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Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable. The first intelligent species to encounter mankind attacked without warning. Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable. With little hope of halting the invasion, Earth's last roll of the dice was to dispatch three colony ships, seeds of Earth, to different parts of the galaxy. The human race would live on . . . somewhere. 150 years later, the planet Darien hosts a thriving human settlement, which enjoys a peaceful relationship with an indigenous race, the scholarly Uvovo. But there are secrets buried on Darien's forest moon. Secrets that go back to an apocalyptic battle fought between ancient races at the dawn of galactic civilization. Unknown to its colonists, Darien is about to become the focus of an intergalactic power struggle where the true stakes are beyond their comprehension. And what choices will the Uvovo make when their true nature is revealed and the skies grow dark with the enemy?
The fight is on. So let the battle begin. Darien is no longer a lost outpost of humanity, but the prize in an intergalactic struggle. Hegemony forces control the planet, while Earth merely observes, rendered impotent by galactic politics. Yet Earth's ambassador to Darien will become a player in a greater conflict as there is more at stake than a turf war on a newly discovered world. An ancient temple hides access to a hyperspace prison, housing the greatest threat sentient life has never known. Millennia ago, malignant intelligences were caged there following an apocalyptic struggle, and their servants work on their release. Now a new war is coming.
Ancient powers stir all across the domains of the defeated Khatrimantine Empire. Its last defiant defenders have won a great victory and a new, young emperor has been crowned. A harsh, unseasonal winter has shrouded the land. In the icy north, the Shadowking Byrnak musters his forces, determined to crush the Imperial remnants and their allies. But his freedom to act is hampered by the intrigues of the other four Shadowkings, while a ghostly fragment of the Lord of Twilight haunts them all. If fulfilled, his dread destiny will devour the foundations of the world... The barbarian Mogaun are born to ice and snow and are no strangers to winter campaigns, as Tauric’s advisors know full well. De...
For one thousand bright and fortunate years the Khatrimantine Empire had guaranteed peace and benevolence. Then came the vast hordes of the Mogaun, driven by an evil deity, the Lord of Twilight, corrupter and devourer. The unprepared Khatrimantine armies could not stand against the brutal might of the invaders, not even with the help of the Empire’s spirit/magical guardians. Yet at the very pinnacle of his triumph, the Lord of Twilight made a fatal mistake, shattering his essence into five parts: five lost souls destined to become the Shadowkings. Now, sixteen years after the invasion, Mogaun warlords and petty despots squabble amid the ruins. Yet ancient powers are stirring and the Empire...
War erupts in the depths of space. . . Battle-ready factions converge above Darien, all with the same objective: to control this newly discovered planet and access the powerful weapons at its heart. Despotic Hegemony forces dominate much of known space and they want this world too, but Darien's inhabitants are determined to fight for their future. However, key players in this conflict aren't fully in control. Hostile AIs have infiltrated key minds and have an agenda, requiring nothing less than the destruction or subversion of all organic life. And they are near to unleashing their cohorts, a host of twisted machine intelligences caged beneath Darien. Fighting to contain them are Darien's hidden guardians, and their ancient ally the Construct, on a millennia-long mission to protect sentient species. As the war reaches its peak, the AI army is roaring to the surface, to freedom and an orgy of destruction.Darien is first in line in a machine vs. human war -- for life or the sterile dusts of space.
'Proper galaxy-spanning space opera' Iain M. Banks on Seeds of Earth The Warcage is a feat of unprecedented stellar engineering: two hundred worlds harnessed to an artificial sun. Built to travel through space as a monument to peace between alien species, its voracious rulers have turned it into a nightmarish wasteland, capturing new planets for slaves and resources, then discarding the old. Now, when a verdant agri-world is pulled out of its orbit and a deal goes bad, it is up to the captain of a smuggling ship to journey into the Warcage and rescue his crew. Science fiction on an epic scale - Ancestral Machines is a stand-alone science fiction adventure set in Michael Cobley's bestselling Humanity's Fire universe. Perfect for fans of Iain M. Banks or James S. A. Corey's Expanse series. For more epic space opera action from Michael Cobley, check out: Humanity's Fire Trilogy: Seeds of Earth The Orphaned Worlds The Ascendant Stars Standalone novels in the Humanity's Fire universe: Ancestral Machines Splintered Suns Also look out for Cobley's epic fantasy trilogy, Shadowkings!
A speed of light space adventure novel of a treasure hunt that could unlock all the wonders of a vast and advanced civilization's lost technologies. For Pyke and his crew it should have been just another heist. Travel to a backwater desert planet, break into a museum, steal a tracking device then use it to find a ship buried in the planet's vast and trackless sandy wastes. Except that the museum vault is a bio-engineered chamber, and the tracking device is sought-after by another gang of treasure hunters led by an old adversary of Pyke's, the devious Raven Kaligara. Also, the ship is quarter of a million years old and about two kilometres long and somewhere aboard it is the Essavyr Key, a relic to unlock all the treasures and technologies of a lost civilisation ... For more from Michael Cobley, check out:Humanity's Fire, Seeds of Earth, The Ascendant Stars, The Orphaned Worlds, Ancestral Machines.
Identifying talent in athletes and developing that ability to its fullest potential is a central concern of sport scientists, sports coaches and sports policy makers. This book offers a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge in talent identification and development in sport, from the biological basis of ability to the systems and processes within sport through which that ability is nurtured. Written by a team of leading international experts, the book explores key factors and issues in contemporary sport, including: genetics secondary factors such as birth date, cultural context and population size perceptual motor skill acquisition and expertise sports development policy in-depth case studies, including European soccer, East African running and US pro sports. With an emphasis throughout on practical implications and processes for all those working in sport, the book offers an authoritative evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary systems for identifying and developing talent in sport. This is important reading for any student, researcher or practitioner with an interest in skill acquisition, youth sport, elite sport, sports coaching or sports development.
300 years after the Great Shadowking War, the tendrils of an ancient evil are worming in through the cracks of the world. Emperor Magramon is dead, the Khatrimantine Empire mourns and soon his only son, Ilgarion, will ascend the throne. But undercurrents of dread foster unease and mistrust in the imperial capital and disturbing portents hint at unrevealed horrors. Meanwhile, the agents of an old and vicious power plot, and wait... Can Corlek Ondene, former captain of the Iron Guard, work with the likes of Dardan and the Countess Ayoni to stem the tide of evil? Can the Order of Watchers, a band of renegade mages, unlock the terrible onrushing mystery in time? And can their leader, the elderly Calabos, keep his true identity a secret through the terrors yet to come? For when the faces of Night dance with the faces of Day, the Weaver of Fate dances alone, and faces become masks and masks become faces. REVIEWS “SHADOWKINGS, was brutal, cruel and realistic in a way genre usually avoids. SHADOWGOD, his second, is not only lighter, it is better... and makes good use of the world Cobley has created... writing to rival David Gemmell.” -- Jon Courtenay-Grimwood (Guardian)
Today, arguably more than at any time in the past, media are the key players in contributing to what defines reality for the citizens of Europe and beyond. This book provides an introduction to the way that the media occupy such a position of prominence in contemporary human existence. This expanded and fully updated third edition of the bestselling The Media: An Introduction collects in one volume thirty-six specially commissioned essays to offer unrivalled breadth and depth for an introduction to the study of contemporary media. It addresses the fundamental questions about today’s media – for example, digitisation and its effects, new distribution technologies, and the implications of ...