a significant contribution to the study of Latin American literature and culture. Jane Robinett examines the literary evaluation of technology and shows how concepts of technology in fiction reflect the theoretical work of philosophers of technology. The study focuses on the relationship of technology to magical and political realities found in the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Amado, and Isabel Allende. Robinett shows how magic can function as an independent system and as an alternative to technological domination of the natural world, and she examines how technology can reinforce inherent political tendencies in the cultures."

The Demon Chernobog¾ Foiled but Not Conquered in The Shadow of the Lion¾ is Back to Conquer Sixteenth-Century Venice! Chernobog had come within a hair of seizing absolute power in Venice, but was thwarted by the guardian Lion-spirit, who awoke to protect his city from the power-mad demon. But the power of the Lion is limited to Venice, and Chernobog has a new ally in the King of Hungary, who has beseiged the island of Corfu to seize control of the Adriatic from Venice. Trapped on the island is the small band of heroes who awoke the Lion and thwarted Chernobog before. Far from the Lion's help, Manfred and Erik lead guerrillas against the foe, and Maria discovers ancient magical powers on the island. If she can make alliance with them, she may be able to repel the invaders¾but not without paying a bitter personal price. . . . At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Praise for the Prequel, The Shadow of the Lion: "The prolific Lackey and cohorts Flint and Freer whip up a luscious bouillabaisse of politics, intrigue, love and black magic set in an "Other-worldly, New-Age Venice. . . ." The authors' use of contemporary American vernacular . . . instead of pompous period speech keeps the pages turning fast. . . ." ¾Publishers Weekly "[A] massive concoction of alternate history, high fantasy, and historical romance set in the sixteenth-century Venice of an alternate world . . . rich plotting, vivid characterization, and splendid evocation of Renaissance ethics and culture should make readers turn all the pages." ¾Booklist ". . . a sweeping alternate history. .. .The authors deftly wield the juxtaposition of fantasy and history into a finely crafted story." ¾Romantic Times "[A] top pick . . . fast-paced action and complex, believable settings." ¾The Bookwatch

Since her suicide at age thirty, Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) has been celebrated for her impeccable and ruthless poetry. Rough Magic probes the events of Plath's life, including her turbulent marriage to the poet Ted Hughes.

THE STORY: Transplanting characters from The Tempest to present-day New York, ROUGH MAGIC is a Shakespearean action-adventure-fantasy in the tradition of Harry Potter and The X-Men that conjures a mythical, magical meta-universe in which the

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