The Last Descendant

When Owen uses an Animus-- a device that allows him to explore the genetic memories in his DNA-- to try to clear his late father's name, he uncovers the existence of an ancient and powerful relic that has two secret organizations after him and the artifact.

A woman torn between honor and survival… Rie is only human. The high elves have made that very clear. Even training as an elite fighter isn’t enough to earn the respect she craves. Her only allies are the fierce carnivorous pixies who travel by her side, yet still she clings to the hope of one day earning her place in the Upper Realm. When she's attacked by assassins from the enemy Shadow Realm, Rie's martial prowess keeps her alive...and frames her as a traitor. Facing execution at the hand of a merciless king, Rie must forsake her oaths and flee into enemy lands to prove her innocence. What she uncovers may threaten more than her honor or even her life…for war is looming in the nine faerie realms. Sanyare: The Last Descendant is the award-winning first book in The Sanyare Chronicles, a fast-paced fantasy adventure. If you like kick-ass heroines and action-packed fantasy filled with mythological creatures, then you'll love the first novel in Megan Haskell's debut series. Start your journey across the nine faerie realms today!

In "Last Descendants," Owen and a group of other teens located the first piece of an ancient and powerful relic long considered a legend-the Trident of Eden. This piece was sought by the Brotherhood of Assassins and the Templar Order, but before either organization could take the piece, it was stolen by an unknown, third party. The tenuous relationship between Owen and the teens fractured, with some taking sides with the Templars, and others with the Assassins. "Last Descendants" book 2 picks up weeks after the events of book 1. There are still two pieces of the Trident of Eden to find, and both groups are determined to not repeat their mistakes. The next piece is said to have been buried with Mongol Warlord Genghis Khan, whose tomb has never been found. Now the teens on either side of the conflict will have to go deep into simulations in war-torn Mongolian China in a race against time to discover the next piece, and ensure their safety, before the others.

In the fourth and final horrific adventure in the award-winning Monstrumologist series, Will Henry encounters unprecedented terror, a terror that delves into the depths of the human soul. Will Henry has been through more than seems possible for a boy of fourteen. He’s been on the brink of death on more than one occasion, he has gazed into hell—and hell has stared back at him, and known his face. But through it all, Dr. Warthrop has been at his side. When Dr. Warthrop fears that Will’s loyalties may be shifting, he turns on Will with a fury, determined to reclaim his young apprentice’s devotion. And so Will must face one of the most horrific creatures of his monstrumology career—and he must face it alone. Over the course of one day, Will’s life—and Pellinor Warthrop’s destiny—will hang in the balance. In the terrifying depths of the Monstrumarium, they will face a monster more terrible than any they could have imagined—and their fates will be decided. “Beyond a simple finale, this is a brave statement about the duplexity of good and evil, and the deadly trap in which all of us are snared” (Booklist, starred review).

The “enlightening” (The Guardian) true story of the last ship to carry enslaved people to America, the remarkable town its survivors’ founded after emancipation, and the complicated legacy their descendants carry with them to this day—by the journalist who discovered the ship’s remains. Fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed, the Clotilda became the last ship in history to bring enslaved Africans to the United States. The ship was scuttled and burned on arrival to hide the wealthy perpetrators to escape prosecution. Despite numerous efforts to find the sunken wreck, Clotilda remained hidden for the next 160 years. But in 2019, journalist Ben Raines made international news when he successfully concluded his obsessive quest through the swamps of Alabama to uncover one of our nation’s most important historical artifacts. Traveling from Alabama to the ancient African kingdom of Dahomey in modern-day Benin, Raines recounts the ship’s perilous journey, the story of its rediscovery, and its complex legacy. Against all odds, Africatown, the Alabama community founded by the captives of the Clotilda, prospered in the Jim Crow South. Zora Neale Hurston visited in 1927 to interview Cudjo Lewis, telling the story of his enslavement in the New York Times bestseller Barracoon. And yet the haunting memory of bondage has been passed on through generations. Clotilda is a ghost haunting three communities—the descendants of those transported into slavery, the descendants of their fellow Africans who sold them, and the descendants of their fellow American enslavers. This connection binds these groups together to this day. At the turn of the century, descendants of the captain who financed the Clotilda’s journey lived nearby—where, as significant players in the local real estate market, they disenfranchised and impoverished residents of Africatown. From these parallel stories emerges a profound depiction of America as it struggles to grapple with the traumatic past of slavery and the ways in which racial oppression continues to this day. And yet, at its heart, The Last Slave Ship remains optimistic—an epic tale of one community’s triumphs over great adversity and a celebration of the power of human curiosity to uncover the truth about our past and heal its wounds.

A murder at the Grand Canyon throws travel writer and amateur sleuth Jacob Smalls (“An ideal guide for journeying into unknown territories.”—Christopher Fowler) into a mob conspiracy of epic proportions. Not only has Jacob Smalls just been dumped, his now-ex-girlfriend, fellow travel writer Jewel Rider, has wasted no time moving on. But when she cozies up to the PR man for a newly erected luxury hotel near the Grand Canyon, Jacob thinks he knows what Jewel’s really after: the inside scoop on the hotel’s owner, Gus Greenbaum, a gangster who built his desert oasis on bribery and intimidation. So after Jewel plunges to her death while hiking the canyon, Jacob isn’t ready to believe it was an accident. As an excuse to do some snooping, Jacob joins a press trip to Gus’s hotel. Notes hidden deep inside Jewel’s backpack reveal that she may have had more dirt on Gus than she realized, and as Jacob follows her leads, he inches closer to the truth. But Gus is onto him too. One of his thugs seems to be watching Jacob’s every move. And now Jacob will need to use every trick in the book before he’s wiped off the map. Praise for The Travel Writer “Travel doesn’t just broaden the mind; it can also get you killed. Sassy, cynical Jacob Smalls is an ideal guide for journeying into unknown territories.”—Christopher Fowler, author of the Peculiar Crimes Unit series

Owen, Javier, and the rest of the Last Descendants teens uncover their destiny in the epic finale to the trilogy based on the hit Ubisoft videogame. 5 5/16 x 8.

From antiquity to the eve of the modern era, rulers of Western empires inspired hero worship by proclaiming their divine origins. In this fascinating original study, Marie Tanner presents the history of the emperor's mythic image and its continuing influence on Western political thought. She shows that these pretensions to divinity were based on the Trojan legend and the myth of Rome as developed in Vergil's Aeneid and that later Christian emperors expanded these claims by tracing their lineage not only to the pagan gods but also to the priest-kings of the Old Testament. Through this amalgam of heritages each successive Holy Roman emperor proclaimed that he was the last descendant of Aeneas, destined to yield the terrestrial rule of Rome to Christ and thereby inaugurate millennial peace. By examining a wide range of literary, artistic, and historical sources plus a corpus of new illustrations, Tanner discovers remarkable chains of evidence for this process, one that culminates with the Renaissance Hapsburgs who imbued the holiest symbols of the faith with dynastic meaning as they attempted to consolidate all priestly and secular powers in their grip. On these foundations Philip II of Spain, son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the first monarch to rule the four known continents, created a new concept of absolute monarchy that shaped the principles of modern statecraft and determined the dominant form of government in Europe for the next two centuries.

Now a major motion picture starring George Clooney and directed by Alexander Payne Fortunes have changed for the King family, descendants of Hawaiian royalty and one of the state’s largest landowners. Matthew King’s daughters—Scottie, a feisty ten-year-old, and Alex, a seventeen-year-old recovering drug addict—are out of control, and their charismatic, thrill-seeking mother, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident. She will soon be taken off life support. As Matt gathers his wife’s friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation is made worse by the sudden discovery that there’s one person who hasn’t been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an affair. Forced to examine what they owe not only to the living but to the dead, Matt, Scottie, and Alex take to the road to find Joanie’s lover, on a memorable journey that leads to unforeseen humor, growth, and profound revelations.

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception. Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own. Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she's thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father's killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer - a treasonous act, punishable by death... because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago. Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira - a brilliant investigator who's also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?