Bøger af Richard Parks

Humorous anecdotes of the life of a firefighter helps soften the intensity of various incidents and build camaraderie.

Talking to the dead......that's the easy part.Understanding what they're telling you? That's where things get tricky.Eli Mothersbaugh is the top field agent for an under-funded, over-extended government organization known as the Bureau of Bio-Remnant Reconciliation. It's Eli's job to keep the peace between the living and the dead, and the dead aren't always the problem nor the living always the victims.A tough assignment, made worse by the fact people are often misguided, secretive, stubborn, and difficult. Dying, apparently, doesn't change that.Who knew death could be so complicated?Eli did. What's he's about to discover is just how dangerous getting between the living and the dead can be. These twelve stories of paranormal adventure will leave you wanting more!

Short and sweet...Or short, bad-tempered, with teeth.There are 21 puzzle-pieces of fantasy flash fiction in this collection by master storyteller Richard Parks, and with each one, you never know which sort you're going to get. And even the ones with a sting in their tails have a song in their hearts. In other words, they're all worth the read.Especially the ones with teeth.Now take a chance and have some fun with this clever collection.

When the Goddess Wakes......the World Ends.The Dreamers of the Temple have kept the goddess' sleep undisturbed for thousands of years, and the world of her creation safe. At least until a strange man comes to a young priestess named Joslyn for an oracle dream and so reveals a deadly secret. A secret that could destroy their world.A secret which Joslyn now shares.Soon Joslyn and the man called Ghost are on the run, both from her former masters at the temple and deadly, unstoppable assassins who strike in dreams. What could be worse?They're about to find out. To fulfil his lust for power, one madman is perfectly willing to sacrifice all of Creation, and only Joslyn and Ghost can stop him.Together they must risk a dangerous quest through both the waking and dreaming worlds to determine the fate of the world...if they live long enough.Why not come along?

A Dead Guy and an ex-Valkyrie......they make a great team. Jake Hallman may have shuffled off his mortal coil but he's a long way from finished. He stubbornly refuses to stop learning and searching for understanding instead of meekly accepting his eternal reward like a proper soul, and there are consequences for that. Now no Afterlife can contain him. Not that he doesn't try out a few, just for size. When he joins forces with Freya (no, not that Freya), ex-Valkyrie and Valhalla malcontent, there's no stopping them. Join Jake and Freya on a quest to discover if there is any place in the cosmos where a spirit can be truly free. You're love Hereafter, and After, since what's better than a quest for ultimate meaning that doesn't sacrifice your sense of humor?Get your adventure on!Praise for Hereafter, and After"Hereafter, and After is a story that would have made Robert Nathan or James Branch Cabell proud." Charles de Lint, F&SF"Parks' debonair, completely amusing take on immortality." ̶ Ray Olson, Booklist"Wonderfully irreverent." -Holly Schmidt

The dead are rising in the town of Canemill. Shambling corpses? Gossamer ghosts? No, it's worse. Much, much worse. The dead are coming back exactly as they were. With all their debts to collect, attachments to renew, and old scores to settle. As Tom Anders discovers when his dead wife Jane comes to visit: Tom recognized her. He recognized the wedding ring she wore. She had been buried wearing it. "You didn't ask the question, but you do want it answered," she said. "Touch me." Tom follows Janie back to the cemetery and meets a creature of myth and legend with the appearance of a young woman, a woman the street people call "Graveyard Mariah." Something about her is strangely familiar, as is the red scarf she wears. Tom knows he's seen both before, but the connection is maddeningly elusive. Soon, the dead will overwhelm the living all over the world, and Canemill will merely be the first to go. Can Tom find the answer in time? And at what cost? Read The Blood Red Scarf and find out.

"You worship a God. With a Power, you negotiate."-- Black Kath's Tally Book When Marta's sorceress mother dies suddenly, it is the young and almost completely unprepared Marta who must assume the debt her mother owed to the Power called Amaet. With her mother's own magical servants in revolt and opportunistic enemies on the move, matters go from bad to worse. Armed only with her knowledge of the First Law and her mother's tally book, Marta would count herself lucky to survive, never mind contend face to face with a Power. Yet contend she must, provided, of course, she can stay alive long enough. Set five hundred years after the events in The Long Look, Black Kath's Daughter is the story of a different sort of magician in search of her own destiny, and the kind of life her mother never had.

Embark on a journey into the shadows with Jin, a young legal aide who unwittingly stumbles into a mysterious alley-one she should have avoided. In a seemingly mundane town where nothing extraordinary happens, Jin discovers her extraordinary destiny as the Goddess of Mercy. Little did she know, the divine responsibility comes with a backlog of cosmic paperwork and a crash course in distinguishing between mercy and kindness.As Jin grapples with her newfound role, meet her eclectic team of assistants: Ling, an ancient dragon princess cloaked in the guise of a snarky teenage girl, and Shan Cai, also known as Frank-the Eternal Innocent. Frank has issues.The fate of the entire cosmos hangs in the balance as Jin finds herself standing before the Gates of Hell, tasked with the monumental challenge of organizing the underworld for a properly functioning universe. Can she rise to the occasion, or will chaos ensue?This captivating tale weaves through twists, turns, and a reunion with a powerful ex from another lifetime. Brace yourself for a rollercoaster of emotions, cosmic dilemmas, and even a few laughs along the way. Join Jin on this extraordinary adventure-because the cosmos waits for no one. Are you ready?

Should a nice human girl marry an actual ogre?Who sits in judgment when the defendant is a god? And just why is there always one old shoe lying beside the road? Mere hints of the mysteries explored-and usually answered-in fifteen stories of wit and wonder: The Ogre's Wife: Fairy Tales for Grownups, with a perceptive and entertaining introduction by master fantasist Parke Godwin. Get your copy and join the fun! Praise for The Ogre's Wife: "... an absolute treasure of a collection, one that I know I will return to again and again." Charles de Lint, F&SF "Deceptively simple, earnest, and tragicomic, Parks' tales convey deep truths beneath narratives that tumble along like limpid streams." Paul Di Filippo, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine "...like discovering an ancient, wise Zen master gassing up at a service station...: transcendence in the midst of the ordinary and down-to-earth..." Terry McGarry, Author of the Illumination Trilogy

Yamada Monogatari (Yamada's Saga) continues in eight stories never before collected, two original to this book. The Tiger's Turn: Yamada is called to solve a series of murders, both supernatural and not.The Sorrow of Rain: Is a Rain Spirit destroying a village's harvest? Or perhaps it isn't that simple.Three Little Foxes: Fox-Spirits, to be precise. Why are they haunting a nobleman's garden?Uzumaki of the Lake: Is there a ghost? A water spirit? And why is a whirlpool forming in the middle of the lake?A Simple Exorcism: Hint: Perhaps not as simple as first believed.The Ame Onna: A different kind of rain spirit.The Fox's Daughter: It's difficult enough to deal with an ordinary teenager, but one that is also a shape shifting fox?Epilogue: One Rainy Day, With Spirits: There's something strange about the little girl Yamada's daughter wants to play with. Get your copy now!

It's normal to fear a ghost. What's not normal is marrying one.Xu Jian is just a poor scholar. An official post in the north of the country is a great opportunity. It is also a great danger. The road north is infested with bandits, and worse, it winds through a land of spirits.Ghosts crave a human's life force like the thirsty are drawn to water. When he inadvertently trespasses on the tomb of the beautiful Lady Green Willow and her servants, he is doomed.Or, perhaps not.Lady Green Willow is a gentle spirit who does not want to harm Xu Jian, yet her nature as a ghost doesn't leave any option.Until he offers her one: marry him. Take his life force only in small doses which he can replenish, until the balance of her yin and yang energy is restored.In short, make her human again.A wild plan, but will it work?Even if it does, how will they survive the attention of a greedy king who wants the only possession Lady Green Willow retains from her past life, the one and only thing she cannot give up without being utterly destroyed?Perhaps a smart ghost and a smart human, together, might find a way. Maybe.Get this stirring novelette and see for yourself.

Does identity equal destiny? For the fae it does. Whether banshee, hob, or pixie, you are born into a role and you play it. Like it or not. Nudd is a pooka tired of playing pranks. That all changes when Aednat the Banshee shows up with a bloody shirt. Yes, a human is going to die. The question is not 'who' but 'why'? Against his better judgment, Aednat persuades Nudd to play one last trick. One trick too many. Now Nudd and Aednat and a Nightmare named Mera are summoned by the Queen of Fairie and given a simple but impossible task-to lift the curse that binds the fae to their roles in relation to and depending on the human world. In short, give the fae a destiny all their own. Can a pooka, a banshee, and a nightmare do the impossible? Without killing each other? Will drinking be involved? And what do the Norns, Merlin (yes, that Merlin) and a Nine-Tail Fox have to do with anything? The answers lie in the novella Little Fire & Fog. Read it and see for yourself.

Fishing Yellowstone National Park is the definitive access guide for the Park's angling opportunities

Richard Parks has what must be one of contemporary sport's most extraordinary and inspirational stories. Soon after he turned thirty, the professional career in rugby that had been his life for over a decade was cut short by injury, leaving him faced with an uncertain future. But unlike many other young athletes, Richard decided to tackle his fears, anxiety and depression head on, taking inspiration from Ranulph Fiennes and a line from his grandmother's eulogy - "e;The horizon is only the limit of our sight"e; and setting out on challenges that have become part of his everyday life.Richard created history with his first endeavour - the 737 Challenge - by becoming the first person to conquer the highest mountain on each of the world's continents and venture to both the North and South Poles within seven months. Then in 2013 he tackled three hugely challenging events - an ultramarathon through the Peruvian jungle, the world's highest mountain bike race, and a double iron man triathlon in Snowdonia - in preparation for an even more extraordinary challenge: to record the fastest solo, unsupported and unassisted journey to the South Pole. These three challenges and the Antarctic speed record quest that saw Richard ski 11 hours a day enduring perishing conditions, broken skis and spending Christmas and New Year alone on the ice, were all filmed for a major four-part series to be broadcast on Channel 5 later this year.Beyond the Horizon is an amazing, inspiring, and exciting story for armchair adventurers, extreme sports and mountaineering fans alike.

Lord Yamada is called away--one last time--from his newly restored estates in Kamakura to help Prince Kanemore ensure that Princess Teiko's son, Takahito, inherits the Chrysanthemum Throne. Unfortunately, assuming the throne proves to be the easy part. Yamada must then help Takahito renounce that throne in such a way as to hobble the power of the Fujiwara clan forever!