Showing results by narrator "Eric Jason Martin" in All Categories

Catholicism All-in-One for Dummies is your all-inclusive guide to the Catholic Church and its billions of followers. You'll learn how Catholicism came to be, how it's practiced, and where it stands socially and politically as you explore the rich history and diverse culture surrounding this major religion. Clear, friendly writing takes you inside a mass to understand what happens there, and walks you through a tour of the saints, holidays, the Bible, and the Vatican.

Despite all the advantages that came with being a Titan, for Thorn, it has come with equally Titan-sized problems. Thorn has freed himself from an ancient curse and cleared up the political turmoil in the capital, but the looming threat to Northern Angoril posed by the Orc invasion of Rasyn carries him back to the Elven island. But not before he deals with a cultist infestation in his own home.

Having defended Moon Wolf Citadel from the super guild, Ragnarok, and carved out a place for himself in Nova Terra, Thorn stands on top of the fantasy world. But Nova Terra is not as simple as it seemed. Thorn quickly discovers that the political leaders in the capital of Northern Angoril are turning jealous eyes on him. The young Titan is forced to take a step back, beset by complications on every side. With players flocking to Greymane Valley the pressure of ruling the Wolfkin grows, not helped by Ragnarok’s unrelenting attempts to destroy his fledgling guild.

In the 1940s, mathematicians set out to design computers that could act as ideal rational agents in the face of uncertainty. The Irrational Decision tells the story of how they settled on a peculiar mathematical definition of rationality in which every decision is a statistical question of risk. Benjamin Recht traces how this quantitative standard came to define our understanding of rationality, looking at the history of optimization, game theory, statistical testing, and machine learning.

It was supposed to be an easy victory lap in the capital city, but life around Thorn is never that simple. New responsibilities, underhanded nobles, a shadowy cult, and a struggle for the throne of Northern Angoril all promise to make life exciting...if he can survive. Thorn falls deeper into the political struggles of the Empire when the capital is rocked by a terrible murder and is forced to learn that not all problems can be solved with the heavy end of his tetsubo. New allies and new enemies emerge as Thorn races to stop a catastrophe that will shake the entire world of Nova Terra.

In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Jan Zalasiewicz gives a brief introduction to the fascinating field of geology. Describing how the science developed from its early beginnings, he looks at some of the key discoveries that have transformed it before delving into its various subfields, such as sedimentology, tectonics, and stratigraphy.  

Burning down the lab will do that. But every cloud has a silver lining, and after being let go from his most recent job for unsanctioned experiments, Alph is given the chance to blow off a little steam with a cutting edge new game that isn’t even out of beta. It's called Nova Terra.

Elijah Hart is dying. Wracked by cancer and weakened by chemotherapy, all he wants is to spend what little time he has left with his sister and her family in Washington. But fate has other plans. When the mysterious World Tree extends its branches to Earth, Elijah's Seattle-bound flight crashes into the Pacific Ocean and a game-like system takes hold—reshaping humanity's future as well as his own destiny.

Trapped in the Abyss by the underhanded scheme of a fallen prince, Thorn and his companions are in for a long walk through the Devil-infested wasteland. Hunted by corrupted Devils, Thorn’s only option for making it out alive is taking a chance on the mysterious inheritance of a long-dead Elven High Mage. As he races back to Angoril he will have to figure out how to help a collapsing outpost of escaped slaves or risk being stuck in the Abyss forever.

Lukas Aguilar used to think he knew everything. Mainly because he believed only what he could prove for himself. No gods, fate, or any such nonsense for him. But that seems like a lifetime ago. Because when an earthquake destroyed his earthly home, he suddenly found himself in a dark dungeon world where gods and monsters are all too real—and supreme goddess Inanna had taken up residence in his mind. Upon learning the rules of his new existence—levels, skills, abilities—Lukas fought his way from victory to victory. That is, until he came up against an anomaly that got him killed.

No sooner had Thorn stepped into his new role as Titan of Earth than the enemies of the Duchy pounced, their armies flooding into Ironhold. With barely enough time to plan their defense, Thorn and the Wolfkin are forced into battle against forces that outnumber them five to one. To make matters worse, other guilds who have long eyed Nova Luna’s position, are eager to cut Thorn and his friends down to size. Hemmed in by enemies on every side, the only way to overcome this world shaking challenge is to cut straight through it.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's debut cookbook, The Food Lab, revolutionized home cooking, selling more than half a million copies with its science-based approach to everyday foods. And for fast, fresh cooking for his family, there's one pan Lopez-Alt reaches for more than any other: the wok. Whether stir-frying, deep frying, steaming, simmering, or braising, the wok is the most versatile pan in the kitchen.

Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving. It governs the lives of microorganisms and galaxies; it shapes the capabilities of our extraordinarily large brains and the fortunes of our economies. Growth is manifested in annual increments of continental crust, a rising gross domestic product, a child's growth chart, the spread of cancerous cells. In this magisterial book, Vaclav Smil offers systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations.

Ninety percent of Americans own a copy of the Bible, and while it's the most widely read book, it's also the least understood. Regardless of your religion, understanding the Bible brings much of Western art, literature, and public discourse into greater focus. The Bible for Dummies appeals to people of all faiths, as well as those who don't practice any particular religion, by providing interfaith coverage of the entire Bible and the often fascinating background information that makes the Bible come alive.

Until his assassination by US drone strike in January 2020, commander Qassem Soleimani was one of the most powerful men in Iran and the military spearhead for Iranian foreign policy, enacting the wishes of the country's Supreme Leader in the region. A widely popular but also feared maverick operator, he helped to establish the Islamic Republic as a major force in the Middle East, with interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. This was a long way from where he began as a youth, living on the margins in a country ruled by a monarch supported by the United States.

Australopithecines, dinosaurs, trilobites - such fossils conjure up images of lost worlds filled with vanished organisms. But in the full history of life, ancient animals, even the trilobites, form only the half-billion-year tip of a nearly four-billion-year iceberg. Andrew Knoll explores the deep history of life from its origins on a young planet to the incredible Cambrian explosion, presenting a compelling new explanation for the emergence of biological novelty.

Kandahar. The ancient desert crossroads and, as of fall of 2001, ground zero for the Taliban and al-Qa'ida in southern Afghanistan. In the northern part of the country, the US-supported Northern Alliance has made progress on the battlefield, but in the south, the country is still under the Taliban's bloody hold and al-Qa'ida continues to operate there. With no "Southern Alliance" for the US to support, a new strategy is needed if victory is to be achieved. Veteran CIA officer Duane Evans is dispatched to Pakistan to "get something going in the South." Foxtrot in Kandahar is his story. 

Safe for the moment, Thorn and Velin are faced with a choice … Hide among the cruel Deva, or forge a path that will require all their skill and wit, unlocking the ancient paths of power hidden in the Titan bloodline. Ahead of them lies Intra Mundum, an endless test that requires courage, strength, and most importantly, strong bonds. As they begin to explore the floors of the tower with a hastily thrown together team, Thorn and Velin will find they have a much stronger connection than they first realized.

"If you want to know what anthropology is, look at what anthropologists do," write the authors of Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction. This engaging overview of the field combines an accessible account of some of the discipline's guiding principles and methodology with abundant examples and illustrations of anthropologists at work.

On Anarchism provides the reasoning behind Noam Chomsky's fearless lifelong questioning of the legitimacy of entrenched power. In these essays, Chomsky redeems one of the most maligned ideologies, anarchism, and places it at the foundation of his political thinking. Chomsky's anarchism is distinctly optimistic and egalitarian. Moreover, it is a living, evolving tradition that is situated in a historical lineage; Chomsky's anarchism emphasizes the power of collective, rather than individualist, action.