Showing results by author "A.J. & Alex" in All Categories

Arktania is a virtual game with a steampunk style. It's a place where magic spells, enchanted artifacts, steam-powered machines, firearms, and mechanical golems are a part of everyday life. Gamer Andrew Falk begins his journey in a small village on the border of Orcish territory. The locals are the keepers of many secrets, but their behavior is too realistic for characters in a game; so realistic, in fact, that Andrew starts to treat them as if they were real people.

Falk has only a few days to obtain the Wood Sword in the Lands of the Elves. And he also has to make a trip to the capital to report the successful completion of his quest, and find out why the Empire needs a specialist who can control the Mechanisms of the Ancients in the first place. In the real world, meanwhile, more and more emissaries from Arktania's Gods are appearing all the time, and the confrontation between them is only getting more intense.

Nazi Germany killed approximately 13 million civilians and other noncombatants in deliberate policies of mass murder, overwhelmingly during the war years. Almost half the victims were Jewish, systematically destroyed in the Holocaust, the core of the Nazis’ pan-European racial purification program. Alex Kay argues that the genocide of European Jewry can also be examined in the wider context of Nazi mass killing.

On Valentine’s Day 2019, someone stole Steven Carino’s dog, Oliver, from his car. Having lost his mother at 13 and grown up with an alcoholic father, he could always count on his dogs for comfort and company. But now, with his beloved Oliver missing, Steven felt utterly alone. Then, the miracle. In a series of near-impossible coincidences, people from different walks of life crossed paths with Oliver and with Steven.

Falk has managed to obtain the second of the five swords he'll need to complete the Goddess's task, and now his path is taking him to the lands of the Elves. Time is limited, but before starting a new quest, it might be nice to wrap up his business in Arkem. Which will mean using the Mechanisms of the Ancients to defend the Gremlins' city from an attack by an army of Demons.

Becoming a Data Head is a complete guide for data science in the workplace: covering everything from the personalities you’ll work with to the math behind the algorithms. The authors have spent years in data trenches and sought to create a fun, approachable, and eminently bingeable book. Anyone can become a Data Head—an active participant in data science, statistics, and machine learning. Whether you're a business professional, engineer, executive, or aspiring data scientist, this book is for you.

In the immediate term, World Peace shows how steps to strengthen compliance with international law, improve collective action like international peacekeeping and peace-building, better regulate the flow of arms, and hold individuals legally accountable for acts of aggression or atrocity crimes can make our world more peaceful. In the long term, it shows that building strong, legitimate states that protect the rights and secure the livelihoods of their people, gender equal societies, and protecting the right of individuals to opt-out of wars can potentially establish world peace.

Thanks to the treachery of the Steel Rats clan, Falk never obtained the first of the five swords needed for his divine quest. Naturally, the new owner of the sword—the head of the Unnameables clan—has refused to sell such a valuable artifact. However, he is willing to give it up in exchange for Falk performing a little task for him in real life. All that's required is committing burglary by breaking into a secure location and stealing a well-guarded item.

Gamer Andrey continues his travels through the world of Arktania, mastering the ability to handle electrical energy and developing his unusual profession, glassblowing. Having received an epic quest from Elenia, the Goddess of Fate, he discovers to his shock that her power is not constrained within the game. Now the virtual Goddess follows Andrey in real life as well, threatening his life if he should fail to complete the tasks she assigns him. There's no turning back. More than that, to be honest, he's beginning to like Arktania with all its residents, its puzzles, and its adventures.

Andrey has finally obtained the first of the five swords he needs to complete the Goddess of Fate's quest. Now his path is taking him to the subterranean city of the Gremlins, Arkem. Gremlins are unpleasant, rascally creatures, with a twisted system of logic and a penchant for limitless chaos. So trying to negotiate with them is always fraught with danger. Fortunately, they happen to worship the mechanisms of the Ancients, which are somehow, mysteriously, connected to Andrey's hidden "Slider" class. This means that Andrey has a chance of recovering the second sword after all.

Mashed is an anthology of twisted humor, erotic horror, and culinary experimentation. Featuring demented authors from all over the world coming together to delight and terrify you. Mashed feels like Scary Movie meets 50 Shades on the Food Network! This collection of 17 sensually sinister tales that will leave you both scared and slightly turned on, while laughing out loud and contemplating whether or not you should have their next meal.

From the outside, The Lyon’s Den doesn’t look like much; there isn’t even a sign. But Mercs of all species know that if you head to Southwest Houston, near the Starport, there’s a particular run-down strip mall that looks like it’s been abandoned for years. The glass door second from the south end of the strip is plastered over on the inside with blue paper, and the faint golden outline of a rampant lion is the only clue.

When Steven Carino discovered his dog, Oliver, had been stolen from his car, he knew he would do anything to get Oliver back. The friendly Yorkie-Shih Tzu mix - with his bundle of black and brown hair, long floppy ears, and big round eyes - had been Steven's companion during even the loneliest days. But it took more than one man to bring Oliver home. It took a community of friends and strangers who believed that love is worth fighting for.

Harmon Tomeral and his friends wanted nothing more than to go to space, and they have beaten the odds, time and again, to get there. They developed a mech and won the Top Fleet Marine competition. They brought back a battle cruiser from an unknown system and made it their own. They made allies who helped them achieve great victories, and they, ultimately, founded new colonies in what has become known as the Salvage System.

CassaStar was just the beginning... The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron's days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it's a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather. The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren.

Comedians Alex Nussbaum and D.J. Demers watch a new documentary every week! Then they talk about it. It's a fun time with a little bit of accidental learning.

Exceed is a word that signifies accomplishment, achievement, and going beyond what is expected. Exceed is also a podcast that empowers you to breakthrough limits, change culture and become remarkable by delivering creative work everyday to people who care. Certified agile coach and executive trainer, author, and speaker J Alex Woods draws on over 25 years of leading organizational transformation and training high-performance behavior to fortune 500 executives, teams, and individuals to show how you also can rapidly deliver value and create lasting change by applying the most up to date ...

Salvage System is a beacon of hope, and a number of other races continue looking toward it as an inspiration for how to live and govern themselves, and - in some cases - for assistance in defending themselves and throwing off oppressive regimes. But the galaxy is a big place, and many of the races in it aren’t friendly. Would these forces like to take over Salvage System and acquire its resources? Absolutely.

Coffin Blossoms. A reminder that hope does spring eternal. In death itself, there is often beauty, life, and on rare occasions, even humor. The 24 stories in this anthology straddle the line between humor and horror in unique ways. Some wearing a wry smile. Others with tongue firmly in cheek. Ghosts, demons, vampires, myths, monsters, and murderers turned on their heads and shaken ‘til dizzy, then presented for you here, in Coffin Blossoms....

Spacefaring researchers disturb an ancient horror. An enchanted object curses a grieving widow. A haunted reel torments a film student. A murder trial hinges on a chilling testimony. In Howls from Hell, 16 emerging horror writers pave the way for the future of the genre. Fans of dark and macabre fiction will savor this exhibition of all-original tales born from one of the fastest-growing horror communities in the world: HOWL Society.