Government titans use sports heroes known as Centauri for political influence. Meanwhile, warriors from another time known as Archides are backed into a corner. The man who brought down their galaxy-spanning empire, is taking advantage of the turmoil and threatens to conquer this world as he did their ancient home. Oryan Jeckstadt is born a slave. His father, a disgraced general raises him alone in the prison he doomed his son to. With the promise of securing his father’s freedom, he is ripped from the Quarter and forced into the Centauri Games. Eleysa Celeste has been orphaned. Loving grandparents do their best but her anger is only flamed by cruelty of the children around her. A local Centauri training facility owner takes her under his wing. She and Oryan are on a crash course that could decide the fate of billions. Desperate for victory, the Archides try to recruit Oryan to their cause yet his only desire is to protect the woman he loves and their young son.

    One Indian GirlHi. I’m Radhika Mehta and I’m getting married this week. I work at Goldman Sachs, an investment bank. Thank you for reading my story. However, let me warn you: you may not like me too much. One, I make a lot of money. Two, I have an opinion about everything. Three, I have had a boyfriend before. Okay, maybe two. Now, if I was a man, one might be cool with it. But since I am a girl, these three things I mentioned don’t really make me too likeable, do they? Half Girlfriend Once upon a time, there was a Bihari boy called Madhav. He fell in love with a rich girl from Delhi called Riya. Madhav didn’t speak English well. Riya did. Madhav wanted a relationship. Riya didn’t. Riya just wanted friendship. Madhav didn’t. Riya suggested a compromise. She agreed to be his half-girlfriend. From the bestselling author Chetan Bhagat comes a simple and beautiful love story that will touch your heart and inspire you to chase your dreams. Revolution 2020 Revolution 2020 is the story of three childhood friends, Gopal, Raghav and Aarti, who struggle to find love, happiness and success in Varanasi, none of which is easily attainable in a society that favors unfairness and corruption. Gopal gives into the system, Ravi continues to fight it. Who will win? 2 States: The Story of My Marriage Welcome to 2 States, the story of Krish and Ananya, who are from two different states of India, deeply in love with each other and want to get married. Of course, their parents don't agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple has a tough battle ahead of them; for it is easy to fight and rebel, but harder to convince. Will they make it? From the bestselling author Chetan Bhagat comes another witty tale about inter-community marriages in modern India. The 3 Mistakes of My Life In late 2000, a young boy in Ahmedabad dreams of owning a business. To accommodate his friends’ passion, he opens a cricket shop. However, nothing comes easy in a turbulent city. To realize their goals, they will have to face it all religious politics, calamities, unacceptable love and, above all, their own mistakes. Will they make it? Can an individual’s dreams overcome the nightmares of real life? Can we succeed despite mistakes? One Night @ the Call Center In the winter of 2004, a writer meets a young girl on an overnight train journey. To pass the time, she offers to tell him a story. However, she has one condition: that he make it his second book. The writer hesitates, but asks what the story is about. The girl replies that the story is about six people working in a call center one night. It was the night they got a phone call. A phone call from God. One Night @ the Call Center is the second of bestselling author Chetan Bhagat’s novels. Five Point Someone This is not a book that will teach you how to get into IIT or even survive it. In fact, it describes how bad things can get if you don't think straight. Funny, dark and entertaining, Five Point Someone is the story of three friends whose measly five point something GPAs come in the way of everything their friendships, their love life, their future. Will they make it?

    A long-awaited vacation in Grand Cayman ends too soon for Rutledge and Detective Beth Watkins when Beth learns that someone has killed her houseguest, Elaine Ogilvy. They return quickly to Key West and, from the moment of their arrival, events suggest they might be in danger as well. A photographer who prefers ad agency and magazine jobs, Alex has no training in police work. Still, he often gets drawn into Florida Keys investigations. Monroe County Sheriff, Fred Chicken Neck Liska, has Alex’s back (usually), and The Aristocrats—off-kilter private eyes Dubbie Tanner and Wiley Fecko—provide off-the-books surveillance, background checks and info gathering. Everyone knows that success is not guaranteed. The victim’s father, Parke Ogilvy, whom Watkins knew long ago, comes to the island and offers the names of the ex-lovers of his daughter, one of whom could be in the Florida Keys. DNA crime evidence, a second murder, threats against friends and, for Alex, a solid link to events in the past boost the peril. Even with law enforcement at full force, Rutledge senses that only his actions will lead to a crime solution.

    Sober Positive is both the story of her journey over the last two years and a detailed road map for anyone else looking for their own way out of the alcohol maze.You may not believe this now, but it is entirely possible to stop drinking and be completely happy. To achieve true freedom from alcohol. To be sober positive. In this book you will learn how to change your mindset about alcohol, how to assemble your own personal sobriety toolbox and how to cope with sober firsts like social events, holidays and Christmas. You will gain insight into why you might be struggling with alcohol and how you can address other compulsive behaviours which may arise in early sobriety. You will develop detailed strategies for self-care and be guided though the deeper work needed to support your physical and mental wellbeing and truly thrive as a non-drinker. You will be helped to navigate changing relationships with partners, children and friends and learn some surprising truths about our best friend booze.So, if you're drinking too much and it's making you miserable, why not take a chance on being sober and happy?You might just find your best life along the way. Julia did and this book contains everything she has learned in the past two years that helped her get there.

    

    The naval war in the Pacific is raging when Captain Thurston VC resists an office job to take command of HMS Inflexible, a proud and powerful aircraft carrier. It is no easy task. The overwhelming determination of the Japanese fighters and the cruel weather conditions make Thurston's command fraught with difficulties. But the struggle to provide air support for the US and Commonwealth troops must continue. Home is on the other side of the world, barely a reality, and Thurston finds that he is striving to do the right thing, not only as the Captain of the Inflexible but also in his private life. For a while he and his men are under daily attack from a deadly enemy, Thurston is plagued by feelings of guilt and remorse for the woman he has left behind. A. E. Langford's third compelling naval adventure is an evocative account of life at sea during one of the most perilous and hard-fought battles of this century.

    If you want to learn more, this excellent 2nd-edition is detailed with hundreds of secrets that will help make your comps seamless. For beginners or experts, Ron walks you through the processes of analysis and workflows - linear thinking which will help you become deft and successfully tackle any shot. - Dennis Muren ASC, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & MagicRon Brinkman's book is the definitive work on digital compositing and we have depended on this book as a critical part of our in-house training program at Imageworks since the 1999 Edition. We use this book as a daily textbook and reference for our lighters, compositors and anyone working with digital imagery. It is wonderful to see a new edition being released and it will certainly be required reading for all our digital artists here at Imageworks.- Sande Scoredos, Executive Director of Training & Artist Development, Sony Pictures ImageworksThe Art and Science of Digital Compositing is the only complete overview of the technical and artistic nature of digital compositing. It covers a wide range of topics from basic image creation, representation and manipulation, to a look at the visual cues that are necessary to create a believable composite. Designed as an introduction to the field, as well as an authoritative technical reference, this book provides essential information for novices and professionals alike. *17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3-Revenge of the Sith. *The accompanying DVD-ROM features bonus resources, including example footage from hit films and projects that give readers hands-on experience with real industry materials.*Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more!

    The further adventures of Paul Howard's eponymous anti-hero.

    Born to a family of artists known for their literary interests, Fairouz, an English Literature student from Syria was well known for her work in Arabic poetry, theatre, short stories, performance and local journalism long before the Syrian war began. As the Arab Spring reaches her town, she realises her life is transforming into a blockbuster movie before her very eyes, and so decides to document it with an unflinching honesty and rawness. Frequently described as the Syrian Anne Frank by pan Arab media, Fairouz Abdalla’s diary Lipsticks and Bullets takes us on an exclusive trip into her politically-charged world, from the hipsters on the historic roads of Hama to the upper class circles in the bourgeoisie private clubs of Damascus. Inspired by revolts in Tunisia and emboldened by Libya’s dissidents, Fairouz and her activist friends dream of a revolution and a Syria free from the rule of the tyrannical Bashar al-Assad and his minions. But revolutions are not so easily achieved, as she soon discovers.The spirited young beauty, the daughter of a Christian and a Muslim only has eyes for a handsome bachelor from the esteemed and well-connected Atassi family. The pastel-eyed engineer and member of the Arab student movement who stole her heart is swiftly torn away from her, seemingly forever. Fairouz faces losing all that she loves – Syria is a dangerous place for an activist ­– and especially for a woman. Fairouz must fight not just for a Syrian revolution, but also for the lives of her loved ones, herself, and against the growing nightmare that are western Jihadists.As the Arab spring turns to winter, Syria’s citizens will learn that nothing—not war, not politics, not even religion—can tear them apart. Together, they remain defiant and insist on keeping humour and hope alive. From Syria to Sweden, Istanbul, and Damascus, Lipsticks and Bullets is an intimate tale of love and adventure, by a celebrated Arab author who is a powerful witness to the terror and horror wrought by Assad, Iran and Russia on the lives and souls of Syrians. It is a vivid exploration of Middle Eastern culture, Romance, Islamic extremism, class conflict, and social activism. Syria's story is her story.

    As you pore over these pages, you'll be transported back to an era when leadership and dignity went hand in hand. Alongside touching images of our 44th president embracing his fellow citizens are some of his most inspirational and timely quotes, such as, “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America – there’s the United States of America” and “We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

    He doesn't do it to cheat; he does it to survive. And with the launch of a mysterious new game, Avarice Online, his hopes for a better life finally seem within reach. Living in a Slab City trailer with his foster family is not the end of the line for him; he will see to it, if it's the last thing he does.The day the game launches, his life turns to shambles, leaving him desperate and at a new low. He must now put everything he has into dominating this new RPG. Too bad the makers of Avarice Online have other plans for their players--blurring the line between virtual and reality.Join Josh and his new in-game friends, Gor and KILLian, as they immerse themselves in this new world, filled with NPCs who are almost too real, and where the challenges and rewards are greater than any of them could have imagined.

    Krishna begins his sweeping exploration ofthe tradition of Karnatik music with a fundamental question: what is music? Takingnothing for granted and addressing readers from across the spectrum - musicians, musicologists as well as laypeople - Krishna provides a path-breaking overviewof south Indian classical music.

     Make no mistake about it, it was a war targeting the insidious nature of the mob and their detrimental effect on Rhode Island and throughout New England. Indeed, the book reveals the extensive nature of Organized Crime throughout the United States. From the opening moments detailing a mob enforcer’s near death in a hail of gunfire to the potentially deadly confrontation between then Detective Brendan Doherty and a notorious mob associate, Gerard Ouimette, this book puts you right there in the middle. Most books on the mob tell a sanitized story of guys who relished their time as mobsters. As Nicholas Pileggi, author of “Wiseguys,” put it, “most mob books are the egomaniacal ravings of an illiterate hood masquerading as a benevolent godfather.” This is not that kind of book. This is the story of the good guys. It’s just the way it was.

    Freud - the Key Ideas condenses everything you need to know into one book. With clear explanations and examples drawn from Freud's own cases you will soon have a solid understanding of the main concepts, from psychosexual development to dream analysis.You will learn about Freud's upbringing and the development of his thinking. Discover his early work and influences, from his medical training to his interest in hysteria and hypnosis and the germination of his first ideas about the unconscious and psychoanalysis. Explore all the fundamental aspects of his thinking, his interpretation of dreams, his theories on sexuality, the nature of identity and his views on society.Freud - the Key Ideas explains each aspect of the man and his work in a straightforward and jargon-free way, making often complex theories easy to get to grips with.

    Nobel-Prize-winner Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and his colleagues have written this book to eliminate precisely these difficulties. Fourteen chapters provide a clarity of organization, careful attention to pedagogical details, and a wealth of topics and examples which make this work a textbook as well as a timeless reference, allowing to tailor courses to meet students' specific needs. Each chapter starts with a clear exposition of the problem which is then treated, and logically develops the physical and mathematical concept. These chapters emphasize the underlying principles of the material, undiluted by extensive references to applications and practical examples which are put into complementary sections. The book begins with a qualitative introduction to quantum mechanical ideas using simple optical analogies and continues with a systematic and thorough presentation of the mathematical tools and postulates of quantum mechanics as well as a discussion of their physical content. Applications follow, starting with the simplest ones like e.g. the harmonic oscillator, and becoming gradually more complicated (the hydrogen atom, approximation methods, etc.). The complementary sections each expand this basic knowledge, supplying a wide range of applications and related topics as well as detailed expositions of a large number of special problems and more advanced topics, integrated as an essential portion of the text.