Epic Classics

Like the tentacles of an octopus, the railroad in California reached out across the state, grasping everything of value in the state. Based on the bloody Mussel Slough Tragedy - a conflict between wheat farmers and the Southern Pacific Railroad - The Octopus is a stunning novel chronicling the twilight of the frontier West. A depiction of the tensions between the railroad, the ranchers, and the ranchers’ League. The book emphasizes the control of “forces” - such as the power of railroad monopolies - over individuals.

La trama dell' Orlando Furioso è un grandioso susseguirsi di duelli e battaglie, di incontri imprevisti, di mostri e di magie, di castelli incantati e sterminati viaggi fin sulla luna. Il fascino di questo poema non risiede soltanto nel vertiginoso ritmo di avventure che vi sono narrate, ma anche dalla continua e naturale mescolanza fra realtà e sogno. Nel groviglio di storie che compongono il poema ritroviamo i temi dell'amicizia e dell'inganno, della fedeltà e della infedeltà, della lealtà e del tradimento, della prodezza e della superbia.

Wolfram von Eschenbach, a knight and a poet from 13th century Germany, is the author of this Arthurian romance. Parzival is the revival and completion of a narrative left incomplete by its initiator Chrétien de Troyes. It follows Parzival from his boyhood and career as a knight at the court of King Arthur to his ultimate achievement as King of the Temple of the Grail. This is both a tale of chivalry, and an epic quest for spiritual insight, as the hero Parzival must overcome his pride, and learn to be humble before he can finally win the Holy Grail.

Daniel was Gifted by the gods at birth, able to heal with a touch even the most grievous wounds. Born in a mining camp, he's unable to still his restless heart and journeys to a nearby dungeon town to take his first steps as an Adventurer. Follow his journey in a world filled with monsters, dungeons, and a leveling system.

Dinah is the princess who will one day reign over Wonderland. She has not yet seen the dark depths of her kingdom; she longs only for her father's approval and a future with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal breaks her heart and threatens her throne, she is launched into Wonderland's dangerous political game. Dinah must stay one step ahead of her cunning enemies, or she'll lose not just the crown but her head.

Kat Dubois has been sidelined. With a single word from Heru - no - her plans to save humanity from the Cascade Virus one mortal at a time are put on hold indefinitely. But Kat's not willing to sit by, watching the world as she knows it crumble around her. While Heru awaits a miracle discovery that may never come, Kat shuns his orders and takes rogue action. Thanks to her trusty deck of tarot cards, she knows that at least the universe is on her side. Probably.

You know, sometimes it would be nice to catch a break. Devon, a professional gamer, has a settlement to grow into a city, a character she'd love to focus on leveling, and some kitchen cabinets that really need restocking. Unfortunately, the fate of the Relic Online game world is at stake, torn asunder by battling creator AIs. Demons rise through planar rifts, rampaging across the physical realm. The ancient city of Ishildar holds power that might turn the tide. If only Devon, the brave heroine chosen as the city's champion, could finish her epic quest line to gain control of the place.

Edric wanted to build something great, a safe haven for players and awakened NPCs to thrive in peace. With his fellow rulers, Faye, Claudia, and Rayna, they feel they are on the cusp of something grand and inspiring. When trolls are found murdered on Eloran streets and the dead walk at night, the city soon realizes there is something darker taking place in the supposedly peaceful kingdom. With the delicate political balance in jeopardy and war threatening all of Lukken, Edric and his fellow rulers must come together to discover these secret threats before it is too late.

Six islands float high above the Endless Ocean, where humanity's final remnants are locked in brutal civil war. Their parents slain in battle, twins Kael and Brenna Skyborn are training to be Seraphim, elite soldiers of aerial combat who wield elements of ice, fire, stone, and lightning. When the invasion comes, they will take to the skies and claim their vengeance.

Witness the epic battle of the cyclops! Visit the endangered dragon preserve! Please, no slaying. Solve the mystery of The Mystery Cottage, if you dare! Buy some knickknacks from The Fates! They might come in handy later. On a road trip across an enchanted America, Helen and Troy will discover all this and more. If the curse placed upon them by an ancient god doesn't kill them or the pack of reluctant orc assassins don't catch up to them, Helen and Troy might reach the end their journey in one piece, where they might just end up destroying the world.

In Stephen Mitchell's The Iliad, the epic story resounds again across 2,700 years, as if the lifeblood of its heroes Achilles and Patroclus, Hector, and Priam flows in every word. And we are there with them, amid the horror and ecstasy of war, carried along by a poetry that lifts even the most devastating human events into the realm of the beautiful. Mitchell's The Iliad is the first translation based on the work of the preeminent Homeric scholar Martin L. West.

Still reeling from her recent battle (and grounded until she graduates), Alice must abandon her friends to complete her mission: find The Heart and prevent the Red Lady's rise. But the deeper she ventures into Wonderland, the more topsy-turvy everything becomes. It’s not until she’s at her wits end that she realizes - Wonderland is trying to save her. There’s a new player on the board; a poet capable of using Nightmares to not only influence the living but raise the dead. This Poet looks to claim the Black Queen’s power - and Alice's budding abilities - as their own.

Along with Virgil, Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) was the greatest poet produced by Rome, and in many ways his work has had arguably an even greater impact. His brilliant expression and astonishing acumen continue to amaze readers today, either in their original Latin or in innumerable worldwide translations. Shakespeare's debt to Horace is incalculable, and it is difficult to read his Sonnets today without immediately being reminded of the famous Odes.

Tad Lonnerman is having a crappy day stuck in crappy traffic late to a crappy meeting. On the bright side, his game development career is the only non-crappy thing he has going for him, so life isn't all bad. At least until he dies. Now Tad finds himself uploaded to a beta test of Haven, an unannounced hyper-immersive MMO where the dead have a second chance at life. It's not virtual reality, it's digital reality. A true afterlife online. Except Haven isn't exactly blissful paradise.

Weredragons, men call them. Monsters. Cursed ones. People who can turn into beastly reptiles. In an ancient world just rising from darkness, they are everywhere. Everywhere their curse is the same and everywhere, they are hunted. They hide in forests and caves, dispersed. Many are alone, unaware that others exist. They are shunned, afraid, dying...until a group of these lost souls binds together and stands tall. Together they will forge a new tribe, a home for their kind. A dawn of dragon rises. The nation of Requiem is born.

They came from the north and the city fell. The land of Falanor has been invaded by an albino army, the Army of Iron. A small band of heroes led by Kell, a magnificent and brutal hero, breaks out to warn the king. Fighting their way south, betrayal follows battle, battle follows deviation, and they are attacked on all quarters by deadly warriors, monstrous Harvesters who drain blood from their victims to feed their masters. And worse is to come, for Kell is anything but a hero.

Fantasy writer Rod Everlar is now hopelessly lost in the magical world he once thought he’d created, as he searches for his only friend, the guide who brought him there: the maimed warrior-woman Taeauna. She has been captured by the evil wizard Malraun, who has taken her to his bed—while Malraun’s armies conquer Falconfar, castle by castle and hold by hold.

Once, it was said, Wensha had been a city of witches, summoning and controlling demons for their evil magic. But in nearby Tandieras, Kaltha claimed to have found their lost book of spells to perform only white magic. When Sun Wolf arrived, he discovered increasing signs of evil magic and demon-controlling spells. And he realized, too late, that a new swarm of demons was trying to lure him to his death....

They might be doomed, damned, and buggered for all eternity, but that didn't mean they couldn't sparkle like a diamond in the sun and grin like a skull in the moonlight on their way to oblivion. Musket and cannon, bow and arrow, and magic and diplomacy vie for supremacy once again in this second epic fantasy adventure from acclaimed author Chris Evans.

"My name is Raine Benares—and it sucks to be me right now. I’m a seeker who found the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone that gave me unlimited powers I never wanted. Now I’ve lost the rock—and the magic it gave me—to a goblin dark mage whose main goals are my death and world domination. This is more than incentive enough for a little trip to the goblin capital of Regor with a small band of good friends, not-so-good friends, and one outright enemy.... Don’t ask."