Entertainment Science

Hiro and the gang get dragged into rescuing the daughters of an elf patriarch and receive a warm welcome from the elven home planet. The elves here are nothing like Hiro imagined--they know nothing of modern science and rely on magic rather than technology. As Hiro and the girls sample local delicacies, enjoy the sights, and get a crash course in elven fashion, they find that Hiro seems to wield a power much like the elves' magic...

Fate finally locates Myne in Hausen, the domain of which he is lord and protector. It has always been Fate's aim to save Myne from herself, but now the alternative comes at too high a cost to bear: should Fate fail to rescue his errant companion, the mysterious Libra threatens to rain destruction on everything he holds dear.

Shopping in the Empire's biggest shipbuilding star system, Hiro's offered a bargain on an intriguingly uncanny vessel! Then he crosses paths with Kugi--a devout fox shrine maiden hailing from a mysterious sect. She can speak to him telepathically and volunteers to teach him to use his powers. Hiro signs on, but he's about to be put through his psionic paces!

Just when Claudia thought she'd come out on top, she's slammed with ominous dreams and a troubling reunion: Raul, one of her most prominent clients when she was a sex worker, has arrived at the academy! In her previous life, he offered to pay off her debts and free her from the brothel, but this time, he may be the mastermind fanning the flames of international conflict. Claudia's prepared to bring her tricks of the trade to the political stage--and she'll have Raul dancing in the palm of her hand in no time!

Continuing their journey, Rudeus, Eris and Ruijerd have a run in with a figure from legend--none other than the Great Emperor of the Demon World, Kishirika herself! When the trio lend her their aid, Kishrika rewards Rudy with a strange new power...one that might just be more than he bargained for.

It was no walk in the park, but Zig and Siasha have finally gotten accustomed to their new surroundings and are enjoying their tranquil lives funded by their bloody battles with monstrosities. One day, Siasha decides to join a short-term adventuring party, and Zig, temporarily relieved of his bodyguard duties, finds himself with a bit of free time. But he's not idle for long. Isana—a second-class adventurer and acquaintance of Zig's—asks for his help investigating the recent kidnappings of children from her tribe.

Having rescued her people in the eastern territories and thwarted another plot to undermine Armelia, Iris throws herself back into the work of governing her duchy. It's only through work that she can make herself forget her growing feelings for Dean, but she can't avoid thoughts of marriage forever. A foreign prince has come to the duchy seeking an alliance--and Iris's hand to cement the deal. If Iris gives herself to the prince, she secures Armelia's future...and gives up her heart forever.

The war Iris always feared has finally come. No longer content to send spies to spread discontent in Tasmeria, Tweil descends with their army. Iris must rush back to her duchy to defend her people and rally the other territories to her cause.

Myne's disappearance has left Fate reeling, but as the new head of the Barbatos family, he must be strong. At first he's focused on reforging a bond with his former tormenter and new sister, Memil. Then a grim encounter critically endangers Roxy's soul, and Fate must find a way to protect her before his Gluttony devours her once and for all. But as he searches, unexpected answers to old mysteries begin to emerge--and the truths Fate uncovers about his own heritage prove as dangerous and strange as they are difficult to swallow.

To save her people, she will destroy everything. An exciting sci-fi assassin and heist thriller set thousands of years in the future, in a time when humanity has spread through the stars. Everyone wants Heather Kilgore dead, even those she once called friends. Pursued by her own agency, she flees to the Outer Rim, where she’ll attempt one last time to put an end to a war that will kill billions. Her target: an interstellar arms manufacturer bent on destabilizing the Fringe and Heather’s star nation for profit. But she won’t be able to do it alone.

Hiro and crew take a request to guard colonists transporting valuable terraforming materials to a brand-new system under the oversight of Chris herself. And with their new military battle bots aboard, the gang's ready for anything–or so they think. Meanwhile, Hiro's Gold Star has made him a target of the galactic paparazzi. Under the eye of the camera, Hiro and the girls undertake their most dangerous mission yet: defense of an entire planet!

When journalist Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles' skid row, he finds it impossible to walk away. More than 30 years ago, Ayers was a promising classical bass student at Juilliard - ambitious, charming, and also one of the few African-Americans there - until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by schizophrenia.

Over time, the two men form a bond and Lopez imagines that he might be able to change Ayers' life. The Soloist is a beautifully told story of devotion in the face of seemingly unbeatable challenges.

From its first publication in 1992, Men, Women, and Chain Saws has offered a groundbreaking perspective on the creativity and influence of horror cinema since the mid-1970s. Investigating the popularity of the low-budget tradition, Carol Clover looks in particular at slasher, occult, and rape-revenge films. Although such movies have been traditionally understood as offering only sadistic pleasures to their mostly male audiences, Clover demonstrates that they align spectators not with the male tormentor, but with the females tormented.

The final special exam of the semester is on the horizon: a cooperative written test where students answer problems in turn. Horikita's class is up against Sakayanagi's, and everyone rushes to prepare. As this goes on, Nagumo poses a question of his own--who will be the next student council president? The candidates are Horikita and Ichinose...or are they? Does Ichinose have other plans? December may be the end of the year, but the school's new state of chaos is only beginning.

In the years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, women in the workplace still found themselves relegated to secretarial positions or locked out of jobs entirely. This was especially true in the news business, a backwater of male chauvinism in which a woman might be lucky to get a foothold on the “women’s pages”. But when a pioneering nonprofit called National Public Radio came along in the 1970s and the door to serious journalism opened a crack, four remarkable women came along and blew it off the hinges.

When the Bulbolan Chefs' Guild disparages Teacher's curry, an incensed Fran announces that they are both entering the upcoming city-wide cooking contest. But there's mischief afoot behind the scenes of that contest--shady characters with shady plans that put the whole city at risk!

A letter for Rudeus arrives out of the blue, bearing an invitation to enroll at the Ranoa University of Magic. The admissions exam is a cakewalk, but once Rudeus is accepted, a far less straightforward challenge awaits him—getting to know his eccentric new classmates!

Druid seems on edge these days. First, he senses a disturbance in the forest, but Ivy doesn't feel anything amiss. Then, they meet Zephyr, a party of adventurers. Sora insists they're safe, but Druid has a bad feeling about Zinal.

Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview and transformed American politics and culture. But that epic story has never been told with this kind of breadth, insight, and style.

The rescue of a noble girl gets Hiro and his crew in more trouble than they bargained for. The heat is on, and their enemies are closing in, so Hiro decides to...take a vacation? There's no better place to lie low than a high-class resort in a tropical paradise!