Joseph Hashimoto is happy with his ordinary life. A man who believes in fairness and just action, Joe's greatest love is his family. But as he moves about his days, he is completely unaware that his actions are carefully observed. With one momentous decision, Joe's ordinary life is about to transform into an extraordinary existence.

While attempting to save a little girl from danger, Joe is killed in a violent explosion. Instead of dying, however, his soul is brought before the elemental Architects of the Universe, who tell him he has been chosen for a sacred duty. Reborn as Lightrider, the earthly representative of Light, Joe is given leadership of the Elemental Knights, a group of half-man, half-animal beings. Charged with maintaining a delicate balance between good and evil, Joe must police both sides and destroy anyone who threatens to ruin it. As Joe struggles with his conflicting emotions and longing for home, he must face his greatest threat--the ancient Chaos Demons.

In this fantasy tale, a man inadvertently thrust into a world of cosmic forces must come to terms with change and accept what needs to be done for the good of all.

Samburu. The promised land for a jungle kingdom within a land of sunshine called Kenya. Nearly all the animals are God-fearing Christians. Every Sunday, the pets of God worship him under a sacred tree and Socialize with their neighbors. Sadly, no one ever invites Hyena, a lonely atheist, agonist, or something who desperately wants to be someone's friend.

The dragon god has chosen a holy slumber rather than annihilate them all for serving an imaginary unseen God. Meanwhile, the animals decide to realign their allegiance and feed the god in his sleep hoping when he wakes up, he will make everyone as wise and powerful as gods. A stone altar is built for food offerings. Soon the animals are bowing and tithing the best of their meager food to the dragon. But the dragon god is livid, and chaos is about to erupt on the top of Devil's Mountain.

In this Christian fairy tale, the Dragon slayer slowly unsheathes his sword. But it is up to the animals of the kingdom to let him save their future. They must call him by "The Name."

Clouston's classic study of international folktales, their common origins, and their cultural variations is updated with new research. This classic study of popular tales and fictions is a global map of human imagination reaching back to a time that the author calls "the childhood of the world." First published in two volumes more than a century ago, the book traces familiar themes from strikingly different times, places, and cultures: invisible caps and cloaks, shoes of swiftness, inexhaustible purses, gold-producing animals, life tokens, bird maidens, forbidden rooms, fairy hinds, magic barks, thankful beasts, and magical transformations. The author investigates their origins, examines their variations, and follows their migration from one culture to another. Editor Christine Goldberg brings this classic up to date with an introduction that evaluates and expands the original work in the light of current scholarship. Takes a thematic approach to the study of folktales, exploring topics like gold-producing animals, invisible caps and cloaks, and bird maidens An introduction by contemporary folklorist Christine Goldberg places W. A. Clouston's classic work in historical and scholarly context

Wirt Sikes's 1881 tome defines and records Welsh fairy legends as they existed -- still vital, alive, not just a mordant mythology but living folklore in that year. Like many texts of the time, it treats the subject mechanically, detailing fairy legends with such care and precision as to leach away a measuyre of the magic. But all the same, there's plenty of magic here: this is the myth that modern fasntasy grows from; and the truth is that it's not to be found elsewhere still alive. (Jacketless library hardcover.)