Showing results for "James" in Magical Realism

In 1895, Antonio Sonoro is the latest in a long line of ruthless men. He's good with his gun and is drawn to trouble but he's also out of money and out of options. A drought has ravaged the town of Dorado, Mexico, where he lives with his wife and children, and so when he hears about a train laden with gold and other treasures, he sets off for Houston to rob it-with his younger brother Hugo in tow. But when the heist goes awry and Hugo is killed by the Texas Rangers, Antonio finds himself launched into a quest for revenge that endangers not only his life and his family, but his eternal soul.

Kyle Hammond is suffering a surprise birthday party he really didn’t want. As he blows out the candles on his cake, he makes a token wish. Three days later, to his utter astonishment, that wish comes true. All his problems solved, Kyle is counting his blessings when a pensioner turns up at his door unannounced. The stranger then confounds Kyle by claiming credit for his good fortune, followed by a bizarre declaration: When Edmund Wishkin grants a wish, there’s always a price to pay. Whether he believes the old man or not, Kyle is about to discover the true cost of a wish fulfilled.

Herne - the hunter, mischief-maker, spirit of the forest, leader of the wild hunt - hurtles through the centuries pursued by his creator. A shape-shifter, Herne dons many guises as he slips and ripples through time - at candlelit Twelfth Night revels, at the spectacular burning of the Crystal Palace, at an acid-laced '60s party. Wherever he goes, transgression, debauch and enchantment always follow in his wake. But as the forest is increasingly encroached upon by urban sprawl and gentrification and the world slides into crisis, Herne must find a way to survive.

Angela Carter was one of the most important writers of the 20th century. A pioneer of British magical realism, her work was described by Salman Rushdie as 'without rival and without equal'. Her radical, inventive novels influenced countless writers, while her dark, sensual short fiction turned traditional fables inside out, giving women the power over their desires and fates. Susannah Clapp, Angela Carter's literary executor and friend, introduces the productions and offers fascinating insights into Angela Carter's life and work.

How do you heal a broken house? First you unlock its secrets. Alone on an island, surrounded by flowers that shine as dusk begins to fall, sits an old, faded house. Rooms cannot be rented here and visits are only for those haunted by the memory of loss. When Liddy receives an invitation, she thinks there must be some mistake - she's never experienced loss. But with her curiosity stirred, and no other way to escape a life in which she feels trapped, she decides to accept.

Long ago, before the myth of Merlin the Magician took root in the annals of time, a sacred amulet named after King Aurelius Ambrosius was said to bridge the mystical chasm between mankind and a race of gods and goddesses residing in the very heart of Britain....

After briefly eluding Yassir Ali's ruthless assassins in England, Nick, Marie, and Ishi have fled north, where they hope to track down a forgotten cavern in the Highlands of Scotland. The cavern is linked to the Ambrosius Amulet, and is said to contain the greatest treasure of gold, jewels, and other artifacts ever amassed by the ancient druids....

Nicole has wanted to own a haunted car her entire teenaged life, and when she finally finds one - a junker of a Chrysler Neon with its own tragic backstory - her best friend, Johnny, has some serious doubts. Would a demon even want to possess a Chrysler Neon? But when the two of them take it for a test drive, Johnny’s doubts begin to fade: The steering wheel burns hot, the car traps Johnny in the back seat, and is Nicole even driving? Or is the car driving itself? They soon find themselves forced to face the potential evil controlling the car, and possibly even themselves.

Gemma Peters is doing fine. She’s making a name for herself in the L.A. music biz as a radio producer. She’s got a ride-or-die best friend in Lila, and she gets to come home to Rex, her loving Labrador, every night. But ever since her rock star ex-boyfriend used her to get a record deal from her rock legend dad, she’s made a “no musicians” rule when it comes to dating that’s becoming more like a “no dating” rule, period. So, when Gemma crashes (literally) into Jack one Thursday morning, at first she feels like fate might finally be doing her a favor. The truth is this is no ordinary Thursday.

Paul Armstead is your average American senior citizen and electrical engineer. He's 61 years old, unremarkably unattractive, and a self-proclaimed science fiction nut. He's lived the American dream in drab, typical fashion. So how does he end up fleeing from one end of the world to the other, dodging government dragnets; evil, nightmarish monsters known as the Oni; good wizards; bad wizards; beautiful women; spies; and wizardly spells? Well, it is entirely the genie's fault....

Alison Spedding is a loner - no real friends, no boyfriend and a job in which she goes unnoticed. At 32, her only passion is bird-watching. One afternoon, high on a Scottish mountain, earnestly waiting for the rarest of sights - a white tailed eagle returning to its nest - she slips, falling silently. In shock, her fellow twitchers return to the hostel to raise the alarm, heavy with the realisation that she must be dead. What they find shocks them even more. Alison is already there, alive and unscathed....

There is magic in the mundane, if only you look for it. This collection of four stories will have you taking a second glance at the world around you.

In this series debut of a fantasy adventure for all ages, a young nymph finds herself trying to decipher a set of runes that hold the key to unlocking the book she carries…Along with the knowledge kept within it. The task she has been asked to fulfill takes her on a trek north, and she quickly finds herself immersed in the world of Viking folklore. As she begins to discover the meaning of the script etched into the cover of the book, she realizes that she has been caught in the sights of a God’s quest for vengeance, and that those who are pursuing her have no intention of offering mercy.

An exclusive order in a secret society looks to initiate a new member. The new member must learn what it means to be part of a unique brotherhood, especially one that isn't fully human.

This is the tale of a Southern ghost, Mavis Banks Book, who returns to her beloved Atlanta home on a fine spring day in 1996, 10 years after her funeral. It is also the story of Niki Banks and Jack Rainwater, unlikely and unwilling roommates in Mavis’ house. And finally, it is the story of a city-sized stray dog of unrecognizable heritage that appears in a terrifying thunderstorm.

After thirteen months at war, Vittorio Gandy is haunted by memories. Once a gifted painter, now he can’t bear the vivid, bleeding colors on a canvas. His young son doesn’t remember him, and his wife, Valerie, is scared of him. But the most disconcerting change is in Vitto’s father, Robert Gandy, who has fallen from being a larger-than-life sculptor to a man whose heart has been broken by the death of his muse—Vitto’s mother. When Robert steals away in the night, Valerie, Vitto, and his new acquaintance and fellow veteran John go to the only place Robert might remember.

A thrill-seeking professor, William Knight, a former recipient of the Nobel Prize in Archeology, from Texas A&M University and two of his graduate assistants, one from Austin, Texas and another from Calgary, Canada, attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon built to support their journey for two weeks. Their mission was to find an island that records from the University Library in College Station, Texas showed the entranceway to a mystical island that would lead to the lost city of Altinova. Would they find the legendary plaque that held the secret to a lost city?

Now that Prohibition has ended, what the townspeople of Twisted Tree, Kentucky, need most is the revival of the Old Sam Bourbon distillery. But William McFee knows it'll take a miracle to convince his father, Barley, to once more fill his family's aging house with barrels full of bourbon. When a drifter recently buried near the distillery begins to draw crowds of pilgrims, the McFees are dubious, but miracles seem to come to those who once interacted with the deceased and to those now praying at his grave.

In the wake of World War I in the small, Southern town of Bellhaven, South Carolina, the town folk believe they've found a little slice of heaven in a mysterious chapel in the woods. But they soon realize that evil can come in the most beautiful of forms. The people of Bellhaven have always looked to Ellsworth Newberry for guidance, but after losing his wife and his future as a professional pitcher, he is moments away from testing his mortality once and for all. Until he finally takes notice of the changes in his town...and the cardinals that have returned.

Like a genie’s lamp, whenever someone rubs against the coin, their deepest wish comes true. The other effect is that rubbing on the coin also brings them what they need the most. This coin only works once for each person but has changed hands many times.