THE EXTRAORDINARY FIRST NOVEL BY THE MASTER OF STORYTELLING ACCLAIMED BBC RADIO 4 DRAMATISATION WITH ALL-STAR CAST INCLUDING JAMES MCAVOY, NATALIE DORMER, DAVID HAREWOOD, SOPHIE OKONEDO AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ''Prose that dances and dazzles . . . Gaiman describes the indescribable'' SUSANNA CLARKE ''It''s virtually impossible to read more than ten words by Neil Gaiman and not wish he would tell you the rest of the story'' OBSERVER ''Much too clever to be caught in the net of a single interpretation'' PHILIP PULLMAN --- ''I love doors. Anything that leads to possibilities'' NEIL GAIMAN --- Under the streets of London lies a world most people could never dream of. When Richard Mayhew stops to help a girl he finds bleeding in the street, his unremarkable life changes in an instant. This act of kindness leads him to a place filled with murderers and angels, pale girls in black velvet, a Beast in a labyrinth and an Earl who holds Court in a tube train. It is strangely familiar yet utterly bizarre. Here is London Below, the city of people who have fallen between the cracks. And for Richard Mayhew, it''s just the beginning. NEIL GAIMAN. W ITH STORIES COME POSSIBILITIES. --- **Includes an introduction to the author''s preferred text, How the Marquis Got His Coat Back short story, reading-group discussion questions, an ''Altogether Different Prologue'' and an interview with Neil Gaiman**
WINNER OF THE SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2013 BOOK OF THE YEAR The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the bestselling magical novel from Neil Gaiman, one of the most brilliant storytellers of our generation and author of the epic novel American Gods , and the much-loved Sandman series. 'Possibly Gaiman's most lyrical, scary and beautiful work yet. It's a tale of childhood for grown-ups, a fantasy rooted in the darkest corners of reality' ( Independent on Sunday). If you loved the mesmerising world of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus or were drawn into J.K. Rowling's magical universe, this book is for you. It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond this world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it. His only defence is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a fable that reshapes modern fantasy: moving, terrifying and elegiac - as pure as a dream, as delicate as a butterfly's wing, as dangerous as a knife in the dark.
*Now a major Sky original production*THE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL AND SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. A Discovery of Witches is the first in the must-have, must-read ALL SOULS trilogy.
It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches.Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew in the stunning first volume of the No.1 internationally bestselling ALL SOULS trilogy. A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...Five reasons to read A Discovery of Witches and the All Souls Trilogy 'Rich, thrilling ... A captivating and romantic ripping yarn' E L James'Intelligent and off-the-wall ... irrestistible to Twilight fans' Sunday Times'I could lose myself in here and never want to come out ... Utterly enchanting on every level' Manda Scott'Exciting amounts of spells, kisses and battles, and is recounted with enchanting, page-turning panache' Marie Claire'A bubbling cauldron of illicit desire ... an assured saga that blends romance with fantasy' Daily Mail
Fall deeper under the spell of Diana and Matthew in the captivating second volume of the No.1 internationally bestselling ALL SOULS trilogy, following A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES. Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman and Diana Gabaldon. *A Discovery of Witches is soon to be a major TV series - immerse yourself in the ALL SOULS world*'Deborah Harkness writes as if she's the hugely more talented love child of Diana Gabaldon and J. K. Rowling' thebookbag.co.uk on SHADOW OF NIGHT
In a world of witches, daemons and vampires the fragile balance of peace is unravelling. Diana and Matthew's forbidden love has broken the laws dividing creatures. To discover the manuscript which holds their hope for the future, they must now travel back to the past. When Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont. Now the coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened. Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot. Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers...
Neil Gaiman is the bestselling author and creator of books, graphic novels, short stories, film and television for all ages, including Neverwhere , Coraline , The Graveyard Book , The Ocean at the End of the Lane , The View from the Cheap Seats and the critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated television adaptation of American Gods . The recipient of numerous literary honours, Neil has written scripts for Doctor Who , worked with authors and artists including Terry Pratchett, Chris Riddell and Dave McKean, and Sandman is established as one of the classic graphic novels. In 2017, he became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. As George R. R. Martin says: 'There's no one quite like Neil Gaiman.
THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES HARDBACK BESTSELLER * A Discovery of Witches is soon to be a major TV series - immerse yourself in the ALL SOULS world* Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew once more in the stunning climax to their epic tale, following A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES and SHADOW OF NIGHT. A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it. 'Rich in arcane detail, fans will relish this exotic cauldron of romantic fantasy' Sunday Mirror on THE BOOK OF LIFE After travelling through time in SHADOW OF NIGHT , the second book in Deborah Harkness's enchantÂing series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew's ancestral home in France they reunite with their families - with one heart-breaking exception. But the real threat to their future is yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on a terrifying urgency. Using ancient knowlÂedge and modern science, from the palaces of Venice and beyond, Diana and Matthew will finally learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.
Modern fictionAn imaginative and eagerly anticipated new novel from this highly acclaimed and award-winning author. Fat Charlie Nancy is angry, confused and a little scared. He has just found out that his estranged father was a god, as is his brother who is attempted, and doing very well at, taking over Fat Charlie's life.
'The ardeur made me a sort of living vampire who fed off sex, but with the downsides came some interesting upsides.'
Jason is a werewolf. He's one of my best friends and sometimes a lover. And right now he needs me, Anita Blake - not to be a vampire hunter, or a Federal Marshall, or a necromancer, but because his father is dying. I can help make him look like an everyday guy, help him say goodbye to the abusive father he's never loved. How hard can it be?
Really, by now, you'd think I'd know better. Because this is the weekend that Marmee Noir, ancient mother of all vampires, picks to make her move. I've got something she wants - and now she's going to take it.
'When the monsters are involved, it's never just one dead body. One way or another the dead multiply.'
First, there were the dead in the graveyard, two hundred years dead. I'd been hired to raise them to settle a dispute over who owned the land they were buried in.
Then there were the three dead teenagers in the woods, slaughtered in a way I'd never seen before.
And then they found the dead girl, drained of blood and left in her bed. I knew what that meant of course. It didn't take a degree in preternatural studies to figure out that something was wrong. And I was right in the middle of it. My name is Anita Blake. Welcome to my life ...
'No one writing today is better than McDevitt at combining galaxy-spanning adventure with the genuine novel of ideas' Washington Post Book World
A civilization-destroying Omega cloud has switched direction, heading straight for a previously unexplored planetary system - and its alien society.
A handful of brave humans must try to save an entire world ... without revealing their existence.
'McDevitt handles the back story so adroitly that readers unfamiliar with earlier volumes in this series should have no trouble following the action' New York Times Book Review
Once you tell someone certain things, like, say, you got mailed a human head in a box, they tend to think you're crazy.
Anita Blake's reputation has taken some hits. Not on the work front, where she has the highest kill count of all the legal vampire executioners in the country, but on the personal front. No one seems to trust a woman who sleeps with the monsters. Still, when a vampire serial killer sends her a head from Las Vegas, Anita has to warn Sin City's local authorities what they're dealing with. Only it's worse than she thought. Several officers and one executioner have been slain - paranormal style...
Anita heads to Las Vegas, where she's joined by three other federal marshals, including the ruthless Edward hiding behind his mild-mannered persona. It's a good thing Edward always has her back, because, when she gets close to the bodies, Anita senses "tiger" too strongly to ignore it. The were-tigers are very powerful in Las Vegas, which means the odds of her rubbing someone important the wrong way just got a lot higher...
'You don't volunteer for slugfests with vampires. It shortens your life expectancy.'
And you don't fall in love with a werewolf. It interferes with your work. Especially when you're a preternatural expert, like me. My name is Anita Blake. My business brings me up close and personal with all shapes and sizes of monsters. And not all of them want to kill me.
Take, for instance, the local pack of lycanthrops - they're werewolves to you. A number of them are missing, and they've come to me for help. Maybe because I'm dating the leader of the pack. I've survived a lot - from jealous vampires to killer zombies - but this love thing may kill me yet.
'It was the middle of November, I was supposed to be out jogging, but instead I was sitting at my breakfast table talking about men, sex, werewolves and vampires. I should be concentrating on my dangerous situation - the ardeur between me and Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City, and Richard, my werewolf lover, is reaching new levels, evolving into something altogether new, acting with a will of its own.'
But instead Anita Blake, preternatural expert and feared executioner, is less interested in vampire politics than in the ancient, ordinary dread that women down the ages have experienced: am I pregnant? And, if so, is the father a vampire, a werewolf or someone else entirely.
And being a Federal Marshall, known for raising the dead and hunting vampires, is no way to bring up a baby.
The second book in the PURE trilogy for fans of THE PASSAGE, THE ROAD and THE HUNGER GAMES. When the end came, the world was divided. Those considered perfect, the Pure, sheltered inside the controlled Dome. Outside, the Wretches struggled in a destroyed world, crippled by the fusings that branded them after the apocalypse that changed everything. Partridge, a Pure, has left the safety of the Dome in search of the truth. Pressia, a Wretch, is desperate to decode the secret that will cure her people of their fusings forever. Together, they must seek out the answers that will save humankind, and prevent the world's annihilation. But the betrayal of Partridge's departure has not been forgotten. As the Dome unleashes horrifying vengeance upon the Wretches in an attempt to get Partridge back, Partridge has no choice but to return to face the darkness that lies there, even as Pressia travels to the very ends of the world to continue their search. Theirs is a struggle against a formidable foe, and it is a fight that will push them over boundaries of land and of sea, of heart and of mind. They can only hope for success because failure is unimaginable...
MICAH
'Raising the dead is easy. Love is hard.'
There are lots of reasons to raise the dead - some private, some public. In this case, the feds have a witness who died before he could speak on the record. They want him raised so his testimony can be taken.
So here I am, Anita Blake, necromancer, on a plane to Philadelphia, flying off to do my job. But I'm not alone: Micah, head of the St Louis wereleopards, is with me. I'm happy to have him at my side. Until he mentions that this will be our first time alone together. Just me and Micah.
And all my fears and doubts...
STRANGE CANDY
Fantastical fairy tales that will leave you craving more: from the woman who marries into a family of wizards to a couple fleeing a gang of love-hungry cupids, readers will revel in these unique visions.
'They will play with us, then destroy us... They are what we fear in the dark.'
The first warning is unexpected, calculated. The second warning is a gift: a plain white mask, carefully wrapped. But white is good - white means we are only being watched.
It seems the power that connects me, Anita Blake, with Jean-Claude Vampire Master of the City and Richard, leader of the werewolves, is attracting very unwelcome attention - from creatures so feared no vampire will willingly speak their name. They are known as the Harlequin, and they have the authority to pass judgement upon me. It is forbidden to speak of the Harlequin unless you've been contacted. And to be contacted is to face a sentence of death.
'These days my life is a cross between a preternatural soap opera and an action-adventure movie.'
The first hit man came after me at home, which should be against the rules. Then there was a second, and a third. Word on the street is that Anita Blake, preternatural expert and vampire killer extraordinaire, is worth half a million dollars. Dead, not alive.
So what's a girl to do but turn to the men in her life for help? Which in my case means an alpha werewolf and a master vampire. With professional killers on your trail, it's not a bad idea to have as much protection as possible, human or otherwise.
But I'm beginning to wonder if two monsters are better than one...
Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author Neil Gaiman's collection of extraordinary short stories featuring How to Talk to Girls at Parties , soon to be a major film release starring Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Alex Sharp. From the author American Gods , now a major TV series for Amazon Prime Video, Fragile Things shows one of the world's most gifted storytellers at the height of his powers. Let me tell you stories of the months of the year, of ghosts and heartbreak, of dread and desire. Or after-hours drinking and unanswered phones, of good deeds and bad days, of trusting wolves and how to talk to girls at parties. There are stories within stories, whispered in the quiet of the night, shouted above the roar of the day, and played out between lovers and enemies, strangers and friends. But all, all are fragile things made of just 26 letters arranged and rearranged to form tales and imaginings which will dazzle your senses, haunt your imagination and move you to the very depths of your soul.
