The Mahabharata endures as the great epic of India. While Jaya tells the story of the Pandavas from the victors' perspective, Ajaya narrates the tale of the ‘unconquerable’ Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man.

At the heart of India's most powerful empire, a revolution is brewing. Bhishma, the noble patriarch of Hastinapura, struggles to maintain unity. On the throne sits Dhritarashtra, the blind King, and his foreign-born Queen, Gandhari. In the shadow of the throne stands Kunti, the Dowager-Queen, burning with ambition for her firstborn to be acknowledged as the ruler.

And in the wings:
Parashurama, the enigmatic Guru of the powerful Southern Confederate, bides his time to impose his will from mountains to ocean.
Ekalavya, a young Nishada, yearns to break free of caste restrictions and become a warrior.
Karna, son of a humble charioteer, travels south to study under the foremost Guru and become the greatest archer in the land.
Balarama, the charismatic leader of the Yadavas, dreams of building the perfect city by the sea.
Takshaka, guerilla leader of the Nagas, foments a revolution by the downtrodden in the jungles of India.
Jara, the beggar, and his blind dog Dharma, witness the unfolding events as the Pandavas and Kauravas confront their destinies.

Amidst the chaos, Prince Suyodhana, heir of Hastinapura, stands tall, determined to claim his birthright and act according to his conscience. He is the maker of his own destiny—or so he believes. Meanwhile, in the corridors of the Hastinapura palace, a foreign Prince plots to destroy India. And the dice falls...

The Shelters of Stone opens as Ayla and Jondalar, along with their animal friends, Wolf, Whinney, and Racer, complete their epic journey across Europe and are greeted by Jondalar's people: the Zelandonii. The people of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii fascinate Ayla. Their clothes, customs, artifacts, even their homes formed in great cliffs of vertical limestone are a source of wonder to her. And in the woman Zelandoni, the spiritual leader of the Ninth Cave (and the one who initiated Jondalar into the Gift of Pleasure), she meets a fellow healer with whom to share her knowledge and skills.

But as Ayla and Jondalar prepare for the formal mating at the Summer Meeting, there are difficulties. Not all the Zelandonii are welcoming. Some fear Ayla's unfamiliar ways and abhor her relationship with those they call flatheads and she calls Clan. Some even oppose her mating with Jondalar, and make their displeasure known. Ayla has to call on all her skills, intelligence, knowledge, and instincts to find her way in this complicated society, to prepare for the birth of her child, and to decide whether she will accept new challenges and play a significant role in the destiny of the Zelandonii.

Jean Auel is at her very best in this superbly textured creation of a prehistoric society. The Shelters of Stone is a sweeping story of love and danger, with all the wonderful detail based on meticulous research that makes her novels unique. It is a triumphant continuation of the Earth's Children saga that began with The Clan of the Cave Bear.

This epic saga of brotherhood and rivalry, of loyalty and treachery, of victory and death, forms part of the indelible core of classical Chinese culture and continues to fascinate modern-day readers.

In 220 EC, the 400-year-old rule of the mighty Han dynasty came to an end and three kingdoms contested for control of China. Liu Pei, the legitimate heir to the Han throne, elects to fight for his birthright and enlists the aid of his sworn brothers, the impulsive giant Chang Fei and the invincible knight Kuan Yu. The brave band faces a formidable array of enemies, foremost among them the treacherous and bloodthirsty Ts'ao Ts'ao.

The bold struggle of the three heroes seems doomed until the reclusive wizard Chuko Liang offers his counsel, and the tide begins to turn. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is China's oldest novel and the first of a great tradition of historical fiction.

Believed to have been compiled by the playwright Lo Kuan-chung in the late fourteenth century, it is indebted to the great San-kuo chi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) completed by the historian Ch'en Shou just before his death in 297 CE. The novel first appeared in print in 1522. This edition, translated in the mid-1920s by C. H. Brewitt-Taylor, is based on a shortened and simplified version which appeared in the 1670s.

An Introduction to this reprint by Robert E. Hegel, Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at Washington University, provides an insightful commentary on the historical background to the novel, its literary origins, and its main characters.