The Villain: A Portrait of Don Whillans

Description

Brawling, hard-drinking, hellman—Don Whillans’ reputation was as wide as the Yosemite big walls and as high as the Himalayan peaks he risked his life to scale.

·Whillans has an iconic significance for generations of climbers
·His epochmaking first ascent of Annapurna’s South Face set a standard to which modern Himalayan climbers aspire
·Whillans reputation for toughness led to complete strangers punching him in bars, just to see how he’d take it

At age 20, Whillans was 5ft. 4in. tall, a blue collar guy with the build of a miniature Atlas. Within a year of entering the climbing world in 1950 he had acquired parallel reputations of great skill and daring on the one hand, and as a hell-raiser with a savage wit on the other—the Villain of the title, who was denied a Knighthood because of a violent brawl with several policemen. His world was miles away from the upper-crust environment of the well-heeled climbers who had for so long dominated the sport, and this itself led to tensions throughout his life. Whillans exuded an aura of invincibility—forceful, direct, and uncompromising. And in the climbing world, his image was that of a superstar, with the flawed heroism of a Muhammad Ali. In his own circle, his image was the working class hero on the rock-face, laconic and bellicose, ready to go to war with the elements or with any human who crossed his path on a bad day.

Unlike many other climbers of his day, Whillans was a regular guy. He wasn’t physically impressive and, in his later years, he let himself go seriously to seed. (Elizabeth Hawley didn’t believe so fat a man could really be a climber.) He was a very competitive climber, and yet he was also willing to risk his life helping others. While he was, in many ways, the archetypal British climber, he also did important climbs in Europe, the Himalaya, South America and Yosemite. Whillans wasn’t an easy man to get to know, but The Villain takes its readers into his world and explores his character as no other book has done.

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The Raistlin Chronicles

Description

Discover the origins of one of the most intriguing characters in Dragonlance®, Raistlin Majere.

Before he became a Hero of the Lance, Raistlin Majere forged his magic in the Towers of Wizardry and on the field of war. From The New York Times best-selling author Margaret Weis, and co-author Don Perrin, The Raistlin Chronicles reveals the origins of Dragonlance’s ultimate anti-hero and other much-loved characters.

This omnibus edition collects the books The Soulforge and Brothers in Arms.

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Hung Out (Mag Force)

Description

Many years before he formed the Mag Force 7 team of commandos-for-hire, Xriswas a government agent, betrayed by one of his own while invesigating the galaxy-wide crime explosion which killed his partner and left him a cyborg. Now, while the rest of the Mag Force 7 is on a mission to overthrow a small planet's despot, Xris has been set up on false charges and sent to a prison planet where he's blackmailed into helping the Hung leaders escape. But who engineered Xris' imrisonment and why? And can he find the answers without getting himself killed...

Margaret Weis is the author of 12 New YorkTimes bestsellers Margaret Weis is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times bestselling author Fast-paced action and dialogue appeals tospace opera readership Hung Out is the third book in the Mag Force 7 series following Knights of the Black Earth and Robot Blues Knights of the Black Earth is a Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club Margaret Weis and Don Perrin have their own website.

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The Knights of the Black Earth: A Mag Force 7 Novel

Description

Seeking revenge against the traitor who made him into a cyborg, Xris, the leader of the mercenary team Mag Force 7, is thwarted by the Knights of the Black Earth, a deadly fanatical group. Reprint. AB. PW.

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Don't Turn Your Back in the Barn

Description

The book is an account of my first 8 months in veterinary practice. It is a humorous account of the people and animals that I dealt with in that time.

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Sovereign Stone Game Master Screen

Description

This three-fold Game Master's Screen is a beautiful add-on product for your Sovereign Stone game. It provides a view of all the necessary tables and charts to play the game, along with a host of pre-made characters that can be used by the Game Master whenever needed. The outside is a full-color map of the continent. Included is an adventure to get the players going in your new campaign of Sovereign Stone. A 32-page adventure booklet is also included.

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