J R : 537 books

Jane Austen was nineteen when she began writing novels. The first of these was never completed, but three others, after the passage of time and extensive revisions, were published and are among the worlds best loved novels. Their continued popularity, two-hundred years after being written, is extraordinary....

Jane Austen used many people and places in her novels that were drawn from real life. Nevertheless, no individuals of her acquaintance have been identified that correspond to her most famous characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy - but then very little is known of her early life. In MEETING ELIZABETH,...

They say home is where the heart is.    Ashton Roberts never understood that saying. Heart couldn't be found anywhere in the rundown bungalow she grew up in. It also couldn't be found in the luxury estate she moved into when her mother married her stepfather.  All Ashton wants is...

With the help of Pevan and Van Raighan, Rel has escaped the clutches of the Gift-Givers. Convinced that Keshnu is about to destroy the Second Realm, Rel persuades his rescuers to stay in Vessit with him and keep watch. When a new Realmquake hits, Rel's fears seem to have been borne out, but if he interferes, he knows Taslin will be waiting for him.

It’s Lannister’s first Christmas on the station. For once he has the room and time to play host to for the family Christmas celebration. His plans are complicated by the arrival of his run away niece, now an out trans man. The arrival of a human woman with a squid child places Zeta is an...

Simple Zoning is a proposed enhancing of traditional zoning classifications that offers the advantages of both simplicity and flexibility – particularly with regard to promoting friendly mixed uses while still protecting property values. If implemented, this will not only encourage more mixed use,...

Mr. Gruber advances the debate on the future of conservatism by showing that a constructive political culture must preserve both the moral and material bases of the American Republic. This brief work uses Abraham Lincoln’s “Lyceum Address” to argue that the 22nd century will be won by directing...

The Separatist invasion of the First Realm has begun. Leading her makeshift army to fight them, Pevan has never seen so many Wildren in one place at once. Her troops are undertrained and inexperienced. Keshnu is the only Gift-Giver who can be spared to join her. And Rel is still missing, long overdue to return from his time-travelling adventure with the secret weapon he promised.

The Gifted of Vessit have no reason to love Chag Van Raighan, so when the last of his friends leaves the town, they waste no time locking him up. But Vessit will be at the centre of the coming war with the Separatists, and every Gift, no matter how minor, will be needed in the town's defense.

The Separatists are defeated. The First Realm is saved. But the fear that brought war remains, now focussed on Rel. Given one last chance to prove himself, he sets out to capture the last fleeing Separatist, the Clearseer Soan. But Soan's Gift is the equal of his own, and if Rel fails, no-one...

Rel travels into the future believing he will finally unlock the secrets of Fate's plan. Before he can confront Fate, though, he must adjust to a new time; a time of complex electrical devices, strange architecture and the half-human, half-Wilder Threekin. And when the truth about Fate does emerge, the hope he offers may come at too high a price.

E.T. Just Phoned - It's For You! The internet is an anxious place at the best of times. Now earth is receiving its first ever confirmed transmission from aliens, and NASA are trying to crowdsource a response... Content warning: this short story contains first-person descriptions of panic attacks which some readers may find difficult.

The Separatists have finally launched their attack on the First Realm. In Vessit, Atla raises the alarm, and discovers that Pevan has special plans for him. She sends him to the Court with a desperate appeal to the Gift-Givers for help, but the journey will force him to confront every fear he has about his relationship with his Gift - and what the Gift-Givers' plan for humanity might be.

To the people of Vessit, Pevan's brother is a pariah, responsible for the Realmquake that ruined their town. Dozens are dead, hundreds injured, but Rel is the only one who might have an idea what happened. To find him, Pevan will have to face the hostility of the townsfolk and somehow recruit a Guide for a journey to the Second Realm...