Michael Simms

The Green Mage

Long ago, Milon Redshield, the first warrior-king of Windkeep Castle, brought down a curse on the kingdom for his cruel treatment of dragons, the Goddess Nilene's chosen guardians of nature. Thousands of years later, Windkeep is still burdened with the curse, and Queen Tessia is having to defend her kingdom from repeated assaults by the weather witches and their allies. She turns to her friends and advisors Norbert the Green Mage and Tyrmiss the Last Dragon, to accompany her and a band of heroes in a quest to travel to the far land of Sheonad in order to parley with the witches, and if they refuse to negotiate, then to destroy their city. Tessia urges Norbert to use his powers to fight the witches and protect Windkeep, but Norbert is reluctant to do so because he understands that the world exists in delicate balance, and grave and unforeseen consequences result if the balance is disrupted. After fighting a number of battles and suffering bizarre magical transformations, Tessia and Norbert at last come to understand the kingdom of Windkeep can be saved only through the ancient wisdom of dragons. Windkeep is book two in a YA fantasy series about Tessia the Dragon Queen and her loyal advisor and friend Norbert Oldfoot, a gentle mage who has no desire to wield the powerful magics he probably could use if he were not such a good person. Norbert is the self-deprecating narrator of the story, as he was for book 1, The Green Mage. Windkeep opens with a bored Queen Tessia seven years after the events of book 1. The kingdom is suffering a devastating drought, and when a traveler comes to town, he tells tales of the kingdoms and peoples to the north, including weather witches, who could bring rain, Tessia and her ministers believe him. Tessia, Tyrmiss the dragon, and Norbert set off with a few others to set the kingdom to rights through diplomacy, and it all goes terribly wrong when they run afoul of a magic that turns all but Norbert into magically mismatched creatures. Can Norbert return his friends to their own shapes? And beyond that, will he and his magically transformed friends be able to save the kingdom?

The Second Chronicle of Tessia Dragonqueen

Windkeep

Jack Myers

Longman Dictionary and Handbook of Poetry

The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms

THE FAIRY STORIES YOU WERE NOT TOLD AS A CHILD. More than 30 years after the publication of the original book, this book is a homage, albeit more basic, to Roald Dahl and his "Revolting Rhymes." Read the true stories behind the myths, but take heed of the title of this book and the warning in the Prologue, "Alas, because of verity, As you, dear reader, will soon see, These stories can be somewhat crude And some might think they're slightly rude." + "And if you've little ones about Don't read aloud and do not shout. But if you must, then guard their fears By using cheese to block their ears!" If you are not inhibited by this advice you will read about the three little pigs and the wolf "He suffered from digestive gas In his rear and prone to pass" and "Jack, vision blurred, head feeling thick, Had only thoughts of being sick" Sleeping Beauty who was "Working quietly by the fire Spinning strands of sharp barbed wire" and the idiot Prince who thought "That Princesses, if they were true, Didn't need to use the loo"

Really Revolting Rhymes

In Bicycles of the Gods, the main character, Jesse, presents an earthly incarnation of Jesus Christ come to earth in the body of a 12-year-old boy in the company of Xavi, who is the earthly incarnation of Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds, also a 12-year-old boy. The pair stand on a hilltop above the city of Los Angeles contemplating how best to destroy it as a precursor to destroying the entire world to rid it of humanity so it can refresh and rebuild. Xavi is ready to get on with the task The Big Guy, God, has assigned them, but Jesse has a problem. He isn’t sure that everyone deserves to be destroyed.

A Divine Comedy

Bicycles of the Gods

Volume One of The Talon Trilogy Norbert Oldfoot is a simple mage who makes his living traveling the Bekla River Road, selling trade goods, performing healing magic, and singing traditional songs of heroes. He becomes friends with Kerttu, a coppersmith who has developed a new alloy which is perfect for manufacturing swords. When Kerttu is kidnapped by the evil Wizard Ludek, Kerttu’s teenage daughter Tessia, a skilled hunter, recruits three friends, including Norbert, and sets out on a quest to find a legendary dragon who lives in the mountains. With the help of the dragon, Tessia plans to save her father. Little do they know that in order to save Kerttu, they will first have to save the kingdom.

Giuliana Certo

Christine Stroud

"A comprehensive selection of work by 106 important American poets"--Page [4] of cover.

Michael Simms

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