Download or read book The Unseen University Cut Out Book written by Terry Pratchett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2006 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Unseen University sits in the centre of Discworld's greatest city, Ankh-Morpork. Enjoy the challenge of making the seven buildings and seeing the complete Unseen University unfold before your eyes.
Download or read book Unseen Academicals written by Terry Pratchett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2009-11-10 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'We play and are played and the best we can hope for is to do it with style.' Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork. And now the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match without using magic . . . so they're in the mood for trying everything else. To do this, they recruit an unlikely group of players: Trev, a street urchin with a talent for kicking a tin can; Glenda, the night chef who makes a mean pie; Juliet, the kitchen hand turned world's greatest fashion model; and the mysterious Mr Nutt, who has something powerful, and dark, locked away inside him . . . And the thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football. Here we go, here we go, here we go! 'This isn't just football, it's Discworld football. Or, to borrow another phrase, it's about life, the Universe and everything' The Times 'No one mixes the fantastical and mundane to better comic effect' Daily Mail Unseen Academicals is the seventh book in the Wizards series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.
Download or read book Moving Pictures written by Terry Pratchett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2009-05-27 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'HOLY WOOD IS A DIFFERENT SORT OF PLACE . . . HERE, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO BE IMPORTANT.' A new phenomenon is taking over the Discworld: moving pictures. Created by the alchemists of Ankh-Morpork, the growing 'clicks' industry moves to the sandy land of Holy Wood, attracted by the light of the sun and some strange calling no one can quite put their finger on... Also drawn to Holy Wood are aspiring young stars Victor Tugelbend, a wizarding student dropout, and Theda 'Ginger' Withel, a small-town girl with big dreams. But behind the glitz and glamour of the clicks, a sinister presence lurks. Because belief is powerful in the Discworld, and sometimes downright dangerous... The magic of movies might just unravel reality itself. 'Funny, delightfully inventive, and refuses to lie down in its genre' - Observer The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Moving Pictures is a standalone.
Download or read book Equal Rites written by Terry Pratchett and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Unadulterated fun. . . witty, frequently hilarious.”—San Francisco Chronicle Chaos and hilarity ensue when a young woman becomes the first female wizard, upending the Discworld in this bitingly funny tale from internationally bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not half so bad as a lot of ignorance. Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a female wizard. So when a dying wizard accidentally passes on his staff of power to an eighth daughter of an eighth son, the exclusively masculine world of wizarding is thrown into a tailspin. Eskarina isn’t afraid of male critics and she isn’t going to relinquish this unexpected gift. With a little hocus pocus from Granny Weatherwax, the Discworld’s most infamous witch (an old crone who has plenty of experience ignoring the status quo), Esk infiltrates the magical Unseen University and befriends another apprentice, a wizard named Simon. But power is unpredictable, and these bright young students soon find themselves in a whole new dimension of trouble. . . . The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Equal Rites is the first book in the Witches collection. The Witches collection, in order, include: Equal Rites Wyrd Sisters Witches Abroad Lords and Ladies Maskerade Carpe Jugulum
Download or read book Wizard s Hall written by Jane Yolen and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-10-27 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An inept wizard-in-training is the only one who can save his classmates from the terrible sorcery that threatens to devour their magical school Acclaimed master fantasist Jane Yolen imagines an academic world of wonders where paintings speak, walls move, monsters are made real, and absolutely anything can happen—as she introduces readers to a hero as hapless as the legendary Merlin is powerful. It was Henry’s dear ma who decided to send him off to Wizard’s Hall to study sorcery, despite the boy’s apparent lack of magical talent. He has barely stepped through the gates of the magnificent school when he is dubbed Thornmallow (“prickly on the outside, squishy within”). Still, regardless of his penchant for turning even the simplest spell into a disaster, Thornmallow’s teachers remain kind and patient, and he soon has a cadre of loyal, loving friends. But there is something that no one is telling the boy: As the 113th student to enroll in the wondrous academy, Thornmallow has an awesome and frightening duty to fulfill—and failure will mean the destruction of Wizard’s Hall and everyone within its walls.
Download or read book Interesting Times written by Terry Pratchett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2008-12-05 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'There is a curse. They say: may you live in interesting times . . .' This is the worst thing you can wish on a citizen of Discworld. Especially for the magically challenged Rincewind, who has already had far too much excitement in his life. Unfortunately, the unlucky wizard always seems to end up in the middle of, well, absolutely everything. So when a request for a 'Great Wizzard' arrives from the faraway Counterweight Continent, it's obviously Rincewind who's sent. For one thing, he's the only one who spells wizard that way. Once again Rincewind is thrown headfirst into a dangerous adventure. For the oldest empire on the Disc is in turmoil and Chaos is building. And, for some reason, someone believes Rincewind will have a vital role in the coming war . . . 'Pratchett is a comic genius' Daily Express 'Funny, delightfully inventive, and refuses to lie down in its genre' Observer Interesting Times is the fifth book in the Wizards series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.
Download or read book Tiffany Aching 4 Book Collection written by Terry Pratchett and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-08-05 with total page 879 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection includes all four Tiffany Aching novels in Terry Pratchett's beloved and bestselling Discworld series. The Wee Free Men: Armed with only a frying pan and her common sense, young witch-to-be Tiffany Aching must defend her home against the monsters of Fairyland. Luckily she has some very unusual help: the local Nac Mac Feegle—aka the Wee Free Men—a clan of fierce, sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men. Together they must face headless horsemen, ferocious grimhounds, terrifying dreams come true, and ultimately the sinister Queen of the Elves herself. . . . A Hat Full of Sky: Tiffany Aching is ready to begin her apprenticeship in magic. She expects spells and magic—not chores and ill-tempered nanny goats! Surely there must be more to witchcraft than this! What Tiffany doesn't know is that an insidious, disembodied creature is pursuing her. In the end, it will take all of Tiffany's inner strength to save herself ... if it can be done at all. Wintersmith: When the Spirit of Winter takes a fancy to Tiffany Aching, he wants her to stay in his gleaming, frozen world. Forever. It will take the young witch's skill and cunning, as well as help from the legendary Granny Weatherwax and the irrepressible Wee Free Men, to survive until Spring. Because if Tiffany doesn't make it to Spring—Spring won't come. I Shall Wear Midnight: As the witch of the Chalk, Tiffany Aching performs the distinctly unglamorous work of caring for the needy. But someone—or something—is inciting fear, generating dark thoughts and angry murmurs against witches. Tiffany must find the source of unrest and defeat the evil at its root. Aided by the tiny-but-tough Wee Free Men, Tiffany faces a dire challenge, for if she falls, the whole Chalk falls with her. . . .
Download or read book The Colour Of Magic written by Terry Pratchett and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2022-09-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NAMED AS ONE OF THE BBC'S 100 MOST INSPIRING NOVELS 'It was octarine, the colour of magic. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigment of the imagination . . .' Somewhere between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a magical world not totally unlike our own. Except for the fact that it travels through space on the shoulders of four giant elephants who in turn stand on the shell of an astronomically huge star turtle, of course. Rincewind is the world's worst wizard who has just been handed a very important job: to look after the world's first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land. Unfortunately, their journey across the Disc includes facing robbers, monsters, mercenaries, and Death himself. And the whole thing's just a game of the gods that might send them over the edge . . . 'If you've never read a Discworld novel, what's the matter with you?' Guardian 'Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own' The Times The Colour of Magic is the first book in the Wizards series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.
Download or read book Death s Domain written by Terry Pratchett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2020-09-10 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's no more than a breath away... Everyone needs a place to relax after a long day, after all. So here is the place where the Grim Reaper can kick back and take the load off his scythe. Here's the golf course that's not so much crazy as insane, and the useless maze, and the dark gardens - all brought (incongruously) to life. And here, for the first time ever, you will find out the reason why Death can't understand rockeries, and what hapens to garden gnomes. As Death rides Binky into the sunset (of other people's lives), you can at last see what he gets up to when he's not at work.
Download or read book Turtle Recall written by Stephen Briggs and published by Gollancz. This book was released on 2012-11-08 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Discworld, as everyone knows, is a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the shell of the giant star turtle, the Great A'Tuin, as it slowly swims through space. It is also a global publishing phenomenon with sales of over 70 million books worldwide (but who's counting?). The publication of Snuff brought the Discworld canon to 39 books - not including the various guides, mapps, diaries and other side-projects. That's a lot of Discworld to keep track of - more than most people can manage with just the one head - but fear not: help is at hand! If you're looking for the ultimate authority on probably the most heavily populated - certainly the most hilarious - setting in fantasy literature... If you need a handy guide to Discworld locales from Ankh-Morpork to Zemphis... If you want help telling Achmed the Mad from Jack Zweiblumen... If your life depends on being able to distinguish the Agatean Empire from the Zoons... ...look no further than Turtle Recall - the latest Discworld Companion, fully updated and completely up to Snuff!
Download or read book The Last Continent written by Terry Pratchett and published by Random House. This book was released on 2008-11-21 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Anything you do in the past changes the future. The tiniest little actions have huge consequences. You might tread on an ant now and it might entirely prevent someone from being born in the future.' Rincewind, inept wizard and reluctant hero, has found himself magically stranded on the Discworld's last continent. It's hot. It's dry. There was this thing once called The Wet, which no one believes in any more. Practically everything that's not poisonous is venomous. But it's the best bloody place in the world, all right? And in a few days, it will die. The only thing standing between the last continent and wind-blown doom is Rincewind, and he can't even spell wizard. Still . . . no worries, eh? 'A minor masterpiece. I laughed so much I fell from my armchair' Time Out 'A master storyteller' A. S. Byatt The Last Continent is the sixth book in the Wizards series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.
Download or read book Creativity Inc The Expanded Edition written by Ed Catmull and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014-04-08 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updates and expands his 2014 New York Times bestseller on creative leadership, reflecting on the management principles that built Pixar’s singularly successful culture, and on all he learned during the past nine years that allowed Pixar to retain its creative culture while continuing to evolve. “Might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”—Fast Company For nearly thirty years, Pixar has dominated the world of animation, producing such beloved films as the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, and WALL-E, which have gone on to set box-office records and garner eighteen Academy Awards. The joyous storytelling, the inventive plots, the emotional authenticity: In some ways, Pixar movies are an object lesson in what creativity really is. Here, Catmull reveals the ideals and techniques that have made Pixar so widely admired—and so profitable. As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986. Nine years later, Toy Story was released, changing animation forever. The essential ingredient in that movie’s success—and in the twenty-five movies that followed—was the unique environment that Catmull and his colleagues built at Pixar, based on philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention, such as: • Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team and they will either fix it or come up with something better. • It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them. • The cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them. • A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody. Creativity, Inc. has been significantly expanded to illuminate the continuing development of the unique culture at Pixar. It features a new introduction, two entirely new chapters, four new chapter postscripts, and changes and updates throughout. Pursuing excellence isn’t a one-off assignment but an ongoing, day-in, day-out, full-time job. And Creativity, Inc. explores how it is done.
Download or read book Miracles of Book and Body written by Charlotte Eubanks and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is an exciting exploration of the world of Buddhist attitudes towards religious texts, from Indian scriptures to Japanese medieval tales. Its emphasis on discursive strategies—how Buddhist texts function and what they expect of their readers/users (especially, the connection between books, their content, and their readers' bodies)—is a welcome new perspective."—Fabio Rambelli, author of Buddhist Materiality "Miracles of Book and Body is fluidly written and engaging. This book brings the reader to an awareness of the range and foci of medieval 'popular' readings of sutra literature, and Eubanks provides an important perspective to interpreting these narratives that is original and stimulating."—Thomas W. Hare, author of Zeami: Performance Notes "Charlotte Eubanks' sophisticated, insightful and readable study of the physicalities of sutra texts and sutra recitation makes sense of some of the strangest phenomena in medieval Japan. By disentangling the literal and metaphorical meanings in Buddhist setsuwa, Eubanks explains such things as how memorizing a text is an embodiment thereof, how texts can become sentient beings, and why the scroll is an appropriate format for recording dharma. Her work is both important and engaging."—Margaret H. Childs, University of Kansas "Drawing on an impressive range of Mahayana scriptures and medieval Japanese didactic tales, Eubanks unpacks recurrent tropes correlating text and flesh to reveal surprising connections among the literary, material, and ritual dimensions of Buddhist textual culture. Elegantly written and theoretically astute, this volume will be welcomed not only by specialists in Buddhist literature but also by readers interested in broader issues of text-based religious practice."—Jacqueline Stone, author of Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism
Download or read book Heartbreak A Personal and Scientific Journey written by Florence Williams and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A Five Books "Best Literary Science Writing" Book of 2023 • A Smithsonian Best Science Book of 2022 • A Prospect Magazine Top Memoir of 2022 • A KCRW Life Examined Best Book of 2022 "Keen observer [and] deft writer" (David Quammen) Florence Williams explores the fascinating, cutting-edge science of heartbreak while seeking creative ways to mend her own. When her twenty-five-year marriage suddenly falls apart, journalist Florence Williams expects the loss to hurt. But when she starts feeling physically sick, losing weight and sleep, she sets out in pursuit of rational explanation. She travels to the frontiers of the science of "social pain" to learn why heartbreak hurts so much—and why so much of the conventional wisdom about it is wrong. Soon Williams finds herself on a surprising path that leads her from neurogenomic research laboratories to trying MDMA in a Portland therapist’s living room, from divorce workshops to the mountains and rivers that restore her. She tests her blood for genetic markers of grief, undergoes electrical shocks while looking at pictures of her ex, and discovers that our immune cells listen to loneliness. Searching for insight as well as personal strategies to game her way back to health, she seeks out new relationships and ventures into the wilderness in search of an extraordinary antidote: awe. With warmth, daring, wit, and candor, Williams offers a gripping account of grief and healing. Heartbreak is a remarkable merging of science and self-discovery that will change the way we think about loneliness, health, and what it means to fall in and out of love.
Download or read book A Beard Cut Short written by Todd Neff and published by Earthview Media. This book was released on 2020-12-09 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Rubadeau’s long, white beard; homeless-guy wardrobe; and penchant for dirty jokes belied his lofty status as one of the most popular professors ever at the University of Michigan. He taught writing in Ann Arbor for more than 30 years. The cover of his course pack read: “Grammar: the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you’re shit.” "In A Beard Cut Short: The life and lessons of a legendary professor clipped by a slip of #MeToo," a former student tells the crazy, touching, inspiring, and often funny life story of an eccentric, influential professor. John caught dogs in Wisconsin, sold insurance in Indiana, raised pigs in Tennessee, counseled soldiers in Germany, and had his apartment bugged by the Romanian secret police. He lost a young wife and two baby boys. He was born poor and stayed that way most of his life. But, on his own terms, he met with extraordinary success. "A Beard Cut Short" also shares John’s key lessons on writing, teaching, and life – lessons that have inspired generations of students to watch out for comma splices and follow their dreams. The story is capped by an investigation of an unjust firing that’s a case study in how the misappropriation of #MeToo, a vital social movement, can hurt both the unfairly accused and the movement itself. John Rubadeau's (in)famous Grammar Review is included as a special bonus. Reviews: Rubadeau was an outspoken man of a previous era who taught so long the culture changed around him. As a result, the book is a captivating document on how the language of teaching (and language itself) has changed over the decades, and the ways in which a certain type of larger-than-life educator, once common, has mostly ceased to exist. — Kirkus Former Camera science writer and Colorado Book Award winner (“From Jars to the Stars”) Todd Neff examines the life of his mentor, former University of Michigan Professor John Rubadeau, before plunging in to investigate the unjust #MeToo claims that led to his firing in “A Beard Cut Short: The Life and Lessons of a Legendary Professor Clipped by a Slip of #MeToo.” Rubadeau was an old-school writing teacher who fearlessly created room for students to discuss and debate human differences in the classroom, refusing to coddle or protect them, an effort doomed to fail. “I am here to teach you about the intricacies and nuances of the English language not to coddle you or to support your conviction that you are the next Shakespeare,” Rubadeau informed his students. “If you will be devastated because you receive less than an A in this course, drop this class the first day.” Using his investigative skills to obtain confidential documents, Neff concludes that his mentor’s firing “came about through a poisonous brew of stubbornness, incompetence, misplaced zealotry, hypersensitivity, blinkered perspective, bad faith, personal friction, professional jealousy, and shoddy investigative work — all of which led to over-reaction and injustice.” — The Boulder Daily Camera
Download or read book The Territory written by Sarah Govett and published by Firefly Press. This book was released on 2015-05-14 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner Trinity Schools Book Award 2018 Winner Gateshead YA Book Prize 'I love reading Sarah Govett - she's whip-smart, funny and by plugging into the hope and energy of the youth makes me feel better about these dark times.' Dame Emma Thompson Noa Blake is just another normal 15 year old with exams looming. Except in The Territory normal isn't normal. The richest children have a node on the back of their necks and can download information, bypassing the need to study. In a flooded world of dwindling resources, Noa and the other 'Norms' have their work cut out even to compete. And competing is everything - because anybody who fails the exams will be shipped off to the Wetlands, which means a life of misery, if not certain death. But how to focus when your heart is being torn in two directions at once? 'Truly heart wrenching! ... the 1984 of our time' The Guardian online 'Gripping dystopia with a keen political edge' Imogen Russell Williams, Metro 'This is a truly exceptional novel, exciting, gripping and intense' BookTrust 'pacy dystopian fantasy thriller' Telegraph's Best YA Books of 2015 'thrilling and thought-provoking' The Times 'powerful and shocking' Children's Books Ireland 'a terrific book. It simply is.' Bookwitch 'brilliant' Teen Librarian 'Brilliantly plotted, utterly gripping' Gemma Malley (The Declaration) One of The Telegraph's best YA books of 2015
Download or read book Rincewind the Wizzard written by Terry Pratchett and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 649 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes "The Colour of Magic", "The Light Fantastic", "Sourcery" and "Eric".
