Showing results by narrator "Mark Rice-Oxley" in All Categories

Life has the capacity of great moments and attainment, of lives well lived, fulfilling for ourselves and for those we touch. But for others life is arduous. There is no spark to ignite the curiosity, to explore and achieve a stability and a growth to their lives. Indeed their lives, in their own eyes, become almost meaningless, their sense of themselves subsumed under a myriad of problems, whether real or imagined. Seismic events in a life might crush them; the loss of a loved one for instance. Coping is difficult, support hard to find and isolation abounds.

The Empire rules with an iron fist. The Valeroot elves have barely managed to survive, but at least they’re not Arthali witches like Elmerah. Her people were exiled long ago. Just a child at the time, her only choice was to flee her homeland, or remain among those who’d betrayed their own kind. She was resigned to living out her solitary life in a swamp until pirates kidnap her and throw her in with their other captives, young women destined to be sold into slavery.

One of the greatest cities has fallen, betrayed by its own people. Yet Saida’s loss is even greater, and for her pain, someone must pay. Though the events of the battle were orchestrated by the Emperor, her heart casts blame on only one elf. While Elmerah and Alluin work toward the next step in their plan, Saida can think of only him.

The heartbeat of the land thrums louder and faster, like soldiers charging into war. Finn drew a line in the sand when she used the faie to attack her enemy. There is no going back from what she has become. And she’s done running.

Do you want to plan fast, effectively, and stress-free? You can finish your planning in less time and produce awesome lesson activities that your students will love. Written by an experienced teacher trainer, manager, and education blogger, Lesson Planning for Language Teachers will show you: a simple, four step planning process that works for every lesson, how to write laser-targeted goals in 30 seconds flat, how to set a context that motivates your students, how to know which lesson structure to use to avoid confusion and chaos, and much more!

A storm is brewing, pitting dragons against mortals, gods against Faie, and in the middle is Finn. Her magic is changing. Traps seem to lurk around every corner. The greatest trap of all, perhaps, is making a deal with a dragon, but she sees no other choice. If she doesn’t stand against the gods, no one will. Even if it means destroying who she is to become something else in the process.

Finn thought she had found her happy ending, but she hadn’t considered the consequences of breaking the barrier to the in-between. The land is in chaos. Mages are pitted against non-magical humans, and the Faie are a threat to all. A powerful magic as old as time itself has returned to the land, and its sole intent to is to restore balance...and to punish those who threw everything off to begin with. Finn is one such person. Will she be powerful enough to stand up to an ancient god, or will the ones she loves pay the price for her actions?

When you find out your best friend and business partner is secretly sleeping with your wife, it may be time to move on.... From your job and your marriage.... Which is precisely what happened to Jamie Newgent. A change of lifestyle is what’s needed, and a bachelor pad on the fourth floor of a jutting tower provides a new home, a fresh start, and a new chapter in his life.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. In the vast Empire of the Russians literature was a way to exchange ideas, values and cultures. Yet each author, each story, each character is an individual example of a journey that, story by story, has transformed the glimmering arc of its literature.

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow on 11th November, 1821 to distinguished multi-ethnic parents from a Lithuanian background. His childhood years were at the family home in hospital grounds which also contained an orphanage, an insane asylum and a cemetery for criminals. The young Fyodor often disobeyed his father by talking to the ill in the hospital gardens. In 1846 he published his first novel ‘Poor Cow’ to great literary acclaim. As he began his next work he was arrested and incarcerated for treason and participation in the political and literary Petrashevsky Circle.

Faerune is running out of time. With the threat of the Dreilore nipping at their heels, our unlikely companions have only one choice: to move forward with Alluin’s mad plan to overthrow the Empire. The emperor must be killed, and the Dreilore defeated, but first, Isara Saredoth must be located. She’s the only rational choice for empress, someone both humans and elves alike can support. Elmerah, Alluin, and Saida will brave the Akkeri temples to find their empress, but Isara may not be exactly what they expected. In fact, some think her quite mad.

This audio study guide for Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as identity, obsessive love, and faith. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

Stefan Zweig was born on the 28th November 1881 in Vienna, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and into a wealthy Jewish family with interests in banking and textiles. Zweig first published in 1900 and two decades later was a popular and highly regarded author in many parts of the world, although not in England. He was also the librettist with Richard Strauss of two operas and a keen collector of autographed musical manuscripts. His collection of over two hundred pieces was later donated to the British Library.

Franz Kafka was born on 3rd July 1883 in Prague, then in Bohemia, the eldest of 6, into a middle-class Jewish family. Life for the young Kafka and his passion for literature was often made an ordeal by his over-bearing and domineering entrepreneur of a father. His literary works are few in number but towering in influence. His masterpieces include ‘The Trial’, ‘The Metamorphosis’ as well as a number of short stories which reveal facets of humankind that truthfully could only be born from Kafka’s brain and pen.

The year is 1187 and European crusaders still control Jerusalem. The Sultan Saladin has unleashed war on the Crusader Kingdoms and the Christian armies have suffered a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of the Horns of Hattin. In the aftermath of the sultan's victory, Sir Byron Fitzwalter finds himself wounded and alone. Desperate to survive, Fitzwalter flees to the Sea of Galilee where destiny intervenes.

Life in a Martian colony can be tough for a 12-year-old! You can’t just go outside to hang out because, well, you’d suffocate and die. Elliot lives a regular Martian life. He goes to school, plays football, and tries to avoid the mean kids. But he never gets to leave the colony buildings. That is, until he goes on a science trip where he makes a discovery that could change the course of humanity forever: a strange doorway in a volcanic cave! Who put it there? What’s on the other side?

Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society. In this volume we offer up a small selection of talents from the literary landscape of 1800 to 1849 and its male authors whose time has now come again.

The Russian novel has a reputation that is immense, both in narrative and in length. Unquestionably though the ideas, themes and characters make many novels rightly revered as world class, as icons of literature. The Russian short story is, in many respects, in a genre of its own. It is at its captivating best whether it’s an exploration of real-life experiences, through fantasy and fables and on to total absurdity.

Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society. In this volume we offer up a small selection of talents from the literary landscape of the Russian male author whose time has now come again.

It was hailed as the answer to the obesity epidemic; a pill that allows you to eat anything you like and still lose weight. Millions were attracted by the promise of a leaner, fitter body, but there was a fatal and unforeseen flaw in this new panacea. A tiny microbe, lurking within, slowly infects the users. In turn they pass the infection to others with a sneeze, a cough or a simple kiss, and before long tens of millions are infected and turned into mindless, shambling wrecks, with the sole purpose of existing to eat.