Showing results by narrator "David Pickering" in All Categories

It is difficult to say when the Immersion happened. There is little doubt as to where it began. It was in a village. Despite an impoverished life, the village held a community rich in the love of life and each other. Some would say these conditions are the essence of an Immersion. Mik and his friends are at that age when the future looks infinite in all its possibilities. Life in the Village has never seemed so good. This year they attend the county fair as adults. But there is a world outside that cares little for the country people and their yearly celebrations of life together.

On December 16, 1945, Prince Konoe committed suicide after refusing to collaborate with US Army officer Bonner Fellers in Operation Blacklist. His refusal to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and the imperial family of war crimes responsibilities. A week before he took the cyanide, he wrote a memoir regarding his experience governing Imperial Japan during World War 2. The memoir shows many efforts of Prince Konoe's efforts for negotiations with Chinese and US government officials to try to end the war early as well as his governing during a time of crisis.

The Late Bronze Age Near East (c. 1500-1200 BCE) was a time and place where great kingdoms and empires vied for land and influence, playing high stakes diplomatic games, trading, and occasionally going to war with each other in the process. The Egyptians, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, and several smaller Canaanite kingdoms were all part of this system, which was one of the first true “global” systems in world history and also one of the most materially prosperous eras in antiquity.

The history of Ukraine is a fascinating story of how cultures, political systems, religions, and power have met, intersected, morphed, and expanded. The region was relatively sparsely populated for much of ancient history, a wilderness of rivers, forests, and steppes, but that does not detract from the rich historical development of the region.

Eleven-year-old Vincent van Gogh discovers a curious new world through a tunnel on the moor. A mysterious white rabbit introduces Vincent to Alice, and their quest begins - defeat the dreaded Jabberwock before it consumes all of Wonderland. A slithy tove, an ill-tempered caterpillar, and the Cheshire cat meet them along the path as their adventures take them through fields dancing with flowers, tangled forests, and looking-glass pools.

Logicide! Heretic! Everyone knows cats can't talk. Everyone except Niclas, a halfwit slum boy who's just landed a new job as a talking cat's man-servant. But this is Laburnum and the age of Rationalism. Here, the Academy's Inquisition takes illogical happenings very seriously. Locking people up, throwing away keys, that sort of thing. And it's not just the Crimson Men Niclas and his new master have to worry about. A man with no name has come to the capital in search of the Black Science - they call him Witchhunter.

Are you thinking of becoming a wedding photographer? There’s a lot to learn! From starting the day in the right mind-set, to getting to know the wedding guests, to taking photos of the first dance and the disco shots of the end, this is my tried-and-tested formula for getting better wedding shots.

The history of Ukraine is a fascinating story of how cultures, political systems, religions, and power have met, intersected, morphed, and expanded. After various cultures helped develop the region, the legendary Cossacks arrived during the early modern period and dominated the region for several centuries, forming an independent republic that helped forge Ukrainian identity to this day. Even as the origins of these ferocious fighters remain murky and obscure, the Cossacks have continued their growing international appearance with the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

An heiress who is terrified of glass, a failed actor facing a gunman on a rooftop, a dentist up a tree, first love, honeymoon romance at the tomb of the Aga Khan, the surprising secrets of a very old lady....

Six chilling and original stories inspired by the realities of life and death on the Western Front and beyond, building to a truly poignant and revelatory climax.

Six original tales of terror to chill the blood and delight the soul. A man finds himself terrified of going upstairs. Disturbing events take place after a stranger checks into a lonely hotel. Two schoolboys learn about an unexpected horror of the battlefields of World War I. An old lady daren't go into her own garden because of what she fears is waiting for her. A birdwatcher sees something that opens the door on a chilling tragedy that is not yet over. A couple set off on a round-the-world cruise unaware that it will also prove to be their last.

When the wild Sanjeror Rastag killed her family, Maldara swore revenge. She tracks him to the Xordom of Teargarden, a mysterious city where Murks and humans live together surrounded by untrustworthy merchants and evil Sanjerors.

Celina had never meant to fall in love–certainly with a Gaelorian. As soon as she had given her heart to Gorvan, he had shattered it upon the wall of her tavern for all to see. Love was for fools, she realized, and she had become the grand jester in a court of misery. Cynical and guarded, she held her secrets close. But when the crazed monk Rogart arrived–cursed with dreams of what was to come--she realized she had been discovered. The demons of Nolagarg were close, and once they found her, she would be a slave to them once more.

As soon as Gorvan became ruler of the desolate backwater town of Teargarden, a host of new refugees flooded in—every one of them desperate, hungry, and their own unique brand of trouble.

No one knows quite what to make of Nigel Considine. He calls himself "the High Executive", and he has inspired the entire continent of Africa to revolt and make war upon Europe. Is Considine a magician, a charismatic politician, a divinely annointed prophet, or the antichrist? A small circle of London friends all seem to disagree, even as Considine's influence is tearing England apart....

Welcome to Teargarden, a town bereft of law and order. It's controlled by two individuals–the devious innkeeper Therolim, and the mysterious yet beautiful Celina. Their rivalry was about to tear the town part, but all that would change with the arrival of the Archon. Archons were supposedly celestial saviors, sworn to protect the citizens of Agarath from demons, but Celina knew better. In order to protect herself and the rest of the town, she would need to devise a way to kill an angel.

But these are no ordinary cards. This is the original tarot deck, from which all other tarot decks have sprung. Their fate is entwined with a set of gold figurines representing the Major Arcana, which continually dance around a tabletop much like a chess board—the archetypal forces of the universe in miniature. Whoever can bring the deck and the figurines together will wield power over heaven and earth.

From the best-selling author of A Drive Through Time comes a time travel novella with a hint of fantasy. A down-on-his-luck historian, William, meets an enigmatic woman at a coffee shop in London. Her fascinating stories spark the beginning of an adventure that leads him to the banks of the Nile river. But his past catches up with him, and William is left to die alone in the Sahara desert. What happens next will have you wonder and second-guess yourself until the end. If you liked the Inception movie, surely you'll enjoy this book.

Peregrine, bastard son of King Paladrine, thought he had trouble when he was transformed by a sorcerer into a falcon. In fact, his real troubles began when the prepubescent princess Ruby changed him back into...well, almost a prince. A bastard. Whereupon he found himself dragged off by a dyspeptic dragon, smooched by a sphinx, wooed by the weefolk, and finally appointed Sub-Imperial-sub-Legate, which is still not quite a prince, but somewhat more elegant than a bastard.

Peregrine was the bastard son of the King of Sapodilla, the last Pagan kingdom in the world to resist Christianity. Accompanied by his page and the rather time-worn sorcerer, Appledore, the prince sallies forth into the Dark Ages to find his fortune. What he finds instead is: dragons, whores, Huns, Roman legions, emperors, and a most fantastic collection of mysteries and adventures.