Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Fantasy

In a time of colonial upheaval, fate has thrown together a truly diverse cast of Indians and Westerners, from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed villager, from an evangelical English opium trader to a mulatto American freedman. As their old family ties are washed away they, like their historical counterparts, come to view themselves as jahaj-bhais or ship-brothers. An unlikely dynasty is born, which will span continents, races and generations.

The High Throne of Erkynland is tottering, its royal family divided and diminished. Queen Miriamele has been caught up in a brutal rebellion in the south and thought to have died in a fiery attack. Her grandson Morgan, heir to the throne, has been captured by one of Utuk'ku's soldiers in the ruins of an abandoned city. Miriamele's husband, King Simon, is overwhelmed by grief and hopelessness, unaware that many of these terrible things have been caused by Pasevalles, a murderous traitor inside Simon's own court at the Hayholt.

On a red-eye flight from LA to Boston, 10 passengers wake up to discover everyone else has disappeared. Brian Engle, a trained pilot, remembers something about a strange aurora borealis and turbulence reports over the desert. Now he has to try to land the plane. But the safe haven of Bangor airport is not what it seems. It's eerily empty. The clocks have stopped. The food and drink is tasteless. The fuel doesn't burn. And the sound, like 'radio static', is getting closer. Craig Toomy, an investment banker, believes he knows what's coming....

Peter Knox lives quietly in one of those small country villages that's up for the Village Garden of the Year award. Until Doc and Constance Rabbit move in next door, upsetting the locals (many of them members of governing political party United Kingdom Against Rabbit Population), complicating Peter's job as a Rabbit Spotter, and forcing him to take a stand, moving from unconscious leporiphobe to active supporter of the UK's amiable and peaceful population of anthropomorphised rabbits.

Following a brutal civil war, Osten Ard has been crushed under the rule of the two villainous High Kings. A single hope remains: if the rebels can find the three swords of legend - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn - they might be able to bring the Storm King and evil King Elias down. Once but a humble kitchen boy, Simon is now Simon Snowlock, dragonslayer and bearer of the mythical sword Thorn. But Simon is more alone than ever before: his friends have been imprisoned, and his liege lord, Prince Josua, has been exiled. And the Storm King may also be in possession of one of the swords....

Twenty-one original stories of dangerous women by top genre writers, brought together in a new anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. Intrepid warriors, far-ranging spacewomen, formidable superheroines, hard-living bad girls, embattled survivors, private investigators, seductive femmes fatale and haughty queens; as Gardner Dubois writes in his introduction, 'if you want to tie any of these women to the railway tracks, you'll have a real fight on your hands!'

When Dirk t'Larien is beckoned across space to the distant world of Worlorn by his lost love, Gwen Delvano, a wild hope flares inside him. However, the rogue planet and his long awaited reunion with Gwen are nothing like Dirk ever imagined. Gwen is radically changed from the girl Dirk first fell in love with, and appears to be irrevocably bound to a violent alien savage and his barbaric culture. Worlorn is a desolate ruin of a planet, steadily hurtling through space away from the star system it relies on to support life - each dawn its seven red suns shine a little dimmer.

Mordred is the son of King Arthur, bastard child of his union with his half sister Morgause. Prophesied by Merlin to kill Arthur, Mordred is stolen away from his mother and raised in secrecy by a kind couple on an isolated Orkney island in the hopes that he will defy his fate. Mordred, known to history as a traitor and a murderer, is no villain but a quick-witted young man, with hopes and dreams of his own. But try as he might, Mordred cannot escape Merlin's prophecy.

Prince Sloth hates leaving his enchanted library, but when a forgotten deity threatens the very fabric of the Underworld, he's thrust into a race against time. He must find the Book of Nightmares - an ancient artifact that has the power to break worlds - before it unleashes a deadly game to free its master, the Goddess of Night. When a betrayal leaves him marked, and desperate, his path collides with a young woman who possesses the legendary Phoenix Tear - a portal stone unlike any other.

The Dark Reading Matter is a theoretical realm that suggests that the observable bookverse can only account for 20% of the calculated total readable mass. Out there somewhere, possibly, is a larger and more expansive and unseeable 'Dark Bookverse' that contains millions of deleted novels, slush-pile manuscripts, lost poems, forgotten pop culture references, stories and ideas that were still in people's minds when they died. It seems The Goliath Corporation hope to exploit the Dark Reading Matter for profit, and Thursday Next is once again pitted against a familiar foe.

In order for the Storm King to cement his power over Osten Ard, he must find and defeat the rebel forces massing against him. But the rebels, led by the exiled Prince Josua, have rallied at the Stone of Farewell and are ready to fight the Storm King with every power they can muster. The key to their victory lies in finding the third sword of legend, Memory - but the sword has been lost for ages. Lost, that is, until Simon Snowlock realises that he knows exactly where the sword is and how to recover it. The only problem: an undead army, bolstered by powerful magic, lies between him and his destination.

For millennia, two women have been blamed for the fall of a mighty civilisation - but now it's time to hear their side of the story.... As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivalled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. Such privilege comes at a high price, though, and their destinies are not theirs to command. While still only girls they are separated and married off to legendary foreign kings Agamemnon and Menelaus, never to meet again.

It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her 17-year-old sister, Penryn, will do anything to get her back....

Joel is afraid of the future. Since he was a child he's been haunted by dreams about the people he loves. Visions of what's going to happen - the good and the bad. And the only way to prevent them is to never let anyone close to him again. Callie can't let go of the past. Since her best friend died, Callie's been lost. She knows she needs to be more spontaneous and live a bigger life. She just doesn't know how to find a way back to the person who used to have those dreams. Joel and Callie both need a reason to start living for today....

Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules and society's pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colours. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences. Nirrim keeps her head down and a dangerous secret close to her chest.

The Dragonbone Chair: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! Kitchen-boy Simon is bored, restless and 14 years old - a dangerous combination. It seems, however, that his life has just taken a turn for the better when he's apprenticed to his castle's resident wizard. As Simon's learning to read and write under Doctor Morgenes' tutelage, forces greater than he could possibly imagine are gathering: forces which will change Simon's life - and his world - forever.

Alexander the Fatherless: nephew of the villainous King March of Cornwall, who murdered his father. Burning with vengeance, Alexander sets out on a journey to Camelot to seek justice from King Arthur. His path will lead him to the Dark Tower, where the sorceress Morgan le Fay lies in wait. Morgan seduces Alexander and sends him on a quest to Jerusalem to recover the Holy Grail - which she believes will help her take the throne.

Four complete and unabridged selections from the electrifying best seller read by a stellar group of narrators. The Raft is the unforgettable tale of an idyllic autumn swim suddenly transformed into an ordeal of unbridled horror. Read by Stephen King. Mrs. Todd's Shortcut is a story in which a middle-aged woman in a Mercedes roadster finds a terrifying pathway to paradise. Read by Dana Ivey. The Monkey - is it merely a child's wind-up toy, or an incarnation of the purest evil? Read by Matthew Broderick.

Josie is at rock bottom. Burned out, heartbroken and recovering from an abusive relationship, she lives a haunted existence after returning to her isolated hometown on the edge of the Forest of Dean. Josie's hopes of a fresh start are horribly derailed when she stumbles across a dead woman's decaying, ant-infested body in the woods. The grim discovery sends her into a downward spiral, forcing her to face uncomfortable truths about the victim and her own past - all whilst battling the swarming black ants that seem to have burrowed into her mind . . . and her flesh.

In the stunning climax to the Frostblood Saga, the fate of the kingdoms rests on the shoulders of one young woman. Frost and fire have joined forces. Now they must wage a war against darkness.... Ruby and Arcus face a more dangerous enemy than they could ever have imagined. Once Eurus opens the Gate of Light, darkness will be unleashed upon the world for all eternity. The Frostbloods and Firebloods have formed a tentative alliance and are now preparing for war - but Ruby is the only one who can prevent the catastrophe which is coming.