Showing results by narrator "Joel Richards" in All Categories

When anthropology professor Gideon Oliver is offered a teaching fellowship at US military bases in Germany, Sicily, Spain, and Holland, he wastes no time accepting. On his first night, he is forced to fend off two desperate, black-clad men who have invaded his Heidelberg hotel room with intent to kill. And then there are a few trivial details that the recruiting agency forgot to mention - such as the fact that the two previous holders of the fellowship both met with mysterious ends.

In the far future among the colonized worlds of the galaxy, there's a war going on between the majority of civilized worlds and a colonial theocracy. Trystin Desoll grows up fighting against religious fanatics and becomes a hero, a first-class pilot, then, amazingly, a spy. What do you do if you're a relatively humane soldier fighting millions of suicidal volunteers on the other side who know that they are utterly right, and you are utterly wrong, with no middle ground? Trystin Desoll has an idea.

On Earth, life held for him only the fate of a recluse - confined to daydreams and the lore of ancient wonders but apparently destined never to share them - until he found the formula that let him cross space to the world of the Green Star. There, appearing in the body of a fabled hero, he is to experience all that his heroid fantasies had yearned for. A princess to be saved... an invader to be thwarted... and otherworldly monsters to be faced!

The Union is gone. Interstellar travel is no longer safe. Enter ex-Union Navy Officer Cliff Rawlins. More than four years after being wrongfully stripped of his rank and decorations in a court-martial stacked against him, ex-Union Navy Officer Cliff Rawlins suddenly finds himself a free man. The galaxy to which he returns, however, is changing. The Union of Free Planets is on the verge of dissolving. Many of the shadowy political players working behind the scenes to end the Union are the same people who sent Cliff away. Yet, in the coming political upheaval, Cliff glimpses an opportunity.

Anthropology Professor Gideon Oliver would prefer to keep his mind on his beautiful new bride, Julie, during their English honeymoon, but one intrusive question will not stop nagging at him: Who would want to steal a 30,000-year-old parieto-occipital calvarial fragment? Yet someone has lifted this chunk of prehistoric human skull from a musty museum in Dorchester. Then, 30 miles away, an archaeology student is murdered, increasing tension and suspicion at a dig that had already seethed with suspicion, rivalry, and mistrust.

My name is Nate Temple, and I’m secretly a wizard. I ride a foul-mouthed unicorn, drink with Achilles, and am pals with the Four Horsemen. I’ve even cow tipped the Minotaur. I understand the theory of following the rules. I’m just not very good at the application. Because, rules were meant to be broken. Especially when I find out a monster just murdered my parents. Now all I can hear is the sweet, soothing song of vengeance in my ears, playing on repeat.

Charles Hapgood's classic 1966 book on ancient maps is back. Hapgood produces concrete evidence of an advanced worldwide civilization existing many thousands of years before ancient Egypt. He has found the evidence in many beautiful maps long known to scholars, the Piri Reis Map that shows Antarctica, the Hadji Ahmed map, the Oronteus Finaeus and other amazing maps. Hapgood concluded that these maps were made from more ancient maps from the various ancient archives around the world, now lost.

Twenty million adults in the United States live with an autoimmune disease. In this guide, Dr. Julius Birnbaum offers essential advice for navigating the complex world of various autoimmune diseases. This resource will help patients, caregivers, and health care professionals understand the diagnosis, management, and treatment of conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, and more.

The first book that explains how to open to the immensity of living with death—and how participating fully in life is the perfect preparation for whatever may come next. In Who Dies?: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying, the Levines provide calm compassion rather than the frightening melodrama of death. A meaningful insight how to participate fully in life as the perfect preparation for whatever may come next, be it sorrow or joy, loss or gain, death or a new wonderment at life.

There are millions of people who experience issues related to brain health—depression, attention issues, anxiety, forgetfulness, fatigue, and even chronic pain—yet can't figure out what's causing their problems and can't find any relief. They may have seen a myriad of doctors, many of whom do not take their complaints seriously, or worse, turn to medications. David Younger's diagnostic techniques and treatment protocols will help listeners identify the true cause of their symptoms and put them on a path to healing so they no longer feel unbalanced, out of control, and exhausted.

Barely inhabited, the Arctic is an alien world to most of us. It also holds critical clues about the future of our planet. In The Hidden Life of Ice, Marco Tedesco invites us to Greenland, where he and his fellow scientists are doggedly researching the dramatic changes afoot. Following the arc of his typical day at work, Tedesco unearths the secrets in the ice - from evidence of long-extinct "polar camels" to the fantastically weird microorganisms. Tedesco weaves together the bald facts on climate change with poetic reflections on this endangered landscape and more.

The worst day of Eric's life was capped off by him being kicked through a gateway into a universe filled with magic and monsters. To make matters worse, he had to fight for his life the moment he arrived. Nothing could have prepared him for a world where everything either wants to kill him or eat him.

The Roman Empire lasted a solid 500 years—an impressive number by any standard. The decline and final collapse of the Roman Empire took longer than most other empires even existed. Any historian trying to unearth the grand strategy of the Roman Empire must, therefore, always remain cognizant of the time scale. Over the centuries, the Empire's underlying economy, political arrangements, military affairs, and the myriad of external threats it faced were in constant flux, making adaptability to changing circumstances as important to Roman strategists as it is to strategists of the modern era.

In danger of financial default, the remainder of the Union of Free Planets compels the seceding systems to return. Having seen the wolf at the door, the Union begins to think about enhancing its financial stability, and casts covetous eyes on the most prosperous independent systems. With the major news media as allies, the Union begins to set the stage for expansion.

Nova is a lonely planet. It has been on its way to the Andromeda galaxy for ages. And yet, it is inhabited by people who have never known anything other than the caves beneath the surface that protect them from the vacuum and cosmic radiation. A surprising encounter changes everything. The planet gets visitors who seem to have their own agenda, and are so alien that communication seems futile. But they, too, have unexpected existential problems.

The ghost story is perhaps the oldest of all the supernatural literary genres and has captured the imagination of almost every writer to put pen to the page. Here, Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler has followed his keen sense of the supernatural to collect the most chilling and uncanny tales in the canon.

Fr. Sertillanges's teachings are as timeless as any truths which describe the genuine nature of things. . . . This book is highly recommended not only for intellectuals, but also for students and those discerning their vocation in life. —New Oxford Review

Published in 1925, Ernest Hemingway's collection of short stories focuses on alienation, grief, separation, and loss. Nick, his semi-autobiographical character, appears in multiple stories throughout and is used to explore themes of male comradery, early love, and marriage problems. Known as Hemingway's most experimental book, In Our Time is considered one of Hemingway's early masterpieces.

Cultivating a positive outlook can help you and your team embrace strengths, see opportunities instead of problems, and even feel more engaged in routine tasks. This book provides insights on how to create an environment where everyone can flourish and grow. You'll learn about the effects of emotional contagion; how gratitude, feedback, and perspective matter; and how to establish an optimistic and innovative team culture.

The ability to effectively communicate with data is no longer a luxury in today’s economy; it is a necessity. Transforming data into visual communication is only one part of the picture. It is equally important to engage your audience with a narrative—to tell a story with the numbers. Effective Data Storytelling will teach you the essential skills necessary to communicate your insights through persuasive and memorable data stories.