Home Arts-Entertainment Showcase At Dockside: Fantasy, Fiction, a Journalist's 'China, Inc.' and UVI's New 'Seasoning for the Mortar'

At Dockside: Fantasy, Fiction, a Journalist's 'China, Inc.' and UVI's New 'Seasoning for the Mortar'

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Here is where you will find what's new at St. Thomas' well-known, well-read Dockside Bookshop at Havensight Mall. Every week you will find new titles to peruse. Look for updates of our "picks" for fiction and nonfiction and, at the end of the reviews, a "Top Ten" of new fiction paperbacks, including UVI's new anthology, "Seasoning for the Mortar."
STORE HOURS
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tuesday and Friday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Phone: 340-774-4937
E-mail: [email protected]
"Rose of the World" (Book 3 of Fool's Gold) by Jude Fisher.
DAW Books, fiction fantasy hardcover, 592 p. $23.95
Since the dawn of time on the world of Elda, three powerful magical beings controlled the balance of their world and everything in it. The people and creatures of Elda lived in harmony and peace through the support of three godlike entities: the Woman, the Man, and the Beast.
But far in the past the protective balance of the Three was disrupted by the greed and lust of one man-master of magic, through cunning and avarice managed to imprison the male god and steal away the other two: the Woman and the Beast. Removing their memories for his own base purposes, he secluded himself in the arctic fortress of Sanctuary and for hundreds of years enjoyed his prizes in private.
Now Elda is divided into two warring nations: Eyra and Istria. The men and women of the rugged northern isles of Eyra are a proud and strong people. Honed by centuries spent in a harsh, unforgiving climate, they too have become harsh and unforgiving. They worship a male sea god, Sur, whom they believe dwells on the ocean floor, yet in their egalitarian society, women choose their husbands, and can also choose to dissolve their marriages. Women can take up trades, sail great northern longboats, and are in all ways the equals of men.
However in southern Istria, things are quite the reverse. The Istrians worship a fire goddess, Falla, whom they believe was birthed, with her feline familiar, from a volcano in the Golden Mountains. Women in their society have no power, and must remain veiled at all times: shrouded in garments that leave only their mouths and hands visible. Considered property, they are relegated to the world of carnal pleasure, to be used and disposed of in any way the men of their society wish. Any who rebel are "cleansed " in the fires of Falla.
However, after three centuries, Rahe became overconfident, and has lost his two greatest prizes. Loosed in the world once more, the Rosa Eldi, most strange and extraordinary of women, is slowly regaining her memories, while her male counterpart begins to stir and her cat, Bete, stretches the newfound claws of her true form.
But though most of her memories have been lost, the Rosa Eldi is still a powerful creature. And while she is by nature benign, she has been made dangerous by the fact that she has no understanding of her magical abilities. Deadly magical talismans are created by her touch, and lust-crazed men from both the north and the south go to war hoping to claim this enigmatic woman who inspires unquenchable passion in every man who sees her.
Meanwhile, in his frozen fortress, Rahe plots to regain his lost treasure, using three men he has imbued with unusual powers – the Giant, the Madman, and the Fool – to do his magical bidding.
Can the "Rose of the World" discover her true identity, unite with her divine co-regents and restore her world? Or will man's baser nature triumph and bring ruin to Elda forever?
"China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World" by Ted C. Fishman Scribner Book Co., nonfiction hardcover, 352 pp. $26.00.
China today is visible everywhere — in the news, in the economic pressures battering America, in the workplace, and in every trip to the store. Provocative, timely, and essential, this dramatic account of China's growing dominance as an industrial superpower by journalist Ted C. Fishman explains how the profound shift in the global economic order has occurred – and why it already affects us all.
How has an enormous country once hobbled by poverty and Communist ideology come to be the supercharged center of global capitalism? What does it mean that China now grows three times faster than the United States? That China uses 40 percent of the world's concrete and 25 percent of its steel? What is the global impact of 300 million rural Chinese walking off their farms and heading to the cities in the greatest migration in human history? Why do nearly all of the world's biggest companies now have large-scale operations in China? What does the corporate march into China mean for workers left behind in America, Europe, and the rest of the world?
Meanwhile, what makes China's emerging corporations so dangerously competitive? What could happen when China will be able to manufacture nearly "everything" – computers, cars, jumbo jets, and pharmaceuticals – that the United States and Europe can, at perhaps half the cost? How do these developments reach around the world and straight into the lives of all Americans?
These are ground-shaking questions, and "China, Inc." provides answers. Veteran journalist and former commodities trader Ted C. Fishman paints a vivid picture of the megatrends radiating out of China. Fishman's account begins with the burgeoning output of China's vast low-cost factories and the swelling appetite of its 1.3 billion consumers, both of which are being driven by historically unprecedented infusions of foreign capital and technological know-how. Traveling through China's frenetic landscape of growth, Fishman visits the factories, markets, streets, stores, towns, and cities where the story of Chinese capitalism is being lived by one-fifth of all humanity. Fishman also draws on interviews with Chinese, American, and European workers, managers, and executives to show how China will force all of us to make big changes in how we think about ourselves as consumers, workers, citizens, and even as parents. The result is a richly engaging work of penetrating, up-to-the-minute reportage and brilliant analysis that will forever change how readers think about America's future.
"The Best-Kept Secret" by Kimberla Lawson Roby.
William Morrow, fiction hardcover, 272 p. $23.95
Following the phenomenally popular "Casting the First Stone" and "Too Much of a Good Thing" comes a mesmerizing tale featuring rascally preacher Curtis Black.
Too good to be true …
It was love to hate at first sight when Kimberla Lawson Roby's readers met the Reverend Curtis Black, surely one of the cleverest ministers ever to set foot in a church. Now Curtis is starting over. He has a new job as founder and minister of Deliverance Outreach, a new wife (again), and a newfound will to follow the straight and narrow path of righteousness.

True love versus passion …
Or so he thinks. While his spirit may be willing, the wayward preacher has a particular weakness when it comes to female flesh. Curtis has never made a promise he could keep, and before long, he's tempted to be up to his old tricks. The difference now is his third wife, Charlotte, mother of his 7-year-old son, Matthew, and a woman unlike any he's ever encountered. For the first time in his life, Curtis just might have met his match. Charlotte has her own hidden desires and is every bit Curtis's equal.

Secrets always have a way of surfacing …
Struggling to make their marriage work, Curtis and Charlotte may have finally found the strength to stay together. But just when it looks like life for the Black family is getting back to normal, an explosive surprise ending will leave readers stunned
.
Shhhh … Don't tell.

Top Ten New Fiction Paperbacks

1. "Hate Crime" by William Bernhardt, $6.99
2. "The Last Days" by Joel C. Rosenberg, $7.99
3. "Pandemic" by Daniel Kalla, $7.99
4. "The Death of Kings" (Emperor, book 2) by Conn Iggulden, $6.99
5. "Whisker of Evil" by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown, $7.50
6. "Monday Mourning" by Kathy Reichs, $7.99
7. "In the Paint" by Philana Marie Boles, $13.95
8. "Seasoning for the Mortar: Virgin Islanders Writing in The Caribbean Writer Vol. 1-15" edited by Marvin E. Williams, $17.95
(

Editor's note: Look right here in the Showcase section for a detailed study of this work.)
9. "Be Careful What You Wish For" by Cheryl Faye, $15.00
10. "Too Much of A Good Thing" by Kimberla Lawson Roby, $12.95
We will gladly order any books you want. E-mail us at [email protected], or call 340-774-4937.
STORE HOURS
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tuesday and Friday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Phone: 340-774-4937
E-mail: [email protected]

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