Simon Curtis

It's always tough being the new kid in the coven Elliot Green has had a rough year. His dad died, he had to move across the country, and now he's about to start high school in one of LA's most prestigious private schools, where his mom has accepted the position of Vice Principal. He's quickly taken in by the school's outcasts: the scholarship kids; the queer kids; and the ones who just don't really fit in with the glossy trust fund babies of SJTBA. They quickly let him in on their little secret...they are witches. Elliot joins them in their world among the crystal stores and occult shops of Silverlake and ends up joining his new friends' coven. During one of their magical experiments, they accidentally release a bloodthirsty demon that starts murdering their classmates and teachers. Elliot and his coven realize that the fun and games of playing with crystals and candles is over, that magic is powerful, real, and that it might be more dangerous than they'd ever imagined.

An exploration of how China’s Belt and Road Initiative seeks to reshape international order and how it has catalyzed a new era of infrastructural geopolitics Over the past decade China has put infrastructural and urban development at the heart of a strategy aimed at nothing less than the transformation of international order. The Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to revitalize and reconnect the ancient Silk Roads that linked much of the world before the rise of the West, is an attempt to place China at the center of this new international order, one shaped by Chinese power, norms, and values. It seeks to do so, in part, by shaping our shared urban future. Simon Curtis and Ian Klaus explore how China’s specific investments in urban development—cities, roads, railways, ports, digital and energy connectivity—are directly linked to its foreign policy goals. Curtis and Klaus examine the implications of these developments as they evolve across the vast Afro-Eurasian region. The distinctive model of international order and urban life emerging with the rise of Chinese power and influence offers a potential rival to the one that has accompanied the rise and zenith of Western power, marking a new age of infrastructural geopolitics and Great Power competition.

'A superb book and a must-read for any City fan.' - DANIEL TAYLOR, senior writer, The Athletic'A thorough and delicious retelling of perhaps not the most successful of European journeys, but definitely the most interesting ... Fantastic.' - DAVID MOONEY, BBC Radio 5 Live'A book that brilliantly explodes the myth that City have no history or pedigree in Europe.' - SIMON MULLOCK, chief football writer, Sunday MirrorTHE ESSENTIAL NEW HISTORY OF MANCHESTER CITY'S EUROPEAN TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIESFEATURING A FOREWORD BY CITY LEGEND FRANCIS LEEAs one of the first English sides to taste glory in Europe, lifting the Cup Winners' Cup in 1970, City looked set for life among the continent's elite. But as their domestic fortunes went from bad to worse to absolute calamity, the wilderness returned. Avid City fan and respected journalist Simon Curtis dusts off the details of some truly intoxicating away days. Filled with tales of the club's travelling support and the evocative accounts of the journalists who saw the team of the Seventies, Curtis tells the story of a club steeped in history, defiantly refusing to bow to pomp and ceremony as it goes about lifting the ultimate prize. After a spectacular rebuild and having achieved all there is to achieve on the domestic stage, including a record-breaking 100-point season in 2017-18, City's deep-pocketed owners have their sights firmly set on European glory once more. Yet for all their recent success at home, they are anything but welcome guests at Europe's top table.

Isaak continues to fight against the secret government organization formed to eradicate Robots like him in this action-packed sequel to Boy Robot "Isaak, the technology used to create the Robots isn't just a weapon. It's a virus. The deadliest virus humanity has ever faced." Burdened with the knowledge that the Robots' survival might mean the end of the human race, Isaak returns to California to find what remains of The Underground. There he begins his search for Evelyn, one of their creators responsible for devising a technology that might save them, called "The Heart." Before Isaak can formulate a plan, however, he and the remaining members of The Underground are deceived by one of their own and suddenly find the Robots' existence revealed to the world. But the government has a revelation of their own in response: the head of the SHRF, a man nicknamed "The Colonel," has been building a Robot army of his own. An army who will obey and fight for their country. Now Isaak must decide whether they will join or fight, and with whispers of a new technology called "The Mind," will they even have a choice? In the sequel to Boy Robot, Simon Curtis takes the Robots' brutal fight for acceptance and survival to the global stage, and as the world prepares for war in the wake of their existence, Isaak must face an even greater battle: destiny vs. free will.

In this "zippy, exciting story that explores the notions of good and evil," (BCCB) seventeen-year-old Isaak discovers the truth about his origin and the secret government organization formed to eradicate those like him. There once was a boy who was made, not created. In a single night, Isaak's life changed forever. His adoptive parents were killed, a mysterious girl saved him from a team of soldiers, and he learned of his own dark and destructive origin. An origin he doesn't want to believe, but one he cannot deny. Isaak is a Robot: a government-made synthetic human, produced as a weapon and now hunted, marked for termination. He and the Robots can only find asylum with the Underground--a secret network of Robots and humans working together to ensure a coexistent future. To be protected by the Underground, Isaak will have to make it there first. But with a deadly military force tasked to find him at any cost, his odds are less than favorable. Now Isaak must decide whether to hold on to his humanity and face possible death...or to embrace his true nature in order to survive, at the risk of becoming the weapon he was made to be. In his debut, recording artist Simon Curtis has written a fast-paced, high-stakes novel that explores humanity, the ultimate power of empathy, and the greatest battle of all: love vs. fear.

The Law of Shipbuilding Contracts examines the principles of English contract law as these apply to shipbuilding. The leading text on shipbuilding and marine construction, widely used by the global maritime community, this new edition is updated to account for the "long tail" effects of the global economic crisis on the sector. The authors provide expert analysis on the key shipbuilding contract forms, including sections dealing with agreements ancillary to the shipbuilding contract and ship conversion contracts, together with — for the first time — contracts for the construction of offshore oil and gas vessels and units. The new edition has been comprehensively updated, including commentary on recent High Court decisions on shipbuilding contracts and, in particular, associated refund guarantees. The contractual and legal consequences of global economic turbulence and the resultant increase in the number and size of disputes in the shipbuilding sector are discussed, alongside coverage of other contemporary regulatory and legal issues resulting from environmental pressures and the trend for "cleaner", more efficient tonnage. A comprehensive and authoritative resource, this book is essential reading for buyers and charterers of newbuilding tonnage, shipbuilders and offshore construction yards, shipbrokers, banks and other finance providers, lawyers and insurers working in the maritime and offshore oil and gas sectors, as well as students of maritime law.

The re-emergence of the city from the long shadow of the state in the late-twentieth century was facilitated by the state itself. The unprecedented size and scale of today's global cities and mega cities owe their conditions of possibility to a fundamental shift in the character of political order at the level of the international system. This book argues that we must understand the rise of the global city as part of a wider process of the transformation of international political order, and of the character of international society. Global cities are an inscription of the ideals of a market society in space, constructed and defended at the level of international society. They embody the ascendance of a set of liberal principles at a certain moment in history - a moment related to the hegemonic status of leading states in the second half of the twentieth century, and the ability of those states to shape international norms. But the evolution of these urban forms has also reflected the tendency for deregulated markets to generate inequality and polarisation: these features are also inscribed in the spaces of global cities. Global cities focus and amplify the tensions and contradictions within the contemporary international system, and become key strategic sites for struggles over social justice and the character of political life in the twenty-first century. Global Cities and Global Order demonstrates the significance of the re-emergence of cities from the long shadow of the nation-state is far-reaching. Only by examining the mechanisms by which cities have become empowered in the last few decades can we understand their new functions and capabilities in global politics.

Seventeen-year-old Isaak discovers the truth about his origin and the underground forces that must come together to fight against a secret government organization formed to eradicate those like him in this high-octane science fiction debut. There once was a boy who was made, not created. In a single night, Isaak's life changed forever. His adoptive parents were killed, a mysterious girl saved him from a team of soldiers, and he learned of his own dark and destructive origin. An origin he doesn't want to believe, but one he cannot deny. Isaak is a Robot: a government-made synthetic human, produced as a weapon and now hunted, marked for termination. He and the Robots can only find asylum with the Underground--a secret network of Robots and humans working together to ensure a coexistent future. To be protected by the Underground, Isaak will have to make it there first. But with a deadly military force tasked to find him at any cost, his odds are less than favorable. Now Isaak must decide whether to hold on to his humanity and face possible death...or to embrace his true nature in order to survive, at the risk of becoming the weapon he was made to be. In his debut, recording artist Simon Curtis has written a fast-paced, high-stakes novel that explores humanity, the ultimate power of empathy, and the greatest battle of all: love vs. fear.

What can 'assemblage' thinking contribute to the study of international relations theory? This study seeks to investigate how the various debates on assemblages in social theory can contribute to generating critical considerations on the connections and dissociation of political agency, physical world and international dynamics.