Tomorrow's Magic

Tomorrow's Magic
Author: Pamela F. Service
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2009-04-23
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0307498336

It's 500 years after the nuclear holocaust that devastated the earth's population and left the few survivors dealing with unending winter. At their remote British boarding school, Wellington Jones and Heather McKenna have a lot in common. Both are misfits trying to avoid attention, and both are fascinated by Earl, a tall, calm, older boy with no recollection of his past, but a remarkable knack for showing up when he is needed most. When a blow to the head brings Earl's memory back, he claims that he is actually Merlin . . . a 2000-year-old wizard. Originally published in two volumes in the mid-1980s, Pamela F. Service's creative, futuristic spin on the Camelot legend will appeal to Arthurian purists and fantasy lovers alike.

Social and Cultural Anthropology in Perspective

Social and Cultural Anthropology in Perspective
Author:
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 448
Release:
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781412834223

Social anthropology is, in the classic definition, dedicated to the study of distant civilizations in their traditional and contemporary forms. But there is a larger aspiration: the comparative study of all human societies in the light of those challengingly unfamiliar beliefs and customs that expose our own ethnocentric limitations and put us in our place within the wider gamut of the world's civilizations. Thematically guided by social setting and cultural expression of identity, Social and Cultural Anthropology in Perspective is a dynamic and highly acclaimed introduction to the field of social anthropology, which also examines its links with cultural anthropology. A challenging new introduction critically surveys the latest trends, pointing to weaknesses as well as strengths. Presented in a clear, lively, and entertaining fashion, this volume offers a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to social anthropology for use by teachers and students. Skillfully weaving together theory and ethnographic data, author Ioan M. Lewis advocates an eclectic approach to anthropology. He combines the strengths of British structural-functionalism with the leading ideas of Marx, Freud, and Levi-Strauss while utilizing the methods of historians, political scientists, and psychologists. One of Lewis' particular concerns is to reveal how insights from "traditional" cultures illuminate what we take for granted in contemporary industrial and post-industrial society. He also shows how, in the pluralist world in which we live, those who study "other" cultures ultimately learn about themselves. Social anthropology is thus shown to be as relevant today as it has been in the past. "I highly recommend this book to any anthropologist or student in need of an anthropological retreat.' It is a valuable book to withdraw with for a while to revitalize and expand one's ideas of what social anthropology--and people (including the anthropologists themselves)--are about."--William E. Mitchell, American Anthropologist

Imagining the Impossible

Imagining the Impossible
Author: Karl S. Rosengren
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2000-05-29
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780521665872

This volume, first published in 2000, is about the development of human thinking that stretches beyond the ordinary boundaries of reality. Various research initiatives emerged in the decade prior to publication exploring such matters as children's thinking about imaginary beings, magic and the supernatural. The purpose of this book is to capture something of the larger spirit of these efforts. In many ways, this new work offers a counterpoint to research on the development of children's domain-specific knowledge about the ordinary nature of things that has suggested that children become increasingly scientific and rational over the course of development. In acquiring an intuitive understanding of the physical, biological or psychological domains, even young children recognize that there are constraints on what can happen. However, once such constraints are acknowledged, children are in a position to think about the violation of those very same constraints - to contemplate the impossible.

How to Live Forever

How to Live Forever
Author: Barry Burnett
Publisher: How To Live Forever
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2011
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0979604362

Meet David Black, a young family doc whose solo practice has spectacularly tanked. So has his marriage; the two are not unrelated. His best friend, Oz, wants him to reinvent himself, offering their fellow Boulderites everything they need to live forever (or at least long enough for Oz to profit and retire). David balks. At first.What follows is a romp of a read, a comedy with heart - from the characters who staff the new clinic to pursuit by pheromone-crazed wildlife, a real live cliff-hanger, and the love that, in the end, might just save him. Visit the exotic New-Age mecca of Boulder, Colorado, and get to know--David, hapless idealist and reluctant hero,Junie Blanche, Ph.D. candidate and New Orleans immigrant,Oz Garcia, entrepreneur and Master of Bad Habits,Shriana, organic beauty and trophy wife aspirant,Don Gilmore, hypochondriac and hemp magnate,Cyrus P. Flint, slowly expiring longevity scientist,Miss Paula and Dr. Biggs, fearsomely muscular HGH hawkers,Beatriz Hanacanahuolipalipalulu, Kava Kava smuggler......and, of course, the happy but complicated staff of the Forever Clinic:Dr. Quinn Quinn, former health guru and cross-dressing fugitive,Nancy Ouvenstrasser, lonely masseuse and closet intellectual,Adeline and Thomas Thinna, starving diet & fitness pros,and Howie Krishna, Yogitation instructor and actual Real Thing.(Warning: while many local statutes prohibit the sale of How To Live Forever as a wellness and longevity guide, there remains a modest danger that the reader might inadvertently absorb one if not more aspects of its radically nonradical 'Reasonable Approach to Semi-Optimal Health'.)

Wild Magic

Wild Magic
Author: Tamora Pierce
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2009-12-08
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1439115176

Discover a land of enchantment, legend, and adventure in this first book of the Immortals series, featuring an updated cover for longtime fans and fresh converts alike, and including an all-new afterword from Tamora Pierce. Thirteen-year-old Daine has always had a special connection with animals, but only when she’s forced to leave home does she realize it’s more than a knack—it’s magic. With this wild magic, not only can Daine speak to animals, but she can also make them obey her. Daine takes a job handling horses for the Queen’s Riders, where she meets the master mage Numair and becomes his student. Under Numair’s guidance, Daine explores the scope of her magic. But she encounters other beings, too, who are not so gentle. These terrifying creatures, called Immortals, have been imprisoned in the Divine Realms for the past four hundred years—but now someone has broken the barrier. And it’s up to Daine and her friends to defend their world from an Immortal attack.

Tomorrow's Wizard

Tomorrow's Wizard
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Publisher: Turtleback Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1996
Genre: Wizards
ISBN: 9780785784111

Tomorrow's Wizard, his unorthodox apprentice, Murdoch, and a wise horse make five important wishes come true in ways that surprise the wishers.

Houdini on Magic

Houdini on Magic
Author: Walter Brown Gibson
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 337
Release: 1953
Genre: Conjuring
ISBN: 0486203840

Written by the master magician himself, this fascinating work reveals the secrets behind how Houdini escaped numerous death-defying stunts and exposed a variety of fake spiritualists. He also gives instructions for 44 eye-catching stage tricks, as well as other fascinating material. 155 illustrations.

The Book of Magic

The Book of Magic
Author: George R. R. Martin
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 577
Release: 2018-10-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0399593780

A new anthology celebrating the witches and sorcerers of epic fantasy—featuring stories by George R. R. Martin, Scott Lynch, Megan Lindholm, and many others! Hot on the heels of Gardner Dozois’s acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf . . . and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda . . . and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore . . . and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped—or misshaped—by the potent magic they seek to wield. Yet though their abilities may be godlike, these men and women remain human—some might say all too human. Such is their curse. And their glory. In these pages, seventeen of today’s top fantasy writers—including award-winners Elizabeth Bear, John Crowley, Kate Elliott, K. J. Parker, Tim Powers, and Liz Williams—cast wondrous spells that thrillingly evoke the mysterious, awesome, and at times downright terrifying worlds where magic reigns supreme: worlds as far away as forever, and as near as next door. FEATURING SIXTEEN ALL-NEW STORIES: “The Return of the Pig” by K. J. Parker “Community Service” by Megan Lindholm “Flint and Mirror” by John Crowley “The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable” by Matthew Hughes “The Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror: Chapter Two: Jumping Jack in Love” by Ysabeau S. Wilce “Song of Fire” by Rachel Pollack “Loft the Sorcerer” by Eleanor Arnason “The Governor” by Tim Powers “Sungrazer” by Liz Williams “The Staff in the Stone” by Garth Nix “No Work of Mine” by Elizabeth Bear “Widow Maker” by Lavie Tidhar “The Wolf and the Manticore” by Greg Van Eekhout “The Devil’s Whatever” by Andy Duncan “Bloom” by Kate Elliott “The Fall and Rise of the House of the Wizard Malkuril” by Scott Lynch Plus George R. R. Martin’s classic story “A Night at the Tarn House” and an introduction by Gardner Dozois Praise for The Book of Magic “In The Book of Magic, you get everything you expect and more! Assembling seventeen great authors in one place is a difficult job but this book, with a lot of help from editor Gardner Dozois, does just that. . . . This compilation is a treat for any who love a good fantasy tale.”—Geeks of Doom

Witchcraft for Tomorrow

Witchcraft for Tomorrow
Author: Doreen Valiente
Publisher: The Crowood Press
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2018-01-31
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0719826950

Witchcraft for Tomorrow answers many frequently asked questions about witchcraft including: 'How can I find a witches' coven?' and 'How can I become a witch?' Doreen Valiente tells you what the old religion of witchcraft has to offer the new age of Aquarius; how the age-old Craft of the Wise can be practised in the modern world; how to initiate yourself as a witch and found your own coven. The author, who was the leading figure in the establishment of the modern Wiccan movement, includes a new Book of Shadows (the witches' handbook of rituals and instructions) based upon ancient magical tradition but geared to the age of the future. There are witch songs, spells, incantations and practical advice on how to run a coven and how to acquire your own collection of magical implements; as well as methods of divination and other witch lore. The author shows how the oral traditions of witchcraft throw light not only upon the origins of the present-day witch cult and the activities of the witch leader George Pickingill and his covens, but also upon the mystery of the founding of the famous magical order, the Golden Dawn. Also discussed is the relationship between the witchcraft of Britain and Europe and the magical belief of the Far East. Do both traditions hark back to the legendary city of Shamballah and to the shamanistic practices of Asia? And why do the secret circles of the witches resemble those of the Tantric sex-magic of India?