The Forbidden Tower

A volume in the Darkover saga presents four challengers to the planet's sacred traditions--ruling cast member Damon; his betrothed; Earthman Andrew; and Andrew's betrothed, a Keeper of the Sacred Tower

Fantasy.

As Lifin, a young elf, the reader makes decisions controlling his search through the five Forbidden Towers for the herb that will cure his people of the eleven plague.

Kay's club, the Pathfinders, travels to Florida for a vacation, and Ethel Eaton's rival club, the Bittersweet Society, follows them, causing trouble along the way. Once in Florida, Kay searches for Emily Dodd, who is missing, and investigates strange events at a nearby estate.

In a world where destroying art is forbidden, mistakes are not easily erased. The Tower of Theo is the story of how tribulation withered the endurance of three men's friendship: Leander, the rational artist; Demetrius, the sentimental confidant; and Theo, the imaginative adventurist. The past comes back to haunt the trio, and the stakes rise when the artists' creations emerge from the canvas, bringing their paintings, and their pasts, to life. After two decades of severed communications following an untimely death, a letter from Theo arrives at Demetrius' doorstep as an invitation to heal old wounds. Though Leander warns Demetrius of possible ulterior motives, Demetrius is entirely consumed by the possibility of mending their brotherly bond. The road to reunion is paved with exhausting physical obstacles and even more debilitating mental trials. Each man is uniquely conflicted by an effort to do what he believes is right while also concealing the truth of what happened on that cursed day over twenty years ago, until revelation becomes inevitable. Never could they have imagined their closest companions and creations becoming their ultimate demise, demolishing what each man spent his whole life building.

Colophon Letterford’s life changed overnight when she uncovered Shakespeare’s lost manuscripts. Now the authenticity of those manuscripts is in question . . . and the centuries-old family publishing business is in danger. In this exciting mystery, thirteen-year-old Colophon travels from Oxford’s lofty Tower of the Five Orders to the dank depths of London’s sewers in her pursuit of truth and honor. But the stakes are high. Budding cryptologists, Shakespeare fans, and mystery lovers alike will revel in the twists and turns of this fascinating middle grade sequel to Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave.

Tower of Basel is the first investigative history of the world's most secretive global financial institution. Based on extensive archival research in Switzerland, Britain, and the United States, and in-depth interviews with key decision-makers -- including Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve; Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England; and former senior Bank for International Settlements managers and officials -- Tower of Basel tells the inside story of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS): the central bankers' own bank. Created by the governors of the Bank of England and the Reichsbank in 1930, and protected by an international treaty, the BIS and its assets are legally beyond the reach of any government or jurisdiction. The bank is untouchable. Swiss authorities have no jurisdiction over the bank or its premises. The BIS has just 140 customers but made tax-free profits of 1.17 billion in 2011-2012. Since its creation, the bank has been at the heart of global events but has often gone unnoticed. Under Thomas McKittrick, the bank's American president from 1940-1946, the BIS was open for business throughout the Second World War. The BIS accepted looted Nazi gold, conducted foreign exchange deals for the Reichsbank, and was used by both the Allies and the Axis powers as a secret contact point to keep the channels of international finance open. After 1945 the BIS -- still behind the scenes -- for decades provided the necessary technical and administrative support for the trans-European currency project, from the first attempts to harmonize exchange rates in the late 1940s to the launch of the Euro in 2002. It now stands at the center of efforts to build a new global financial and regulatory architecture, once again proving that it has the power to shape the financial rules of our world. Yet despite its pivotal role in the financial and political history of the last century and during the economic current crisis, the BIS has remained largely unknown -- until now.

First of a thrilling fantasy adventure series set on the Dark World, where society is ranked according to its colour clan and the most precious commodity is light. In all the world there is only one place that ever sees the sun. A seven-towered castle built upon a mountain high above the desolate ice lands below.