Most Popular Books by Sean Williams

The Jedi move one step closer to saving the embattled galaxy— only to confront a formidable wall of resistance. The harrowing search for Zonama Sekot is finally over for Luke Skywalker, Jacen Solo, and the others aboard the Jade Shadow. But joy turns to alarm when the living planet sends a defiant message: it refuses to follow them back to a galaxy full of war, exploitation, and misery. While Luke works feverishly to persuade the elusive planet to reconsider, the Yuuzhan Vong launches a full-scale attack aimed at the heart of the new alliance. Sent to defend a major communications base, Han and Leia find themselves hopelessly outnumbered. Reinforcements are just too far away to help before everything is destroyed. So the courageous pair must now fight an unrelenting battle against staggering odds. Whether they actually survive is another matter. . . .

As the bloodied and weary galaxy faces battle once more, the Jedi take on the formidable task of bringing the last of the Empire into the light. . . . From the ashes of the New Republic—torn to shreds by the savage Yuuzhan Vong forces—the newly formed Galactic Alliance has risen, determined to bring peace to the entire galaxy. But first the Yuuzhan Vong must be contained once and for all. And so Luke Skywalker seeks a world long lost to legend: Zonama Sekot, a sentient planet believed to have repelled an invasion by the Yuuzhan Vong decades ago. Deciphering the enigmatic secrets of Zonama Sekot just might turn the tides of a relentless war. Aboard the Jade Shadow, Luke, his wife Mara, Jacen Solo, and other Jedi head off into the Unknown Regions, where rumors and clues suggest Zonama Sekot might be found. Yet the mission has barely begun when the searchers stumble into a horrific battle. The Imperial Remnant, in retreat from the mighty Yuuzhan Vong, is about to be destroyed. It would seem those aboard the Jade Shadow have little choice but to leave the Empire to its fate. But these are no ordinary space travelers, they are Jedi. . . .

Named one of New York Times Top-20 Cookbooks of 2006. Have you ever wanted to host a full evening of Indian food, culture, and music? How about preparing a traditional Balinese banquet? Or take a trip to Cairo and enjoy an Egyptian feast? The Ethnomusicologists'' Cookbook takes you around the world on a culinary journey that is also a cultural and social odyssey. Many cookbooks offer a snapshot of individual recipes from different parts of the world, but do nothing to tell the reader how different foods are presented together, or how to relate these foods to other cultural practices. For years, ethnomusicologists have visited the four corners of the earth to collect the music and culture of native peoples, from Africa to the Azores, from Zanzibar to New Zealand. Along the way, they''ve observed how music is an integral part of social interaction, particularly when it''s time for a lavish banquet or celebration. Foodways and cultural expression are not separate; this book emphasizes this connection through offering over thirty-five complete meals, from appetizers to entrees to side dishes to desserts and drinks. A list of recommended CDs fills out the culinary experience, along with hints on how to present each dish and to organize the overall meal. The Ethnomusicologists'' Cookbook combines scholarship with a unique and fun approach to the study of the world''s foods, musics, and cultures. More than just a cookbook, it is an excellent companion for anyone embarking on a cultural-culinary journey.

Long-standing foes must put aside their ancient grudges and deep-seated distrust to uncover and defeat a threat to the galaxy before it can escape its isolation—forcing Sith and Jedi to raise their lightsabers together. “When I look into you, I see no loyalty. . . . I sense only tangled allegiances. . . . Given a choice, I would never trust you.” From across the galaxy they’ve come: agents of both the Republic and the Sith Empire, an investigating Jedi Padawan, an ex-trooper drummed out of the Republic’s elite Blackstar Squad, and a mysterious Mandalorian. An extraordinary auction has drawn them all together—in quest of a prize only one can claim. Each is prepared to do what he must to possess the treasure, whose value may be the wealth of a world itself. No one intends to leave empty-handed. All have secrets, desires, and schemes. And nothing could ever unite them as allies—except the truth about the deadly danger of the object they covet. But can Sith and Jedi, Republic and Empire—enemies for millennia—join as one against the certain doom of the galaxy?

This book points out the undeniable similarities between the teachings of Jesus via the Gospel of Thomas, the psychedelic experience, mysticism, and the near death experience, to guide us down the road of life toward our ultimate destination, spiritual consciousness. The knowledge within this book can help you achieve for yourself what a lifetime of religion will fail to do for you.

Darth Vader’s young Sith apprentice will forge an unlikely alliance with a ruined Jedi Master seeking redemption as he ventures to destroy Emperor Palpatine. “The Sith always betray one another. . . . I’m sure you’ll learn that soon enough.” The overthrow of the Republic is complete. Absolute power now rests in the iron fist of Darth Sidious–the cunning Sith Lord better known as Emperor Palpatine.But more remains to be done. Pockets of resistance in the galaxy must still be defeated and missing Jedi accounted for . . . and dealt with. These crucial tasks fall to the Emperor’s ruthless enforcer, Darth Vader, who in turn has groomed a lethal, nameless Sith apprentice to secretly dispatch the last of his masters’ enemies. Since childhood, Vader''s nameless agent has known only the cold, mercenary creed of the Sith. His past is a void; his present, the carrying out of his deadly orders. But his future beckons like a glistening black jewel with the ultimate promise: to stand beside the only father he has ever known, with the galaxy at their feet. But there is one, in control of his master, that stands in the way. This acolyte’s journey will take him across the far reaches of the galaxy and test him with shattering revelations that strike at the very heart of all he believes, stirring within him long-forgotten hopes of reclaiming his name . . . and changing his destiny.

The dark side could not seduce him. The Empire could not control him. Death could not defeat him. And now, nothing can stop him from seizing his destiny. As ruthless apprentice to Darth Vader, Starkiller was mercilessly schooled in the ways of the dark side, commanded to exterminate the last of the purged Jedi Order, and groomed for the ultimate Sith power play: assassination of the Emperor. He served without question, killed without remorse, and lost his heart without warning to beautiful Imperial fighter pilot Juno Eclipse, never suspecting that he was just a tool in the schemes of his masters—until it was too late to escape their lethal betrayal. Juno mourned Starkiller as dead . . . but now he is back, purged of all memories and programmed to kill. And as fate brings Juno and Starkiller closer to reuniting, with Darth Vader determined not to lose his assassin a second time, they will both have to make a stand. The prize is freedom. The punishment for failing will be eternal enslavement to the dark side of the Force. . . .

Swift and deadly, the Yuuzhan Vong have blasted their way across the galaxy—and now stand on the threshold of total victory. Yet a courageous few still dare to oppose them. . . . Rife with hostile cultures and outright enemies, the Unknown Regions holds many perils for Luke Skywalker and the Jedi, searching for Zonama Sekot, the living planet that may hold the key to dealing once and for all with the Yuuzhan Vong. Meanwhile, on the edge of the galaxy and in the heart of a trusted ally, old enemies are stirring. The Yuuzhan Vong have inflamed long-forgotten vendettas that are even now building up to crisis point. And as Han and Leia journey on their quest to knit the unraveling galaxy back together, betrayal and deception await them. . . .

A unique, integrative, team-centered approach to writing and formatting technical documents Technical Professionals: Do you have difficulty producing high-quality documents with multiple contributors when faced with a tight deadline? Do you need a process that enables global team members to collaborate online as they produce sophisticated documents? Do you prefer the ease of a WYSIWG desktop publishing tool like Microsoft Word rather than more complex software like LaTeX? Professors and Graduate Students: Do you want to streamline the process of writing multi-investigator papers, reports, proposals, and books? Do you spend a lot of time formatting documents instead of thinking and writing? Do you write research papers in Microsoft Word and then need to convert them to LaTeX for your thesis? Do you write research papers in LaTeX and then need to convert them to Microsoft Word when embarking on collaborations with your colleagues from industry? Undergraduate Students: Do you need to write a research paper and don''t know where to start? Do you need to collaborate with classmates on a long paper and find yourself lost in organizational details rather than immersed in the content? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, Technical Writing for Teams: The STREAM Tools Handbook is for you. It provides an easy-to-learn system that streamlines individual and collaborative writing, allowing you and your teams to instantly become more productive and create the highest quality documents in a minimum amount of time. Introduced here are the STREAM Tools—Scientific and Technical wRiting, Editing, And file Management Tools—which unlock your collaborators'' potential and addresses team dynamics, separation of duties, and workflow. You''ll see how to ensure compatibility among multiple writers, achieve consistent formatting, organize content, integrate bibliographic databases, automate the process of document preparation, and move content between Microsoft Word and LaTeX. Checklists, guidelines, and success stories are also included to help you operate as efficiently as possible. From planning and editing documents to solving common team writing problems to managing workflow, Technical Writing for Teams: The STREAM Tools Handbook is the one-stop reference that allows teams to collaborate successfully and create unified, effective documents.

Morgan Roche is a renegade, fleeing the agents she used to work for in the Commonwealth of Empires. Her quest to understand Adoni Cane has led her to a terrible truth. He is one of a breed of genetically enhanced warriors that once terrorized the galaxy. And there might be more of them, waking up to begin fighting anew. AN INTERSTELLAR TRAP: A whole solar system has disappeared, wiped from the universe in an attempt to snare just one super-soldier like Cane. In an attempt to come to grips with her enemy, Morgan Roche and The Box travel willingly into the trap, but find themselves ensnared in ever-thicker tangles of deception and intrigue. Who is The Box, and is what its agenda, really? The answer will rock Roche''s world right down to the foundations. "I''m not sure what an Evergence is, but finding out promises to provide hours of fun." --Locus "Genre-savvy and capably written, full of adventure and Asimovian imperial vistas" --Asimov''s "Full of adventure of Asimovian imperial vistas. Delivers tons of action...Offers wide-screen baroque plotting never out-of-control. With echoes of vintage Jack Williamson and Poul Anderson, as well as Niven, Asimov, and Vinge, Williams and Dix proudly continue a vital tradition in SF." --Analog Nominated for the Aurealis Award

Morgan Roche, commander in the intelligence arm of the Commonwealth Empires, has been charged with protecting the AI known as The Box on a secret voyage across the galaxy. But en route her ship is ambushed by the Dato Bloc, and she is forced to crash-land on a nearby prison planet. MAROONED ON SCIACCA''S WORLD: Battling deadly inmates and treacherous guards, she fights her way through a hostile environment toward her only hope of escape, the mysterious Adoni Cane at her side. A genetically enhanced warrior with a past not even he can fathom, he could be the savior of the human race, or its downfall--but either way, Morgan Roche won''t survive without him... "THE PRODIGAL SUN is a close-knit personal story told on a galaxy-sized canvas. Filled with action as well as intriguing ideas." --Kevin J Anderson "With echoes of vintage Jack Williamson and Poul Anderson, as well as Niven, Asimov and Vinge, Williams and Dix proudly continue a vital tradition, proving SF as diverse a field as ever." --Asimov''s "[A] very satisfying classic Golden Age-style yarn.... strongly recommended" --Locus "Space opera of the ambitious, galaxy-spanning sort... fast and furious action." --New York Review of SF

The ruins of Sol System have been empty for thousands of years. A place of death and mystery, it is shunned by all--until now. DEADLINE TO DESTRUCTION: Renegade intelligence agent Morgan Roche arrives hot on the heels of the clone warriors--enemies she has been charged by the High Humans to stop before they destroy everything. What she finds--the largest fleet assembled in half a million years, with no central authority, no-one in charge--threatens to stretch her resources beyond their limit. There, under the light of the star called Sol, Morgan Roche will uncover the final truth about the AI called The Box, about the man called Adoni Cane, and about the High Human called the Crescend. That truth will cost her dearly... "Space opera of the ambitious, galaxy-spanning sort" --New York Review of SF "Space opera, like its grand musical cousin, couldn''t exist without duplicity, ambition, lust, stupidity, and greed, and by the time the fat lady sings, whole worlds can be laid waste - and, oddly enough, it''s this recognition of pain and evil as the generating forces of adventure that make A Dark Imbalance so satisfying." --Locus "A story that twists and turns back on itself and keeps the reader always off-balance. There is danger, adventure and a labyrinth of loyalties. Excellent." --SF Site Winner of the Aurealis Award. (Formerly published as A DARK IMBALANCE)

In Music at the Threshold from the Sacred to the Dangerous, author Sean Williams explores the connection of liminality to musical culture by focusing on how performance practices tend to occur at liminal places and times, and often by potentially marginalized people who are, in fact, central to the expression of cultural identity. Williams highlights issues of access and interdisciplinarity and shows how people use music to facilitate transformation in culturally bound ways. Featuring themes of access to the unknown, dual faith, erotic power, longing for home, transgression, and resistance, each chapter draws from an array of musical settings and cultural traditions that, considered on their own, might not be as remarkable without seeing the greater picture. Rather than focus on a single genre in a single place, this meta-ethnography casts a wide thematic net across genres, regions, and people. The erotic allure of the female-coded being who sings men to a watery death differs from the nostalgic allure evoked in the hearts and minds of immigrants by the music and foods of home, but an internal ache exists regardless. From sounds and rituals used to connect to the ancestors with music used by those who practice more than one religion, the sacred looms large in both vernacular and mainstream practices. The twin dangers of transgression and resistance-whether by musically thriving while being both queer and Black or performing hip hop in an endangered language-bring to light acts that celebrate strength and honor cultural practices. Liminal moments, or lifetimes, that are sacred, alluring, or dangerous appear again and again to remind us of the centrality of music in our lives.

On the brink of extinction, a suicide mission is humanity''s last hope. The Gifts of an alien race called the Spinners gave Peter Alander hope for the future of humanity. All the Gifts did, though, was draw down the wrath of the Starfish, another alien race apparently intent on wiping out all forms of competition. Caught between the two, humanity faces the hard decision of evolving into something else entirely simply to survive. As their new alien allies prepare to leave human space forever, a handful of survivors band together to make one last attempt to communicate with their enemies. A single ship will leap into the very heart of the Starfish fleet, attempting to find reason where none exists... "Space opera can be a very comforting, cozy mode, with its interstellar empires and royalty and guilds. But when dramatic Darwinian forces are brought into play, as here, space opera can become a kind of bracing, near-apocalyptic tale." —Paul di Filippo "A melodramatic (or space-operatic) take on Stapledon, a grittier, bleaker take on Clarke.... a vision very different from the triumphalism of traditional SF adventure, but its darkness seems entirely appropriate to the twenty-first century we actually inhabit." —Locus Nominated for the Aurealis Award.

Focus: Irish Traditional Music, Second Edition introduces the instrumental and vocal musics of Ireland, its diaspora in North America, and its Celtic neighbors while exploring the essential values underlying these rich musical cultures and placing them in broader historical and social context. With both the undergraduate and graduate student in mind, the text weaves together past and present, bringing together important ideas about Irish music from a variety of sources and presenting them, in three parts, within interdisciplinary lenses of history, film, politics, poetry, and art: I. Irish Music in Place and Time provides an overview of the island’s musical history and its relationship to current performance practice. II. Music Traditions Abroad and at Home contrasts the instrumental and vocal musics of the "Celtic Nations" (Scotland, Wales, Brittany, etc.) and the United States with those of Ireland. III. Focusing In: Vocal Music in Irish-Gaelic and English identifies the great songs of Ireland’s two main languages and explores the globalization of Irish music. New to this edition are discussions of those contemporary issues reflective of Ireland’s dramatic political and cultural shifts in the decade since first publication, issues concerning equity and inclusion, white nationalism, the Irish Traveller community, hip hop and punk, and more. Pedagogical features—such as discussion questions, a glossary, a timeline of key dates, and expanded references, as well as an online soundtrack—ensure that readers of Focus: Irish Traditional Music, Second Edition will be able to grasp Ireland''s important social and cultural contexts and apply that understanding to traditional and contemporary vocal and instrumental music today.