Showing results by narrator "Emily Woo Zeller" in All Categories

What can fossilized teeth tell us about our ancient life expectancy? What can big data on fossils reveal about farming's problematic role in human evolution? How can simple geometric comparisons of skull and pelvic fossils suggest an origin to our social nature? In Close Encounters with Humankind, paleoanthropologist Sang-Hee Lee explores some of our biggest evolutionary questions from unexpected new angles. Through a series of entertaining, bite-sized chapters, we gain new perspectives into our first hominin ancestors, our first steps on two feet, and more.

Dakota Krout presents Book 3 in the Damsels of Distress series.

To win an impossible war, Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general.

Captain Kel Cheris of the Hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris' career isn't the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the Hexarchate itself might be next.

Best-selling author Mary Roach returns with a new adventure to the invisible realm we carry around inside. Roach takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: The questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts?

Yumeko the shape-shifter had one task: take her piece of the ancient and powerful scroll to the Steel Feather temple and prevent the summoning of the great Kami Dragon. But she has a new enemy now. The demon Hakaimono has escaped and possessed the samurai she thought would protect her, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. Hakaimono has done the unthinkable and joined forces with Genno, the Master of Demons, to break his curse and set himself free. But Genno wishes to overthrow the empire and cover the land in darkness. To do that he needs only one thing, the scroll Yumeko is hiding.

Rosalind Lang has encountered the worst possible fate for a national spy: she's been exposed. With the media storm camped outside her apartment for the infamous Lady Fortune, she's barely left her bedroom in weeks, plotting her next course of action after Orion was taken and his memories of Rosalind wiped. Though their marriage might have been a sham, his absence hurts her more than any physical wound. She won't rest until she gets him back. But with her identity in the open, the task is near impossible.

A pioneer in the field of criminal xenoarchaeology, Aphra recognises no law, has no fear and possesses no impulse control. To her, the true worth of the galactic relics she discovers isn’t found in a museum, but in an arsenal. This viewpoint has led to a lot of misunderstandings. After her latest plan goes horribly wrong, her criminal past is on the verge of catching up to her, when suddenly Darth Vader, terror of the galaxy, swoops in with his lightsaber ignited and...saves her life?

Not only is the Ghost Platoon the only permanently configured platoon in the Tasmanian SFG, it only has ten men assigned, never has an assigned objective, and is commanded by a woman whose call sign is Fox. While most in the Tasmanian SFG hunt the enemy like a pack of wolves, the Ghost Platoon is frequently behind enemy lines, like foxhounds, searching for ways to be a general pain in the enemy’s ass.

As an Exorcist-in-training, Rui is tasked with purging the city of Revenants, souls of the dead who have returned to feast on the energy of the living. For Rui, the fight is personal - a Revenant murdered her mother, and she wants revenge. But Rui's first encounter with a Revenant is nothing like she expects. And when she is nearly killed protecting Yiran, the spoiled, magicless youngest son of one of the most powerful families in the Exorcist Guild, Rui uses a volatile spell to transfer her magic to him.

Shiori'anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs in her veins. And on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother. A sorceress in her own right, Raikama banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.

The emperor is dead. Long live the emperor. Lin Sukai finally sits on the throne she won at so much cost, but her struggles are only just beginning. Her people don't trust her. Her political alliances are weak. And in the northeast of the Empire, a rebel army of constructs is gathering, its leader determined to take the throne by force. Yet an even greater threat is on the horizon, for the Alanga - the powerful magicians of legend - have returned to the Empire. Lin may need their help to defeat the rebels and restore order.

A striking and nuanced collection, bringing to life awkward college students, disgraced public figures, raunchy grandparents, and mystical godmothers. To listen to these stories is to experience the transporting joys of discovery and affirmation, and to realize that story writing in America continues to flourish.

Smuggler Ship is a prequel novella in the Sky Full of Stars universe. Find out how Jelena and Erick first acquired their freighter,the Snapper, in this fast-paced space adventure.

It's the end of the 19th century in San Francisco's Chinatown, and ghost hunters from the Maoshan traditions of Daoism keep malevolent spiritual forces at bay. Li-lin, the daughter of a renowned Daoshi exorcist, is a young widow burdened with yin eyes - the unique ability to see the spirit world. Her spiritual visions and the death of her husband bring shame to Li-lin and her father - and shame is not something this immigrant family can afford.

Penelope Akk wants to be a superhero. She's got superhero parents. She's got the ultimate mad science power, filling her life with crazy gadgets that even she doesn't understand. She has two superpowered best friends. In middle school the line between good and evil looks clear. In real life nothing is that clear. All it takes is one hero's sidekick picking a fight, and Penny and her friends are labeled supervillains. In the process Penny learns a hard lesson about villainy: She's good at it.

When Jelena Marchenko learns that her parents have incurred a huge debt due to her previous actions, she's determined to find a way to pay it off. But running cargo doesn't pay anything off quickly. She comes up with a scheme to turn herself and her eclectic crewmates into mercenaries, at least for long enough to make some money. Unfortunately, Jelena has no interest in maiming, killing, or otherwise tormenting people, the typical things mercenaries are hired to do.

Soon-to-be college freshman Evie Claremont had hoped that once she'd arrived on Crestwood's campus, the nightmare that she'd been having would go away. It hasn't. She may be an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but she's grounded... sane. She looks for rational explanations to even the strangest circumstances. Since meeting sophomore Reed Wellington, however, nothing makes any sense. Whenever he's near, she feels an attraction to him - a magnetic kind of force pulling her towards him.

Cold, fine drops of rain fall softly on Evie's cheeks as she emerges from the darkness of the ship's interior to the gray, overcast sky of the main deck. Pulling her dark peacoat tighter to her body, the wind lifts red tendrils of her hair. She walks slowly to the railing overlooking the water. She catches her first sight of the Irish coastline; its craggy landscape makes her shiver in dread. She finds it difficult to imagine now how the Gancanagh had made this their home for so long without anyone realizing it.

Life can kick us when we are down. In Shawn Speakman's case, he is fighting back. Lacking health insurance and diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2011, Speakman beat the disease as well as the massive medical debt he amassed from its treatment. He did this by publishing Unfettered, an anthology featuring short stories donated by some of the best science fiction and fantasy writers working today. Speakman has again collaborated with celebrated genre authors to publish Unfettered II.

The first book in the brand-new series from New York Times best-selling author Julie Kagawa. Enter a beautiful and perilous land of shape-shifters and samurai, kami and legends, humans and demons...a world in which Japanese mythology and imagination blend together. When destiny calls, legends rise. Every millennium the missing pieces of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers are hunted, for they hold the power to call the great Kami Dragon from the sea and ask for any one wish.