Excerpt: ...snarled Marlanx. "Why don't you do it, sir, and let us have the benefit of your superior intelligence? No, gentlemen, all this prating of loyalty need not deceive us," he cried, springing to his feet. "The fellow is nothing more nor less than an infernal spy-and the Tower is the place for him! He can do no harm there." "If it were my intention to do harm, gentlemen, do you imagine that I should withhold my information for days?" asked Baldos. "If I am a spy, you may rest assured that Count Marlanx's kindnesses should not have been so long disregarded. A spy does not believe in delays." "My-my kindnesses?" cried Marlanx. "What do you mean, sir?" "I mean this. Count Marlanx," said Baldos, looking steadily into the eyes of the head of the army. "It was kind and considerate of you to admit me to the fortress-no matter in what capacity, especially at a critical time like this. You did not know me, you had no way of telling whether my intentions were honest or otherwise, and yet I was permitted to go through the fort from end to end. No spy could wish for greater generosity than that." An almost imperceptible smile went round the table, and every listener but one breathed more freely. The candor and boldness of the guard won the respect and confidence of all except Marlanx. The Iron Count was white with anger. He took the examination out of Lorry's hands, and plied the stranger with insulting questions, each calm answer making him more furious than before. At last, in sheer impotence, he relapsed into silence, waving his hand to Lorry to indicate that he might resume. "You will understand, Baldos, that we have some cause for apprehension," said Lorry, immensely gratified by the outcome of the tilt. "You are a stranger; and, whether you admit it or not, there is reason to believe that you are not what you represent yourself to be." "I am a humble guard at present, sir, and a loyal one. My life is yours should I prove otherwise." Yetive whispered... Views: 239
Long ago, the sorceress Lady Oonagh cast a curse over her own child. Now a druid, an ill-tempered raven and an adventurous young woman are drawn together as the time approaches for the evil magic to be undone. Fans of the Sevenwaters series will love this new episode, which fleshes out the history of druid Ciaran and his constant companion Fiacha. Views: 239
Unless Philip, Lord Pemberton, could arrange a six-month marriage he would lose his inheritance. But how could he find a respectable young lady to go along with such a scheme? Coincidentally, Madeline Delaware was desperate to escape from her dissolute uncle, so what better solution could there be? But the six-month marriage turned out to be far from the peaceful interlude that she had envisaged. And why, when the marriage was simply a convenient arrangement, did Madeline find it so difficult to think of its end? Views: 239
A delightful tale of victory against all odds from master storyteller, Michael Morpurgo, lavishly illustrated by Michael Foreman.
“Every fox in the whole town, in the whole country just about, is a football fan… And we all have an impossible dream.”
In a cosy den under a garden shed lives a family of foxes. They love to watch football – all foxes do. But their favourite team keeps losing and losing, and it seems like things will never look up.
That is, until Daddy Fox finds the ghost of a king, buried underneath a car park. A king who wishes only to be free.
“Release me,” says the Ghost King, “and I can do anything. Just tell me your greatest wish.”
For these football-loving foxes, might everything be about to change…? Views: 239
A writer finds wealth, fame, and sorrow in midcentury Manhattan in "a tremendous novel...full of wisdom and pain" by a #1 New York Times-bestselling author (Los Angeles Times). Arthur Youngblood Hawke, an ex-Navy man, moves from hardscrabble rural Kentucky to New York, hoping to make his mark on the literary world. His first novel becomes an instant hit, and he is toasted by critics and swept along on a tide of celebrity. But as he gives himself over to the lush life that gilds artistic success—indulging in an affair with an older married woman and a flirtation with his editor, dabbling in real estate developments as his second novel brings him massive wealth and even bigger opportunities—he will soon find himself in a self-destructive downward spiral. Inspired by the life of Thomas Wolfe, and spanning from the Manhattan publishing world to Hollywood to Europe, Youngblood Hawke is both a riveting saga of... Views: 239
Carina Mitela is still a young inexperienced officer in the Praetorian Guard Special Forces. Disgraced and smarting from a period in the cells for a disciplinary offence, she is sent out of everybody's way on a seemingly straightforward mission overseas. All she and her comrade-in-arms, Flavius, have to do is bring back a traitor from the Republic of Quebec. Under no circumstances will she risk entering the Eastern United States where she is still wanted under her old name Karen Brown. But when she and Flavius discover a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of Roma Nova, what price is personal danger against fulfilling the mission? Views: 239
The third instalment in Bernard Cornwell's King Alfred series, following on from the outstanding previous novels The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman, both of which were top ten bestsellers. The year is 878 and Wessex is free from the Vikings. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a Northumbrian lord, helped Alfred win that victory, but now he is disgusted by Alfred's lack of generosity and repelled by the king's insistent piety. He flees Wessex, going back north to seek revenge for the killing of his foster father and to rescue his stepsister, captured in the same raid. He needs to find his old enemy, Kjartan, a renegade Danish lord who lurks in the formidable stronghold of Dunholm. Uhtred arrives in the north to discover rebellion, chaos and fear. His only ally is Hild, a West Saxon nun fleeing her calling, and his best hope is his sword, with which he has made a formidable reputation as a warrior. He will need the assistance of other warriors if he is to attack Dunholm and he finds Guthred, a slave who believes he is a king. He takes him across the Pennines to where a desperate alliance of fanatical Christians and beleaguered Danes form a new army to confront the terrible Viking lords who rule Northumbria. 'The Lords of the North' is a powerful story of betrayal, romance and struggle, set in an England of turmoil, upheaval and glory. Uhtred, a Northumbrian raised as a Viking, a man without lands, a warrior without a country, has become a splendid heroic figure. Views: 239
Grace Russell, at fourteen, has already had to adjust to a devastating accident from which she'll never recover. Now she and her newly single mother are leaving their suburban home for Flambards house, out in the Essex countryside. The house has a long history, and Grace's mother is to work there for the summer – an exciting new opportunity. But, for Grace, everything feels wrong. She's doesn't want yet another change. However, in spite of herself, she find herself becoming involved with two boys: Jamie, who leads her down a path of thrilling freedom, and the deeply troubled Marcus, who is dealing with his difficult, potentially violent father. Over time, Grace discovers her own links to the house and landscape she has just arrived in, and in turn, her own place in the world. Views: 239
All the passions and intrigues of Bonaparte's court are seen through the eyes of a silk merchant's daughter from Marseilles, a young woman who became Napoleon's fiancee and, ultimately, the Queen of Sweden.First published in 1953. Views: 239
New York Times bestselling author Hannah Howell brings the proud heart of Scotland to life in her magnificent novels. Now the seven MacEnroy brothers are about to take America by storm . . . Off the New England coast, courageous Mehitabel Ampleford wields a rifle to protect her home from a brutish band of men who are after her land. She will not be intimidated, but their attacks are growing fiercer, and just as their latest confrontation threatens violence, a bold stranger appears out of the ocean mists to send the raiders packing. Geordie MacEnroy has seen the ravages of war in his mountain town—and in the injuries suffered by his youngest brother; now, his restless soul is calling him to find sanctuary by the sea. His long journey to the beautiful coastline of his adopted homeland feels like a new beginning as lovely Mehitabel, so wise and self-sufficient, offers blessed hope for healing his brother's wounds. Geordie envisions a beautiful... Views: 238
