The Corn King and the Spring Queen

The Corn King and the Spring Queen PDF Author: Naomi Mitchison
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 1847675123
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 671

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Book Description
Introduced by Naomi Mitchison. Set over two thousand years ago on the clam and fertile shores of the Black Sea, Naomi Mitchison’s The Corn King and the Spring Queen tells of ancient civilisations where tenderness, beauty and love vie with brutality and dark magic. Erif Der, a young witch, is compelled by her father to marry his powerful rival, Tarrik the Corn King, so becoming the Spring Queen. Forced by her father, she uses her magic spells to try and break Tarrik’s power. But one night Tarrik rescues Sphaeros, an Hellenic philosopher, from a shipwreck. Sphaeros in turn rescues Tarrik from near death and so breaks the enchantment that has bound him. And so begins for Tarrik a Quest – a fabulous voyage of discovery which will bring him new knowledge and which will reunite him with his beautiful Spring Queen. ‘This breathtaking recreation of life in the ancient world welds the power of myth and magic to a stirring plot.’ Ian Rankin

The Corn King and the Spring Queen

The Corn King and the Spring Queen PDF Author: Naomi Mitchison
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 1847675123
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 671

Get Book Here

Book Description
Introduced by Naomi Mitchison. Set over two thousand years ago on the clam and fertile shores of the Black Sea, Naomi Mitchison’s The Corn King and the Spring Queen tells of ancient civilisations where tenderness, beauty and love vie with brutality and dark magic. Erif Der, a young witch, is compelled by her father to marry his powerful rival, Tarrik the Corn King, so becoming the Spring Queen. Forced by her father, she uses her magic spells to try and break Tarrik’s power. But one night Tarrik rescues Sphaeros, an Hellenic philosopher, from a shipwreck. Sphaeros in turn rescues Tarrik from near death and so breaks the enchantment that has bound him. And so begins for Tarrik a Quest – a fabulous voyage of discovery which will bring him new knowledge and which will reunite him with his beautiful Spring Queen. ‘This breathtaking recreation of life in the ancient world welds the power of myth and magic to a stirring plot.’ Ian Rankin

Travel Light

Travel Light PDF Author: Naomi Mitchison
Publisher: Small Beer Press
ISBN: 1931520143
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
A young woman is transformed by a magical journey.

The Blood Of The Martyrs

The Blood Of The Martyrs PDF Author: Naomi Mitchison
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 1847674933
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
Introduced by Donald Smith. Set in Rome during Nero’s reign of terror, The Blood of the Martyrs is a disciplined historical novel tracing the destruction of one cell of the early church. With a cast of slaves, ordinary Roman people, exiles and entertainers, it is thorough in its historical interpretation and in its determination to make the past accessible and readable. Written in 1938-9, the novel contains many symbolic parallels to the rise of European fascism in the 1930s and the desperate plight of persecuted minorities such as the Jews and the left-wing activists with whom Naomi Mitchison personally campaigned at the time. With the invasion of Britain a real possibility, she felt compelled to write a testament to the power of human solidarity which, even faced with death, can overcome the worst that human evil can achieve. The Blood of the Martyrs is the least autobiographical of Mitchison’s major works of fiction, yet, with its implicit credo, is her most passionately self-revealing. ‘ . . . when a novelist is historically faithful in these treacherous waters of the human psyche, the results are tremendous. As a twentieth-century woman, it no doubt hurt Naomi Mitchison a good deal to describe the savagery of the early Christian persecution in The Blood of the Martyrs . . . But it is the pain that gives the history its lifeblood. The imagination that is a novelist’s fuel must be harnessed to serve history as history was, not as anyone wishes it had been.’ Joanna Trollope

Solution Three

Solution Three PDF Author: Naomi Mitchison
Publisher: Feminist Press at CUNY
ISBN: 9781558610965
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
As a fast-paced novel about a future shaped by feminist ideals of sexual and racial equality, "solution three" at first seems to be a peaceful answer to the world's problems. Homosexuality as an international norm and reproduction by cloning have minimized aggression and overpopulation. The sexes have equal rights and status, racial tension has been eliminated through genetic intermixing, and scientists work closely with the governing body, the Council, to keep an eye on the food supply and to heal the earth of prior environmental terrorism. Originally published in 1975, Solution Three presents a future society in which reproductive control and homosexuality shape a more equitable life for all, eradicating aggression and racism, curbing overpopulation, and providing a dependable food supply. But there are those who are rebelling in this peaceful world: Miryam, a geneticist, secretly married, is rearing her own children; Lilac, a surrogate mother chosen to carry a Clone baby, is delaying her son's seizure for social conditioning; and even the carefully conditioned Clones are behaving unexpectedly. This novel asks the courageous question: What is the cost to women of new models of reproducing life, regardless of the intentions behind the goal?

The Fourth Pig

The Fourth Pig PDF Author: Naomi Mitchison
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691158959
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
An enchanting collection that introduces the author and activist Naomi Mitchison to a new generation of readers The Fourth Pig, originally published in 1936, is a wide-ranging and fascinating collection of fairy tales, poems, and ballads. Droll and sad, spirited and apprehensive, The Fourth Pig reflects the hopes and forebodings of its era but also resonates with those of today. It is a testament to the talents of Naomi Mitchison (1897–1999), who was an irrepressible phenomenon—a significant Scottish political activist as well as a prolific author. Mitchison's work, exemplified by the tales in this superb new edition, is stamped with her characteristic sharp wit, magical invention, and vivid political and social consciousness. Mitchison rewrites well-known stories such as "Hansel and Gretel" and "The Little Mermaid," and she picks up the tune of a ballad with admiring fidelity to form, as in "Mairi MacLean and the Fairy Man." Her experimental approach is encapsulated in the title story, which is a dark departure from "The Three Little Pigs." And in the play Kate Crackernuts, the author dramatizes in charms and songs a struggle against the subterranean powers of fairies who abduct humans for their pleasure. Marina Warner, the celebrated scholar of fairy tales and fiction author, provides an insightful introduction that reveals why Mitchison’s writing remains significant. The Fourth Pig is a literary rediscovery, a pleasure that will reawaken interest in a remarkable writer and personality.

Memoirs of a Spacewoman

Memoirs of a Spacewoman PDF Author: Naomi Mitchison
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781849210355
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Naomi Mitchison, daughter of a distinguished scientist, sister of geneticist J B S Haldane, was always interested in the sciences, especially genetics. Her novels did not tend to demonstrate this, and she did not publish a Science Fiction novel until almost forty years into her fiction-writing career. Isobel Murray's Introduction here argues that it is by no means 'pure' Science Fiction: the success of the novel depends not only on the extraordinarily variety of life forms its heroine encounters and attempts to communicate with on different worlds: she is also a very credible human, or Terran, with recognisibly human emotions and a dramatic emotional life. This novel works effectively for readers who usually eschew the genre and prefer more traditional narratives. Explorers like Mary are an elite class who consider curiosity to be Terrans' supreme gift, and in the novel she more than once takes risks that may destroy her life. Her voice, as she records her adventures and experiments, is individual, attractive and memorable. Isobel Murray is Emeritus Professor of Modern Scottish Literature at the University of Aberdeen.

The Conquered

The Conquered PDF Author: Naomi Mitchison
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Gaul
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Caesar's Gallic wars as witnessed by a Gaul who has become the slave of a Roman officer.

Game of Stars (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #2)

Game of Stars (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #2) PDF Author: Sayantani DasGupta
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 1338185756
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Saving the multiverse is no game in this New York Times bestseller! When the Demon Queen shows up in her bedroom, smelling of acid and surrounded by evil-looking bees, twelve-year-old Kiranmala is uninterested. After all, it's been weeks since she last heard from her friends in the Kingdom Beyond, the alternate dimension where she was born as an Indian princess. But after a call to action over an interdimensional television station and a visit with some all-seeing birds, Kiran decides that she has to once again return to her homeland, where society is fraying, a terrible game show reigns supreme, and friends and foes alike are in danger. Everyone is running scared or imprisoned following the enactment of sudden and unfair rules of law.However, things are a lot less clear than the last time she was in the Kingdom Beyond. Kiran must once again solve riddles and battle her evil Serpent King father -- all while figuring out who her true friends are, and what it really means to be a hero.

The Border Wars of New England

The Border Wars of New England PDF Author: Samuel Adams Drake
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : New England
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description


Sword of the Rightful King

Sword of the Rightful King PDF Author: Jane Yolen
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544271890
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. “[A] spellbinding twist on the Round Table legend . . . a standout in this enormous canon.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) The newly crowned King Arthur is unsure of himself; worse, the people are unsure of him. Too many people want the throne, and treachery is everywhere. Merlin must do something before the king is betrayed, or murdered, or—worst of all—gets married. So Merlin magically places a sword into a slab of rock, lets it be known that whosoever removes the blade will rule all of England, and invites any man who would dare to try to pull out the sword. After a bit of showmanship, Arthur will draw the blade (with a little magical help, of course), and the people will rally around the young king. Except someone else pulls the sword out first . . . A Booklist Editors’ Choice ABA’s Pick of the Lists A Parent’s Guide Children’s Media Award Winner “Yolen takes elements of Arthurian legend and makes them her own in this involving novel.”—Booklist (starred review) “[A] page-turning tale of magic and adventure, betrayal, loyalty, and love.”—School Library Journal (starred review) “A subtle, many-layered tale . . . It is, as the book’s ending tells readers, ‘an old story but a good one,’ and Yolen does it honor.”—VOYA (5Q—highest rating)