Showing results by narrator "Jake Urry" in All Categories

The darkness is spreading. A blanket of thick fog has descended on Strelsau, and the health of the King is failing. While Ruritanian citizens huddle inside to keep warm, discovering the identity of the heir to the throne has become a race against time. Why is the sinister Lord Marek so interested in the outcome of the search? Shadowy forces are at work, seeking to change the course of history. Will any ray of light be able to pierce through this shroud of darkness? 

A king, a witch, an assassin, a farmer, and a backwoodsman struggle to survive in this fantasy novella about magic, power, and family. Tresladore, where both white and black magic are outlawed and masters of the sword are worshiped, is the first island we explore in this saga about kings and queens fighting to win and keep their thrones.

I was born in London as Gabriel Wallace. The child of high society, although I was raised to appreciate everything that softly landed in my hand. I followed all the rules. I worked hard, studied hard, and ended up a captain in the Royal Navy before my 25th birthday. Unfortunately, I saw the world through my own eyes, not the eyes of my superiors, and my vision was clear. 

The invulnerable, super-strong warrior, Infidel, has a secret: she's lost her magical powers right at the moment when she needs them most. To keep a promise to a fallen friend, she must journey to the frozen wastelands of the north. Her quest leads her through the abstract realms of the Sea of Wine, where she uncovers a conspiracy that threatens all life. Hush, the primal dragon of cold, has formed an alliance with the ghost of a vengeful witch to murder Glorious, the dragon of the sun, plunging the world into an unending winter night.

A string of unexplained, gruesome deaths brings fear and uncertainty to the streets of Ruritania’s capital. And it could not have happened at a worse time. The planned visit by the Vice Chancellor of Jermania to commence peace talks is thrown into jeopardy. Will all the preparation for the negotiations come to nothing? Will the brutal war between the two nations escalate once again? Meanwhile, the spate of thefts from wealthy homes continues. Who is responsible? And how can they be stopped?

Thomas Pendleton loves his wife, Ann, and six-year-old son, Seth, more than anything, but his job often makes him an absent husband and father. One day, after Thomas leaves on a business trip, his wife and son are killed in a car accident. When a cosmic storm enters Earth's atmosphere, scientists are baffled by its composition and origins, but not nearly as much as they are by the storm's side effect: Anyone who has died and chosen not to cross over is suddenly visible.

While an ugly war with its neighboring realm continues to rage, the insulated members of Ruritania's upper class laugh and dance their way through their superficial lives. Some people, increasingly disillusioned by the pointless conflict, start to consider how the King might be persuaded - or forced - to end it. Meanwhile, an increasing number of items of great value are going missing from those attending these high society gatherings. At whom will the finger of suspicion point?

The year is 2023. The world's power grids have been destroyed by a Carrington-level solar storm. Humanity is plunged into a new and savage dark age, pushed to the brink of extinction by famine, disease, and social unrest, and preyed upon further by demonic forces. Desperate survivors turn to a divided Catholic church in search of hope. On one side there is the church of Rome. On the other, a rival papacy set up in Avignon, France.

Deep in a deserted forest, a coven of witches is taken by surprise as they attempt to summon the Dark Lord, Anubin, from the spirit world. At his Easter camp, young Gilbert Hawkins has an amazing divine encounter. However, as the subsequent years pass, he and his girlfriend find themselves increasingly the subject of demonic visitations. What is the connection between these seemingly isolated events, over 300 years apart?

Hitler's U-boats rule the North Atlantic and threaten to eliminate the Allied supply lines through meticulously coordinated attacks using Germany's secret weapon: the Enigma. Desperate to turn the tide of the war, British scientists at Bletchley Park work tirelessly to break the codes. But there is a problem. They need the German ciphers and a working Enigma machine.

When his experiment goes horribly wrong, leaving an innocent man dead, Ambrose leaves the Wizard's Guild low in confidence and filled with guilt, for a wilderness rife with dastardly hunters and the surrealist of creatures, in search of a new purpose in life. In his search for redemption, Ambrose wanders to the campfire of Bertold, a brute of a man who harbors a sadistic fixation with the torture of Bloodsuckers. This discovery opens a door for Ambrose in which he is forced to take a stand.

Earth is at war. Portals are opening across the planet and bringing creatures known as Outsiders. Their only desire is to eat, leaving a trail of destruction in their path. The only people who can stop them are the Defenders - led by Gareth Walker - who can open portals of their own to target the Outsiders in minutes. Gareth's only advantage is an ability to see glimpses of his future.

The short stories written during and about World War I are often overshadowed by the excellent verse of the War Poets. Yet the short story is perhaps their equal in other ways. Within these succinct little time capsules of words are captured ideas, attitudes, feelings and life that are expressed in a few minutes just as movingly, imaginatively and tellingly as in any other form. Some of these stories will be familiar, but some may not. From Virginia Woolf to Katharine Mansfield and John Buchan to C. E. Montague, various writing styles try to make sense of this world at war.

The short stories written during and about World War I are often overshadowed by the excellent verse of the War Poets. Yet the short story is perhaps their equal in other ways. Within these succinct little time capsules of words are captured ideas, attitudes, feelings and life that are expressed in a few minutes just as movingly, imaginatively and tellingly as in any other form. Some of these stories will be familiar, but some may not. From Virginia Woolf to Katharine Mansfield and John Buchan to C. E. Montague, various writing styles try to make sense of this world at war.

Thomas Burke was born Sydney Thomas Burke on November 29th, 1886 in Eltham, London (at the time it was part of Kent). An author in the early years of the century who brought his skills of pen and eye to parts of London, specifically the Limehouse district of the East End, and wrote with drive and vigour about the characters he met and the places that he knew.

Stacy Aumonier was born at Hampstead Road near Regent’s Park, London, on 31st March 1877. He came from a family with a strong and sustained tradition in the visual arts - sculptors and painters. This volume comes to you from Miniature Masterpieces, a specialised imprint from Deadtree Publishing. Our range is large and growing and covers single authors, themes, and many compilations.

James Elroy Flecker was born on 5th November 1884, in Lewisham, London. Flecker does not seem to have enjoyed academic study and achieved only a Third-Class Honours in Greats in 1906. This did not set him up for a job in either government service or the academic world. After some frustrating forays at school teaching he attempted to join the Levant Consular Service and entered Cambridge to study for two years. After a poor first year he pushed forward in the second and achieved First-Class honours. His reward was a posting to Constantinople at the British consulate.

Rupert Chawner Brooke was born at 5 Hillmorton Road, Rugby, Warwickshire, on 3rd August 1887, the third of four children. Brooke attended preparatory school nearby at Hillbrow and then went on to Rugby School. In 1905, he became friends with St. John Lucas, who thereafter became something of a mentor to him. While travelling in Europe he worked on a thesis, 'John Webster and the Elizabethan Drama', which won him a scholarship to King's College, Cambridge.

Israel Zangwill was born in London on 21st January 1864, to a family of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. His writing earned him the sobriquet ‘the Dickens of the Ghetto’ primarily based on his much-lauded novel Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People in 1892 and its glimpse of the poverty-stricken life in London's Jewish quarter.

Scotland’s official national day is St Andrew's Day, the feast day of Saint Andrew. In the Bible it is Andrew who introduces his brother Peter to Jesus as the Messiah. As well as Scotland he is also the patron saint of the likes of Russia, Greece, the Ukraine, and Barbados. It is thought that the day was first celebrated over a thousand years ago in the reign of Malcolm III (1034-1093).