A. L. Tait

The King is determined to create the first map of the world and has scoured the kingdom for boys who could become mapmakers. When Quinn is chosen for the King's training school, he's amazed - but that is nothing compared to his shock when he is selected as one of the three mapmakers and finds himself on board a ship, competing for the big prize. So begins Quinn's reluctant journey deep into the unknown, on a ship captained by a slave, with a stowaway girl on board, and a mysterious sea monster that seems to be following them. Hot on their trail are the other competitors for the King's prize, who will stop at nothing to win.

Race to the End of the World

As the race to map the world continues, so does farmboy turned reluctant adventurer Quinn's voyage into the unknown. When the Libertas docks in the exotic jungle port, of Barbarin, they are shocked to discover another Verdanian living there - a notorious thief who has been on the run for decades. He and his family may be enemies of the King, but they can also help Quinn and his friends survive this dangerous land. After being betrayed by a fellow scribe, Quinn is captured by ruthless Gelynion explorer Juan Forden, who will stop at nothing to beat the Verdanians. On board Forden's ship, the Black Hawk, Quinn struggles to outwit his captors, makes new enemies and unexpected allies, and encounters bloodthirsty pirates. Is this the end of the race for Quinn - or just the beginning of another incredible adventure? THE MAPMAKER CHRONICLES continue in this rollicking story, filled with strange lands, dangerous creatures, secrets, pirates and fierce battles.

Prisoner of the Black Hawk

What's the secret of the book, and why is it so valuable? These are the questions Gabe must answer when a dying man hands him a coded manuscript with one instruction: take it to Aidan. Gabe is hurled into a quest that takes him beyond his monastery home and into a world of danger, political intrigue and adventure. As he seeks to decipher the code and find a mystery man who may not even exist, Gabe learns that survival must be earned and that some of life's biggest lessons are not found in books. Gabe finds himself questioning everything he knows about right and wrong and wondering if he'll ever find a way back home. He also discovers that the biggest secret of all may be his own.

The Ateban Cipher Book 1

The Book of Secrets

Quinn, Ash, Zain and the crew of the Libertas are racing against the clock to get back to Verdania before the King's deadline. Will they make it in time? Will Quinn complete the first map of the whole world? Will Zain bring back enough treasure to satisfy the King? Will they win the race to the end of the world? Or will their enemies stop them from getting back at all? For fans of international bestseller John Flanagan's RANGER'S APPRENTICE series and Rick Riordan's PERCY JACKSON books. The first book in the series was named one of the best middle-grade books of 2014 by Readings. 'Not since Emily Rodda's DELTORA QUEST series has there been such an exciting adventure tale from an Australian author. Echoes of Robinson Crusoe make this feel like a classic with a new twist, and it's perfect for readers aged 8 to 12 who are looking for some escapism in the sea of contemporary stories.' - Readings on Book 2

The Mapmaker Chronicles

Breath of the Dragon

Ivan R. Dee is exclusive distributor in the United States and Canada for this highly praised series of new Russian writing, published several times each year in a trade paperback format.

Booker Winners and Others

Cross-gender appeal; showcases cartogrpahy, maps and exploration.Adventure and danger lie just off the edge of the map in this swashbuckling trilogy! Quinn's older brothers may long for adventure, but he is content with his quiet life on the farm. Destiny, however, has other plans. Perfect for readers who love stories filled with adventure and suspense, The Mapmaker Chronicles are one-part fantasy, one-part quest, one-part high-seas action. Filled with strong, feisty characters who learn resilience, perseverance and the importance of friendship, each book transports readers to faraway lands.

Mapmaker Chronicles

In the second thrilling instalment of the Mapmaker Chronicles by Australian author A.L. Tait, Quinn is taken prisoner by a ruthless enemy. Tomas laughed. 'You think that's terrifying? Wait till you meet the pescarn . . . they will eat the flesh off your bones in minutes.' In the second book in this thrilling series, Mapmaker Quinn is far from home in an exotic land filled with dangerous creatures and ruthless enemies. When he is betrayed by someone close to him and comes face-to-face with blood-thirsty pirates, he has to decide once and for all who is a friend and who is a foe . . . Is this the end of the race for Quinn - or just the beginning of another incredible adventure in The Mapmaker Chronicles? 'Not since Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest series has there been such an exciting adventure tale from an Australian author. Echoes of Robinson Crusoe make this feel like a classic with a new twist, and it's perfect for readers aged 8 to 12 who are looking for some escapism in the sea of contemporary stories.' - Readings 'Great white beasts and would-be pirates will capture the attention of young readers ... recommended for fans of adventure books from Emily Rodda and Andrew McGahan.' - Bookseller and Publisher 'Buy it immediately for any lad over eight who is a keen reader.' - Readingtree.com.au The Mapmaker Chronicles 1. Race to the End of the World 2. Prisoner of the Black Hawk 3. Breath of the Dragon (October 2015)

The Mapmaker Chronicles Book 2 - the bestselling series for fans of Emily Rodda and Rick Riordan

Quinn Freeman may have won the race around the world, but when a new enemy appears he must travel beyond the edge of the map once more. Quinn is back! He finished his race around the world and is living a quiet life on the family farm, until he discovers that the King's enemies want to capture him. Quinn is forced to go on the run, taking to the high seas once more. Can he survive when he is double-crossed and left for dead? BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE MAP is another thrilling adventure from A. L. Tait in the bestselling Mapmaker Chronicles. 'Not since Emily Rodda's DELTORA QUEST series has there been such an exciting adventure tale from an Australian author. Echoes of Robinson Crusoe make this feel like a classic with a new twist, and it's perfect for readers aged 8 to 12 who are looking for some escapism in the sea of contemporary stories.' - Readings on THE MAPMAKER CHRONICLES 1: RACE TO THE END OF THE WORLD themapmakerchronicles.com

The Mapmaker Chronicles Book 4 - the bestselling adventure series for fans of Emily Rodda and Rick Riordan

Beyond the Edge of the Map

Fire Star

Gabe and his companions journey to a remote mountain citadel where they learn the secret of the mysterious encrypted book that he has been tasked with protecting. But their enemies are close behind them, and new dangers lie ahead. As Eddie seeks to regain his crown, and Merry and Gwyn race to free their father, Gabe will discover the answer to his own great mystery - his true identity.

The Ateban Cipher Book 2

The Book of Answers

Natalii︠a︡ Perova

Ed Hogan

Just as love is very much part of any human life, for the soviet citizen it was often accompanied by another powerful emotion--fear. For various reasons, as this collection shows, the two have always gone hand in hand in Russia. Here love is seen from various angles: the imprisonment of the first Soviet president's wife under Stalin (Razgon), homosexual love punishable by Soviet law (Kharitonov), unrequited love driving man to disaster (Makanin), adolescent longing for love and fear of rejection (Gareyev), an old granny's love for the shopping bag which is her provider (Gorenstein), love as adventure and misunderstanding (Zinik), anti-love among the dregs of society (Miloslavsky), trans-sexuals' surreal experiences (Pelevin), and love in that typically Soviet institution, the communal flat. Each person models his or her own world to live in, alone with oneself. Only writing gives us the chance to discover these innumerable unique worlds--from cancer wards to prison camps, those hells on Earth to which we are drawn by a strange fascination. Literature has been written for centuries, yet each generation's authors still manage to find new angles of vision and new literary idioms. This has been aptly demonstrated by the recent awarding of the first Russian Booker Prize. Two short listed authors--Makanin and Gorenstein--have been included in this issue, while Vladimir Sorokin, another short listed author, was published in the second issue of Glas. The closing interview with Alla Latynina, the first chairman of the Russian Booker Prize jury, gives a reflection into Russia's literary scene today. Despite Russia's present problems, the literary process continues.

Love & Fear

Every society has had periods of totalitarianism and terror in one form or another. Russia is not exceptional in this respect. Whether the Russian brand of totalitarianism was worse or better than, say, the Inquisition in Spain, the slave trade in America, Nazism in Germany, or today's Islamic fundamentalism is hard to say. It would be interesting to attempt a comparative analysis. Slavery, or serfdom, was abolished in Russia only in 1862, but Alexander II's decreed could not abolish the mentality of servility overnight. Meek submissiveness of the bulk of the population on one hand, and authoritarian cruelty of the bureaucracy on the other, were to remain a feature of Russian society for a long time afterwards. The third factor in the social equation was the Russian intelligentsia, the bearers of culture in Russia who generated the country's intellectual and artistic values. This independent minded group caused the authorities particular concern and even fear as a constant source of dissidence both before and after the 1917 revolutions. In the initial decades of Soviet rule the working class and peasantry were forcibly driven into labour camps under various pretexts, because the dislocated country needed slave labour to realize its ambitious construction projects. The freedom loving intelligentsia was imprisoned in camps and lunatic asylums, so as to intimidate and exterminate them by apparently legal methods. Gradually the whole nation divided into civilian informers and alarmed citizens, trying hard to be law-abiding but still ending up in the labour camps accused of treason, espionage, cosmopolitanism, and a host of other imaginary crimes. They rarely survived to the end of their sentences in the arctic temperatures of Siberia and the Polar regions. Who can estimate how many political scientists, writers and artists of genius were lost to mankind in those inhuman conditions of the Soviet prison camps? It is no wonder that those decades of totalitarian rule affected people's minds so deeply that, even after several years of democracy, people in their sixties and seventies are afraid to discuss politics over the telephone for fear it might be bugged. The 1960's, a time of positive changes in the West, saw the first political "thaw" in Russia, following revelations about the Stalinist regime by Khrushchev at the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party in 1956. The generation of intellectuals who reached their prime in the 1960's, and who retained a sincere belief in "socialism with a human face", is known in Russia as the "shestidesyatniks", or sixties generation. Some of them fought for human rights and suffered repression in their turn, while others lay low, only daring to discuss politics or read samizdat poetry in a very narrow circle of friends (those famous gatherings in the kitchen, which was considered less likely to be bugged). The sixties generation are still very active in politics and public life today, and they are the target of hostility from both the right and the left of the political spectrum. The sharpest criticism comes from the younger generation who, happily, have never experienced the kind of pressure their elders were subjected to, and who have also never been thoroughly indoctrinated. Westerners often ask why we put up with bureaucratic oppression, food shortages and queues, violations of human rights, and so on even now. Why don't we protest? The two works we offer you in this issue of Glas convey the atmosphere of invisible oppression and all-pervading fear in which the sixties generation grew up. Boris Yampolsky's "The Old Arbat" set in Moscow in the 1950's, with flashbacks of the 1930's and 1940's; and Vasil Bykov's "Manhunt" is set in the country in the 1930's. In both stories innocent people are persecuted in a way which precludes effective resistance.

The Scared Generation

Forced to flee his home to uncover the secrets hidden in a coded book, sheltered orphan Gabe discovers a world of danger, intrigue, adventure and unexpected friendship. What's the secret of the book, and why is it so valuable? These are the questions Gabe must answer when a dying man hands him a coded manuscript with one instruction: take it to Aidan. Gabe is hurled into a quest that takes him beyond his monastery home and into a world of danger, political intrigue and adventure. As he seeks to decipher the code and find a mystery man who may not even exist, Gabe learns that survival must be earned and that some of life's biggest lessons are not found in books. Gabe finds himself questioning everything he knows about right and wrong and wondering if he'll ever find a way back home. He also discovers that the biggest secret of all may be his own. 'an exciting adventure read and an immersive story' ***** SUNDAY TELEGRAPH theatebancipher.com

A. L. Tait

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