Book Description

Warrior of the Light: A Manual is an inspirational companion to The Alchemist, an international bestseller that has beguiled millions of readers around the world. Every short passage invites us to live out our dreams, to embrace the uncertainty of life, and to rise to our own unique destiny. In his inimitable style, Paulo Coelho helps bring out the Warrior of the Light within each of us. He also shows readers how to embark upon the way of the Warrior: the one who appreciates the miracle of being alive, the one who accepts failure, and the one whose quest leads him to become the person he wants to be.

Paulo Coelho is one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Now, in the long-awaited companion to his first novel, Coelho presents a collection of philosophical stories that will delight and guide seekers everywhere.


About the Author
Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the city where he now lives. His own life has in many ways been as varied and unusual as the protagonists of his internationally acclaimed novels. Like them, Paulo Coelho has followed a dream in a quest for fulfillment. His own dream, to be a writer, met with frustration throughout much of his early adult life, a time in which he worked at various professions, some of them materially rewarding but spiritually unfulfilling. "I always knew," he says, "that my Personal Legend, to use a term from alchemy, was to write." He was 38 when he published his first book. In 1970, after deciding that law school was not for him, he traveled through much of South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe. Returning to Brazil after two years, he began a successful career as popular songwriter. In 1974, he was imprisoned for a short time by the military dictatorship then ruling in Brazil. In 1980, he experienced one of the defining moments of his life: he walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. On this ancient highway, used for centuries by pilgrims from France to get to the cathedral said to house the remains of St. James, he achieved a self-awareness and a spiritual awakening that he later described in The Pilgrimage. Paulo Coelho once said that following your dream is like learning a foreign language; you will make mistakes but you will get there in the end. In 1988, he published The Alchemist, a novel that explores this theme, and it launched him as an international bestselling author. Specifically, Paulo Coelho is recognized for his powerful storytelling technique and the profound spiritual insights he blends seamlessly into his parables. Since then, The Alchemist has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 41 languages. In addition to The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho has written luminous novels about the different streams of our lives, including By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept, The Valkyries, The Fifth Mountain, and Veronika Decides to Die. A winner of numerous literary prizes, Paulo Coelho is also a prominent speaker for humanitarian causes. In 1999, he received a Crystal Award for Artistic Achievement at the Davos Economic Forum Conference. Paulo Coelho naci#243; en Brasil y es uno de los autores m#225;s le#237;dos internacionalmente. El Alquimista, su libro m#225;s famoso, ha vendido mas de 35 millones de copias en todo el mundo y ha sido traducido a cincuenta y cuatro idiomas. Ha recibido destacados premios y menciones internacionales como el Planetary Arts Award, el Crystal Award concedido por el foro Econ#243;mico Mundial y la prestigiosa distinci#243;n Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Legi#243;n d'Honneur del gobierno franc#233;s. Coelho escribe una columna semanal sindicada en el mundo entero. Actualmente, vive en Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Warrior of the Light: A Manual is an inspirational companion to The Alchemist, an international bestseller that has beguiled millions of readers around the world.

Every short passage invites us to live out our dreams, to embrace the uncertainty of life, and to rise to our own unique destiny In his inimitable style, Paulo Coelho helps bring out the Warrior of the Light within each of us. He also shows readers how to embark upon the way of the Warrior: the one who appreciates the miracle of being alive, the one who accepts failure, and the one whose quest leads him to become the person he wants to be.

Paulo Coelho is one of the most beloved storytellers of our times. Now, in the long-awaited companion to his first novel, Coelho presents a collection of philosophical stories that will delight and guide seekers everywhere.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This companion volume to Coelho's popular The Alchemist is an odd hybrid-a self-help manual with fictional overtones; a series of aphorisms and platitudes set within the frame of the sketchiest of parables. In the parable, a boy meets a beautiful woman at a beach, who proceeds to tell him about a hidden undersea temple near a vanished island. The boy fails in his initial attempt to find the temple, though he hears its bells ring, but later, as a grown man, he again meets the woman, who hands him an empty notebook and directs him to write about the "Warrior of the Light," a being who is "capable of understanding the miracle of life, of fighting to the last for something he believes in-and of hearing the bells that the waves set ringing on the seabed." Some of the aphorisms that follow have a specific spiritual source-Lao Tzu, Gandhi, Jesus and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, among others, are quoted. Coelho provides general spiritual inspiration, but he also offers guidance in more mundane matters, explaining the specific motivations behind childish, immature behavior, cowardly moments, feelings of spiritual emptiness and the reluctance to change. Some of these passages are original, but others merely repackage common inspirational fodder. The volume preserves the basic spiritual tone of The Alchemist, but readers expecting comparable depth and substance will be disappointed. (Mar.) Forecast: The price of this tiny hardcover may be a stumbling block for buyers; a cheaper paperback might have been a better bet. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

A guidebook for good living on the tenth anniversary of The Alchemist. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews