Just as councils and assemblies were central to European polities for centuries, the Imperial Examination System (Keju) constituted the cornerstone of state institutions in China. This Element argues that Keju contributed to political stability, and its emergence was a process, not a shock, with consequences initially unanticipated by its contemporaries. The Element documents the emergence of Keju using evidence from early Chinese empires to the end of the Tang Dynasty in the 10th century,...

Fundamentals and Application of Atomic Force Microscopy for Food Research explains how to get reliable AFM data and current application progress of AFM in different food substances. Sections focus on an Introduction to AFM for food research and Applications of AFM for different types of food substances. Edited by 3 experts in the field of nanotechnology and food science, this book reduces the difficulty of AFM application and shortens the learning time for new hands. Until now, no such boo...

Why does a customer choose one brand over another? What are the factors which would make an individual more inclined to choose your brand?This book offers a way to predict which brand a buyer will purchase. It looks at brand performance within a product category and tests it in different countries with very different cultures. Following the Predictive Brand Choice (PBC) model, this book seeks to predict a consumer’s loyalty and choice. Results have shown that PBC can achieve a high...

There are many ways to be a heroine.Princess and swordswoman, lawyer and motorcyclist, scholar and barbarian: there are many ways to be a heroine. In this anthology, seventeen authors find new ways to pair one weapon-wielding woman and one whose strengths lie in softer skills.“Which is more powerful, the warrior or the gentlewoman?” these stories ask. And the answer is inevitably, “Both, working together!”Herein, you’ll find duels and smugglers, dan...

Activism in Design Education shows how design pedagogy can become a form of public action, proving universities are not just places of learning, but engines for real‑world change. This book showcases design educators from across the United States who are using their studios and seminars as incubators for activism, partnering with communities, sharing power, and empowering students to transform their communities.Organized by levels of urgency, the chapters offer community‑l...

A 2021 Nebula Award Nominee!One woman will travel to the stars and beyond to save her beloved in this lyrical space opera that reimagines The Little Mermaid.Gene-edited human clans have scattered throughout the galaxy, adapting themselves to environments as severe as the desert and the sea. Atuale, the daughter of a Sea-Clan lord, sparked a war by choosing her land-dwelling love and rejecting her place among her people. Now her husband and his clan ...

Award-winning author Aliette de Bodard returns with Fireheart Tiger, a powerful romantic fantasy that reads like The Goblin Emperor meets Howl's Moving Castle in a pre-colonial Vietnamese-esque world.A British Science Fiction Award winner! A finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Ignyte Awards!A Most Anticipated Pick for Buzzfeed | Mary Sue | Nerd Daily | FanFi Addict...

From the author of the critically acclaimed Dominion of the Fallen trilogy comes a sparkling new romantic adventure full of kissing, sarcasm and stabbing.It was supposed to be a holiday, with nothing more challenging than babysitting, navigating familial politics and arguing about the proper way to brew tea.But when dragon prince Thuan and his ruthless husband Asmodeus find a corpse in a ruined shrine and a hungry ghost who is the only witness to the crime, their hol...

A Sheltered MonkBy day, Lucían brews potions and illuminates manuscripts in service to the monastery that took him in as a child, wielding magic based in his faith and his purity. By night, he dreams of the world outside the cloister—a world he knows only in books and scrolls...A Mysterious WarriorA mercenary known as the She-Wolf hunts for a shipment of stolen manuscripts. When she needs a mage to track them down, she chooses Lucían for both his a...

An Illicit DesireLucían left behind his cloister, his vows, and his self-denial when he joined Glory, first for a quest and then in her bed. He tells himself he should be happy, but when he looks at her strong arms, her sharp smile, and her smooth dominance, he wants—something he cannot yet name...A Deadly FoeA fatal threat lurks in the mountains above Granite Falls, attacking travelers with fangs and claws and a horrible curse. Lucían and...

A finalist for the 2022 World Fantasy Award for Best NovelOne of BookPage's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2021One of Tor.com Reviewers' Choice Best Books of 2021One of Book Riot's Best SFF Standalones of 2021“Ghosts. Gods. Gangsters. Black Water Sister has it all…a wildly entertaining coming-of-age story for the twentysomething set, with a protagonist who is almost painfully relatab...

From Hugo Award Winner S. L. Huang"S. L. Huang is amazing."—Patrick RothfussBurning Roses is a gorgeous fairy tale of love and family, of demons and lost gods, for fans of Zen Cho and Neon Yang.Rosa, also known as Red Riding Hood, is done with wolves and woods.Hou Yi the Archer is tired, and knows she's past her prime.They would both rather just be retired, but that's not what the world has ready for them....