Twenty Palaces
Twenty Palaces is a novel series blending fantasy and mystery and written by Seattle author Harry Connolly. Ray Lilly, the series' first person narrator, and protagonist recounts his adventures working for the Twenty Palace Society. The novels have taken place in rural areas in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, as well as Los Angeles. Premise Magic is real, along with supernatural creatures such as demons, spirits, and werewolves. Ray Lilly works for a mysterious organization of sorcerers known as the Twenty Palace Society. Their aim appears to be using any means necessary to keep magic out of the hands of anyone other than their own members. Their primary concern is with spell books, which are the source of magic, and with preventing magic users from summoning creatures known as predators from an otherworldly dimension known as the Empty Places. Works in the series ''Twenty Palaces'' A prequel to ''Child of Fire''. Ray Lilly, recently released from prison, is attemp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christian McGrath
Christian McGrath is an American artist and illustrator best known for his work on ''The Dresden Files''. He was born in the Bronx in 1972 and became interested in art and illustration as a small child. In his youth, he was initially interested in comic books, but when he discovered the work of Frank Frazetta, he knew he wanted to be a book cover artist. His work stands out for both its atmospheric qualities and its realism of weight and proportion. McGrath received his degree from The School of Visual Arts in 1995, and spent time teaching guitar. In 2001, he started doing illustrations professionally, and considers himself lucky to create art as his "real" job. , April 4–6, 2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, and television series. Belief in demons probably goes back to the Paleolithic age, stemming from humanity's fear of the unknown, the strange and the horrific. ''A Dictionary of Comparative Religion'' edited by S.G.F. Brandon 1970 In ancient Near Eastern religions and in the Abrahamic religions, including early Judaism and ancient-medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered a harmful spiritual entity which may cause demonic possession, calling for an exorcism. Large portions of Jewish demonology, a key influence on Christianity and Islam, originated from a later form of Zoroastrianism, and was transferred to Judaism during the Persian era. Demons may or may not also be considered to be devils: minions of the Devil. In ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fantasy Novel Series
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animations and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the respective absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Traits Most fantasy uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Magic, magic practitioners ( so ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Contemporary Fantasy Novels
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is one of the three major subsets of modern history, alongside the early modern period and the late modern period. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related to, the rise of postmodernity. Contemporary history is politically dominated by the Cold War (1947–1991) between the Western Bloc, led by the United States, and the Eastern Bloc, led by the Soviet Union. The confrontation spurred fears of a nuclear war. An all-out "hot" war was avoided, but both sides intervened in the internal politics of smaller nations in their bid for global influence and via proxy wars. The Cold War ultimately ended with the Revolutions of 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The latter stages and afterm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary fantasy ''The Dresden Files'', ''Codex Alera'', and ''Cinder Spires'' book series. Personal life Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. He is the youngest of three children, having two older sisters. He has one son, James J. Butcher. Career While he was sick with strep throat as a child, Butcher's sisters introduced him to ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Han Solo Adventures'' novels to pass the time, thus beginning his fascination with fantasy and science fiction. As a teenager, he completed his first novel and set out to become a writer. After many unsuccessful attempts to enter the traditional fantasy genre (he cites J. R. R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, and C. S. Lewis, among others, as major influences), he wrote the first book in ''The Dresden Files''—about a professional wizard, named Harry Dresden, in modern-day Chicago—as an exercise for a writing course in 199 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Dresden Files
''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are written as a first-person narrative from the perspective of private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago. Butcher's original proposed title for the first novel was ''Semiautomagic'', which sums up the series' balance of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction. As of 2021, Butcher has written 17 novels set in the ''Dresden Files'' universe, as well as a number of short stories (some of which are collected in the anthologies '' Side Jobs'' and ''Brief Cases''). The series has also been released in audiobook format, narrated by James Marsters. Other works set in the same fictional universe include graphic novels (several new stories in addition to adaptations o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. History Random House was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint from publisher Horace Liveright, which reprints classic works of literature. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random," which suggested the name Random House. In 1934 they published the first authorized edition of James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' in the Anglophone world. ''Ulysses'' transformed Random House into a formidable publisher over the next two decades. In 1936, it absorbed the firm of Smith and Haas—Robert Haas became the third partner until retiring and selling his share back to Cerf and Klopfer in 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's original logo was a pair of mirrored letter Bs back to back, while its current logo is two Bs stacked to form an elaborate gate. The firm's early editors were Stanley Kauffmann and Bernard Shir-Cliff. History Following Fawcett Publications' controversial 1950 introduction of Gold Medal paperback originals rather than reprints, Lion Books, Avon and Ace also decided to publish originals. In 1952, Ian Ballantine, a founder of Bantam Books, announced that he would "offer trade publishers a plan for simultaneous publishing of original titles in two editions, a hardcover 'regular' edition for bookstore sale, and a paper-cover, 'newsstand' size, low-priced edition for mass market sale." When the first ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Game Of Cages
Twenty Palaces is a novel series blending fantasy and mystery and written by Seattle author Harry Connolly. Ray Lilly, the series' first person narrator, and protagonist recounts his adventures working for the Twenty Palace Society. The novels have taken place in rural areas in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, as well as Los Angeles. Premise Magic is real, along with supernatural creatures such as demons, spirits, and werewolves. Ray Lilly works for a mysterious organization of sorcerers known as the Twenty Palace Society. Their aim appears to be using any means necessary to keep magic out of the hands of anyone other than their own members. Their primary concern is with spell books, which are the source of magic, and with preventing magic users from summoning creatures known as predators from an otherworldly dimension known as the Empty Places. Works in the series ''Twenty Palaces'' A prequel to ''Child of Fire''. Ray Lilly, recently released from prison, is attemp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mad Butcher Of Kingsbury Run
The Cleveland Torso Murderer, also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, was an unidentified serial killer who was active in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, in the 1930s. The killings were characterized by the dismemberment of twelve known victims and the disposal of their remains in the impoverished neighborhood of Kingsbury Run. Most victims came from an area east of Kingsbury Run called "The Roaring Third" or "Hobo Jungle", known for its bars, gambling dens, brothels, and vagrants. Despite an investigation of the murders, which at one time was led by famed lawman Eliot Ness, then Cleveland's Public Safety Director, the murderer was never apprehended. Murders The official number of murders attributed to the Cleveland Torso Murderer is twelve, although recent research has shown there could have been as many as twenty. The twelve known victims were killed between 1935 and 1938. Some investigators, including lead detective Peter Merylo, believe that there may have been thirt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf) with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon. Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy (), are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228). The werewolf is a widespread concept in European folklore, existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the Christendom, medieval period. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs also spread to the New World with colonialism. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in European witchcraft, witches, in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |