Visionary Fiction

Die schüchterne Nathalie wünscht sich nichts sehnlicher als Ruhe. Kurzerhand bucht sie einen Meditationsworkshop in einem idyllischen Seminarhaus im Wald. Doch von Entspannung keine Spur. Während der stillen Übungen hört sie plötzlich die Stimmen der anderen, die ihr pikante Geständnisse machen. Außerdem sieht sie Dinge, die der Rest der Gruppe nicht wahrnimmt. Am Anfang glauben alle noch an eine logische Erklärung, bis in Nathalie der Gedanke aufkeimt, dass sie manipuliert wird. Wem kann sie noch trauen? Eine Jagd zwischen Realität und Wahn beginnt, aus der es scheinbar kein Entkommen gibt.

In this compendium of delightful short stories, David Michie draws us into the extraordinary experiences of everyday people as they encounter those tell-tale cracks exposing reality as not quite what it seems. Through intriguing story-lines and revelations, Michie offers life-enhancing insights. How better to gently unwind at the end of the day - and to prepare for the infinite possibilities we may encounter in the realms of our dreams?

Fierce. Audacious. Independent. Curtis Ash can't be bothered to settle down. He's too busy enjoying his cushy job as a high-paid stylist, caught in a whirlwind of hookups, parties, and obscenely priced cocktails. The only snarl in an otherwise charmed life is the salon's hotshot colorist, Red Turner. Not only does Red put the whammy on customers and rake in all the big tips, he's oblivious to Crash's flirtation. But there will be plenty of time to win him over - or so Crash thinks.

It is a perfect spring day in Istanbul. Kemal, a wealthy heir, is about to become engaged to the aristocratic Sibel when he encounters Füsun, a beautiful shop girl. He falls in love and finds his established world of Westernized families, opulent parties, society gossip and dining room rituals is shattered.

Lucy is a lapsed Catholic whose adolescent pretentions to sainthood are unexpectedly revived. It all starts when her cousin Zoltan, in hospital following a bizarre incident at a party, offers her a disturbing deathbed confession. Lucy's grief takes an unusual turn: Zoltan's death appears to have turned her into a magnet for the unshriven. Lucy is transformed into a self-described "flesh-and-blood Wailing Wall" as strangers unburden themselves to her. She becomes addicted to the dark stories and finds herself jonesing for hit after hit.

Greta Wells embarks on a radical psychiatric treatment to alleviate her suffocating depression. But the treatment has unexpected effects, and Greta finds herself transported to the lives she might have had if she'd been born in different eras. During the course of her treatment, Greta cycles between her own time and alternate lives in 1918, where she is a bohemian adulteress, and 1941, which transforms her into a devoted mother and wife. As her final treatment looms, questions arise: What will happen once each Greta learns how to remain in one of the other worlds?

Magister Coelus, the College’s young and brilliant theorist, finally has a student capable of learning theoretical magery at the level at which he can teach it. He invites her to help him with his current research project, which promises to funnel through the hands of one mage more power than any mage has ever had. Ellen, who knows more about both the theory and practice of magic than a first year student should know, refuses, arguing that the Cascade will do more harm than good.

Meanwhile, Gillan McArdle’s academic career is ending because of one stupid lapse of judgement. Offered a short-term contract, he lands on the Hebridean island of Harris to investigate obscure animal bones. Quickly dismissing the unicorn skull as a thinly disguised fake, he can’t deny there’s something unusual about these bones. Baited by rumors of a majestic tusked horse roaming the uplands, Gill begins to suspect someone is manipulating him. As he gradually unravels the mystery of the skull, he grasps a disturbing conclusion: If this creature does exist, the evidence suggests it’s a killer.

In The Second Rule of Ten, Norbu investigates the unexplained death of his former client, Hollywood mogul Marv Rudolph, and searches for the sister, lost during World War II, of wizened Los Angeles philanthropist Julius Rosen. With two cases and an unforeseen family crisis that sends him back to Tibet, Ten finds himself on the outs with his best buddy and former partner, Bill, who is heading the official police investigation into Marv's death.

El protagonista de La vida breve, Brausen, escucha a través de una pared una conversación entre un hombre y una mujer. Imagina sus gestos, sus sentimientos... Brausen vive con su mujer, mutilada tras una complicada operación, y para compensar ese vacío físico que detendrá sus caricias, él imagina historias: la de Santa María, y la de un médico llamado Díaz Grey. Pero no solo desea imaginar que es otro, también quiere serlo.

For Will, he seeks first to absorb the power of the dead Voidbringer Core and then expand to find all the nearby cores. Perhaps, he can ally with them, or even protect them from the Voidbringer threat. In addition, he intends to undergo the trial to discover his third magic with the aid of Amber. Lastly, he must deal with the increasing number of dungeon fairies that are dependent on him.

Skyward Inn, within the high walls of the Western Protectorate, is a place of safety, where people come together to tell stories of the time before the war with Qita. But safety from what? Qita surrendered without complaint when Earth invaded; Innkeepers Jem and Isley, veterans from either side, have regrets but few scars. Their peace is disturbed when a visitor known to Isley comes to the Inn asking for help, bringing reminders of an unnerving past and triggering an uncertain future.

O arco é a vida: dele vem toda energia; a flecha é o intento; o alvo é o objetivo a ser alcançado. Através de uma parábola sobre arquearia, Paulo Coelho nos ensina a persistir em nossos objetivos, buscar paz de espírito e sermos gratos pela jornada que percorremos. Após receber uma visita inesperada, Tetsuya, o melhor arqueiro do país, transmite seus conhecimentos a um jovem da aldeia onde vive. Assim, conhecemos o caminho do arco, que nos inspira a seguir nossa intuição e a viver plenamente.

Catherine Bermond is an investigator of traditions and antiques. This novel is the fruit of years of compiling prescriptions and procedures for love's magic. She says that love is a marvelous emotion, especially when we discover its magical essence. Bermond reveals the secrets, spells, talismans, and rituals that help us harness our own personal enchantment. Listeners will be able to tie her enchanted secrets to the mystery of the heart and modern esoteric techniques with ease.

In The Matisse Stories, this Booker Prize-winning author offers three elegant tales that explore the subtle interplays between mind and eye, heart and hand. In the first, Medusa’s Ankles, a fashionable woman watches her life take on darker, more ominous shades in the mirror of a beauty salon.

Told in a mesmerizing voice that will beguile listeners with its fierceness, vulnerability, honesty, and black humour, Strange Hotel immerses us in the currents of attraction, love, and grief. It is an immensely moving and ultimately revelatory exploration of one woman's attempts to negotiate her own memories and impulses, and what it might mean to return home.

After a period of imprisonment, Nealon returns to an empty house in the west of Ireland to find his wife and young son missing. Then he gets a call from a man who claims to know what’s happened to them—a man who’ll tell Nealon all he needs to know in return for a single meeting. In a hotel lobby, in the shadow of an unfolding terrorist attack, Nealon and the man embark on a conversation shot through with secrets and unknown dangers, a verbal game of cat and mouse that ranges from Nealon’s past and crimes to Ireland’s place in the world order to the location of his family.

When a once-promising young writer agrees to ghostwrite a famous physicist’s memoir, his livelihood is already in jeopardy: Plagued by debt, he’s grown distant from his wife—a successful AI designer—and is haunted by an overwhelming sense of dread he describes as “The Mist.” Then, things get worse: The physicist vanishes, leaving everything in limbo, including our narrator’s sanity.

أموت ثم أعود ثانية؛ لأموت بعدها مرة أخرى..

وفي كل مرة أراهم في الحلم أمامي، أراهم وأسمع صيحات ديك بعيد تدوِّي فأعرف أنني لم أمت، وأنني مستيقظ أهذي.

Antoine, la quarantaine, est expert en assurances. Depuis longtemps, trop longtemps, il estime, indemnise la vie des autres. Une nuit, il s'intéresse à la valeur de la sienne et nous entraîne au cœur de notre humanité. Du nord de la France à la côte ouest du Mexique, "On ne voyait que le bonheur" offre aussi une plongée dans le monde de l'adolescence, pays de tous les dangers et de toutes les promesses.