Best of
Epic

1997

The Wheel of Time: Boxed Set #2


Robert Jordan - 1997
    The Shadow is rising to cover humankind.In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn..... The Fires of Heaven In this sequel to the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Shadow Rising, Robert Jordan again plunges us into his extraordinarily rich, totally unforgettable world:...Into the forbidden city of Rhuidean, where Rand al'Thor, now the Dragon Reborn, must conceal his present endeavor from all about him, even Egwene and Moiraine....Into the Amyrlin's study in the White Tower, where the Amyrlin, Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan, is weaving new plans....Into the luxurious hidden chamber where the Forsaken Rahvin is meeting with three of his fellows to ensure their ultimate victory over the Dragon....Into the Queen's court in Caemlyn, where Morgase is curiously in thrall to the handsome Lord Gaebril.For once the dragon walks the land, the fires of heaven fall where they will, until all men's lives are ablaze.And in Shayol Ghul, the Dark One stirs... Lord of Chaos In this sequel to the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Fires of Heaven, we plunge again into Robert Jordan's extraordinarily rich, totally unforgettable world:On the slopes of Shayol Ghul, the Myrddraal swords are forged, and the sky is not the sky of this world;In Salidar the White Tower in exile prepares an embassy to Caemlyn, where Rand Al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, holds the throne--and where an unexpected visitor may change the world....In Emond's Field, Perrin Goldeneyes, Lord of the Two Rivers, feels the pull of ta'veren to ta'veren and prepares to march....Morgase of Caemlyn finds a most unexpected, and quite unwelcome, ally....And south lies Illian, where Sammael holds sway....

The Return of the Black Company


Glen Cook - 1997
    . ."I am Murgen, Standardbearer of the Black Company, though I bear the shame of having lost that standard in battle. I am keeping these Annals because Croaker is dead, One-Eye won't, and hardly anyone else can read or write. I will be your guide for however long it takes the Shadowlanders to force our present predicament to its inevitable end. . ."The Return of the Black Company comprises the novels Bleak Seasons and She is the Darkness—the third omnibus volume of Glen Cook's fantasy epic Chronicles of the Black Company.

Strangers and Sojourners


Michael D. O'Brien - 1997
    Beginning in 1900, and concluding with the climactic events leading up to the Millennium, the series follows Anne and Stephen Delaney and their descendants as they live through the tumultuous events of this century. Anne is a highly educated Englishwoman who arrives in British Columbia at the end of the First World War. Raised in a family of spiritualists and Fabian socialists, she has fled civilization in search of adventure. She meets and eventually marries a trapper-homesteader, an Irish immigrant who is fleeing the "troubles" in his own violent past. This is a story about the gradual movement of souls from despair and unbelief to faith, hope, and love, about the psychology of perception, and about the ultimate questions of life, death and the mystery of being. Interwoven with scenes from Ireland, England, Poland, Russia, and Belgium during the War, Strangers and Sojourners is a tale of the extraordinary hidden within the ordinary. It is about courage and fear, and the triumph of the human spirit.

Master Is Calling


Lynne Hammond - 1997
    She presents a victorious approach to worship, intercession, petitio

The Lion & the Throne: Stories from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, Volume I


Abolqasem Ferdowsi - 1997
    This prodigious national epic, composed by the poet Ferdowsi between 980 and 1010 AD, tells the story of ancient Persia, beginning in the mythic time of Creation and continuing forward to the Arab-Islamic invasion in the 7th century. The Lion and the Throne covers the first third of the Shahnameh and will be followed by two volumes to complete the epic. Brilliantly translated and magnificently illustrated, these volumes give English-language readers access to a world of vanished wonders. The origins of civilisation... the notion of kingship... tenderness, a longing for justice, and social order... the first kings felled by foolish pride... demons on the throne... spiritual heroes and their martial virtues... mythical birds... romance and passion-these are some of the threads woven together to form the rich tapestry of ancient Persia. The tales in this volume were selected and retold in Persian prose by the renowned scholar, Ehsan Yarshater. Translator Dick Davis combines his skills as a poet and a Ferdowsi scholar to evoke the metrical musi

Limits of Art


Huntington Cairns - 1997
    This is an anthology of works in Western literature which competent critics believe have touched the limits of art; that is, selections of prose and poetry that have been pronounced perfect or the best of their kind.

Womans Words: Emer and Female Speech in the Ulster Cycle


Joanne Findon - 1997
    Joanne Findon analyses the representation of Emer, the wife of the great Irish hero Cu Chulainn, in four linked medieval Irish tales, and discusses Emer's ability to use powerful, effective words to change her fictional world and the audience's reading of that fictional world.A Woman's Words considers Emer as a literary figure rather than a mythic archetype or a reflection of a pre-Christian Celtic goddess. Emer and the narratives she inhabits are discussed as literary constructs, and are considered within the historical and legal milieu in which these tales were told, recorded, and read. Findon places Emer within the wider context of medieval literature in general as an unusual and compelling example of a heroic secular woman, married and fully integrated into her aristocratic society and yet capable of speaking out against its abuses. Her freedom to speak and be heard is remarkable in the light of prevalent later medieval impulses to silence women.By employing speech act theory to analyse Emer's discourse, and by viewing and interpreting the texts through the lens of current feminist criticism, Joanne Findon seeks to bring Middle Irish literature into the arena of current debates, particularly among feminist medievalists, and to offer a new approach to reading female characters in medieval Irish literature.

A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey


Irene J.F. de Jong - 1997
    The role of narrator and narratees, methods of characterization and scenery description, and the development of the plot are discussed. The study aims to enhance our understanding of this masterpiece of European literature. All Greek references are translated and technical terms are explained in a glossary. It is directed at students and scholars of Greek literature and comparative literature.