Carol Berg

An innovative roadmap to facing our past and present selves Honest, aching, and intimate, self-elegies are unique poems focusing on loss rather than death, mourning versions of the self that are forgotten or that never existed. Within their lyrical frame, multiple selves can coexist—wise and nai¨ve, angry and resigned—along with multiple timelines, each possible path stemming from one small choice that both creates new selves and negates potential selves. Giving voice to pain while complicating personal truths, self-elegies are an ideal poetic form for our time, compelling us to question our close-minded certainties, heal divides, and rethink our relation to others. In Writing the Self-Elegy, poet Kara Dorris introduces us to this prismatic tradition and its potential to forge new worlds. The self-elegies she includes in this anthology mix autobiography and poetics, blending craft with race, gender, sexuality, ability and disability, and place—all of the private and public elements that build individual and social identity. These poems reflect our complicated present while connecting us to our past, acting as lenses for understanding, and defining the self while facilitating reinvention. The twenty-eight poets included in this volume each practice self-elegy differently, realizing the full range of the form. In addition to a short essay that encapsulates the core value of the genre and its structural power, each poet’s contribution concludes with writing prompts that will be an inspiration inside the classroom and out. This is an anthology readers will keep close and share, exemplifying a style of writing that is as playful as it is interrogative and that restores the self in its confrontation with grief.

The final installment of the award-winning Bridge of D'Arnath epic fantasy series by Carol Berg Fear of the Lords' final curse is only one reason Gerick never intended to return to the land of Avonar. Now, he must investigate a refugee from the desert-the charismatic D'Sanya, D'Arnath's own daughter (so she claims), newly released from a thousand-year captivity. Only the deep-buried memories of Gerick's life as the Fourth Lord-memories that he never wanted to revisit-might validate her story before the enraptured Dar'Nethi grant her the power of the Bridge of Worlds. Tangled in bonds of love, family, guilt, and dread memory, Gerick must unravel the mysteries of ancient magic, ancient evil, and the appalling truth of his own destiny.

The Prince of Avonar is in desperate straits. Betrayal devastates his plan to defeat the vile Lords of Zhev'Na without violence, and then a ruthless attack leaves his beloved wife near death. As frustration and anger shake the fragile joining of the Prince's body and soul, war engulfs his magical realm. Sixteen-year-old Gerick, half-crazed with nightmare visions, pursued by past horror and his father's wrath, flees beyond the boundaries of the known worlds. In a sunless realm of misshapen misfits, he discovers unlikely purpose and a devastating clue to the brokenness within himself. With three worlds on the brink of ruin, the Prince and his son must look deep inside themselves to discover the truth of their enemies-a mystery bound up in Gerick's emerging magic, a world newborn from chaos, and a whisper buried deep in Dar'Nethi legend." This is Gerick's story and we quickly learn this is a different young man from the child that we saw in Guardians Of The Keep. The past does not lie quiet in Gerick, with his nightmares and fears of a corruption that could hurt those he loves. Plots and counterplots will] intrigue the reader with surprise twists and turns. Fans of The Bridge Of D'Arnath will welcome this addition to the saga."-Colleen Cahill, SFRevu"Intriguing... Well written . Gerick is one of Berg's most interesting characters and probably my favorite."-Fantasy Literature"Very good...read Son of Avonar and Guardians of the Keep first."-BooklistLocus Bestseller May 2005

A child with secretsA sorcerer Prince with a broken mindAnd a woman armed only with courage and wit ... The idyllic world of Avonar reels under the assaults of its ancient foes, two-thirds of its territory a wasteland, its failing magic embodied in the last weak, dissolute prince of its royal bloodline. But a brash mage has taken it upon himself to repair his liege lord's soul. Unfortunately, the Prince of Avonar is left with no memory of himself, much less his homeland or his desperate war. Abandoned in her mundane world, waiting for news of the Prince's recovery, Seri keeps her promise to relay her brother's dying words to his son. But something is clearly wrong with her ten-year-old nephew. Secretive, isolated, angry, the boy shows an inordinate terror of Seri's past connections with sorcerers. Though determined not to care for a child whose life she resents, she finds herself intrigued, and when the boy is abducted by her longtime nemesis, Seri's frenzied pursuit plunges her straight into Avonar's war-and horrors she could never have imagined. All are ensnared by the Lords of Zhev'Na in their plot to destroy D'Arnath's Bridge and plunge two worlds into chaos.

A child with secretsA sorcerer Prince with a broken mindAnd a woman armed only with courage and wit ... The idyllic world of Avonar reels under the assaults of its ancient foes, two-thirds of its territory a wasteland, its failing magic embodied in the last weak, dissolute prince of its royal bloodline. But a brash mage has taken it upon himself to repair his liege lord's soul. Unfortunately, the Prince of Avonar is left with no memory of himself, much less his homeland or his desperate war. Abandoned in her mundane world, waiting for news of the Prince's recovery, Seri keeps her promise to relay her brother's dying words to his son. But something is clearly wrong with her ten-year-old nephew. Secretive, isolated, angry, the boy shows an inordinate terror of Seri's past connections with sorcerers. Though determined not to care for a child whose life she resents, she finds herself intrigued, and when the boy is abducted by her longtime nemesis, Seri's frenzied pursuit plunges her straight into Avonar's war-and horrors she could never have imagined. All are ensnared by the Lords of Zhev'Na in their plot to destroy D'Arnath's Bridge and plunge two worlds into chaos.

A violent fugitive who cannot speak, who has no past. A disgraced noblewoman who would rather forget her past. And a world of magic that has turned against both of them. Seriana Marguerite, daughter of a warrior house, once believed that intelligence, determination, and love could avert the consequences of youthful rebellion. She was wrong. Violating the singular tenet of the Four Realms-that sorcery and all who practice it must be reported and exterminated-brought torment and death to those closest to her. Only her family's influence preserved her own life, a mercy for which she has never been thankful. Over the years Seri has adapted to poverty and exile, far from royal intrigues and the politics of power. But her bitter peace collapses on the day she encounters a half-mad fugitive-a man incapable of speech, yet skilled at violence. The discovery that one of his dead-eyed pursuers is the man responsible for the horrors of her past forces Seri onto a path of anguished memory and ancient riddles, a race to unravel the mysteries of the fugitive's identity, his mission, and a looming danger that could shatter the very foundation of the world.

A violent fugitive who cannot speak, who has no past. A disgraced noblewoman who would rather forget her past. And a world of magic that has turned against both of them. Seriana Marguerite, daughter of a warrior house, once believed that intelligence, determination, and love could avert the consequences of youthful rebellion. She was wrong. Violating the singular tenet of the Four Realms-that sorcery and all who practice it must be reported and exterminated-brought torment and death to those closest to her. Only her family's influence preserved her own life, a mercy for which she has never been thankful. Over the years Seri has adapted to poverty and exile, far from royal intrigues and the politics of power. But her bitter peace collapses on the day she encounters a half-mad fugitive-a man incapable of speech, yet skilled at violence. The discovery that one of his dead-eyed pursuers is the man responsible for the horrors of her past forces Seri onto a path of anguished memory and ancient riddles, a race to unravel the mysteries of the fugitive's identity, his mission, and a looming danger that could shatter the very foundation of the world.

Dante the necromancer is the most reviled man in Sabria, indicted by for crimes against the living and the dead. He salves bitterness with a magical puzzle--a desperate soldier's dream of an imprisoned sorceress and a faceted glass that can grant one's utmost desires. But the dream is a seductive trap. Haunted, blind, driven to the verges of the world, Dante must risk everything he values to unravel a mystery of ancient magic, sacred legend, and the truth of the divine.

In "Dust and Light," national bestselling author Carol Berg returned to the world of the award-winning "Flesh and Spirit." Now she continues the saga of a man whose past is veiled in shadows.... Ever since the Order of the "Equites Cinere" stole his memory, his name, and his heart, thinking about the past makes Greenshank s head ache. After two years of rigorous training, he is almost ready to embrace the mission of the Order to use selfless magic to heal the troubles of Navronne. But on his first assignment alone, the past comes racing back, threatening to drown him in conspiracy, grief, and murder. He is Lucian de Remeni a sorcerer whose magical bents for portraiture and history threaten the safety of the earth and the future of the war-riven kingdom of Navronne. He just can t remember how or why. Fighting to unravel the mysteries of his power, Lucian must trace threads of corruption that reach from the Pureblood Registry into the Order itself, the truth hidden two centuries in the past and beyond the boundaries of the world... "

The winner of the Colorado Book Award is "a fantasy I didn't want to put down" (SF Revu) Brutal imprisonment has broken Aidan McAllister. His music is destroyed, and with it the visions he once gave a kingdom ravaged by dragon war. Now, he risks his hard-bought freedom to uncover the truth behind his incarceration-and to meet his enemy face-to-face...

Determined to reclaim his soul from the demon inside him, Seyonne, the slave turned savior, embarks on a perilous quest to put to rest his own haunted dreams and confront the evil that threatns his world. Original.

Seyonne, the slave-turned-hero from Berg's highly acclaimed Transformation, returns to discover the nature of evil--in a "spellbinding" (Romantic Times) epic saga.

The first novel in national bestselling author Carol Berg's Rai Kirah saga follows one man's journey from slave to savior... Seyonne was not always a slave. Once his people were the guardians of magic such as the land had never seen, protectors and defenders. But the Derzhi came, and enslaved them. Now, years of degradation and misery have blurred Seyonne's memory, and sapped his strength. To his people, he is already dead. And to him, death is all that is left--until he finds hope in a most unlikely place... Sold once again, Seyonne is bought by Aleksander, the heir to the Derzhi Empire. His new master is cold, and heedlessly cruel. But within Aleksander, the seeds of greatness wait. All it would take is guidance from one such as Seyonne once was... But time is short, for demons have also noticed Aleksander--and what they cannot control they will destroy. "A wonderful debut novel...hooks the reader with vividly drawn characters and draws us into an exotic, dangerous, and beautifully crafted world. Her heroes come alive on the page, with genuine emotions and concerns."--Lynn Flewelling, author of Traitor's Moon "Vivid characters and intricate magic combined with a fascinating world--luscious work "--Melanie Rawn, author of The Diviner's Key