While his courtiers were jealous of Birbal, the emperor was quick to notice his agile mind. While the two men loathed hypocrisy and deceit; they also relished a good joke.

    These people are known as alchemists. The basic law of alchemy states that to gain something you have to sacrifice something of the same value; Edward Elric found this out the hard way, a dangerous ritual costing him his leg and almost the life of his brother, Alphonse. As a result of their risk, the two chose to embark on a journey to find the Philosopher's Stone, which is said to amplify the powers of an alchemist... and it could possibly be the answer to all of their problems.

     It was after his identical twin Bill suffered the traumatic brain injury that left him crippled and unable to speak. George would see the man sitting on a bench at the mall, or at the store standing by the magazines. But he never seemed to notice George, not even when he tried to communicate. Twenty years later, after dropping out of college to care for Bill, George has become a junior high school janitor. Between his struggling with debt, working a physically demanding job, and taking care of Bill’s needs, life has not been easy. But George doesn’t know the meaning of difficult until the man finally acknowledges him, triggering a terrifying series of supernatural events that leaves George and Bill running for their lives. And as George struggles to protect his twin from an otherworldly evil, he discovers a startling secret about Bill—one that leaves him questioning decades-old assumptions and wondering which of them truly is the stronger half.

     To who, Michael 'Ward' Miller isn't exactly sure. Whoever killed his partner was a pro. She was shot at an impossible distance, by a weapon that isn't supposed to exist. But Sadler wasn't just his partner, she was the best person he knew. Now she's dead, and Ward won't rest until he finds out who was responsible. But on Mars, 2342 AD, anyone could be the killer. The Solar System is awash with spies, mercenaries and powerful, unaccountable corporations. After powerful aliens arrived a hundred years before, colonizing the red planet, our system was thrown into chaos. The Martians were stronger, more advanced, and remorseless. They could have wiped us out. Instead we struck a fragile, uneasy truce. And now someone wants to blow the whole thing up. And maybe, take humanity with it. Ward was supposed to be out of the espionage business. Now he has seven days to uncover the conspiracy that killed his partner. Or let the entire system go up in flames...

    He has been creating trouble and evoking laughter since January 1983, issue Tinkle 27. He’s a total goof and will make you laugh with his silly antics. Suppandi has had multiple jobs however none of them have lasted very long. He takes instructions from his employers, applies his own literal logic to them and causes total mayhem. The character of Suppandi is based on a Tamil folklore character, Chappandi. Ram Waeerkar, the legendary Tinkle artist gave form to Suppandi. Currently, his daughter, Archana Amberkar, illustrates the strip.Meet the Cool CastMaddy: Suppandi’s best friend who often gives him advice and nearly always regrets it, but he is the only one who will stick with Suppandi and bears his gaffes.Soupy: Suppandi’s admirer, who usually has Suppandi fleeing her attentions.Frooty: Suppandi’s crush, she is the only one who understands the intent behind Suppandi’s actions and so always has a smile for SuppandiAbout TinkleContinuously published since 1980, Tinkle is one of the oldest and most cherished children’s comics magazines in India. It boasts of a large fan following and beloved characters that include such household names as Suppandi, Shikari Shambu and Tantri the Mantri.

     After the unfortunate events that took place in Britain, Jacob Hunter is no longer certain of many things, but this ill-fated truth is one he understands implicitly. Having spent months battling his addiction to the all-powerful blue orb, a device capable of traveling through time but equally adept at breaking a man’s mind, Jacob has finally succumbed to it. Once aided by loyal companions and the woman he loves, Jacob has abandoned everyone he has ever trusted, his mind warped by the orb’s influence. However, recently given new clues concerning the orb’s potential, Jacob departs for Rome, where he now knows a second orb lay hidden, waiting to be reunited with the orb he already possesses. Accompanied only by Rome’s manipulative empress, Agrippina the Younger, the pair journey to Rome where they hope to discover the secret to the orb’s power, but a destructive truth lies behind what they seek, one he may not be fully prepared to combat… But Jacob is not the only one about to embark on a daring quest. Having been abandoned and left without direction in the hinterlands of ancient Britain, Jacob’s sister, Diana, must find it in herself to rally Jacob’s jilted friends and corral an enraged Helena, the woman he loves, who carries her own mysterious secret after her life was miraculously saved at the brink of death. Unprepared for the responsibility suddenly thrust on her by Jacob's disappearance, Diana understands that she and her friends must find him before it's too late. Clouded and perverted though his mind may be, she knows her brother all too well. Jacob, tormented and driven beyond rationality, is prepared to sacrifice everything to find the lost orb. Including his life...

    Swiftly, the aliens take control of Britain’s cities and force the remainder of the British military to go on the run. With the government destroyed, the population must choose between fighting and collaborating with the alien overlords. This is truly Britain’s darkest hour. Caught up in these events are a handful of ordinary people, struggling to survive. The Prime Minister, forced into hiding, and an unscrupulous politician looking to find fame and power by serving the aliens. Soldiers fighting an insurgency and senior officers trying desperately to find the key to driving the aliens away from Earth; police officers faced with a choice between collaboration or watching the aliens brutalise the civilian population. And ordinary citizens, trying to survive a world turned upside down. But resistance seems futile and the aliens appear unstoppable – and the entire population is caught in the middle. As the alien grip tightens, the last best hope for freedom lies with those who will never surrender...and are prepared to pay any price for the liberation of Earth.

    Kiara Lacroix has become one of Earth’s foremost exobiology experts. Her research brings her to the attention of the Global Space Federation, which has a top-secret mission for her: an advanced alien civilization has been discovered in the depths of an icy planet five light-years from Earth, and Kiara is expected to join the crew making first contact.Kiara has her hesitations, but as usual her scientific curiosity gets the better of her. She and her crew will be using experimental technology which establishes long-distance contact via a dream-reality beamed through a wormhole: the spacetime sequence. It’s even riskier than it sounds.Of course, Kiara’s not the only one with hesitations about the GSF’s actions. And some of those people have the resources—and the access to GSF’s classified mission information—to do something about them.A Spacetime Tale is high-concept hard science fiction at its finest.

    89 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more – everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Diamond Age, or, Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.

    They weren't alone, either. Something had rendered every piece of technology useless, from wristwatches to refrigerators. Their entire state - perhaps the entire country - was thrust into a modern stone age as everything with a microchip was rendered unusable. But they had an advantage over their fellow citizens. Being 'preppers', they realized that the cause was almost certainly an electromagnetic pulse from a detonating nuclear warhead. The problem was, they were far from home in an increasingly hostile countryside as society began its inevitable collapse. They needed to get home to their supplies before others figured it out. But getting there was going to be difficult, and once home, staying alive was going to be equally challenging. The result is story of modern survival, following two ordinary people as they learn to source water & food, protect themselves from looters using what little armaments they have, communicate silently, and form a neighborhood alliance to stay alive in this cutthroat new world. Yet, despite this, the two keep their offbeat senses of humor and human approach to a situation for which they thought they were prepared - but it turns out they weren't. And just when you think they've mastered this new, unwelcoming world, everything changes. The story will entertain traditional lovers of apocalyptic fiction, but also entices a wider, more contemporary audience to the genre who want more than endless action scenes or two-dimensional characters. Unprepared is an urban disaster story for normal people, just like you.

     Nothing stands between Kael and the last of the Wandering Stars, yet his location may be obvious to those watching from the Eternal Realm, making his presence a danger to everyone around him. With his allies and family centralized in Orud, and the city under threat of imminent assault from the most dangerous and technologically advanced enemies, Kael must decide whether to stay and ambush them or leave to confront them alone. Which is the wiser path? The answer depends upon his interpretation of an ancient prophecy and the depth of his faith in it; meanwhile, the lives of everyone he loves hang in the balance. In book seven of the bestselling Awakened series, Jason Tesar’s epic saga forges a new world from the remnants of three disparate civilizations, fusing the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and military fiction.

    Today every school in Germany offers English as school subject, even the primary schools. Consequently it must be put great emphasis on teaching it accurately by taking into consideration any aspect of English language acquisition when learning it, for example the acquisition of a distinctive vocabulary, the ability to use grammar rules correctly, the ability to spell correctly, the ability to understand what is been said when native speakers talk in English which we call listening comprehension. Another very important part of learning English as a foreign language is undisputedly reading comprehension. The ability to read out correctly, to understand what is been read and to be able to work with a text effectively is not only a competence that should be concentrated on in the foreign language but also in the mother tongue. The PISA Study is a perfect proof of this which will be mentioned later on. In this paper I will try to accentuate the importance and significance of reading in the English class. In order to illustrate this I will introduce the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, an American author and doctor with Afghan origins, and use it for the elaboration of the importance of reading activities in the English class. Initially I will focus on the didactic analysis which includes the reference to the syllabus. The syllabus is of course the signpost in terms of guidelines when planning the lessons, choosing age-appropriate media and methods. What role does reading play in this context? What is said in the syllabus when it come

    Five years after defeating the demon king Piccolo, he's grown up and had a family--he's married, and he has a child, Son Gohan. But what is the real reason for Goku's incredible strength? A visitor from outer space arrives bearing terrible news--Goku is an alien, and the visitor, Raditz, is Goku's brother! When Raditz turns out to be a ruthless killer, Goku must fight his incredibly strong brother to save his family and the entire human race. A surprising alliance may be Earth's last hope: Goku will team up with his old enemy Piccolo...archenemies united to save the world!

     The chemtrails brought them back to life. When the end came, it was swift and brutal. The EMP from atmospheric detonations occurred just before Christmas. Chinese bombs spreading poison on major metropolitan centers follow, only hours later. Then the dead began to walk… and to kill with terrifying speed. The government, from the President to the foot soldier, fell in three days. Nine out of ten – maybe more – were dead before Valentine’s Day. Only a hardy few, those who were had prepared for the worst, lived long enough to see what happened next. Winchester: Over tells the stories of the many who fell and the handful who survived. It follows former motor-cop Bexar Reed and his family, along with their lifelong friends and fellow preppers, as they fight their way to relative safety in rural Texas… and the story of a highly trained government agent who has to fight his own way out of an infected airport, to the last barely functioning military installation, hidden beneath the ground at Area 51. They are stories of courage and combat, guns and battle tech, the secret history of humanity, ancient artifacts and the Nazi occult, and always, always, the ravenous walking dead, as the last brave humans teeter on the edge of extinction. The “reanimates” relentless destruction of civilization is only the beginning. The bestial remnants of humanity are only one shuffling step behind. "If you shook this book, gunpowder and testosterone would fall out." -Chris Philbrook, Author of Adrian's Undead Diary Look for Prey, Book 2 of The Winchester Undead, coming in June 2015. And learn more about Dave Lund, his work, and his world view at www.winchesterundead.com

    Commander Elias Browning's military career was over, or so he thought.When a secret research colony is discovered by a ruthless enemy, Elias must take command of a small battlegroup.Outclassed and outgunned, Elias must find a way to stop a superior enemy fleet from enslaving his people, but how can he succeed where every other star union in the galaxy has failed?Acheron Rising is a military science fiction novella that introduces the Federation Chronicles universe by Ken Lozito.