Oznaka:

Nužnost i sloboda

Nužnost, slučajnost i sloboda su tri osnovne ljudske ideje, kao i dobro, istina i pravda. Za te ideje, u ovom ili onom obliku, znali su ljudi otkad postoje kao svjesna djelatna bića, tj. kao ljudi. Nasuprot ideji dobra, koja je samo moralno-etička, i ideji istine, koja je samo saznajna kategorija, ideje nužnosti i slučajnosti su još općenitije i šire, jer se ne odnose samo na ovu ili onu posebnu ljudsku djelatnost ili neku njenu stranu, npr. na kvalitete, saznanja ili vrijednosti ljudske radnje, već i na prirodu, anorgansku, kao i organsku i psihičku, zaključno sa društvenom stvarnošću. Ideje nužnosti i slobode kao osnovni i najopćenitiji ljudski pojmovi nerazdvojivo su povezane s ljudskom praktičnom djelatnošću.

Harry Potter i princ poluplave krvi

Rat protiv Voldemorta se ne odvija dobro, što je čak i levatinska vlada primjetila. Ron pregledava stranice s osmrtnicama Dnevnog proroka, tražeći poznata imena. Dumbledore na duže periode izbija iz Hogwartsa, a Red feniksa je već pretrpio gubitke. Pa ipak… Kao u svim ratovima, život ide dalje. Blizanci Weasley šire posao. Učenici šeste godine uče aparatiranje – i pritom gube nekoliko obrva. Tinejdžeri flertuju, svađaju se i zaljubljuju. Predavanja nisu jednostavna, a Harry dobija pomoć od misterioznog Princa poluplave krvi. Istražujući cjelovitu priču o dječaku koji je postao Lord Voldemort, Harry se nada da će pronaći odgovor na pitanje u čemu leži ranjivost Gospodara tame.

Knjiga o prahu : tajna zajednica, drugi dio

Prošlo je deset godina otkako je Lyra Srebrousta ostavila svojega damona Pana da bi ušla u svijet mrtvih. Do tog je trenutka razdvajanje bilo nepojmljivo, jezivo i nemoguće, no njima se dogodilo. Otada više ništa nije isto. Nerazumijevanje i pokoja prepirka postali su dio njihova života, a razdvajanja sve češća. Jedne se večeri Pan sam išulja iz njihove sobe u studentskom domu fakulteta Svete Sofije i svjedoči umorstvu. Čovjek na umoru zamoli ga da iz unutarnjeg džepa njegove jakne izvuče novčanik i preda ga svojoj… Nije uspio završiti rečenicu. I tako sve krene. U novčaniku pronađu ključić na čijem je okruglom metalnom privjesku ugraviran broj 36. Taj ih ključ odvede do naprtnjače, pomno skrivene na oxfordskom kolodvoru, a u naprtnjači pronađu misteriozni dnevnik i bočice s ružinom vodicom. Nažalost, i zloglasni Magisterij traga za tom naprtnjačom i za tim bočicama. Pan iznenada napusti Lyru, ona kreće za njim u potragu, a Malcolm Polstead, sada profesor na fakultetu Durham, upušta se u istragu o Prahu. Put ih vodi diljem Europe, sve do srednje Azije i neobičnoga grada u kojemu žive samo damoni. Od tih se nevolja Lyra ne može skriti. Mora ih riješiti želi li ostati živa.

Frulaš

Frula! Do sada nije vjerovao u nju kao, uostalom, ni u Njega, ali do sada ga još nisu ni pustili na Proslavu, ostavljajući ga neka čezne i žudi u tami gotovo puste nastambe i sutradan sluša kako se dječaci mladi od njega hvale svojom snagom i brojem žena i djevojaka koje su imali i zadovoljili te noći. Frula! Mada se zbog Njegovih širokih prsa Činila manjom, bila je šira od dva raspona dječakovih prstiju i blistava od vlastitog mračnog sjaja, glatka poput uglačanih kostiju ili nedrvenih-nekamenih-nemetalnih krhotina iz Ruševina… stakla! Sastojala se od niza cjevčica, neljudskom vještinom izrezbarenih iz jednog jedinog komada. Ali nije ga fascinirao njen oblik, kojeg je bezbroj puta vidio ponovljen u sjenicama, već žene. Gole žene.

Slijepe ptice

Ispuniti? Hladnoća joj stakla naglo prodire kroz prste. Čime? Očima. Tegla očiju za tvoje oči. Možeš lijegati s namjernicima. Jedan brz udar nožem … Poslije je lako! A tek djeca! Ili ovce! Vidiš, malena, nije bitno čije oči i kakve, samo da su oči, puna tegla … Ptice!, Glas se ruga kroz led, luđački smijeh odjekuje spiljom. Ptice bi ti baš bile prikladne. Doduše, oči su im male, puno će ih trebati. Ovčje su veće, a tek kravlje! Ljudske su dragocjenije, teže je doći do njih … A trebat će ti ih tisuće dok napuniš teglu! Možeš li to zamisliti, malena, svu tu sluz pod tvojim nožem. Tisuće njih, malena, tisuće!

The Woods All Black

The Woods All Black is equal parts historical horror, trans romance, and blood-soaked revenge, all set in 1920s Appalachia Leslie Bruin is assigned to the backwoods township of Spar Creek by the Frontier Nursing Service, under its usual mandate: vaccinate the flock, birth babies, and weather the judgements of churchy locals who look at him and see a failed woman. Forged in the fires of the Western Front and reborn in the cafes of Paris, Leslie believes he can handle whatever is thrown at him—but Spar Creek holds a darkness beyond his nightmares. Something ugly festers within the local congregation, and its malice has focused on a young person they insist is an unruly tomboy who must be brought to heel. Violence is bubbling when Leslie arrives, ready to spill over, and he’ll have to act fast if he intends to be of use. But the hills enfolding Spar Creek have a mind of their own, and the woods are haunted in ways Leslie does not understand. The Woods All Black is a story of passion, prejudice, and power — an Appalachian period piece that explores reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, the terrors of small-town religiosity, and the necessity of fighting tooth and claw to live as who you truly are.

Star Wars : Tarkin

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Best-selling Star Wars veteran James Luceno gives Grand Moff Tarkin the Star Wars: Darth Plagueis treatment, bringing a legendary character from A New Hope to full, fascinating life. He’s the scion of an honorable and revered family. A dedicated soldier and distinguished legislator. Loyal proponent of the Republic and trusted ally of the Jedi Order. Groomed by the ruthless politician and Sith Lord who would be Emperor, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin rises through the Imperial ranks, enforcing his authority ever more mercilessly….and zealously pursuing his destiny as the architect of absolute dominion. Rule through the fear of force rather than force itself, he advises his Emperor. Under Tarkin’s guidance, an ultimate weapon of unparalleled destruction moves ever closer to becoming a terrifying reality. When the so-called Death Star is completed, Tarkin is confident that the galaxy’s lingering pockets of Separatist rebellion will be brought to heel – by intimidation…or annihilation. Until then, however, insurgency remains a genuine threat. Escalating guerrilla attacks by resistance forces and newfound evidence of a growing Separatist conspiracy are an immediate danger the Empire must meet with swift and brutal action. And to bring down a band of elusive freedom fighters, the Emperor turns to his most formidable agents: Darth Vader, the fearsome new Sith enforcer as remorseless as he is mysterious; and Tarkin – whose tactical cunning and cold-blooded efficiency will pave the way for the Empire’s supremacy…and its enemies’ extinction.

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water

Zen Cho returns with a found family wuxia fantasy that combines the vibrancy of old school martial arts movies with characters drawn from the margins of history. A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there. Guet Imm, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, joins up with an eclectic group of thieves (whether they like it or not) in order to protect a sacred object, and finds herself in a far more complicated situation than she could have ever imagined.

Artemis Fowl

Artemis Fowl is a young adult fantasy novel written by Irish author Eoin Colfer. It is the first book in the Artemis Fowl series, the first cycle of The Fowl Adventures, followed by Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident. Described by its author as Die Hard with fairies, the novel follows fairy LEP reconnaissance officer Holly Short after she is kidnapped by twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl II for a large ransom of gold. Throughout the book, the third-person narration switches from following the human characters to following the fairy characters to present underlying themes of greed and conflict. The book received a mostly favourable critical response and several awards. A film adaptation titled Artemis Fowl was released in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2020 and the United States on 10 September 2021 by Walt Disney Pictures.

Dangerous Deception (Dangerous Creatures)

From the world of Beautiful Creatures–a dangerous new tale of love and magic continues in the sequel to Dangerous Creatures. After a disastrous car crash outside New York City, Ridley Duchannes–Dark Caster, Siren, and bona fide bad girl-has gone missing. Her wannabe rocker and quarter Incubus boyfriend, Wesley Link Lincoln, was driving, and when he comes to, Ridley is nowhere to be found. The only clue is the giant raven emblazoned on the hood of the truck that hit them, which can mean only one thing: Silas Ravenwood is back. And he has Ridley. Determined to find her, Link reunites with old friends John Breed and Liv Durand, his New York bandmates, and the mysterious Lennox Gates–who has his own reasons for tracking down Ridley. Together they travel through the Caster Tunnels and the Deep South to New Orleans, where they uncover the truth about the infamous Ravenwood labs and exactly what Silas has been doing within those walls. By the time Link and his friends reach Ridley, she is no longer the Siren they know and love. She’s something new. This time, love might not be enough to save them. In this sequel to Dangerous Creatures, the bestselling spin-off of the #1 New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures novels, coauthors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl deliver an intoxicating blend of magic, suspense, and danger.

Goliath

A New York Times Editors’ Choice Pick! A Best Book of the Year for Time – NPR – The Guardian – Gizmodo – Portalist – New York Public Library A Most Anticipated Pick for USA Today – Bustle – Buzzfeed – Goodreads – Nerdist – io9 – WBUR – Polygon – The New Scientist Locus Award Finalist! Connecticut Book Award for Fiction winner! Dragon Award Finalist! Legacy Award Finalist! In this ambitious novel, dense with perspectives and social commentary, Onyebuchi dreams up disparate lives in a crumbling future America-with gentrifiers returning to Earth from space colonies and laborers trying to make a precarious living-while leaving room for moments of beauty and humor.-The New York Times, Editors’ Choice In his adult novel debut, Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and NAACP Image Award finalist and ALA Alex and New England Book Award winner Tochi Onyebuchi delivers a sweeping science fiction epic in the vein of Samuel R. Delany and Station Eleven. In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty. Those with the means and the privilege have departed the great cities of the United States for the more comfortable confines of space colonies. Those left behind salvage what they can from the collapsing infrastructure. As they eke out an existence, their neighborhoods are being cannibalized. Brick by brick, their houses are sent to the colonies, what was once a home now a quaint reminder for the colonists of the world that they wrecked. A primal biblical epic flung into the future, Goliath weaves together disparate narratives-a space-dweller looking at New Haven, Connecticut as a chance to reconnect with his spiraling lover; a group of laborers attempting to renew the promises of Earth’s crumbling cities; a journalist attempting to capture the violence of the streets; a marshal trying to solve a kidnapping-into a richly urgent mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history.

A Taste of Gold and Iron

Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen’s new child—in an altercation which results in his humiliation. To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin.

A Restless Truth (The Last Binding Book 2)

Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance! Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady’s companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago. What she didn’t expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who’s also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet can’t help but desire: a magician, an actress, and a magnet for scandal. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of suspects, Maud and Violet must first drop the masks that they’ve both learned to wear before they can unmask a murderer and somehow get their hands on a magical object worth killing for—without ending up dead in the water themselves.

Greenwode (The Wode, 1)

The Hooded One. The one to breathe the dark and light and dusk between…. When an old druid foresees this harbinger of chaos, he also glimpses its future. A peasant from Loxley will wear the Hood and, with his sister, command a last, desperate bastion of Old Religion against New. Yet a devout nobleman’s son could well be their destruction-Gamelyn Boundys, whom Rob and Marion have befriended. Such acquaintance challenges both duty and destiny. The old druid warns that Rob and Gamelyn will be cast as sworn enemies, locked in timeless and symbolic struggle for the greenwode’s Maiden. Instead, a defiant Rob dares his Horned God to reinterpret the ancient rites, allow Rob to take Gamelyn as lover instead of rival. But in the eyes of Gamelyn’s Church, sodomy is unthinkable… and the old pagan magics are an evil that must be vanquished. ——First Book of The Wode, a historical fantasy series re-imagining the legends of Robin Hood(2nd Edition)

Small Gods : A Discworld Novel

Signed by the author! Small Gods is the thirteenth of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, published in 1992. It tells the origin of the god Om, and his relations with his prophet, the reformer Brutha. In the process, it satirises philosophy, religious institutions, people, and practices, and the role of religion in political life. With the author’s signature.

Blood Promise

Blood Promise is the fourth book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. Previously in the series, the main character, Rose, and her true love Dimitri made a pact that if either of them were turned into strigoi, the other would kill them rather than let them roam as an evil vampire. Blood Promise follows Rose’s emotional struggle as she travels to Russia to hunt down Dimitri and fulfill this promise. Blood Promise’s opening week sales put the Vampire Academy series on the New York Times list for children’s series, making its best rank to date at #2, just behind the dominant Twilight series.