The Novels Portal
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A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The English word to describe such a work derives from the Italian: novella for "new", "news", or "short story (of something new)", itself from the Latin: novella, a singular noun use of the neuter plural of novellus, diminutive of novus, meaning "new". According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, Medieval Chivalric romance, and in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance novella. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, in the historical romances of Walter Scott and the Gothic novel. Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, and John Cowper Powys, preferred the term "romance". M. H. Abrams and Walter Scott have argued that a novel is a fiction narrative that displays a realistic depiction of the state of a society, while the romance encompasses any fictitious narrative that emphasizes marvellous or uncommon incidents. Works of fiction that include marvellous or uncommon incidents are also novels, including Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Such "romances" should not be confused with the genre fiction romance novel, which focuses on romantic love.
Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, an early 11th-century Japanese text, has sometimes been described as the world's first novel, because of its early use of the experience of intimacy in a narrative form. There is considerable debate over this, however, as there were certainly long fictional prose works that preceded it. The spread of printed books in China led to the appearance of classical Chinese novels during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), and Qing dynasty (1616–1911). An early example from Europe was Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by the Sufi writer Ibn Tufayl in Muslim Spain. Later developments occurred after the invention of the printing press. Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote (the first part of which was published in 1605), is frequently cited as the first significant European novelist of the modern era. Literary historian Ian Watt, in The Rise of the Novel (1957), argued that the modern novel was born in the early 18th century.
Recent technological developments have led to many novels also being published in non-print media: this includes audio books, web novels, and ebooks. Another non-traditional fiction format can be found in graphic novels. While these comic book versions of works of fiction have their origins in the 19th century, they have only become popular recently. (Full article...)
A Wizard of Earthsea is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin and first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. It is regarded as a classic of children's literature and of fantasy, within which it is widely influential. The story is set in the fictional archipelago of Earthsea and centers on a young mage named Ged, born in a village on the island of Gont. He displays great power while still a boy and joins a school of wizardry, where his prickly nature drives him into conflict with a fellow student. During a magical duel, Ged's spell goes awry and releases a shadow creature that attacks him. The novel follows Ged's journey as he seeks to be free of the creature.
The book has often been described as a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, as it explores Ged's process of learning to cope with power and come to terms with death. The novel also carries Taoist themes about a fundamental balance in the universe of Earthsea, which wizards are supposed to maintain, closely tied to the idea that language and names have power to affect the material world and alter this balance. The structure of the story is similar to that of a traditional epic, although critics have also described it as subverting this genre in many ways, such as by making the protagonist dark-skinned in contrast to more typical white-skinned heroes. (Full article...)
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- In past ages, a war, almost by definition, was something that sooner or later came to an end, usually in unmistakable victory or defeat.In the past, also, war was one of the main instruments by which human societies were kept in touch with physical reality. All rulers in all ages have tried to impose a false view of the world upon their followers, but they could not afford to encourage any illusion that tended to impair military efficiency. So long as defeat meant the loss of independence, or some other result generally held to be undesirable, the precautions against defeat had to be serious. Physical facts could not be ignored. In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two and two might make five, but when one was designing a gun or an aeroplane they had to make four. Inefficient nations were always conquered sooner or later, and the struggle for efficiency was inimical to illusions. Moreover, to be efficient it was necessary to be able to learn from the past, which meant having a fairly accurate idea of what had happened in the past. Newspapers and history books were, of course, always coloured and biased, but falsification of the kind that is practiced today would have been impossible. War was a sure safeguard of sanity, and so far as the ruling classes were concerned it was probably the most important of all safeguards. While wars could be won or lost, no ruling class could be completely irresponsible.
Did you know...
- ...that author Ken Kesey taught a course at the University of Oregon where he and thirteen students collaboratively wrote Caverns?
- ...that Beth Groundwater's A Real Basket Case was nominated for the Best First Novel Agatha Award in 2007?
- ...that the 1919 novel Lad: A Dog (pictured) is a fictionalized account of the life of author Albert Payson Terhune's real life rough collie Lad?
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Ace Books
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes
A Beautiful Crime
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Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang (novel)
The Bread-Winners
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Burger's Daughter
Candide
Casino Royale (novel)
A Christmas Carol
The Coral Island
Cousin Bette
The Day Before the Revolution
Len Deighton
Diamonds Are Forever (novel)
The Diary of a Nobody
Doc Savage (magazine)
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Drama dari Krakatau
Dreamsnake
Farseer trilogy
The Fountainhead
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The General in His Labyrinth
Gods' Man
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The Good Terrorist
The Great Gatsby
The Green Child
Halo: Contact Harvest
A Handful of Dust
The Hardy Boys
The Historian
Hogwarts Express (Universal Orlando Resort)
The Hunger Games (novel)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
In Our Time (short story collection)
Indian Camp
Irish Thoroughbred
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Lad, A Dog
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Live and Let Die (novel)
Logan (novel)
Louis Lambert (novel)
The Man in the Moone
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The Monster (novella)
Moonraker (novel)
Naruto
Night (memoir)
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The Open Boat
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Paradises Lost
Pattern Recognition (novel)
La Peau de chagrin
The Penelopiad
Père Goriot
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H.
Rachel Dyer
Raptor Red
Reception history of Jane Austen
The Red Badge of Courage
J. K. Rowling
El Señor Presidente
Seventy-Six (novel)
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Southern Cross (wordless novel)
The Spy Who Loved Me (novel)
Starship Troopers
The Sun Also Rises
Tom Swift
The Temple at Thatch
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To Kill a Mockingbird
True at First Light
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Vision in White
Emma Watson
A Wizard of Earthsea
Wordless novel
Z. Marcas
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Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel
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Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel
List of works by John Buchan
List of Charmed novels and short stories
List of works by Leslie Charteris
Winston Churchill as writer
Roald Dahl bibliography
Len Deighton bibliography
Arthur Conan Doyle bibliography
The Flashman Papers
List of works by H. Rider Haggard
List of Harry Potter cast members
List of works by Georgette Heyer
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Hugo Award for Best Novel
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Hugo Award for Best Novella
Hugo Award for Best Short Story
List of James Bond novels and short stories
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
List of works by W. E. Johns
List of works by Kwee Tek Hoay
Lambda Literary Award for Speculative Fiction
List of awards and nominations received by J. K. Rowling
List of works by W. Somerset Maugham
List of works by H. C. McNeile
Nebula Award for Best Novella
Nebula Award for Best Novel
Newbery Medal
List of Nobel laureates in Literature
List of Women's Prize for Fiction winners
George Orwell bibliography
List of works by Sax Rohmer
List of works by Dorothy L. Sayers
Theodore Sturgeon Award
P. G. Wodehouse bibliography
World Fantasy Award—Anthology
World Fantasy Award—Collection
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World Fantasy Special Award—Non-professional
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