How long it had been since they last visited this house... Not since that very night when their youngest sister died. The circumstances of her death remained a mystery. That tragedy tore the family apart. And yet, twenty years later, the three sisters decided to spend Christmas together at a secluded cottage on the rocky coast of England. The eldest, Jess, has harbored a burning secret for...

A collection of essay-novellas by the winner of the Yasnaya Polyana Award and author of the bestseller *Drama of a Snowy Night*. Featuring literary investigations and fresh perspectives on renowned works—spanning Italy, literary hoaxes, fate and destiny, life and death. From Fyodor Tyutchev to Thomas Wolfe, and the mysteries of the Roman classics.

Vasilisa and her friends find themselves on Ostala. Once every millennium, the Scarlet Flower—the time-magic heart of our planet—blooms here. To save Eflara from being consumed, the seven Keepers of the Time Keys must make a unanimous wish. But a rift opens up among the Key-holders, escalating into a struggle—a fight to the death. Among Vasilisa’s new friends is Fesh Dragotsiy, the nephew of...

Vasilisa Ogneva has never seen her parents. The girl's reality consists solely of school and rhythmic gymnastics. But then, one day, her father appears and takes Vasilisa to his luxurious home—where, for some reason, no one is glad to see her. There, she discovers that running parallel to Earth exists Eflara: a world of mysterious Clockmakers. Vasilisa finds herself drawn into a fierce...

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have become synonymous with the idea of a split personality. More than a morality tale, this dark psychological fantasy is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution, criminality, and secret lives.

This book by A. Yu. Lashkov—a Doctor of Historical Sciences and a specialist in the history of military aviation and air defense—examines the involvement of Soviet aviators and balloonists in the suppression of insurgent movements and the elimination of various anti-Soviet armed formations within the territory of the RSFSR (and later the USSR), as well as in neighboring regions, during the...

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions...

The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will gather to cast their votes in the world's most secretive election. They are holy men. But they are not immune to the human temptations of power and glory. And they are not above the tribalism and factionalism that consumes humanity. When all is said and done, one...

Never before published in a single volume, Tolkien’s four novellas (Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, Smith of Wootton Major, and Roverandom) and one book of poems (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil) are gathered together for the first time, in a fully illustrated volume. This definitive collection of works -- which had appeared separately, in various formats, between 1949 and 1998 -- comes...

It is a legendary time in the First Age of Middle-earth, long before The Lord of the Rings, and Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwells in the vast fortress of Angband in the North; and within the shadow of the fear of Angband, and the war waged by Morgoth against the Elves, the fates of Túrin and his sister Niënor will be tragically entwined.

The tale of Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Returning from France and the battle of the Somme at the end of 1916, he wrote the tale in the following year.