Showing results by narrator "Stewart Crank" in All Categories

James Joyce is one of the greatest writers in English. His first book, A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man, laid down the template for the coming of age novel, while his collection of short stories, Dubliners, is of perennial interest. His great modern epic, Ulysses, took the city of Dublin for its setting and all human life for its subject, and its publication marked the beginning of the modern novel. Joyce's final work, Finnegans Wake, is an experiment in narrative and language. But if Joyce is a great writer he is also the most difficult writer in English.

I came to Venaris to save my people, but it comes with a price…a mate who isn’t fated to be mine. King Aeson offers everything I’ve now failed to deliver as queen: stability, safety, and salvation for my pack. Agreeing to his treaty—and to bond with him—feels like the only way to make things right. Except something unknown lingers within these walls. The castle hums with secrets, and while Aeson does his best to distract me with grand gestures, there’s a mysterious force in the shadows. One that leads me to a truth I never saw coming.

Four close friends, each with very different professional careers, enjoy their collective time together, reconnecting after Martin's recovery from a recent illness. Within 48 hours, two are dead, one is unconscious in the hospital, and the fourth is charged with double murder and attempted murder.

It’s not just a box: it’s an ancient weapon capable of destroying entire cities. Deep within the badlands, warped and twisted by tainted magic and weirdlings, the box holds secret wisdom lost in the Cataclysm. The archaeologists who discovered it are selling it to the highest bidder. If it falls into the wrong hands, their fragile civilization’s uneasy peace will be shattered once and for all. John and his fellow adventurers are hired to steal this ancient artifact so it can be safely destroyed. Stealing it is one thing; surviving it is another.

Once, there was a shining civilization grounded on magic, with sorcerers, flying cities, iron ships, castles in the clouds, and wonders beyond the dreams of mortal men. Then, in a single cataclysmic moment fifty years ago, magic flared and the wondrous world came to an end. The few who survived are struggling to reclaim what they lost. Meanwhile, darker forces plot to shape the future to something more to their liking.

The Bleep Test combines gripping and startlingly vulnerable recollections of early experiences on the wards with an array of research findings, from psychology and human biology to anthropology, business, and behavioral economics.

The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. The Prince is sometimes claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the "effectual" truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. It is also notable for being in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time, particularly those concerning politics and ethics.

1989 heralded a unique prospect for an enduring global peace, as harsh ideological divisions and conflicts began to be resolved. Now, three decades on, that peace has been lost. With war in Ukraine and increasing tensions between China, Russia, and the West, great power politics once again dominates the world stage. But could it have been different? Richard Sakwa shows how the years before the first mass invasion of Ukraine represented a hiatus in conflict rather than a lasting accord—and how, since then, we have been in a 'Second Cold War'.

Adrian knows he should be thankful. He's got his new eyes and some decent runner training. He escaped from the insane doctor who forcibly swapped his arms for cyber-eldritch limbs, and he did it with the help of the doctor's own daughter. Now he just wants to lie low and live out the rest of his eldritch-human life in peace. But in Adrian's world, peace is not an option.

Nick hates it when people call him a genius. Sure, he's going to Cambridge University aged fifteen, but he says that's just because he works hard. And, secretly, he only works hard to get some kind of attention from his workaholic father. Not that his strategy is working. When he arrives at Cambridge, he finds the work hard and socializing even harder. Until, that is, he starts to cox for the college rowing crew and all hell breaks loose.

While hunting for an old time capsule that his grandma once buried in the woods, Max never expects to discover the home of a small magical creature. Nor does he expect that magical creature to have an extensive collection of lost items, all catalogued and labelled. Yet this is how he meets Tuftorious Snook, collector of lost objects, and just one of the many Finders living in Silverthorn Forest.

Fourteen-year-old Jaime Pappas expects to live the remainder of his life on the chilly Alps of the Air Kingdom. But he doesn't expect the king's men to arrive to his farmstead - or burn his brother for treason. Forced to run, Jaime's world upends when he discovers a chilling prophecy that will call him to exchange his farmer’s cowl for a crown.

Daisy meets Adam on their first day of university. Immediately, they become friends. But when tongues wag and their relationship is questioned, Adam shares his secret with Daisy, who promises to stand by him. When their grandmother dies, Adam’s older brother Ryan returns from abroad, and Daisy quickly falls for him. After a troubled upbringing at the hands of a drunken mother and jailbird father, Adam and Ryan have only each other. In adulthood, their bond holds firm, glued together by Daisy with whom they are now both in love. 

Raul has a destiny: claim his birthright as the last surviving heir of King Balbainus and lead his conquered people to freedom. The signs are all there—his birthmark, in the shape of Balbainus’ halfmoon and dagger sigil, the gemstone-hilted sword he found in his parents’ inn, and the...

Our politics are broken; our world is melting; the next catastrophe looms. Enter James Parker, who for years now has been writing odes of appreciation on subjects from the seemingly minor ("Ode to Naps") to the unexpected ("Ode to Giving People Money") to the seemingly minor, unexpected, and hyperspecific ("Ode to Running in Movies"). Finally collecting Parker's beloved and much-lauded odes in one place, this volume demonstrates the profound power of the form.

Heretics is a collection of 20 essays and articles by G. K. Chesterton, in which he appraises prominent figures of his time in the worlds of literature and the arts. He scrutinises the work of luminaries such as George Bernard Shaw, Rudyard Kipling, and H. G. Wells with insight and wit, criticizing those who hold incomplete and flawed views of "life, the universe, and everything".

With war threatening to shatter Ivearth's 500 years of peace, Prince Xavier embarks on a perilous quest to the mystical isle of Hom to claim a dragon and secure his place as king. But a dragon can only bond with someone true to themselves, forcing Xavier to confront his deepest fears. His truth, if revealed, could destroy the monarchy, the kingdom, and the faith he serves.

An inside look at the early lives of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, This Boy is a perfect book for any young reader embracing their inner Beatlemania. Meant for younger readers, This Boy is a gripping biography of two musical legends. Beginning with their births during World War II England and...

Those Jensen boys, Ace and Chance, find themselves on the wrong side of the law—and the raw end of justice—inside the meanest, dirtiest prison in the Arizona territory. When a barroom brawl lands Ace and Chance Jensen in jail, it’s just the beginning of a nightmare that will never end. Their jailmates are army deserters. Even worse, their jailers assume Ace and Chance are deserters, too. Which earns them even more hard time—on a brutal prison chain gang.

Ever since Renie Mayfield survived the merciless attack on Belle Morte that killed donors and vampires alike, she is forever changed. Now a vampire, the agonizing transformation of her body and mind is rivaled only by uncovering the horrific truth about her sister, June, who has escaped the mansion in her rabid form, adding even more chaos to Renie's reality.