Thorn infiltrates a gang of criminals with special powers–aberrant dragonmarks–trying to gain information on their leader, the enigmatic Son of Khyber. But when her orders and her experiences contradict each other, Thorn starts listening to what the Son of Khyber has to say. Featuring characters from Baker’s popular Dreaming Dark Trilogy that return to challenge Thorn. The creator of the world of Eberron returns with a series that has all the smarts and action of a spy thriller, with the magic and depth of world only fantasy can create. There’s something here for every fan!

The award-winning creator of Eberron presents the final installment of a series that combines the mystery of James Bond with the magic of J.R.R. Tolkien The prince of Cyre has been a monarch in name only ever since his country was destroyed by the Mourning, a mysterious cataclysmic event that obliterated the nation. Now, it is Thorn—no stranger to tragedy and loss himself—who must protect the prince from those who still wish him harm. In the same cataclysm that devastated Cyre, seven cities of the Feywild—the feyspires—were trapped on the plain of Eberron. The eladrin who rule the feyspires insist this concurrence is no coincidence and that, with the right pieces, they can repair the devastation of the Mourning. All that's needed are two missing pieces—one that lies in the heart of a mysterious Cyran soldier and one that’s lodged in Thorn’s spine, carrying the soul of the Angel of Flame.

In the land of monsters, you'll want her by your side. Nyrielle Tam--better known by her code name, Thorn--is a Dark Lantern sent undercover to a summit in the monstrous kingdom of Droaam. The beasts of Droaam have organized and want recognition from the kingdoms of Khorvaire. Breland attends to gauge its neighbors' reaction to the new state's demands of equality . . . and to take the opportunity to recover something long ago stolen by the mysterious Sheshka, Queen of the Medusas. It's up to Thorn to accomplish both, while keeping her King and Country out of war. The creator of the world of Eberron returns with a series that shows off Eberron's cross-genre capabilities--all the smarts and action of a spy thriller, with the magic and depth of world only fantasy can create. There's something here for every fan! From the Paperback edition.

A band of war-weary soldiers have uncovered a plot that may tear the very fabric of reality forever. To save their own lives and to prevent a long-banished race of monsters from unleashing an army of horrors upon the waking world, they must reach the very heart of Dal Quor. To stop the cataclysm in time, they must fight their way to .

In this new age of twenty-first century problems and concerns, perhaps we can take comfort in the life of a remarkably brave woman? Her name was Morag Murray Abdullah, and sadly, though her story has been forgotten, the resonating echoes of her life still ring as true now as they did back in the 1920s when she wrote her amazing autobiography. In 1916 Morag was leading what can only be termed as a conventional life. The First World War was raging in nearby Europe. But the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, where she lived, was quiet and safe. In fact everything about her life, up till this point, had been predictable. Then she met Syed Abdullah. The handsome student was attending university there in Scotland, but his roots were far away. Abdullah s father was a chief of the Pathan tribe, those legendary tribesmen who ruled the lands around the fabled Khyber Pass in distant India. Regardless of these vast cultural and religious, (she was Protestant - he a Muslim), the two young people fell in love and were married. Nothing in Morag s life was ever the same. She followed her new husband out to the war-filled, North West Frontier Province of India. There she took up residence among one of the most martial races on Earth. For the next two decades the former Scottish lass became a witness to blood feuds, ruthless tribal politics, and the seclusion of her fellow women in one of the most remote and dangerous portion of the world. Yet this is in no way a tale of exploitation, rather it is the true story of two people from vastly different countries, religions, and families, who learned to live and love each other despite all the odds.

Sir Robert Warburton (1842-99) was a British army officer who served for 18 years as the political officer, or warden, of the Khyber Pass, the most important of the mountain passes connecting Afghanistan and present-day Pakistan. He was born in Afghanistan, the son of a British officer and his wife, a noble Afghan woman who was the niece of Amir Dost Mohammad Khan. Warburton was educated in England, commissioned an officer, and served at posts in British India and in Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia) before being appointed, in 1879, to his post in the Khyber. Home to the fiercely independent Pushtun Afridi people who resisted external control, the pass frequently had been blocked by the Afridis or by fighting among the hill tribes. Warburton is credited with keeping the frontier peaceful and the pass open, mainly though diplomacy rather than force. He drew upon his Afghan background and his fluent Persian and Pushto to gradually win the trust of tribesmen whose traditions made them deeply suspicious of outsiders. In August 1897, one month after Warburton's retirement, unrest broke out among the Afridis, who seized the pass and held it for several months. Warburton was called back into service and participated in the Tirah expedition of 1897-98, in which Anglo-Indian forces reopened the pass. Warburton was especially proud of the role played in the expedition by the Khyber Rifles, a paramilitary force recruited from Afridi tribesmen that he had raised and commanded. Eighteen Years in the Khyber, 1879-1898 is Warburton's account of his education and career. It touches upon virtually every individual and event that played a role in relations between Afghanistan and British India during the last quarter of the 19th century. Long in poor health, Warburton returned to England and died before the book was completed. Posthumously published, it is illustrated with a number of striking photographs and includes a detailed fold-out map of the Khyber.

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.