Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Silver Tomb (Lazarus Longman Chronicles #2) by P.J. Thorndyke Tomb Raider Chronicles: A Brief History (Gold Edition) A few months ago, we honored the announcement of 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider , the newest entry in the popular Tomb Raider series, with a complete list of series star Lara Croft’s previous adventures. But the tomb raiding doesn’t stop there. In addition to the nine main titles are numerous spin-offs and tie-in installments, including PC add-ons, original novels, and even an anime series. Hardcore fans who can’t complete a Tomb Raider game without finding every single secret, artifact, and relic won’t be able to pass up these hidden gems. Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business (1998), Tomb Raider: the Golden Mask (1999), and Tomb Raider: the Lost Artifact (2000) Although the dreaded dial-up connections made 90s computering an agonizing chore, the era was not without its bright spots. Case in point: Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business , Tomb Raider: the Golden Mask , and Tomb Raider: the Lost Artifact , a special collection of extra levels available via the PC editions of Tomb Raider , Tomb Raider II: Starring Lara Croft , and Tomb Raider III: the Adventures of Lara Croft (released as Tomb Raider: Gold , Tomb Raider II: Gold , and Tomb Raider III: Gold respectively) for PC gamers’ raiding pleasure. Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business took fans back to Egypt and Atlantis as Lara sought to destroy the last of the Atlanteans; Tomb Raider: the Golden Mask saw Lara hike it to Alaska and Las Vegas in search of the Golden Mask of Tornarsuk, which was rumored to grant its wearer the power to reanimate the dead; and Tomb Raider: the Lost Artifac t followed Lara as she picked up Dr. Willard’s trail of a fifth, previously unknown alien artifact and traveled to Scotland and Paris in pursuit thereof, facing off with secondary baddie Sophia Leigh. In other words, three right fine slices of cake after three most satisfying meals. Tomb Raider (1999) In 1999, Lara leaped from the TV screen to the art panel when Top Cow Productions began publication of the Tomb Raider comic book series. The series, which ran until its final issue in 2005, spans fifty issues and features a variety of original story arcs, including a “Witchblade” crossover. Following the series’s finale, Top Cow released Tomb Raider: Compendium , a complete volume of all fifty issues. Bandai Entertainment also released a tankobon version of series in five smaller, black-and-white volumes. Lara would not grace the funnies again until 2013, when Tomb Raider: the Beginning —the official prequel to 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot—hit stores as a bonus item included with pre-ordered copies of the game. It spawned a new series of Tomb Raider comics (published by Dark Horse Books) that follow the 2013 reboot. Tomb Raider (2000), Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword (2001), and Tomb Raider: the Prophecy (2002) Back when portable gaming devices meant pixelated graphics, CORE Design ( Tomb Raider ‘s original developer) took a bold step and translated Lara’s free-roaming 3D world into a 2D side scroller for the Nintendo Game Boy Color. The result? A pretty darn good game! Fans and critics alike praised the first Tomb Raider GBC title (simply called Tomb Raider ) for its smooth gameplay, (relatively) gorgeous graphics, and authentic Tomb Raider feel. In fact, so great was the reception for this Tomb Raider that CORE churned out two sequels: Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword (also for GBC) and Tomb Raider: the Prophecy (for Game Boy Advance). Simon West’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Jan de Bont’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: the Cradle of Life (2003) So much popularity did Ms. Croft and Tomb Raider garner that Hollywood saw fit to give them their own major motion picture. That motion picture was director Simon West’s 2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider . The film starred Angelina Jolie as Lady Croft herself (who better, honestly?), Jolie’s real-life father Jon Voight as Lara’s father Lord Richard Croft, pre-James Bond Daniel Craig as her sometimes-rival/sometimes-boyfriend Alex West, and Iain Glen (a.k.a Ser Jorah Mormont from “Game of Thrones”) as the film’s villain Manfred Powell. The film wasn’t exactly a masterpiece or anything, but it was at least fun and exciting as any Croft adventure should be. The same can be said of its 2003 sequel, director Jan de Bont’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: the Cradle of Life , which saw Jolie reprise her role as Lara. The sequel also introduced Gerard Butler into the franchise as Lara’s jailed mercenary ex, Terry Sheridan. Sadly, the film didn’t do well enough to inspire a third Croft film (although rumor has it that a new Tomb Raider film that has no ties to the first two is in the works—fingers crossed!). Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: the Amulet of Power (2003), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: the Lost Cult (August 2004), and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: the Man of Bronze (December 2004) It goes without saying that a character as well-read as Lady Croft should star in her own string of novels. The first of these novels, Mike Resnick’s the Amulet of Power , followed Lara through the Middle East and Egypt as she pursued the Amulet of Mareish; the second, E. E. Knight’s the Lost Cult ,saw her tangle with the mind-controlling Mene cult as she searched for the reason behind the mysterious death of one of her friends and colleagues; and the third, James Alan Gardner’s the Man of Bronze , placed Ms. Croft in the midst of a secret society known as the Order of the Bronze and tomb raiding Lancaster Urdmann’s bid to capture the society’s most valuable secret. All three are fun, pulpy reads that will keep fans pleased until Dan Abnett and Nik Vincent’s T omb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals , the newest novel starring Lady Croft, hits stores this October. “Revisioned: Tomb Raider” (2007) Angelina Jolie isn’t the only Hollywood face to portray Ms. Croft. In 2007, actress Minnie Driver lent her talent to “Revisioned: Tomb Raider,” a ten-episode animated series released through online gaming service GameTap. In this series each episode focused on a different adventure of Lara’s and utilized a different style of animation (based upon various comic book artists’ styles) for that adventure. Though reactions to the show were mixed (with the bulk of the criticism aimed at the various art styles and underdeveloped stories,) GameTap followed “Revisioned: Tomb Raider” with “Revisioned” versions of other beloved video game series. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (2010) This downloadable multi-player game featured Lady Croft taking on a partner—a 2,000-year old Mayan warrior named Totec—in order to obtain an artifact called the Mirror of Smoke and defeat a Mesoamerican demon named Xolotl. Unlike previous Tomb Raider titles, Guardian of Light focused less on raiding tombs and more on cooperative fighting and puzzle-solving. Though not traditional Raider in its gameplay or presentation, Guardian of Light raked in enough sales and positive critical reception to merit an upcoming sequel, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris . Tombtakers. Lucien is the "Nonagon", a title bestowed upon him by the Somnovem or Eyes of Nine, [3] and the Tombtakers support him in his goals. The members of the group are psychically linked in some way; when this happens, their eyes turn red, and they all speak in unison. When questioned whether he was controlling the others at those times, Lucien responded that they were just "well-connected." Otis Brunkel, the halfling member, in their voice then said, "We've been through a lot, and we understand what needs to be done," and Cree added, "That is why we fight forward, to bring the Nonagon to his destined precipice." [4] Members. Lucien : A tiefling who returned from the grave and became Mollymauk Tealeaf, a Ghostslayer blood hunter, before dying again. and being resurrected again. Holds the title of Nonagon. Cree : A tabaxi Blood Domain cleric who ended up working for the Gentleman but, after seeing Lucien, left the Gentleman's employ and did not return. [5] Zoran Kluthidol : A goliath Ghostslayer blood hunter, earlier a torturer for the Myriad in Rexxentrum. [6][7] Otis Brunkel : A halfling Profane Soul blood hunter, earlier in Shadycreek Run. [8][7] Tyffial Wase : An elven Mutant blood hunter, earlier a bodyguard in Nogvurot. [9][7] Jurrell : Met with the axe of the law shortly after Nonagon was buried. [10] Affiliations. Vess DeRogna : Contracted by the Tombtakers to perform a ritual for them, which she intentionally failed, causing Lucien's apparent death. Killed by Lucien after he was revived. History. At some point in or before 831 PD, [11] Cree, Lucien, and the other Tombtakers had been part of a disparate collective called the Claret Orders. Some of them had grown up together, and some of them just had like-minded interests. [12] Lucien believed that the order was clouded in their thinking and wanted to seek a different path. Breaking off, he took a splinter group north to Shadycreek Run and started the Tombtakers. [13] The Cobalt Soul believed that the Tombtakers were studying the blood magics used by Lucien, which had been known to temporarily enchant weapons, augment physiology, and been linked to some forms of lycanthropy. [14] They were also doing mercenary work, unlawful acquisitions of things, thieving, and some bodyguarding. They were hired for a number of expeditions into the ruins of Molaesmyr, among other places, [15] and worked at some point for Vess DeRogna. In 833 PD, Lucien found a tome with the ritual spell required to reach a mysterious city. [16] The group contacted Vess DeRogna in Rexxentrum, who came to oversee and perform the ritual for him. [17] . During the process, something went wrong and Lucien appeared to die, while in reality his soul had been scattered. They buried Lucien in the woods outside of a hideout the group had been using. Lady DeRogna took the book and left. [18] Following Lucien's previous instructions, the group scattered and vanished, waiting for his return. [19] At some point between Cree learning that Lucien's body was no longer hosting Mollymauk and 2 Brussendar 836 PD, [20] the Tombtakers reunited and put Lucien's soul back together, then headed north. The Mighty Nein later caught up with them at some Aeorian ruins in Eiselcross known as "A5", witnessing them kill another party wearing Kryn Dynasty clothing who were simply in the way, before the Nein questioned Lucien. They learned that the Tombtakers were heading to Aeor and planned to stay on this sliver of reality "and perhaps a bit beyond." [21] Lucien claimed to aim to be both a public figure and hidden, and that the last person to hold the title of Nonagon disappeared a long time ago. The Mighty Nein were told they might meet those who gave Lucien his title, if they were looking for work. [22] Referring to those entities, Lucien said he regarded himself as their student and entrusted representative. [23] The Tombtakers had been at the ruins to recover a fragment of threshold crest, and Lucien told the Mighty Nein they were welcome to follow them on their journey, as the Tombtakers had a couple of other things to pick up. [24] The Mighty Nein ambushed the Tombtakers near an entrance to the main ruins of Aeor and killed three members—Zoran, Otis, and Tyffial— without a fight. [ citation needed ] The Nein followed the remaining members, Lucien and Cree, through a portal to Cognouza, [ citation needed ] where they killed Cree [ citation needed ] and then Lucien. [ citation needed ] Books. Bladereaper and the Game Zone of Fate. Part sword and sorcery yarn, part suburban coming-of-age tale, Bladereaper and the Game Zone of Fate is a thrilling slice of ‘80s nostalgia in the spirit of Stranger Things and Ready Player One . Barbarians at the Gates of Hollywood: Sword and Sorcery Movies of the 1980s. A comprehensive look at over 40 sword and sorcery movies from the 1980s, from the towering titans to the bargain basement sleaze-fests. Celluloid Terrors. A series of stand-alone horror novels inspired by exploitation, grindhouse and b-movies of different eras. Buy here! The Lazarus Longman Chronicles. A Steampunk series about a British secret agent in an alternate nineteenth century. The discovery of mechanite – a valuable ore that burns many times more efficiently than coal – has prolonged the American Civil War and has had far-reaching effects on the rest of the world. Lazarus Longman – archaeologist, explorer and antiquarian – is recruited by the British government as a treasure hunter while the clouds of war threaten to engulf the world. Silver Tomb Released. I’m very happy to reveal that the second Lazarus Longman novel – Silver Tomb – is now available for purchase from Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords. His mission was to bring home the wayward fiancé of a British politician who just might be a French spy. But for Lazarus Longman – former explorer and secret agent for the British Empire – things are never that simple. The politician in question was once his friend but is now his bitter rival. The fiancé is France’s leading Egyptologist, a woman whose dealings with a renegade Confederate scientist have drawn the attention of more than the British Secret Service. From the seedy dens of Cairo’s black market to the backwater villages of the Nile where the burst of Gatling Gun fire is the nationalist war cry, Lazarus finds himself up to his neck in sinister plots, political machinations and the stench of the dead given frightful mobility by modern science. But an unlikely ally blows in on the desert wind – Katarina Mikolavna; an old acquaintance and the Russian Tsar’s deadliest weapon. Once again the two agents find themselves on opposing sides in a clandestine war of empires that casts its dirigible-shaped shadow over the burning sands of North Africa. A Quick Guide to Mummy Movies. Mummies feature in my novels Curse of the Blood Fiends and Silver Tomb . In writing them I drew on mythology more modern than ancient. Although the concept of reanimated mummies are never mentioned in Egyptian sources, the writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were fascinated by the creepy possibilities they posed as plot devices. With the rise of cinema, mummies were every bit as suitable for celluloid terror as vampires and other monsters and there were several silent mummy-themed movies like The Eyes of the Mummy (1918, released in the U.S. in 1922). However, few of these films actually featured a reanimated mummy. Most dealt with reincarnation and some were comedies in which a character wraps himself up as a mummy in order to scare people. It wasn’t until 1932 that the definitive mummy movie would make it onto screens. Universal Studios, fresh from their success with Dracula and Frankenstein (both 1931) were looking for a vehicle for their new star, Boris Karloff. They landed on Ancient Egypt, still popular thanks to the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb ten years earlier and all the associated talk of curses. The Mummy tells of Im-Ho-Tep; an Ancient Egyptian priest who was mummified alive for blasphemously attempting to bring back to life his deceased lover, Ankh-es-en-amon using the Scroll of Thoth. Accidentally reanimated by a young Egyptologist involved in uncovering his tomb in 1921, Im-Ho-Tep gets a new lease on life and promptly vanishes, leaving the young scholar to die raving in a madhouse. Ten years later, an expedition of British archaeologists are led to the tomb of Ankh-es-en-amon by a helpful (although decrepit) Egyptian called Ardath Bey. Bey turns out to be none other than Im-Ho-Tep, now mostly restored to human form, who is still looking to reanimate his lost lover. When he encounters Helen Grosvenor – daughter of the governor of the Sudan – he sees in her the reincarnation of Ankh-es-en-amon and decides that she will do instead. Universal’s 1940 follow-up – The Mummy’s Hand – was less of a sequel and more of a remake with the mummy this time around being Kharis, buried alive for attempting to restore his lover, Princess Ananka, using the sacred ‘tana leaves’. Far from being an independent thinker restored to some semblance of his former self like Karloff’s Im-Ho-Tep, Kharis remains under wraps (so to speak) and is under the control of the Priests of Karnak, ordered to kill at the behest of the insideous sect. Kharis is much more of a traditional lumbering monster than Karloff’s articulate and intelligent character and remained so in the three sequels that followed. Set thirty years on in (supposedly) 1970, The Mummy’s Tomb (1942) sees Kharis and his new master travel to the United States to wreak vengeance on the Banning family who desecrated Ananka’s tomb in the first film. The Mummy’s Ghost (1944) is also set in the ‘future’ of 1970 and has a further disciple of the Priests of Karnak (now called the Priests of Arkam, inexplicably) revive Kharis and attempt to return him to Egypt. The final entry in this series – The Mummy’s Curse – was also released in 1944 and is set twenty-five years later, (presumably 1995, despite the hats and spats on show). In this one an engineering company inadvertently dredges up Kharis and his bride, Ananka, from the swamp where they perished in the previous film. The old tana leaves are brewed up once again by a new disciple of the Arkam sect for a final lurch across screens. As with most other Universal monsters, the Mummy got the Abbott and Costello treatment in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) which was to be the comedy duo’s final movie together. Hammer Film Productions – the British heir to Universal’s horror mantle – had already found success with remakes of Dracula and Frankenstein in 1958 and naturally dusted off the Mummy for their next full color outing. The Mummy (1959), starring Hammer stalwarts Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as John Banning and the mummy respectively, was a remake of The Mummy’s Hand rather than Universal’s 1932 original, although Hammer dispensed with the tana leaves idea and reverted to the ‘Scroll of Thoth’ as a plot device. Hammer borrowed elements from the other Universal mummy movies like the pursuit of John Banning to his homeland (this time Victorian England) by Kharis and his master and the use of a local swamp as both the site of resurrection and eventual fate of Kharis. Hammer’s other mummy movies bore no relation to their 1959 version or to each other. The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964) had a by-the- numbers plot involving three archaeologists who bring the mummy of Ra-Antef back to 1900s London, only to have it come back to life while on tour. The Mummy’s Shroud (1967) parallels the alleged curse of Tutankhamen in that the mummy of a boy pharaoh, Kah-To-Bey, is discovered by a British expedition in 1920. After bringing the mummy to the Cairo museum, the archaeologists soon find themselves hunted down by the reanimated mummy not of the boy-king, but of the devout slave who mummified him and had subsequently been discovered and kept in the Cairo museum. Hammer’s final mummy movie – Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971) – did not include a mummy per se, but rather the reincarnation of Queen Tera, being a loose adaption of Bram Stoker’s 1903 novel The Jewel of Seven Stars . The queen – found in her tomb perfectly preserved by Professor Fuchs – is brought back to London and kept in an eerie shrine. As in the novel, the professor’s daughter Margaret finds herself gradually possessed by the spirit of the ancient sorceress. Unlike vampires, zombies and werewolves, mummies did not prove much of a box office draw in the following decades and were relegated to low budget grindhouse movies like Dawn of the Mummy (1981) which is more of a zombie movie with an Egyptian theme. A rare exception is the Charlton Heston starring film The Awakening (1980), another version of The Jewel of Seven Stars . Going direct-to-video in the US, Tale of the Mummy (1998) – also available as a directors cut called Talos the Mummy – has Christopher Lee playing the doomed archaeologist this time, unearthing the tomb of Talos in 1938. Fifty years later his granddaughter strives to continue his work, awakening Talos in the process. 1998 also gave us the direct-to-video feature Bram Stoker’s Legend of the Mummy; yet another version of The Jewel of Seven Stars , its title clearly trying to continue the legacy of the Copploa-produced Bram Stoker’s Dracula/Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein double-punch of 1992/1994. A sequel followed in 1999 (also known as Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy ) which traded Egypt for an Aztec theme. In 1999 the mummy movie came back in a big way. Universal Studios decided that their original Boris Karloff feature was due for a remake. But this CGI-filled adventure extravaganza was more reminiscent of Indiana Jones than the atmospheric 1932 chiller. Set in 1926, librarian and Egyptologist Evelyn Carnehan hires mercenary Rick O’Connell to take her to Hamunaptra where, due to the unwise reading of the Book of the Dead, the mummy of disgraced priest Imhotep is brought back to life. Imhotep sees in Evelyn the reincarnation of his lost love Anck-su-Namun and brings with him several spectacular plagues in Biblical style. The Mummy was vastly popular resulting in two sequels; The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) which ditched Egypt for China and saw the O’Connell family (including their fully grown son) fend off a resurrected Chinese warlord, yetis and an army of reanimated terracotta warriors. Universal is set to redo the mummy yet again as the kick-off of their anticipated monster ‘shared universe’. Starring Tom Cruise, The Mummy is expected to hit screens summer 2017. My newest novel – Curse of the Blood Fiends – is an homage to the monster movies of the 1940s. As well as vampires and werewolves, there is a mummy and a nod to the Universal mummy films in the nefarious Tana Inc. – a research company that unwittingly releases a virus that threatens to turn all of Los Angeles into blood hungry monsters. Blending genres, the novel is also a noirish detective story as PI Rosa Bridger trails a drug- addled starlet into the dark shadows of the City of Angels and uncovers something much more sinister than the hoodlums and hop-pushers she is used to dealing with. Tomb of Lazarus Jerusalem. Today we are visiting the Tomb of Lazarus near Lazarus house which was also the house of Marta and Mary. Bethany was the home of Lazarus and his two sisters: Martha and Mary, and here is where, according to the Gospel of John (Lazarus John 11), Jesus performed the raising of Lazarus Miracle when he brought Lazarus back to life four days after his death – it is important to point out that the fact that Lazarus was dead for 4 days, made this Jesus Miracle Lazarus the only time in the history were a person came back to live after so many days. This Miracle of Lazarus raised from the dead, explains the crowds seeking Jesus on Palm Sunday. The tomb of Lazarus at al-Eizariya, generally believed to be the biblical Bethany, is a place of pilgrimage to this day and it is located on the southeast slopes of the Mount of Olives here in Jerusalem. Several Christian churches have existed at the site over the centuries. First was a 4 th century church called the Lazarium which was destroyed by an earthquake in the 6 th century. The present yard contains the remnants of a mosaic floor of that church. Then a larger church was built and remained intact until the Crusader Area. In 1143 a Benedictine convent dedicated to Martha and Mary was built near the tomb of Lazarus and today we can find here a Roman Catholic Church of Saint Lazarus which was built in 1995. Also, in 1965 a Greek Orthodox church was built just west to the bomb of Lazarus. The Tomb of Lazarus: Today, the entrance to the tomb of Lazarus Jerusalem is via a flight of uneven rock-cut steps from the street. As it was described in 1896, there were twenty-four steps from the then-modern street level, which is the same as today, leading to a square chamber serving as a place of prayer. At this chamber we can see the original entrance to Lazarus tomb from Lazarus house. When the Ottomans built the Al-Uzair mosque, in the 16 th Century, between Lazarus house and this tomb, they have blocked this path. Later on, the Franciscans open the entrance that we use today. Here on that opening in the floor there was a stone covering the Tomb of Lazarus and that was removed in order to let Lazarus out. From that window, Jesus called Lazarus to wake up. Now this chamber here below is believed to be the tomb of Lazarus. Can you believe it. That is for today, and until we meet in my next video let’s All Live the Jerusalem Experience!!