Showing results for "blood" in Classics

First published between 1870 and 1893, Émile Zola’s 20-book cycle chronicling four generations of the Rougon-Macquarts was a shocking exposé of the decadence, degradation and moral decay of 19th-century France. It included some of his greatest novels, among them his masterpiece, Germinal. These innovative, ambitious dramas, first broadcast on Radio 4 over 24 hours in 2015-16, are a radical reimagining of Zola’s classic series, introducing us to 104-year-old matriarch, Dide, imprisoned in an asylum in southern France.

In Blood Royal, the Four Musketeers all venture to England on parallel missions to save King Charles I, pursued by the murderous and vengeful Mordaunt, the son of Milady de Winter, the great villain of The Three Musketeers. Despite all his experience, d’Artagnan is repeatedly foiled by the much-younger Mordaunt, who erupts out of the past to embody the strengths of audacity and cunning that were once d’Artagnan’s hallmarks. Mordaunt has corrupted those youthful strengths, and the older d’Artagnan is no match for him.

Flannery O’Connor’s astonishing and haunting first novel is a classic of 20th-century literature. It is the story of Hazel Motes, a 22-year-old caught in an unending struggle against his innate, desperate faith. He falls under the spell of a “blind” street preacher named Asa Hawks and his degenerate fifteen-year-old daughter. In an ironic, malicious gesture of his own non-faith, and to prove himself a greater cynic than Hawks, Hazel founds The Church of God Without Christ but is still thwarted in his efforts to lose God.

Saxom is dead. The vampires know this. Anthony Hancock, Director of the Joint NSA/Homeland Security Department knows it as well. Tony and the vampires are now on the hunt for Saxom's brood, all of whom are determined to avenge their sire's death. Neither Tony nor the vampires are aware of the other's efforts to search out these rogues, who may number in the hundreds at the very least. Tony holds information the vampires don't - he knows that Xenides, Saxom's eldest vampire child, has allied with terrorists.

As the first female vampire successfully turned in 700 years, Lissa finds herself in demand by the Vampire Aristocracy. Forced into an unexpected engagement as a result, Lissa feels trapped and stifled as she continues training with her surrogate sire. When a request comes from the Grand Master of the werewolves, Weldon Harper, Lissa leaps at the opportunity to work as his bodyguard once more.

Whistling Tor is a place of secrets: a mysterious, wooded hill housing the crumbling fortress belonging to Anluan - a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the region in tones of revulsion and bitterness. A curse lies over Anluan's family and his people, and the woods themselves hold a perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom. Then the young scribe Caitrin appears in Anluan's garden, admiring the rare plant known as heart's blood. Retained to sort through entangled family documents, Caitrin brings about unexpected changes.

The die have been cast, and now the fate of both the Fae and the human race rest in Milton’s hands. Milton is the Racmoth, a hero destined in Fae lore to defeat the forces of evil. It’s a lot for him to wrap his head around, but thankfully he has his band of beautiful, badass women to help him along the way. Together, Milton and his team must use their powers to battle an ancient wizard, an undead army, and scores of monsters from the nether realm. And to think, a month ago he had just been a delivery driver.

A classic tale of adventure and romance, Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood tells the story of Peter Blood, doctor and military veteran, who is mistaken for a rebel, arrested, tried, and transported to Barbados, where he is sold into slavery. Escaping his captivity during a raid on the colony, Blood and his fellow convicts capture a Spanish ship and sail off to become the most successful pirates in the Caribbean.

The assassin Girton Club-foot and his master have returned to Maniyadoc in hope of finding sanctuary, but death, as always, dogs Girton's heels. The place he knew no longer exists. War rages across Maniyadoc, with three kings claiming the same crown - and one of them is Girton's old friend Rufra. Girton finds himself hurrying to uncover a plot to murder Rufra on what should be the day of the king's greatest victory. But while Girton deals with threats inside and outside Rufra's war encampment, he can't help wondering if his greatest enemy hides beneath his own skin.

The Greatcoats are back - and this time it's personal. How do you kill a Saint? Falcio, Brasti and Kest are about to find out, as someone is doing just that, and they've started with a friend. The Dukes were already looking for ways to weasel out of their promise to put Aline on her father's throne - but with Saints turning up dead and Church Inquisitors pushing for control, rumours are spreading that the gods themselves oppose her ascension.

The 10th novel in Anne Rice's internationally best-selling Vampire Chronicles is an erotic tale of immortal love. The dazzling vampire Lestat was once the epitome of evil. But now he struggles with his immortality, yearning for a more saintly path. His chance comes when he rescues a witch from death by turning her into a vampire. But the repercussions are swift as the powerful Mayfair family rally to punish Lestat for creating a killer from one of their flock.

Dead women are showing up in the desert east of San Diego, and no one understands why. When the story comes to the attention of reporter Natalie Ellis, she can't help but make comparisons to the tragic deaths she'd investigated years ago.... Bodies may be piling up in his sire's territory, but water vampire and feared enforcer, Baojia, is stuck entertaining the rich and clueless at a club in San Diego. He's taken his exile with all the grace he could muster, but his patience is starting to thin.... Sparks fly when mortal and immortal are thrown together.

Since the beginning of time, the angelic hosts of the High Heavens and the demonic hordes of the Burning Hells have been locked in a struggle for the fate of all creation. That struggle has now come to the mortal realm...and neither man nor demon nor angel will be left unscathed....

Welcome to Half Death Academy. That's what they call my new school - because only half the students survive. Rule number one: Keep your head down and don't mess with the four gorgeous demigods who rule the school. Rule number two: When the demigods try to kill you, lie down and die.Too bad I never was very good at following the rules. And when my forbidden power awakens, I'll make them regret they tried to make me their bitch.

A mysterious stranger is questioning Gemma's lineage. She doesn't want to believe him. But could he be right? A trip back in time will reveal a sickening truth she doesn't want to accept. Thanks to her parents, Harrison's family line is broken, and he no longer exists. Can Gemma change the past and bring her boyfriend back? To do this, she must trust a stranger and learn everything she can before she loses Harrison forever.

The alliance with the Elfin Warriors has allowed the US government’s supernatural forces, the Omicron Branch, to hold the line against the demons and take the war to the Vampire Familias, defeating them in battle and reclaiming their resources. Victory against the vampires, however, leaves David White with a moral dilemma as he captures an entire convoy of freshly turned vampires: beyond saving, but innocent of their species’ crimes. Duty only allows one fate for them - but then an ancient vampire arrives to negotiate for their freedom.

Entering Harvard by passing as white, medical student Reuel Briggs is considered a genius in the unconventional science of the occult. Though ignorant of his own very relevant lineage, Reuel finds himself on a lucrative archaeological expedition to Ethiopia. There, he hopes to raid the treasures of Meroe. Instead, traversing the ruins of a hidden city and beset by maddening visions and escalating dangers, he is forced to confront his own bloodline. What Reuel unearths is beyond anything he imagined.

Rosamund is an Earth Master in the Schwarzwald, the ancient Black Forest of Germany. Since the age of 10, she has lived with her teacher, the Hunt Master and Earth Magician of the Schwarzwald Foresters, a man she calls "Papa". Her adoptive Papa rescued her after her original Earth Master teacher, an old woman who lived alone in a small cottage in the forest, was brutally murdered by werewolves. Rosa herself barely escaped, and this terrifying incident molded the course of her future.

Set in a small Cotswold town, Inspector Hobbes and the Blood is a fast-paced comedy cozy mystery fantasy about the adventures of Andy, an incompetent reporter, when he is reluctantly working with Inspector Hobbes, a police detective with a reputation. Andy soon finds himself immersed in a world where not everyone is human, and a late-night visit to a churchyard nearly results in grave consequences, and a ghoulish outcome. An accidental fire leads to Andy having to doss in Hobbes's spare room.

The tyrannical rule of the Deacon and his Jerusalem Riders has unleashed upon the world a sea of bigotry and hatred, where Unbelievers and Mutants are massacred in the name of God and Peace. And the long-vanished Jerusalem Man is now considered a saint of the new order. To speak ill of his memory is heresy. But when the church in Pilgrim's Valley is burnt to the ground and its congregation is slaughtered, a rider appears and hunts down the killers. And word spreads - the Jerusalem Man is back!