World Myths

“In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in His cosmic loneliness. And God said, "Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done." And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man. Mud as man alone could speak. God leaned close to mud as man sat up, looked around, and spoke. Man blinked. "What is the purpose of all this?" he asked politely. "Everything must have a purpose?" asked God. "Certainly," said man. "Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this," said God. And He went away.” –Kurt Vonnegut, ...

Back home from her first mission, Solstice confronts a scarier problem than a lizard the size of a garbage truck: immortality. She won’t exactly live forever, but ten thousand years isn’t much different. In the blink of an eye to her, everyone she loves will be gone. True, being the only elf in the world is a lonely future, but at least she has her cat to talk to. Good thing he talks back. Solstice doesn’t have too long to mourn as someone thoughtfully sends a magical assassin to take her mind off the family she’ll eventually lose. She’s fairly certain the Ordo Sanguinem Aeternam ...

Samantha Moon returns in an all-new story! Vampire private eye Samantha Moon is summoned to a home in the San Diego hills, where she’s about to discover she's been part of a rescue mission in motion for seventy years... There sits on the edge of a lake in Argentina a massive stone structure, a structure that just might have been home to Adolf Hitler... a base of operations from which he and his minions planned to launch the Fourth Reich. That is, until Samantha Moon takes on a case unlike any other... Click BUY NOW or READ FOR FREE!

Spanning several centuries of history in the Pacific, The Legends and Myths of Hawaiʻi: Fables and Folk-Lore of a Strange People is a collection of Hawaiian stories that were preserved through the ages by oral tradition and documented for posterity by King David Kalākaua in 1887. This massive tome recalls the tales of chiefs and kings, explorers and pirates, prophets, sorceresses, and renegades. This is the first in a series of 22 parts.

Becoming Los Angeles, a new collection by the author of the acclaimed memoir Holy Land, blends history, memory, and critical analysis to illuminate how Angelenos have seen themselves and their city. Waldie’s particular concern is commonplace Los Angeles, whose rhythms of daily life are set against the gaudy backdrop of historical myth and Hollywood illusion. It’s through sacred ordinariness that Waldie experiences the city’s seasons.

This Ravyn has the soul of a hawk. My name is Ravyn. I'm a human soldier in a Fae army of shapeshifters run by a warlord. I'm a simple man; I like the three Fs—Feasting, Fighting, and Fu- well, you know the last one. I don't have many expectations for my life beyond those things and that's just fine by me. But when two fae amulets are stolen and only a human can retrieve them, my warlord asks me to help. He is the Hawk Lord—honorable, brave, terrifyingly powerful, and hot enough to set my pants on fire with a single look. That look was all it took to get me to agree to one of the most ...

Every four years, two girls are kidnapped from the village of Gavaldon. Legend has it these lost children are sent to the School for Good and Evil, the fabled institution where they become fairytale heroes or villains. Sophie, the most beautiful girl in town, has always dreamed of her place at the School for Good while her friend Agatha, with her dark disposition, seems destined for the School for Evil.

To sing with your heart you must first learn to listen. Sirens are some of the most dangerous denizens of the Beneath. So when they start going missing, it's assumed that a supremely powerful being is behind the disappearances. But who and why? As Elaria struggles to find answers to the siren situation, even more questions arise. Questions like: what kind of magic did the witch relic leave within her? And: what should she do about the three men who have become so important to her? One is her past, one: her present, and the third wants nothing more than to be her future. Can she find the ...

Greetings, initiate! Carter Kane, here. Congratulations on reaching Brooklyn House in one piece. This accomplishment signals that you're descended from Ancient Egyptian royalty, and you have magic powers. But what good is power without knowing how to use it? That's where this training manual comes in. Packed with quizzes, stories, and insights about Ancient Egyptian deities, creatures (the friendly and the deadly), the mysterious Duat, and more, this primer will prime those with the blood of the pharaohs to take their first steps down the path of the gods.

Some folk stories endure generation after generation because, although they are not literal, they resound in truths on a human scale. Folktales remind us of wisdom so elemental it is often lost in the rush of everyday life, so that "sometimes common sense makes no sense at all." The six wonder tales on this audiobook are gems of the genre. They have a "long ago and far away" quality.

A Tale of Fantasy and Magic Rockwell believes his eight-year-old daughter Sydney has a very vivid imagination. She sees the mythical Fae: fairies, goblins, sprites, pixies, and other magical creatures. She sees them, talks about them, and plays with them, but every instance feels like a knife in Rockwell's gut. His daughter sees all the mythical creatures in the stories told to her by his late wife, Sarah, reminding him that Sarah is gone. These stories are folklore handed down through the generations and all that his daughter has to cling to of her mother. He has no idea how to help his ...

Japanese culture has fascinated the West ever since the country’s doors opened up in the 1800s. In many ways, Japan has remained elusive, and people have travelled from all around the world to see for themselves how unique this nation remains. Another way of exploring this enigmatic culture is through its literature. The English language succeeds surprisingly well in revealing the Japanese sense of life.

“The People Could Fly,” the title story in Virginia Hamilton’s prize-winning American Black folktale collection, is a fantasy tale of the slaves who possessed the ancient magic words that enabled them to literally fly away to freedom. And it is a moving tale of those who did not have the opportunity to “fly” away, who remained slaves with only their imaginations to set them free as they told and retold this tale.

Six months after Paola Santiago confronted the legendary La Llorona, life is nothing like she'd expected it to be. She is barely speaking to her best friends, Dante and Emma, and what's worse, her mom has a totally annoying boyfriend. Even with her chupacabra puppy, Bruto, around, Pao can't escape the feeling that she's all alone in the world. Pao has no one to tell that she's having nightmares again, this time set in a terrifying forest.

The teacher Patrick Healy traveled around the world, talked with people in different places, and collected around 500 myths, legends, and folktales and their several alternative versions. His opinion and comments (directly or indirectly) are inevitable. This is the 10th volume of his work, 34 Norse Myths, in his words. He retold the stories with his own opinion and approach to them.

The teacher Patrick Healy traveled around the world, talked with people in different places, and collected around 500 myths, legends, and folktales and their several alternative versions. His opinion and comments (directly or indirectly) are inevitable. This is the ninth volume of his work, 33 Native American Myths, in his words. He retold the stories with his own opinion and approach to them.

A Mystery of Magic, Loyalty, and Ancient Secrets Strange things are stirring again in the quiet village of Doona. When a fisherman returns from the dead and whispers of leprechauns begin to spread, twelve-year-old Bridgie Campbell finds herself at the heart of a growing mystery. The Leprechauns of the Western Wild—thirteen in all, led by the cheerful but weary King Rua—have been locked out of their hidden home, Doona Hollow, nestled deep beneath the Sandy Banks. Without the Doona Hollow Key, a powerful magical relic once hidden in a chest of ancient Spanish gold, they cannot return. And...

Cece Rios thought saving her sister would be the end of her adventures in the world of criaturas. But part of Juana’s soul is still trapped in Devil’s Alley. As Cece tries to find a way to get it back using her new curandera abilities, Juana takes her fate in her own hands and sets off alone, intent on restoring her soul and getting revenge on El Sombrerón.

There is an attack on the Dark Dimension! Lacey and her friends discover giant black “birds” flying over the kingdom. They were the source of radiation that sickened the villagers and killed the Voice. Lacey and Alex cross the dark dimension once more with Matt's help. This time, they must find out who these invaders are and what they want. Will they be able to defeat this new enemy without the Voice's help? Will they make it in time to save the kingdom? This is the second series of the "Voice of the Mountain" Saga. The first series is "The Voice of the Dark World".

When Tessa and her sisters are told they will be staying at their grandparents in Japan, Tessa is thrilled. But her hopes are dashed when she realizes that life in Japan is just like being in California: her sisters are old enough to go into Tokyo, while her grandparents want her to stay home with the neighbor kid, Jin. When Tessa is finally allowed to go to Tokyo, it’s only to join her grandpa’s retiree aerobic class with none other than Jin. Their forced hang out comes crashing to a halt when Tessa and Jin break the Miyata family’s heirloom—releasing the malicious samurai god Taira Masakado.