SHE WOULD DARE ANYTHING TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM HIS RULE. EVEN HIS BED. He ascended from the darkness years ago—Azrael the Eternal, Azrael the Undying, Azrael Who Is Death—bringing with him the black rains, the fires, the souring of the sky, and the Eaters. Now he rules in the walled city of Haven with his favored Children and his dead court, while all that is left of the living struggles to survive in the ruins of a world that used to be their own. But even as extinction looms, humanity will never surrender to their monstrous conqueror. For Lan, this brutal life has been the only one she’s ever known, but she still believes it can change. If the war can never truly end until the Eaters are ended, she will go to Haven, to Azrael himself, and demand he end them. To her surprise, she does not immediately die the hero’s death she expected. Instead, Azrael offers her a chance to convince him, and all she has to do is submit herself to the chill embrace of the lord of the Land of the Beautiful Dead.

A Fortune best nonfiction book of 2023 In a revelatory dispatch from the frontier of capitalist extremism, an acclaimed historian of ideas shows how free marketeers are realizing their ultimate goal: an end to nation-states and the constraints of democracy. Look at a map of the world and you’ll see a colorful checkerboard of nation-states. But this is not where power actually resides. Over the last decade, globalization has shattered the map into different legal spaces: free ports, tax havens, special economic zones. With the new spaces, ultracapitalists have started to believe that it is possible to escape the bonds of democratic government and oversight altogether. Crack-Up Capitalism follows the most notorious radical libertarians—from Milton Friedman to Peter Thiel—around the globe as they search for the perfect space for capitalism. Historian Quinn Slobodian leads us from Hong Kong in the 1970s to South Africa in the late days of apartheid, from the neo-Confederate South to the former frontier of the American West, from the medieval City of London to the gold vaults of right-wing billionaires, and finally into the world’s oceans and war zones, charting the relentless quest for a blank slate where market competition is unfettered by democracy. A masterful work of economic and intellectual history, Crack-Up Capitalism offers both a new way of looking at the world and a new vision of coming threats. Full of rich details and provocative analysis, Crack-Up Capitalism offers an alarming view of a possible future.

You’d never guess Lottie Jones had skeletons in her closet.She’s lived in town for decades now. She’s getting older. She lives for the simple pleasures of weekly bingo games at church, and gossiping with her friends about their children’s love lives.But when investigative journalist Plum Dixon shows up on her doorstep asking questions about Lottie’s past, and specifically about her connection to numerous unsolved murders, well, Lottie just can’t have that.But getting away with murder is hard enough when you’re young. And when Lottie receives another annoying knock on the door, she realises this crime might just be the death of her…

An attempt by literary critic Walter Benjamin to analyze the changed experience of art in modern society.

A stunning portrait of our vast, dynamic, and mysterious universe . . . as seen through the lenses of astronomy and art What is our place in the universe? Where do art and science overlap? How can we use these disciplines to better understand the universe . . . and how do they help us to shape our reality? In Painting the Cosmos, astrophysicist and visual artist Dr. Nia Imara comprehensively illustrates the history of the universe and our position in it through the interwoven perspectives of astrophysics and art. In this eye-opening and accessible book, Imara asks pivotal questions and explores humanity’s ever-evolving view of nature. Richly illustrated with stunning full-color images of our universe and beautiful work from creators around the world—particularly the often-neglected work of women and Black artists, this one-of-a-kind book unites the realms of art, science, and culture to create a dynamic portrait of the cosmos. From the Big Bang to life on other planets, while also explaining the most exciting recent developments in astronomy. With Imara’s guiding expertise, readers will The limits of objectivity in understanding reality The principles that govern movement in space and the role of rhythm in the universe and art How light functions as a storyteller How scientists and artists help us “see” the invisible—from black holes to marginalized experiences The possibility of life beyond our solar system, and how we define intelligence Painting the Cosmos will captivate and inspire you to see the world around you in a brand new, fascinating light where space and art are beautifully intertwined.

Desde que se suicidara en 1972, Alejandra Pizarnik ha ido adquiriendo poco a poco naturaleza de mito y perfil de leyenda. Autora deculto, venerada por varias generaciones de lectores, Pizarnik se cuenta ya entre las escritoras latinoamericanas mas importantes del siglo XX. Su poesia -integramente publicada por Lumen- ha cosechado numerosos adeptos incondicionales, ha creado escuela y la ha hecho mundialmente famosa. Ahora llegan por fin sus diarios,  esperadisimos y totalmente ineditos,  la obra de toda su vida, el laboratorio de su obra poetica y ensayistica, el testimonio estremecedor de su atormentada vida, la cronica de ese descenso al infierno de las palabras y de la existencia que fue su biografia. Ana Becciu, maxima especialista en la obra de la poeta argentina, ha llevado a cabo una seleccion de los diarios originales -un manuscrito monumental- a fin de publicar lo mas esencial del pensamiento literario de la autora, de sus reflexiones acerca del amor yla muerte, de los resultados de su autoanalisis. En definitiva, estos Diarios constituyen una fascinante autobiografia, sin duda uno de los textos memorialisticos mas importantes del pasado siglo.

This fascinating study of eunuchs guides readers as they travel through various lands and periods, familiarizing themselves with the duties and responsibilities, the unspeakable torments and the passions and joys of these individuals. Eunuchs were not simply bedchamber attendants, as the Greek term suggests. Nor were they always slaves. They could just as well be ascetics, priests, magicians, scholars, physicians, military commanders, admirals or senior officials at the courts of both eastern and western rulers. In the Byzantine empire, the only office they were precluded from attaining was that of emperor.