Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Historical

History happens all around you. And, occasionally, to you. I could have been a bomb-disposal expert, or a volunteer for the Mars mission, or a firefighter, something safe and sensible. But, no, I had to be an historian. It began well. A successful assignment to 17th century Cambridge to meet Isaac Newton, and another to witness the historic events at The Gates of Grief. So far so good.

After a nearly fatal blow to the skull, traumatized private detective Ian Cameron is found dazed and confused on a muddy riverbank in Victorian London. Among his effects: a bloodstained business card bearing the name of a master wizard and a curious pocket watch that doesn’t seem to tell time. To retrieve his lost memories, Ian demands answers from Edwina and Mary Blackwood, sister witches with a murky past. But as their secret is slowly unveiled, a dangerous mystery emerges on the darkened streets of London.

The second novel in the brilliant new series from the best-selling author of Prince of Thorns. In Mystic Class, Nona Grey begins to learn the secrets of the universe. But so often even the deepest truths just make our choices harder. Before she leaves the Convent of Sweet Mercy, Nona must choose her path and take the red of a Martial Sister, the grey of a Sister of Discretion, the blue of a Mystic Sister or the simple black of a Bride of the Ancestor and a life of prayer and service.

Rune Tellarus always wanted to become a Guardian: a powerful warrior bonded to a magic-wielding woman known as an Adeptal Mage. Except he failed the test as a youth. He thought he would never get the chance to study at their Academy nor learn magic. But after a terrible tragedy in a nobleman's home, he finds himself suddenly bonded with the nobleman's daughter, Narcissa. This bonding is an irrevocable merging of two spirits that grants both Mage and Guardian magical gifts.

Xanthe has always had an affinity with some of the antiques she finds. When she touches them, she can sense something of the past they come from and the stories they hold. When she has an intense connection to a beautiful silver chatelaine, she has to know more. It is while she’s examining the chatelaine that she’s transported back to the 17th century, where it has its origins. She discovers there is an injustice in its history. The spirit that inhabits her new home confronts her and charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails.

Laurence and Temeraire made a daring journey across vast and inhospitable continents to bring home a rare Turkish dragon from the treacherous Ottoman Empire. Kazilik dragons are firebreathers, and Britain is in greater need of protection than ever, for while Laurence and Temeraire were away, an epidemic struck British shores and is killing off her greatest defence - her dragon air force is slowly dying. The dreadful truth must be kept from Napoleon at all costs.

Miss Charlotte Pettifer belongs to a secret society skilled in a very particular art. That is to say—although it mustn't be said too loudly—witchcraft. When rumours of the long-lost amulet of Black Beryl start to circulate, it is up to Charlotte to make sure this powerful talisman doesn't get into the wrong hands. Which is precisely what happens when the evil Lady Armitage gets her grip on it. When Charlotte demands the help of the rakish pirate Alex O'Riley, they both set off to find the amulet. And that's before sparks begin to fly.

In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box. But when the three Eastwood sisters join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement.

1806. England is beleaguered by the long war, and centuries have passed since magicians faded from view. But one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell. Proceeding to London, he raises a woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician. Young, handsome and daring, Jonathan Strange is his very antithesis. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men – which overwhelms that between England and France.

Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other's reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she's to return to her life. While Evar's journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he's never seen, Livira's destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.

They are feared, hated, haunted down, and destroyed—and yet, they are mankind's last hope. For a thousand years magic has been banished throughout the Five Kingdoms, and those caught wielding it are rounded up and taken to the White Tower. They are never heard from again.

This is the story of King Midas. Or that's what we're always told. The Golden King with his palace of riches and me, the girl he turned to gold. Upon the snowy mountains in the Sixth Kingdom of Orea, I'm locked away in Highbell Castle. It's for my safety, I'm told. Away from the dangers of the world below. No one can get in. Apart from him. King Midas rescued me from the streets. He gave me food, shelter and his heart. I promised to love him forever. But when war comes to the kingdom, a deal is struck—and I am at the heart of the bargain. Everything I know starts to change.

The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.

St Mary's is back and is facing a battle to survive in this, the fourth installment of the Chronicles. Max and Leon are re-united and looking forward to a peaceful lifetime together. But, sadly, they don't even make it to lunchtime. The action races from 17th century London to Ancient Egypt and from Pompeii to 14th century Southwark as they're pursued up and down the timeline.

Iris Almeria, the daughter of a powerful duke, is arrested and forced to her knees in front of her fiancée. Her betrothed, Prince Edward, is rejecting her for another woman! As Iris's life flashes before her eyes, she suddenly realizes she knows exactly what's coming next--because she has been reincarnated into her favorite otome game as its villainess. Quick thinking saves her from exile, but Iris can't rest yet. If she wants to survive this world that sees her as wicked, she'll have to change the world itself.

In 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose each other. In the course of pursuing each other's ruin, they will deploy all the deception their magician's craft can command. Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers, but with terrible consequences.

1650: The Black Forest, Wurttemberg. Fifteen years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their father and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people recovering in the aftermath of a brutal war. Greta has a secret, though: the witch's grimoire, secreted away and whispering in her ear, and the recipe inside that makes the most sinfully delicious—and addictive—gingerbread. As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat.

Tom Badgerlock has been living peaceably in the manor house at Withywoods with his beloved wife, Molly, these many years, the estate a reward to his family for loyal service to the crown. But behind the facade of respectable middle-age lies a turbulent and violent past. For Tom Badgerlock is actually FitzChivalry Farseer, bastard scion of the Farseer line, convicted user of Beast-magic, and assassin. A man who has risked much for his king and lost more....

As the Four Lands reels under the Skaar invasion - spearheaded by a warlike people determined to make this land their own - our heroes must decide what they will risk to save the integrity of their home. Even as one group remains to defend the Four Lands, another is undertaking a perilous journey across the sea to the Skaar homeland, carrying with them a new piece of technology that could change the face of the world for ever. And yet a third is trapped in a deadly realm from which there may be no escape.

In Roman-occupied Britain, the Iceni tribe crowns an extraordinary new queen. Tall and flame-haired, Boudicca is devoted to Andraste, the Iceni’s patron goddess, known for her raven familiar, her fierceness and her swirling blue tattoos. Boudicca and her two young daughters will carry the tribe forward in dangerous times. Roman tax collector Catus Decianus, expecting weakness in a female ruler, launches a devastating attack on the tribe’s stronghold. Boudicca and her family barely survive—but they refuse to bend the knee.