Showing results by narrator "Thomas" in All Categories

"Much attention has been paid to the "scientific romance" novels of H. G. Wells, a founder of modern science fiction and one of the genre's greatest writers. In comparison, little attention has been given by critics to his works of fantasy, which in the opinion of many, are just as artistic and worthy of study. This work takes a critical look at Wells' little known fantasy "The Sea Lady": A Tissue of Moonshine, which is "a parable of dark foreboding that unveils the nothingness of utopian dreams" and foreshadows Franz Kafka's dark fables of the totalitarian age.

The Burning is the sixth thrilling installment in Matthew Hall's twice CWA Gold Dagger nominated Coroner Jenny Cooper series, from the creator of BBC One's Keeping Faith. A family tragedy. A buried secret. What lies hidden in the flames? A dense, bitterly cold fog has settled over the Wye Valley...

When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan without consciousness, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos. Shai is given an impossible task: to create - to Forge - a new soul for the emperor in less than 100 days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors. 

One drink. Three maniacal mates. Drink me. This is no ordinary task. It’s a compatibility test. A way for the Silver King to find a suitable mate. All because he needs an heir. Every eligible maiden in the kingdom has to drink. Including little old me—Ailsa Marvel—a simple mortal living in a land of magic and wonder. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would become the Chosen Omega. But the moment I swallow, I find myself falling down, down, down and landing in the middle of mayhem. Monsterland is in disarray. Everyone is hunting the Silver King’s salvation. His intended.

With the invading aliens temporarily driven from Human-and-NeHaw-occupied space, all the races are using the pause to recover and rebuild, both friend and foe alike. For the NeHaw, that means pressuring the Earth to allow them to rebuild and rearm their fleet from the Wawobash shipyards, a risk that could easily backfire. For Jake, the lingering concerns of a lost crew with the un-activated Artificial Life installed in the captured saucer still dominate his thoughts. 

For three extraordinary seasons at Bayern Munich, Marti Perarnau was given total access around the German super club - to its players, its backroom staff, its board members and, above all, its manager, Pep Guardiola. In the follow-up to his critically acclaimed account of Guardiola's first full season at Bayern, Pep Confidential, Perarnau now lifts the lid on the Catalan's whole tenure in Bavaria.

For time out of mind, bloodthirsty demons have stalked the night, culling the human race to scattered remnants dependent on half-forgotten magics to protect them. Then two heroes arose - men as close as brothers, yet divided by bitter betrayal. Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat - and emerge victorious.

The instructions were clear. Go into the enemy compound and leave no one alive. My brother is the head of the family, and he makes the calls. Normally I'd go along with it, but not this time. I find Abruzzo’s youngest daughter, a stunning redhead, cowering under a table, and decide I want her in my cage.

Matt's in the prime of his life. So when his doctor tells him he only has months to live, he figures it's just really bad luck. But it's about to get a whole lot worse. When Matt's Earthly form finally expires, a truck-avatar system gives him the opportunity to become a hero on the paradise world of Gaia, a supposedly verdant, rich land teeming with plants and potential. What he finds instead is a place completely bereft of life. A literal dead planet. Thanks a lot, truck.

Thomas Dolby's hit songs 'She Blinded Me with Science' and 'Hyperactive!' catapulted him to international fame in the early '80s. A pioneer of new wave and electronica, Thomas combined a love for invention with a passion for music, and the result was a new sound that defined an era of revolutionary music. But as record company politics overshadowed the joy of performing, Thomas found a surprising second act.

Eva Ibbotson's charming and warm-hearted tale, The Secret Countess, was originally published as A Countess Below Stairs. Anna, a young countess, has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart...

One misstep is all it takes to forever change the lives of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. During the ball at Netherfield Park, Elizabeth, and Mr. Darcy are irretrievably compromised and forced to marry. Angered beyond reason, Mr. Darcy prepares the vilest marriage settlement known to man, forcing Mr. Bennet to accept his terms or suffer the consequences of ruined reputations and unwed daughters.

It's storytime! Join Mother Goose and her three little goslings as they enjoy over fifty classic nursery rhymes, traditional lullabies and favourite action songs. The rhymes are linked together by enchanting original stories about Mother Goose and her goslings as they learn to waddle, swim and...

A BBC radio collection of full-cast dramatisations, bringing together Edith Wharton’s most popular and best-loved works. 

Caim makes his living on the edge of a blade, but when a routine job goes south, he is thrust into the middle of an insidious plot. Pitted against crooked lawmen, rival killers, and sorcery from the Other Side, his only allies are Josephine, the socialite daughter of his last victim, and Kit, a guardian spirit no one else can see. But in this fight for his life, Caim only trusts his knives and his instincts, but they won't be enough when his quest for justice leads him from Othir's hazardous back alleys to its shining corridors of power. 

The Chosen Dead is the fifth gripping installment in Matthew Hall's twice CWA Gold Dagger nominated Coroner Jenny Cooper series, from the creator of BBC One's Keeping Faith. An unlikely suicide or a deadly conspiracy? When Bristol Coroner Jenny Cooper investigates the fatal plunge of a man from...

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Inner Life of Animals by Peter Wohlleben, read by Thomas Judd. Mother deer that grieve? Horses that feel shame? Squirrels that adopt their grandchildren? We humans tend to assume that we are the only living things able to experience feelings...

>The Spook, Tom, and Alice return from Greece to find the County under siege - and the Spook's home burnt to the ground. With his precious library of knowledge destroyed, they seek refuge on the nearby island of Mona. But with Mona in the thrall of a twisted Shaman there is little respite from hostility or denizens of the dark. And as Alice dodges the ever-tightening net of the island's witch hunters, a more deadly enemy emerges. Bony Lizzie, escaped from the Spook's bonds, has grand ambitions of taking the throne.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989, Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education is a semi-autobiographical novel that tells the story of Billi, a girl growing up in Europe between the two World Wars. Upon the death of her German baron father, Billi moves from the family château to live with her vibrant and erratic English mother on the French Riviera. From there she is sent for schooling in England, where she lives an itinerant life, boarding among a bohemian crowd, attending galleries and public lectures, and reading some of the greatest books of the era.

Thomas Heatherwick shows how design has a profound effect on our mental and physical health, the climate, as well as the peace and cohesion of societies. He shows how a flawed idea of utility and 'efficiency' has engulfed our towns and cities and hardened into a form of bland minimalism. But it doesn't have to be this way: there are other ways to build - with the power to lift our spirits, engage and connect us.