When Navy SEAL Hunter Carmichael dies on Earth, he is immediately transported into the afterlife, a violent realm where an eternal war is raging between two powerful gods. After their brutal conflict wiped out every other species, the gods are now using humans as pawns to fight their battles. A million earths have been created to farm the humans, and when the humans die on earth, they are forced to fight in the afterlife, with no memory of their pasts. When Hunter is reluctantly thrust into power as leader of a massive army under the control of one of the gods, he must learn to fight his own inner demons as well as his new enemies. Facing threats from bullets, politics and espionage, Hunter must tread carefully in this new world. Though Hunter questions if he is even the man for the job, he might just be humanity’s only hope for survival.

Keeper of the Lost Cities meets Pokémon in this riveting first book in a middle grade series about a girl who embarks on a treacherous journey with her mystical animal companions to save her family—and the entire kingdom. Twelve-year-old Mia McKenna has grown up in the darkness. It’s all she’s ever known, and she finds comfort in it. Like nearly all the cities in the Kingdom of Lunis, her home of Nubis was plunged into a forever night years ago by the shadowy Reaper King—a figure now only known in nightmares, a cautionary tale warning children to stay safe inside the tall city walls. But all that changes when a mysterious cult storms Nubis, capturing everyone with the ability to protect it—including her parents, the rest of the umbra tamers, and their mystical, powerful creatures made of shadow and starlight. Now, Mia and her brother, Lucas, are the city’s only hope of survival, and Mia must learn to harness her umbra taming abilities to stand any chance of saving her city and rescuing her parents. If she can’t, she’ll lose her soul, and her family, to the Darkness forever.

New York Times Bestseller Yu-ning thinks her perfect life on Rainbow Island will never end—until a nasty dragon called the Obsidigon returns from beyond the grave. Now her beloved island is in flames, her best friend has been kidnapped, and the island’s Sacred Crystals have been stolen. To make matters worse, she must venture into the dark corners of the world to uncover secrets best ignored, find a weapon thought long destroyed, and recapture seven sacred stones—without being burned to a crisp by a very angry dragon. With the help of her master teacher, Metatron, Yu-ning embarks on a dangerous journey to overcome not only the darkness attacking her home, but also the scars of sadness that mark her own heart. And while most people just see a normal kid, Metatron—and a few other unlikely allies—pledge their lives to the dark-eyed little girl with a magic bow and a crooked grin.

Make the creative leap to 3D. Realize your artistic vision with this treasure chest of instructional projects. Get the essential concepts and techniques without drowning in the technical complexities. This new edition is an artist's sourcebook for the visionary in you that wants to master 3D-and have fun in the process. It serves as a complete guide for the creative use of CINEMA 4D R10 and all of its modules. This new edition features an engaging full-color presentation of short, playful projects show you how to put this powerful toolset to work. You will master R10's improved workflow, scene management, enhanced animation timeline and searchable object manager, as well as its: * MOCCA 3 system, including Joints, Skin Objects, the Weight Tool, the Morph Tool, Visual Selector and Clothilde * MoGraph module for motion graphics, type manipulation and the animation of multiple forms * Bodypaint 3D for applying 2D drawing and painting skills to 3D models * Advanced modeling tools such as the Brush tool * Interface with third-party applications including Z-Brush, and Adobe's Creative Suite You also get inventive quick starts for other modules including Hair, Sketch and Toon, Advanced Render, Dynamics and Thinking Particles. The companion DVD is bursting to the brim with project source files, extra projects, tutorial movies, guest artist tutorials, inspirational galleries and unique C4D Teacher Files (C4D scenes with embedded step-by-step instruction).

A time of discord, a magic unveiled, a prophecy soon to be fulfilled. The future of Nirus is looking grim. The surface realm’s civil war is raging as rumors spread that their lost Relicblood will return. A new war involving the five realms threatens the fragile balance of this world. Even the Demon kingdoms are fighting amongst themselves. And in the middle are twin reapers, destined for something, if only they knew what it was. After six years trapped inside his twin, Xavier’s soul is finally back in his own body, although his long years in a mindless coma has left him extremely weak. Princess Willow is thrilled to have her fiancé back, but her duties as the Dealth realm’s emissary takes precedence, now that the war has intensified. The twins set sail with Willow on a diplomatic mission to the icy mountains of the Ocean realm, continuing on to the Neverland continent, unaware of the trap the new queen has in store for them. During the long voyage, the reapers are joined by the royal heirs of all five realms, including a Relicblood who should not even exist. And it’s the Shadowblood twins they are counting on. For it has been foretold that when the time comes, these dual champions will be powerful protectors of the true Relicbloods. And that time is almost here.

Despite Emma Develle's best efforts, the sacred Eom crystal has started to recharge, throwing the magical Goddess-worshipping world of Eronth into deadly turmoil. Meanwhile, Maya, daughter of Emma and the mysterious Stag Man, is raised to womanhood oblivious to both her identity and destiny in the struggle to come. Maya finds herself in a world threatened with destruction. The sinister Lightcaster feeds off the Eom's dark energy to orchestrate bloody witch hunts; the Sea Hags fulfil ancient prophecies by invading the land; and the Azephim dark angels scheme to realise their dreams of supremacy by harnessing the Eom's power and Maya's future. Amid this chaos Maya begins on a long road to self-discovery, helped by the Wizards of the Circle of Nine, freed after thousands of years trapped in stone. On Earth, Emma's house is occupied by a New-Age cult whose leader's esoteric powers are frighteningly real. But he knows little about his own angelic lineage and even less about the Azephim and other dangerous entities drawn to the house's portal between the worlds. Maya's destiny unfolds as she falls in love with Bwani, leader of the Circle of Nine – but are their combined powers enough to stop the dark forces destroying not only Eronth, but Earth too? "Josephine Pennicott has an incredible capacity for story-telling, first-hand knowledge of Wicca, and an in-depth familiarity with mythology; a sure-fire combination which makes for compelling reading." Witchcraft Magazine

This guide will probably change your image of Photoshop. Many users tend to use it to do certain things in certain ways and don’t even explore additional features and capabilities. Photoshop cs Timesaving Techniques For Dummies gives you more than 60 timesaving techniques that will speed up the way you do the things you do now and inspire you to do lots more. You’ll discover how to: Install and use peripheral devices such as digital cameras, scanners, tablets, and printers Customize Photoshop to fit your needs with custom keyboard shortcuts, a color management system, presets, and more Create custom palette groups and workspaces Use a drawing tablet and stylus to easily double your output Create sketches, water colors, and silkscreens and paint with oils Create professional-quality separations for high-quality offset printing, including using the CMYK prepress settings, soft proofing, adding printer’s marks and more Create action sets so you can perform repetitive tasks that would take an hour in seconds Organize, color code, and lock layers and create layer sets Use Blending Modes (there are more than 20 to choose from) to enhance images Written by Phyllis Davis, a writer, graphics and Web designer, teacher, and graphics software expert , this guide features a Color Insert so you can see the results of many of the techniques explained, and a companion Web site (www.dummies.com/go/photoshopcstt) where you can download many of the images and follow along and experiment. You’ll discover how to get results like a pro as you experiment with: Creating great effects with layer styles, using the five types of bevel and emboss, inner and outer glows, blending, and more Using the Brush and Pencil painting tools and the Blur, Sharpen, Smudge, Burn, and Sponge editing tools Enhancing photos, creating montages and panoramas, recoloring, retouching, and more Creating shadow type, knock-out type, liquid type, metal type, and more Creating GIF animations, hotspots, and rollovers for the Web You’ll save steps and discover exciting new possibilities with these 60-plus timesaving, image-saving techniques.