43 results for "Adventure"

World War Z: an oral story of the Zombie War

Brooks, Max
The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched firsthand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.
Duckworth 2006 342 pages

The Bizarre Truth Culinary Misadventures Around the Globe

Andrew Zimmern
Andrew Zimmern, the host of The Travel Channel’s hit series Bizarre Foods, has an extraordinarily well-earned reputation for traveling far and wide to seek out and sample anything and everything that’s consumed as food globally, from cow vein stew in Bolivia and giant flying ants in Uganda to raw camel kidneys in Ethiopia, putrefied shark in blood pudding in Iceland and Wolfgang Puck's Hunan style rooster balls in Los Angeles. For Zimmern, local cuisine—bizarre, gross or downright stomach turning as it may be to us—is not simply what’s served at mealtime. It is a primary avenue to discovering what is most authentic—the bizarre truth—about cultures everywhere. Having eaten his way around the world over the course of four seasons of Bizarre Foods, Zimmern has now launched Bizarre Worlds , a new series on the Travel Channel, and this, his first book, a chronicle of his journeys as he not only tastes the “taboo treats” of the world, but delves deep into the cultures and lifestyles of far-flung locales and seeks the most prized of the modern traveler’s goals: The Authentic Experience. Written in the smart, often hilarious voice he uses to narrate his TV shows, Zimmern uses his adventures in “culinary anthropology” to illustrate such themes as: why visiting local markets can reveal more about destinations than museums; the importance of going to “the last stop on the subway”—the most remote area of a place where its essence is most often revealed; the need to seek out and catalog “the last bottle of coca-cola in the desert,” i.e. disappearing foods and cultures; the profound differences between dining and eating; and the pleasures of snout to tail, local, fresh and organic food. Zimmern takes readers into the back of a souk in Morocco where locals are eating a whole roasted lamb; along with a conch fisherman in Tobago, who may be the last of his kind; to Mississippi, where he dines on raccoon and possum. There, he writes, "People said, 'That's roadkill!' ‘No it's not,’ I said. ‘It's a cultural story.’” Whether it’s a session with an Incan witch doctor in Ecuador who blows fire on him, spits on him, thrashes him with poisonous branches and beats him with a live guinea pig or drinking blood in Uganda and cow urine tonic in India or eating roasted bats on an uninhabited island in Samoa, Zimmern cheerfully celebrates the undiscovered destinations and weird wonders still remaining in our increasingly globalized world.
Crown 2010-09-07 288 pages

Empire games

Stross, Charles
"The year is 2020. It's seventeen years since the Revolution overthrew the last king of the New British Empire, and the newly reconstituted North American Commonwealth is developing rapidly, on course to defeat the French and bring democracy to a troubled world. But Miriam Burgeson, commissioner in charge of the shadowy Ministry of Intertemporal Research and Intelligence--the paratime espionage agency tasked with catalyzing the Commonwealth's great leap forward--has a problem. For years, she's warned everyone: "The Americans are coming." Now their drones arrive in the middle of a succession crisis--the leader of the American Commonwealth is dying and the vultures are circling. In another timeline, the U.S. has recruited Rita, Miriam's estranged daughter, to spy across timelines and bring down any remaining world-walkers who might threaten national security. But her handlers are keeping information from her. Two nuclear superpowers are set on a collision course. Two increasingly desperate paratime espionage agencies are fumbling around in the dark, trying to find a solution to the first- contact problem that doesn't result in a nuclear holocaust. And two women--a mother and her long-lost, adopted daughter--are about to find themselves on opposite sides of the confrontation"--
Tor 2017-01 331 pages

The Plainswalker (The Plainswalker Series)

Rothman, M.A.
"The Plainswalker: A Mind-Bending Journey Beyond Imagination" Prepare for an electrifying adventure penned by a USA Today bestselling author, hailed by none other than James M. Ward, author of "Deities and Demigods," as one of his top five fantasy novels. Meet Peabo Smith, a former Special Forces soldier who embarks on a journey that defies the boundaries of science and reality. Volunteering for a daring experiment that rivals the audacity of the moon landing, Peabo believes it's a chance to get back into the action. But as the clandestine government operation known as STAG, the Special Technologies Analysis Group, unfolds its enigmatic mission fifty feet beneath Marine Base Quantico, Peabo realizes that the experiment holds secrets beyond his wildest imagination. "The Plainswalker" is a tale of a soldier thrust into a science experiment that challenges the very fabric of existence. When the unexpected occurs, Peabo's life takes a turn he never saw coming. Join him on a mind-bending journey where the boundaries of reality blur, and the line between science and fantasy vanishes. Will Peabo emerge unscathed from this extraordinary odyssey, or will it change him forever? Buckle up for a thrill ride beyond the cosmos and into the unknown.
Independently published 2021-03-28 378 pages

The Face of War

Martha Gellhorn
A collection of "first-rate frontline journalism" from the Spanish Civil War to US actions in Central America "by a woman singularly unafraid of guns" (Vanity Fair). For nearly sixty years, Martha Gellhorn's fearless war correspondence made her a leading journalistic voice of her generation. From the Spanish Civil War in 1937 through the Central American wars of the mid-eighties, Gellhorn's candid reporting reflected her deep empathy for people regardless of their political ideology. Collecting the best of Gellhorn's writing on foreign conflicts, and now with a new introduction by Lauren Elkin, The Face of War is a classic of frontline journalism by "the premier war correspondent of the twentieth century" (Ward Just, The New York Times Magazine ). Whether in Java, Finland, the Middle East, or Vietnam, she used the same vigorous approach. "I wrote very fast, as I had to," she says, "afraid that I would forget the exact sound, smell, words, gestures, which were special to this moment and this place." As Merle Rubin noted in his review of this volume for The Christian Science Monitor, "Martha Gellhorn's courageous, independent-minded reportage breaks through geopolitical abstractions and ideological propaganda to take the reader straight to the scene of the event."
Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated 2018-10-16 352 pages

Kingdoms of the Wall

Robert Silverberg
A pilgrimage leads to a shocking revelation in this "deeply affecting and evocative extraterrestrial novel" from the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author (Locus). The village of Jespodar nestles in the foothills of a world-dominating mountain known to all as "The Wall." Poilar Crookleg has grown up in Jespodar training hard and hoping that he will be chosen for the annual Pilgrimage, a group journey to the top of the mountain from which no pilgrim has ever returned both alive and sane. The pilgrims seek to replicate the legendary journey of a distant ancestor who scaled the mountain and, so the story goes, met with the gods. The Pilgrimage is a a life journey, an overwhelming challenge and a sacred honor and Poilar feels blessed when he is finally chosen to lead it. But not all is as it first seems. Along the journey lie hazards of all kinds, both vilently dangerous and seductively beguiling and to triumph in the climb is to confront a revelation so surprising and so disturbing that none, not even the smartest and best prepared, are likely to survive. What belief and what devotion leads so many to hope for such a challenging task and what will be the ultimate result of such dedication? Only The Wall itself can reveal the destiny for those who undertake the Pilgrimage.
Independently Published 2020-03-25 314 pages

The Practice Effect

Brin, David
From one of the most critically acclaimed and well-loved authors of contemporary science fiction, a highly imaginative and exciting story as only David Brin can write . . . “High spirits and inventiveness . . . Dennis's adventures, which can only be called rollicking, are legion.”—Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction MagazinePhysicist Dennis Nuel was the first human to probe the strange realms called anomaly worlds—alternate universes where the laws of science were unpredictably changed. But the world Dennis discovered seemed almost like our own—with one perplexing difference. To his astonishment, he was hailed as a wizard and found himself fighting beside a beautiful woman with strange powers against a mysterious warlord as he struggled to solve the riddle of this baffling world.“A delightful, often very witty story, with the underlying thoughtfulness we expect from David Brin.”—Poul Anderson
Independently published 2020-12-09 313 pages

Plunder A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure

Menachem Kaiser
From a gifted young writer, the story of his quest to reclaim his family's apartment building in Poland--and of the astonishing entanglement with Nazi treasure hunters that follows Menachem Kaiser's brilliantly told story, woven from improbable events and profound revelations, is set in motion when the author takes up his Holocaust-survivor grandfather's former battle to reclaim the family's apartment building in Sosnowiec, Poland. Soon, he is on a circuitous path to encounters with the long-time residents of the building, and with a Polish lawyer known as "The Killer." A surprise discovery--that his grandfather's cousin not only survived the war, but wrote a secret memoir while a slave laborer in a vast, secret Nazi tunnel complex--leads to Kaiser being adopted as a virtual celebrity by a band of Silesian treasure seekers who revere the memoir as the indispensable guidebook to Nazi plunder. Propelled by rich original research, Kaiser immerses readers in profound questions that reach far beyond his personal quest. What does it mean to seize your own legacy? Can reclaimed property repair rifts among the living? Plunder is both a deeply immersive adventure story and an irreverent, daring interrogation of inheritance--material, spiritual, familial, and emotional.
HarperCollins Publishers 2022-03-15 288 pages

Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids (The Lucky Starr Series)

Isaac Asimov
Reissued after seventy-five years out of print -- and in hardcover for the first time in a generation -- Lucky Starr and the Pirates of Asteroids is the second book in the Lucky Starr series written by the legendary Isaac Asimov, author of Foundation, the Galactic Empire series, and I, Robot. Twenty-five years before, Lucky Starr's parents had been destroyed during a pirate raid on the Terrestrial Empire. Now Lucky was a man, and an officer of the Council of Science. His ship was heavily armed and the pirates were at hand. The time for sweet blaster vengeance was near! Lucky Starr's Ergometrics probed space with widely stretching fingers. It detected many ships, but Lucky watched only for the one which he would recognize with certainty the instant it appeared. Nor did he fail. At a distance of twenty-million miles, the first quiverings roused his suspicions. At 100-thousand miles, his telescope showed it as a faint dot. At ten thousand, it had form and shape -- it was the flagship of Anton, the pirate chieftain! At a thousand miles, Lucky sent out his first message -- a demand that Anton return to Earth. At one hundred miles, Lucky received his reply -- a blast of energy that made his generators whine and rocked his ship as if he had collided with another. Lucky's tired face took on a drawn look. Anton's ship was heavily armed. It was not what Lucky had expected ...
Blackstone Publishing, Inc. 2026-06-09 198 pages

Phoenix Without Ashes

Harlan Ellison,Edward Bryant
Written as a collaboration between the multi-Nebula Award winning Ed Bryant and Harlan Ellison, one of the Grand Masters of science fiction and a multiple Hugo-, Nebula-, and Edgar Award-winner, PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES is the novel edition of Harlan's famous, award-winning teleplay. (Please note this book is the novel edition, not the graphic novel.) The year is 2785, and Devon, a farmer banished for challenging his community's Elders, discovers a secret that changes everything he knew about the world, leading him on a quest to solve a mystery beyond his understanding before his entire world is destroyed in a cataclysm. With a Harlanesque introduction by Harlan Ellison. Harlan is very graciously donating his author's income to Ed for this book. THANK YOU, HARLAN! Because of Ed's financial needs, almost all the profits from this book go directly to Ed. Donations to help with Ed's medical and other financial needs are also most appreciated via www.FriendsOfEd.org. Thank you! About the Author Edward Bryant is the multi-Nebula Award winning author of over a hundred short stories, over a thousand essays and reviews, and one novel with Harlan Ellison, PHOENIX WITHOUT ASHES.
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2014-01-22 246 pages

The Insulin Express One Backpack, Five Continents, and the Diabetes Diagnosis That Changed Everything

Oren Liebermann
A travel memoir through thirty countries, a thousand insulin injections, and one man’s journey from despair to confidence. With tips and information from the American Diabetes Association. In the middle of a yearlong backpacking trip around the world with his wife, Oren Liebermann is teaching English to young Buddhist monks in Pokhara, Nepal, when his body begins to fail him. He is constantly thirsty and exhausted, and by the time he steps on a scale, he has lost forty-five pounds. At a local clinic, a doctor gives him a diagnosis that will change his life forever: “I’m sorry to tell you, my friend, that you are a diabetic.” Devastated, Liebermann is trapped in a freezing hospital room, trying to recover enough to fly home. His friends and family urge him to call off the rest of his trip. He had quit his job as a TV news reporter for this dream-come-true journey, but the nightmare diagnosis has thrown his world into disarray. However, Liebermann and his wife, Cassie, make a decision. They have an adventure to finish, and he has the rest of his life to live. Bold, raw, and poignantly candid, The Insulin Express tells the story of what happens when the best-made travel plans are subject to the ever-present chaos of life, and how a major setback can turn into the opportunity of a lifetime. Despite struggling with a chronic disease that almost kills him in the Himalayas, Liebermann hikes along the Great Wall of China, conquers the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and sips cobra whiskey in Laos. What begins as a travel chronicle across thirty countries transforms into a single journey of resilience and self-discovery—going from hopelessly lost and then wonderfully found.
Skyhorse 2017-05-02 224 pages

The Stainless Steel Rat wants you!

Harry Harrison
After saving the world, diGriz is called on to save the universe. Liberating his two, now teenage, twin' sons from a military boarding school and penitentiary, diGriz sets out to free his wife, who has been arrested by the tax men. But the family is soon fighting an enemy of a different sort, when the humans-only galaxy of the League is invaded by all manner of hideous aliens. The Rat, disguised in the most hideous combination of alien physical features, is sent into the centre of the aliens' stronghold, where he finds himself the object of desire among the aliens. His task is to stop the aliens, who plan to wipe out every human in the universe.
Bantam Books 1979 155 pages

Contacting Aliens - An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe

David Brin,Kevyn Lenagh
The essential companion to one of the most celebrated science fiction series of all time. Beginning with the novel Sundiver , David Brin introduced one of the most inventive, thought-provoking, and richly-imagined universes in all of science fiction. Now, Brin collaborates with acclaimed artist Kevyn Lenagh to present the definitive guide to the societies, technology, and species of his epic, award-winning series. Written as a handbook for Terran field agents, Contacting Aliens offers a detailed and comprehensive look at Uplift 's many alien races--from the friendly Tymbrimi to the warlike Tandu, the wise Kanten to the reptilian Soro, and the bureaucratic Hoon to the manipulative Thennanin. Readers will discover fascinating information about their physiology, psychology, and history; their clans and alliances; and their shifting attitudes toward Earth and its representatives. The volume also includes a history of Earth's contact with the Civilization of Five Galaxies, a look at its institutions, languages, and customs, plus a timeline of momentous events going back three billion years. Contacting Aliens is an essential reference work for Uplift fans, filled with never-before-seen illustrations that reveal the keys to the ambitious vision and bold speculation of the Uplift universe.
Open Road Integrated Media, Incorporated 2025-08-12 222 pages