Mikako Nagamine is recruited as a pilot to fight in the interstellar war against a force of alien invaders, leaving behind her one true love. Mikako’s only connection to Noboru Terao, who continues living the life of an ordinary student, is through cell phone text messages. As Mikako travels light years away, it takes longer and longer for Noboru to receive her messages, until finally one arrives eight years and seven months after she sent it…

Award-winning director and author Makoto Shinkai offers a romantic sci-fi tale about young love and space adventure, based on his animated film. This new novel gives readers more insight into Mikako and Noboru's relationship. Fans of the original series will again be immersed in the beautiful world of Shinkai. The word, “world”... I vaguely thought it meant anywhere there was cell phone reception. It’s the year 2046. Mikako Nagamine and Noboru Terao are middle school classmates, tentatively sharing an unspoken first love—but unbeknownst to him, Mikako has been recruited into the UN Space Force, and instead of going on to high school, will join the spacecraft Lysithea to search for alien Tarsians. As she travels further and further to the outer reaches of the solar system, the time it takes for a text message to reach the Earth grows longer and longer. Back on Earth, time passes normally for Noboru, but as the years pass he still can’t forget the voice on the other side of the cell phone… Steeped in nostalgia and memory, Arata Kanoh brings to the page the award-winning OVA by acclaimed filmmaker Makoto Shinkai, director of She and Her Cat, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Garden of Words, 5 Centimeters per Second, and the highest-grossing anime film of all time, Your Name. Arata Kanoh is a writer who has produced novelizations of Makoto Shinkai’s other works, including 5 Centimeters Per Second (also available from Vertical).

A Sky Longing for Memories is a Makoto Shinkai fan's dream! Featuring art created by the beloved director, this full-color art book is packed with art from the many movies he directed for Studio CoMix Wave. The book is a 175 page LANDSCAPE FORMAT softcover, the majority of which are images, a rare treat in the realm of fanbooks. Inside you will find hundreds of backgrounds from from his award-winning works: 5 Centimeters per Second, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Voices of a Distant Star, and a TV advertisement for the Mainichi Newspaper. In addition to the backgrounds, there is a section about the software and technique behind CoMix Wave's animation, which discuss the key features of the software the studio has developed to use at various stages of production. The English edition also comes with a lengthy interview with Mr. Shinkai and other key members of his studio.

Throughout his distinguished career as a journalist and film-maker, John Pilger has looked behind the 'official' versions of events to report the real stories of our time. The centrepiece of this new, expanded edition of his bestselling Distant Voices is Pilger's reporting from East Timor, which he entered secretly in 1993 and where a third of the population has died as a result of Indonesia's genocidal policies. This edition also contains more new material as well as all the original essays - from the myth-making of the Gulf War to the surreal pleasures of Disneyland. Breaking through the consensual silence, Pilger pays tribute to those dissenting voices we are seldom permitted to hear.

Woven into the rich Dark Age tapestry of this magnificently complex, emotionally charged novel - the first in its series - are the Old Ways, The Old Gods, the Great Goddess and the Goddesses Nine, Magic, Seers, Enchantresses, Druids, Dragons, Ancient Rituals, medieval warfare, and the Leonardo DaVinci of his day - Gwyddion, the Merlin. It is filled with intrigue, passion, treachery, love, and with Epic Poetry throughout. It follows this evocative tale through five generations and is an intricately involved work with many legendary, historical and original characters. These now revealed hi.

Sometimes the world is a very dark place. You know the magic is still out there, but it feels distant, or displaced. Voices in the Darkness is an attempt to create a link, to bring some of those voices together in a single work of art. Six award-winning authors lent their talent to this work. The stories are unique, and dark, filled with wonder and emotion. Included are: Nadia Bulkin's "Vide Cor Meum (See My Heart)" is a unique twist on true crime as fiction. Kathe Koja's "Pursuivant Island" will resonate differently with every reader, has meaning on different levels, and touches on an actual artistic event. Elizabeth Massie's "Baggie" explores the horror of losing control of one's life, self, everything to another. Cassandra Khaw takes you on a journey through the pain of bad relationships, while reminding her readers of their own self worth. Nick Mamatas takes on the historical character behind the old, old song "Mack the Knife," in his tale, titled appropriately "Ba boo Dop doo Dop boo ree." Brian A. Hopkins' novella "La Belle Époque," explores history, Winchester rifles, and addiction of a very personal persuasion. We all hear voices in the darkness; in the pages of this book you will hear six of them very clearly.

This elegant young adult novel captures the immigrant experience for one Indian-American family with humor and heart. Told in alternating teen voices across three generations, You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse. From a grandmother worried that her children are losing their Indian identity to a daughter wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair to a granddaughter social-activist fighting to preserve Bengali tigers, award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together the threads of a family growing into an American identity. Here is a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.