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Tag: fantasy
Jan 29, 2019 Apr 29, 2019 Lola Andrews1 Comment
Once upon a time, there was a king. He was a cruel king, of handsome face yet harsh of hand, with a taste for conquest and lack of mercy, who exerted his power with the ease of one who dismisses everyone else's comfort.
Yet he was king, and for that, he was afforded power.
Noblemen feared him, but supported his conquering efforts as means of seeing their own riches grow; his army feared him as well, for lack of discipline was punished with death, but were loyal to his war campaigns and the glory of battle; the common people feared him too, and all they had was their fear, for they died of cold and hunger, and suffered in their flesh the excesses of the king's desires.
The king loved food, wine and blood, but nothing fired up his soul more than women, the youngest and prettiest doomed to fall prey to his wild appetites. It was well known among the villagers that daughter or wife could be claimed at any moment and made to be companion in the king's bed. Fathers hid their beautiful daughters away, chastised their wives if they dared let their hair loose or uncover their skin past their face and hands. And in fear women lived, too, for beauty was cause for punishment, and vanity the most terrible sin.
There came a day when two beautiful sisters were born. Twins they were, and handsome as the sun. Together they grew happy, unawares under the jolly roof of their mother and father, farmers who had a hard life but who always had bread to put on their table, and hot broth to pass the hard colds of winter. The family was loved by all at their village, and none more so than the two beautiful little girls, whose laughter brought joy to the most difficult of days.
Lily Rose and Marigold were their names, and indeed they looked like flowers. So beautiful and alike they were, and such taste they had for walking in the forest, that the rumors soon said that they had a touch of the fae. They did, for the faeries of old favored them, and often appeared to them as the girls strolled amongst the woods. The fae sang their song of old and played at placing light kisses on the girls' cheeks and hands.
The girls grew, and so did their beauty. Many warned their father to be wary of such gift and, most of all, of the envious hearts that would wish them ill. Lily Rose and Marigold's parents had never known hate, however, and they couldn't understand why someone would ever envy them or wish to hurt them. They were good people, after all, happy to lend a hand where it was needed and to offer a roof and warm soup to those who had none during the winter. They provoked envy, though, for they had a blissful and charmed life. And so it was that some people of ugly hearts and ugly minds started up the rumors that they knew would soon reach the king's ears.
The king heard of Lily Rose and Marigold during a time of peace, in which entertainment was but hunting and drinking wine. The king was bored without a battle to fight and with no woman to bed, so that claims of such beauty brought fire back to his chest. He took off that same afternoon, and he galloped through forests and dusty paths, past rivers and high mountains, and mounted on his favored steed, he arrived at a small village at the edge of his kingdom, where the beautiful girls dwelled in naïve comfort. Among screams they were torn from their home and their parents' loving embrace, and among cries they were taken to the royal palace, where they would become favored pets and enslaved companions.
The years passed, and despite the king's cruelty and abuse, Lily Rose and Marigold remained beautiful, exotic caged birds that the king admired and hurt with placid ease. The king took a wife, yet Lily Rose and Marigold remained his favorites, trapped in a tower, behind a set of heavy doors and guarded by his most loyal men, with only a window for a means of seeing the world. Marigold withered as the days ticked by and the winters passed, and in her sadness, she was made more delicate, a porcelain doll ready to be broken. Of the two, it was her the king favored, for Lily Rose had grown angry with the years, and the king had learnt to fear the fire burning behind her eyes.
Lily Rose watched over her sister's spirit as best as she could, yet she didn't cry alongside her. She spent her days praying for the faeries of old, who had once upon a time kissed her cheeks and played with her hair as she walked through their fae woods. She prayed not for release but for revenge, and swore that she would pay whatever price the faeries asked for if only her wishes were met.
There came the day when Marigold perished, her grief growing like a root around her heart and condemning her to die young and beautiful. Lily Rose looked upon her sister's body, driven silent by pain, and longed for the days when they were children, and when Marigold's pale cheeks were rosy and filled with life. She cursed the king then, promised retribution fit for his crime, clawed at his face and claimed his blood with her nails. Tired of her, more fearful than he was doting, the king pushed Lily Rose away from his palace and his life, nothing but her dress turned into rags to carry with her.
Alone and grieving, Lily Rose wandered the lands, and soon found her feet taking her to the woods, where the fae spoke to her in song, and played with her hair, and kissed her fair cheeks and her soft hands. Following their song, Lily Rose found a secret grove where water flowed warm and flowers swam in the surface, and where birds sang amongst thick, green-leaved trees. Lily Rose bathed in the magical waters, and she felt as if she were washing a pain as old as herself. She slept on the soft grass, naked, and felt herself become part of the earth. And as she did, she dreamed of revenge.
The fae whispered in Lily Rose's ears, and soon she understood that they would help her, if only she paid the right price. The faeries dressed her in flowers and leaves, and she emerged as a nymph from the woods, her beauty crowned by sunrays and cleansed by water. Thus, she seduced the king's most trusted general, a man of strength, of square chin and bright eyes, with a scar that crossed his cheek and touched the corner of his lip. She dragged him to the woods at the witching hour, and laid claim to his strength, his pride and his gumption under the full moon. Then, she made her offer to the fae, cutting the general's throat and letting his blood flow into the earth.
A babe was born; a baby girl so beautiful that Lily Rose's own beauty paled in comparison; a baby girl so beautiful that her beauty would become avenging fury. Her head was crowned by hair the color of burnt copper, and since she was born of blood and rage, she was named Harlow.
Harlow grew up in the forests, wild and free, cared for and loved by her mother and the fairies of old. She ate wild berries and slept under the open skies, and for years, she tasted the freedom that her mother Lily Rose commanded her to cherish and enjoy, for it would not last forever. Harlow's destiny was fury and revenge, and so her mother told her as the winters passed and Harlow grew. Lily Rose bid her grow up strong and fierce, and as she dressed Harlow's dark red hair in flowers and bathed her skin in warm waters, she told of her sister Marigold, and of the terrible destiny that had befallen her at the hands of a cruel king. She told of the promise the faeries had made, of Harlow's wretched father, and of the night Harlow was born under a full blood moon, a promise of punishment to come.
On her sixteenth birthday, Harlow emerged from the woods, dressed in flowers and leaves, as her mother once had. She bid her mother goodbye, and took comfort in the whispers of the fae, which followed her past the edges of the woods, and guided her steps. She arrived at the palace's doors, and she was welcomed with surprise and fear both, for her beauty was grand yet foreign. Her hair shone like fire as it fell on wide waves down her back, her eyes were bright hazel and otherworldly, and her skin was tan, the color of gold. Upon seeing her, the king fell at her feet and promised to pray at her altar, for surely she must be a goddess.
The king barked orders for clean water and fine fabrics, and so Harlow was spruced up prettily, her flowers and leaves left behind to rot. She allowed it even as she yearned for the freedom of the woods and the warm water of her mother's secret grove. She closed her eyes and begged for company, and the faeries answered to the call of her blood and found a place to dwell behind the palace's mirrors, where they could whisper their secrets, which only Harlow would hear.
The king's wife had died years ago after years of illness, and since the king found himself in need of a new companion, he proudly announced to Harlow that she would have the honor. A fortnight passed while the wedding was prepared, during which Harlow prevailed upon the king's kindness and ordered him away from her bed until they were man and wife. So taken was he with her beauty and her spell that he complied, and so took to their wedding feast with fiery disposition and anticipation burning his loins.
Night fell, and under the glint of a full moon, the king found Harlow and forcibly claimed that which he had deemed his. Harlow sacrificed her virtue and her beauty to the king's cruel hands, and as he lay atop her, passion parting his lips, Harlow looked within her for the magic that was in her blood. She brought her hand to the king's chest, and with fury in her heart and revenge as her end, her fingers crossed nimble flesh and dug themselves inside the king, taking hold of his heart.
"Look at me, cruel king," she said, staring at the eyes above hers, at the old features of this cruel king that were now contorted in pain. "Look at me and fear me, for I was born to take revenge on your merciless evil, and to rain death upon you."
Such was the death of the cruel king, and upon his passing, so did Lily Rose die. Harlow felt it in her heart, a pain so gripping that it left her breathless, and that her whispering mirrors could not console.
Harlow thus cried during her ill-fated husband's wake, not for the king that had died by her hand but for the mother that had left her alone in the world, with a new crown upon her head and nowhere to turn to. And as she cried, she felt a small hand take her own, a grip so strong that it surprised her. Harlow looked at the person by her side, and for the first time, laid eyes upon Snow White.
The king had had a wife, a young princess that had afforded him lands and riches upon marriage, and who had been as much a slave as Lily Rose and Marigold themselves. Sickly from childhood, a little feeble-minded and with a taste for books, she had been thrown into the northern tower of the palace, opposite where Lily Rose and Marigold had been enslaved. In her tower, the princess made queen by mere title, had looked at the cloudy skies of autumn and the clear ones of summer, and had dreamed of a better world. She had found it amongst her books, and with them she had traveled without taking a step outside her tower. She had too forgotten of her husband's crimes, of the unkind hands he had laid upon her, escaping his merciless character through the pages that told of princesses and heroines, of spell and the power of true love.
Sick as she had been growing up, the queen hadn't expected to bear children, yet she had discovered herself pregnant during a wintry morning where the sun had shone clear white rays through her window. She had smiled for the first time in years, and had cherished the life growing inside her. A baby girl had been born, of dark hair and pale skin, of lips so red that they had reminded the queen of spring poppies and summer skies. However, as she'd been conceived during bright winter days, the queen had named her Snow White.
Snow White had grown up in her mother's tower, amongst her books and her fantasies. She too had grown among the kindness of the servants, and running wild around the forests that surrounded the palace. She would often be seen by noblemen running shoeless and careless, long dark hair free from ties and cheeks flushed with joy. She had laughter in her, and because of that the kingdom loved her, for her abandon was cheerful and easy to cherish. Most of her time was spent in the tower, though, where she read to her mother and heard the birds sing, where she weaved her own dreams to those of her mother, and wished for the day that she would escape this palace made of gloom.
The queen took ill upon Snow's tenth birthday. Forced into bed and unwilling to fight her fate, she consumed herself slowly, her mind leaving her body before life did so that she spoke of lands she had never visited, and of adventures she'd never lived. Snow took to her caring with faithful hands, and even as the queen blabbered in confusion, Snow read to her, and perched herself by their single window so she could speak of the days outside, the singing birds and the winds of winter. The queen died amongst fluffy pillows, her mind far away and her hand cradled inside her loving daughter's.
Snow grew moody after her mother's death, and found that stories could no longer take her away from her sad existence. Ignored by her father and neglected of care, she took to wandering the woods for days, and to spending her days surrounded by critters and birds. Sharp tongues condemned her for a lunatic, and it was said that she spoke to the animals and the wind, that she had a touch of magic. She was more loved than she was hated, though, for the queen had been sweet and undemanding, and Snow was as well.
Years passed, and at fourteen, Snow saw the king take a new wife. Snow watched the new queen during the wedding feast, her copper hair and her hazel eyes, her skin of gold and her fairy beauty, and she wondered if there was spell in her, and whether she was a creature of another world. Upon the king's death, however, and during his wake, Snow looked at the new queen once more, and saw the traces of grief etched into her eyes, and saw that she was young, and lonely, and scared. Her spell was no less powerful for it, yet it was human and not otherworldly, and it softened Snow's heart. Snow took the new queen's hand, and when the queen looked down at her, she smiled.
"I am Snow White, Your Majesty," she said. "If you so wish, we shall become friends."
The queen blinked once, twice, as if surprised. Then, she smiled, and her smile was spellbinding as she said, "Let us wait and see, Princess Snow."
Princess and queen both grew up together, and as they did, they grew apart. Fate thrust them in different directions, and as Snow grew kinder and loved by the kingdom, Harlow grew cruel and feared by her peers.
Harlow spoke to her mirrors, and soon she was called a witch. She was seen walking into the forest, dressed in flowers and leaves, and the people spoke of evil spell and dark magic, of forces beyond their control. Harlow turned an angry heart to those who spoke ill of her, for darkness had taken root in her chest and she had no wish to fight it. She had been born of avenging desire, and now that her revenge had been exacted, she lacked direction and will both, and had only pain of old to hold onto. Thus, she took to potions and bewitchment, and looked for advice inside her whispering mirrors.
Nonetheless, she was queen, and now that the kingdom lacked its king, the noblemen turned to her for official business. Harlow took the offered power and made use of it with caution, knowing nothing of the world beyond her mother's secret grove. Advised by counselors and making use of books for knowledge, Harlow found a new world to love within the confines of her royal title. She became head of her army with gusto, head of her household with dutiful commitment, head of her council with aplomb, and head of her kingdom with agile intellect.
However so, her mirrors whispered and so did her kingdom, and both spoke of fear and ruin. Harlow's hand was decisive and true in her rule, and even when she fought hunger and cold, when she offered education and work, when she gave fair advice and just authority, she was deemed a witch, and thus unfit to rule. Stricken by grief and growing hard of heart, Harlow listened to her mirrors and found that they spoke truths that she didn't wish to hear – for so long as Snow White lived, the people would claim her as their true queen, and they would deny Harlow her rightful place.
Harlow's mirrors claimed Snow's blood, yet Harlow wavered. The princess was so kind, after all, and was so enthralled by Harlow, too. She sought her even now, when Harlow's temperament had turned harsh and unforgiving, when an aura of dangerous magic clung to her very being and scared even the most valiant of men away. Snow betrayed no fear, and in her naïve admiration, she stopped Harlow's hand from becoming deathly.
Years passed, and upon Snow's eighteenth birthday, a riot begun at the heart of the kingdom. The people claimed Snow as their true ruler, and they dismissed Harlow as witch and priestess of death. They called her the Evil Queen, and upon receiving such title, everyone forgot that she had ever had any other name.
Harlow took the name as if it were a gift and dressed herself in its power of legend. She became the Evil Queen, and in doing so, she left mercy behind. She listened to her mirrors, heard them speak of what was to be done, and made a harsh decision. The princess must die for the Evil Queen to reign free of burden, and so the royal hunter was ordered to take the princess to the forest and to do away with her life. Her blood would flow into the earth, and become sacrifice to the faeries of old.
Snow had remained kind, and so it was that she called upon the hunter's mercy and escaped her deathly fate. Relentless, the Evil Queen used her magic to dress herself as an old hag, and poisoned the princess to sleep forever, a red apple her condemnation, and her naiveté to blame for her fall. It would not be the end of her story, for she was found by a handsome prince and soon awoken from the terrible spell, and made wife and princess again, by virtue of marriage.
Death was deemed the fair punishment for the Evil Queen; yet she was still queen, and head of her army, head of her household, head of her council and head of her kingdom. The queen's generals and noblemen were loyal to her, and so a war started. A war of magic and blood, a war fought between the most beautiful women in the world, a war of terrible destiny and grim resolution. And it was thus, upon a rainy battlefield after years of war that a deal was struck. A deal between a princess and an Evil Queen, that would perhaps deny fate its claim for blood.
A lesbian erotic romance retelling of the classic fairy tale Snow White
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18 Lesbian Romance Books for Fairytale Lovers
Dec 19, 2018 Dec 19, 2018 Lola AndrewsLeave a comment
Who doesn't love a princess? Or a knight? Or a witch? Fairytales have survived thus far as part of our collective cultural conscience, which is why updating them is so much fun (both for readers and writers!). The magic lands of old are populated by all sorts of female archetypes and female issues, so it's no wonder that they're ripe soil for a little female on female love.
Take a look at these recommendations, and enjoy!
In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.
The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Their friendship, as delicate as a new bloom, reawakens Ash's capacity for love–and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.
Read full review here!
Beneath The Loch: A Novella: A Dark Lesbian Romance
As a child, Mairi made a deal with a young fae – a kiss in exchange for gills.
Now, betrothed to a man she hardly knows, Mairi is desperate to escape her fate. When she finds that same fae at the river's edge, she's offered a proposal that makes her skin grow cold . . . and her blood run hot.
Romance meets horror in this lesbian fairytale. Do you dare dive . . . Beneath the Loch?
Caged Bird Rising: A Grim Tale of Women, Wolves, and other Beasts
"Women don't ask questions. Let alone clever ones."
Robyn lives in a world where proper girls are raised by men. She, who grew up with only her grandmother, has to go out of her way to meet the requirements of being a fertile wife. It's the greatest honor Robyn could have dreamed of that Hunter Wolfmounter, the handsome and brave Captain of their village's guardsmen, wants her of all women to become his wife.
Cinderella is the first book in the Lesbian Fairy Tales Series, and a tale of romance between two women.
Check out the rest of the series here!
Cinder-Ella
Ella is transgender. She's known since she was young; being a woman just fit better. She was happier in skirts than trousers, but that was before her stepmother moved in. Eleanor can't stand her, and after Ella's father passes she's forced to revert to Cole, a lump of a son. She cooks, she cleans, and she tolerates being called the wrong name for the sake of a roof over her head. Where else can she go?
An opportunity to attend the royal ball transforms Ella's life. For the first time, strangers see a woman when she walks down the stairs. While Princess Lizabetta invited Cole to the ball, she doesn't blink an eye when Cinderella is the one who shows. The princess is elegant, bold, and everything Ella never knew she wanted. For a moment she glimpses a world that can accept her, and she holds on tight.
Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything―unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.
Once in a while love gives us a fairy tale…
Tormented by a pack of bloodthirsty wolves, Hans and his sister Gretel, run for their lives.
Desperation leads them into the comforting arms of a beautiful woman who asks for nothing in return for her kindness. While Gretel finds herself drawn to the seductress, Hans grows suspicious of her motives. Torn between a brother she adores and a woman she can't help but admire, Gretel is forced to make a choice.
Will sibling bonds override the lure of a newfound love?
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins
Thirteen tales are unspun from the deeply familiar, and woven anew into a collection of fairy tales that wind back through time. Acclaimed Irish author Emma Donoghue reveals heroines young and old in unexpected alliances–sometimes treacherous, sometimes erotic, but always courageous. Told with luminous voices that shimmer with sensuality and truth, these age-old characters shed their antiquated cloaks to travel a seductive new landscape, radiantly transformed.Cinderella forsakes the handsome prince and runs off with the fairy godmother; Beauty discovers the Beast behind the mask is not so very different from the face she sees in the mirror; Snow White is awakened from slumber by the bittersweet fruit of an unnamed desire.
Like A Queen: Lesbian Erotic Fairy Tales
Five lesbian fairy tales that feature classic stories like "Cinderella" and "The Princess and the Pea" with a queer twist. What are the erotic possibilities of the enchanted princesses and forbidding queens that we learned about as children? Discover the love story between Gretel and the Witch and the intoxicating tale of Cinderella's seductively severe stepmother. It wasn't a pea in her mattress that kept the Princess up all night, and the story didn't end when the Prince found Snow White in the woods. Instead of competing for princes or beauty, the women in these stories are made more powerful by their desire for each other.
Roses and Thorns: Beauty and the Beast Retold
A greedy father. A beautiful daughter. A faceless noble. With a word, Aloysius bargains away Angelique's future for a hefty bride-price, and no one, not even Angelique's beloved mother can save her. Angelique is taken to a strange and marvelous estate where she is befriended by Culdun, her Liege's fey companion. And though Culdun hints at darker forces, Angelique is drawn to her host and ever so slowly, she wins Drew's trust. But old fears and an older curse resurface, threatening to drive them apart and banish Drew into an eternity of loneliness. Will Angelique's growing love be strong enough to save her Liege? Or will she flee once the secret is revealed?
Seeing Red: A Contemporary Red Riding Hood Lesbian Romance
Hunter has spent the last two years running in place.
Trying to get ahead of the bills.
Trying to provide for her sister, Piper, and her nephews.
Trying to finish her nursing education.
Trying to keep Piper out of her criminal husband's claws.
Then along comes a beautiful girl in a red cap. Her grandmother is sick, she needs Hunter's nursing help, and the pay is great. It's just what they need and soon Hunter is able to catch her breath. Stop running in place. Start to feel something that she hasn't had time for in years.
Sleeping Beauty, Indeed & Other Lesbian Fairytales
Fairy tales have long intrigued readers. They're the first stories we remember, and they resonate within us as adults. In Sleeping Beauty, Indeed, editor JoSelle Vanderhooft offers us a new take on an ancient theme: fairy tales from a lesbian perspective. From Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, from original myths by talented authors to classics retold with a deft hand, these tales are by turn erotic and sensuous, loving and wicked. Take a bite of the magic apple and make this anthology your bedtime story tonight.
So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction
The legends of Fairyland tell that one should never taste the food or sip the drink, or else risk being caught there forever. But the tempting morsels in So Fey are irresistible! Lambda Award-nominated editor Steve Berman brings together acclaimed fantasy writers with some of the brightest names in speculative and LGBT fiction to create tales that are moving and magical. These stories of romance and grief, adolescence and identity, struggle and hope will enchant readers who long for a fantastic escape—and a wonderful twist! One sample of this bewitching treat is sure to trap you in its pages!
From the pains of loss in Holly Black's "The Coat of Stars" to dealing with issues of identity in Richard Bowes's "The Wand's Boy" to Melissa Scott's look at the dangers of love in "Mister Seeley," So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction takes you into worlds that are at once amazing and familiar. With tales that tear and tug at the heart but never cease to enchant, this exciting and unique collection will long last in the minds of readers.
The Beast that Never Was
What if Beauty was the Beast?
Lise's father is dead, and the life of plenty and freedom that she has known as the daughter of the King's Huntsman is gone. She must now live a life of duty to her mother and sisters, helping them to cope in their altered circumstances. But where her mother would have her wed a childhood friend to secure their future, Lise knows that is not what she longs for.
When she meets a mysterious woman in the forest, Lise feels the stirrings of emotions she cannot give voice to, but with this woman, she doesn't have to say anything—Senna knows.
The Raven & The Reindeer
When Gerta's friend Kay is stolen away by the mysterious Snow Queen, it's up to Gerta to find him. Her journey will take her through a dangerous land of snow and witchcraft, accompanied only by a bandit and a talking raven. Can she win her friend's release, or will following her heart take her to unexpected places?
The Second Sister
ELEANOR OF SANDLEFORD'S entire world is shaken when her father marries the mysterious, reclusive Lady Kingsclere to gain her noble title. Ripped away from the only home she has ever known, Ellie is forced to live at Baxstresse Manor with her two new stepsisters, Luciana and Belladonna. Luciana is sadistic, but Belladonna is the woman who truly haunts her. When her father dies and her new stepmother goes suddenly mad, Ellie is cheated out of her inheritance and forced to become a servant. With the help of a shy maid, a friendly cook, a talking cat, and her mysterious second stepsister, Ellie must stop Luciana from using an ancient sorcerer's chain to bewitch the handsome Prince Brendan and take over the entire kingdom of Seria.
The Spindle and Other Lesbian Fairy Tales
A collection of four short stories and one full-length play about lesbian princesses, woman-princes, goddesses, and fairy godmothers! Magic, mystery, romance… with a radical politic!
Winterglass
The city-state Sirapirat once knew only warmth and monsoon. When the Winter Queen conquered it, she remade the land in her image, turning Sirapirat into a country of snow and unending frost. But an empire is not her only goal. In secret, she seeks the fragments of a mirror whose power will grant her deepest desire.
At her right hand is General Lussadh, who bears a mirror shard in her heart, as loyal to winter as she is plagued by her past as a traitor to her country. Tasked with locating other glass-bearers, she finds one in Nuawa, an insurgent who's forged herself into a weapon that will strike down the queen.
Share your faves in the comments!
10 Best YA Lesbian Romance and Fantasy Books
There's something about young people discovering themselves and falling in love, isn't there? Add a dash of magic, a few adventures, a whole new world, and you have the best recipe for entertainment!
Ash / Huntress
Check out full review here!
Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn't shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people's survival hangs in the balance.
To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls' destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever.
Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.
Girls of Paper and Fire
Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for…and the most demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.
Inkmistress
Asra is a demigod with a dangerous gift: the ability to dictate the future by writing with her blood. To keep her power secret, she leads a quiet life as a healer on a remote mountain, content to help the people in her care and spend time with Ina, the mortal girl she loves.
But Asra's peaceful life is upended when bandits threaten Ina's village and the king does nothing to help. Desperate to protect her people, Ina begs Asra for assistance in finding her manifest—the animal she'll be able to change into as her rite of passage to adulthood. Asra uses her blood magic to help Ina, but her spell goes horribly wrong and the bandits destroy the village, killing Ina's family.
Moribund (Circuit Fae Book 1)
Dark Fae. Romance. Evil Plots. High school. Our heroines could be in for the greatest adventure ever. If only they could decide whether to kill or kiss each other.
Check out the rest of the series!
Noble Falling
Duchess Aleana Melora of Eniva, future queen of Halvaria, is resigned to the gilded cage of her life, facing a loveless marriage to Tallak, the prospective king, and struggling under the pressure to carry on the family name despite her wish to find a woman to love.
When her convoy is attacked on the journey to Tallak's palace, Aleana is saved by her guard, Ori, only to discover her people have turned against her and joined forces with the kingdom of Dakmor, Halvaria's greatest enemy. Her only hope is to reach Tallak, but she and Ori don't make it far before another attack and an unlikely rescue by Kahira, a Dakmoran woman banished from her kingdom for reasons she is hesitant to share.
Of Fire and Stars
An atmospheric and romantic debut fantasy perfect for fans of Ash and The Winner's Curse.
Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile kingdoms.
But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a land where magic is forbidden.
Ship of Smoke and Steel (The Wells of Sorcery Trilogy Book 1)
Ship of Smoke and Steel is the launch of Django Wexler's cinematic, action-packed epic fantasy Wells of Sorcery trilogy.
In the lower wards of Kahnzoka, the great port city of the Blessed Empire, eighteen-year-old ward boss Isoka enforces the will of her criminal masters with the power of Melos, the Well of Combat. The money she collects goes to keep her little sister living in comfort, far from the bloody streets they grew up on.
When Isoka's magic is discovered by the government, she's arrested and brought to the Emperor's spymaster, who sends her on an impossible mission: steal Soliton, a legendary ghost ship—a ship from which no one has ever returned. If she fails, her sister's life is forfeit.
Unicorn Tracks
When a vicious assault compels sixteen-year-old Mnemba to leave her village, she joins her cousin Tumelo as a tracker in his booming safari business. It doesn't take her long to become one of the best safari guides in Nazwimbe. Her work allows her to escape into a new world of wondrous creatures, and to avoid thinking about what happened at home.
When Mr. Harving arrives with his daughter Kara to research unicorns, Tumelo assigns Mnemba to them as a guide. The attraction between Mnemba and Kara is almost instant, but Kara is engaged to be married when she returns home. Venturing into the savanna alone, they uncover a plot by a gang of poachers to enslave the unicorns, harnessing their supernatural strength to build a railway. They must save the creatures Kara loves while struggling not to succumb to forbidden love themselves.
What awesome reads did I miss? Sound off in the comments!
Lesbian Fantasy Paperbacks Giveaway
Dec 5, 2018 Dec 10, 2018 Lola AndrewsLeave a comment
Win 8 paperbacks filled with magic, demons, elves, adventure and a dash of lesbian and bisexual love and naughtiness. Discover the fantastic worlds of 8 incredible ladies!
Go here and check some of the books that you'll be getting if you win!
18 Awesome Lesbian (and Bisexual) Witches You've Probably Never Heard About
Dec 4, 2018 Dec 4, 2018 Lola Andrews1 Comment
Sometimes they're evil, and sometimes they're not. Sometimes, they just like a bit of mischief. But all of these women are have a bit of magic, and they want a taste of all that life has to offer. Are you going to miss their adventures?
A Witch's Mortal Desire
My name is Sadie, and I'm a nymphomaniac.
Oh yeah… and I'm also a witch…with almost zero magical powers. The only place I fit in is with my two roommates—a vampire Dominatrix stripper and a gay shapeshifter. But against my better judgment, a new human in town wants to squeeze into our ménage à many. Of course, part of his charm is that my mother hates him. But before meeting Ryder, I never even considered letting some possessive, alpha-hole man-candy come between me and freedom.
Cursed Mage: Witch School Book One
Jaska was the greatest witch in a generation, greater even than those fools at the Academy, so it was only natural she would turn to the dark arts and try to take over the world.
There was one problem. A pesky chosen one prophesied to bring her dark reign to an end. Most dark overlords would be furious at having a chosen one rattling around out there destined to defeat them, but not Jaska.
No, she decided to have a little fun with prophecy and predestination.
Demon Called (The Demon Queen Book 1)
They call me Uniter of Realms, Bringer of Peace, High Queen.
But I'm just a fake psychic with a bad childhood and a stack of past due bills.
Five realms hang in the balance, three races whose lives depend on magic, and one corrupt king hoarding it all for himself.
My role?
Oh, just fixing it. Easy, right?
Freed by Her Spell: A Lesbian Witch Story
Hungary, a very long time ago. Yana is a simple peasant girl. She enjoys working in the fields and running through the forest. When marriage is forced upon her, she turns to the woods, mesmerized by a strange chant, following it into the night.
She stumbles upon a beautiful witch. The witch recognizes that Yana is being brought to her by spiritual powers and offers here a new life and uninhibited bodily pleasures.
Gretel: A Fairytale Retold
Midnight's Blossom (The Queen of Ruin Book 1)
A chance encounter plunges Lily and Rose headlong into a dangerous world of forbidden magic, political intrigue and the ever-looming specter of war and a terrible calamity that threatens all People, human and fey alike.
MIDNIGHT'S BLOSSOM is the first chapter in the exciting tale of Lily, Rose, their friends and allies as they find themselves thrust into danger at the heart of the evil and corruption that threatens the entire world!
Samhain Shadows
If you were lost and lonely, where would you look for love and belonging?
Samhain has come too soon for Brigit. Her mother has recently passed and she is feeling lost and isolated in her new role as the owner of Morrigan's Promise. She is not the witch her mother was no matter what she sets out to do. To top it off, her mother's cat is ill, and she hasn't heard from the dreamy Dr. Oliver all day.
Taking a much needed rest, she finds herself awakened by a murder of crows and a vision that will leave Brigit's world upended.
Will a blessing from The Morrigan help Brigit find her own power?
Does a visit from the sexy Dr. Julia Oliver hold the belonging she seeks?
Sworn to the Night (The Wisdom's Grave Trilogy Book 1)
When Marie's case draws her into Nessa's path, sparks fly. What comes next is more than a furtive whirlwind affair; it's the first pebbles of an avalanche. Nessa and Marie are the victims of a curse that has pursued them across countless lifetimes; a doom designed to trap them in a twisted living fairy tale, with their romance fated to end in misery and death.
The Avatar's Flames (Through the Fire Book 1)
Ruethwyn's life was promising. Talented in magic, the young elven woman didn't fit in in her hometown, but was scheduled to attend the most renowned academy of magic in the kingdom, and was even building up the courage to confess her love in the hope that it might be returned.
That all ended in a dragon's fire. Resvarygrath the Gilded, lord of the Golden Dominion, destroyed Ruethwyn's village, killed her parents and teacher, and stole away the young women of the village.
The Book Addict
From award winning author Annette Mori comes the captivating story of Tanya, a young woman whose life is unremarkable without any friends or lovers. Although she has her books and faithful furry companion, Tolstoy, she's merely existing. Then she meets Elle, the alluring owner of the new bookstore, The Enchanted Page. Elle looks like she stepped out of a Nordic adventure and Tanya is immediately infatuated with the mysterious woman.
The Eldritch Heart
Princess Oona Talomir enjoys the little things that come with her station: a handmaiden, her lavish bedchamber, and scores of fancy dresses―the duty to win a decades' long war, not so much.
Oh, did I mention assassins?
The Exile and the Sorcerer (Lyremouth Chronicles Book 1)
The quest for the stolen chalice is a sham – her family's excuse to get rid of Tevi. Exiled in a dangerous and confusing world filled with monsters, bandits, and sorcerers, Tevi battles demons within and without as she searches for her place in the strange new world. Jemeryl has her future planned out – a future that will involve minimal contact with ordinary folk who do not understand sorcerers. Her ambition is to lead a solitary life within the Coven and to devote herself to the study of magic. It is all very straightforward – until she meets Tevi. Two unlikely allies join forces to defeat an insidious evil and on the journey find one another.
The Raven and the Witchhunter: The Rise of the Light
Vanessa lives a charmed life as a rising star in a hit new TV series. She has friends and family that love her, as well as the secret perk of being able to turn into a raven and fly away if life gets too stressful.
When her best friend moves away and a mysterious woman enters her life warning of danger, her perfect life takes an unexpected turn.
The Sting of Victory: A Dark Fantasy Lesbian Romance (Fallen Gods Book 1)
When a foreign emperor dies at the hands of a mysterious interloper, one who seeks to collect the greatest sources of power in the realms, Flowridia's kingdom is charged to stop him. But Flowridia's devotion is torn between duty to her own and the woman whose claws grip her heart. In the ensuing clash of Gods, Flowridia must choose her loyalties with care – the fates of kingdoms rest in her hands.
While the King and his armies are away the kingdom of Caranthrir faces many threats. With a rash of terrifying and bizarre murders in the capital putting strain on Queen Brunhilde and the tenuous peace she is desperately trying to maintain, she also has to contend with a series of horrifying nightmares and an openly contemptuous court. Now may not be the best time to start an illicit romance with her handmaiden, Sophie. Larger forces are afoot, threatening to change not only Caranthrir and its Queen but the entire realm, and Brunhilde must fight to defend her people. With her lover at her side Brunhilde is ready to face all these threats and more.
Wild Magic (The Veil Chronicles Book 1)
It only takes one to upset the balance of magic.
Ania Zaleska lives a perfectly ordinary—albeit floundering—life in Poland's second-biggest city until the day she explodes. She's dug from the rubble of her apartment building by shadow mage Noah Otieno, whose job it becomes to get Ania's wild magic under control.
Noah is affiliated with the Society for Psychical Defense but she has kept herself away from magical politics as much as possible. Now she is in charge of potentially the most powerful magical weapon on either side of the war, she must decide how she can best keep her safe—especially when their magic brings them together in ways only wild magic can.
Witch Wolf (Kassandra Lyall Preternatural Investigator Series Book 1)
Preternatural Private Investigator and Paranormal Huntress Kassandra Lyall is used to working alone. Whenever there's a murder or a mystery to solve that involves the preternatural—she's the witch they call. When she's called in to help the local cops work on a mysterious murder case, she finds herself needing all the help she can get.
Witches, Princesses, and Women at Arms
In this sexy, erotic anthology of twisted fairy tales, the damsels are the ones doing the rescuing! Full of ancient, adapted tales that were changed to include female/female pairings and also some brand new stories of feminine heroics and sexual dominance, this collection of stories will leave readers under a spell of lesbian love!
And this one's mine!
Hey, would you like to read the first five chapters of A Queen Rises for free? Sign up here!
Did I miss your favorite witch? Sound off in the comments!
Book Review: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Nov 30, 2018 Nov 30, 2018 Lola Andrews1 Comment
In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after – the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king's interest.
Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppresive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, she does the unthinkable – she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.
First of all, this book comes with a trigger warning for sexual abuse and violence.
Please, don't let that deter you! Girls of Paper and Fire is definitely the revelation of the year, with an intricate plot that weaves themes of self-love and identity with a beautiful coming of age story built in a well-crafted and very interesting fantasy world.
Girls of Paper and Fire introduces us to Lei, the member of an oppresed caste who is chosen to become a Paper Girl, or the equivalent of a sex slave to the king. Along with her, seven other girls get chosen, a ritual that happens every year and that once upon a time saw Lei's mother taken away from her. Lei meets Wren, another Paper Girl, which in turn twists the story into a romantic adventure in the search for justice.
The setting of the world is beautiful, weaving elements from Asian mythology with original fantasy imagery. Ngan's world is evocative, and it becomes an enchanting spell of scents and sights in which to root the story of these young girls.
Thematically, this book is dense, but only in the best of ways. It carves out a society in which women are objectified, and offers a very clear view on rape as a tool for power. The topic is difficult, but it is treated with genuine care and without being unnecessarily graphic. Thus, the book tells a powerful tale of male sexual violence used as a means of exerting domination, rather than as depravation or mere lust.
The girls in this book meet during a traumatic period in their lives, and find strenght in each other and in the reclaiming of their own selves, their minds and their bodies. The focus on recovering from trauma is beautiful, and it makes for character archs that build into three-dimensional stories of great complexity, and great hope.
I recommed Girls of Paper and Fire for fans of fantasy, lesbian romance, and well-crafted young adult novels with great characters.
Buy Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan Lo here.
Find the author
girlinthelens.com
You can find this book in my list Top 10 Best Fantasy and Romance Novels
Book Review: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
Nov 26, 2018 Nov 26, 2018 Lola Andrews3 Comments
Melissa Bashardoust's acclaimed debut novel Girls Made of Snow and Glass is "Snow White as it's never been told before…a feminist fantasy fairy tale not to be missed" (BookPage)!
"Utterly superb." —ALA Booklist, starred review
"Dark, fantastical, hauntingly evocative." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"An empowering and progressive original retelling." —SLJ, starred review
Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she'd always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to become a stepmother.
Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen's image, at her father's order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—to win back the only mother she's ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.
Girls Made of Snow and Glass starts its narrative as a retelling of Snow White, and soon turns itself into something completely different. Devoid of the classic take on jealousy and female competition, Bashardoust gives the tale of these two women shades of emotional complexity, coming-of-age narrative, female agency and conflicting feelings.
A character-driven story, Girls Made of Snow and Glass focuses on two main characters, Mina and Lynet, the would-be evil queen and her step-daughter. Told through flashbacks and their two different points of view, it weaves a story of both powerful betrayal and hope.
Mina, trapped by her own idea that love will forever elude her, grows hungry for power and pushes everyone away. Calculating and obssesed with power, one can't help but sympathise with her loneliness and her longing for that which she believes herself uncapable of.
Lynet, living under the shadow of her own mother, whose memory her father is obssesed with, struggles to find her own identity, and can't help but find a role model in her step-mother Mina. Her coming-of-age story rings believable and heartfelt as she figures herself out and tries to free herself of the ghost of her mother, all the while handling her relationship with Mina, the only mother she has ever known.
Ultimately, this book is about the complex relationship between these two women, which takes on the theme of mother/daughter dynamics with dexerity and great detail. Refusing to follow the core ideas of the classic Snow White fairytale, Girls Made of Snow Glass brings the two characters together in unexpected ways, creating something completely new and filled with surprising emotion.
The lesbian relationship in the story is subtle, and while not the main subject of the book, it rounds the narrative along many other themes, such as gender roles, growing up, femininity and sense of self.
I highly recommend Girls Made of Snow and Glass to fans of fairytale retellings and dark fantasy populated by complex female characters. The dash of lesbian romance is only a bonus that adds to the beautifully rendered female relationships, the fairy tale twists, and the nods to the original Snow White.
Buy Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust here.
www.melissabashardoust.com
Book Review: Ash by Malinda Lo
In the world of ASH, fairies are an older race of people who walk the line between life and death, reality and magic. As orphaned Ash grows up, a servant in her stepmother's home, she begans to realise that her beloved mother, Elinor, was very much in tune with these underworld folk, and that she herself has the power to see them too.
Against the sheer misery of her stepmother's cruelty, greed and ambition in preparing her two charmless daughters for presentation at court, and hopefully royal or aristocratic marriage, Ash befriends one of these fairies – a mysterious, handsome man – who grants her wishes and restores hope to Ash's existence, even though she knows there will be a price to pay. But most important of all, she also meets Kaisa, a huntress employed by the king, and it is Kaisa who truly awakens Ash's desires for both love and self-respect …
ASH is a fairy tale about possibility and recognizing the opportunities for change. From the deepest grief comes the chance for transformation.
The easiest way to describe Malinda Lo's Ash is to say "queer Cinderella for Young Adults". However, such a simple statement is a disservice to the deeply engaging world Lo creates for her protagonist.
I like to think of Ash as a wonderful departure from tradition, even when its world is firmly rooted in classic fairytales. Yes, there is a ball to attend that the fierceless protagonist must abandon before midnight, there is a prince, and there is, of course, a wicked step-mother. However, the story doesn't enslave itself to the Cinderella that we already know, and instead creates its own unique path.
To recap quickly: Ash's mother passes away and her father remarries, bringing into his household a step-mother and two step-sisters for Ash. When Ash's father dies, she becomes a servant to her own step-family. Sound familiar? Indeed it is up until that point. However, soon Ash starts seeing a strange man that belongs to the fairy race, and who substitutes the fairy godmother character (with a lot less bibbidi bobbidi booing). Ash longs to go with him, unless until she meets the head of the royal hunt.
The world-building of the novel is fantastic, mixing a Celtic style of fairy folklore with a classic Disney-like approach, thus treating the reader to dark fantasy at its best. Fairies appear as a magic race that humans deal with at their own peril, and whose favors always come with a price. The writing style, too, makes the story feel both traditional and new, honoring folktales while playing around with more modern social notions.
The lesbian love story isn't treated as controversial, which is always a nice surprise, since the conflict comes instead from a very classic coming-of-age narrative, as well as from class difference. The relationship between the two characters isn't overtly romantic until maybe halfway through the book, and it's quite innocent as well, but satisfying in its akwardness and friendship that grows into something more.
The best thing about the book is definetely its well thought-out characters. Three-dimensional and engaging, Ash is an easy favorite for a YA protagonist, likeable, coregeous and spirited. Her struggle with the fairy world is well-supported by her grief over the death of her mother, and her choices are understandable.
Kaisa, Ash's love interest, is a completely original creation to the Cinderella story, and works as a sympathetic and strong presence within the narrative, making it easy to understand why Ash's final choice is between the magic world of fairies and the human world where she has found love.
Lo has crafted here a beautiful and dark tale, where the protagonist must decide between a dangerous flirtation that offers her a reprieve from her sadness, and finding salvation on her own terms. Ash will conquer fans of LGBT YA books, but I reccommend it for any fan of well-built fantasy worlds, fairytale retellings, romance and great female protagonists.
Buy Ash by Malinda Lo here.
www.malindalo.com
A Queen Rises, Now Available for preorder!
Nov 20, 2018 Apr 26, 2019 Lola AndrewsLeave a comment
A tale full of romance, betrayal, and tragedy, inspired by classic fairy tales. Perfect for fans of Girls Made of Snow and Glass, Princess of Dorsa, and the cult TV Show Once Upon a Time.
A TERRIBLE BETRAYAL. A TOUCH OF FAIRY MAGIC. A HEART BEATING FOR REVENGE.
Marcela, her mother tells her, doesn't know how good she has it. Of noble birth, wealthy, and all but guaranteed a life of luxury, Marcela has only to learn how a real lady behaves — but that proves to be more difficult than it sounds. Chastised again and again, Marcela spends whole days locked in the cellar, going without food and shrouded in darkness. There, she dreams of the faraway lands of her father's stories and wonders about her mother's grim and mysterious past.
When the queen dies, all the noble families of the kingdom flock to attend a ball thrown to honor the king's search for a new wife. There, Marcela finds herself seduced by a duchess's daughter in-law and attracts the devoted attention of Princess Primrose, who Marcela rescues from the dark, fae woods beyond the manor and who now wants Marcela for a mother.
But those woods hide worse things than beasts. The faeries whisper in Marcela's ears, and as she grows closer to the crown and further from her abusive mother, she discovers power beyond anything she'd ever dreamed of. And power, Marcela soon learns, will always corrupt.
For fans of fantasy epics and fairy tales… with an LGBT twist!
Preorder here!
Top 10 Lesbian Fantasy and Romance Novels
Nov 19, 2018 Dec 3, 2018 Lola Andrews2 Comments
Love fantasy? Love knights and queens and fairy tales? Love lesbian and bisexual ladies struggling in a world filled with magic, strange creatures and royal duties? These novels have everything you're looking for!
Ash by Malinda Lo
Read full review here.
Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Gretel: A Fairy Tale Retold by Niamh Murphy
Find out in this exciting adult fairy tale full of action, adventure, and romance.
'Gretel: A Fairytale Retold' is a thrilling adaptation of a classic fairytale for fans of Angela Carter's 'Bloody Chamber' and Malinda Lo's modern classic, 'Ash'.
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
Forced to choose between their duty and their hearts, Mare and Denna must find a way to save their kingdoms—and each other.
Princess of Dorsa (The Chronicles of Dorsa Book 1) by Eliza Andrews
The fate of an empire lies in the hands of one untested princess.
Can Tasia rise to the occasion? Will she be the leader her father believes her to be? Or is the Empire doomed to fall?
For fans of epic fantasy… with an LGBTQ twist.
The Queen of Ieflaria (Tales of Inthya Book 1) by Effie Calvin
Princess Esofi of Rhodia and Crown Prince Albion of Ieflaria have been betrothed since they were children but have never met. At age seventeen, Esofi's journey to Ieflaria is not for the wedding she always expected but instead to offer condolences on the death of her would-be husband.
But Ieflaria is desperately in need of help from Rhodia for their dragon problem, so Esofi is offered a new betrothal to Prince Albion's younger sister, the new Crown Princess Adale. But Adale has no plans of taking the throne, leaving Esofi with more to battle than fire-breathing beasts.
The Queen's Curse (A Novel of Epic Spiritual Fantasy Adventure and Lesbian Romance Book 1) by Natasja Hellenthal
When Commander Tirsa Lathabris finds out about her younger brother's death sentence she is determined to face the mysterious Queen Artride who is as much feared for her immoral actions as she is admired for her beauty.
But Tirsa's attack has an unexpected outcome. Instead of being imprisoned she is chosen to be Artride's only bodyguard on a perilous mission.
Their country and its law-system, she soon learns, is cursed.
The Second Sister (Amendyr Book 1) by Rae D. Magdon
ELEANOR OF SANDLEFORD'S entire world is shaken when her father marries the mysterious, reclusive Lady Kingsclere to gain her noble title. Ripped away from the only home she has ever known, Ellie is forced to live at Baxstresse Manor with her two new stepsisters, Luciana and Belladonna. Luciana is sadistic, but Belladonna is the woman who truly haunts her. When her father dies and her new stepmother goes suddenly mad, Ellie is cheated out of her inheritance and forced to become a servant.
The Sting of Victory: A Dark Fantasy Lesbian Romance (Fallen Gods Book 1) by SD Simper
When Flowridia, a witch granted power by an unknown demon, deceives an alluring foreign diplomat, she is promoted to a position of power to conceal her falsehood. Thrust into a world of politics and murderous ambition, she has her gentle heart and her Familiar to guide her – as well as a drunk Celestial with a penchant for illusion.
Have any other lesbian romance and fantasy stories that you love? Post them in the comments!


text:
Discotek Adds Mazinger Z Super Robot TV Anime
1st box by end of 2013 for pioneer Go Nagai 's 1972-74 92-episode anime
North American video distributor Discotek Media announced on Saturday that it will release the 92 episodes of the original 1972-74 Mazinger Z television anime series. Discotek is aiming to release the first box set at the end of 2013.
The anime was the first adaptation of Go Nagai's 1972 super robot manga of the same name. The story follows high school boy Kōji Kabuto in his super robot Mazinger Z as he battles Dr. Hell, a mad scientist bent on world domination.
The franchise is since spawned four television series (five, if one counts the Robonimal Panda-Z: The Robonimation parody), at least nine movies, and several original video animation projects.
Update: More background information added.
discuss this in the forum (45 posts) |
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: What is the scope of variables in Razor MVC 3 I am having problems with variable scope for myClient in my Razor code. I am sure the solution is simple. Basically I am referencing it in a seperate @{} block which perhaps is causing the issue, but it seems unless I do this I get the if..{} code in the HTML.
@{
int i = 0;
foreach (var item in Model.Clients)
    {
        Int32 myId = Convert.ToInt32(item.DBID);
        var myClient = db.Client.Where(c => c.Id == myId).First();

            @string.Format(
                "{0} {1} {2}",
                myClient.Title,
                myClient.Initials,
                myClient.LastName)

                @{
                    if (myClient.Type!="Primary")
                    {
                        @Html.ActionLink(
                            "Delete",
                            "Delete",
                            "ClientBackground",
                            new { id=item.ID }, null)
                    }
                 }

        }

My code cannot reference myClient.Type. If I remove the surrounding @{} then I get the c# code in the HTML.
Something simple I know, but I am failing to see it.
Any help hugely appreciated.
EDIT: Table closed off.

A: Try this:

              @{int i = 0;}

              @foreach (var item in Model.Clients)
                  {
                      Int32 myId = Convert.ToInt32(item.DBID);
                      var myClient = db.Client.Where(c => c.Id == myId).First();

@string.Format("{0} {1} {2}",myClient.Title,myClient.Initials,myClient.LastName)
                                    @if (myClient.Type!="Primary")
                                        {
                                        @Html.ActionLink("Delete", "Delete","ClientBackground", new { id=item.ID },null)
                                }

              }

I made many guesses about formatting. Important, I put your int assignment into it's own block. I put opening and closing
's and 's to match and put them outside of optional @if blocks. But this version will compile.

A: Strange syntax here:
@{if (myClient.Type!="Primary")
     {
          @Html.ActionLink("Delete", "Delete","ClientBackground", new { id=item.ID },null)
     }
 }

Why not:
@if (myClient.Type!="Primary")
{
   @Html.ActionLink("Delete", "Delete","ClientBackground", new { id=item.ID },null)
}

Added:
Your updated code has invalid html markup, it should look something like:

@{
int i = 0;
foreach (var item in Model.Clients)
{
    Int32 myId = Convert.ToInt32(item.DBID);
    var myClient = db.Client.Where(c => c.Id == myId).First();

        @string.Format("{0} {1} {2}", myClient.Title, myClient.Initials, myClient.LastName)
        @if (myClient.Type!="Primary")
        {
            @Html.ActionLink("Delete", "Delete", "ClientBackground", new { id=item.ID }, null)
        }

}

Table was not closed and you had opened  tag

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


CUASA stands in solidarity with Bawaating Water Protectors and their allies, including Carleton University students who assisted in building a tipi on Parliament Hill, which is in traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaaabeg people.
As educators, we believe strongly in the importance of political participation and community engagement. The Carleton students who are involved in protests and ceremonies this weekend are demonstrating the importance of acknowledging our collective history of racism and colonialism, and we stand with them in their efforts.
CUASA calls on the RCMP to allow protesters to remain on Parliament Hill and to rescind immediately any bans against individual participants.


text:
Handling Suspects' Claims of Insanity During Interrogation
September 4, 2018 • by Steven E. Pitt
The primary purpose of interview and interrogation is to secure the suspect's narrative about their alleged role in the offense. (Photo: Getty Images)
Editor's Note: The principal author of this article, Arizona-based forensic psychiatrist Dr. Steven E. Pitt, was murdered in late May. He was targeted by one of the subjects he had evaluated. That subject, Dwight Lamon Jones, blamed numerous people for his divorce, including Pitt. Jones killed six people in a two-day rampage in Scottsdale. Then when tracked down by police, he exchanged fire with officers before taking his own life. Dr. Pitt frequently assisted Phoenix-area law enforcement. Earlier in his career he consulted on the Columbine High School Massacre and the JonBenet Ramsey murder.
Although rarely raised and even more rarely successful, the insanity defense can present significant challenges for law enforcement and attorneys alike. In most cases, issues related to a defendant's mental state at the time of the offense are touched upon obliquely during a trial on the merits and during the penalty phase, typically in an effort to mitigate his or her sentence. But the defendant's mental state and/or mental health history is often addressed in great detail.
An essential element to the outcome of a mental state defense is the information gathered by those persons charged with interviewing and/or interrogating the suspect. The goals of interview and interrogation, while different, share some overlapping themes. The primary purpose is to elicit specific and accurate information about the individual, particularly with respect to his or her thinking and/or motivation and behavior at the time of the offense. The role of law enforcement in securing the suspect's narrative about their alleged role in the offense cannot be overemphasized. To this end, critical information should be obtained by law enforcement long before a defendant comes into contact with a psychiatric or psychological evaluator. Whether an investigator is trying to extract a confession directly from the suspect or is gathering information from collateral sources, every effort should be made to obtain as much information as possible about a suspect's state of mind proximal to the time of the offense.
The authors have all worked in and/or consulted to a homicide unit and have developed a practical tool to aid investigators in gathering information about a suspect's mental state at the time of an offense.
There is no substitute for a thorough and objective interrogation that gets to the truth. To this end, we believe that our instrument, the Pitt, Nelson, Chapman, Lamoureux Interview Schedule (PNCLIS), will provide law enforcement personnel with a useful strategy to memorialize their observations regarding a defendant's mental state at the time of the offense.
Using the mnemonic "INSANITY," PNCLIS (pronounced "Pin-clis") incorporates eight essential elements to assist law enforcement with collecting and documenting information about a suspect's thought processes at and around the time of an offense.
LEOs can use the eight elements of PNCLIS to conduct observations about a suspect's mental state at the time of an offense. (Photo: Getty Images)
1) INTENT. Querying a suspect about his or her intent at the time he or she committed the offense is critical. By inquiring about intent, invaluable information is obtained about a suspect's mental state at the time of the offense. Whether the suspect had the requisite mens rea (guilt) when he or she committed the offense will help ascertain if a mental state defense will be a viable option at the time of trial.
2) KNOWING. A suspect's ability or inability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his or her conduct at the time of the offense is another key component of a mental state defense. As such, this line of questioning is designed to explore what the suspect knew when he or she committed the offense and, more specifically, whether the suspect knew that his or her actions were wrong when they committed the offense.
3) PSYCHIATRIC HISTORY. Asking suspects about whether they have a psychiatric history and to what extent (if any) they received psychiatric treatment are also very helpful lines of questioning. Additional areas of inquiry include learning whether the suspect has ever been psychiatrically hospitalized voluntarily or involuntarily, given a psychiatric diagnosis, and/or treated with psychotropic medications.
4) ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE USE HISTORY. Information about a suspect's past and recent substance use, especially during the days, hours, and minutes leading up to the commission of the offense, is of paramount importance to determining the viability of a potential mental state defense. In virtually every jurisdiction in the United States that has an insanity statute, a "mental disease or defect" does not include conditions that result from acute voluntary intoxication or withdrawal from alcohol or drugs. Hence, a detailed inquiry regarding the suspect's recent and past substance use history is an essential piece of information to secure.
5) NOISES. Many persons with a serious mental illness suffer from perceptual disturbances such as hearing voices or noises. Such claims are also often made by persons attempting to feign mental illness. Asking suspects early on about whether they are experiencing, or have experienced, any perceptual disturbances will be of tremendous benefit toward a later mental state evaluation. Use open-ended questions such as:
"Do you ever hear things that other people don't hear?"
"Do you ever see things that other people don't see?"
"Have you ever experienced any unusual perceptions?"
"Did you experience any unusual perceptions prior, during, or following the offense?"
The answers to these questions will help ascertain if the suspect has a legitimate history of suffering from hallucinations. When confronted with a suspect who is endorsing a history of suffering from hallucinations, it is important that the investigator ask follow-up questions about the duration of the hallucinations and what the suspect does to cope with these perceptual disturbances. It is also important to ask the suspect whether he or she has ever received treatment for their complaints, told anyone else about the hallucinations, and whether they occurred while intoxicated and/or in the absence of substance use. Any affirmative answers require follow-up questions about what treatment and/or diagnoses the subject has received.
6) INJURY. A suspect's history of head trauma is often raised in mitigation. To this end, it is important to inquire as to whether the suspect has ever suffered loss of consciousness or head trauma of any kind such as concussions, sports injuries, injuries from physical altercations, or injuries from motor vehicle accidents.
A corollary to head trauma is a complaint of amnesia. It is not uncommon for disingenuous suspects to have very little, if any, memory of their behavior during the commission of the offense but retain an exquisite memory of their behavior and actions leading up to and following the offense. When confronted with a suspect who is claiming amnesia, it is critical that the investigator explore whether the suspect has ever had any other similar experiences and/or periods of memory loss. It is also important to extract from the suspect as much information as possible regarding his or her pre-offense and post-offense behavior. The more detail a suspect volunteers, the less likely it is they will have a legitimate claim of suffering from amnesia at the time of the offense.
Striving to understand what motivated the offender and why helps advance the investigation. (Photo: Getty Images)
7) TIMELINE. It is imperative to preserve the suspect's account of his or her behavior during the days, hours, and minutes leading up to, during, and following the offense. Regardless of the potential presence of a mental impairment, it is crucial for the investigator to secure a detailed account/timeline of the suspect's actions during the time period in question.
8) WHY. Why and why now? These two questions are fundamental to understanding an offender's thought process at the time of the offense. Sometimes the answer is cogent, sometimes it is illogical, and sometimes no explanation will be offered.
All too often, little effort is made to understand what drove the suspect to act in the manner that he or she did at that particular time and on that particular day. Striving to understand what motivated the offender—and what prompted him or her to act at that moment in time—helps not only to advance the investigation but also assists those persons tasked with prosecuting or defending the case.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for otherwise competent and well-trained investigators to ignore and/or fail to ask follow-up questions of the suspect who is exhibiting overt signs of mental illness. Similarly, opportunities may be missed when only subtle signs of mental illness are present. In both instances, the fact pattern of the offense can, on occasion, trigger questions about a suspect's mental health history. This is the case when a suspect is brought in for questioning regarding a truly bizarre offense, yet the investigator fails to appreciate that based on the offense alone he or she may be dealing with a person who is seriously mentally ill.
Investigations focused on extracting a confession at the expense of collecting other relevant data, particularly data pertaining to a suspect's mental health, should be avoided. Some investigators may fear that inquiring about a suspect's mental illness would open a proverbial Pandora's Box. Other investigators may be apprehensive that questions they ask about mental illness could give the suspect license to claim a condition and/or symptoms that they may not have endorsed otherwise. To be sure, this sort of "interrogation with blinders" is in no one's best interest. But contrary to popular belief, successfully feigning mental illness is no simple task. It may be easy for some defendants to fake the content of a mental illness, but it is exceedingly difficult to fake the process. Moreover, so long as the interrogation is video recorded, the integrity of the process will remain intact, thereby giving all parties an opportunity to observe the suspect's contemporaneous responses to questions related to his or her mental state at the time of the offense.
Steven E. Pitt, D.O., was a forensic psychiatrist and president of Steven Pitt & Associates. He was also a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and a consultant to the Phoenix Police Department.
Erin M. Nelson, Psy.D., is a forensic and clinical psychologist. Nelson is an associate professor of medical education at the Texas Christian University/University of North Texas Health Sciences Center School of Medicine and an associate professor of psychiatry and bioethics and medical humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. Nelson is also a consultant to the Phoenix Police Department. Her e-mail is [email protected].
Lt. Bryan Chapman is an 19-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department. He is currently assigned to the Phoenix Regional Police Academy as an executive officer/basic training lieutenant. He previously served in the homicide unit, missing & unidentified persons unit, and as a field training officer.
Ian Lamoureux, M.D., is a forensic psychiatrist in Scottsdale, AZ. He received his medical doctorate from the University of Arizona, completed his residency training at the Mayo Clinic, and completed his forensic psychiatry fellowship at Case Western Reserve University. His e-mail is [email protected].
Read more about Mentally Ill Subjects Interrogation Negotiating with Suspects


text:
Jotán (en uigur: خوتەن, transliterado como: Xoten, Hotǝn, Hotan y Khotan), también conocida por su nombre chino de Hetian (en chino: 和田市, pinyin: Hétiánshì, lit: campo de paz, antes conocida como: Yutián, en chino: 于窴 y por los exploradores europeos en el  como Ilchi) es una ciudad-oasis situada en el desierto de Taklamakán y que formó parte de la zona sur de la antigua Ruta de la Seda. Está situada en la Región Autónoma Uigur de Sinkiang, en la República Popular China. Se administra como ciudad-condado capital de la Prefectura de Jotán con una población total de 365 mil habitantes (2006), la mayoría de etnia uigur y religión musulmana. Con una rica historia, la ciudad fue conocida en su tiempo por su seda, su jade y su cerámica.

Jotán está situada al oeste del río de Jade Blanco, llamado así por el jade de este color que se encuentra en sus depósitos aluviales. En la actualidad apenas queda jade pero el río sigue siendo una de las principales fuentes de irrigación de la ciudad. Es también un importante centro de producción de alfombras y productos derivados de la seda.

Jotán se hizo famosa al descubrirse una serie de momias caucásicas que ponían de manifiesto que la zona había estado habitada desde tiempos remotos por los tocarios. La zona es rica en yacimientos arqueológicos que se encuentran enterrados en las arenas del desierto.

Historia
El oasis de Jotán está situado estratégicamente en la unión de la rama sur de la ruta de la seda que unía China con Occidente gracias a otras rutas procedentes de India, Tíbet y Asia central. Era una lugar ideal para la transmisión cultural entre las diferentes culturas.

Jotán, desde su fundación en tiempos del emperador Asoka (269 a. C.) hasta su conversión al islamismo a finales del siglo X, fue un centro importante de la religión budista, con una historia tempestuosa y sufrió diversas invasiones. Durante este periodo de tiempo fue una de las puertas de entrada del comercio y la cultura india en la cuenca del Tarim y se convirtió en un importante centro de enseñanza y cultura budista.

La ciudad fue también la fuente del primer jade que se utilizó en China. Durante siglos el comercio del jade de Jotán estuvo controlado por el pueblo nómada de los yuezhi hasta que fue derrotado en el 176 a. C. por los xiongnu.

Clima
Jotán tiene un clima desértico, sin casi precipitaciones durante todo el año y una gran variación estacional de temperatura. El mes más frío es enero con -4 °C y el más caliente es julio con apenas 25 °C.

Transporte
Aire: El aeropuerto de la ciudad es el Hetián (和田机场), se ubica a 1400 m sobre el nivel del mar.

Tierra: La autopista nacional China 315 (315国道) pasa por la ciudad. Se conecta a la ciudad de Kasgar a través línea férrea Kashgar-Hotan (喀什至和田铁路) de 488 km de largo, se abrió al tráfico de mercancías el 30 de diciembre de 2010 y el servicio de pasajeros comenzó el 28 de junio de 2011. Hay buses que parten frecuentemente a la Ciudad de Aksu.

Lugares de interés

 Museo de Jotán: muestra cerca de cuatrocientas piezas encontradas en los yacimientos arqueológicos cercanos que reflejan la historia de la ciudad durante los últimos dos milenios. Situado en el centro de la ciudad, el museo también muestra la importancia que la ruta de la seda tuvo en el intercambio comercial y cultura entre Oriente y Occidente.
 Antigua ciudad de Melikawat: situada a unos 25 kilómetros de Jotán. Se trata de las ruinas de la que se cree fue la capital del reino Yutian . Desde el año 1977 se realizan excavaciones arqueológicas en el área.
 Antigua ciudad de Yoktan: ruinas situadas a unos 10  kilómetros al oeste de Jotán de la que fue una importante y próspera ciudad durante la dinastía Han (60  a.  C.). Yoktan fue un importante centro budista. En la zona ocupada por las ruinas, con una extensión de 10  km², se han encontrado restos arqueológicos como monedas, piezas de jade y oro y antiguos escritos.

Véase también
 Imperio kushán
 Dinastía Han

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Ciudades a lo largo de la Ruta de la Seda
Ciudades-condado de Sinkiang

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


@Tobias Yes I agree. I'm going through the other dumps now but you need the higher question dumps or you're going to fail. My exam had at least 8-10 Cert Questions which was high.
Studied this for 14 days straight, and did not pass finished at 590 points. This dump is surely valid but is missing ALOT of questions from the real thing.
There is NO CA questions in this dump and the test will give you ALOT of them.
Fail with 465£¬It seems not valid right now. Not sure,but I thought the exam interface and some expression of the questions was changed.
Some of the answers are messed up – for example in one question it gave an example of why the PowerShell cmdlet get-addomaincontrollerpasswordreplicationpolicyusage was the answer but then ticked a different answer above as the correct one. Other answers have also completely confused me as to why it thinks they are correct.
I am with 03n, I failed with 650. Part of this test was on there maybe 40% . Majority of the answers seemed correct that were given but you have to check if they were changed. Majority of my test was Certificates also.
Passed with a 700 today, I failed the first time with a 615. About 60% of the questions on this dump are valid but check the answers, Don't just memorize. My test hit hard on CA, when to use the C.templates or C.authority, DNS zones Q's were abundant too. Thanks to all – good luck.
I did the test and I failed with 68% in Florida. Abot 3/4 of the questions were from this dump, but there were at least 15 questions from the 468 question dump.
I also saw couple of questions that were not in either dump.
If you tudy this dump plus the 468 you should pass…I will next timw.
Did you Exam today ?
What about dump , is it valid ?
how many numbers of new questions you found ?
Valid dump – passed on 11/17 with 900. This was 90% accurate and very useful practice. Do study from other sources to really understand material.
is this instead of the 486q file? cuz i wanna do this test but 486 questions to learn taking me forever! can i learn just that or is it not enough?
Is there any AD cofiguration question or only the objective Q only….
Went thru 33 of the questions, so far this all seems valid.


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text:
Distributed Algorithm
For those interested in distributed designs
Huffman coding – the optimal prefix code
January 2, 2016 June 2, 2017 Guy MoshkowichLeave a comment
Recently, I remembered that when I was a student, I read about Huffman coding which is a clever compressing algorithm and ever since wanted to implement it but did not found a chance. Last week – I finally did it. To test my implementation – I took a 160 KB file containing the text of 'Alice in Wonderland' book and compressed it using my Huffman implementation down to 94 KB binary file. Hurrah!
What is prefix code?
There are many ways to map a set of characters to a set of bits and so represent text in bits. For example ANSI is a map that takes the latin alphabet and map each character to a byte. When you get a file in ANSI encoding you know that you need to scan the file reading sets of 8 bits (one byte) and translate the byte to a character. Giving the same number of bits to represent each character simplifies decoding as you only need to read fix number of bits and translate each to relevant character but is not optimal from size perspective as often used characters get the same representation as rarely used characters.
Some encoding techniques maps characters to bits so that different characters are mapped to list of bits with different size.When more often used characters are mapped to a smaller list of bits than you expect the encode file to take less space than one encode in ANSI (more on how to measure space efficiency later in the post). The challenge with this approach is to know when you are decoding a list of bits when one character representations ends and another begins. One solution for this is to use some list of bits to represent a marker between list of bits representing different characters, and another solution is to use binary trees like Huffman tree (more on this later in the post.)
prefix code is a type of code that let you decode the encoded text without special marker. for example, the map {a=0, b=10, c=11} is a prefix code as no marker is needed for decryption of any string. If you have '000101011' then it is clear when one list of bits for character ends and another begins you translate it directly to 'aaabbc'. a counter example, the map {a=0, b=1, c=11} is not prefix code as the string '111' can be translated to 'bbb' or 'bc' i.e., we need some separator marker between list of bits in this code.
How to measure coding efficiency?
If the coding is represented by a map from a character to a list of bits then we will define be the number of bits representing the character and define to be the frequency that character as appear in the text.
The code efficiency is calculated by i.e., the weight average of encoding lengths according to their frequencies.
Every prefix code can also be represented as a binary tree where each edge is marked as '0' or '1' and the leaf are marked with a character so the list of edges to a leaf represent the character's code. Here is a picture that show this idea:
The depth of a leaf is actually the size of a character prefix code and so this representation provide an alternative to the efficient of the code in the language of trees i.e.,
where is the depth of the leaf in the tree.
How does Huffman encoding work?
Here is the algorithm to build Huffman tree:
Create a node for each character with its frequency and insert it to a list.
Remove from the list the two nodes with minimum frequencies. Then create a tree where the two nodes are "siblings" leafs and their parent is marked with the sum of their frequencies (the root has no character associated to it).
add the root node into the list. The list now is shorter by one element.
goto 3 until a single node remains in the list. This node will be the root to the Huffman tree.
Let look at a text with 20 'a', 15 'b', 5 'c', 15 'd', 45 'e'.
Step 1 says we will prepare a list {a/20 , b/15, c/5, d/15, e/45}.
Iteration 1:
Step 2 says we need to choose two minimum nodes e.g., 'c' and 'd' (we could also take the pairs 'c' and 'b' as the minimum frequencies nodes.) and create a tree:
we give this node alias 'n1' for consistent labeling of nodes but there is no use of this value. note that its frequency is 20 = 5 + 15.
step 3 says that we will add 'n1' to the list, ending up with the list {a/20, n1/20, b/15, e/45}.
Step 2, similarly as we did above, we choose 'a' and 'b' and produce a new node n2 and a tree:
step 3, the list end up looking like this {n2/35, n1/20, e/45}.
Iteration 3
step 2, combines n2/35 and n1/20 under the new node n3/55:
step 3, the list end up looking like this {n3/55, e/45}.
It should be clear that after the 4th iteration we will end up with the Huffman tree shown in the previous section.
Why Huffman encoding is optimal? – a mathematical proof
In our context, optimal encoding means that if you take a fix alphabet with known frequencies then the Huffman code will have the minimum code efficiency value as calculated above when compared to all possible prefix codes available for this alphabet (with the same frequencies).
Lemma 1: Consider the two letters, x and y with the smallest frequencies. Then there is an optimal tree in which these two letters are sibling leaves in the tree in the lowest level.
Proof: First, we notice that an optimal tree T must be full in the sense that all internal nodes should have two "child" nodes – otherwise if there is an internal node P with a single child node Q then we could remove P from the tree and set Q (and all its sub tree) in P place – which will reduce the depth value of all the nodes under Q by one and so reduce B(T) value in contrast to the fact that B(T) has minimum value.
Next, let T be an optimum prefix code tree, and let b and c be two siblings at the maximum depth of the tree (must exist because T is full). Since x and y have the two smallest frequencies it follows that and without loss of generality. Because b and c are at the deepest level of the tree we know that and .
Now switch the positions of x and b in the tree resulting in a different tree T' and see how the cost changes.
rearranging the left side of the equation,
but as T is optimal then
and so .
Repeating this argument by replacing y and c will result with the required optimal tree.
Theorem: The Huffman coding has code efficiency which is lower than all prefix coding of this alphabet.
Proof: We will prove this by induction on the size of the alphabet.
Starting with an alphabet of size 2, Huffman encoding will generate a tree with one root and two leafs. it is obvious that this tree is the smallest one and so the coding efficiency of this tree is minimal.
Assume the theorem is true to all alphabets of size n-1 and we will prove that it is also true for all alphabet of size n.
Let A be an alphabet with n characters and let T be the optimal tree for A. T has two leafs 'x' and 'y' which are "siblings" with minimum frequencies due to Lemma 1. we will look at T' which is constructed from T by removing the leafs 'x' and 'y'. We can look at T' as a prefix code for the A' alphabet which is constructed from A by removing characters 'x' and 'y' and adding a new character 'z' which is their parent node in T. Any character requires a frequency associated with so we will set the frequency of 'z' to be .
(1) , therefore .
(2) .
substituting and in (3) we get
Let H' be the Huffman tree for A' . According to our assumption H' is optimal and so
Adding to H' two leafs 'x' and 'y' under the parent 'z' will leave us with Huffman tree H for alphabet A.
This is true as the first step in building H according to the algorithm above is to add 'x' and 'y' under 'z', then remove from A the characters 'x' and 'y' and replace them by 'z' i.e., the rest of algorithm is building Huffman tree for A' which is exactly H' (I find this part of the proof to be the hardest part to grasp).
Following the same argument as we had for calculating we get
From (5) and (6) we get
As T is an optimal tree, we also have
i.e., the Huffman tree H is optimal.
This complete the induction proof.
http://home.cse.ust.hk/faculty/golin/COMP271Sp03/Notes/MyL17.pdf
Motivation For Poisson Distiribution
Semantic Hashing
Introduction to Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM)
Book recommendation – "DEEP WORK – RULES FOR FOCUSED SUCCESS IN A DISTRACTED WORLD" by Carl Newport
Summary of "97 things every software architect should know"
Consensus protocols… on Architecture of ZAB – Zo…
Guy Moshkowich on Book recommendation –…
SandeepKumarSaini on Book recommendation –…
Semantic Hashing… on Introduction to Restricted Bol…
gilinachum on Book recommendation –…
file_sharing


text:
Q: Lock Windows screen orientation for fullscreen Air application Is it possible to prevent the reorientation behavior of Windows? (Windows 8 on a Surface Pro in particular.)
I'm already setting a few flags that I thought would help, but no luck:
application settings xml:

*

*<fullScreen>true</fullScreen>

*<aspectRatio>landscape</aspectRatio>

*<resizable>false</resizable>

*<autoOrients>false</autoOrients>
... is there anything else I can do to keep Windows 8 oriented to landscape while my fullscreen air app is in focus?


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