Showing results by narrator "Mark Rice Oxley" in All Categories

Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society. In this volume we offer up a small selection of talents from the literary landscape of the Russian male author whose time has now come again.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. In the vast Empire of the Russians literature was a way to exchange ideas, values and cultures. Yet each author, each story, each character is an individual example of a journey that, story by story, has transformed the glimmering arc of its literature.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. The zenith of Empire is bookended by two catastrophic wars that slaughter vast swathes of humanity. And yet authors manage to record and create fragile libraries of humanity, its talents, its dreams and increasingly its nightmares.

The Russian novel has a reputation that is immense, both in narrative and in length. Unquestionably though the ideas, themes and characters make many novels rightly revered as world class, as icons of literature. Whilst Tolstoy, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Chekhov are a given in any Russian collection we also explore and include Andreyev, Korolenko, Turgenev, Blavatsky and many others to create a world rich and dense across a sprawling landscape of diverse people, riddled with the class and unfairness in perhaps some of the most turbulent times that Russia has ever experienced.

Life in a Martian colony can be tough for a 12-year-old! You can’t just go outside to hang out because, well, you’d suffocate and die. Elliot lives a regular Martian life. He goes to school, plays football, and tries to avoid the mean kids. But he never gets to leave the colony buildings. That is, until he goes on a science trip where he makes a discovery that could change the course of humanity forever: a strange doorway in a volcanic cave! Who put it there? What’s on the other side?

Discover unspeakable acts of brutality and violence in this volume of 12 shocking true crime cases. If you’re fascinated by the stories of both killers and victims, and how police work with forensics and evidence in pursuit of coldblooded murderers, this captivating book is for you, taking you on a journey through some of the most unforgettable murders in recent times.

Derek Cooper is a retro gamer. His small flat is full to the brim with consoles, game cartridges, hulking great tube TVs, retro merchandise, and every handheld gaming device you can think of, and then some. They make him happy, so why not? When he decides his collection could do with an addition in the form of a real-life, full-size, good old-fashioned arcade cabinet, he can't possibly know what adventures lie ahead of him after he drags the heavy monolith out of a cellar in Watford to his flat and then painstakingly rebuilds the dud electronics, bringing it back to life.

When Peter Attwood discovers a most unlikely find on an archaeological dig in Egypt, he knows the Antique Shop is up to something, and this time, he feels a deep dread. Yes, he has been searching for the tomb of Cleopatra, and yes, he would love to be the one to find it, but is the Antique Shop really going to send him back to see the queen, the last Pharaoh of Egypt? Could the shop be that helpful? Experience told him it was unlikely. When he gets home to London, he finds that, as usual, the shop will not let him rest until he knows what it has in mind.

With Peter and Jason away in Egypt in search of the the lost tomb of Cleopatra, Rachel is left to help Martha to settle into the 21st century. But the Antique Shop has other ideas and tempts them to go back to the 16th century. They believe they are going to rescue Lord Mountford, a man who lost his head during the reign of King Henry VIII for helping the monks during the dissolution of the monasteries. In fact, the shop sends them back too late for that and they meet Lord Mountford's stepson, Marcus, who they learn is from the future.

The promised cure for obesity turned out to be the catalyst that made the Black Death look like a quiet Sunday stroll. It infected hundreds, then thousands, then millions, until the world was all but consumed by the ravenous hordes it created. They found their way into every safe haven and fortress and massacred the few remaining survivors at will.

Tarantulas, snakes, and lizards are no problem whatsoever for 12-year-old animal expert, Archie Jones! But when an unexpected turn of events lead to his annoying sister demanding they take home an innocent golden-plumed parakeet from a creepy animal sanctuary (and its creepy owner), Archie discovers rather quickly that this is not a cute and cuddly bird. Can Archie and his best-leopard-gecko-lizard-friend, Lizzie, return the evil monster bird before it destroys his life? Can the siblings put their rivalry aside and find their way to the sanctuary through the dark forest?

After returning from their last trip into the past, Peter continued his investigation of all the things that were in the mysterious back room. He found that new things appeared on a regular basis, but what he found this time was very unlikely. It was a cap from the uniform of the Confederate Army. It was in the back room, but when he tried to take it outside, it took him nowhere.

At an advanced academic institute in Canberra, Josh and Alice meet scientists Henry and Vanessa Jones who are experimenting with mind transference. The four of them combine their technology to try and project their minds back through time into their younger bodies, thus achieving immortality. After some initial success, unforeseen implications become apparent.

Izzy Miller has grown out of "family game night". As a mature and sporty 12-year-old, playing boring board games with her family is not her idea of a good time. But when her brainiac twin Noah discovers an ancient board game and casts the dice, he unknowingly sets off a chain of events that freezes time and leaves the twins with a frightening choice - play or never see your family again.

This audio study guide for Great Expectations by Charles Dickens includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as class as a learned social performance and the morality of ambition. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

When you find out your best friend and business partner is secretly sleeping with your wife, it may be time to move on.... From your job and your marriage.... Which is precisely what happened to Jamie Newgent. A change of lifestyle is what’s needed, and a bachelor pad on the fourth floor of a jutting tower provides a new home, a fresh start, and a new chapter in his life.

When Rachel inherits an abandoned antique shop in London, she suspects the reason for its abandonment. But when she and her friend Peter find a valuable coin, they take it with them - only to then find themselves in the 15th century. Then, there's the discovery of the Edward V. coin, a relic from the short-lived reign of Edward V., which prompts Peter to want to find out what really happened to the princes in the tower. When Peter finds the famous B necklace worn by Anne Boleyn in many portraits, he is eager to use it to go back and see her in the flesh. But that's only the beginning.

While Rachel has stayed away from the Antique Shop and concentrated on her business, Peter has spent a lot of time there, making short trips to the past and cataloguing the things that have taken him there. What neither of them realize is that their activities are being watched, and when an estate agent contacts Rachel, wanting to negotiate a sale of the Antique Shop for a wealthy client, she is concerned that he won't take no for an answer. She is right; David Mills is very persistent, as he can see no good reason why Rachel won't sell.

This audio study guide for Paradise Lost by John Milton includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as individual freedom and self-determination, the paradox of the pursuit of knowledge, and having the humility to ask for forgiveness. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This audio study guide for Animal Farm by George Orwell includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as how equality can fail in practice and the way revolutions come full circle. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.