The LORD thy GOD in the midst of thee is mighty, He will save (Zephaniah 3:17). Shattered mind! Broken dreams! Emotional Financial Mental Physical Psychological Gods abundant love exploded inside of me!

My name is... One year before a certain useless goddess and NEET extraordinaire hit the scene, Megumin, the "Greatest Genius of the Crimson Magic Clan," is hard at work. Ever since a life-changing encounter in her youth, the young wizard has dedicated her every waking moment to the pursuit of the ultimate offensive magic, Explosion! (Well...every moment not spent hustling food from her self-proclaimed rival.) And while the big sister's away, the little one will play. On a routine trip into the woods, Megumin's little sister, Komekko, finds a strange black kitten. Little does she know that this cat plays a key role in unsealing a Dark God's tomb...

Latrice was Peaches' close friend and confidant. Latrice felt like she was shorted in life. Her man had gotten killed, she served time in prison, and worst of all she had no money. Latrice envied Peaches. Peaches had the money, the business, and she got that man that Latrice always desired. Peaches and Kareem were from the opposite sides of the tracks. Peaches was smart, educated, and financially independent. Having Kareem come home to her every night was all Peaches wanted. Kareem had grew up in the streets hustling. He had money but his money came from what he did for a living. He worked hard and hustled harder. He had earned his respect in the streets but he knows that with his lifestyle the only way out is death or prison. He made one bad move now he has to eliminate his enemy or pay the price with his life. Will his quest for money, power, and revenge allow him to survive or will his fate prove it is too late?

“A rip-roaring Swiftian satire from a contemporary Chinese master” follows a rural community’s transformation from small village to megalopolis (The Economist). With the Yi River on one side and the Balou Mountains on the other, the village of Explosion was founded more than a millennium ago by refugees fleeing a seismic volcanic eruption. But in the post-Mao era the name takes on a new significance as the community grows explosively from a small village to a vast metropolis. Behind this rapid expansion are members of the community’s three major families, including the four Kong brothers; Zhu Ying, the daughter of the former village chief; and Cheng Qing, who starts out as a secretary and goes on to become a powerful political and business figure. Linked together by a complex web of loyalty, betrayal, desire, and ambition, these figures are the driving force behind their hometown’s transformation into an urban superpower. Brimming with absurdity, intelligence, and wit, The Explosion Chronicles considers the high stakes of passion and power, the consequences of corruption and greed, the polarizing dynamics of love and hate between families, as well as humankind’s resourcefulness through the vicissitudes of life. “Yan’s burlesque of a nation driven insane by money is equally a satire of some of the excesses of the Chinese Revolution.” —The Wall Street Journal