Showing results by narrator "Richard Aspel" in All Categories

Chatsworth is no ordinary duck. He can: read an encyclopedia at a single glance, eat toast faster than you can butter it, save Mr. Piccoli's pet shop from financial ruin without ruffling a feather, and solve mysterious crimes in the blink of an eye. And he's a whiz at making friends, too. Chatsworth, a duck for our times!

Yukin and his mate, Yulen, flee their campsite when Akcarum slave-traders attack. Unable to escape the Akcarum hunter birds, they are caught and transported to Quentaris. On their journey through the rift caves Yukin discovers a power that taps into the senses of insects and animals. But can it save them in time?

Rad de La'rel is a street urchin who yearns to be a guide to adventurers in the rift caves of Quentaris. But before he can claim his birthright, he must escape the Thieves' Guild and the notorious Vindon Nibhelline with the help of his friend Tulcia. Only then will he be proclaimed the greatest guide since his ancestor, the legendary Nathine de La'rel.

Andrew Kinnear has dreamt of becoming a ship's engineer and traveling the world. But as his apprenticeship at Dalrossan Dockyard begins, he quickly realizes there is much more to his dream that he's bargained for. There are unwritten rules in his new workplace that he will break at his peril, a fearsome pecking order, and strange rites of initiation.

Jonathon Bridge has the corner office, the tailored suits and the impeccable pedigree. He has a fascinating wife, a child on the way and a string of nubile lovers on the side. He's a man who's going places. His world is our world: the same chaos and sprawl, haves and have-nots, men and women, skyscrapers and billboards. But it also exists alongside a vast, self-sustaining city-state called The Fortress where the indigenous inhabitants - the Vaik - continue to live much as they have always done.

Van Diemen's Land was an island of stark contrasts; a harsh penal colony, an English idyll for its landed gentry, and an island so rich in natural resources it was a profiteer's paradise. Its capital Hobart Town had its contrasts too; the wealthy elite in their sandstone mansions, the exploited poor in the notorious slum known as Wapping, and the criminals and villains who haunted the dockside taverns and brothels of Sullivan's Cove.

Jesse Flood is 14 and coming to terms with lots of things. But coming to terms with himself and how he fits in with the world is not going to be too easy for Jesse. He thinks he is doubtful, timid and too gentle - but he is also courageous and brave and when faced with difficult choices he is good at making them. For example he knows he likes a girl with lovely long yellow hair - and he is going to let her know! In Jesse Flood, Malachy Doyle has created an enchanting and utterly believable young man who we watch with concern and admiration growing up over the course of one summer.