Showing results by narrator "Eric Summerer" in All Categories

It has been thousands of years since beast-kind were united under one banner. The empire encompasses most of the known world, driving out or enslaving the lesser races without mercy. In a state of constant war and conquest, they have perfected the art of battle. For commoner wolf-kind Valian, being accepted and trained in a noble house's army was a dream come true. Without wealth or a family, it was his best shot at attaining honor and glory. Until fate intervened. When Valian discovers he's descended from an ancient and long-thought-extinct line, everything changes.

In Failure to Disrupt, Justin Reich delivers a sobering report card on the latest supposedly transformative educational technologies. Reich takes listeners on a tour of MOOCs, autograders, computerized "intelligent tutors", and other educational technologies whose problems and paradoxes have bedeviled educators. Learning technologies often provide the greatest benefit to affluent students and do little to combat growing inequality in education. And institutions and investors often favor programs that scale up quickly, but at the expense of true innovation.

The problem of agriculture is as old as civilization. Throughout history, great societies that abused their land withered into poverty or disappeared entirely. Now we risk repeating this ancient story on a global scale due to ongoing soil degradation, a changing climate, and a rising population. But there is reason for hope. David R. Montgomery introduces us to farmers around the world at the heart of a brewing soil health revolution that could bring humanity's ailing soil back to life remarkably fast.

In The Patient Will See You Now, Eric Topol, one of the nation's top physicians, examines what he calls medicine's "Gutenberg moment". Much as the printing press liberated knowledge from the control of an elite class, new technology is poised to democratize medicine. In this new era, patients will control their data and be emancipated from a paternalistic medical regime in which "the doctor knows best."

Brett L. Walker tackles key themes regarding Japan's relationships with its minorities, state and economic development, and the uses of science and medicine. The book begins by tracing the country's early history through archaeological remains, before proceeding to explore life in the imperial court, the rise of the samurai, civil conflict, encounters with Europe, and the advent of modernity and empire. Walker's vibrant and accessible new narrative then follows Japan's ascension from the ashes of World War II into the thriving nation of today.

Eliot Rosewater, a drunk volunteer fireman and president of the fabulously rich Rosewater Foundation, is about to attempt a noble experiment with human nature, with a little help from writer Kilgore Trout. The result is Kurt Vonnegut's funniest satire, an etched-in-acid portrayal of the greed, hypocrisy, and follies of the flesh we are all heir to.

For the entirety of my adult life, I've been content. Content in my single lifestyle, content in my stressful-but-extremely-successful job as the main corporate counsel for almost every Fortune 500 company in North America, and content in my playful, spontaneous ways. I had no idea it was possible for someone to change my mind. The endless women and work are no longer enough, and just as Ruby Rockford told me - it's about time I grow up.

You can say goodbye to today's Internet, New York Times best-selling author George Gilder says. Soon the current model of aggregated free content populated with "value-subtracted" advertising will die a natural deat. In Life After Google, Gilder takes listeners on a brilliant, rocketing journey into the very near-future, into an Internet with a new "bitcoin-bitgold" transaction layer that will replace spam with seamless micro-payments and provide an all-new standard for global money.

Code of the Samurai is a 400-year-old explication of the rules and expectations embodied in Bushido, the Japanese Way of the Warrior. With a bright, conversational narrative by Thomas Cleary, this book is indispensable to corporate executives, students of Asian culture, martial artists, or anyone sincerely interested in Japan and its people.

The battle’s end was supposed to bring peace and establish the Bravers’ new home in the Shiverglades, but all it brought was pain and suffering. With his closest friends lost to another realm, over half of the settlement’s population injured, and missing supply chains, Hal doesn’t have a moment to rest. He may have won the battle with the Shiverglades, but he has yet to win the war.

A simple man, lacking in knowledge, but quick of wit. He is flung into the future, where everything is different. Now, he has to make a name for himself, carve his own path in life. He decides to play a game, the biggest one in the world. A strategy game, focused on tactics, used to select the top managers of the largest international corporation. Now, he has to prove his mettle and earn a place for himself in the future....

Juniper Smith was always a creator of worlds rather than the one who walked within them…until now. Somehow, the tables have turned in the most dramatic way possible. Juniper finds himself in a world filled with the wildest fantasies a mind could come up with, and his fingerprints are all over it.

To restore broken magic and powers, Hal and his Guild brave Dungeons, facing nightmares made real. The dwarves and koblins of Brightsong seek new inventions to protect their growing settlement and its Manatree. Afflicted by a fatal essence, Hal turns to the crucible of the stars to break his shackles and reforge himself anew. Crafting an experimental new path is rife with dangers, but no kingdom of monsters and men is made without strife and sacrifice.

Hal and his Beast have been sundered in two. Done with sacrifices, Hal seeks greater monster powers and delves into the ancient magic of his world. With his wounds healing, his strength grows tremendously, opening up a new evolution of bonecrafting. To reforge his eldritch body, Besal, Hal's Beast, ventures into the depths of the Fathomway dungeons, chasing after the source of the land's corruption.

Introverted computer programmer Terry Williams’ life is not exciting. It never has been, and he is A-OK with that. So, the last thing he expects on a hiking trail at the park is for Truck-kun to roar up and vehicular homicide him straight into another world. When he wakes up with a head stuffed full of new information and people calling him the hero, he has to accept that his old world is lost to him. Of course, that doesn’t mean he needs to buy into this whole hero gig. Terry’s read enough isekai to know that’s a job best reserved for the most masochistic of suckers.

To claim his powers as Founder and secure their freedom, Hal and his cohort must fight to build a Sanctum where no other living kingdom dares to tread. The search for a Manaseed to serve as the Sanctum’s heart will take Hal and his caravan to distant, strange lands, and force them to weather vicious beasts and Manastorms alike. To survive the trials ahead, Hal crafts weapons enchanted with rare loot and sates his appetite for monster essences...all while struggling to balance the price of his corrupting, otherworldly powers and securing a foothold in an unforgiving land.

Two years ago, the perfect woman walked into my life—on the arm of my brother. From the moment I saw Trinity Lane, I wanted her. Despite the absolute contempt I have for my brother, there's a code, one I won't break. Not even the night she lands on my doorstep a quivering wreck and refuses to tell me a damn thing… Or when he comes looking for her with guilt in his eyes. Sometimes, our choices have a habit of exploding in our faces. None more so than the one I made by letting her walk away. It's the last mistake I'll make. I'll shatter all the rules to keep her safe—and keep us both alive.

Dominic Salvatore seemingly has everything a man could want. He's found a new relationship with his father and the entire Montgomery family. His vineyard, Cuppa di Vita, is a success. There's only one thing that eludes him: a certain driven, intelligent, and sexy as hell blonde named Alecia. Alecia works tirelessly building her event planning business. It's the most important part of her life. Despite the beautiful, lavish weddings she organizes, Alecia is convinced that the idea of true love is a myth.

What’s your worst day ever? Mine is getting fired and discovering my boyfriend cheating on me on the same day. At least, I thought that was as bad as it could get. It turns out I was wrong. Only someone with my kind of luck could arrive at an interview for a job I desperately need and then discover my potential new boss is the guy I drunk-kissed the other night. An unsolicited—and unwanted—kiss if the way he recoiled is any indication. I don’t expect him to offer me the job as a nanny to his seven-year-old daughter. I mean, who wants a drunken harlot taking care of something so precious?

If I wrote an autobiography about my life right now, I’d call it Blackmailed by the Billionaire. Ruthless, callous, and self-serving are the nicest words to describe the powerful CEO who wants what’s mine. He’ll use any method at his disposal to emerge victorious—including coercion. Too bad. He’ll soon learn I’m not like the others he’s manipulated to bend to his will. Those bully tactics won’t work on me. He has nothing of worth to offer. Until tragedy strikes and, like a vulture, he swoops in and rips apart my life.