An history of astronomy presentedlargely through biographies of its founders, from the early Greeks through Ptotemy to Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, interwoven with the cultural history of western Europe, showing the background from which they emerged.

The Vermilion Empire is in turmoil, rocked by murder, betrayal and revolt. Amid the chaos, three individuals face the brutal reality of a society collapsing around them. Ashara is stranded in the city and desperate to return to the grassy plains of her homeland. Surrounded by strangers, she must learn the hard way who she can trust. As things go from bad to worse, she is forced to flee with nothing but her wits and courage to protect her. Natan is a disappointment to his merchant father. He sees the civil war as an opportunity to prove himself but does not count on the bitter cost. What starts as the pursuit of adulthood ends in a quest for revenge.Po is a novice monk in the Ba're order. Idealistic but at times naive, he is drawn into a web of intrigue that sees him hunted by the notorious Ministry of Virtue. The information he safeguards could determine the future of the empire itself.Loyalties are tested and human endurance finds its limits amidst the gritty and unrelenting backdrop of a world teetering on the edge of oblivion.Bloody and unpredictable

Only four men survived the plane crash. The pilot. A politician. A cop... and the criminal he was shackled to. On an icy night in October 1984, a commuter plane carrying nine passengers crashed in the remote wilderness of northern Alberta, killing six people. Four survived: the rookie pilot, a prominent politician, a cop, and the criminal he was escorting to face charges. Despite the poor weather, Erik Vogel, the 24-year-old pilot, was under intense pressure to fly. Larry Shaben, the author's father and Canada's first Muslim Cabinet Minister, was commuting home after a busy week at the Alberta Legislature. Constable Scott Deschamps was escorting Paul Archambault, a drifter wanted on an outstanding warrant. Against regulations, Archambault's handcuffs were removed-a decision that would profoundly impact the men's survival. As the men fight through the night to stay alive, the dividing lines of power, wealth, and status are erased, and each man is forced to confront the precious and limited nature of his existence.

Eighteen-year-old Cas Leung struggles with her morality and her romantic relationship with fellow pirate Swift as she and the Minnow crew work to take down wild sea monsters, dubbed Hellbeasts, who are attacking ships and destroying the ocean ecosystem.

Troubled teenager Bonbon Bingbing lives in an old mill with Elsa, her weak-willed, naturist mother, Albano, her sadistic stepfather, a director of skin flicks who takes pleasure in exercising authority in the militarized household, blatantly showing the banality of evil, and his cruel children from a previous marriage, Fabrice and Suzy. Albano's determination to dominate shapes the ecosystem that remains ensconced in the domiciliary fabric. Flights of fancy, and a transvestic German, offer Bonbon an escape from the domestic oppression of her daily existence and an entrance into a universe of make-believe, which eventually turns into a nightmarish, Boschian netherworld, where nudist communists are at war with fascist pornographers. In addition, there are curious creatures, including human and animal horrors. Is she daydreaming, or is this real? For her, imagination is usually the last bulwark that the barbarians at the gate are incapable of breaching; however, there may not be any happily-ever-afters here. The novel is a new interpretation of "There's no place like home." Is this story, at once epic and intimate, a surreal political fable in the guise of a Grimm fairytale?