Showing results by narrator "John Keating" in All Categories

Sherlock Holmes is the most famous fictional detective in history, with a popularity that has never waned since catching the imagination of his late-Victorian readership. This companion explores Holmes' popularity and his complex relationship to the late-Victorian and modernist periods; on one hand bearing the imprint of a range of Victorian anxieties and preoccupations, while on the other shaping popular conceptions of criminality, deviance, and the powers of the detective.

In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dicatorship. Then a bomb explodes in a London suburb. The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch king-and-country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain's prime minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler.

In 1941 the European war ended in the Farthing Peace, a rapprochement between Britain and Nazi Germany. The balls and banquets of Britain's upper class never faltered, while British ships ferried undesirables across the Channel to board the cattle cars headed east. Peter Carmichael is commander of the Watch, Britain's distinctly British secret police. Its his job to warn the Prime Minister of treason, to arrest plotters, and to discover Jews.

Lyonesse: a world formed by magic, where a dark power struggle is underway between an ancient sorceress with her shadow army and the human subjects of Lyonesse's power-mad wizard. The only spark of hope is a prophecy that tells of a Defender who will one day come and set things to right. Young Meb doesn't think she's obligated to be the prophesied Defender of Lyonesse, but she is adept at the universe-folding skill of Planomancy and has been trained by a world-walking troubleshooter of the multiverse, the great Dragon Fionn himself.

At the heart of the Dark Zone, a duel for the universe rages. In an ancient Jorian temple, Jaqi faces John Starfire, the new ruler of the Empire. He has set all the worlds aflame in his quest to destroy humankind. Jaqi has sworn to stop him. Problem is, Jaqi isn't much of a fighter. Meanwhile, the sun-eating cosmic spiders, the Shir, have moved out of the Dark Zone and are consuming the galaxy.

Shadow Sun Seven continues Spencer Ellsworth's Starfire trilogy, an action-packed space opera in which the oppressed half-Jorian crosses have risen up to supplant humanity. Jaqi, Araskar, and Z are on the run from everyone - the Resistance, the remnants of the Empire, the cyborg Suits, and right now from the Matakas - and the Matakas are the most pressing concern because the insectoid aliens have the drop on them. The Resistance has a big reward out for Araskar and the human children he and Jaqi are protecting.

In the aftermath of the Battle of the Crossroads, Bran convinces the few warriors who remain to gather their families and live as one clan under his leadership. Together they abandon their villages and unite under a new sigil - the Sacred Oak of the Crossroads - no longer referring to themselves as Easterners, Northerners, or Southerners but simply as "Oaks."

Inside his home in Derry, Joe Logan's life is ruled by his tormented father; outside, by the tension and violence of the Troubles. Sometimes his father makes him run errands despite the nearby reports of gunfire. Other times his mother, afraid to be alone with her volatile and war-wounded husband, confines Joe to the home. A bright and sensitive young man, Joe finds solace and freedom in writing - a pursuit encouraged by Kathleen Doherty, a young teacher at a nearby school whom he meets and befriends.

Born to an aristocratic family on an estate outside of Dublin, Alexander Moore feels the constraints of his position most acutely in his friendship with Jerry Crowe, a Catholic laborer in town. Jerry is one of the few bright spots in Alec's otherwise troubled life. The boys bond over their love of swimming and horses, despite the admonitions of Alec's cold and overbearing mother, who scolds her son for venturing outside of his class.

As the Order celebrates its union with the crown, a founding member of the secret society plots its demise. Wanting to use the potential of the Soul Stones - legendary relics of unspeakable power - Victor gathers his supporters to rise against the Prophet and all those who wish for the stones' existence to be kept unknown. Caught between his duty and his heart, Lucian must either stand with Victor and betray his fellow brethren, or take his true love, Sarie, and leave it all behind.

The great warrior Bran has been called home from the battlefield to his mother's deathbed, where he vows to solve the strange mystery surrounding what fatally attacked her in the night. He travels to the Crossroads, seeking the wise counsel of Talhaiarn, high priest and advisor to his clan, where he learns similar attacks have been reported by clans to the north and east.

Eighteen years have passed since the rebellion within the Order. The once peaceful kingdom is now in turmoil, and its citizens seek a savior. Emerging from the shadows, a dangerous man sets his master plan in motion - one that will elevate him to the highest political position in the realm and give him power over the masses. Only the prophet and the rest of the Order stand in his way.

Jaleh Swann, a business journalist hot on the trail of an auditor who was mugged and killed, lands in the hospital just one day after her Portland apartment is ransacked. When Jaleh’s sister, Raziah, reaches out to an old friend for help, Dez has no choice but to answer. The Swann sisters have been pulled into a dizzying web of cover-ups and danger. At the center lies an insidious Oregon-based tech corporation, Clockjack, which has enough money and hired guns to silence just about anyone—including this rag-tag trio.

A hideous beast with glowing red eyes ambushes Bryn on his way home through the forest. After a narrow escape, the sixteen-year-old must flee with his foster father Gerald to the only place that promises safety: Âlaburg University, where humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs come together to study the colors of magic.

The moving story of an Irish immigrant's life from a poverty-stricken childhood in Ireland to becoming a captain of industry, After the Roof Caved In is a powerful, poignant look at how hard work and education enabled one young man to change his life and circumstances completely.

Alex and a ragtag group of soldiers set down on an isolated island and begin to build a base. A lack of resources means that everyone is going to have to risk their life to gather the essentials needed for survival. Raiding parties are sent on missions deep into the heart of zombie territory. Some will return, while others will be lost forever to the hoards of undead that roam the mainland.

A deceptive victory, for with the opening of the World Gate, a path to Razuklan is also opened for the Master of Souls and his White Vonynen. The only one who can stop them is Leik, but his fate hangs in the balance, for suddenly the magical colors of the sphere turn against him. Every spell could mean his death. And that doesn't go unnoticed by his enemies either...

Explore diverse new universes of possibility through a variety of creative and fresh new ideas - all in one anthology. From dragons to mythical death dealers, from murder on the moon to deep space mystery, these stories bring you the hot new talent in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Anthony Hope's swashbuckling classic tale of adventure and romance: Ruritania, a beautiful kingdom in the mountains between Germany and Austria, is in the midst of a power struggle. On one side is the alcoholic lay-about crown prince, Rudolf - popular with the upper class and army - and on the other is his half-brother, Michael, who has the love of the common people. The struggle reaches a new fervor at Rudolf's coronation, when Michael kidnaps his brother and takes him to the Castle of Zenda. Now the only thing in the way of Black Michael's plan is a confused distant cousin in England.

Lady Shona, the newly crowned queen of the realm, is a leader without a throne. Pursued relentlessly by a dark force, her small contingent of loyal followers must make a difficult choice - flee or fight. Determined to save her land from nefarious threats, Lady Shona decides that she must seek out the enemy and attack them head-on - a strategy that leads back to the region of the Three Valleys, where Hyam was born.