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Du Fu (712-70) is one of China’s greatest poets. His career coincided with periods of famine, war and huge upheaval, yet his secular philosophical vision, combined with his empathy for the common folk of his nation, ensured that he soon became revered. Like Shakespeare or Dante, his poetry resonates in a timeless manner that ensures it is always relevant and offers something new to the modern generation. Broadcaster and historian Michael Wood follows in his footsteps to try to understand the places that inspired Du Fu to write some of the most famous and best-loved poetry the world has known.

The best part of being a human is everyone constantly underestimates you, and that means they never see it coming when your dagger plunges into their heart. Our business is growing, but so is our list of enemies. Dwarven gangsters? The Assassins Guild? The commander of the Elven Guard? Yup, they are all problems for us as we expand our criminal operation throughout the realm, and we gotta get rid of ‘em all if we’re going to make mountains of gold. Fortunately, they’ll never see it coming.

Lord of the Rings + Breaking Bad + The Sopranos = Skulduggery. It’s a world ruled by elves, and they have decided that alcohol and magic is illegal for all the other races. But I know how to make whiskey. In fact, that’s the easy part. Selling it under their noses and not getting caught and hung will be the hard part. I’ll need to build a crew, I’ll need to slit some throats, and I’ll need to be five steps ahead of our overlords. Wanna join me in building a criminal empire?

We’re starting to make some coin, but I’m always looking to improve. So, how can I sell more whiskey and make even more gold? Double-cross my distributor? Buy new businesses to serve as fronts for my operations? Steal a few precious artifacts from those blue-blooded elves? Yep. All of the above, and we’ll kill anyone who gets in our way.

Contains books one and two of Incubus, an urban harem fantasy series.

Yazmeen Franklin is as green as they come. Her only real friend is her older sister, who raised her after their mother died. Because of their father’s poor example, Yazmeen has little trust in men, so dating is foreign to her. During her sophomore year of college, she lets her guard down and finally gets close to a man. However, he is a known womanizer, and she keeps him in the friend zone to protect her heart.

With the Alliance Kingdoms and the Empire of Mongavaria now at war, half-elf Fieran Laesornysh has been sent to the naval base of Dar Goranth with one mission: protect the strategically important base from attack. But when he arrives, he discovers there are no aeroplanes for his men, they have been assigned to a squadron of elves, and the elven commander resents Fieran for his lineage. Defending Dar Goranth will be a little difficult if he can't even get off the ground.

A supervillain from the city of Grayville has made a big mistake: He stole from one of my companies. Now he is on my radar, and it's only a matter of time before I find him, and of course, murder him. Ironically, the only thing preventing me from bringing the unknown douchebag to final justice is Grayville’s famous law-abiding superhero: The Shadow Knight. But even a hero as accomplished as the Shadow Knight can’t stop me and my team from ending the super villain threat. And if Shadow Knight won’t accept that, he might have to die as well.

Supervillains are murdering people in the streets, but yet superheroes are more concerned with gaining popularity than bringing the villains to justice. These villains think they are above the law and that nobody can stop them, but they never planned for me. I’ll murder every one of them with my powersuit, traps, and sidekicks. And if killing bad guys makes me a villain in the eyes of the heroes, well...I’ll destroy them too.

I swear I was only looking for a roommate. Just someone to watch TV and eat dinner with. Nothing… romantic. No way. But when I see all these humans gazing at me with open adoration and blatant lust and other things that make me wildly uncomfortable, I realize what a terrible mistake this is. Until I spot the one human woman in the group who is definitely not pleased to see me. In fact, she's scowling at me. She looks really, really annoyed. I'm kind of into it.

A horde of deadly super villains have escaped from Grayville’s maximum security super-prison, and it's up my team to hunt them down. And The Shadow Knight is helping out. Unfortunately, that means we can’t kill these villains when we catch them without shattering our tenuous alliance with the hero. But as always, I’m one step ahead, and I have some surprises in store for both Shadow Knight and the bad guys that will change the power dynamic in Grayville forever.

On the cusp of a second lease on life, Harvey, Tabitha, Maywen, and Reacher have one goal: to level up before the World Boss regenerates. Lorith is alive again, but the remnants of centuries of toxic magic pollution linger. The world needs more healing than even someone with a Legendary class can administer, not at level 3 anyway.

Look, I'm an extremely busy, handsome, and charming guy. I am a paragon of physical perfection. I run a wildly successful architecture firm, and I take care of my family. I don't have time to organize a tenth-anniversary party for my business, so it just makes sense to hire someone else to do the work. Except as soon as I see my new event planner, Anita Chaudhary, with her dark eyes, no-nonsense attitude, and sensible shoes, I decide that maybe I should be involved in the process. Just, you know, for the sake of being thorough. But mainly so I can keep butting heads with her.

Time is running out, and the most ambitious adventurers in the world are coming after Harvey and his friends. Harvey, Reacher, and Tabitha have all been touched by the Eldritch and gained incredible new abilities as a result. But at what cost? As word reaches them of plots to capture Harvey and kill Felodin, the odds dramatically shift against the friends as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Born with his father's legendary magic, half-elf Fieran Laesornysh longs to prove himself worthy of the elven heritage he carries. With the Alliance Kingdoms and the power-hungry Mongavarian Empire teetering on the brink of war, Fieran seizes his chance to take to the skies and become a legend in his own right. He just has to curb his cheekiness and survive the rigors of basic training first.

With all civilization now on the brink of collapse, humanity's only hope is to find and kill the World Boss in order to restart the monster's rebirth cycle and bring back magic. When the Plagued janitor Harvey stumbles into a mysterious wreckage and accidentally kills the missing World Boss, he gains a million experience points, making him the target of almost all the would-be adventurers of the world.

At level five, Harvey has been rejuvenated. No longer hindered by his age, he and his adopted family will journey to Saito, to find their kidnapped allies. The Eldritch Artisan isn’t just any adventure; it's a thrilling mix of dungeon crawling, base-building, and intense tower defense that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Join Harvey and Reacher as they navigate through uncharted territories, confront armies, and craft magical items that defy imagination.

With each rival my syndicate eliminates two more appear, and they are out for blood. The assassin’s guild, the dwarven miners, and the elven overlords are all looking to put our heads on a pike. If my whiskey business is going to thrive it's going to take a little magic, all of their skills, a lotta luck, and the help of an enslaved djinn to overcome the odds against them. The risk is high, but the rewards are money, power, women, and revolution. Those are worth dying and killing for, so keep your blades sharp.

A dazzling world of wonder and power. Gifts from the game gods for every person. The perfect magic for every user. The first three books in the Mephisto's Magic Online series: Mageblood, Crimson Queen, and Aetherocalypse.

China is the oldest living civilisation on earth, but its history is still surprisingly little known in the wider world. Michael Wood's sparkling narrative, which mingles the grand sweep with local and personal stories, woven together with the author’s own travel journals, is an enthralling account of China’s 4000-year-old tradition, taking in life stationed on the Great Wall or inside the Forbidden City.