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Fantasy Safari: Monsters of Faerûn
Monsters of Faerûn was one of the very early books for D&D 3rd edition and the first monster book after the original Monster Manual. The cover of the book matches the Monster Manual and not the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting as all other Forgotten Realms books later would. It is also the only book that has the title "Monster Compendium" in it's name. I assume it was planned to have it as a distinct product line, but all further monster books were 200+ pages hardcovers, unlike this 100 page paperback.
I started with fantasy stuff in 1999, the year before 3rd edition was released, and that start was Baldur's Gate, the game that made BioWare the giant of Western RPGs that it had been for until recently. (Really not a fan of any of their games since Mass Effect 2, which is the best videogame of all time!) A game that just so happens to be set in the Forgotten Realms, so I had to get this book right when it came out. And even though it's by far the smallest monster book ever released by WotC, and also just the second they made, I think this one really the best one by a far margine. When I went to get the monster pictures from the old art archive from WotCs website (they are still up, but you'll only get there through search engines), there was barely amy that I didn't download. And most of those that I am not going to cover here aren't boring, but they are either beefed up versions of monsters from the Monster Manual (cloaker lord, greater doppelganger) or I already covered them when I did the 1st edition Fiend Folio (bullywug, fire newt, giant strider, gibberling, quaggoth). Truly wonderful book and almost all of the creatures can be imported to other settings without problem. I think a good dozen of them directly inspired monsters for my own Ancient Lands setting. If this book were Star Wars, it would be The Empire Strikes Back.
Monsters of Faerûn
Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition by Wizards of the Coast, 2001; 86 pages of monsters.
Aballin
The Aballin is a type of ooze whose most distinguishing trait is that it looks just like water. It also can change between two different states, one being a thick slime, the other a water like liquid that is almost impossible to harm. It is one of the many classic creatures of the type "everything is trying to kill you", but I think actually one of the less implausible ones. It's just another slime like all the others, except that it has a clear color. When in its semisolid state, an aballin is quite strong and can slam enemies with considerable force. However its main mode of attack is to engulf its victim and simply drown him.
Banedead
The Banedead is a variant ghoul created by clerics of the evil god Bane. One of their hands is a large claw, which also happens to be the holy symbol of Bane, and also deals 1 point of Dexterity damage. Which is not as measly as it sounds. Since it's tied to a melee attack, there is no saving throw and there's a good chance you're going to encounter them in significant numbers. This can get quite bad over time, especially as banedead are not very strong otherwise and therefore likely to be fought by PCs of low-medium level. Dealing with larger numbers of them over several encounters could make for a very interesting adventure. An interesting detail of the banedead is that they are also created by priests of the Banes son Xvim, which tells us that this book was actually released before the FRCS, as from that point on Xvim is dead and Bane is back! (Variant Ghoul +1)
Baneguard
The Baneguard is another undead creature created by the clerics of Bane. It looks like an ordinary skeleton, but is both tougher and far more intelligent. In addition they can shot two magic missiles every three round and use the spell blink every 10 minutes, which makes them randomly fade in and out of the ethereal plane, making it very difficult to hit them. This really is a very simple creature as special abilties go, but the result is something completely different from a normal skeleton. A great example of how you don't need a full page of stats and 30 spell-like abilities to make an interesting monster. And I think a skeleton that shots magic missiles is really cool.
Banelar
A Banelar is a huge snake monster with a humanlike face, similar to naga. They are extremely intelligent in addition to being of massive size with a Strength and Constitution to match, and they are also always at least 6th level clerics and 6th level wizards. Which makes it absolutely mind-boggling that this is supposed to be a CR 5 creature. To get a human character with comparable stats and abilities, he would have to be 12th level. This looks more like CR 8 or 9 to me. The banelar also gets a +3 bonus on saving throws against petrification. That's random. The banelar are not demons in the service of the god Bane, but many of them used to be allied with clerics who served him, and now switched their allegiance to followers of Cyric. However, this was while Bane was still dead, and I think they switched back when he returned. They are in some way involved with the internal politics of the Zhentarim, a powerful criminal organization in which the clerics of Bane had a very big influence, and which had a kind of civil war when Bane was killed and his clerics were devided into followers of the new gods Cyric and Xvim. And given that I've never seen banelars anywhere else, except as an updated stat block for the D&D 3.5 edition, I suspect very strongly that these are from either a 2nd edition adventure or from a novel. I still think they are quite interesting, being these huge and very smart snakes who are actively involved in the poltics of evil temples and criminal organizations.
Beasts of Malar
Beasts of Malar are awesome. The illustration alone is enough to make me want to use something like this in my games, and the description and abilities aren't bad either. Malar is the Faerûnian god of Hunt and Slaughter, and the Beasts of Malar are incarnations of just that. While not terribly big, these things are the ultimate killing machines. Not only arge they extremely strong and tough, they are alost just as intelligent as humans. There is in fact only a single type of beast, but they are shapechangers who can shift between the forms of a big cat, a wolverine, and a bat. They have black fur and always appear to have their faces, paws, and back splattered in blood, and all forms have huge teeth and claws. They can only be hurt by magical weapons, but even then they regenerate almost all wounds very quickly and can only be destroyed with the magic of a priest or druid or blessed weapons. There isn't really much to them, but I think other than being sized up to Large, I wouldn't really change aynthing. These are totally mean looking things of blood rage with huge teeth! What more could you want?
Chitine
Choldrith
The Chitine is one of my favorite D&D monsters and one of the things that make me see the Forgotten Realms as more than just a "generic fantasy setting", which it really isn't. It's not even "generic D&D". Chitines are a race of humanoids that are somewhat smaller than humans and have six long arms and insect like eyes and mouths. Other than being trained in using three weapons at once and having an aversion to very bright light, they don't really have any notable special abilities. While they look savage and live in relatively simple villages deep below the ground, they are actually even smarter than most humans. They don't have any wizards for some reason, but are lead by the Choldrith, who look even more like spiders and are priestesses of the evil spider goddess Lolth. The chitines are said to have been originally created by the drow as slaves, but even though the two races serve the same deity, they have a deep hatred and hostility for each other and are mortal enemies. They have been around in D&D for much longer than 3rd edition, but I've never actually seen them appear in any sourcebooks or adventures for 2nd edition, while they had plenty, if admitedly minor appearances in 3rd edition. I am not quite sure what I find so compelling about them, but I think part of it is the idea of having a humanoid race of similar size and abilities to human, which at the same time is also highly inhuman.
The Chosen One is essentially a ghoul who causes temporary Constitution damage instead of paralysis. It doesn't say why it is named that way, and only that chosen ones are made by the Red Wizards of Thay as servants. Very weak entry. (Variant Ghoul +1)
Crawling Claws
Crawling Claws, on the other hand, are awesome. They also are the other hand, as they are created only from left hands taken from dead or even living humanoids. They don't have any special abilities or fancyful backstory. They are just animated hands that crawl around and attack people, which is cool and fun enough by itself. Creating one is only a 3rd level spell and each claw is automatically under the command of its creator. For some reason the spell is also evil, even though nothing about it indicates why. Ah well, alignment! Never made any sense, never will.
Darkenbeasts
I am not sure where the idea of monsters being the creation of crazy wizards comes from, but it might very well have been Forgotten Realms. Darkenbeasts are somewhat reptilian and bat like monsters created from ordinary small animals by the Red Wizards. As their name hints at, darkenbeasts can not tollerate sunlight and after each ten minutes of exposure there is a 25% chance that the magic will end and the monster return back into an animal. In addition to being winged servants with a high resistance to magic, a wizard can also use a darkenbeast to store a spell for later. When the darkenbeast is near its master, he can retrieve the spell and aim it at whatever target he pleases, which destroyes the darkenbeast in the process. I think these are cooler than winged monkeys.
Deepspawn
The Deepspawn had the potential to be one of the truly iconic weird monsters of Dungeons & Dragons, but somehow it remained limited to Forgotten Realms and didn't really make any appearance after 2nd edtition. It's on the cover of Lost Empires of Faerûn, but I think that's it. When I first got into D&D with the Forgotten Realms campaign setting box (the 3rd edition FRCS had not been released yet), I thought that this creature was the fourth member of the exclusive group of aboleths, beholders, and illithids. But no it's not, which is a shame. The deepspawn is a monster with a large spherical body over 5 meters in diameter and has six long tentacles. Three of the tentacles are used as arms, while the other three end in large maws full of sharp teeth. Its eyes are all over the body. The deepspawn by itself is not a terribly dangerous fighter and has only little magic abilities that would make any difference in a fight, but is completely immune to any poison and has a high resistance to magic. Its main ability is to spawn copies of any kind of living creature it has eaten, which takes between 1 and 4 day for each spawn. As a result, a deepspawn is never encountered alone but always surrounded and protected by a considerable force of other monsters it created. While the spawning ability is a bit dubious to me, I really do like its appearance and the idea that something like that would be the mastermind of a dungeon that rules over all the lesser monsters. The deepspawn got updated in Lost Empires of Faerûn, since the stats here are pretty shoddy. Size got increased from Large to Huge (which for a 5 meter sphere with long tentacles seems more correct), Strength got increased from measly 19 to 29 and Charisma bumped up from 4 to 10, which makes much more sense for something with Intelligence and Wisdom of 17. Now that looks a lot meaner, like something of this appearance should.
Ghour
As demons go, the Ghour doesn't seem particularly exciting or noteworthy. It's a big creature that looks like an oversized hybrid of a minotaur and an ogre and has all the abilities of regular D&D demons. But it's its description and context that make it shine. Ghours are most commonly found as servants of the demon lord Baphomet, who is mostly worshipped by ogres, giants, minotaurs, and the like. What makes them interesting is that these demons are not presented as monsters to be encountered on journeys into the Abyss, but instead frequently come to the material plane where they gather small armies of worshippers of their master. Fighting a gang of ogres and minotaurs is already a pretty cool setup for a mid-level range adventure, but when it turns out that they are actually led by one of these guys, I think it immediately becomes a few steps cooler. Ghours can be pretty intelligent, much more so than their average minions and even many heroes who fight them. Like most demons and devils, they also have a couple of magic powers, though in the case of a ghour, they are not too impressive. But still, casting blasphemy and teleporting around as many times as they want could really ruin peoples day.
Deep Dragon
As Dungeons & Dragons is concerned, you can never have enough dragons. In addition to the ten standard variants, there are also several ones native to the Forgotten Realms, five of which are in this book. The Deep Dragon is one of the more interesting ones. I admit, I am very easily impressed by a good picture, and this Todd Lockwood illustration is awesome. Going with Wayne Reynolds as the main artist is one of the main things that makes 3.5e feel so noticably different from early 3rd edition. Deep dragons are cool. As the name implies, these dragons are native to the Underdark. While their wings imply that they were originally from the surface, their bodies are highly adapted to living in caves, being much more slender and thinner than most types of dragons. They are also of relatively small size, similar to black and white dragons. They are also natural shapechanger, which usually is found only in good dragons and not the evil ones. From a very young age they can turn into a snake, which allows them to navigate even very small passages, and a few years later they also develop the ability to take on the shape of any type of humanoid they wish. They are also very intelligent, even for dragons, which makes them very well suited for infiltrating any underground cities. If they make alliances with any of the Underdark races, it's usually with the drow, as the two creatures have the most in common.
Shadow Dragons are a very unusual type of dragons and have some kind of very strong connection to the Shadow Plane. They are usually found in the Underdark and then commonly in the very most deepest region, far below the depths adventurers from the surface usually get to reach. They have a high degree of control over the darkness, allowing them to completely block all light around them or making themselves virtually invisible. Their breath weapon is particularly nasty and forces any creatures hit by it to make a rather tough saving throw or have several character levels drained. Fighting a an older shadow dragon without a death ward spell on everyone would be extremely difficult.
One of the other forms of dragons in the book is the Song Dragon, which you really could also just call a Harper Dragon. Because that's what it is. It's super charismatic, can transform into a beautiful human female, speaks every language, and is virtually impossible to detect as a dragon when in human form. And of course, they are completely devoted to helping people, protecting the land, and fighting evil, while hiding their true dragon nature. Don't use Dragon Sue in your game, there is no way to do it in a way that won't piss of your players. Fortunately people realized that and I am not aware of song dragons appearing anywhere outside this book.
There isn't much description about the Dragonkin, at least in this books, and they don't really have any special ability other than flying. Many of them are allied with the Cult of the Dragon, an organization I believe was pretty important in 2nd edition, but never made any appearance in 3rd, as far as I am aware. The most interesting thing about them is that they very much strike me as proto-dragonborn, which became one of the player character races in 4th edition.
Dread Warrior
The Dread Warrior is a better kind of zombie, created by the Red Wizards of Thay. (Who else?) They are raised from fallen soldiers and retain some of their mind and abilities, making them more like ghouls. Not terribly creative, but ghouls with weapons and armor and some kind of military organization are pretty cool, I think. (Variant Ghoul +1)
Ghaunadan
The Ghaunadan is a slime creature very much unlike any other in Dungeons & Dragons. In addition to being an ooze, it also is a shapechanger that can take the form of any kind of humanoid. It is also far from mindless like other oozes and instead a highly intelligent creature. It's slime has a paralysis effect on living creatures and it also can easily disarm enemies by pulling their weapon into its body. A ghaunadan also has a limited form of charming gaze, which gives it a significant boost to all Charisma checks against a creature it has charmed, which makes ghaunadans excelent for infilitrating humanoid cities and palaces. Ghaunadans are associated with the ancient and evil god Ghaunaur, who rules over slimes and all kind of weird Underdark creatures and is sometimes worshiped by drow. Since all his traits are basically the same in every way as those of the demon lord Juiblex, I always consider them to be actually the same being. I don't remember seing any hint of ghaunadans in any works older than this book, so it's quite likely that they were inspired by the Shapechangers from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who are mostly the same thing but can also take the shape of objects and nonhumanoid creatures.
Fog Giant
I can't really say anything about the Fog Giant, other than it's a giant without special abilities who ranks in power between a stone giant and a frost giant, but is taller than either. But look at this picture! When this guy hits you, you're paste!
Phaerlin Giant
The Phaerlin Giant is a creature native to the Phaerlin region of the Underdark in the Forgotten Realms, which lies under the huge Anauroch desert and was once the location of the mighty wizard empire Netheril, but is under control of the phaerimms (more on those later). Phaerlin giants look like slightly mutated stone giants and live entirely underground, which I think is a neat idea. Reminds me of grimlocks. But their stats in this book are pretty wonkey. They are probably the only creature in D&D that is size category Huge and has a Challenge Rating of 3. Like any self respecting Underdark creature they have magic resistance and being primitive and feral they can sense nearby creatures by scent. Almost 70 hit points is also nothing to laugh at, but their backs are bent so badly that they move only very slowly. And for some unexplained, but nonmagical reason, they are so terrifying that characters who fight them have to make a saving throw or suffer penalties to all their attacks and saves because of fear. This is usually an ability reserved for the most powerful beasts and inhuman abominations. Here it just seems out of place. I like the cave giant from Pathfinder a lot more.
Golems
Usually I am not a fan of more types of golems, but the Gemstone Golems are a pretty cool idea. As golems go, they are not too terrifyingly powerful. But unlike other golems, the spirits that animate them are not forced to follow any order to the letter, which prevents them from any form of initative of creative planning, making them effectively mindless. Gemstone golems have more freedom, which makes them much more difficult to control, but also enables them to act and fight much more smarter. Unlike other golems, gemstone golems don't have any really nasty trickes up their sleeves and attack simply by punching, but can be extremely difficult to damage. They don't have a lot of hit points, but very high armor class and any weapon that is not heavily enchanted will just bounce off doing nothing. The ruby golem is the easiest to damage, but it also just regenerates almost all damage it takes. I'm not quite sure how players would even scratch these unless they know what needs to be done to damage them and also have the required (and very expensive) weapons at hand. I probably wouldn't use these golems, but the idea of crystal golems that look like this is cool.
The Thayan Golem is a special kind of human sizes clay golem. It's basically a terracotta archer. Unlike many other creatures in this book, the Challenge Rating for this one isn't set too low, but much too high. This looks more like CR 4, not 8. As constructs it takes magic weapons to damage them, but it can also be done if you just hit them really hard. Their resistance to magic is also pretty low and not a huge problem. As seems tradition with this book, they have one completely random immunity, which is that they can not be harmed by the magic missile spell. I'm sure that will come up a lot in actual play. Obviously, these golems are made by the Red Wizards of Thay.
Green Warder
The Green Warder is a living plant, though I would probably make it a fey instead. But treants are also plants in D&D, so yeah. Green warders can be found in the great forest Cormanthor, where they used to be used as guardians by the elves of the great ancient city Myth Drannor. They are exceptionally well suited for that task, and given the great magical power of Myth Drannor, I wouldn't be surprised if these creatures were created through magic. A green warder consists of leafy vines that are grown to roughly the shape of a tall elf and are relatively smart, though somewhat simple minded creatures. They are not very strong or tough and their claws do only little damage, but obviously they are extremely good at hiding themselves among plants. They also have some very useful magic abilities. They can use the sleep and confusion spells to neutralize intruders, but any time a creature successfully resists these it becomes increasingly more resistant against them for the rest of the day. So simply spamming these spells over and over until an intruder drops isn't going to work. They also can set up alarm spells which create a loud birdcall whenever an intruder steps into the warded area, allerting the green warders and elven sentinels nearby. Green warders aren't really dangerous, but as support troops for elven or other woodland armies they can be really effective additions.
Groundlings
Groundlings are another magical creation, but this time not by the Red Wizards of Thay, but by the Zhentarim. While the Zhentarim are controlled by the priests of Bane, who create all those Bane creatures shown earlier, groundlings are created in the main stronghold of a rival faction within the Zhentarim. They are still the same gang, though. A groundling is a badgerlike creature created through magic from a dwarf. And I think the illustration does a good job of showing that relationship. Supposedly Zhentarim wizards create them to hunt down their enemies, but groundlings are not really very dangerous and I don't see how they would be a useful resource for Zhentarim leaders, who have a lot more dangerous minions in their ranks. Still, I quite like the look and think there could be something interesting done with them. They are probably from some kind of adventure, where they have a bit more context.
Draegloth
The Dreagloth is what The Tygre described as "the aftermath of a Black Metal album cover". A draegloth is a specific type of half-demon created from a drow priestess of Lolth and a glabrezu demon (which is a 5 meter tall giant with four arms and a dog face). And it looks exactly as you'd expect it. A two and a half meter giant drow with four arms and a somehwat doglike face. A draegloth is violent and savage, but actually highly intelligent just like its parents, and gains most of the immunities from either side. I think they first appeared in the seventh or eighth Drizzt novel, but I hadn't seen any picture of one until this one. And it absolutely kicks ass. A draegloth is like a blend of Wolverine and Blanka, just as pure and bloodthirsty incarnation of violence. I actually quite liked the War of the Spiderqueen novels and I think the draegloth Jeggred was one of the coolest characters. With the rest of the characters all being archwizards and high priestesses, they often underestimated him and dismissed him as stupid. But draegloths aren't stupid or unaware of the finer details of intrigue that go on around them. They just don't give a fuck about anything and exist only for carnage.
Helmed Horror
The Helmed Horror is probably one of my favorite monsters of my favorite monster book. I first saw these guys in Baldur's Gate back in '99, and they were terrifyingly strong. Good times. On first glance, the helmed horror is simply an animated suit of armor. But like many monsters in this book, it's made into something much more interesting by giving it a small handful of magic abilities. Compared to true golems, it is relatively weak. But golems in Dungeons & Dragons are absolute terror beasts, so this guy is still amazingly dangerous. The main ability of a helmed horror is that it can make the blade of any weapon it holds burst into flame, covered in magic ice, or charged with lightining. It really only increases its damage by 1d6 points of damage, but it's still an impressive looking effect that immediately tells everyone they mean business. They can also see any invisible creatures, which makes them great guardians for wizards. In addition to being made of full plate armor and difficult to hit, they are also have all the immunities of constructs and are enchanted to be completely immune to three specific spells. Usually those will be classic attack spells like fireball or lightning bolt, and while casting a spell that affects everything in a large area on a single enemy is not particularly effective, there aren't that many other spells that can really hurt helmed horrors to begin with. As constructs, they are already immune to almost all illusions, enchantments, and necromancy spells. Disabling a helmed horror other than by hacking it to pieces is quite the challenge. Fot added fun, it also has the spells air walk and feather fall, which make it almost impossible to use the terrain against it. Pits and barriers won't stop it at all, and even though being a heavy suit of armor, a helmed horror is just as fast as any ordinary human. It's a fucking Terminator.
Hybsil
The Hybsil is one of the rare fey creatures in D&D 3rd edition, which for some reason never got much love beond the dryad, nymph, pixie, and satyr. Hybsils look like a small deer with the upper body of a small human or halfling with short antlers on their head. Though individually they are quite weak and vulnerable, they usually live in groups of several dozens and their high speed combined with their reliance on bows and arrows can make them formidable opponents. They also have the magical abilities to move without leaving any tracks and to greatly increase the distance of their jumps, which makes them amazingly well suited for ambushs. For emergencies, they also have a few magical sleep arrows they get from pixies, which can knock out many enemies instantly. They are also lead by druids and have their own rangers and sorcerers, which makes things a lot more complicated for any potential attackers. Picking a fight with any hybsils in their forest homes is much more dangerous than it looks from seeing just one or two of these small creatures.
Leucrotta
The Leucrotta is a dangerous predator based on sketchy descriptions of hyenas by the Romans. This creature simply runs with it and is exactly what was described. It has the body of an antelope, the tail of a lion, and the head of a badger, It is as large as a horse and has jaws that can even bite through armor. Leucrottas are intelligent creature and completely evil and violent. They simply live for killing. Quite surprisingly to many people, they also can talk and are very capable of immitating the voice of other animals and even people. These guys are some really viscious murder machines and that they are very able at climbing and jumping doesn't make things better for anyone.
Malaugrym
The Malaugrym are a race of alien shapeshifters from another dimension who travel through the shadow plane to reach the world of Toril. They resemble in some way both beholders and grells, but are almost always encountered in the guise of a human or other humanoid creature. However, if they want to they can take the shape of pretty much anything. Other than that they have no really remarkable abilities, but are often high level wizards or rogues. To be frank, their description here sucks. These are clearly enemies from some novel, who probably have a complex and interesting background, but the creature presented here really is just a shapechanger that can change into anything.
Nishruu
A Nishruu is a mistlike creature that feeds on magic. While intelligent, they do not talk and can not be mentally controlled in any way. Any spell targeted at them has no effect and simply makes them grow larger and when it is in contact with magic items it drains or temporarily disables them. When they come into contact with a spellcaster, the spellcaster loses prepared spells ever round. The only thing that can really hurt them are fire and cold spells, which it can not absorb. The idea is quite interesting, but fighting them is probably going to get very frustrating for players. Slaying one would likely require a small expedition and trying lots of different methods, but I don't see how they could slay one as a regular wandering monster in a dungeon if they don't already know what can kill it. Still, as the centerpiece of an adventure a nishruu might be a pretty interesting opponent.
Peryton
The Peryton is one of the truly bizarre creatures in D&D, and it won't be a surprise to anyone that it originally appeared in the Fiend Folio (though with all the weird stuff in that book, it doesn't really stand out much). I think it's actually a creature from Greek myth, and a hyper-violent intelligent bird monster seems just the kind of critter they would love. Fits right next to harpies, sirens, and erinyes. A peryton is a large eagle with the head of a wolf and the antlers of a stag. It hates everything and only wants to kill and take the heart from its victims. It's not particularly interesting, but probably can make for a nice addition to any adventure.
Phaerim
The Phaerimm are the Forgotten Realms reply to the Greyhawk weirdness that is beholders, mind flayers, and aboleths. These huge flying worms not only look bizarre, they are also extremely intelligent and powerful sorcerers. They appeared way back in the book FR13: Anauroch, but only became really relevant in late 2nd edition. They are the ancient enemy that destroyed the wizard empire Netheril by turning its land into the Anauroch desert, forcing the Netherese to flee to all corners of the world. While the Netherese were a pretty big deal, I wouldn't be surprises if many Forgotten Realms fans have never heard of them. Native to the Underdark, they are a race of evil overlords who even enslave mind flayers and beholders within their domain. Fortunately, one of their enemies created a magical barrier that trapped the phaerimm in a large section of the Underdark, which know about matches the area of the Anauroch desert on the surface above.
Like tieflings and aasimar, Genasi are humanoids who are descended from magical creatures from other worlds. Instead of demons or angels, the ancestors of genasi are usually genies or other somewhat humanoid elemental creatures. Genasi first appeared in the Planescape book Planewalker's Handbook, but to my knowledge the setting never really did much with them. I think probably because it focused much more on the dozens of heavens and hells, while the elemental planes always played a relatively minor role. For reasons completely unknown to me, genasi were picked up a few years later in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting book for 3rd edition, even though they didn't really have any role in this setting before. While they never were huge, genasi really were mostly Forgotten Realms creatures in 3rd edition, but got even more appearances in 4th. There really isn't much to say about them. They have a small bonus to one ability score which is compensated by an equal penalty to another score, and they get a laughable tiny bonus to resist spells of their element and a single spell they can cast one per day. Crunch-wise they completely suck, but I really love the idea of people who have the blood of spirits in their ancestry which comes from the elements instead from angels or demons. And while the illustration in this book is pretty bad, there are plenty of really great ones in other books.
Tanarruk and Fey'ri
The book also has two unique types of tieflings. The Fey'ri and the Tanarruk. Both are connected to the fortress Hellgate Keep, which makes me strongly suspect that they are from the same adventure or novel. The Fey'ri are the descendants of an ancient elven family that tried to increase the magical strength of their bloodline by interbreeding with succubuses. It worked, and the first generations resulted in half-fiend elves, with their later offspring being fey'ri tieflings. Eventually the demonic elves where discovered and mostly destroyed, but a few survived and disappeared for centuries. And now they are back. Fey'ri mostly have the abilities of both elves and tieflings, but also can change their shape to appear like normal elves and have a few additional magic powers, which vary by individual. I personally really like these guys. Evil demonic elves! I can't really defend my position here, because every single element seems totally cliched and overdone. But they don't only work as substitute emo-vampires, but also as really cool decadent Sword & Sorcery warlocks.
The tanarruk are creations of the demon rulers of Hellgate Keep, who bred them from lesser demons and orcs. Despite their much more savage look, they are actually smarter than normal orcs and a lot tougher. As a nasty surprise, they have a very high resistance against fire and also some immunity to magic, which makes them really well suited as shock troopers to charge at enemy wizards.
Sharn
The phaerimm were weird, but the Sharn are even weirder. They are large black creatures with three eyeless heads and three arms that each end in three hands with three fingers and an eye in each palm. Like that phaerimm, they are powerful sorcerers but also clerics and they can create three small portals through which they can stick their hands to cast spells at targets behind walls, around corners, or similar situations. To make things worse, sharn are always under the effect of the haste spell, which under the rules version of this book allows them to cast two spells every round. Not surprisingly, these creatures are so alien that they are immune to any magic that manipulates their minds or changes their bodies. A somewhat unusual quirk is that no magic can change the shape of another creature to look like a sharn. Why that is the case seems to be simply an oddity of the universe. While the sharn are both very weird and alien, they are thankfully not really evil and they also hate the phaerimm. In fact it was the sharn who created the magical barrier that trapped the phaerimm under the Anauroch desert. These guys are some really trippy stuff. They first appeared with the phaerimm in the sourcebook Anauroch, which I didn't know was actually written by Ed Greenwood himself. It's strange that they have such a tiny presence in the Forgotten Realms. I only ever saw them in this monster book and the Return of the Archwizards novels, which are about the return of the Netherese Empire from the Plane of Shadow, which got the phaerimm all rilled up.
The Sivs are a race of frog people similar to the classic bullywugs, but also very different. While bullywugs are primitive savages, the sivs are as smart as humans and usually Lawful Evil, and even have training as monks. I'm not sure if there's a kung-fu toad style. They also have the ability to run on the surface of water, which is very kung-fu indeed. It all looks like a quite intriguing idea, but sadly there isn't really any useful description to how they behave and what they want.
Tall Mouther
The Tall Mouther is classic old-school D&D weirdness. It's a big head with a big maw and six arms, covered in blue fur. Otherwise it's a bit like an ogre and especially loves to eat halflings.
Tomb Tapper
The Tomb Tapper is one of the more mysterious creatures of the Forgotten Realms. They are huge golems that resemble humans, but have no face. Instead their large mouth is in the center of their stomach and they don't have any eyes at all. Tomb Tappers only exist to search for and collect magic items. They are usually found deep underground where they are digging into ancient tombs and subterranean ruins. Not only are they incredibly strong and very smart, they are also almost impossible to hurt with all but the most strongly enchanted weapons and can sense their environment perfectly in total darkness. They were originally created by the wizards of Netheril to fight against the phaerimm and destroying nonhumanoid spellcasters (including mind flayers, aboleths, and so on) is the one thing that has a higher priority for them than collecting magic treasures. Rumor has it that the tomb tapper take all the magic items they find to a single location deep below the Anauroch desert, which very well might be the greatest treasure hord and collection of magic in the whole world.
Tyrantfog Zombie
Remember all the Bane monsters at the start of this book? Here's more! The former high priest of Bane and later high priest of Banes son Xvim created the Tyrantfog Zombies as a means to destroy the rival clerics of the new god Cyric, many of which had been priests of Bane before. Once touched by a strange green fog, they would fall ill and die. Then they would rise as zombielike undead that continue to spread the magical fog through the world. Thankfully the fog that flows from their mouths and holes in their rotting bodies does not have the power to create more tyrantfog zombies but only drains the strength from living creatures that get too close to them. When injured by the claws of the tyrantfog zombie, they spread a terrible disease that can permanently cripple anyone who gets infected, even if they survive it.
Beasts of Xvim
The Beasts of Xvim are another creation of Xvims high priest. They are normal animals that get magically transformed to get bigger, stronger, and utterly evil. They are always black with green glowing eyes and glowing green mist coming from their mouths. Once created, these beasts have to kill living people and devour their souls.
Curst
The Cursts are once mortal warriors who had been killed by the forces of the death god Myrkul while inside zones of wild magic douring the Time of Troubles, when the gods of the Forgotten Realms walked the world in physical for and spread lots of chaos and destruction. The curst are undead and somewhat insane, and also almost impossible to destroy. As long as the head remains, the rest of the body can magically grow back. They are not evil, but their insanity still makes them a serious threat.
Monsters of Faerûn Cliche Creature Counter:
Evil Apes: 0
Variant Ghouls: 3
Demon Dogs: 1
Skeletons with Robes: 0


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Russian Court Hears Appeal by Griner against 9-Year Sentence
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is seen on the bottom part of a TV screen as she waits to appear in a video link provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service a courtroom prior to a hearing at the Moscow Regional Court in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
MOSCOW — A Russian court on Tuesday started hearing American basketball star Brittney Griner's appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession.
Griner, an eight-time all-star center with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.
Griner is taking part in the session held at the Moscow Regional Court via video call from a penal colony outside Moscow where she is being held.
Griner's February arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At the time, Griner was returning to Russia, where she played during the U.S. league's offseason.
Griner admitted that she had the canisters in her luggage, but testified that she had inadvertently packed them in haste and that she had no criminal intent. Her defense team presented written statements that she had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain.
The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years, and Griner's lawyers argued after the conviction that the punishment was excessive. They said in similar cases defendants have received an average sentence of about five years, with about a third of them granted parole.
Before her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner to be "wrongfully detained" — a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.
Reflecting the growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring Griner home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of revealing publicly in July that Washington had made a "substantial proposal" to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.
Blinken didn't elaborate, but The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and once earned the nickname the "merchant of death."
The White House said it has not yet received a productive response from Russia to the offer.
Russian diplomats have refused to comment on the U.S. proposal and urged Washington to discuss the matter in confidential talks, avoiding public statements.
In September, U.S. President Joe Biden met with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner, as well as the player's agent, Lindsay Colas. Biden also sat down separately with Elizabeth Whelan, Paul Whelan's sister.
The White House said after the meetings that the president stressed to the families his "continued commitment to working through all available avenues to bring Brittney and Paul home safely."
The Biden administration carried out a prisoner swap in April, with Moscow releasing Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for the U.S. releasing a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
Moscow also has protested the arrest of another Russian currently in U.S. custody, Alexander Vinnik, who was accused of laundering billions of dollars via an illicit cryptocurrency exchange. Vinnik had been in custody in Greece after being arrested there in 2017 at U.S. request before being extradited to the U.S. in August. It wasn't clear if Russia might demand Vinnik's release as part of a potential swap.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Sonas Wattle Grove: National Nutrition Week!
This week at Sonas Wattle Grove we have been celebrating National Nutrition Week by talking about healthy eating and what kind of foods are good for our bodies!
We made our own food pyramid in kindy and even had the opportunity to go on an excursion to Aldi! We got our shopping list and walked over to Aldi where we saw all of the yummy fruits and vegetables that they had to offer!
When we got back we showed our cook Lynne all of our yummy fruits and vegetables that will be used for tomorrows morning tea and lunch!


This is a hybrid role pairing complimentary functions of a Scrum Master AND Business Analyst. The Scrum Master function is a servant leader responsible for infusing agile principles with a mindset toward continuous improvement of practices adopted by the Scrum team. To make progress, learn and function at the highest level, the Scrum Master will be responsible for removing removing impediments, facilitating meetings and working with product owners to ensure product backlog is well-groomed and ready for the next sprint and acting as a buffer between the team and any distracting influences. This requires a good understanding of the Scrum framework and the ability to train others on it. Within the agile framework, the Business Analyst function elicits, analyzes, writes and validates user stories. This function will coordinate and participate in efforts across technology, operations and business in order to satisfy project deliverables.
Keep whole teams moving forward. Foster team's self-organization and remove distractions, impediments and roadblocks. Facilitate regular Agile events to ensure progress.
Coach the team(s); Help Product Owner understand how to create and maintain proper product backlog. Work with team to determine definition of done. Coach the team on how to execute the Scrum processes.
Must have the requisite agile knowledge of software development experience to coach and guide Development Team members on how to improve their skills.


An image has popped up which appears to be that of the limited edition for Battlefield 3.
The limited edition will come with a DLC pack known as Back to Karkand, which will feature 4 legendary BF 2 maps, re-redered using the brand new Frostbite 2 engine. It will also contain old weapons and vehicles and have new achievements to unlock.
DICE has promised some additional rewards aswell but no details have been thrown out as yet.
The pack can be bought as a standalone product after exactly one month after the game's release.
If you want to get it day one, you'll have to pre-order the game.
Expect an official word regarding this soon. We'll keep you updated.
you know what i am sayin!
Yes, Procon Frostbite will support Battlefield 3.


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Patrick Samuel
The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints. Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger's Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers. Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy. Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.
Posts by Patrick Samuel
Loving Vincent – a profound evocation of the mystery surrounding Van Gogh's death
Loving Vincent is a fully painted animated feature, starring Douglas Booth and Oscar-nominated Saoirse Ronan and directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, exploring the life and controversial death of Vincent Van Gogh, told by his paintings and by the characters that inhabit them. Review by Patrick Samuel Almost a year ...
Art from an emerging artist on the autistic spectrum
My name is Patrick Samuel. I'm an emerging artist diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder (Asperger's Syndrome), marked anxiety and low mood. I'm also on a very long waiting list for an ADHD assessment, treatments for PTSD and CBT. I got into art as therapy in December last year as I ...
http://staticmass.net


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New York Times Bestsellers - Fiction
Description: Bookshare is pleased to offer the top 10 fiction books from the New York Times bestseller list on a monthly basis. The collection is arranged by month covering the past two years. Books are added in as they become available. #adults
Showing 1,151 through 1,175 of 1,189 results
Sort: By titleBy date added to Reading ListBy authorBy year and month
Results per page: 2550100
Year: All Years 2015201620172018201920202021
Month: All Months JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Order to Kill
by Kyle Mills and Vince Flynn
In the next thrilling novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series, the anti-terrorism operative heads to Pakistan to confront a mortal threat he may not be prepared for. In fact, this time he might have met his match.
Mitch Rapp is used to winning. But in this follow-up to #1 New York Times bestselling The Survivor, the CIA operative finds himself chasing false leads from continent to continent in an effort to keep Pakistani nukes from falling into the hands of terrorists. Together with friend and colleague Scott Coleman, Rapp struggles to prevent the loss of these lethal weapons, particularly because Russia is also interested in the nukes, though not for the same reason as Rapp and Coleman.
Soon, it becomes alarmingly clear that the forces in Moscow are bent on fomenting even more chaos and turmoil in the Middle East, and Rapp must go deep into Russian territory, posing as an American ISIS recruit. There, he uncovers a plan much more dangerous and insidious than he ever expected, one that could have far-reaching and catastrophic consequences.
Written with breathless tension and heart-pounding action, Mitch Rapp's latest adventure is as timely and provocative as ever.
Month: October
The Women in the Castle
by Jessica Shattuck
Three women, haunted by the past and the secrets they hold.
Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined—an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Hazards of Good Breeding.
Amid the ashes of Nazi Germany's defeat, Marianne von Lingenfels returns to the once-grand castle of her husband's ancestors, an imposing stone fortress now fallen into ruin following years of war. The widow of a resister murdered in the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Marianne plans to uphold the promise she made to her husband's brave conspirators: to find and protect their wives, her fellow resistance widows.
First Marianne rescues six-year-old Martin, the son of her dearest childhood friend, from a Nazi reeducation home. Together, they make their way across the smoldering wreckage of their homeland to Berlin, where Martin's mother, the beautiful and naive Benita, has fallen into the hands of occupying Red Army soldiers. Then she locates Ania, another resister's wife, and her two boys, now refugees languishing in one of the many camps that house the millions displaced by the war.
As Marianne assembles this makeshift family from the ruins of her husband's resistance movement, she is certain their shared pain and circumstances will hold them together. But she quickly discovers that the black-and-white, highly principled world of her privileged past has become infinitely more complicated, filled with secrets and dark passions that threaten to tear them apart. Eventually, all three women must come to terms with the choices that have defined their lives before, during, and after the war—each with their own unique share of challenges.
Written with the devastating emotional power of The Nightingale, Sarah's Key, and The Light Between Oceans, Jessica Shattuck's evocative and utterly enthralling novel offers a fresh perspective on one of the most tumultuous periods in history. Combining piercing social insight and vivid historical atmosphere, The Women in the Castle is a dramatic yet nuanced portrait of war and its repercussions that explores what it means to survive, love, and, ultimately, to forgive in the wake of unimaginable hardship.
Month: April
The Sleeping Beauty Killer
by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke
The third thrilling installment in the bestselling Under Suspicion series from #1 New York Times bestselling author and "Queen of Suspense" Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke--television producer Laurie Moran puts everything on the line to help a woman she thinks was wrongfully convicted of murder.
Casey Carter was convicted of murdering her fiancé--famed philanthropist Hunter Raleigh III--fifteen years ago. And Casey claims--has always claimed--she's innocent. Although she was charged and served out her sentence in prison, she is still living "under suspicion." She hears whispers at the grocery store. She can't get a job. Even her own mother treats her like she's guilty. Her story attracts the attention of Laurie Moran and the Under Suspicion news team--it's Casey's last chance to finally clear her name, and Laurie pledges to exonerate her.
With Alex Buckley taking a break from the show--cooling his potential romance with Laurie--Under Suspicion introduces a new on-air host named Ryan Nichols, a young legal whiz with a Harvard Law degree, Supreme Court clerkship, experience as a federal prosecutor, and regular stints on the cable news circuit. He's got a big reputation and the attitude to match it. Ryan has no problems with steering--and stealing--the show, and even tries to stop Laurie from taking on Casey's case because he's so certain she's guilty.
An egomaniacal new co-host, a relentless gossip columnist who seems to have all the dirt (and a surprising informant), and Casey's longstanding bad reputation: Laurie must face this and more to do what she believes is right, to once and for all prove Casey's innocence--that is, if she's innocent... The Sleeping Beauty Killer will keep you guessing until the very end.
A Few of the Girls
by Maeve Binchy
'The Irish do love telling stories, and we are suspicious of people who don't have long, complicated conversations. There used to be a rule in etiquette books that you should invite four talkers and four listeners to a dinner party. That doesn't work in Ireland, because nobody knows four listeners' Maeve Binchy
Maeve Binchy's bestselling novels not only tell wonderful stories, they also give an insight in to how Ireland has changed over the decades, but how people remain the same: they still fall in love, sometimes unsuitably; they still have hopes and dreams; they have deep, long-standing friendships, and some that fall apart. From her earliest writing to her most recent, Maeve's work has included wonderfully nostalgic pieces and also sharp, often witty writing which is insightful and topical. But at the heart of all Maeve's fiction are the people and their relationships with each other.
A FEW OF THE GIRLS is a glorious collection of the very best of her stories, full of the warmth, charm and humour that has always been an essential part of all of Maeve's writing.
All By Myself, Alone
by Mary Higgins Clark
A glamorous cruise on a luxurious ocean liner turns deadly in the latest mystery from "Queen of Suspense" and #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark.Fleeing a disastrous and humiliating arrest of her husband-to-be on the eve of their wedding, Celia Kilbride, a gems and jewelry expert, hopes to escape from public attention by lecturing on a brand-new cruise ship—the Queen Charlotte. On board she meets eighty-six-year-old Lady Emily Haywood, "Lady Em," as she is known throughout the world. Immensely wealthy, Lady Em is the owner of a priceless emerald necklace that she intends to leave to the Smithsonian after the cruise. Three days out to sea Lady Em is found dead—and the necklace is missing. Is it the work of her apparently devoted assistant, Brenda Martin, or her lawyer-executor, Roger Pearson, and his wife, Yvonne, both of whom she had invited to join them on the cruise? Or is it Professor Henry Longworth, an acclaimed Shakespeare scholar who is lecturing on board? Or Alan Davidson, a guest on the ship who is planning to spread his wife's ashes at sea? The list of suspects is large and growing. Celia, with the help of her new friends Willy and Alvirah Meehan, who are celebrating their forty-fifth wedding anniversary, sets out to find the killer, not realizing that she has put herself in mortal danger before the ship reaches its final destination. Never, in all her long career as a #1 bestselling suspense novelist, has Mary Higgins Clark been in better form.
The Whole Town's Talking
by Fannie Flagg
The bestselling author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is at her superb best in this fun-loving, moving novel about what it means to be truly alive.
Elmwood Springs, Missouri, is a small town like any other, but something strange is happening at the cemetery. Still Meadows, as it's called, is anything but still.
Original, profound, The Whole Town's Talking, a novel in the tradition of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Flagg's own Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, tells the story of Lordor Nordstrom, his Swedish mail-order bride, Katrina, and their neighbors and descendants as they live, love, die, and carry on in mysterious and surprising ways. Lordor Nordstrom created, in his wisdom, not only a lively town and a prosperous legacy for himself but also a beautiful final resting place for his family, friends, and neighbors yet to come. "Resting place" turns out to be a bit of a misnomer, however.
Odd things begin to happen, and it starts the whole town talking.
With her wild imagination, great storytelling, and deep understanding of folly and the human heart, the beloved Fannie Flagg tells an unforgettable story of life, afterlife, and the remarkable goings-on of ordinary people. In The Whole Town's Talking, she reminds us that community is vital, life is a gift, and love never dies.
by Rachel Hauck
Charlotte owns a chic Birmingham bridal boutique. Dressing brides for their big day is her gift . . . and her passion. But with her own wedding day approaching, why can't she find the perfect dress...or feel certain she should marry Tim?
Then Charlotte discovers a vintage dress in a battered trunk at an estate sale. It looks brand-new--shimmering with pearls and satin, hand-stitched and timeless in its design. But where did it come from? Who wore it? Who welded the lock shut and tucked the dog tags in that little sachet? Who left it in the basement for a ten-year-old girl? And what about the mysterious man in the purple vest who insists the dress had been "redeemed."
Charlotte's search for the gown's history--and its new bride--begins as a distraction from her sputtering love life. But it takes on a life of its own as she comes to know the women who have worn the dress. Emily from 1912. Mary Grace from 1939. Hillary from 1968. Each with her own story of promise, pain, and destiny. And each with something unique to share.
For woven within the threads of the beautiful hundred-year-old gown is the truth about Charlotte's heritage, the power of courage and faith, and the timeless beauty of finding true love.
The Truth According to Us
by Annie Barrows
From the co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes a wise, witty, and exuberant novel, perfect for fans of Lee Smith, that illuminates the power of loyalty and forgiveness, memory and truth, and the courage it takes to do what's right.
Annie Barrows once again evokes the charm and eccentricity of a small town filled with extraordinary characters. Her new novel, The Truth According to Us, brings to life an inquisitive young girl, her beloved aunt, and the alluring visitor who changes the course of their destiny forever.In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck's father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers' Project, a New Deal jobs program.
Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty.
At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotion--a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business that occupies her charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried.
Layla's arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns. As Willa peels back the layers of her family's past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed--and their personal histories completely rewritten.
Month: November
Right Behind You
by Lisa Gardner
Lisa Gardner's next thriller following her runaway New York Times bestseller Find Her takes her wildly popular brand of suspense to new heights.
Is he a hero?
Eight years ago, Sharlah May Nash's older brother beat their drunken father to death with a baseball bat in order to save both of their lives. Now thirteen years old, Sharlah has finally moved on. About to be adopted by retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner, Sharlah loves one thing best about her new family: They are all experts on monsters.
Is he a killer?
Then the call comes in. A double murder at a local gas station, followed by reports of an armed suspect shooting his way through the wilds of Oregon. As Quincy and Rainie race to assist, they are forced to confront mounting evidence: The shooter may very well be Sharlah's older brother, Telly Ray Nash, and it appears his killing spree has only just begun.
All she knows for sure: He's back. As the clock winds down on a massive hunt for Telly, Quincy and Rainie must answer two critical questions: Why after eight years has this young man started killing again? And what does this mean for Sharlah?
Once upon a time, Sharlah's big brother saved her life. Now, she has two questions of her own: Is her brother a hero or a killer? And how much will it cost her new family before they learn the final, shattering truth?
Because as Sharlah knows all too well, the biggest danger is the one standing right behind you.
Month: February
by Alex Berenson
To unmask a CIA mole, John Wells must resume his old undercover identity as an al Qaeda jihadi—and hope he can survive it—in this cutting-edge novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author. It is the most dangerous mission of John Wells's career.
Evidence is mounting that someone high up in the CIA is doing the unthinkable—passing messages to ISIS, alerting them to planned operations. Finding out the mole's identity without alerting him, however, will be very hard, and to accomplish it, Wells will have to do something he thought he'd left behind forever. He will have to reassume his former identity as an al Qaeda jihadi, get captured, and go undercover to befriend an ISIS prisoner in a secret Bulgarian prison.
Many years before, Wells was the only American agent ever to penetrate al Qaeda, but times have changed drastically. The terrorist organizations have multiplied: gotten bigger, crueler, more ambitious and powerful. Wells knows it may well be his death sentence. But there is no one else.
The Bone Labyrinth
by James Rollins
In the remote mountains of Croatia, an archaeologist makes a strange discovery: a subterranean Catholic chapel, hidden for centuries, holds the bones of a Neanderthal woman. In the same cavern system, elaborate primitive paintings tell the story of an immense battle between tribes of Neanderthals and monstrous shadowy figures. Who is this mysterious enemy depicted in these ancient drawings, and what do the paintings mean?Before any questions can be answered, the investigative team is attacked, while at the same time, a bloody assault is made upon a primate research center outside of Atlanta. How are these events connected? Who is behind these attacks? The search for the truth will take Commander Gray Pierce of Sigma Force 50,000 years into the past. As he and Sigma trace the evolution of human intelligence to its true source, they will be plunged into a cataclysmic battle for the future of humanity that stretches across the globe . . . and beyond.Only this time, Sigma will falter--and the world we know will change forever.ins's most ambitious stories to date, The Bone Labyrinth combines science, adventure, historical mystery, archaeology, technology, and legend in a brilliantly inventive tale that connects early man and the fate of the Neanderthals, while exploring the evolution of human intelligence from its wellspring to where we, as a species, may be headed next. Full of ingenious twists, it is a pulse-pounding epic from a master storyteller at the pinnacle of his creative powers.
Month: January
The Bitter Season
by Tami Hoag
Kovac and Liska take on multiple twisted cases as #1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag explores a murder from the past, a murder from the present, and a life that was never meant to be. As the dreary, bitter weather of late fall descends on Minneapolis, Detective Nikki Liska is restless, already bored with her new assignment to the cold case squad. She misses the rush of pulling an all-nighter and the sense of urgency of hunting a desperate killer on the loose. Most of all she misses her old partner, Sam Kovac. Kovac is having an even harder time adjusting to Liska's absence, saddled with a green new partner younger than most of Sam's wardrobe. But Kovac is distracted from his troubles by an especially brutal double homicide: a prominent university professor and his wife, bludgeoned and hacked to death in their home with a ceremonial Japanese samurai sword. Liska's case-the unsolved murder of a decorated sex crimes detective-is less of a distraction: Twenty five years later, there is little hope for finding the killer who got away. Meanwhile, Minneapolis resident Evi Burke has a life she only dreamed of as a kid in and out of foster homes: a beautiful home, a family, people who love her, a fulfilling job. But a danger from her past is stalking her idyllic present. A danger bent on destroying the perfect life she was never meant to have. As the trails of two crimes a quarter of century apart twist and cross, Kovac and Liska race to find answers before a killer strikes again.From the Hardcover edition.
The Woman in Cabin 10
by Ruth Ware
From New York Times bestselling author of the "twisty-mystery" (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware--this time, set at sea.
In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie's works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea.
At first, Lo's stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem?
All passengers remain accounted for--and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo's desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong...
With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10--one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.
The Sugar Queen
by Sarah Addison Allen
. In this irresistible follow-up to her New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, author Sarah Addison Allen tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets--and secret passions--are about to change her life forever.
Twenty-seven-year-old Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, she's a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet.
For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother's house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night....
Until she finds it harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tenderhearted woman who is one part nemesis--and two parts fairy godmother...
Fleeing a life of bad luck and big mistakes, Della Lee has decided Josey's clandestine closet is the safest place to crash. In return she's going to change Josey's life--because, clearly, it is not the closet of a happy woman. With Della Lee's tough love, Josey is soon forgoing pecan rolls and caramels, tapping into her startlingly keen feminine instincts, and finding her narrow existence quickly expanding.
Before long, Josey bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who makes the best sandwiches in town, is hounded by books that inexplicably appear whenever she needs them, and--most amazing of all--has a close connection to Josey's longtime crush. As little by little Josey dares to step outside herself, she discovers a world where the color red has astonishing power, passion can make eggs fry in their cartons, and romance can blossom at any time--even for her.
It seems that Della Lee's work is done, and it's time for her to move on. But the truth about where she's going, why she showed up in the first place--and what Chloe has to do with it all--is about to add one more unexpected chapter to Josey' s fast-changing life.
Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love--and the enchanting possibilities of every new day.
by Pierce Brown
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating next chapter in the Red Rising Saga: Morning Star.ITW THRILLER AWARD FINALIST • &"[Brown&'s] achievement is in creating an uncomfortably familiar world of flaw, fear, and promise.&"—Entertainment WeeklyDarrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society&'s mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within. Finally, the time has come. But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied—and too glorious to surrender.Praise for Morning Star&"There is no one writing today who does shameless, Michael Bay–style action set pieces the way Brown does. The battle scenes are kinetic, bloody, breathless, crazy. Everything is on fire all the time.&"—NPR &"Morning Star is this trilogy&'s Return of the Jedi. . . . The impactful battles that make up most of Morning Star are damn near operatic. . . . It absolutely satisfies.&"—Tordotcom &"Excellent . . . Brown&'s vivid, first-person prose puts the reader right at the forefront of impassioned speeches, broken families, and engaging battle scenes . . . as this interstellar civil war comes to a most satisfying conclusion.&"—Publishers Weekly (starred review) &"A page-turning epic filled with twists and turns . . . The conclusion to Brown&'s saga is simply stellar.&"—Booklist (starred review)Don&'t miss any of Pierce Brown&'s Red Rising Saga:RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE
by Stuart Woods and Parnell Hall
From #1 bestselling author Stuart Woods comes an extraordinary new series starring an old fan favorite: Teddy Fay. When President Kate Lee calls Stone Barrington to Washington on an urgent matter, it's soon clear that a potentially disastrous situation requires the kind of help more delicate than even he can provide . . . and he knows just the right man for the job. Teddy Fay: ex-CIA, master of disguise, and a gentleman not known for abiding by legal niceties in the pursuit of his own brand of justice.
by Catherine Coulter and J. T. Ellison
From New York Times bestselling authors Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison comes the highly anticipated thriller in their Brit in the FBI series, featuring special agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine in their new roles as heads of the Covert Eyes team—but will their first case be their last when the enigmatic and dangerous thief known as the Fox reappears?
FBI Special Agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine are the government's Covert Eyes—leading a top-notch handpicked team of agents to tackle crimes and criminals both international and deadly. But their first case threatens their fledgling team when the Fox calls from Venice asking for help.
Kitsune has stolen an incredible artifact from the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, and now the client wants her dead. She has a warning for Nick and Mike: she's overheard talk that a devastating Gobi desert sandstorm that's killed thousands in Beijing isn't a natural phenomenon, rather is produced by man.
The Covert Eyes team heads to Venice, Italy, to find out the truth. From New York to Venice and from Rome to the Bermuda Triangle, Nicholas and Mike and their team are in a race against time, and nature herself, to stop an obsessed family from devastating Washington, DC.
In a Dark, Dark Wood
What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware's suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.
Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her "nest" of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn't seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead.
Wondering not "what happened?" but "what have I done?", Nora (Lee?) tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora (Lee?) must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.
In the tradition of Paula Hawkins's instant New York Times bestseller The Girl On the Train and S. J. Watson's riveting national sensation Before I Go To Sleep, this gripping literary debut from UK novelist Ruth Ware will leave you on the edge of your seat through the very last page.
Month: May
Summer Island
by Kristin Hannah
The author of the cherished bestseller On Mystic Lake returns with a poignant, funny, luminous novel about a mother and daughter--the complex ties that bind them, the past that separates them, and the healing that comes with forgiveness.
Years ago, Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage and left her daughters behind. She has since become a famous radio talk-show host and newspaper columnist beloved for her moral advice.
Her youngest daughter, Ruby, is a struggling comedienne who uses her famous mother as fuel for her bitter, cynical humor. When the tabloids unearth a scandalous secret from Nora's past, their estrangement suddenly becomes dramatic: Nora is injured in an accident and a glossy magazine offers Ruby a fortune to write a tell-all about her mother. Under false pretenses, Ruby returns home to take care of the woman she hasn't spoken to for almost a decade.
Nora insists they retreat to Summer Island in the San Juans, to the lovely old house on the water where Ruby grew up, a place filled with childhood memories of love and joy and belonging. There Ruby is also reunited with her first love and his brother. Once, the three of them had been best friends, inseparable. Until the summer that Nora had left and everyone's hearts had been broken. . . .
What began as an expose evolves, as Ruby writes, into an exploration of her family's past. Nora is not the woman Ruby has hated all these years. Witty, wise, and vulnerable, she is desperate to reconcile with her daughter.
As the magazine deadline draws near and Ruby finishes what has begun to seem to her an act of brutal betrayal, she is forced to grow up and at last to look at her mother--and herself--through the eyes of a woman. And she must, finally, allow herself to love.
Summer Island is a beautiful novel, funny, tender, sad, and ultimately triumphant.
Month: September
by Patricia Cornwell
#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell returns with the remarkable twenty-fourth thriller in her popular high-stakes series starring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.
In the quiet of twilight, on an early autumn day, twenty-six-year-old Elisa Vandersteel is killed while riding her bicycle along the Charles River. It appears she was struck by lightning--except the weather is perfectly clear with not a cloud in sight. Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the Cambridge Forensic Center's director and chief, decides at the scene that this is no accidental Act of God.
Her investigation becomes complicated when she begins receiving a flurry of bizarre poems from an anonymous cyberbully who calls himself Tailend Charlie. Though subsequent lab results support Scarpetta's conclusions, the threatening messages don't stop. When the tenth poem arrives exactly twenty-four hours after Elisa's death, Scarpetta begins to suspect the harasser is involved, and sounds the alarm to her investigative partner Pete Marino and her husband, FBI analyst Benton Wesley.
She also enlists the help of her niece, Lucy. But to Scarpetta's surprise, tracking the slippery Tailend Charlie is nearly impossible, even for someone as brilliant as her niece. Also, Lucy can't explain how this anonymous nemesis could have access to private information. To make matters worse, a venomous media is whipping the public into a frenzy, questioning the seasoned forensics chief's judgment and "a quack cause of death on a par with spontaneous combustion."
by Emily Giffin
A pair of sisters find themselves at a crossroads in this dazzling new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Something Borrowed, Where We Belong, and The One & Only.
First Comes Love is a story about family, friendship, and the courage to follow your own heart--wherever that may lead.
Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious, relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing, Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes, their delicate bond splinters.
Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single--and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother--a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend's daughter is assigned to her class. Determined to have the future she's always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands.
On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she's married to a wonderful man, and together they're raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.
As the anniversary of their tragedy looms, and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover that they need each other more than they knew--and that in the search for true happiness, love always comes first.
Mangrove Lightning
by Randy Wayne White
The ghosts of a 1925 multiple murder stalk Doc Ford in the electrifying new novel in the New York Times–bestselling series.
Doc Ford has been involved in many strange cases. This may be one of the strangest. A legendary charter captain and guide named Tootsie Barlow has come to him, muttering about a curse. The members of his extended family have suffered a bizarre series of attacks, and Barlow is convinced it has something to do with a multiple murder in 1925, in which his family had a shameful part.
Ford doesn't believe in curses, but as he and his friend Tomlinson begin to investigate, following the trail of the attacks from Key Largo to Tallahassee, they, too, suffer a series of near-fatal mishaps. Is it really a curse? Or just a crime spree? The answer lies in solving a near-hundred-year-old murder...and probing the mind of a madman.
Brush of Wing
by Karen Kingsbury
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes the third novel in an unforgettable series about divine intervention and the trials and triumphs of life for a group of friends.
Despite needing a heart transplant and against the advice of her doctor, Mary Catherine moves to Uganda to work at a new orphanage. Whatever time she has left, Mary Catherine wants to spend it helping children--especially since there will be no children of her own.
The only problem is Major League Baseball player Marcus Dillinger, the man she never meant to fall in love with. Neither Marcus nor Mary Catherine's other friends--Tyler Ames and Sami Dawson--know just how serious her heart condition is. Still, Marcus is sure in the depths of his soul that something isn't right. Ultimately his correspondence with Mary Catherine leads him on a desperate life-or-death mission to rescue her and get her to a US hospital before time runs out.
Meanwhile, Sami and Tyler struggle with issues of their own. In a season when Tyler plans to ask Sami to marry him, the very core of their relationship is in jeopardy. The team of angels walking is busier than ever in this epic battle between life and death. Brush of Wings is a poignant tale of love, sacrifice, and the power of faith.
Dishonorable Intentions
by Stuart Woods
Stone Barrington gains an adversary that he can't seem to shake in the electrifying new adventure from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author.
Stone Barrington's latest lady friend is full of surprises, both good and ill. A sensual woman with unexpected desires, Stone finds her revelations in the boudoir extremely agreeable. But on the other hand, she also has some unfinished business with a temperamental man who believes Stone is an intolerable obstacle in the way of his goals.
In a cat-and-mouse game that trails from sun-drenched Bel-Air to a peaceful European estate and gorgeous Santa Fe, Stone and his friend remain just one step ahead of their opponent. But their pursuer is not a man who can stand to be thwarted, and tensions are mounting . . . and may soon reach the boiling point.
Jewels of the Sun
by Nora Roberts
Book One of the Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy In Gallagher's Pub, where the fire is burning low and the pints are waiting, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts has a story to tell...
Determined to reevaluate her life, Jude Murray flees America to take refuge in Faerie Hill Cottage, immersing herself in the study of Irish folklore and discovering hope for the future of the magical past.
Finally back home in Ireland after years of traveling, Aidan Gallagher possesses an uncommon understanding of his country's haunting myths.
Although he's devoted to managing the family pub, a hint of wildness still glints in his eyes--and in Jude, he sees a woman who can both soothe his heart and stir his blood
. And he begins to share the legends of the land with her--while they create a passionate history of their own.
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Azhar Serikkaliyeva
BIOGRAPHY, RESEARCH PROFILE
Azhar Serikkaliyeva is a Research Fellow at Almaty Management University since February 2019.
Azhar has graduated from the Chinese Studies Department of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in 2008. In the period from September 2007 to May 2008, she successfully completed a language internship at Shanghai International Studies University in China under a scholarship of the Government of the People's Republic of China. During her undergraduate studies, she was awarded the Presidential scholarship. She received her master degree in 2010 by presenting her master thesis namely "Chinese strategy of peaceful rising and current Sino-Kazakh relations". She holds a Masters in Area Studies from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.
She started the doctorate process in 2010 and completed it in 2014 by presenting her Ph.D. thesis "People's Republic of China social and economic activity at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization". On November 30, 2013, she successfully defended her doctoral thesis in the dissertation council at the Lev Gumilyov Eurasian National University. In 2014, she was conferred the degree of doctor (Ph.D.) in Oriental Studies by authority of the Control Committee under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During the period of doctoral studies, she successfully completed a scientific internship at the Center for Asian Democracy at the University of Louisville (USA) under supervising of Ph.D., Professor & Distinguished University Scholar Charles Ziegler.
She was a research associate in the following research grants: "Paradigm of the Chinese modernization and social and economic development of Kazakhstan" provided by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan; "The current state and prospects of China-Kazakhstan relations development (1992-2017") provided by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The evolution of China's image in Kazakhstan – joint research projects between Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and the General Consulate of the People's Republic of China in Almaty.
She is an Editorial Review Board member of Russian Journal of Humanities and Oriental Studies Bulletin of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. She is an Advisory Board member of the Journal of Regional Studies, within the body of Ankara Crisis and Political Research Center. In 2018, she was awarded a 1-month Chinese Bureau for External Cultural Relations scholarship 'The Visiting Program for Young Sinologists'. The fellowship provided by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China.
During academic career, she has published more than 30 scientific papers including articles in peer-reviewed journals, chapters in edited books and conference papers on Chinese foreign policy, economy and China-Kazakhstan relations in Kazakhstani and foreign journals, and prepared a book and monograph in co-authoring.
Previously she was a Deputy Dean for Research and International Cooperation at the Oriental Studies Faculty of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (September 2017- February 2019).
Journal/Publishing house
China's economic development
Kazakh University Press, 2018. Almaty. - 166 p. (in Russian).
Kazakhstan diplomacy in defining the legal status of the Caspian Sea: 1991-2017.
Central Asia and the Caucasus Journal. (SSCI). CA&CC Press AB. Summer edition, Issue: 3, Volume: 19, 2018. (in English).
Chinese institutional diplomacy toward Kazakhstan: the New Silk Road Economic Belt and the SCO.
Insight Turkey Journal. (SSCI) Issue 3, 2018. (in English).
Current Developments of China's One belt, One Road Initiative
E-bulletin № 128, Eurasian Research Institute. (in English).
Internationalization of the Chinese Higher Education: The Case of Kazakhstan
Chinese View on the Expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Online Journal «edu.e-history.kz» № 1(09). (in English).
China's View on the SCO Development and the Belt and Road Initiative
ICPESS (International Congress on Politic, Economic and Social Studies). Sarajevo Bosnia Herzegovina. (in English).
The SCO Free Trade Area Project: Problems and Prospects
China-Mongolia 'One Belt, One Road' Cooperation
AsiyaAuropa, №16, 4 – 12 (in English).
Why is China moving production facilities to Kazakhstan?
Lianyungan Logistic Terminal: New Opportunities For Kazakhstan-China Trade
AsiyaAuropa Journal №15, 72 - 80 (in English).
Does China seek the geopolitical agenda of the SCO?
AsiyaAuropa Journal, №14. (in English).
«Soft power» as a tool of the Chinese policy in Africa
Asia and Africa Today, №3. (Russian Academy of Science) (in Russian).
BRICS summit 2016
一带一路与中哈合作(The OBOR under the perspective of China-Kazakhstan relationships)
中国与世界(China and the World Journal China, Jilin University), №1. (in English).
Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea: the View from China
E-bulletin № 83, Eurasian Research Institute. (in English).
The New Model of the Chinese International Diplomacy: the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Case
Chinese investments in the mining industry of Kazakhstan
Bulletin of the KazNU. Oriental Studies Series. 78, №3. (in English).
Cultural Dimension Of China'S New Silk Road Initiative.
Actual Problems Economics №11, 4 - стр. (Russian Federation) (in English).
Chinese investment activity in Kazakhstan
Bulletin of Semey State University named after Shakarim №1, 4 – p. (in Russian).
Evolution of the "Modernization" definition in modern China.
Social sciences and Humanities. Volume 1. ISSN 2411-2461. (in English).
Chinese modernization and Kazakhstan.
Kazakh University Press, 2014. 369 p. (Co-authored with N. Aldabek, P. Bekturganova) (in Russian).
China's position on the settlement of the Afghan problem: the factor of security in Central Asia.
Bulletin of the KazNU. Oriental Studies Series. 2014. Volume 2 (70). (in Russian).
《丝绸之路》的复兴与哈萨克斯坦在中亚地区的
一体化进程.
The revival of the "Great Silk Road" and integration of Kazakhstan in Central Asia.
Journal of Xinjiang University. Philosophy, Humanities and Social sciences. 2012. Volume 40. P. 165-169. (in Chinese).
The political aspect of the economic and energy cooperation of the SCO member states: China.
Proceedings of republican scientific conference «Kazakhstan and the countries of the East: Past and Present" (Kazakhstan,
Almaty, 30 March 2012). 340. (in Russian).
Modernization of the People's Republic of
China: History and Complexities
World Academy of Science Engineering and Technology. 2012. Volume 71. P. 691. (in English).
Eurasian Economic Integration: Eurasian
Economic Community and Shanghai
Cooperation Organization
International Science Index International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering. 2012. Volume 6. No. 11(in English).
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan: Customs Union's impact to the social and economic cooperation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Society and Epoch. (in Kazakh)
Activity of the Republic of Kazakhstan on ensuring regional security within the framework of the SCO
Proceedings of the international scientific and practical conference "The role of sovereign Kazakhstan in ensuring regional security in Central Asia". Recommended for printing by the Academic Council of the International relations Faculty of al-Farabi KazNU. Almaty. - 293 p. (in Russian).
The impact of the global financial crisis on China in the SCO.
Kazakhstan in the global processes. 2011. Volume 1 (27). (in Russian).
Discourse of the Eastern and Western Traditions within the SCO
Bulletin of KazNU. A series of oriental studies. - №2 (55) (in Russian).
Social and economic reforms in modern China
Research. Series of Humanitarian Sciences. - No. 1 (1) (in English).
On the perception of the modern foreign policy concepts of China
Bulletin of KazNU. A series of Oriental studies. - No. 3 (48) (in Russian).
Features of the formation of China's foreign policy and its objectives at the present stage
The center of Eurasia. - No. 3 (16) (in Russian).
Alimshan Faizulayev
Dr. Alimshan Faizulayev is a Research Fellow at Almaty Management University since February 2019.
Interests: Banking, Islamic banking, Finance, Investment, Energy Conservation, Corporate Finance, Service Industry.
Previously he was working as senior instructor in Banking and Finance department of Eastern Mediterranean University (Cyprus). Also, he worked as a "Project Manager" in Dogus Yol Tourism(Turkey) in Turkey, organizing scientific internship programs for Master and Ph.D students from CIS countries. He was teaching financial accounting at American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (USA).
He has been working as Investment Consultant in Dovec Group of Companies(Cyprus) since 2017.
Alimshan Faizulayev was awarded scholarship for MS and Ph.D. programs by Turkish Ministry of Education. Furthermore, he participated ICB (Institute of Canadian Bankers- Canada) program: financial accounting and financial marketing.
During his doctoral study he was awarded international conference scholarships by Eastern Mediterranean University to participate in EBES conference (Italy).
Scientific Works are:
Publication in Journals:
Alimshan Faizulayev, Eralp Bektas & Abdul Ghafar Ismail 2018. "Profitability and persistency in the service industry: the case of QISMUT+3", Service Industries Journal, https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2018.1461210. (SSCI - Web of Science)
Alimshan Faizulayev and Isah Wada, 2019 under review. "Can Kazakhstan obtain Sustainable Model for Economic Development without Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Strategies? ARDL and NARDL Approaches Employed", Global Economic Review: Perspectives on East Asian Economies and Industries. (SSCI - Web of Science)
Alimshan Faizulayev, Eralp Bektas & Marei Elbadri, 2019 under review. "What Drives the Banking Competition in New Classified Emerging Economies ? Dynamic Panel Approach: System GMM. Islamic Banks versus Conventional Banks", Global Economic Review: Perspectives on East Asian Economies and Industries. (SSCI - Web of Science)
Chapter in the Book:
Faizulayev, A. and Bektas, E. (2018). Profitability Determinants of Islamic and Conventional Banks During the Global Financial Crises: The Case of Emerging Markets. In: N. Ozatac and K. Gokmenoglu, ed., Emerging Trends in Banking and Finance, 1st ed. [online] Springer, Cham. Available at: Jou
International Conference Papers:
Дата проведения конференции
Страна, город название конференции
Тема выступления
Никосия/с.Кипр
Internatonal EMI Entrepreneurshp Socal Scences Congress EMISSC
Do Changes in Earnings Signal the Future Prospects?
Республика Сингапур
ICFEM 2017: International Conference on Financial and Economic Management
Comparitive Analysis of Islamic and Conventional Banking Systems in Terms of Profitability: A Study on Emerging Market Economies
Рим /Италия
22nd EBES CONFERENCE
Re-Examining the Determinants of Islamic vs. Conventional Banks Performance, Static OLS vs. Dynamic GMM Models: New Classification QISMUT Plus Three Countries
Фамагуста/с.Кипр
2nd International Conference on Banking and Finance Perspectives
Examination the Drivers of the Financial Performance in Dual Banking system: Case Study on Emerging Market Economies
13th International Conference on Econometrics, on Operations Research and Statistics
Empirical Evidence: The Difference between Islamic Banking and Conventional Banking Firms in terms of Profitability
International Conference on Banking and Finance Perspectives
Entrepreneurship In Terms Of Globalization
Comparative Study On Performance Of Islamic Banking And Conventional Banking.