San Antonio College Library

"Barkskins opens in New France in the late 18th century as Rene Sel, an illiterate woodsman makes his way from Northern France to the homeland to seek a living. Bound to a "seigneur" for three years in exchange for land, he suffers extraordinary hardship and violence, always in awe of the forest he is charged with clearing. In the course of this epic novel, Proulx tells the stories of Rene's children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, as well...

The planet Majipoor is shared by humans and several alien races, including four-armed Skandars, three-eyed Liiman, and the native, shape-shifting Metamorphs. All are watched over by the King of Dreams, the labyrinth-dwelling Pontifex, and the priestess of the Isle of Sleep, while the Coronal officially rules from atop Castle Mount. The Majipoor Cycle begins as young Valentine, a man with no memory, is hired as an apprentice juggler by a group of eccentric...

In the second volume in a trilogy set during the Trojan war, Agamemnon tightens his control of the lands around Troy, Achilles prepares to test his godlike strength in battle, and Odysseus is confronted with a terrible choice between friendship and honor.

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk--grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh--Miryem's...

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of...

So far the Foundation was safe. But there was a hidden Second Foundation to protect the first. The Mule has yet to find it, but he was getting closer all the time. The men of the Foundation sought it, too, to escape from Mule's mind control. Only Arkady, a 14 year-old girl seemed to have the answer, or did she ...?

The Mahabharata is at least 3500 years old. It is the longest poem in the world. It is a work of profound religious and cultural influence. The Mahabharata encompasses all the riches of Hindu religion and culture, from the noble scripture of The Bhagavad Gita to the scores of mythic tales of men and gods familiar to the lowliest of Indian peasants.

If Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to free himself is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic. Having spent eighteen years in humiliating servitude, Bjartur wants nothing more than to raise his flocks unbeholden to any man. But Bjartur's spirited daughter wants to live unbeholden to him. What ensues is a battle of wills that is by turns harsh and touching,...

Set in Egypt, more than a thousand years before Christ, it encompasses all of the then-known world. It is told by Sinhue, physician to the Pharaoh, and is the story of his life. Through his eyes are seen innumerable characters, fully drawn and covering the whole panorama of the ancient world.

Awarded the Soviet Union's highest military honor for his services during World War II, Ivan Dimitrovich Davidov watches his career dissolve into corrupt governnment practices and learns of the victimization of his former interpreter daughter, Olia.