Set within a world that’s a magical echo of our own, Porcelain is the story of Child, an urchin, who leaves behind the cold streets of a snowy city when she climbs the high wall into the Porcelain Maker’s garden. The Porcelain Maker discovers Child trespassing but, amused by her audacity, he offers her the chance to stay. He’s a lonely man, kept company only by his alchemically-powered automata, and he and Child form an unlikely friendship. Shut off from the world beyond the wall, Child wa...

Set within a time of myth and fairy tale, Briar follows the story of Princess Layka, who seeks an end to the curse that keeps her shut off from the world. Trapped for years behind the enchanted barrier of the briar, she awaits her one true knight, who has been tasked with the quest to break the curse and set her free. By Benjamin Read & Chris Wildgoose, creators of the acclaimed Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale, Briar is inspired by European myth and folklore. It subverts the fairy tale trad...

More than a decade has passed since the events of Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale, and Child has become Lady. Inheritor of all of Uncle’s secrets and wealth, she has continued his work, becoming equally as isolated in her quest to refine the Porcelain and put right past mistakes. With the Porcelain more sought after than ever, Lady comes to the attention of a ruthlessly ambitious General who desires inhuman soldiers for the war effort and won’t take no for an answer. Other, more human, prob...

A Brother and Sister leave our world and its rules behind, journeying into legend through the Butterfly Gate, where every step they take will come at a price. Butterfly Gate follows the story of two siblings who, after throwing themselves headlong into another world, must face the brutal reality that lies beyond and find their place amidst an empire built after a revolution against the Gods. An ongoing, episodic, SF odyssey, Butterfly Gate is also a silent comic, conveying the story purely...

Most social science studies of local organizations tend to focus on "civil society" associations, voluntary associations independent from state control, whereas government-sponsored organizations tend to be theorized in totalitarian terms as "mass organizations" or manifestations of state corporatism. Roots of the State examines neighborhood associations in Beijing and Taipei that occupy a unique space that exists between these concepts.Benjamin L. Read views the work of t...

The third and final adventure in Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder's magical Midnight Hour series!Emily and Tarkus are back again in one last adventure to save the Midnight Hour. Their old adversary the Nocturne is determined to destroy their beloved magical world and everyone in it. With the added peril of the villainous Hunt, whose mission it is to Make Britain Dark Again, the barrier between worlds begins to glitch and fade. Emily might just have a plan to save all worlds, but she...

A tale of magic, mystery and determination which is also in development for film adaptation.Emily longs to be ordinary. But when her parents disappear, she stumbles into the secret world of the Midnight Hour. A Victorian London frozen in time, the Midnight Hour is a haven for all things spooky, including monsters determined to end the world. What secrets have her parents been hiding? There's only one way Emily can find out and rescue her mum and dad: she must be brave enough to emb...

Emily needs to work out why magic is leaking from the Midnight Hour - but her shape-shifting Pooka relatives and a terrifying haunting aren't making things easy, not to mention the fact that she's supposed to be grounded. Officer-in-training Tarkus and pet hedgehog Hoggins are on hand to help - but if they can't work out what's going wrong, it will be the end of the midnight world ...

The first book in a spellbinding children’s fantasy series, with beautiful black-and-white inside illustrations by Sarah Warburton. Perfect for fans of Cressida Cowell and Nevermoor.Willow Moss, the youngest and least powerful sister in a family of witches, has a magical ability for finding lost things – like keys, or socks, or spectacles. Useful, but not exactly exciting…Then the most powerful witch in the world of Starfell turns up at Wi...

How China's political model could prove to be a viable alternative to Western democracyWesterners tend to divide the political world into "good" democracies and “bad” authoritarian regimes. But the Chinese political model does not fit neatly in either category. Over the past three decades, China has evolved a political system that can best be described as “political meritocracy.” The China Model seeks to understand the ideals and the reality of this unique...

Soft power has become a very popular concept in international affairs, appearing in government policy papers, academic discussions, and the popular media. In China, soft power has become one of the most frequently used phrases among political leaders, leading academics, and journalists. Defined against hard power, which often involves threat and coercion, soft power applies attraction, persuasion, and cooperation, finding its sources in culture, political values, and foreign policies. Chin...

Since becoming president of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping has emerged as China's most powerful and popular leader since Deng Xiaoping. The breathtaking economic expansion and military modernization that Xi inherited has convinced him that China can transform into a twenty-first-century superpower.In this collection, leading scholars from the United States, Asia, and Europe examine both the prospects for China's continuing rise and the emerge...