Nile's thoughts blunced in shock as she saw the beings below her in the trees.Parahuans....She stared at the bulky amphibious creatures. The bluish-gray torsos and powerful arms were enclosed by webbings of straps, holding tools and weapons. The bulging eyes on the big round heads were double-lensed....Some seventy years ago the Parahuans had come out of space to launch simultaneous attacks against a dozen worlds of the Hub. They'd done considerable damage, but in the end their forces were pulled back; and it was believed that only insignificant remnants had survived to return to their undiscovered home worlds.And we became careless, Nile thought. We felt we were so big no one would dare attack again. . .. Views: 78
Matthew Phipps Shiell – known as M. P. Shiel – was a prolific British writer of West Indian descent. His legal surname remained "Shiell" though he adopted the shorter version as a de facto pen name. He is remembered mostly for supernatural and scientific romances. His work was published as serials, novels, and as short stories. The Purple Cloud (1901; 1929) remains his most famous and often reprinted novel. Views: 77
A guard and a thief. What could go wrong?Aik has fallen hopelessly in love with his best friend. But Raven's a thief, which makes things ... complicated. Oh, and Raven has just been kidnapped by a dragon.Now Aik is off on a quest of his own, to hunt down the foul beast and make them give back his ... friend? Lover? Soulmate? The whole not-knowing thing just makes everything harder.Meanwhile, the world of Tharassas is falling apart, besieged by earthquakes, floods, and strange creatures no one has ever seen before. Aik's ex, Silya has gone back to Gullton to do try to save her people as the Hencha Queen, and Aik's stuck in a caravan with her mother and a damnable magical gauntlet that won't let him be. He has to find Raven, before it's too late.Things were messy before ... but now they're much, much worse. Views: 77
Miranda Chase—the autistic heroine you didn't expect. Fighting the battles no one else could win. Revenge? A terrorist attack? Or a declaration of war? The head of the Senate Armed Services Committee lies dead. The murder weapon? An Air Force jet deliberately crashed into his DC hotel room. Half a world away in the South China Sea, an F-35C Lightning II — America's newest fighter jet — crashes during landing. It cripples the aircraft supercarrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. An accident? Or China's next move toward world domination? Miranda Chase and her NTSB air-crash investigation team are spread thin as they struggle to unravel multiple horrific crashes at once — and halt a global firestorm before it burns them all. Worst of all? The next target could be Miranda herself. "Miranda is utterly compelling!" - Booklist, starred review"Escape Rating: A.... Views: 77
The Love Secrets of Don Juan sees self-pitying ad executive Daniel "Spike" Savage midway through a messy divorce at 45. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Beth, has the house in Hammersmith and custody of their daughter, Poppy. Daniel has been left with a bedsit in perpetually unfashionable Acton and a burning desire to understand why all his relationships with women end in miserable failure.
A few words of wisdom come from old friend Carol, best mate Martin and his therapist Terence but with a blind-ish date looming, Daniel takes more drastic action. He embarks on refining his identity or "brand statement" in the forlorn hope that he'll stand a better chance with the opposite sex--as he quips: "Interesting that 'opposite'. As in diametrically opposed. Not the different sex. The opposite sex." With his trusty flip chart and black marker pens he starts to analyse the lessons he has learned from each love affair--a project he dubs, ironically, The Love Secrets of Don Juan.
To begin with, Tim Lott's third novel seems to mine a furrow of laddishness all but exhausted in the late 90s by Nick Hornby and numerous stand-up comedians, invariably called Jeff. Daniel's "Women, oh they're different, aren't they?" shtick hardly appears original; while Lott's take on the ostracised "Good Dad" is pure Parsons. But Lott is a significantly better novelist than the above would suggest. His plotting can be hackneyed but this is a book full of acute humour and observations--one recurring and insistent theme is the contrast of male literalness and feminine symbolism. Daniel is richly drawn and as he negotiates the modern dating (and parenting) game, his articulate, first person narrative, peppered with brand names and marketing argot, really captures a man struggling to understand his life, love and the infuriating nuances of gender. --Travis Elborough Views: 77
The world's past and future rests in the hands of five unwitting strangers in this time-traveling, mind-bending speculative thriller from the author of the bestselling Origin Mystery trilogyEn route to London from New York, Flight 305 suddenly loses power and crash-lands in the English countryside, plunging a group of strangers into a mysterious adventure that will have repercussions for all of humankind.Struggling to stay alive, the survivors soon realize that the world they've crashed in is very different from the one they left. But where are they? Why are they here? And how will they get back home? Five passengers seem to hold clues about what's really going on: writer Harper Lane, venture capitalist Nick Stone, German genetic researcher Sabrina Schröder, computer scientist Yul Tan, and Grayson Shaw, the son of a billionaire philanthropist.As more facts about the crash emerge, it becomes clear that some in this group know more than they're... Views: 77
A rebel keen to shed his past. A reluctant hero searching for her future. Will two opposing powers help or hinder their efforts? Dom and Anya return to the Sect as heroes, a place where the pair struggle to fit in. When the Corp controlling the Sects calls for cadets to join, both teens grasp the opportunity for a fresh start. Separated from Anya, a heavy training schedule awaits Dom. When a mysterious letter appears mentioning his dead father's shady past, it sends fresh grief the rebel's way. The demands of a clandestine group soon put his and Anya's life at risk, as well as his career at the Corp. On her first Corp training mission, Anya is sent to dangerous Exiled territory. After getting separated from her team, she stumbles upon terrifying new company. With no help coming and a new threat looming, the worried teen questions who she can trust. Can Anya escape and identify the true enemy? Can Dom play... Views: 77
