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The Last Man: Large Print (Xist Classics Ser.)

by Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley's astounding look at the end of the world Set at the end of the twenty-first century, The Last Man is a moving and fantastical account of the apocalypse. Faced with a populace clamoring for more democratic rule, the last king of England relinquishes his throne. Suddenly a mysterious plague sweeps the globe, drawing ever nearer to England. As war, disease, and death ravage humanity, ideals of fairness and love are quickly supplanted by the imperative of survival. With semibiographical characters drawn from Shelley's own inner circle of friends and colleagues, this book is at once a look at the end of mankind and a critique of Romanticism. The Last Man's themes of destruction resonate as much now as they did nearly two hundred years ago. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

The Last Man: Large Print

by Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley's landmark novel that invented the human extinction genre and initiated climate fiction, imagining a world where newly-forged communities and reverence for nature rises from the ashes of a pandemic-ravaged society, now for the first time in Penguin Classics, with a foreword by Rebecca SolnitA Penguin ClassicWritten while Mary Shelley was in a self-imposed lockdown after the loss of her husband and children, and in the wake of intersecting crises including the climate-changing Mount Tambora eruption and a raging cholera outbreak, The Last Man (1826) is the first end-of-mankind novel, an early work of climate fiction, and a prophetic depiction of environmental change. Set in the late twenty-first century, the book tells of a deadly pandemic that leaves a lone survivor, and follows his journey through a post-apocalyptic world that's devoid of humanity and reclaimed by nature. But rather than give in to despair, Shelley uses the now-ubiquitous end-times plot to imagine a new world where freshly-formed communities and alternative ways of being stand in for self-important politicians serving corrupt institutions, and where nature reigns mightily over humanity—a timely message for our current era of climate collapse and political upheaval. Brimming with political intrigue and love triangles around characters based on Percy Shelley and scandal-dogged poet Lord Byron, the novel also broaches partisan dysfunction, imperial warfare, refugee crises, and economic collapse—and brings the legacy of her radically progressive parents, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, to bear on present-day questions about making a better world less centered around &“man.&” Shelley&’s second major novel after Frankenstein, The Last Man casts a half-skeptical eye on romantic ideals of utopian perfection and natural plenitude while looking ahead to a greener future in which our species develops new relationships with non-human life and the planet.

The Last Man

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published. The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression. The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.

The Last Man

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

The Last Man is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. It is notable in part for its semi-biographical portraits of Romantic figures in Shelley's circle, particularly Shelley's late husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron. As plague and war lay waste to humankind at the end of the twenty-first century, only one man has survived. The story of the final days of mankind is told through the eyes of Lionel Verney, a member of the English ruling class who, along with other survivors, wanders through Europe searching for respite from the unceasing epidemic.

Last Man on Earth

by Patricia Fanthorpe Lionel Fanthorpe Bron Fane

The strange thing about THE END was that nobody expected it... The pessimists had been wrong. No atomic war. No nuclear destruction. No fall out. No radioactivity. Disarmament had brought universal peace and sanity. Co-existence had become a reality - not an idealist's dream.Then disaster struck. The desperate weather forecasts were the beginning. The ice was The End.Seas became frozen wastes. Rivers turned to glaciers overnight. The whole planet was in the grip of a cold so intense that millions perished in a few hours... millions more died within the week.Only the bravest and the hardiest survived. Rugged men and courageous women, with the spirits of the earliest pioneers, urging them on to do the impossible.Was the big freeze just a cosmic accident - with man on the unlucky end? Had one of the big powers tried to master weather control, secretly, despite the disarmament talks... and failed disastrously.Perhaps it was the prelude to alien invasion?

The Last Man Standing: The chilling apocalyptic thriller that predicts Italy's collapse

by Davide Longo

A chillingly plausible novel about the collapse of Italian society and one man's struggle to retain his humanity amid the horror"A bleak, lyrical tale that evokes Cormac McCarthy's The Road.... Gruesome, intense, and strange... a eurozone nightmare brought to life on the page."--James Lovegrove, Financial TimesIt is 2025, and Italy is on the brink of collapse. Borders are closed, banks withhold money, the postal service stalls. Armed gangs of drug-fuelled youths roam the countryside. Leonardo was a famous writer and professor before a sex scandal ended his marriage and career. Heading north in search of her new husband, his ex-wife leaves their daughter and her son in his care. If he is to take them to safety, he will need to find a quality he has never possessed: courage.

The Last Man Standing: The chilling apocalyptic thriller that predicts Italy's collapse

by Davide Longo

A chillingly plausible novel about the collapse of Italian society and one man's struggle to retain his humanity amid the horror"A bleak, lyrical tale that evokes Cormac McCarthy's The Road.... Gruesome, intense, and strange... a eurozone nightmare brought to life on the page."--James Lovegrove, Financial TimesIt is 2025, and Italy is on the brink of collapse. Borders are closed, banks withhold money, the postal service stalls. Armed gangs of drug-fuelled youths roam the countryside. Leonardo was a famous writer and professor before a sex scandal ended his marriage and career. Heading north in search of her new husband, his ex-wife leaves their daughter and her son in his care. If he is to take them to safety, he will need to find a quality he has never possessed: courage.

The Last Man Standing

by Silvester Mazzarella Davide Longo

GQ (Italy) called Davide Longo, "the most talented and intense Italian novelist of his generation." In this dystopian, post-apocalyptic literary novel, Italy is on the brink of collapse: borders are closed, banks are refusing to distribute money to their clients, the postal service is shuttered, and food supplies are running short. Armed gangs of drug-fueled youth rampage through the countryside as the nation descends into chaos.Leonardo was once a famous writer and professor before a sex scandal ended his marriage and his career. With society collapsing around them, his ex-wife leaves their daughter and son in his care as she sets off in search of her new husband, who is missing. Ultimately, Leonardo is forced to evacuate and take his children to safety, but to do so he will have to summon a quality he has never exhibited before: courage.

The Last Mapmaker

by Christina Soontornvat

In a fantasy adventure every bit as compelling and confident in its world building as her Newbery Honor Book A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat explores a young woman’s struggle to unburden herself of the past and chart her own destiny in a world of secrets. <p><p>As assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman—and in a kingdom where the status of one’s ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn’t the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands—a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining—she must weigh the cost of her dreams. Vivid, suspenseful, and thought-provoking, this tale of identity and integrity is as beautiful and intricate as the maps of old.

The Last Martian

by John Russell Fearn Vargo Statten

Originally published in 1952, John Russell Fearn writes another classic pulp SF novel as Vargo Statten.

The Last Martian

by John Russell Fearn Vargo Statten

Originally published in 1952, John Russell Fearn writes another classic pulp SF novel as Vargo Statten.

The Last Master

by Gordon R. Dickson

A repressively benevolent bureaucracy, intent on limiting and harnessing the effects of an IQ-boosting drug known as R-47, is thwarted by an underground led by an R-Master, latest of the drug-produced supergeniuses. Our hero's apolitical to start with but his chemically expanded perspective reveals the flaws in his superficial utopia. Energetically suspenseful, though the intriguing premise of an intelligence-enhancing drug might have been more fully developed.

The Last Master

by Gordon R Dickson

The World Economic Council said the world had become Utopia. There should be no cause for dissatisfaction. But for those who were still restless, there was the new mind-stimulating drug R-47. Those who took R-47 were engaging in a sort of lottery whose rare winners would be super-geniuses and whose losers might be fit only for asylums. Etter Ho, whose brother was one of the losers, took the drug on the chance that, if he won, he could cure his brother. But what he became when he emerged from the mainlining was something none expected. For he became a menace to Utopian order, a danger to those who knew him, and the only man who might, just possibly, diagnose the real illnesses of the world.

The Last Master

by Gordon R. Dickson

Last Men in London

by Olaf Stapledon

In his previous science-fiction novel, Last and First Men, Olaf Stapledon envisioned 2 billion years of history, in which modern humans represented the first and most primitive of 18 increasingly advanced species. In this companion piece, a being from the remote future travels back to the 20th century to inhabit the consciousness of an Englishman named Paul. From inside his subject's mind, the superintelligent mega-human observes Paul's childhood, his experiences during World War I, and his postwar life as a teacher. The narrative provides a compelling commentary on modern life, the horrors of warfare, and the disintegrating state of Western society. British philosopher William Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) introduced several innovative concepts to the science-fiction genre, and his books influenced Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, C. S. Lewis, John Maynard Smith, and many others. In this science-fictional self-portrait, he offers a captivating combination of memory, imagination, and social criticism.

Last Men in London (Gateway Essentials #361)

by Olaf Stapledon

The sequel to Last and First Men, Olaf Stapledon's great classic work of science fiction.In Last Men in London the author follows up the themes of his earlier masterpiece in presenting a Neptunian 'last man's' views on our twentieth-century world, views informed by the huge dimensions of space and time which separate him from our tiny contemporary world. Once again, Olaf Stapledon has been totally successful in creating a work of such stunning imagination and brilliance that it has taken its place amongst the classics of science fiction.

Last Men in London: Large Print

by Olaf Stapledon

The sequel to Last and First Men, Olaf Stapledon's great classic work of science fiction.In Last Men in London the author follows up the themes of his earlier masterpiece in presenting a Neptunian 'last man's' views on our twentieth-century world, views informed by the huge dimensions of space and time which separate him from our tiny contemporary world. Once again, Olaf Stapledon has been totally successful in creating a work of such stunning imagination and brilliance that it has taken its place amongst the classics of science fiction.

The Last Mermaid

by Shana Abe

Shana Abé has entranced countless readers with her passion-filled novels of adventure, intrigue, and romance. Now the author of The Secret Swan delivers a gift from the sea: three hauntingly beautiful tales connected by a legend, a locket, and a love beyond time. 531 a.d.: The tiny island of Kell is said to be enchanted, inhabited by an extraordinary creature who comforts shipwrecked sailors passing into the next world. Prince Aedan of the Isles believes in no such nonsense--until he awakens on Kell itself and meets the sensuous siren who rescued him from the sea. 1721: Ronan MacMhuirich, Earl of Kell, is the target of an unlikely assassin: Leila, a mysterious woman from an exotic land. But his irresistibly beautiful would-be slayer is in just as much danger as Ronan when she falls for this man with a magic of his own. 2004: What do you do when you inherit a Scottish island you never knew existed--and find yourself pursued by a handsome stranger who wants to buy it from you? That's what happens to Ruri Kell when she accepts Iain MacInnes's invitation to visit her birthright, and listens to a proposition as sinfully tempting as everything else about him. Three seductive love stories, three passionate couples, all linked by one of the most romantic myths of all.From the Paperback edition.

The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne Book #3)

by Brian Staveley

The trilogy that began with The Emperor's Blades and continued in The Providence of Fire reaches its epic conclusion, as war engulfs the Annurian Empire in Brian Staveley's The Last Mortal Bond <p><p> The ancient csestriim are back to finish their purge of humanity; armies march against the capital; leaches, solitary beings who draw power from the natural world to fuel their extraordinary abilities, maneuver on all sides to affect the outcome of the war; and capricious gods walk the earth in human guise with agendas of their own. <p> But the three imperial siblings at the heart of it all--Valyn, Adare, and Kaden--come to understand that even if they survive the holocaust unleashed on their world, there may be no reconciling their conflicting visions of the future. <p> Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne<br> The Emperor's Blades<br> The Providence of Fire<br> The Last Mortal Bond <p> Other books in the world of the Unhewn Throne<br> Skullsworn

The Last Murder at the End of the World: A Novel

by Stuart Turton

FIRST PRINT RUN WITH SPRAYED EDGES!From the bestselling author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water comes an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution.Solve the murder to save what's left of the world.Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island—and everyone on it.But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and they don't even know it.And the clock is ticking.

The Last Mythal (Forgotten Realms: Last Mythal Omnibus)

by Richard Baker

In this value-added omnibus edition of his acclaimed trilogy, The New York Times best-selling author of Condemnation delivers an epic story that brings new life and new purpose to the beloved elves of Faerûn.When a half-elf, half-demon villain is released from thousands of years of captivity, the very heart of the elven community of Faerûn is threatened. And the only hope the elves have of defeating the vile daemonfey hordes is to once again return to the lands of Faerûn, to the forests of Cormanthor, and to the demon-haunted ruins of Myth Drannor.From the Trade Paperback edition.

The Last Namsara: Iskari Book One (Iskari #1)

by Kristen Ciccarelli

'Kristen Ciccarelli is now my favourite author' Tomi Adeyemi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Children of Blood and Bone ******************************ASHA IS A DRAGON SLAYERSince she was a young princess, Asha has killed to protect her father's kingdom. She longs to atone for the terrible deed she committed as a child - one that almost destroyed her city, and left her with a terrible scar.But no matter how many dragons she kills, her people still think she's wicked.So now she plans to slay the most powerful dragon of all. And the only person standing in her way is the defiant leader of a rebellion she can't possibly be a part of . . . THE LAST NAMSARA is an extraordinary story about courage, loyalty and star-crossed love, set in a kingdom that trembles on the edge of war. For fans of Madeline Miller, Katherine Arden, Laini Taylor and Tomi Adeyemi.**********************************'An accomplished fantasy novel . . . I'll definitely be looking out for the next one' Joanne Harris'The most simply thing I can say is this is the best book I have ever read and Kristen Ciccarelli is now my favourite author . . . your soul has been waiting for a story this beautiful' Tomi Adeyemi'It's always refreshing to see a non-traditional fantasy setting. And a kickass princess . . . a dash of Arabian Nights story magic, plus dragons? Yes please! Elspeth Cooper'The Last Namsara is easily one of my favourite fantasy books of this year . . . It's fast paced, action packed, filled with a diverse cast . . . Fans of An Ember in the Ashes, Seven Realms, and the Shattered Realms series will devour this' YABooksCentral

The Last Namsara: Iskari Book One (Iskari #1)

by Kristen Ciccarelli

A gripping YA crossover series from a spectacular new voice in the genre Destroyer. Death bringer. Dragon-slayer. I am more weapon than girl.Asha is a dragon-slayer. Reviled by the very people she's sworn to protect, she kills to atone for the wicked deed she committed as a child - one that almost destroyed her city, and left her with a terrible scar. But protecting her father's kingdom is a lonely destiny: no matter how many dragons she kills, her people still think she's wicked. Even worse, to unite the fractured kingdom she must marry Jarek, the cruel commandant. As the wedding day approaches, Asha longs for freedom. Just when it seems her fate is sealed, the king offers her a way out: her freedom in exchange for the head of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard. And the only person standing in her way is a defiant slave boy . . . THE LAST NAMSARA is an extraordinary story about courage, loyalty and star-crossed love, set in a kingdom that trembles on the edge of war.Read by Pearl Mackie(p) Orion Publishing Group 2017

The Last Namsara (Iskari #1)

by Kristen Ciccarelli

Kristen Ciccarelli’s debut fantasy explores an intricately woven world of deception, inner darkness, and dragons that fantasy fans won’t be able to resist.In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer.These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up learning in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm.When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.

The Last Notebook of Leonardo

by B. B. Wurge

Praise for Squiggle and Billy and the Birdfrogs:"The characters are exceptional, weird, true to life, funny, scary, different, and definitely perk the story . . . an exceptional job. . . . Children will truly enjoy this book."-Midwest Book Review"Billy survives by the sheer weight of its own insane internal logic. . . . For those funny-book junkies out there, Billy fulfills a need. Downright weird, and that's a-okay with me, it's worth a gander."-School Library Journal"One of the best books we have read this year . . . intelligent, well composed, with a strong narrative, likable characters, and just enough scariness and tension to make it hard to put down."-BooksForKids.com"Mystery, suspense, and conflict build a plot of nonstop adventure. Character development is superb . . . clever illustrations, delightful humor, and a marvelous story. . . . Entertaining, downright funny, and highly imaginative. A great read."-Midwest Book ReviewJem's father, a scientific genius, turns himself into a nine-foot orangutan. When their landlord suggests that they leave, they pack their belongings onto a huge wagon and set out on the ultimate adventure: to find the last resting place of Leonardo da Vinci, who, according to his last notebook, may not have died in Italy. They are joined by an old Indian woman, and the threesome's adventures lead to the most unlikely of places-and meetings. Tidbits of science, fun facts about da Vinci and his works, and B.B. Wurge's trademark wacky humor, minimalist illustrations, and lessons on the importance of family make this third novel as exciting as the last two.

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