Epic Classics

There have been many translators of Chinese literature and poetry over time, but Arthur Waley stands out as one of the best known and most loved. This is perhaps because he had an attribute that most others lacked, which is his poetic abilities. Waley was as much a poet himself as a translator, and while his scholarly erudition was matched by a few others at his time, none ever managed to bring out the true character of Chinese poetry quite so well.

Hall had thought he knew everything about the game, but he’s finding every day that things are different in this new, broken version of Sky Realms Online. There are new game elements, new enemies, and even new locations. After just barely surviving his first boss fight, Hall finds himself in one of those new locations. He's become the lord of a ruined and isolated village called Skara Brae, deep in the middle of hostile territory. Hall and his companions must make the long trek to the city of Silverpeak Keep for much-needed supplies, or they'll risk losing everything.

Jiri has always been special. Found as an infant in the ashes of her village, she was taken in by neighbors and trained to be a powerful jungle druid. Yet when Aspis Consortium mercenaries release an ancient evil that burns her adopted home to the ground, Jiri must gather a group of her own in order to get revenge and drive the mercantile foreigners from her land before they cause further damage. For in the heart of the Mwangi Jungle, sometimes the secrets of the past are best left buried.

A new age dawns in the kingdom of Eileanan, but not without resistance. Now the Righ, Lachlan the Winged, overturns his dead brother’s decrees against witchcraft. But 16 years of hatred and superstition have cloaked Eileanan in darkness. And though he has won the power of the Lodestar, Lachlan’s rule is challenged by a mere babe - and a civil war erupts. The flame-haired twins - Iseult the Scarred Warrior and Isabeau the apprentice-witch - must go their separate ways. Iseult to fight side by side with her husband, Lachlan.

As the plum blossom winds herald spring in the Empire of Wa, Initiate Brother Shuyun, spiritual advisor to Lord Shonto, the military governor of the northernmost province of Seh, receives a shocking message from the barbarian lands. The massive army of the Golden Khan is poised at their border. Forced to retreat south, Lord Shonto is caught between the pursuing barbarian hordes and his own hostile emperor’s Imperial Army.

Martha Macnamara knows that her daughter, Elizabeth, is in trouble; she just doesn't know what kind. Mysterious phone calls from San Francisco at odd hours of the night are the only contact she has had with Elizabeth for years. Now, Elizabeth has sent her a plane ticket and reserved a room for her at San Francisco's most luxurious hotel. Yet she has not tried to contact Martha since she arrived, leaving her lonely, confused, and a little bit worried. Into the story steps Mayland Long, a distinguished-looking and wealthy Chinese man who lives at the hotel and is drawn to Martha's good nature and ability to pinpoint the truth of a matter.

A pirate captain of the Inner Sea, Torius Vin makes a living raiding wealthy merchant ships with his crew of loyal buccaneers. Few things matter more to Captain Torius than ill-gotten gold-but one of those is Celeste, his beautiful snake-bodied navigator. When a crafty courtesan offers the pirate crew a chance at the heist of a lifetime, it's time for both man and naga to hoist the black flag and lead the Stargazer's crew to fame and fortune.

Relic Online is the hottest new game out there, and it's Devon Walker's best hope for escaping her hard-knock life. Thanks to her rocking achievements in other games, she's been hired as a salaried player. Even better, her new position comes with cutting-edge implants that turn RO's virtual reality into a full-sensory explosion. Her only task? Drive the game's creator AI to the outermost limits of its creativity. Sounds easy, right? But when Devon logs in, her expectations shatter like an ice golem hit with a sonic blast.

Gifted with courage, strength, and the intelligence to know when to fight, Sun Wolf is the greatest mercenary in a land overrun by war. With his first lieutenant, Starhawk - a woman more deadly than any man - at his side, he has laid waste to countless cities, taking the best of their treasures for himself, and distributing the rest among his bloodthirsty crew.

The event of myths and legends has started. The first spawn points have started to open, issuing forth creatures and people that were banished from Emerilia long ago. Dave and the Pandora’s Box group are advancing their plans and building projects as fast as possible. When an opportunity arises to take their projects to the next level, they’re going to have to use all of their tricks and crafting abilities in order to seize it. The Stone Raiders and the Terra Alliance that they have formed will undergo its first baptism. The time of peace has ended.

The Greatcoats are back - and this time it's personal. How do you kill a Saint? Falcio, Brasti and Kest are about to find out, as someone is doing just that, and they've started with a friend. The Dukes were already looking for ways to weasel out of their promise to put Aline on her father's throne - but with Saints turning up dead and Church Inquisitors pushing for control, rumours are spreading that the gods themselves oppose her ascension.

When sleep was at its deepest, night at its blackest, up from the mist-filled marsh came Grendel stalking. Thus begins the battle between good and evil, for lying in wait and anxious to challenge the ogre Grendel is a young man, strong-willed and fire-hearted. This man is Beowulf, whose heroic dragon-slaying deeds were sung in the courts of Anglo-Saxon England more than a thousand years ago.

The Citadel of Wizards was under siege. Deep in the Vaults beneath the walled city, gates into inhuman realities were opening and closing without warning. Monsters emerged from other dimensions; and ancient, malign magics came to life under the influence of cosmic chaos. Someone was tampering with the Void. The Council of Wizards blamed Antryg Windrose, the rebel mage who had fled their justice to find haven in the City of Angels.

With one army defeated in a victory that will be remembered through the ages, now the Red Knight must fight again. For every one of his allies, there is a corresponding enemy. Spread across different lands and on sea, it will all come down to one last gamble. And to whether or not the Red Knight has guessed the foe's true intentions. With each throw of the dice, everything could be lost.

Wins and losses, there is no time to celebrate or mourn. The Pantheon in the chaos has once again risen to power, some trying to take power from one another, others supporting the people of Emerilia.

Warships now move in the stars, made of soul-gem constructs, built by mages and engineers, crewed by those who lived on Emerilia or within Earth’s simulation. The Deq’ual system stands with Emerilia, their brothers and sisters, and their family and fellow human descendants. The Jukal Empire will not let Emerilia rise peacefully. As empires grow, so, too, can they be toppled. Only one can remain; in their biggest gamble yet, they must pass through the fires of war, empire against empire.

Sean and his Bonded settled in Hearthglen to learn, train, and grow. Taking on an apprentice, setting up his shop, and Bonding both Chastity and Andrea to him, Sean felt like he would finally be able to learn about this world and try his hand at new things. Sean stepped on some toes as he tried to find his place in the city, but by ignoring conventions, he friended smith and Shaper alike, forging friendships across the divide. The newly formed alliance discovered common ground when opposition rose up to hinder them.

The Empire has declared war on the small, were-ruled kingdom of Aydori, capturing five women of the Mage-Pack, including the wife of the were Pack-leader. With the Pack off defending the border, it falls to Mirian Maylin and Tomas Hagen - she a low-level mage, he younger brother to the Pack-leader - to save them. Together the two set out on the kidnappers’ trail, racing into the heart of enemy territory. But with every step the odds against their survival, let alone their success, grow steeper....

Jason and the Golden Fleece is one of the finest tales of Ancient Greece, an epic journey of adventure and trial standing beside similar stories of Perseus, Theseus and the Labours of Heracles. The finest classic account comes from Apollonius of Rhodes, the Greek poet of the 3rd century BCE and librarian at Alexandria. Though less well-known than Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and much shorter, it is an epic poem which is both exciting and moving, with remarkably vivid portraits of the main characters, Jason and Medea.

Based loosely on the tale of Puss in Boots, Reserved for the Cat takes place in 1910 in an alternate London. A young dancer, penniless and desperate, is sure she is going mad when a cat begins talking to her mind-to-mind. But her feline guide, actually an Elemental Earth Spirit, helps her to impersonate a famous Russian ballerina and achieve the success she's been dreaming of.