Science Myths

Final Fantasy is one of the most iconic and beloved video game series in the world. Since its inception, its titles have adopted names, themes, and stories from across global mythology, including the beliefs of the Vikings. This book embarks on a detailed exploration of how Norse lore in particular influenced the writing and design of Final Fantasy VII - arguably the most critically acclaimed of the franchise - and its wider Compilation. This work is presented as a tribute to the metaseries Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

The Otherworld is at war. The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts trains warriors. And Kelcie Murphy—a foster child raised in the human world—is dying to attend. A place at AUA means meeting Scáthach, the legendary trainer of Celtic heroes. It means learning to fight with a sword. It means harnessing her hidden powers and—most importantly—finding out who her parents are, and why they abandoned her in Boston Harbor eight years ago. Kelcie is a survivor, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find her parents and her place in their world. Even if that means making a few enemies.

Ten-year-old Zeus is mystified (and super annoyed) by the fact he keeps getting hit by lightening. He also longs for adventure, as he has never been far from the cave where he grew up. Zeus gets his wish - and a lot more than he bargained for - when he is kidnapped by dangerous, giant Titans! In self-defense, Zeus grabs the first thing he sees - an actual thunderbolt he pulls from a stone that is covered in mysterious markings. Zeus is the only one who can decipher the markings, and he sets off on a quest to rescue his fellow Olympians from the evil Cronus.

In the magical world of Pallos, Elaine can finally breathe for a moment after the horrors of the Han Civil War. Engaged to the love of her life, Iona, Elaine believes she has found peace. However, the tranquility is shattered when three formidable phoenixes descend from the Phoenix Peaks, claiming Auri must go with them for her own good. With heavy hearts, Elaine and Iona watch as Auri disappears into the sky, bound by a promise to return.

Aphrodite delights in helping mortals find love, but she is definitely not delighted by the constant attention from the godboys at Mount Olympus Academy. So she comes up with the perfect plan to try and deflect some of that attention: She'll help a fellow goddess girl, Athena, find her very first crush. After giving Athena a fabulous makeover, Aphrodite is suddenly an afterthought as the boys at MOA go gaga for Athena's new look. And Aphrodite is a bit unprepared for just how much attention one of her best friends is now receiving.

Will Treaty has come a long way from the small boy with dreams of knighthood. Life had other plans for him, and as an apprentice Ranger under Halt, he grew into a legend - the finest Ranger the kingdom has ever known. Yet Will is facing a tragic battle that has left him grim and alone. To add to his problems, the time has come to take on an apprentice of his own, and it's the last person he ever would have expected. Fighting his personal demons, Will has to win the trust and respect of his difficult new companion - a task that at times seems almost impossible.

After years as a court magician and interdimensional hero, Skeeve needed a rest. So he took some time off to study magic and relax. When a few months later several members of the M.Y.T.H. Inc. Team each ask him to train some talented, young magicians in "practical magic", he has to agree. But after the assassins attack and a manticore tries to eat them, the Khlad mage soon discovers that there is more going on than learning. His students are preparing for a very deadly magical game, and you won't believe where.

When Stephanie Kiser moves to New York City after college to pursue a career in writing, she quickly learns that her entry-level salary won't cover the cost of living. But there is one in-demand job that pays enough to allow Stephanie to stay in the city: nannying for the 1%. Desperate to escape the poverty of her own childhood, Stephanie falls into a job that hijacks her life for the next seven years: a glorified personal assistant to toddlers on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

They called him Sven, the Shatterfist. And they will again. An S-Ranked Adventurer who lost his way. His journey will take him far and wide. Back to the places he used to know. He's not alone. Friends, comrades. Ash. Memories found and memories gained. Answers give rise to other questions. The Shatterfist moves on.

Leaving no headstone unturned, Sacha Coward will take you on a wild ride through the night from ancient Greece to the main stage of RuPaul's Drag Race, visiting cross-dressing pirates, radical fairies, and the graves of the 'queerly departed' along the way. Queer communities have often sought refuge in the shadows, found kinship in the in-between, and created safe spaces in underworlds; but these forgotten narratives tell stories of remarkable resilience that deserve to be heard.

Explore captivating Native American myths.

All too frequently leadership is reduced to a simple dichotomy: the strong versus the weak. Yet there are myriad ways to exercise effective political leadership - as well as different ways to fail. We blame our leaders for economic downfalls and praise them for vital social reforms, but rarely do we question what makes some leaders successful while others falter.

The emperor has spoken, and the portals are opening. The Event is larger than anyone anticipated with Emerilia’s people needing to band together to survive. The creatures of nightmares and children’s stories might roam Emerilia, but this isn’t their land - it isn’t their home. The Terra Alliance will use everything at their disposal to gain strength and push back the forces that roam Emerilia. The Pantheon moves in the shadows, the forests, and across Markolm. Light, Earth, and dark’s forces only grow as they recruit those from The Event into their ranks.

Everything you were taught about evolution is wrong. In this shocking book, Berkeley-educated doctor of biology Jonathan Wells lets you in on scientific discoveries you won't learn about from college and high-school textbooks - and reveals a dirty little secret known only to some of his fellow biologists.

Leading an HVAC company can seem like a daunting task, with too few hours in the day, too many petty management issues, and problems HVAC contractors in large businesses don't seem to face. The E-Myth HVAC Contractor offers you a road map to create a business that's self-sufficient, growing, and highly profitable. Take your company to levels you didn't think possible with this unique guide!

Happenstance, a boy with unusual green eyes, awakens with no memories. Falling in with the adventurer Lord Umber and his band of misfits, this boy with many uncanny gifts soon discovers that he may be the strangest one of all.

Stories by: Ramsey Campbell, Brian M Sammons, Glynn Owen Barrass, Lucy A. Snyder, E.A. Black, Chris Kelso, Andrew Coulthard, Stephen Mark Rainey, Kevin Lewis, Richard Alan Scott, Russell Smeaton, J. Edwin Buja, Made in DNA, David Agranoff, Pete Rawlik, Brian C. Short, Michael Housel, John Chadwick, David Voyles, Konstantine Paradias, Love Kölle, Edward Morris, Parry Milton, Phil Breach, Garrett Cook, Andrew Freudenberg, Sarah Walker. The twenty-seven writers whose works appear here mine the rich seams that Lovecraft’s original vision created. However, lest one imagine that this implies ...

Astraea is a prisoner of her own mind, the past sliding from her grasp like water. But she knows she must escape the tyrannical king who holds her captive and find her clouded memories once again. This quest leads her to the Libertatem, a succession of trials hosted by the king in which five human lands compete for a cycle of safety from the vampires seeking blood, claiming souls, and savaging after dark. But even winning the Libertatum will not keep Astraea safe from vampires.

War is heck! Guido and Nunzio may not be the brightest bodyguards in the world - but they certainly are faithful. When Skeeve "the Great" asks them to join the army of Possiltum, the two thugs volunteer without question.... Except: Whose side are they on? Queen Hemlock's? The Mob's Fairy Godfather's? Skeeve's? The two baffled bodyguards barely have time to figure it all out - they've been handed government-issue crossbows, armored with leather skirts, and given combat orders by the dreaded drill sergeant Smiley! With war heroes like these...who needs enemies?

A stunning fantasy inspired by familiar fairy-tales, complete with cursed princesses, thieves-turned-soldiers, and an orphan girl transformed into an immortal, shapeshifting heroine. The Nissera Chronicles start here.... Bristal, a 16-year-old kitchen maid, finds herself in a gritty fairy-tale gone wrong when she discovers she has elicromancer magic in her blood. Elicromancers are an ancient breed of immortal people, but only two remain in Nissera after a bloody civil war. Bristal joins their ranks without knowing that one of them has a dark secret.