An epic historical adventure set in an alternate 8th century China, from the author of the 2008 World Fantasy winner, Ysabel. Under Heaven is a novel of heroes, assassins, concubines and emperors set against a majestic and unforgiving landscape. Honour is beyond measure But its price may be an empire… For two years Shen Tai has mourned his celebrated father and lived like a hermit beyond the borders of the Kitan Empire. There, by a mountain lake, the bones of the soldiers killed in great battles between the Kitai and the Tagurans lie unburied and their wailing ghosts strike terror into the living. Tai has laboured alone, laying to rest the mingled dead of both empires, until a letter arrives. It contains the promise of a poisoned chalice: Tai will be given two hundred and fifty Sardian horses by the Tagurans, legendary steeds from the far west, as a reward for his courage and piety. Now, Tai must try to return alive from solitude to a glittering, dangerous court. For to give a man even one of the famed Sardians is to honour him greatly; to give him so many is a reward which would overwhelm an emperor, and could be Tai's death warrant.

One of the world’s best loved presenters meets one of the world’s greatest authors in this beautiful selection of timeless, haunting stories. Vividly brought to life through abundant illustrations and Stephen’s masterly introductions, Oscar Wilde’s short stories are here made accessible to an entirely new generation. Whether you know it or not, the stories in this book are familiar. Like old friends whose charm and warmth never fade, Oscar Wilde's short stories have enchanted generations of readers, and this beautiful book makes them accessible to an entirely new readership. Selected and presented by one of Wilde's biggest fans, the book includes a foreword from Stephen Fry, who will also supply short introductions to the stories themselves, explaining why they mean so much to him and why they should mean a lot to you too. Meet the selfish giant, whose garden was cloaked in perpetual winter until he allowed the children to enter and play, the happy prince whose statue stood overlooking his city, who gave the rubies and sapphires embedded in his eyes and clothing to feed the poor, and the tiny swallow who helped him. And let's not forget the remarkable rocket who was so convinced that he would be the brightest, most remarkable rocket of all, yet who ended up in a ditch. There's also the Canterville ghost, so inept at being scary that every attempt to spook his American visitors results in failure. Stephen Fry has always been passionate about Oscar Wilde's writing but he has a particular fondness for his short stories. In this beautifully illustrated book he shares with us what each story means to him and what he feels the reader can take away with them, whether they're five or fifty years old. As well as a general introduction, Stephen offers introductions to the stories themselves, taking the reader through his selection. Illustrated by Nicole Stewart, stunning artwork accompanies each story to give shape to the reader's imagination. Whether you are buying this for yourself, for your wife, your son or daughter, for your nephew, your niece, your mother, your brother or your sister, the book will be a gift that you or they will cherish forever and return to time and time again. These are stories for adults and children of all ages, for all time.

The new novel from David Baddiel, comedian, columnist and author of the critically-praised The Secret Purposes. In New York's Mt. Sinai hospital, the world's greatest living writer, Eli Gold, is dying. Witnessing his death are his precocious 8-year-old daughter by his present (fifth) wife, his anxiety-ridden 44-year-old son from his third marriage, and his 89-year-old first wife, watching on TV from a care home in London. And also, secretly, his fourth wife's fundamentalist Mormon brother, who has never got over his sister's death in a suicide pact with Eli, a suicide pact that Eli survived. The Death of Eli Gold is a comedy, a thriller, and a meditation on love, death, aging, sex, fame, and the idea - the dying idea - of The Great Man.

Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus face a familiar sociopath in this electrifying new tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman When LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker reluctantly agrees to do a big favour for old friend Teresa McLaughlin, he knows that his involvement will bring her sociopathic husband, Chris Donatti, back into his life. But then Terry goes missing and Donatti disappears, leaving their 14-year-old son Gabe behind. Meanwhile Adrianna Blanc, a party-loving nurse, is found swinging from the rafters of a house in a wealthy suburban area. Her last phone call announced she was breaking up with her philandering boyfriend and Decker questions whether it was in fact suicide. With lives hanging in the balance, Decker and his team need to find answers fast. At home matters are just as precarious: while Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus want to look after young Gabe, with Donatti on the loose, no one is really ever safe…

A tale of high adventure and derring-do set in the same Victorian-style world as the acclaimed The Court of the Air and The Secrets of the Fire Sea. Thanks to his father's gambling debts, young Jack Keats finds himself on the streets and trying to survive as a pickpocket, desperate to graft enough coins to keep him and his two younger brothers fed. Following a daring bank robbery gone badly awry, Jack narrowly escapes the scaffold, only to be pressed into Royal Aerostatical Navy. Assigned to the most useless airship in the fleet, serving under a captain who is most probably mad, Jack seems to be bound for almost certain death in the far-away deserts of Cassarabia. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Omar ibn Barir, the slave of a rich merchant lord finds his life turned upside down when his master's religious sect is banned. Unexpectedly freed, he survives the destruction of his home to enter into the service of the Caliph's military forces – just as war is brewing. Two very similar young men prepare to face each other across a senseless field of war. But is Omar the enemy, or is Jack's true nemesis the sickness at the heart of the Caliph's court? A cult that hides the deadly secret to the origins of the gas being used to float Cassarabia's new aerial navy. If Jack and his shipmates can discover what Cassarabia's aggressive new regime is trying to conceal, he might survive the most horrific of wars and clear his family's name. If not…

The sixth marvellous tale of high adventure and derring-do from the master of steampunk literature, set in the world of The Court of the Air A daring underwater chase ends in a battle for the Kingdom itself… The streets of Middlesteel are under attack by an unseen enemy, leaving bloodless corpses in its trail. The newssheets scream vampire, but the truth is even more deadly than anyone knows. Charlotte Shades, Mistress of Mesmerism, is a thief – and a darned good one at that. When two mysterious men ask her to steal King Jude’s Sceptre from the Parliament vaults, the challenge (and reward) is too great to pass up. After all, Charlotte’s natural charm and the magic of the gem she wears – the mysterious Eye of Fate – have never failed her before. Only consulting detective Jethro Daunt and his steamman companion Boxiron know there’s more to these two men than meets the eye. Yet even as they rescue Charlotte from a fate worse than death, they are thrown into a plot thicker than even they realize. They escape beneath the waves in an ancient submarine led by Commodore Jethro Black, where they encounter stiff resistance from the strange people who inhabit the vast underwater kingdoms. But man, woman, seanore and gillneck alike must band together if they are to defeat a danger that might not even be from this world…

From New York Times best-selling author, Kim Harrison, comes the third book in her brilliant series, The Hollows; packed with vampires, werewolves and witches - don’t miss out on this sexy urban fantasy. If you make a deal with the devil, can you still save your soul? To avoid becoming the love-slave of a depraved criminal vampire, bounty-hunter and witch, Rachel Morgan, is cornered into a deal that could promise her an eternity of suffering. But eternal damnation is not Rachel's only worry. Her vampire roommate, Ivy, has rediscovered her taste for blood and is struggling to keep their relationship platonic, her boyfriend, Nick, has disappeared – perhaps indefinitely, and she's being stalked by an irate pack of werewolves. And then there's also the small matter of the turf war raging in Cincinnati's underworld; one that Rachel began and will have to finish before she has the smallest hope of preserving her own future.

The Daylight War, the eagerly anticipated third volume in Brett’s internationally bestselling Demon Cycle, continues the epic tale of humanity’s last stand against an army of demons. ON THE NIGHT OF A NEW MOON ALL SHADOWS DEEPEN AND THE DEMONS RISE. Arlen Bales understands the threat better than anyone. Resisting the coreling plague has shaped him into a weapon so powerful he has attracted enemies both above and below ground. But as Arlen prepares his people for battle, a daylight war approaches from the south. Out of the desert rides an army led by a man who believes his destiny is to unite humanity against the demons, willingly or not. Once, Ahmann Jardir and Arlen were like brothers. Now they are the bitterest of rivals, and Jardir’s ambition is matched only by the magic wielded by his first wife, Inevera, a powerful priestess. The corelings will attack in thirty nights, and the only men capable of defeating them are divided against each other by the most deadly demons of all: those that lurk in the human heart.

The second instalment of Fiona McIntosh’s gripping epic fantasy, set in a world torn by revenge, love and ancient magic. Ten years have passed since Loethar, the barbarian warlord from the Likurian steppes, devoured the Devona Set with his army of mercenaries, decimating their ruling families and settling in their primary kingdom of Penraven. Believing the Valisar heirs of Penraven to be dead, he has styled himself as emperor and continues his efforts to integrate his people into the native population. But abandoning his more violent methods of persuasion hasn't quelled the undercurrent of rebellion; for the Valisar heirs do live. Hidden from the barbarian's wrath by loyal allies who risk everything for the future of their kingdom, they are bound to return and seek a tyrant's blood for the havoc he has wreaked.

Presented for the first time, three classic war novels from the generals of the genre, Len Deighton, Jack Higgins & Alistair MacLean. Prepare to be blown away by these explosive thrillers: WINTER The epic prelude to Deighton’s acclaimed Bernard Samson spy series, in which the complex lives of two brothers unfold during the dramatic rise of Nazi Germany between two world wars. THE EAGLE HAS FLOWN Sequel to Higgins’ legendary The Eagle Has Landed. The mission to assassinate Winston Churchill has failed, but two of the ringleaders are still alive and now the Reichsfuhrer is demanding the Eagle’s return – at all costs. SOUTH BY JAVA HEAD 1942: Singapore lies shattered, overrun by the conquering Japanese army, as the last boat slips out to sea. On board, a desperate group of people, each with a secret they will kill to protect. Ahead lie murderous dive-bombers, the fierce tropical sun, and the hell-bent Japanese, who will stop at nothing to prevent the boat escaping south by Java Head.

From the Orange Prize winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin this is a novel about what it takes to make it in music. How charisma is worth its weight in gold. And how jealously can grow until it has eaten away at a musician’s heart. He has that thing that they’d all pay for but can’t buy: on stage and off, the 19-year-old rock drummer Checker Secretti is electric. When he plays with his band The Derailleurs, the natives of Astoria, Queens clamour for a piece of him. But charisma comes at a price. A Salieri to Checker’s Mozart, the fiercely envious fellow drummer Eaton Striker is eager to sow discord among the Derailleurs, that he might replace the exasperatingly popular goody-goody in the close-knit neighbourhood’s affections. An examination of the passion, the jealousy and the friendship of young musicians trying to break out, Checker and The Derailleurs is also about cycling, rock lyrics, glass blowing, the marriage of convenience, and―most of all―the mystery of joy.

Indulge in the unputdownable I HEART series. Follow Angela’s adventures from day one . . . When Angela Clark flees her best friend's wedding for New York, leaving chaos, an injured groom and a boyfriend in her wake, her adventures are only just beginning. Follow her through five hilarious and highly entertaining novels as her attempts to start a new life and new career – and a new love affair too – take her to Hollywood, Vegas, Paris and back to London. Being Angela, it's not long before she's in one scrape after another…

The gripping new crime novel in the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman. Detective Peter Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus have moved from the chaos of L.A. to upstate New York, to a quiet town that is home to elite colleges and pensioners. Semi-retired and faced with mundane call-outs at the Greenbury Police Department, Decker is becoming bored of life. So when he is called about a potential break-in at the local cemetery, he jumps at the opportunity to investigate. The Bergman crypt contains four intricately designed stained glass windows, one for each season, two of which are confirmed as definitely fake. Along with young Harvard graduate, Tyler McAdams, Decker must solve the mystery of the forgeries. His search leads him to Manhattan, although perhaps he should look closer to home: when a co-ed is brutally murdered at a local colleges, Decker must put his search for the art thief on hold. But not for long…

CONSTANT PRINCESS Splendid and sumptuous historical novel from this internationally bestselling author, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon. We think of her as the barren wife of a notorious king; but behind this legacy lies a fascinating story. Katherine of Aragon is born Catalina, the Spanish Infanta, to parents who are both rulers and warriors. Aged four, she is betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and is raised to be Queen of England. She is never in doubt that it is her destiny to rule that far-off, wet, cold land. Her faith is tested when her prospective fahter-in-law greets her arrival in her new country with a great insult; Arthur seems little better than a boy; the food is strange and the customs coarse. Slowly she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur's wife grows ever more bearable. But when the studious young man dies, she is left to make her own future: how can she now be queen, and found a dynasty? Only by marrying Arthur's young brother, the sunny but spoilt Henry. His father and grandmother are against it; her powerful parents prove little use. Yet Katherine is her mother's daughter and her fighting spirit is strong. She will do anything to achieve her aim; even if it means telling the greatest lie, and holding to it. Philippa Gregory proves yet again that behind the apparently familiar face of history lies an astonishing story: of women warriors influencing the future of Europe, of revered heroes making deep mistakes, and of an untold love story which changes the fate of a nation. THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL. Fabulous historical novel set in the court of King Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn attracts the attention of the young king and becomes his mistress; when he tires of her, she sets out to school her sister, Anne, as a replacement. Politics and passion are inextricably bound together in this compelling drama. The Boleyn family is keen to rise through the ranks of society, and what better way to attract the attention of the most powerful in the land than to place their most beautiful young woman at court? But Mary becomes the king's mistress at a time of change. He needs his personal pleasures, but he also needs an heir. The unthinkable happens and the course of English history is irrevocably changed. For the women at the heart of the storm, they have only one weapon; and when it's no longer enough to be the mistress, Mary must groom her younger sister in the ways of the king. What happens next is common knowledge - but here it is told in a way we've never heard it before, with all of Philippa Gregory's characteristic perceptiveness, backed by meticulous research and superb storytelling skills. BOLEYN INHERITANCE. From the bestselling author of `The Other Boleyn Girl' comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Katherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne's path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer's death. The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty, is Philippa Gregory's most compelling novel yet.

Egil’s Saga is the 10th-century Nordic equivalent of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Translated from the Icelandic with an introduction, notes and an essay, this is the first time Eddison’s version of this epic heroic saga has been published in paperback. The saga of Egil, son of Grim the Bald, tells the exciting tale of a medieval warrior-poet and his many Viking adventures. Challenged by his ugly appearance and haunted by rumours that his grandfather was a werewolf, Egil devotes himself to Odin, god of kings, warriors and poets, and determines to avenge his father’s exile from Norway. With action ranging across Iceland and Scandinavia down to Scotland and England, Egil’s thrilling encounters include kings, sorcerers, berserkers and outlaws, as the story follows his transformation from youthful savagery to mature wisdom. Sometimes considered the greatest of the Icelandic sagas, Egil’s Saga is the 10th-century Nordic equivalent of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Eddison’s acclaimed translation, published in 1930, has been long unavailable, and demonstrates the author’s amazing capacity for evocative and erudite language. It reflects the swift dramatic terseness and vivid character-drawing which made the saga style in prose narrative such an enduring model for modern historical and fantasy literature, and his meticulous translation includes elaborate notes and annotations.

The first volume in the classic epic trilogy of parallel worlds, admired by Tolkien and the great prototype for The Lord of the Rings and modern fantasy fiction. According to legend, the Gates of Zimiamvia lead to a land ‘that no mortal foot may tread, but that souls of the dead that were great upon earth do inhabit.’ Here they forever live, love, do battle, and even die again. Edward Lessingham – artist, poet, king of men and lover of women – is dead. But from Aphrodite herself, the Mistress of Mistresses, he has earned the promise to live again with the gods in Zimiamvia in return for her own perilous future favours. This sequel to The Worm Ouroboros recounts the story of Lessingham’s first day in this strange Valhalla, where a lifetime is a day and where – among enemies, enchantments, guile and triumph – his destiny can be rewritten.

The classic epic trilogy of parallel worlds, admired by Tolkien and the great prototype for The Lord of the Rings and modern fantasy fiction. Also includes The Worm Ouroboros. When Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was published, reviewers saw that there was only one author with whom he could legitimately be compared: Eric Rucker Eddison (1882-1945). He met both Tolkien and Lewis, and was cited by both as the game-changer in fantastic literature and a key influence on them. His two principal works – the sprawling and opulent fantasy trilogy Zimiamvia (which has been favourably compared to Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast) and the earlier hedonistic The Worm Ouroboros (a cross between H.P. Lovecraft and Lord Dunsany) – put Eddison up among the masters of his craft. Admirers including Ursula Le Guin, Robert Silverberg and Clive Barker have all lined up to praise his books. This complete eBook edition includes the three books of the Zimiamvia Trilogy - Mistress of Mistresses, A Fish Dinner in Memison, and The Mezentian Gate, together with the epic prelude novel The Worm Ouroboros.

A collection of short stories from a stellar line-up of Irish authors and illustrators, edited by bestselling author Sarah Webb. The anthology is completed by a final winter-themed tale from the winner of HarperCollins’ competition for young writers, which will be illustrated by Irish Children’s Laureate, Niamh Sharkey. 12 wintry tales of wonder, from the funny to the ghostly, from the heartfelt to the action-packed – there is something here for everyone to love… Written by some of the most outstanding talents in children’s fiction today, including Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Derek Landy and John Boyne, and with stunning illustrations from the likes of PJ Lynch, Chris Haughton and Niamh Sharkey, to name but a few. This is a gorgeous hardback that no family bookshelf should be without. All profits go to Fighting Words – the Irish Story Centre in support of Creative Writing for Children and Adults. Fighting Words was inspired by Dave Eggers’ 826 Valencia project in the USA, as have been creative writing centres all over the world since then, including Milan, Stockholm, London, Barcelona and Sydney. All of these creative writing centres are informally linked together – they communicate regularly, sharing ideas and experience.

The thrilling conclusion to Ferals, a fantasy trilogy that's part Batman, part The Graveyard Book, and all high-stakes adventure. Caw has defeated the dreaded Spinning Man and vanquished the Mother of Flies. But a new feral has appeared--one who intends to uphold the Spinning Man's dark legacy. Known as the White Widow, this spider feral is determined to destroy Caw and bring Blackstone back into an era of crime and fear. Now everyone Caw holds dear is in danger. And this time Caw may not be able to protect them.

The sisters of STREET CHILD tell their story… A companion novel to bestselling story of orphan Jim Jarvis set in Victorian England. When Jim Jarvis is separated from his sisters, Lizzie and Emily, he thinks he will never see them again. Now for the first time, the bestselling author of STREET CHILD reveals what happened to his orphaned sisters. In Victorian London, Lizzie and Emily are left in the care of a cook but their story takes them to the mills of northern England. There, under the keen eyes of the mill owners, the girls are made to work in harsh conditions and any chance of escape is sorely tempting… An incredible new STREET CHILD story based on the true experiences of Victorian mill girls.

They say the higher you climb, the harder you fall – how will Juliet cope when her perfect world starts to crumble around her? Juliet seemingly has it all. Popular, pretty, with laidback, loving parents, a devoted boyfriend and an effortless straight A report card. But then the cracks start to show: her parents separate, which leads to her mother taking an overdose. With the stress of college applications looming on the night of her mother’s hospitalization, Juliet takes comfort in the arms of a stranger. Now Juliet’s relationship with Jason is on the rocks too – can she piece her perfect life back together before the shockwaves threaten to collapse it completely?