Follow our most evolved philosophy from its first civilisation through to its ‘birth’ in the Enlightenment and rebirth today as wellness and spirituality Humanism is our oldest, most well developed spiritual philosophy. Follow humanism’s development from ancient Persia, through India, China, the medieval Middle East and finally into its ‘birth’ in the modern era as a post-enlightenment philosophy.

Humanist History Before Europe

For a few years, I ran a student support service at a university. Over that time, I discovered that most students were tripping up for easily avoidable reasons, and came in with the same problems each time. Contained herein are solutions for the most common student difficulties, including: How should I prepare to write my essay? How much time should I leave? What am I being asked to do? Shouldn’t I Just read everything I can and then start? What is the difference between a claim and an argument? What counts as evidence? What does the question mean? What does critically analyse mean? What’s the difference between objective and subjective? Why does it matter? Why is it important to define my terms, and how should I do it? How do I structure my essay? How long should paragraphs be? What is a topic sentence? What makes a good introduction? How do I write my conclusion? What does a completed essay structure look like? How do I sound academic? Just using the words and phrases without understanding them is getting me in trouble… How do I avoid using or showing my opinion? What language can’t I use? How do I make my writing formal and impersonal? How should I read? I don’t understand what these people are saying… How and why should I take notes? Why do I keep losing marks for referencing? How should I prepare before the exam? How should I manage my time? Why do I lose marks on multiple choice questions? What to do if you have absolutely no idea what’s going on.

The Exam & Essay Cheat Sheet: Friendly, bite-sized FAQs to get your best grades in exams and essays and stop losing easy marks

The pros, cons, and issues of different education systems. Education related articles, from child development and homeschooling to university study and a writing guide. Includes a section to help you or your students get the best grades from exams and essays.

Development from Toddlers & Home to School & University

Sports psychology advice for surviving school. Tips on mental health, dealing with peer, coach and spectator pressure, getting back into condition, and even some advice for parents. Feeling the push of being part of a sports team? If you need help getting your head right, and coping with all the spectators, this is for you. Written by Greg Wilmot.

Sports Psychology Advice for Surviving School

Bite-sized columns & stories about gardening in tough environments from the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Learn how to compost, ferment, drought-proof, park build, and more. Collected columns from the local paper, including container gardening, working through droughts, companion planting, and lots of organic and permaculture topics and projects.

Simple, Cheap and organic Home Gardening

Articles on boring-but-interesting topics, including: Management styles and theory Quality philosophies The structure of law Case studies in reducing crime and recidivism A reflective study on criminal justice A case study on Warner Brothers' political cartoons Articles on occupy, disintermediation, and ethical concerns A wide range of short questions and answers about life issues, philosophy, theology, and more One thing that no-one tells you about being a writer is just how much business stuff you have to learn. In retrospect, it makes sense. Modern corporations provide the equivalent of patronage, allowing artists of all stripes to practice their craft with stuff that’s both limited and challenging. Inevitably, what people will pay for producing is stuff directly relevant to their interests, and so over the years I’ve produced a lot of documents over time about management, law and politics. Some were explanations and guides, some were for courses I took; all were at once fascinating and difficult to engage with properly. What follows sits broadly in three categories: -Simple guides on basic management and legal concepts -More abstract applications and problems in management theory -Some practical instances of politics in action, especially in cartoons The real issue is that people are conversational, not contractual. That creates a real problem in the study of management, which is why the law (which is entirely contractual) and politics (which is entirely conversational) are included together. I find it helps to understand that these things are part of a system that we’re all part of, willing or not, conscious or not. Management theories and practice, criminal justice in origin and contemporary application, and all political acts, whether large (the Truth and Reconciliation Committee) small (propaganda in Warner Brothers cartoons) or confusing (Occupy) are part of a single overarching desire to find the levers that make groups of people work.

Get To Grips With Grown Up Topics Thought-provoking & business focused articles on management theory, law, Occupy, political Warner Bros cartoons, and more

In the first century AD a religion was born: Christianity, with Jesus Christ head of the Church. Little evidence survives regarding the critical formative years, all from second-hand sources and mostly one man, Paul of Tarsus, who never physically walked with Jesus. The living narrative of Jesus’ life is in question. More in question is the message he gave. Historians are divided as to what Jesus said and did, and today many doubt the accuracy of the New Testament canon that Christians take as scripture. A wide divergence grows with coming of the modern age. Historians and scholars grotesquely disagree, a few believing Jesus never existed and to the other extreme of every word of the Bible being God’s inerrant word. “What Did Jesus Really Say?”, authoritatively answers these formerly unanswerable questions. Jesus taught of an inner world, and this very inner world can be tapped today for answering what the written record cannot reveal. Trusted inner sources are the key and were tapped for this book. It is a short read packed with informative material that will forever change present-day understanding of life and death and the beyond in all disciplines of modern thought, and bring clear resolution to the Jesus story.

What Did Jesus Really Say?

In the dark days that followed the first world war, it seemed to many that all dreams had died, that wonder and fantasy could not survive in a world that knew trenches and poppies blooming where the blood fell. Come now as we travel through strange adventures and wonderful magics. Learn of the whimsies of gods, and the terrible fates that await those that cross them. See how the office of postman fell vacant in Otford-under-the-wold, and how a sack of emeralds brought only disaster to it's holder. Explore the strange mysteries of the old brown coat, the deep inland of China with a confused shepherd, the lands where the dwarves fought the demigods, and a city of wonder perhaps less unreal than it first appears. Includes Idle Days On The Yann from A Dreamer's Tales as the first part of three stories, collectively titled 'Beyond The Fields We Know'. Come along with the poet as he searches to once again pass beyond the realities mundane and into the Lands of Dream, along the fabled river Yann, to find the fate of the Avenger of Perdondaris. Edward Plunkett, the Baron Dunsany, was just gaining his stride as the world's first modern fantasy author, and wrote this book of tales to help show that dreams still came, dark and fantastical as they may be.

The Birth Of Fantasy: Lord Dunsany's Seminal Work

Tales of Three Hemispheres

We are all born as animals and live the life that animals live: we sleep, eat, reproduce, and fight. There is, however, another order of living, which the animals do not know, that of awe before the mystery of being ... that can be the root and branch of the spiritual sense of one’s days. That is the birth - the Virgin Birth - in the heart of a properly human, spiritual life. -- Joseph Campbell And speaking of sex, the Immaculate Conception does not mean Jesus was conceived in the absence of sex. It means Mary was conceived without Original Sin. That's all it has ever meant. And according to the tabloids, Mary is apparently the only one who can make such a claim. The Jesus thing is called virgin birth. -- George Carlin Follow two unhumans, a robot and a squid, as they begin the vast expansion of humanity into the solar system. In 2070, a squid and a teddy bear set off into the depths of the solar system. Following the whims of their posthuman masters, they will seed the system with thought and mind, ready for the coming of man. Their own plans, they keep quiet, as the good ship Worrying Noise crosses the decade. In the meantime, humanity begins to hear the choir of voices from the rest of the universe resonate. Along the way, they will seed Sol with new forms of life, ready to meet the posthumans that will follow them. Along the way, they will witness the beginning of the Dream, and the creation of a new immortal.

Still Light

Players In The Silence

Lord Dunsany was the fantasy writer's fantasy writer. From Tolkien to Gaiman, from Le Guin to Moorcock, his heroes and strange situations inspired an entire genre of modern dark fantasy. Come now to discover the secrets of strange islands, the fate of thieves who dare to steal from gods, encounters with the Sphinx and the Dragon of Romance in suburbia, and the desperate quest to make a Queen cry. Along the way, you'll meet characters like the centaur that travelled from one edge of the world to another, and monsters that sit on their hoard of rubies, or giant diamonds, or even on treasures beyond value, waiting for daring and foolish adventurers. Also includes the first adventure of the magnificent Captain Shard. The Book of Wonder is one of the most important books in the lineage of fantasy fiction. It introduced themes that Lord Dunsany worked with for the rest of his career, which created tropes that you'll recognise as if you've read and loved this book many times before.

The Book Of Wonder

Fifty-One Tales is a collection of fantasy short stories by Irish writer Lord Dunsany, a major influence on J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin and others. Each story is a short vignette, a single moment of strangeness or horror in the face of death. 11. DEATH AND THE ORANGE Two dark young men in a foreign southern land sat at a restaurant table with one woman. And on the woman's plate was a small orange which had an evil laughter in its heart. And both of the men would be looking at the woman all the time, and they ate little and they drank much. And the woman was smiling equally at each. Then the small orange that had the laughter in its heart rolled slowly off the plate on to the floor. And the dark young men both sought for it at once, and they met suddenly beneath the table, and soon they were speaking swift words to one another, and a horror and an impotence came over the Reason of each as she sat helpless at the back of the mind, and the heart of the orange laughed and the woman went on smiling; and Death, who was sitting at another table, tete-a-tete with an old man, rose and came over to listen to the quarrel.

Fifty One Tales

For over two thousand years, this books has been the foundation of Chinese family life. Based on a series of conversations with Confucius, and supplemented by a series of story examples by an Emperor in the 11th Century, it is essential to understanding the nature and order of Chinese society. It speaks of how one should behave towards a senior such as one’s parents, elder brother or ruler, and the obligations that follow in the opposite direction. Written in 400BC, the Xiaojang is legendarily a dialogue between Confucius and Zeng Zi, a disciple who was well known for his filial piety. Since that time, it has been an essential tool of Chinese civilisation, often being the first book that Chinese children are given when they are able to read it. For Confucius and his disciples, family life is the foundation and cornerstone of society, and recognising the value and impact of family harmony on both the local and greater environments is crucial to stability and prosperity. SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS The Athenaeum.--"We wish that there were more of them; they are dreamy, lifelike, and fascinating." Pall Mall Gazette.--"No translation of this important work has been made since the beginning of the eighteenth century." Manchester Courier.--"Worthy of close study by all who would penetrate to the depth of Eastern thought and feeling." The Scotsman.--" should not fail to please readers of the more studious sort." Southport Guardian.--"will find considerable favour with all Students of Eastern Literature and Eastern Philosophy." Bristol Mercury.--"We commend these little books to all who imagine that there is no knowledge worth having outside Europe and America." Field.--"Such books are valuable aids to the understanding of a far-off age and people, and have a great interest for the student of literature."

The Classic of Filial Piety

This book, set in a dystopian Philadelphia in 2118, invented a new, creepier kind of dystopian Sci Fi. Perhaps the first science fantasy to use the alternate time-track, or parallel worlds, idea. -Groff Conklin A pioneering variation on the parallel worlds theme. -Boucher and McComas A highly imaginative work, one of the classics of early pulp fantastic fiction -Everett F. Bleiler “Stevens, to her credit, manages to keep her story taut and suspenseful, at the same time that she injects pleasing snippets of humor here and there, mainly thanks to the character of Arnold Bertram, a portly thief who had tried to rifle Trenmore’s safe back home and had also been thrown into the year 2118 as a result. The author presciently posits the coming of a second World War, and yet her Philadelphia of two centuries hence still somehow contains “clanging street cars,” shooting galleries, and “movie” theaters. (I love that fact that Stevens puts the word “movie” in quotes; first used around 1911, it must have still seemed a newish, slangy word by 1918!) A pseudo-scientific explanation, at the novel’s end, for all the mishegas that had come before goes far in claiming for the book its place of pride in the early sci-fi field... a most entertaining and atmospheric read.” -Sandy Ferber, fantasyliterature.com

The Complete Gertrude Bennett

The Heads of Cerberus

In a career that spanned a mere three years, Gertrude Barrows Bennett (writing as Francis Stevens) published half a dozen books that came to define the genres that followed on. she is most popularly known as the woman who invented dark fantasy, but on the way she also invented a new, creepier kind of dystopian Sci Fi. Today, you would call this a tale of trauma-onset schizophrenia, or perhaps a terrible descent into Dissociative Identity Disorder, foretold by genetics. In 1920, the best way to make sense of it was demonic possession. A true masterwork of psychological horror, from before psychology existed. "One of the most intense, complete and unrelenting tales of psychological horror ever put together. No gore, guts and physical putrescence so common to horror, but the utter dissolution of a human spirit, as told by the victim. It is also perhaps the saddest book I've ever read, a perfectly realized story of unredeemed personal degradation and its effects on all it touches. Clayton Barbour, the narrator, is a protected bourgeois son just weak enough to allow himself to be overwhelmed by a sly, dissembling force of evil, just strong enough to be constantly tormented by his weakness. Invited to a séance by a casual acquaintance, Moore, who sees in him a psychic force, he becomes the inadvertent victim of Moore's wife's contact with a channeled malignant force. From this point on, the life of Clayton, his family and his friends is slowly, inextricably ripped asunder by events and in ways that seem unconnected but are manipulated by the Fifth Presence within him. Bennett pulls no punches, provides no happy ending. In that, it is her most honest work (and perhaps a summing summing up of her own life to this point, when she had lost a husband, father and invalid mother)... Dark, wrenching, truly horrifying, but a book I can recommend without the least reservation." [Derek Davis, Goodreads]

Serapion

Lord Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, of which his stories set trends for that continue to this day. He was an influence on Tolkien, Lovecraft, Gaiman, Borges, Clarke, Moorcock, Yeats, Le Guin and many more besides. Worlds of monsters and magic, of strange names and stranger tales, were all born in Dunsany’s work. Before him, the closest thing to fantasy that existed was folktales; after him, people built worlds beyond imagining and epic stories in the lands he first explored.

Time And The Gods

The 21st century will see great changes for humanity. True Artificial Intelligence comes into existence, and in its wake the world is ripped apart and reborn. In new technology ancient ways will find new expression, as the secret rulers of the world choose its future shape. It is a time of great change, of disaster and destruction matched only by the flowering of mind. We know the great events of this time; but what of the others? What about those who get caught up in events, but cannot guide them? Those who are given power, but not enough to be free? They too have their stories, and this is one of them. Follow Aina from 2017 to 2072, as she becomes one of the custodians of the ultimate secret society, and discovers that divinity doesn’t bring control or security. Great events follow and command her, but her fate is to pick up the pieces, not cause the conflicts.

My Rise & Fall in the AI Apocalypse

The troubled childhood of the first posthuman as it is shaped by destiny As the triad ascends into the holy sanctuary of Amenti as the all-powerful Ogdoad, the child created from Feng’s failure grows up, caught between plans thousands of years old and the desires of its own heart. A friend from the deep past is reborn, to become the seed for unhumanity, just as Zu is the seed for posthumanity.

The Construct's Childhood

A collection of comic articles, collecting humorous travelogues as a Brit wanders the wilds of Africa and Asia. Includes... - A rock diary following a gigging band in London in the mid 2000s, who might be any aspirant post student band you've ever known - Travels around Asia on the modern Grand Tour, back in the years before the crisis hit - Strange journeys and getting attacked at a go kart track in India - The ruminations of an Englishman emigrating to South Africa and wondering what the hell is going on, but loving it - collected journalism from Durban in South Africa, early in the Zuma years - selected short fiction

Living from a suitcase

A prose translation of the Tao that focuses on bringing out the subtlety and depth of the classic Way. Translations of the famous Way and Virtue (Dao De Jing/Tao Te Ching) focus on the poetics and depth of the original. In contrast, Giles’ translation focuses on telling stories with the text, drawing out the nuances in a way that is more familiar to Western audiences from philosophical and religious texts. “Few can help being struck by the similarity of tone between the sayings of Lao Tzu and the Gospel enunciated six centuries later by the Prince of Peace. There are two famous utterances in particular which secure to Lao Tzu the glory of having anticipated the lofty morality of the Sermon on the Mount. The cavilers who would rank the Golden Rule of Confucius below that of Christ will find it hard to get over the fact that Lao Tzu said, "Requite injury with kindness," and "To the not-good I would be good in order to make them good." It was a hundred and fifty years later that Plato reached the same conclusion in the first book of the Republic. It is interesting to observe certain points of contact between Lao Tzu and the early Greek philosophers. He may be compared both with Parmenides, who disparaged sense-knowledge and taught the existence of the One as opposed to the Many, and with Heraclitus, whose theory of the identity of contraries recalls some of our Sage's paradoxes. But it is when we come to Plato that the most striking parallels occur. It has not escaped notice that something like the Platonic doctrine of ideas is discoverable in the "forms" which Lao Tzu conceives as residing in Tao. But, so far as I know, no one has yet pointed out what a close likeness Tao itself bears to that curious abstraction which Plato calls the Idea of the Good.”

The Sayings of Lao-Tzu

If you're struggling with how to demystify the world, check out this guide. With answers about everything from AI and mental health, to living through hard times and discussions of philosophy, theology and spirituality, it contains a wealth of interesting facts, ideas and opinions. Also includes a section on marijuana-related questions, and properly reflective reviews of great sci fi, fantasy, non fiction and comedy books. You'll be guaranteed to find a classic work that you'll love in there.

Unusual Topics & Interesting Reviews

In today's world, mythical bestiaries are fairly common. In the middle ages, they told of fantastic monsters and beasts that roamed the edge of the world, and today they are creations of whole other worlds, peopled by strange gods and stranger people. The Gods of Pegana was the book that marked the transition from imaginary creatures in the real world to the gods of imaginary world. Lord Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, of which his stories set trends for that continue to this day. He was an influence on Tolkien, Lovecraft, Gaiman, Borges, Clarke, Moorcock, Yeats, Le Guin and many more besides. Worlds of monsters and magic, of strange names and stranger tales, were all born in Dunsany’s work. Before him, the closest thing to fantasy that existed was folktales; after him, people built worlds beyond imagining and epic stories in the lands he first explored

The Gods Of Pegana

Also published as Nightmare! A Tale of Waking Terror by Francis Stevens. Come now and see a strange island peopled with monstrous beings and carnivorous plants, on which vie two brother princes on opposite sides of a great conflict, with a woman who is more than match for either between them. Nightmare was the first in a type of fiction that became known as dark fantasy, and remains a high water mark in the genre. First published in 1916, this debut novel began the three year career in which Francis Stevens became the person that launched entire genres of modern fictions. With her vast imagination and flair for the unusual and exciting, Gertrude Barrows Bennett created a seed that has grown into thousands of great works. An exciting adventure tale in which "The air of mystery and the atmospheric buildup are superbly done, indicating a ranking talent." [Sam Moskowitz] Come along for a voyage on a great ocean liner to an uncharted land, filled with strange beast and secrets of alchemy, and a woman strong enough to win over them. Gertrude Barrows Bennett is better known by her pen-name, Francis Stevens. With a career that only spanned three years between 1917 and 1920, when she stopped writing after her mother's death, she is credited as "the woman who invented dark fantasy". She was a direct influence on H.P. Lovecraft, and in the words of Sam Moskowitz was the "greatest woman writer of science fiction in the period between Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and C.L. Moore""

Nightmare!

Truly radical "Machiavellianism", in the popular sense of that word, is classically expressed in Indian literature in the Arthashastra of Kautilya (written long before the birth of Christ, ostensibly in the time of Chandragupta): compared to it, Machiavelli's The Prince is harmless. — Max Weber, Politics as a Vocation (1919) Chanakya's treatise, written while turning a farmhand into the emperor of the largest empire India had ever seen, focuses on how to manage an empire, covering everything from domestic policy and personal rights to assassination and the dirtier arts of politics. This is not, as with Plato’s Republic, a work of theory. Chanakya’s guidance is entirely practical, and is based on both his education and his experience building an empire. It lacks the philosophical ponderings and moralizing of its equivalent Western works (such as The Prince, The Republic or Leviathan) and instead focuses on how one deals with the messiness of the world in practice. People will occasionally refer to Chanakya as an Indian Machiavelli, but this does some discredit to Chanakya. The Prince is a satire, and focused around exposing the tactics and inhumanity of Cesare Borgia. Arthashastra is a manual for every aspect of statecraft, and while it deals in the unethical it does so only because that is, after all is said and done, one of the options available to a ruler. If you're after a totally pragmatic analysis of leadership, stripped of moralising and focused on what works and how to deal with real-world issues, this is the book for you.

Arthashastra, or, The Playbook of Material Gain

The classic work of Sufi mystical thinking from 1100CE, available in audiobook for the first time. It is also known as A Niche of Lamps. In the middle ages, Sufi scholars reconciled rationality and faith, both of which were ascendant in the empires of the time. This is one of the great philosophical and theological works from that period, and shows another side to Islam than the doctrinaire version that is more commonly spoken of. Al-Ghazali is often called "the proof of Islam" (hujjat al-islam), because he tried to bridge inquiry, legislation and mystical practice. One could call al-Ghazali the prototype Muslim intellectual. This translation was done in 1823 by WHT Gairdner, who also includes a commentary upon the ideas that Al-Ghazzali presents. The Niche of Lights, written near the end of his life, is about the need for balance between the authority of the divine and reason, seeing both as essential to real spiritual development.

Mishkât Al-Anwar (The Niche For Lights)

Getrude Bennet has been called the "most important woman writer of fantasy between Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1759-1797) and C.L. Moore (1911-1987)". This is a complete collection of short stories by the woman who first explored the dark fantasy worlds of the modern era. this book contains tales that were originally published in Weird Tales, Argosy, and All-Story Weekly between 1918-1923. Also included is the first known sci fi story published by a woman writer in America, "The Curious Experience of Thomas Dunbar", which was the very first story sold by Bennett, under the pen-name of GM Barrows. This story predates her otherwise 6-year long writing career by 14 years, when she was just 21.

Sunfire!

This is not a self-help book, or a book of specific guidance. In fact, it was written because too many works that claim to help you find your way either disappear into meaningless abstraction or are so petty and particular they fall at the first hurdle, teaching control instead of acceptance. There are a lot of spiritual self help books out there, but most of them either pretend to be enlightened or provide such specific direction that you’ll never truly open your mind. This books is an attempt to address that problem. Come with Arthur and Chirag as they discuss the ways they have sought understanding and progress over time, both within and without. The intent of this book is to give something back, and perhaps help others seeking greater truths about the world and themselves to find their path, and not feel so alone. Perhaps in their tales of the search, you can find a further step on your own path.

Seekers & Speakers

Lord Dunsany was the progenitor of modern fantasy fiction. From Tolkein to Gaiman, from Le Guin to Moorcock, his words inspired an entire genre of modern dark fantasy. A fun adventure in a Spain that never was, in the vein of Dumas and Stevenson, with more than a taste of Cervantes. Don Rodriguez is a young nobleman who is banished from the family castle, and must set out with his rapier and mandolin to win his own estate, and perhaps even a bride. Along with his trusty servant Morano, he journeys far into the heart of the mythical Shadow Valley. Echoes of The Princess Bride resonate throughout. “How to describe this book? It's a pretty problem. As might a child, after dashing off to play on a bright summer morning—hours splashing in the river, exploring the forests, duelling with sticks against the Infidel (or the child next door if the Infidel be not available), winning a week's pocket-money at marbles and losing it again—as such a child, when asked "what did you do today?" simply shrugs and replies "oh, nothing much"; just so should I feel, dear Reader, were I to attempt to pin down the precise qualities of this book for you. It doesn't wash. And yet I must make the attempt. I can say this much: this is a book to be approached lightly. The magic Lord Dunsany weaves is delicate, and you may raise an eyebrow and start to protest that you know the history of Spain, and the events he relates cannot possibly have taken place in the manner he describes. Moreover the characters in his story are surely stereotypes, mere caricatures, and no such people can possibly have walked those dusty roads, and even if they did they cannot have subsisted merely on bacon. Not possible, you say. But when you read of Morano's noble frying pan, of bacon cooked beneath the stars and eaten at the wayfarer's green table, you might find that you believe in Bacon after all.” [Iain, Goodreads]

Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley

Lord Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, which his stories set trends for that continue to this day. Before him, the closest thing to fantasy that existed was folktales; after him, people built worlds beyond imagining and epic stories in the lands he first explored. He was an influence on Tolkien, Lovecraft, Gaiman, Borges, Clarke, Moorcock, Yeats, Le Guin and many more besides. Worlds of monsters and magic, of strange names and stranger tales, were all born in Dunsany’s work. Contained herein are tales of mysteries and monsters, deserted cities and dangerous dreams, of war between the gods and men who are not all they seem. In this collection you’ll find sixteen stories from the first and greatest master of the fantasy genre.

A Dreamer's Tales

Most famously known for his book The Prophet, the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran, who has been called "the single most important influence on Arabic poetry and literature during the first half of [the twentieth] century." Contained herein are two lesser known works. The Madman was the first book Kahlil published in English, and it's success was enough for The Forerunner to be released by the same publisher less than two years later.

The Forerunner & The Madman

In the Early settler days, the British did more than go to war. Many found the local folklore and beliefs fascinating, and collected them together. This is one of the first explorations of South African folk tales. Come now for stories of the naughty Jackal as he tricks Lion and Leopard, or how Tortoise shows his great cunning. Of Hare and Heron and Wildebeest, and all the other majestic creatures that roam the savannah and jungles. Book versions include images of South African animals central to the stories told herein.

South African Folk Tales, Vol I

Sometimes, honour and bravery can win a reprieve from destiny. A story of hope and despair, as Artificial intelligences, posthumans, and other minds struggle against their fates. Amongst other events... The too-biological Zee leaves, feeling the call of an older blessing than the ones her peers have received. An old man, who knows more than he should, arrives at the school, to try and show Zu that here is a path other than the one others have demanded of him. Hofstadter, the AI in the form of a teddy bear, begins her own complex journey into being. A life that could have been filled with light is instead infected with darkness, and the Soldier passes on to his reward.

The Illusion of Choice

Gertrude Barrows Bennett’s The Citadel of Fear (1918) is one of the greatest dark fantasy classics, a gorgeously written and imaginatively conceived masterpiece. In a career that spanned a mere three years, Bennett published half a dozen books under the pseudonym of Francis Stevens which came to define a number of later genres. She is most popularly known as the woman who invented dark fantasy, but along the way she also invented a new, creepier kind of dystopian sci-fi. When The Citadel of Fear first appeared in The Argosy, H.P. Lovecraft raved of its “wonderful and tragic allegory,” describing it as a “masterful” and “huge mystery” — a “gigantic tragedy.” Although set during the first world war, the story centres around the forgotten (yet active) Aztec civilisation of Talapallan, tucked away in an eerie underworld of the Mexican wilds. Among its many temples stands the black fetid shrine, where the dark god Nacoc-Yaotl is worshipped. When an Irishman and an American from modern-day United States stumble into Talapallan one falls in love, while the other is possessed by Nacoc-Yaotl. Their return to the quiet suburbs of the US is anything but, bringing in their lucid wake a world of rampaging monsters, mutated civilians, and battling gods. Romance, magic, adventure, and scrumptious writing are embedded in this lengthly, yet unavailable and often overlooked, masterwork.

The Citadel of Fear

Three who become legend rise in the ranks. The first full volume of Still Light. Covers the birth of AI and posthumanity, and the hidden cabal of mystical powers that control humanity’s fate. The three begin their rise to power, joining the mystical ranks of Abraxas. We begin an age of war unlike any known before, as individual soldiers are given the ability to change nations. An old rival is reborn as a terrifying ally, and an artificial intelligence intended to be a slave finds a new freedom at the heart of Amenti.

The Gods, When Mortal

In the middle ages, Christianity shared much with Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies. Read on to learn how Christian mystics came to the same conclusions as those from very different faiths. This edition has been adapted from the 1923 version into modern English to make the ideas more accessible to today's reader, the Cloud of Unknowing distills a complex mystical epistemology and discipline into engagingly readable prose. The Cloud of Unknowing is a work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. It is a spiritual guide, which focuses on using contemplative prayer to know God by abandoning consideration of God's particular activities and attributes, and having the courage to surrender your mind and ego to the realm of "unknowing", at which point one may begin to glimpse the nature of God. The book counsels the young student to seek God, not through knowledge and intellect, but through intense contemplation, motivated by love, and stripped of all thought. This is brought about by putting all thoughts and desires under a "cloud of forgetting," and thereby piercing God's cloud of unknowing with a "dart of longing love" from the heart.

The Cloud Of Unknowing

A classic guide to tricks and tactics for winning arguments, with commentary on the use of and defence against each tactic. The best summary of this book is ‘being right doesn’t mean you’re gonna win, and this is why’. It’s the ultimate guide to spotting the many different kinds of bullshit people pull in order to win over the crowd, rather than argue the point at hand. There’s very few of them that don’t immediately bring examples to mind, and having it laid out clearly like this is the perfect armour to stop people derailing you. In the real world, people don’t win arguments based on what’s correct. They win because they win over the crowd, or change the subject, or bully their rival, or 35 other causes. This guide will walk you through the various strategies that people use, with notes on usage and defence for each point. Arthur didn’t intend this work as a guide for winning fights. Much like Machiavelli’s The Prince, this is a satire – a guide on what to watch out for in others and yourself, not a toolkit. If you can’t win your argument on fair grounds, you need to reconsider your position; but that doesn’t mean you should let people steal the day by underhand means. This book will teach you how to spot and spike them before they get a head of steam.

The Art of Being Right (annotated): Learn how to spot bad faith tactics, avoid con tricks and win arguments

Written in the dark days of World War I, join Lord Dunsany as he spreads the dreams that we cannot leave to die. Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, which his stories set trends for that continue to this day. Come along, for a dream of a mystical London, bawdy jokes that offend ghosts, swapping sins in Paris, and the strange tale of Why The Milkman Shudders As He Perceives The Dawn. In this collection of twenty stories, you’ll find adventures at sea and the edge of the world, of Ali Baba come to the industrial hills of the Black Country, and take flight with strange run and gnome-brewed wines. Dunsany was an influence on Tolkien, Lovecraft, Gaiman, Borges, Clarke, Moorcock, Yeats, Le Guin and many more besides. Worlds of monsters and magic, of strange names and stranger tales, were all born in Dunsany’s work.

Tales of Wonder

Gertrude Barrows Bennet is better known by her pen-name, Francis Stevens. With a career that only spanned three years between 1917 and 1920, when she stopped writing after her mother's death, she is credited as "the woman who invented dark fantasy". She was a direct influence on H.P. Lovecraft, and in the words of Sam Moskowitz was the "greatest woman writer of science fiction in the period between Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and C.L. Moore" “Mysterious, beautifully written, at times hallucinatory, and with a creeping atmosphere of dread to spare, "Claimed" is most surely an impressive piece of imaginative work. The author does not shrink from the depiction of violence and bloodshed, either. As in "The Citadel of Fear," here, an ancient god appears in modern times to stir up trouble, but in "Claimed," that god is never named (although Poseidon/Neptune is strongly suggested) or even clearly seen. [we see] the horrendous fate that befell the continent of Atlantis, and just how the coveted box wound up in the drink to begin with, and it really is some fascinating stuff. Vanaman, Leilah and especially old Robinson, I should add, are all well-drawn characters, with the good doctor being especially likable and sympathetic. Stevens peppers her novel with many memorable and haunting scenes, including an early exploration of the newly risen, barren island where the relic is initially found; a clairvoyant's unfortunate attempt to perform a little psychometry on the arcane object; and, indeed, the entire final 1/3 of the book, comprising as it does a tense chase at sea. The book has great sweep and drive, and is fairly relentless once it gets moving. Personally, I could not wait to get home after work to get back to it, and the evenings that I spent reading "Claimed" were very gripping ones, to be sure.” [Sandy Ferber, fantasyliterature.com]

Claimed!

Tales from the Eastern Cape, gathered in 1886.

Xhosa Folk-Lore

The Chuang Tsu is one of the most important books in Chinese literature and philosophy. It is one of the two foundational texts of Daoism. Also titled Zhuangzi, it is a commentary and extension of the Dao de Jing/Tao Te Ching, in the same way that Mencius' Analects are an exploration of Confucius' thought. Written in around 300BCE during the Warring States period, it is a collection of anecdotes, fables, and stories that are as silly and funny as they are profound and thought provoking. Where the Dao De Jing is a distilled and poetic exploration of the Way, Zhuangi takes a much more human and real-world path through the mysteries of the Dao. Using often humorous anecdotes, allegories, parables and fables mixed with conversations about particular aspects of the Way. James Legge’s translation is perhaps the most sophisticated and exacting one in existence. It carries as much as possible of the subtlety and detail in the original masterwork. It is regarded as one of the greatest literary works in all of Chinese history, and has been called "the most important pre-Qin text for the study of Chinese literature." Its main themes are of spontaneity in action and of freedom from the human world and its conventions. The fables and anecdotes in the text illustrate the illusion of distinctions between good and bad, large and small, life and death, and human and nature. While other ancient Chinese philosophers focused on moral and personal duty, Zhuangzi promoted carefree wandering and becoming one with "the Way" (Dào 道) by following nature. It has influenced great Chinese and Western writers for more than 2000 years, including Oscar Wilde, Yeats, Nietzsche, Sima Xiangru, Li Bai, Su Shi and Lu You.

Zhuangzi | Chuang Tzu

James Legge was one of the first great popularisers of Eastern ideas and religion in the West. In this foundational work, he provides a translation of the Dao De Jing/ Tao Te Ching that stands up well today, over a hundred years later.

Dao De Jing

This was the book that launched a genre. Modern fantasy collections trace their lineage back to Lord Dunsany, and this was his first work that today's readers would recognise in tone and settings.This was the book that launched a genre. Modern fantasy collections trace their lineage back to Lord Dunsany, and this was his first work that today's readers would recognise in tone and settings.

The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories

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