The Essays

Michel de Montaigne

Montaignes The Essays is an unusual book, largely due to the authors attitude to it. This is an exclusively everyday book, suitable for everyday use, in which the author does not discuss how the world works and where everything goes, but discusses the essential: how to raise children, how to build a married life, how to spend leisure time, etc. At the same time, Montaigne does not have a very high opinion of himself, although he praises him for his non-commitment to excesses and the measuredness of being.

The Essential Guide to Creating Multiplayer Games with Godot 4.0. Harness the power of Godot Engine's GDScript network API to connect players in multiplayer games

Henrique Campos, Nathan Lovato

The Essential Guide to Creating Multiplayer Games with Godot 4.0 guides you in exploring the built-in network API for online multiplayer games, offering practical knowledge through concrete use cases.Throughout the book, you'll assume the role of a network engineer in a fictional indie game studio, tackling real-world requests from your peers and gaining expertise in adding new network features to the studio's games. Following step-by-step instructions, you’ll go from making your first network handshake to optimizing online gameplay. You’ll learn how to sync players and pass data over the internet as you add online multiplayer features to a top-down shooter adventure game.This book puts you in a fictional game project team where you set up your first online server before advancing to creating an online chat system and transitioning local gameplay to go online. With a focus on implementing multiplayer features, you’ll create shared world adventures and learn optimization techniques to allow more players to join your virtual world.By the end of this book, you’ll have learned how to set up a client-server network, implement remote procedure calls (RPCs), sync node properties remotely, and optimize your games to create smooth online multiplayer experiences.

The Essential Guide to Web3. Develop, deploy, and manage distributed applications on the Ethereum network

Vijay Krishnan

Web3, the new blockchain-based web, is often hailed as the future of the internet. Driven by technologies such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, DAOs, decentralized finance, and more, Web3’s aim is to give individuals more control over the web communities they belong to. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, this book will help you master the intricacies of Web3 and its revolutionary technologies.Beginning with a concise introduction to blockchain and the Ethereum ecosystem, this book quickly immerses you in real-world blockchain applications. You’ll work on carefully crafted hands-on exercises that are designed for beginners as well as users with prior exposure. The chapters show you how to build and deploy smart contracts, while mastering security controls and discovering best practices for writing secure code. As you progress, you’ll explore tokenization and gain proficiency in minting both fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with the help of step-by-step instructions. The concluding chapters cover advanced topics, including oracles, Layer 2 (L2) networks, rollups, zero knowledge proofs, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).By the end of this Web3 book, you’ll be well-versed in the Web3 ecosystem and have the skills to build powerful and secure decentralized applications.

The Eternal Feminine

Carolyn Wells

A collection of short sketches by the prolific American author which was first published in 1913. Carolyn Wells was an early 20th century poet and author best known for mysteries like The Gold Bag and Fleming Stone Detective Stories. During the first ten years of her career, she concentrated on poetry, humor, and childrens books. After 1910, she devoted herself to the mystery genre. The book contains: At the lost-and-found desk, Tootie at the bank, The dressmaker in the house, The night before Christmas, A new recruit, Shopping for postage stamps, At the bridge table, She goes shopping, A quiet afternoon, Taking care of uncle, In the department store and others.

The Europeans

Henry James

In the hope of a successful marriage, Eugene, Baroness Münster, and her younger brother, the artist Felix, descendants of Wentworth, come to Boston. Having settled in the neighborhood, they become close friends with the young Wentworths Gertrude, Charlotte and Clifford. Witness and sophistication of Eugene, along with the cheerfulness of Felix create a difficult combination with Puritan morality, frugality and the intrinsic dignity of Americans.

The Evil Genius

Wilkie Collins

There is literally no such thing as an evil genius, just a lot of depressed people who were not lucky enough to live in the 1800s. This is a historical family drama. A very abrupt end. Its never quite clear who the evil genius is. But he certainly gave us a clear idea of just how devastating adultery can be.

The Evil Shepherd

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Welcome to 1922 and E. P. Oppenheims The Evil Shepherd. A businessman is found stabbed through the heart, the obvious suspect his partner: Oliver Hilditch, a cold-eyed fellow with a paper-thin alibi. Francis Ledsam is a defense barrister and is congratulating himself on a brilliant performance which has just seen Oliver Hilditch acquitted of murder. His ego is pricked by Margaret Hilditch confessing to him that Hilditch was guilty of crimes far more monstrous than murder. Ledsam vows never again to defend a guilty man. But when his newfound principles run up against the harsh reality of real-world justice, he finds himself trapped between his love for a beautiful woman and a powerful desire to do the right thing no matter the cost.

The Evil That Men Do

M.P. Shiel

The Evil That Men Do is a classic story of horror and unbelievable cruelty by British writer Matthew Phipps Shiel. This novel of mystery about Hartwell from birth, does he inherit his fathers traits? Do great men have great sons and how much does ones own lifes experiences cause variance to this question? To the ordinary reader there will seem very little in point of morality to choose between Robert Hartwell and the villainous millionaire whom a strange facial resemblance enables him to impersonate. Mr. Shiel does not, and probably does not aspire to, draw pictures of everyday life as it is. But there is always something ingenious in his situations, and in this book, at any rate, he has contrived to avoid the developments which disfigured at least one of his earlier novels.

The Ex-Detective

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Malcolm Gossett is a Scotland Yard detective, fed up by the endless conferences and hierarchy of The Yard, he resigns his position and establishes himself as a private investigator, specializing in helping hopeless cases. Clients whom everyone believes to be guilty. There is a great sequence of mysterious cases; International commerce and politics, kidnapping and the international sex trade, Indian succession, jewel theft, and romance. Written in 1933, compounded of a series of episodes in which an ex-detective comes to the assistance of the innocent suspects. Its all great fun and Oppenheim keeps the action moving along swiftly, as he always did. Wonderful entertainment and highly entertaining.

The Exploits of Airman Hay

Edgar Wallace

The Exploits of Airman Hay is a series of ten stories about an intrepid aviator by the name of Captain Murray Hay. The stories fast-paced with some surprising twists and turns, well written and great to read. The book presents the stories under the titles found in Edgar Wallaces manuscript, most of which correspond to those used in Topical Times. Edgar Wallace was a prolific author of crime, adventure and humorous stories, whose best known creations include The Four Just Men, Sanders of the River, and J. G. Reeder. Although Wallace wrote many stand alone novels it is, perhaps, for his series based material-always popular with readers-that he remains best known. More than 160 films have been made of Wallaces work.

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard

Arthur Conan Doyle

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard is a volume collecting 8 short stories about a courier and cavalryman in the personal service of Napoleon Bonaparte. The stories in The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard are all told in the first person by an aged Gerard looking back on his military endeavours in the early 1800s when there was no man prouder to serve the Emperor Napoleon. Etienne Gerard is a dashing, chivalrous, and stalwart French officer who becomes involved various suspenseful and often comical political intrigues. He battles outlaws, Englishmen and Cossacks and always maintains a his honor and his style. However, despite his ludicrous self-adoration, Gerard is a hugely likeable figure owing to the fact that he does display the commendable traits of loyalty and bravery that he cannot disguise.

The Exploits of Buckner Jeopardy Grimes

Robert E. Howard

This having happened to me I sat still on my brother Bills horse, because thats the best thing you can do when a feller is pinting a cocked.45 at your wishbone. This feller was a mean-looking hombre in a sweaty hickory shirt with brass rivets in his leather hat band, and he needed a shave. He said, Who are you? Where you from? Where you goin? What you aimin to do when you get there?

The Exploits of Danby Croker

R. Austin Freeman

What would you do if your doppelganger were committing crimes and making the police believe you were the perpetrator? In Danby Crokers case, he decides to retaliate! But that is only one of the problems besetting him in this set of interlinked stories. Given a job as an antique dealer, can he resist the temptations of earning some easy money through a bit of fencing and counterfeiting? And what on earth is he doing going round London dressed as a suffragette?! R. Austin Freemans The Exploits of Danby Croker involves mistaken identities, art forgery, antique swindles, and even a little cross-dressing. There is a price to be paid for breaking the law, but whos going to pay it? Originally written in 1911 by the great author of detective stories R. Austin Freeman, this is a comic novel that may surprise those who know Freemans work only through the Dr. Thorndyke stories! This rare collection of stories is an enjoyable romp through crime and romance.

The Exploits of Elaine

Arthur B. Reeve

Detective Kennedy and his sidekick Walter Jameson are called in by a District Attorney to look into the murder of an actress in the middle of shooting a movie called The Black Terror. What follows is figuring out the puzzling trail of a calculating killer. Kennedy performs detailed tests in his laboratory and he eventually finds what caused the death of the film star, but he must still go through lots of adventures until he finds the murderer as well. The book is highly entertaining for those who are already familiar with Reeves novels. If you liked this one, maybe you will want to read other Craig Kennedy stories there are more than 80 of them and they are all as exciting and well-written as The Film Mystery.

The Exploits of Pudgy Pete

E. Phillips Oppenheim

The Exploits of Pudgy Pete story was written in 1927 by E. Phillips Oppenheim. Peter Bragg and his tormentor from school days George Angus, join forces to run a modern Enguiry Agency in London. The cases which come to them are complex, romantic, dangerous, humorous, and clever. Together the two solve social and criminal problems, and find their romantic mates. These short story collection by Mr. Oppenheim containing also: Drama in the Dolls House, A Comedy in Divorce, Lady Katherines Better Nature, Three to Four, The Ninety-Ninth Thread and others. These stories were originally written as separate magazine stories, then published together.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar

Maurice Leblanc

A contemporary of Arthur Conan Doyle, Maurice Leblanc was the creator of the character of gentleman thief Arsene Lupin who, in France, has enjoyed a popularity as long-lasting and considerable as Sherlock Holmes in the English-speaking world. This is the delightful first of twenty volumes in the Arsene Lupin series written by Leblanc himself. The collection includes nine stories dealing with various complicated plots in which Lupin proves himself to be the consummate escape artist. In the first story titled The Arrest of Arsene Lupin, told by a man who comes to admire the gentleman burglar, Lupin is apprehended on board a cruise ship. The later stories deal with his prison term, escape from jail and further adventures. One of the most famous Arsene Lupin stories, The Queens Necklace is also included here. The two immortals meet in the ninth story, Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late and naturally, Lupin manages to outwit the English bloodhound!

The Eye of Istar. A Romance of the Land of No Return

William Le Queux

Thrice hath the Fast of Ramadan come and gone since the Granter of Requests last allowed my eyes to behold the well-remembered landscape, scarcely visible in the pale light of dawn. Hills, covered with tall feathery palms, rose abruptly from the barren, sun-scorched plain, and, at their foot, stood the dazzlingly-white city of Omdurman, the impregnable and mysterious headquarters of Mahdiism, while beyond, like a silver ribbon winding through the marshes, the Nile glided, half veiled by its thin white cloud of morning vapours.

The Eye of Osiris

The Eye of Osiris, published in 1911, was the second of R. Austin Freemans many Dr. Thorndyke mystery novels. Here the great expert in medical jurisprudence will encounter the mysteries of ancient Egypt without ever leaving London. The cast of characters is rich in Egyptologists. A wealthy old man, John Bellingham, collector of Egyptian antiquities, has disappeared without a trace. His brother is also an Egyptologist, as is his niece and the lawyer who executed his will. Circumstances strongly suggest that the old man is dead, and innocent people may be accused of murder. Happily Dr. Thorndyke gets involved quite by chance. The plot is tremendously clever, and the denouement a total surprise. The great strength of the novel lies in the plotting which is ingenious enough and complicated enough to satisfy any fan of the puzzle-style of mystery story.

The Eye of the Sun

Henry Bedford-Jones

More thrilling adventures from the master story tell H. Bedford-Jones! This series about the Sphinx Emerald constitutes, as has been said, a veritable Outline of History or perhaps Highlights of History would be more accurate. For this reason the greatest event in all history could not be left out. Here, then, we see the Holy Family during the exile in Egypt.

The Eye of Zeitoon

Talbot Mundy

Do you need to talk about Zeitoon? The only thing I can say is that the Turks have never won or won. They came once and built a fort on the opposite side of the mountains to impress us. We took this assault! We dropped all their guns down to the bottom of the stream and there they lie to this day!

The Eyes of Max Carrados

Ernest Bramah

Short mysteries involving the blind detective Carrados. Max Carrados is one of the most unusual detectives in all fiction. He is blind and yet he has developed his other faculties to such an amazing degree that they more than compensate for his lack of sight. The Eyes of Max Carrados opens with a somewhat defensive essay which chronicles astonishing feats of the blind. Carrados himself outdoes them all and perhaps combines a few too many amazing abilities for real conviction. Here is a collection of the best of Max Carrados, a set of stories featuring a series of baffling puzzles to challenge the greatest of detectives. They are written by Ernest Bramah with great wit, style and panache.

The Face and the Doctor

Max Brand

The Face and the Doctor is another short story by Frederick Schiller Faust (1892-1944) who was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary westerns under the pen name Max Brand. This story filled with excitement, suspense, good guys and bad, and plot twists aplenty! Orphaned at an early age, Faust studied at the University of California, Berkeley. He became one of the most prolific writers of our time but abandoned writing at age fifty-one to become a war correspondent in World War II, where he was killed while serving in Italy. Faust wrote more than 500 novels and over 400 short stories & novellas using twenty pseudonyms, including George Owen Baxter, George Challis, Evan Evans, John Frederick, Frederick Frost, David Manning & Peter Morland.

The Face in the Abyss

A. Merritt

A simply amazingly creative novel by one of the best of the pulp-era authors, originally published 1931. While searching for lost Inca treasure in South America, American mining engineer, Nicholas Graydon stumbles across a lost civilization. A culture both more barbarous than our own and more civilized; more advanced and yet in some ways primitive. Is it a strange and highly advanced technology, or magic, that is responsible for the wonders of this land? Naturally our engineer meets a beautiful young woman Suarra, and they fall in love. But his arrival triggers an epic battle between the Snake Mother and her arch-rival, Nimir. The Face in the Abyss is a brilliant tale filled with weird imagination, marvelous writing, horror, beauty, and it may well be called the most visual book ever written for the world of fantasy.

The Face in the Night

Edgar Wallace

The Face in the Night was written in the year 1924 by Edgar Wallace. Leaving her chicken farm and moving to London to seek her sister, Audrey Bedford is caught passing the Queen of Finlands stolen necklace, and allows herself to be sent to prison for a year rather than implicate her guilty sibling. Once released, she takes a position as scribe to the mysterious Mr. Malpas, who lurks in his electrically-automated apartment and only allows himself to be seen from across a darkened room. When Malpas neighbor, the Australian Mr. Marshalt is murdered in the lair, Audrey is enmeshed in a tangle of lost diamonds, a long-burning feud, the fate of her father, and the affections of Captain Dick Shannon, Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard.