Shades Champion

In a world where normal is an impossible standard, love can sometimes be the only thing worth fighting for.

The Mother Tree is dying. When Darkness Sighs brings a prophecy from the Shades to Gneiss Glen, Terran wants to ignore the dreadful truth. Not only must he find a way to restore the Mother Tree, but if he can't the settlement—and the entire continent—will be razed by the Howling Wind. But will the price for saving the Mother Tree and all his friends be too high for Terran to pay? KEYWORDS: contemporary fantasy, coming of age, fae, complete series, bestselling, urban fantasy, action adventure, academy, new adult, university, dark fantasy, family, young adult, YA fantasy, wizard, mage, witch, dragon, supernatural, supernatural suspense, fantasy series, fantasy series for adults, paranormal mystery, magical worlds, modern fantasy, occult, paranormal, enemies to friends, legend, folk tale, elite, dark magic, thrilling, college, hero, power, privilege, hundred halls, thomas k. carpenter, forbidden magic, strong female lead, orphans, alternate worlds, class differences, badass women, binge read, loners and outcasts, found family, enemies to lovers, sword, spellbinding, magical heist, sprawling series, assassins, spies, diplomacy, rune spells, demonology, shape changing, soul magic, arcane, divination, harry potter, magicians, hundred halls, multi-series, epic adventure, animal companion, fantastic families, magical academies, litrpg, gamelit SIMILAR AUTHORS: Aleron Kong, Travis Bagwell, Dakota Krout, Xander Boyce, Apollos Thorne, Shirtaloon, Shemer Kuznits, Ernest Cline, Carrie Summers, Kyle Kirrin, Kit Falbo, Ravens Dagger, Troy Osgood

“If you buy that horse, you’re buying your daughter’s death warrant,” Jane Pohl’s father was warned at the army barracks in the spring of 1941. But the potential that his teenage daughter Jane saw in the small, temperamental Thoroughbred was enough to convince him otherwise. Earlier that year, when Fitzrada arrived at the army base where Jane’s family lived, the horse was stubborn, unpredictable, and dangerous. Any man who dared addle him up soon found himself face down in the dirt. Jane, excited to ride any horse and up for the challenge, had the most success with Fitz. She was patient and consistent, and the horse responded well at last, showing a great affinity for jumping. Then, inexplicably, a terrible riding accident resulted in serious injuries for both Jane and Fitz, and the army decide that it was time to destroy the horse. Heartbroken, Jane pleaded with her reluctant father: the only way to save Fitz was to buy him from the army. Jane Pohl’s foresight proved to be correct. Jane and Fitz went on to take the Virginia show-jumping circuit by storm, winning 37 jumper and 6 hinter championships. At a time when women were rarely seen in jumping classes at horse shows and were not taken seriously by male competitors, Jane and Fitz helped to break down barriers against women riders competing in the Olympics. In 1946, Jane and Fitz found themselves at the Jumper Championship at the prestigious National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden—the highest jumping title in North America. The road there for horse and rider was a five-year test of faith, patience, and understanding friendship.

McDonnell here offers some startling new ways to think about propaganda, specifically about health campaigns. He uses HIV/AIDS media campaigns in Ghana as his case, laying out efforts to control and organize how local communities make sense of the disease. Using media to change people s sexual practices involves evidence-based design, opinion leaders in the design process, and getting all organizations behind a single message. But these campaigns hardly ever work. Why? They are subject to cultural misfires: they are disrupted by misinterpretation and misuse. Enter cultural entropy this concept identifies a process through which intended meanings and uses of propaganda (and other cultural objects) fracture into alternative meanings, new practices, failed interactions, and blatant disregard. The book shows with exquisite ethnographic details how the AIDS media campaigns succumb to cultural entropy: e.g., how people turn female condoms into bracelets, AIDS posters go missing from public postings and become home decor, and red ribbons fade into pink ribbons under the sun. Cultural entropy is a disruption process that affects things as well as symbols. Cultural entropy offers a new explanation for the failure of AIDS campaigns specifically and modern interventions broadly."