Showing results by author "Dante" in All Categories

After enduring a turbulent year in 1995, Vince McMahon was looking to rebuild his sinking empire in 1996. He had high hopes for a new World Wrestling Federation flag bearer, Shawn Michaels - the man he was looking to as the leader of the WWF’s "New Generation". With Michaels supported by a strong cast of established characters, some old faces, and an influx of new blood, McMahon fully expected the WWF to dominate rivals WCW in the burgeoning Monday Night War. It did not work out that way.

Have you ever heard the sounds of Hell? Felt the darkness and the ice? Tasted the burnt air on your tongue? Dante’s Inferno will give you a flavor of the wretchedness of sin that you will never forget. The images and action that bring you down into the very center of judgment and consequence, into that eternal realm of woe, will stick to the ribcages of your mind, and change the way you see the world, the devil, and your own flesh.

With the festivities in Timbermere underway, Valdis Wolfbane and his cohort of lovely ladies are off to the Spring Faire. Valdis is expecting trouble, for that’s the way his grizzled warrior’s mind works after years of fighting and warring. But the trouble he’s likely to find is in the form of his greatest weakness: a pretty face.

I thought I'd left my old life behind me. But then I found myself with a job I couldn't refuse - a counselor at Beldame, a mysterious manor with even more mysterious guests. These guests have problems, which they want me to solve. Professionally, I could deal with humans and their issues - my massive student debt was evidence of that. But these guests aren't human. At least not entirely.

I have been separated by my companions, left far to the north of civilization. My quest is a simple one: Find a dragon and bond with it. However simple this quest may seem, it is exceedingly difficult. Not only that, but my companions have been called to the goblin city of Geriarc to do battle with the undead, led by shadowlords. All the while, evil festers in the Jade Bastion. First things first; I must tame a dragon, then I will deal with the undead scourge and the evil that has taken root in my new home.

The devil paid me a visit and said I was going to one day rule his demonic kingdom. The catch: I have to attend the Infernal Academy, located in none other than Hell itself. Thankfully, I won’t be doing it alone. I’m going to surround myself with powerful demonesses (and maybe an angel or two as well).

Turns out that being the only human candidate for the next Archlord of Hell means I'm kind of special. Sure, there are some good things (a whole lot of good things, if I'm honest), but now I'm attending not only one supernatural academy but two. Twice the classes. Twice the antics. Twice the women. Celestial Academy here we come.

When Alex Kaine scores a job with a small but lucrative travel agency, he discovers its secret: that Mystic Getaways actually controls the Mystic Gateways, a series of portals that open wormholes to dramatically altered, far-flung versions of our own world.

After the death of a grandfather he never knew, Caleb Holdstock inherits a mysterious mansion. The place needs a lot of work if its to be liveable, but the truly strange thing about it is what's in the basement. A doorway drawn in chalk. It seems harmless at first, until a midnight encounter with a silver-haired elf proves that this doorway is, in fact, the entrance to another world. With knowledge of a magical world beyond Earth, Caleb's life will never be the same again. And the best thing about it? He can travel back and forth freely.

Blake Ritson, David Warner, Hattie Morahan and John Hurt star in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Dante's epic poem. Inferno: Thirty-five year old Dante finds himself in the middle of a dark wood, in extreme personal and spiritual crisis. Hope of rescue appears in the form of the venerable poet Virgil, now a shade himself, who offers to lead Dante on an odyssey through the afterlife, beginning in the terrifying depths of Hell.

Stealing from a mage was both the best and worst thing I had ever done. After being caught, I was named a criminal and sent to a prison known as the Jade Bastion. Located at the Edge of the World, this prison carries a secret. Those inmates who have magical abilities are trained in the most powerful magic known to the empire: battle magic. To survive, I will need to discover a secret I didn't know I possessed. I can become more powerful through bonding with the other beautiful, magically inclined inmates.

Toby Adams saved the world once before. Now he must do it again. The catch? This world isn’t Earth. It’s Eclipsia, a fantasy realm Toby visited as a kid. And he’s having a bit of trouble remembering how he accomplished his world-saving mission the first time. Magic was involved, he’s sure of that. Powerful companions, too. Possibly even a magical weapon of some kind.

Only David Montague, billionaire inventor, stands in their way. With the ability to read auras, he’s amassed for himself wealth and power, but now his ability will be turned toward more noble ends: defending humanity.

The last thing I expected was to gain the spells of the woman in my bed. Hell, I didn't even know magic existed until I'd cast a spell that morning. Then a beautiful teacher from a magical academy told me I could become the universe's most powerful mage. To get there, I need to become stronger. I need to ace all my examinations. And, most of all, I need to master the most potent spells. But I have to start somewhere.

Now of that second kingdom I shall sing where human souls are purified of sin and made worthy to ascend to Heaven’ Purgatory is the second part of Dante’s The Divine Comedy ascending the terraces of the Mount of Purgatory inhabited by those doing penance to expiate their sins on earth. There are the proud – forced to circle their terrace for aeons bent double in humility; the slothful – running around crying out examples of zeal and sloth; while the lustful are purged by fire.

The epic grandeur of Dante's masterpiece has inspired readers and listeners for 700 years and has entered the human imagination. But the further we move from the late medieval world of Dante, the more a rich understanding and enjoyment of the poem depends on knowledgeable guidance.

The Splinter came, and the world ended. Ryne Miller woke up five hundred years later. Now, all alone and with no one he knew left alive, he chances across humans among the concrete wilderness. And these aren't people like him. No, these are stone-age like tribespeople - three women whose tribe has been slaughtered by a Great Beast.

I thought the last thing I would have expected while working at the mall during the holiday season was to meet a real elf woman. Then the blue-skinned ogre tore through the mall. The elf and I made a quick escape and ended up in a strange fantasy world. Now, I’m finding out that the elves have been in decline for centuries and are being hunted to extinction for their magical abilities. They need someone to help them. Someone to protect them. Someone with magical powers that could make elves strong like they used to be.

After thwarting the plans of the dastardly Duke Diddle, Toby and his party find themselves fending off incessant attacks from the villain’s monsters. To break this uneasy stalemate, Toby resolves to master his magic and seek out the aid of an old ally. If he is successful, he might be able to take the fight to Diddle… unless Diddle enacts his own nefarious schemes first.

This critically acclaimed translation was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award given by the Academy of American Poets. Well versed, rapid, and various in style, the Inferno is narrated by Pinsky and three other leading poets: Seamus Heaney, Frank Bidart, and Louise Glück.