The 1987 publication of Iain M. Banks's Consider Phlebas helped trigger the British renaissance of radical hard science fiction and influenced a generation of New Space Opera masters. The thirteen SF novels that followed inspired an avid fandom and intense intellectual engagement while Banks's mainstream books vaulted him to the top of the Scottish literary scene. Paul Kincaid has written the first study of Iain M. Banks to explore the confluence of his SF and literary techniques and sensibilities. As Kincaid shows, the two powerful aspects of Banks's work flowed into each other, blurring a line that critics too often treat as clear-cut. Banks's gift for black humor and a honed skepticism regarding politics and religion found expression even as he orchestrated the vast, galaxy-spanning vistas in his novels of the Culture. In examining Banks's entire SF oeuvre, Kincaid unlocks the set of ideas Banks drew upon, ideas that spoke to an unusually varied readership that praised him as a visionary and reveled in the distinctive character of his works. Entertaining and broad in scope, Iain M. Banks offers new insights on one of the most admired figures in contemporary science fiction.
Everett Leon Kincaid Jr.-E. Leon-was not perfect. But, then again, he never claimed to be. He didn't have time. He was too busy trying to earn a living as a traveling advertising salesman and be the best dad possible to his five sons. Those were his priorities, not perfection. Leon's goal of being a good dad stemmed from the troubled relationship he had with his own father. Leon swore that he would never treat his own children the way his father treated him. He lived up to that goal with his five sons, using a combination of common sense advice and humor. His common sense usually came in the form of sayings, including -Money's never an issue, as long as you have some of it, - -There is a fine line between being 'in the groove' and being 'in the rut, '- and -Don't ever get old. It's not all it's cracked up to be.- Leon taught his sons how to drive, how to defend themselves, how to deal with people, how to compete, how to play baseball and other sports, and, in the process, how to be good dads themselves.
This book is a detailed examination of one of the most important works of fantasy literature from the twentieth century. It goes through Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock considering how it engages with war on a personal and family level, how it plays with ideas of time as something fluid and disturbing, and how it presents mythology as something crude and dangerous. The book places Mythago Wood in the context of Holdstock’s other works, noting in part how complex ideas of time have been a consistent element in his fiction. The book also briefly examines how the themes laid out in Mythago Wood are carried through into later books in the sequence as well as the Merlin Codex
Brian W. Aldiss wrote classic science fiction novels like Report on Probability A and Hothouse. Billion Year Spree, his groundbreaking study of the field, defined the very meaning of SF and delineated its history. Yet Aldiss’s discomfort with being a guiding spirit of the British New Wave and his pursuit of mainstream success characterized a lifelong ambivalence toward the genre. Paul Kincaid explores the many contradictions that underlay the distinctive qualities of Aldiss’s writing. Wartime experiences in Asia and the alienation that arose upon his return to the cold austerity of postwar Britain inspired themes and imagery that Aldiss drew upon throughout his career. He wrote of prolific nature overwhelming humanity, believed war was madness even though it provided him with the happiest period of his life, and found parallels in the static lives of Indian peasants and hidebound English society. As Kincaid shows, contradictions created tensions that fueled the metaphorical underpinnings of Aldiss's work and shaped not only his long career but the evolution of postwar British science fiction.
To atone for the sins he committed serving his country, ex-covert government agent Paul Janson is determined to save the world: one person, one mission, one redemption at a time. The Janson Option Paul Janson--a former Consular Ops legend known as "The Machine" for his deadly speed and accuracy--has a new mission. Sickened by the "sanctioned serial killings" ordered by the state department, Janson has left covert operations and is now a private security consultant. In partnership with deadly sharpshooter Jessica Kincaid, he only takes assignments that he believes will lead to the greater good. When American Synergy Corporation oil executive Kingsman Helms begs Janson to rescue his wife, Allegra, from Somali pirates, Janson and Kincaid view it as the perfect opportunity to infiltrate ASC and disrupt the company's scheme to subvert independent oil-rich African countries into wholly-owned ASC subsidiaries. Once on the ground, Janson and Kincaid discover that the pirates may be the least lethal threat in the violent chaos of anarchic Somalia. Is Allegra's kidnapping for real, or is she merely a pawn in her husband's machinations for control of the country? Janson and Kincaid quickly find themselves embroiled in a bewildering storm of plots and counterplots, and their fight to survive threatens to disrupt the entire region, and beyond...
In 2016, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History celebrated its Centennial Year. Activities included a Museum-sponsored Poet-in-Residence program, which offered a two-month residency to each of the five Santa Barbara Poets Laureate presented in this publication.
To atone for the sins he committed serving his country, ex-covert government agent Paul Janson is determined to save the world: one person, one mission, one redemption at a time. THE JANSON OPTION Paul Janson--a former Consular Ops legend known as "The Machine" for his deadly speed and accuracy--has a new mission. Sickened by the "sanctioned serial killings" ordered by the state department, Janson has left covert operations and is now a private security consultant. In partnership with deadly sharpshooter Jessica Kincaid, he only takes assignments that he believes will lead to the greater good. When American Synergy Corporation oil executive Kingsman Helms begs Janson to rescue his wife, Allegra, from Somali pirates, Janson and Kincaid view it as the perfect opportunity to infiltrate ASC and disrupt the company's scheme to subvert independent oil-rich African countries into wholly-owned ASC subsidiaries. Once on the ground, Janson and Kincaid discover that the pirates may be the least lethal threat in the violent chaos of anarchic Somalia. Is Allegra's kidnapping for real, or is she merely a pawn in her husband's machinations for control of the country? Janson and Kincaid quickly find themselves embroiled in a bewildering storm of plots and counterplots, and their fight to survive threatens to disrupt the entire region, and beyond...
This book explains how reparative self-sacrificial righteousness is at the heart of Paul's gospel, and how divine self-sacrifice authenticates that gospel via human reciprocity toward God in reconciliation. Paul Moser explores the controversial matters regarding Paul's message in a way that highlights the coherence and profundity of his message.
Reformed from his days of covert-operations, Paul Janson has set a new mission for himself. Working in partnership with champion sharpshooter Jessica Kincaid, he rehabilitates disenchanted agents and helps them create new lives outside of the violent intelligence sector. Janson also takes on independent assignments--for a fee, he'll use his skills to resolve international crises. But only those that he believes contribute to the greater good of all. When oil executive Kingsman Helms begs Janson to rescue his wife, Allegra, from Somali pirates, Janson and Kincaid seize the opportunity. At last they can derail American Synergy Corporation's scheme to subvert sovereign nations into wholly-owned subsidiaries. But the pirates are the least lethal threat in the violent chaos of oil-rich East Africa, and when Janson and Kincaid stumble into a bewildering storm of plots and counterplots, they begin to fear that the only way to escape would be to abandon the innocent Allegra.
Places the Dead Call Home begins on a summer night in 1958, as bullets tear through the body of a young man on a lonely Oklahoma highway. Nineteen years later, a soldier lies in the pool of his own blood on an army base in Virginia. Death has made room at home for both of them. Death can always find room for more. Josh Kincaid is happy with life in Phoenix where he manages a bar and sells a few drugs on the side. His serenity is soon shattered, however, by a call from his cousin, Frankie McKnight, who claims to know why Josh's father died many years earlier in the parking lot of a gas station in Oklahoma City. Soon, a reporter named Jeffrey Bonus and his traveling companion, Jeanette Koskos, arrive with questions for Josh about the death of Bonus's father, a highly decorated army colonel. All of these characters converge on Mesa Verde, where Josh and Frankie seek the answer to Jimmy Kincaid's destiny and Bonus hopes to learn the true fate of his father. But others are making plans of their own to ensure that the dead stay where they belong-the places they call home.
To atone for the sins he committed serving his country, ex-covert government agent Paul Janson is determined to save the world: one person, one mission, one redemption at a time. The Janson Option Paul Janson--a former Consular Ops legend known as "The Machine" for his deadly speed and accuracy--has a new mission. Sickened by the "sanctioned serial killings" ordered by the state department, Janson has left covert operations and is now a private security consultant. In partnership with deadly sharpshooter Jessica Kincaid, he only takes assignments that he believes will lead to the greater good. When American Synergy Corporation oil executive Kingsman Helms begs Janson to rescue his wife, Allegra, from Somali pirates, Janson and Kincaid view it as the perfect opportunity to infiltrate ASC and disrupt the company's scheme to subvert independent oil-rich African countries into wholly-owned ASC subsidiaries. Once on the ground, Janson and Kincaid discover that the pirates may be the least lethal threat in the violent chaos of anarchic Somalia. Is Allegra's kidnapping for real, or is she merely a pawn in her husband's machinations for control of the country? Janson and Kincaid quickly find themselves embroiled in a bewildering storm of plots and counterplots, and their fight to survive threatens to disrupt the entire region, and beyond...
Transnationalism in Practice brings together fourteen essays written by Paul Giles between 1994 and 2009 on the subjects of American studies, literature and religion. In an introduction written especially for the collection, Giles traces the evolution of critical transnationalism as it developed through the 1980s and 1990s. The volume includes "e;Reconstructing American Studies"e; (1994), one of the first articles to address the field from a transnational perspective, along with other pieces on methodological and practical issues surrounding the internationalization of American studies. The essays on American literature contain work on Theodore Dreiser, Henry James and the critic F. O. Matthiessen, along with a new study of Jamaica Kincaid in relation to postcolonialism. The section on religion traces the circulation of secularized forms of Catholicism in U.S. culture, from nineteenth-century slave narratives to the musical performances of Bruce Springsteen. Transnationalism in Practice ranges widely, from the culture of colonial America to the novels of Robert Coover and Kathy Acker, while also encompassing a broad range of interdisciplinary topics, from the presidency of George W. Bush to the role of religion in American society. This book will be of interest to all of those concerned with the place of U.S. culture in the world today.
In this heart-pounding thriller, a correctional officer and an ex-cop are fleeing a hurricane—but their only hope of survival is a maximum-security prison where they face new untold dangers. Hurricane Anna: a superstorm made up of two Category 5 hurricanes coming together to wreak unprecedented havoc along the eastern seaboard. When the superstorm hits, the correctional officers at Ravenhill flee, opening all the cell doors and leaving the inmates to fend for themselves as the floodwaters rise. But Jack Constantine, an ex-cop serving ten years for killing one of his wife's murderers, isn't going to just lay down and die. Not when his wife's two remaining killers are among the prisoners relocated to the Glasshouse to ride out the storm. Meanwhile, Kiera Sawyer, a Correctional Officer on her first day at work is the only officer left behind when the others flee. Sawyer rescues Jack and offers to team up. If they can make it to the Glasshouse they might just survive the hurricane. But that involves making their way through the prison, fighting off eight hundred blood-crazed inmates as the building fills with water and the wall crumble all around them.
Preventing Things from Falling Further Apart: The Preservation of Cultural Identities in Postcolonial African, Indian, and Caribbean Literatures is a ground breaking comparative work that explores a post-Achebe universe in which formerly colonized peoples make efforts to reconstruct their cultures by deconstructing some of the deleterious effects of colonization, while at the same time embracing postcolonial realities. This volume focuses on the culturally-confusing impact of colonization on individuals and their communities, specifically on indigenous languages, education, status of women, and religious participation. The author analyzes representative literary works authored by, from Africa, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Zakes Mda; from India, Mahasweta Devi and Arundhati Roy; and from the Caribbean, Jamaica Kincaid and Maryse Conde.
The chapters in this collection respond to the range of interests that have shaped Miéville's fiction from his influential role in contemporary genre debates, to his ability to pose serious philosophical questions about state control, revolutionary struggle, regimes of apartheid, and the function of international law in a globalized world. This collection demonstrates how Miéville's fictions offer a striking example of contemporary literature's ability to imagine alternatives to neoliberal capitalism at a time of crisis for leftist ideas within the political realm.
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