Discover myths. folklore, fables and legends.Traditional tales often thought to have basis in historical fact.
Myths & Legends Books
WW Norton & Co The Daughters: A Novel
Book SynopsisWhen Lulu was a child, her grandmother Ada filled her head with fables of the family’s enchanted history in the Polish countryside. Each mother in their family has been given a daughter but each daughter has exacted an essential cost from her mother. Adrienne Celt infuses The Daughters with the spirit of the rusalka, a bewitching figure of Polish mythology that inspired Dvorák’s classic opera. A tapestry of secrets, affairs and unimaginable sacrifices, it reveals a family legacy laced with the resonant ancestral lore that binds each mother to the one who came before.Trade Review"Written in a dreamy, mystical key... Celt’s novel acknowledges the radical shift of motherhood on a lusty, dark note." -- The Guardian
£12.34
WW Norton & Co Aladdin: A New Translation
Book SynopsisLong defined by film adaptations that have portrayed Aladdin as a simplistic rags-to-riches story for children, this work of dazzling imagination—and occasionally dark themes—now comes to vibrant new life. “In the capital of one of China’s vast and wealthy kingdoms”, begins Shahrazad, there lived Aladdin, a rebellious fifteen-year-old who falls prey to a double-crossing sorcerer and is ultimately saved by a princess. One of the best-loved folktales of all time, Aladdin has been capturing the imagination of readers, illustrators and filmmakers since an eighteenth-century French publication first added the tale to The Arabian Nights. Here is an elegant, eminently readable rendition of Aladdin in what is destined to be a classic for decades to come.Trade Review"It’s not every day you come across a new translation of The Arabian Nights, but the French Syrian writer, Yasmine Seale, has rendered afresh the 18th-century version of Aladdin by Antoine Galland, and has done a cracking job..." -- Family favourites: children’s books for Christmas reviewed - The Spectator"... an elegant new version of Aladdin..." -- Times Literary Supplement"... a charming rendition of Aladdin..." -- The National
£18.99
Reaktion Books Arthur: God and Hero in Avalon
Book SynopsisFor fifteen centuries, legends of King Arthur have inspired generations. In the misty past of a Britain under siege, half-remembered events became shrouded in ancient myth and folklore. The resulting tales were told and retold, until over time Arthur, Camelot, Avalon, the Round Table, the Holy Grail, Excalibur, Lancelot and Guinevere all became instantly recognizable icons. Along the way, Arthur's life and times were recast in the mould of the hero's journey: his miraculous conception at Tintagel through the magical intercession of his shaman guide, Merlin; the childhood deed of pulling the Sword from the Stone through which Arthur was anointed King; the Quest for the Holy Grail, the most sacred object in Christendom; the betrayal of Arthur by his wife and champion; and the apocalyptic battle between Good and Evil, ending with Arthur's journey to the Otherworld. Arthur: God and Hero in Avalon views Arthur in terms of comparative mythology, and argues that the Once and Future King remains relevant because his story speaks so eloquently about universal human needs and anxieties. The book discusses the tales of King Arthur, from the very earliest versions to the most recent film and television adaptations, and offers readers an insight into why Arthur remains so popular.
£15.20
Collective Ink Bridge to the Other Side, A
Book SynopsisA Bridge to the Other Side is a collection of articles and traditional folk tales that deal with our feelings about and attitudes towards Death, both our own death and that of those nearest and dearest to us. A bridge between earth and heaven, this world and the next, features in the mythology of many different peoples. For example, in Norse legends, Bifrost or Bilrost is a burning rainbow bridge between Midgard, the world, and Asgard, the realm of the gods. The bridge is known as Bilrost in the Poetic Edda; compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and as Bifrost in the Prose Edda; written in the 13th century by Snorri Stureuson. Both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda alternately refer to the bridge as Asbru (Old Norse Esirs means bridge). The Persians believed in a bridge between earth and paradise too. In his prayers the penitent in his confession would say: I am wholly without doubt in the existence of the Mazdayacnian faith; in the coming of the resurrection of the latter body; in the stepping over the bridge Chinvat; as well as in the continuance of paradise.Trade ReviewThis book, which is a collection of material of different type and origin - ancient folk-tales, myths, poems, even jokes about Death concentrate on the different ways Death is represented in different cultures...after reading it one will want to think about their lives and the numbers of good deeds performed as well as look at Death with less fear! (Professor Manana Rusieshvili, Tbilisi State University, Georgia) his is a fascinating collection , and one that had a profound effect on me. M. Berman has taken folktales and articles from a wide variety of cultural traditions, and these greatly enhance the power of his book. (David Byham, President of MENSA, Geneva)
£11.99
Collective Ink Mistfall in the Grove of Dreams
Book SynopsisEleventh century England; life is hard. A young boy is identified as a 'wyrd one' and is sent into the forest to know the ways of the Mist. Learning that life does not work the way he had believed, he takes his first steps on a journey into understanding the purpose of his own life and the dangers inherent in a life lived without spirit. Part adventure, part fable, Mistfall in the Grove of Dreams is a story of the great Mysteries which have been taught all over the world for thousands of years, retold for our times.
£11.77
Collective Ink Staff of Laurel, Staff of Ash: Sacred Landscapes
Book SynopsisAt the crossroads of nature and the human imagination, Earth is sentient, fertile, and eloquent. When ancient goddesses, outcasts, heroes, and poets speak, they speak on her behalf to reveal living myths that first enchanted sacred landscapes. Their primal stories emerge from wilderness and rise from buried libraries to jolt us awake. We meet a lone goddess battling fifty giants, a beguiling wife who is secretly a serpent, a radiant lyre about to sing her own poetry, and an ogre whose heart is his forest. When oaks and rivers call for justice, when furies and monsters counter king and plow, let us turn our ear to hear. As we listen, mythic fragments lead us from marble palaces to nymph-haunted gardens, on a quest that teems with strange immortals. Along the way, a goddess of desolation, a mistress of animals, ash tree spirits, and a trickster water god appear as guides. Primeval green wisdom emerges from abyss, forest, and borderland, hidden in myths we almost lost forever, in ancient images that say things we no longer can.
£13.99
Collective Ink Into Shadow: The Tallan Chronicles
Book SynopsisMuireann spent six months planning to kill the dragon that killed her family. Now the dragon is dead, and she's realized that it was actually the lesser threat guarding a devastating weapon that, if it falls into almost anyone's hands, will bring war and destruction to her world. It can't be left where it is. It can't be hidden. It can't be trusted in the hands of anyone in power or who seeks power. Muireann's only option becomes a reluctant quest with the elf she rescued from the dragon, a would-be knight, a selkie, and an elven mage to find out as much as she can about the weapon and seek a way to understand the magic that created it. Pursued by a dragon-worshipping cult bent on revenge and a hidden enemy that will do anything to remake the world, the five friends must try to find answers before all is lost. Muireann thought that killing a dragon was going to be impossible. Saving the world is going to be much harder.
£18.04
Arlen House Eachtraí Asail: Mémoires d’un Ȃne
£14.25
Rutgers University Press On the Turtle's Back: Stories the Lenape Told
Book SynopsisThe Lenape tribe, also known as the Delaware Nation, lived for centuries on the land that English colonists later called New Jersey. But once America gained its independence, they were forced to move further west: to Indiana, then Missouri, and finally to the territory that became Oklahoma. These reluctant migrants were not able to carry much from their ancestral homeland, but they managed to preserve the stories that had been passed down for generations. On the Turtle’s Back is the first collection of Lenape folklore, originally compiled by anthropologist M. R. Harrington over a century ago but never published until now. In it, the Delaware share their cherished tales about the world’s creation, epic heroes, and ordinary human foibles. It features stories told to Harrington by two Lenape couples, Julius and Minnie Fouts and Charles and Susan Elkhair, who sought to officially record their legends before their language and cultural traditions died out. More recent interviews with Lenape elders are also included, as their reflections on hearing these stories as children speak to the status of the tribe and its culture today. Together, they welcome you into their rich and wondrous imaginative world. Trade ReviewExclusive Interview on All of It with Alison Stewart: "A New Collection of Lenape Folklore" * WNYC *“With On the Turtle’s Back, Camilla Townsend and Nicky Kay Michael offer a stunning edition of Lenape stories that have been told through centuries of cultural practice. They outline key historical struggles in Lenape history to contextualize the meaningfulness of the survivance of those stories. They draw together creation, big house, learning, and other stories. “Told [to] their grandchildren” gestures to a past in which Lenape cared for their stories and a future in which those stories are still meaningful. It is the book I have yearned for as a Lenape person and scholar.” -- Joanne Barker * (Lenape [Delaware Tribe of Indians]), author of Red Scare: The Empire’s Indigenous Terrorist and Nat *“On the Turtle’s Back offers an engaging and previously unpublished collection of Lenape/Delaware stories narrated in the early twentieth century. The scholarship is strong, and the research is impressive; there is no comparable volume in the field.” -- Jean R. Soderlund * author of Separate Paths: Lenapes and Colonists in West New Jersey *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction: The Storytellers’ History 1 Creation Stories The Turtle’s Back The Seven Stars The Snow and Ice Boy The Girl Who Sounds the Thunders A Snake Legend [Julius Fouts] The Disappearance of Corn [Charles Elkhair] 2 Big House Stories The Misingwe [Charles Elkhair] Vision on the Kansas River [Charles Elkhair] The Future of the Big House [Charles Elkhair and Julius Fouts] Delaware Church [Julius Fouts] 3 Culture Heroes Ball Player [Julius Fouts] The Big Fish [Charles Elkhair] Wehixamukes (Strong Man) [Charles Elkhair] 4 Humans Learning Lessons Rock-Shut-Up [Charles Elkhair] Little Masks [Julius Fouts] He Is Everywhere (Wē ma tī gŭnīs) [Julius Fouts] 5 Talking to the Dead First Cause of the Feast for the Dead [Minnie Fouts] Talking to the Dead [Susan Elkhair] Lost Boy [Charles Elkhair’s daughter?] Otter Hide [Charles Elkhair?] 6 The Coming of the Whites The Coming of the White Men [Julius Fouts] Origination of White Men [Julius Fouts] Whites & Indians [Charles Elkhair] 7 Tales of Ordinary Life A Child’s Life [Julius Fouts] The Three Clans [Julius Fouts] The Origin of Stories An Afterword in Three Parts I What Happened to the Storytellers? II Four Elders at the End of the Twentieth Century Rosetta Coffey (September 17, 1997) Pat Donnell (September 20, 1997) Joanna Nichol (October 11, 1997) Bonnie Thaxton (August 19, 1997) III Today Appendix A: The Turtle’s Back (Iroquoian and Munsee Versions) Appendix B: Dutch Arrival at Manhattan (John Heckewelder’s Version) Appendix C: The Woman Who Wanted No One (as told to Truman Michelson) Appendix D: Elected Leaders of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, ca. 1800–Present Acknowledgments Glossary Notes Bibliography Index
£19.79
Rutgers University Press On the Turtle's Back: Stories the Lenape Told
Book SynopsisThe Lenape tribe, also known as the Delaware Nation, lived for centuries on the land that English colonists later called New Jersey. But once America gained its independence, they were forced to move further west: to Indiana, then Missouri, and finally to the territory that became Oklahoma. These reluctant migrants were not able to carry much from their ancestral homeland, but they managed to preserve the stories that had been passed down for generations. On the Turtle’s Back is the first collection of Lenape folklore, originally compiled by anthropologist M. R. Harrington over a century ago but never published until now. In it, the Delaware share their cherished tales about the world’s creation, epic heroes, and ordinary human foibles. It features stories told to Harrington by two Lenape couples, Julius and Minnie Fouts and Charles and Susan Elkhair, who sought to officially record their legends before their language and cultural traditions died out. More recent interviews with Lenape elders are also included, as their reflections on hearing these stories as children speak to the status of the tribe and its culture today. Together, they welcome you into their rich and wondrous imaginative world. Trade Review“With On the Turtle’s Back, Camilla Townsend and Nicky Kay Michael offer a stunning edition of Lenape stories that have been told through centuries of cultural practice. They outline key historical struggles in Lenape history to contextualize the meaningfulness of the survivance of those stories. They draw together creation, big house, learning, and other stories. “Told [to] their grandchildren” gestures to a past in which Lenape cared for their stories and a future in which those stories are still meaningful. It is the book I have yearned for as a Lenape person and scholar.”— Joanne Barker, (Lenape [Delaware Tribe of Indians]), author of Red Scare: The Empire’s Indigenous Terrorist and Nat Exclusive Interview on All of It with Alison Stewart: "A New Collection of Lenape Folklore"— WNYC “On the Turtle’s Back offers an engaging and previously unpublished collection of Lenape/Delaware stories narrated in the early twentieth century. The scholarship is strong, and the research is impressive; there is no comparable volume in the field.” — Jean R. Soderlund, author of Separate Paths: Lenapes and Colonists in West New JerseyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction: The Storytellers’ History 1 Creation Stories The Turtle’s Back The Seven Stars The Snow and Ice Boy The Girl Who Sounds the Thunders A Snake Legend [Julius Fouts] The Disappearance of Corn [Charles Elkhair] 2 Big House Stories The Misingwe [Charles Elkhair] Vision on the Kansas River [Charles Elkhair] The Future of the Big House [Charles Elkhair and Julius Fouts] Delaware Church [Julius Fouts] 3 Culture Heroes Ball Player [Julius Fouts] The Big Fish [Charles Elkhair] Wehixamukes (Strong Man) [Charles Elkhair] 4 Humans Learning Lessons Rock-Shut-Up [Charles Elkhair] Little Masks [Julius Fouts] He Is Everywhere (Wē ma tī gŭnīs) [Julius Fouts] 5 Talking to the Dead First Cause of the Feast for the Dead [Minnie Fouts] Talking to the Dead [Susan Elkhair] Lost Boy [Charles Elkhair’s daughter?] Otter Hide [Charles Elkhair?] 6 The Coming of the Whites The Coming of the White Men [Julius Fouts] Origination of White Men [Julius Fouts] Whites & Indians [Charles Elkhair] 7 Tales of Ordinary Life A Child’s Life [Julius Fouts] The Three Clans [Julius Fouts] The Origin of Stories An Afterword in Three Parts I What Happened to the Storytellers? II Four Elders at the End of the Twentieth Century Rosetta Coffey (September 17, 1997) Pat Donnell (September 20, 1997) Joanna Nichol (October 11, 1997) Bonnie Thaxton (August 19, 1997) III Today Appendix A: The Turtle’s Back (Iroquoian and Munsee Versions) Appendix B: Dutch Arrival at Manhattan (John Heckewelder’s Version) Appendix C: The Woman Who Wanted No One (as told to Truman Michelson) Appendix D: Elected Leaders of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, ca. 1800–Present Acknowledgments Glossary Notes Bibliography Index
£44.20
Silkworm Books / Trasvin Publications LP From the Fifty Jātaka: Selections from the Thai
Book SynopsisFor over two thousand years, jātaka—tales of the Buddha’s previous lives—have been popular as teaching and entertainment. Apart from the classical Indian jātaka, many others in Southeast Asia were assembled in collections known as the “Fifty Jātaka” (Paññāsa Jātaka). They are now acclaimed as the lifeblood of the region’s literature. This book offers the first published English translations of twenty-one stories from the Thailand collection, including some of the best-known Thai stories: Sudhana-Manoharā, the Golden Conch, and Rathasena, among other quests, moral tales, strings of riddles, and story cycles. Here the tales are translated fully and faithfully with notes and accompanying information on the Thailand collection.
£36.00
Silkworm Books / Trasvin Publications LP Why the Sea Is Full of Salt and Other Vietnamese
Book SynopsisThis delightful anthology presents eighteen well-known and much-loved Vietnamese folktales. Originally collected and retold by the prize-winning author Minh Tran Huy, they are here elegantly translated by Harry Aveling. The stories tell of charming princesses, disputing brothers, powerful kings, magical animals, peculiar objects, and kindhearted genies. Their mysterious worlds stir the imagination and evoke the soul of Vietnam—its intense human relationships, its exuberance and gentle melancholy. The book will appeal to readers of all ages and cultures.
£21.00
Orbit Into the Drowning Deep
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£32.00
Bacchanalia House Poison Malice Twisted A dark fae romance
£16.99
Editorial Alma Pinocho
Book Synopsis
£14.26
Almuzara Operación Barcelona: Matar a Hitler
Book Synopsis
£21.25
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Penélope y las doce criadas / The Penelopiad
Book Synopsis
£19.31
Oxford University Press Odyssey
Book SynopsisOdysseus--soldier, trickster, and everyman--is one of the most recognizable characters in world literature. His arduous, ten-year journey home after the Trojan War, the subject of Homer''s The Odyssey, is the most accessible tale to survive from ancient Greece, and its impact is still felt today across many different cultures. Barry Powell''s free verse translation preserves the clarity and simplicity of the original while conveying Odysseus'' adventures in an energetic, modern idiom. By avoiding the stylistic formality of earlier translations, and the colloquial and sometimes exaggerated effects of recent attempts, his translation deftly captures the most essential truths of this vital text. Due to his thorough familiarity with the world of Homer and Homeric language, Powell''s introduction provides rich historical and literary perspectives on the poem. This translation also includes illustrations from classical artwork, detailed maps, explanatory notes, a timeline, and a glossary. MoTrade ReviewPraise for Barry Powell's translation of The Iliad: "Magnetically readable." --Booklist, starred review "[A] clear and energetic translation.... Staying true to Homer's poetic rhythms, Powell avoids the modified iambic lines found in Lattimore's, Fagles's, and Mitchell's works. He also avoids Lombardo's tendency to cast Homer in contemporary language and Fitzgerald's anachronisms. This fine version of The Iliad has a feel for the Greek." --Library Journal "With swift, transparent language that rings both ancient and modern, Barry Powell gives readers anew all of the rage, pleasure, pathos, and humor that are Homer's Iliad--a reading experience richly illumined by the insightful commentary and plentiful images accompanying the text." --Jane Alison, author of The Love-Artist "This translation is the complete package. A lucid and accessible introduction gives a general audience what they need to appreciate the nature of this extraordinary poem, and the translation itself is admirably energetic, readable, and direct. Powell's style is individual and self-assured, and his lines cry out to be read aloud. Just as in the original, the pace never lets up and the events of that long-lost past flash by. It is a remarkable achievement, one that fully deserves to rank with any of the current contenders." --Denis Feeney, Princeton University "Barry Powell's clever translation is simple and energetic: sometimes coarse, sometimes flowing, it is always poetically engaged. He lays bare the semantic background of Homer through felicitous phrasing and delivers us a Dark-Age epic, one more suggestive of Norse sagas than the cultural milieu of archaic Ionia. Fresh and eminently readable, Powell's Iliad is likely to stay." --Margalit Finkelberg, editor of The Homer Encyclopedia "Barry Powell, the master of classical mythology, has done it again--a powerful translation of the poem that started European literature. His muscular verses are faithful to the original Greek but bring the characters to life. This is a page-turner, bound to become the new standard." --Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules--For NowTable of ContentsCONTENTS ; Foreword, by Ian Morris ; Introduction ; The Odyssey ; Notes
£22.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Brides of Maracoor
Book SynopsisTrade Review“A decade after she flew Out of Oz in Maguire’s Wicked series, Elphaba’s granddaughter crash-lands on an island inhabited by seven sacrificial virgins. The arrival of the green-skinned teen (and her talking goose) upends their enclave. An exquisitely crafted introduction to a new fantasy trilogy.” — People “Fans will look forward to reading more about the interaction of Oz, Rain and the strange society of Maracoor.” — Wall Street Journal “Wonderful attention to detail. . . . [Maguire] does excellent character work. . . . The larger world of Maracoor Abiding . . . has echoes of Greek mythology and looks to be fertile ground as a setting for more books. An expertly crafted introduction to a new series of magic and adventure.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “The Brides of Maracoor once again shows Maguire’s rich, mesmerizing world building, full of small, frustrating human absurdities. . . . It also shows off his gift for crafting compelling characters. . . . It’s an intriguing, witty start to a fantastical proposed trilogy.” — Booklist “With its rich character development and a healthy dash of Maguire’s humor, this latest Oz tale is as satisfying a read as the Wicked Years quartet.” — Buzzfeed “[A] complex, enticing fantasy. . . . Maguire cleverly teases out the characters’ motivation and desires, turning what at first appears to be a straightforward tale into a gripping page-turner. Fans will revel in this triumphant return to the world of Wicked.” — Publishers Weekly “Sharp and wry, funny and pointed, [Maguire] writes in Brides with a certainty and a sort of world-sized elegance, creating something new from scraps of the cloth he worked for years. He remains a master of a specific sense of intimacy amid scale, able to craft precise moments of fallibility, of humans picking our way through our lives, against the fate of nations and the endless sea.” — Tor.com “Amazing novel.” — John Updike “Maguire’s work is melodic, symphonic and beautiful; it is dejected and biting and brave. . . . In fabulous details and self-mocking language, Maguire displays his gift for whimsical portrayals of the broken, the powerless, the hopeless, the bad.” — Los Angeles Times on A Lion Among Men “[A] masterwork…. Concludes…one of the most audacious and successful fantasy series of the past few decades…. Hilarious, heart-wrenching and extremely poignant…. The greatest fantasy series make one want to read them again. That’s what I intend to do with this one.” — Washington Post on Out of Oz “In four books, Maguire has expanded the mythology of Oz from L. Frank Baum’s books and created a land that’s just as rich as Middle-earth or Narnia, and balances the serious with the sublime. . . . Out of Oz is a satisfying finish to the Wicked Years saga.” — USA Today on Out of Oz “[A] sassy reimagining of Baum’s world. . . . Maguire’s canvas is incredibly rich. . . . This last installment is one to savor.” — People (4 stars) on Out of Oz
£10.44
Orbit Olympus Bound
Book Synopsis
£14.39
Redhook Sistersong
Book Synopsis
£16.19
Orbit Into the Drowning Deep
Book Synopsis
£16.99
Redhook The Book of Gothel
Book Synopsis
£17.09
Redhook House of Odysseus
Book Synopsis
£23.20
Little Brown and Company How to Be Eaten
Book Synopsis
£22.40
Redhook A Radical Act of Free Magic
Book Synopsis
£16.19
Redhook Shield Maiden
Book Synopsis
£17.09
Random House USA Inc The Raven Warrior
Book SynopsisWith the knowing eye and fiery voice of an accomplished storyteller, Alice Borchardt takes us back to the amazing world of a re-envisioned Camelot in the continuing Tales of Guinevere. Remarkably strong, magically talented, a match for friend and foe alike, Guinevere has come into womanhood—and faces a new relationship with Lancelot that will lead to the sharp-edged triangle of legend. . . .Born of the Highlands, along Pictish shores washed by the icy North Sea, Guinevere, Queen of the Dragon People, has become a woman. She has taken the power offered to her by the Dragon Throne. Now there is no turning back. In order to protect her beloved homeland from the obscene greed of the Saxon raiders, Guinevere knows she must launch an attack. The sub-chiefs refuse to fall in line with her plans (because what does this young thing, barely a woman, know of warfare?) and give her an army of the useless, the outcast, the weakest of their young boys and girls. But the war part
£7.99
Random House USA Inc Bad Cree
Book SynopsisIn this gripping, horror-laced debut, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community and the land they call home.A mystery and a horror story about grief, but one with defiant hope in its beating heart. —Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Pallbearers ClubWhen Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow''s head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears. Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too—a murder of crows stalks her every m
£21.60
WW Norton & Co Favorite African Folktales
Book SynopsisA collection of some of the oldest African tales, selected by Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, which presents such themes as cunning animals, magic spells, and people who change forms.
£12.56
Penguin Putnam Inc Little Nothing
Book SynopsisA Huffington Post Book Club Suggestion • An O: The Oprah Magazine Fall Pick • A LitHub Book You Should Read This September • One of The Millions' Most Anticipated for 2016 • 2017 Ohioana Book Award Winner in Fiction“Marisa Silver’s beguiling new novel Little Nothing is a powerful exploration of the relationship between our changeable bodies and our just as malleable identities…Silver’s storytelling skills are finely matched to her themes…meditative passages bloom with life.” —Matt Bell, The New York Times Book Review A stunning, provocative new novel from New York Times bestselling author Marisa Silver, Little Nothing is the story of a girl, scorned for her physical deformity, whose passion and salvation lie in her otherworldly ability to transform herself and the world around her.<
£14.40
Penguin Books Ltd Daughters of Sparta
Book SynopsisTHE NATIONAL BESTSELLER! For millennia, men have told the legend of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships—but now it's time to hear her side of the story. Daughters of Sparta is a tale of secrets, love, and tragedy from the women behind mythology's most devastating war, the infamous Helen and her sister Klytemnestra. As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivaled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. But such privilege comes at a cost. While still only girls, the sisters are separated and married to foreign kings of their father's choosing—the powerful Agamemnon, and his brother Menelaos. Yet even as Queens, each is only expected to do two things: birth an heir and embody the meek, demure nature that is expected of women.But when the weight of their husbands' neglect, cruelty, and ambition becomes too heavy to bear, Helen and Klytemn
£15.30
Random House USA Inc The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land
Book Synopsis
£14.45
The History Press Ltd Folk Tales of Rock and Stone
Book SynopsisFolk tales inspired by geology, archaeology and history
£17.82
Astra Publishing House A Scandal in Battersea
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for the Elemental Masters series:“Lackey’s fantastical world of Elementals, plus her delightful Nan and Sarah, create an amusing contrast for Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and John Watson…. The mix of humor, history, fantasy, and mystery is balanced in a way that any reader could pick up the book and thoroughly enjoy it from beginning to end.” —RT Reviews“The Paris of Degas, turn-of-the-century Blackpool, and the desperation of young girls without family or other protection come to life in a story that should interest a broad readership.” —Booklist“All in fine fairy-tale tradition…. It’s grim fun, with some nice historical detail, and just a hint of romance to help lighten things.” —Locus“The action and dialogue flow freely, mingling with beautiful descriptions of European countryside and just a hint of romance.... A well-developed heroine and engaging story.” —Publishers Weekly“The fifth in the series involving the mysterious Elemental Masters, this story of a resourceful young dancer also delivers a new version of a classic fairy tale. Richly detailed historic backgrounds add flavor and richness to an already strong series that belongs in most fantasy collections. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal“The Elementals novels are beautiful, romantic adult fairy tales. Master magician Mercedes Lackey writes a charming fantasy.” —Worlds of Wonder“Ms. Lackey is a master in fantasy, and this visit to an alternate historical England is no exception. Vivid characterization and believable surroundings are flawlessly joined in a well-detailed world.” —Darque Reviews"I find Ms. Lackey's Elemental Masters series a true frolic into fantasy." —Fantasy Book Spot
£21.60
Astra Publishing House A Fading Sun
Book SynopsisIn this new paranormal fantasy series, a powerful woman who can see the dead must choose whether to forge a new path for herself and her family…. “The problem with ghosts is that they don’t quite realize that they’re dead.” Voada Paorach can see the dead. It is a family trait, but one that has had to remain hidden since the Mundoan Empire conquered her people’s land three generations ago. But this ghost isn’t the same as the others she has glimpsed, the lost souls she has helped to find their way to the land beyond life. This ghost demands that Voada follow a new path, one that will mean leaving behind everything and everyone she has known and loved. Voada will come to understand the power that her people possess, but she will also learn the steep price that must be paid for such a gift. Fast-moving and intense, A Fading Sun explores grief, sacrifice, amTrade ReviewPraise for A Fading Sun:"Leigh’s complex and substantial fantasy series opener adds elaborate spellcasting and powerful sorcerers to the legend of Celtic warrior queen Boudica repelling the Romans.... Leigh skillfully weaves together a comprehensive and rich mythology, intricate fight sequences, and a mother’s all-consuming revenge." —Publishers Weekly"Readers, who will detect a resemblance to Ireland, Scotland, and England during the Roman era, will eagerly anticipate the sequel." —Booklist"Leigh builds a vivid, thrilling and exciting new world that will captivate and hold the imagination in A Fading Sun." —RT Reviews"Stephen Leigh’s A Fading Sun is another powerful entry in the category of stories about the change wrought by empires—for better or worse." —Barnes & Noble Sci-fi & Fantasy Blog
£7.59
Astra Publishing House Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon"Readers of Neil Gaiman and Harry Turtledove will have encountered similar takes on the spirit realm; Talabi’s freshness is in his language, his caustically amusing protagonist, and his commitment to having more fun than noir usually allows. Readers are in for a rollicking thrill ride." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Defiantly ambitious...an action-packed thrill ride.... Talabi’s snarky narration keeps the tone light, while leaving room for a sweet love story." —The Washington Post"A vivid, entertaining tale of love, power and revenge." —The Guardian"Talabi keeps in balance his kinetic mix of noir heist fiction, erotic romance, political intrigue, and supernatural fireworks without distracting too much from the genuinely affecting relationship between Nneoma and Shigidi, who are a pair we wouldn’t mind seeing again, and won’t forget anytime soon.” —Locus"Talabi weaves a high-stakes, fast-paced tale of corporate greed, an interdimensional heist, and warring deities entrenched in Yoruba culture. Perfect for fans of the Ocean’s film franchise and Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006), this book will have readers holding their breath as Shigidi and Nneoma try to accomplish the impossible." —Booklist"Rich in lore, deeply referential of the fantasy genre, instructive without being preachy and accessible even to casual readers...a fine display of Talabi’s dexterity as a writer and his keen eye for story and a fine demonstration of how grossly underutilized African mythology has been in world fantasy." —Edwin Okolo, The Republic"An unabashedly erotic and page-turning tale, blending the urban and the mythic in a manner somewhat reminiscent of Neil Gaiman’s works, yet fizzing with a kinetic energy which, at least within the genre of contemporary adult fantasy, feels utterly refreshing and gloriously entertaining." —Strange Horizons"Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon is an explosion made of other explosions. As soon as I read the opening—taut, rollicking, rooted in physicality and emotion—I was charmed. This book is incantation, a sorcerous working that bound me to its story and drew me along as it sped toward its destination. Wole Talabi is a brilliant short fiction writer, and now he is revealed as a brilliant novelist, as well!" —Alex Jennings, author of The Ballad of Perilous Graves“Fast and sharp as talons, Shigidi is a high-stakes art heist love story with Nigerian gods and demons and some Succession-level corporate politics and Alan Moore-ish deep dives into occult lore and mythologies. If you thought Killmonger was right or loved American Gods and Akata Witch, this one is very much for you.” —Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls and Broken Monsters “Wole Talabi brings us an imaginative tale of ancient deities with modern problems--where answering prayers and winning at the cut throat competition for adherents is the best way to maintain the bottomline. Shigidi is a richly written story of love between immortals, a high stakes supernatural heist, and a sweeping adventure across time, space, and perhaps realms of existence. This is godpunk, done with style. And I'm absolutely here for it!” —P. Djèlí Clark, author of A Master of Djinn and Abeni’s Song“A high octane thriller that is simply unputdownable. Talabi deftly weaves different mythos spanning centuries across continents and borders to create a truly fantastical story. Gods, demons, magicians, giants, all jostling for power and prestige within an all too human story. This remarkable debut rocked my world." —T. L. Huchu, author of The Library of the Dead“Shigidi is a tale that will excite any lover of contemporary African fantasy. What better thrill than two globetrotting, timetrotting, worldtrotting beings caught between a love story, a heist and a ghastly contract with a spirit company? Talabi's imagination, already obvious in previous works, shines through, offering us a world of deities and monstrosities trading in belief and supplication. An innovative addition to the godpunk roster—if you loved David Mogo, you'll love this!” —Suyi Davies Okungbowa, author of the Nameless Republic trilogy“For those who feel as if they’ve been waiting years for a novel by Wole Talabi, Shigidi surpasses expectations. It’s fast-paced and fun, clever and beautiful. Filled with characters you want to spend time with in a world that is fresh and exciting.” —Temi Oh, author of Do You Dream Of Terra-Two and More Perfect"Shigidi is a multi-hued narrative where fear is a colour...this is a tale that will unmoor any reader from the safety of their comfort zone to gallivant, stimulated, across spirit worlds and cityscapes." —Aurealis"Rich in lore, deeply referential of the fantasy genre . . .a fine display of Talabi’s dexterity as a writer and his keen eye for story and a fine demonstration of how grossly underutilized African mythology has been in world fantasy." — Edwin Okolo, The Republic
£21.60
Schiffer Publishing Ltd Pirates Ghosts of the Carolinas Coast
Book SynopsisARRRRGH! Come aboard for seafaring pirates, ghosts, and spooky tales from the coast of North Carolina. With pirate lore and history abundant for this seaside area, join storyteller Cynthia Moore Brown as she explores graveyards, haunted houses, and locations with spirits that have sparked shivers within audiences for decades. Read about actual places with ghosts revealed. Dare to experience misty, dangerous railroad tracks at the site of a death by train in Wilmington. Hear ghostly children play in a home at Pelican Reef. Find out what it might feel like to be buried alive and why the saying, saved by the bell, might be important to some. Walk with pirate ghosts on the old Chandlers Wharf, and visit with a foggy spirit moving aimlessly near Cape Fear River. Visit Topsail Island where the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's flagship, may still sail with her ghostly pirates haunting the waters and marshes. Whether history, unsolved mysteries, legends, or just plain scary happenings, these tales will keep you shuddering long into the night.
£14.39
Schiffer Publishing Ltd South Carolina Haunts
Book SynopsisSouth Carolina, one of the oldest states in the Union has a very haunting history. Here find 30 ghostly stories from the coastal, central, and Piedmont areas. Find out about the famous Gray Man who wanders the beaches of Pawleys Island, warning residents of oncoming danger. Hear the ruckus raised by the ghost of legendary pirate Stede Bonnet, who is still seen and heard at night near the spot of his demise. Hear the sounds of battle on the calmest of evenings in Charleston, smell the smoke and gunpowder, and feel the strong sadness where soldiers fell at Fort Sumter. Visit the Cool Springs Plantation where some ghostly parties never end. From a monster at college to ghost lights in modern buildings, and more, South Carolina is home to spirits, spooks, and all manner of unearthly beings from eras long past.
£14.39
Schiffer Publishing Ltd Campfire Tales 3
Book SynopsisExperience 10 heart-pounding tales of the Midwest based on history, lore, and legends from around the regionperfect for telling around the campfire. Discover what it feels like to be a ghost or to bring one home. Explore what may be lurking at the bottom of a lake at a favorite vacation spot. Solve the mystery and unlock the secrets of a strange journal brought forth by an old doctor who may or may not be a part of this world. Unearth one of the seven gateways to hell and venture into the fiery depths below. Determine for yourself what is real and what is fiction, as these and other haunting tales paint a landscape rife with creepy paranormal activity.
£14.39
New Directions Publishing Corporation Macunaíma
Book SynopsisA brilliant new translation of the Brazilian modernist epic that aims to capture the country’s complex identityTrade Review"Macunaíma is a miracle. There’s nothing like it in all of literature. Katrina Dodson is a hero." -- Mario Bellatin"An explosion of language… The obvious comparison for English speakers would be Ulysses, as an encyclopedia of styles, of language forms." -- Fredric Jameson"We are so fortunate that Mário de Andrade’s rollicking Macunaíma is finally reappearing in English in Katrina Dodson’s dazzling translation." -- John Keene"Macunaíma is above all a vision of mythical Brazilian consciousness, a picaresque epic of birth, triumph, decline and death." -- The New York Times"Mário wrote our Odyssey and, with a swing of his native club, created our classical hero and the national poetic idiom for the next fifty years." -- Oswald de Andrade"He’s an anti-hero hero, questioning and contradictory. Macunaíma is an emblem of the marvelous, metamorphosed into the errant question mark of his one-legged constellation. An anti-normative hero who points to a future, eventually more open, world." -- Haroldo de Campos"An explosion of language… The obvious comparison for English speakers would be Ulysses, as an encyclopedia of styles, of language forms." -- Fredric Jameson"Macunaíma is a self-consciously nation-founding novel that reads like a thick broth of painful historical truth, quoted myth, and irreducible pleasures. Rarely is so much pleasure given and pain revealed by overlapping languages." -- Arto Lindsay"A deliberately provocative text, slangy, comical, antiliterary, assuming all the apparent contradictions of the struggle against European seriousness in its various forms." -- Pascale Casanova"Electrifying and perplexing, this cornerstone of Brazilian literature shouldn’t be missed." -- Publishers Weekly"To describe Macunaíma as sui generis would hardly scratch the surface." -- Ratik Asokan - 4Columns"One of our sacred books, whose name we dare speak only on our knees." -- César Aira
£13.29
New Directions Publishing Corporation The Marvellous Equations of the Dread
Book SynopsisThe ancestors have awakened. Somebody has called them. The long-dead are stirring. Jah ways are mysterious ways.Trade Review"A lyrical convocation of reggae, roots healing, the history of Half Way Tree, of duppies and fearsome body-swapping, of dangerous youthmen and deliberate revolution—here is prose steeped deep in portents, parables, and a profusion of signs. Marcia Douglas lets the sounds fall from on high, in prose that chants down Babylon and confirms the coming, sweeter than can be reckoned, of Zion." -- Caribbean Beat"Marcia Douglas’s book is as marvellous as its title – one of the most stunning new works of Jamaican fiction I have had the pleasure of reading. The novel that is not unlike the island that it tries to capture – as musical as it is brutal, and here is writing as full of poetic heft as it is of narrative drive; even as you want to linger and relish in the language, the novel demands that you turn the page." -- Kei Miller"The spirit of Bob Marley dominates this novel, which evokes the rich, bottom-heavy sounds of Marley's music. You can't tell the living and the dead here without a score card, and a score card would be too linear... Think of this book as a haunted island with spectral voices and inscrutable mysteries." -- Kirkus"The Marvellous Equations of the Dread: A Novel in Bass Riddim... has the air of a spell. A beautiful and otherworldly book; a work of poetry steeped in history and rich with imagination. Douglas has a way of conveying the sense of wonder that powers the island's creative spirit. Douglas writes with an almost Biblical diction...Weaving a complex and warmhearted tale — one told through multiple voices — against a backdrop of violence. She can be uproariously funny too — the patois practically jumps off the page, and things can go from light to dark in an instant. Her chapters are tracks that all work well as singles, but when played together pulsate with great power." -- Juan Vidal - NPR"Mind-blowing." -- Publishers Weekly"Rhapsodic, poetic, scripturally engaged and endlessly inventive. Not only is the electric atmosphere of Jamaica evoked with sensuousness, delicacy and love; so is the ‘dub-side,’ a studio yard just the other side of death, where Bob Marley and a toothless and lisping Haile Selassie discuss the relative merits of routes to Zion." -- Review 31"A magical realist journey through the history of Rastafarianism, Bob Marley & Jamaica—not necessarily in that order. Rhapsodic, poetic, scripturally engaged and endlessly inventive. Not only is the electric atmosphere of Jamaica evoked with sensuousness, delicacy and love; so is the ‘dub-side,’ a studio yard just the other side of death, where Bob Marley and a toothless and lisping Halle Selassie discuss the relative merits of routes to Zion." -- Review 31"A powerful woman-centered version of Jamaican her-story." -- SX Salon"Calling Marcia Douglas's new novel, The Marvellous Equations of the Dread, "original" would be so lazy, a banal understatement bordering on pointless. Also tempting, because the book evades pithy description, at least one that makes any sense. But here's a shot: Bob Marley has been reincarnated, in a manner of speaking, as Fall-down man, joining other recently revived ghosts—including but not limited to Marcus Garvey, Haile Selassie, and the Queen of Sheba. They're hanging out in the clock tower of Half Way Tree, a Kingston intersection notable more for its history than its traffic. What are they doing there? Beyond Jah, who knows? The Marvellous Equations is a marvelous tour through time and Jamaica's often tumultuous history, an ode to Rastafarianism, reggae music, and its resilient and resolute people, all inextricably intertwined." -- Jon Foro - The Amazon Book Review"Miraculous." -- Matt Alston - The Believer"Massively creative, The Marvellous Equations of The Dread draws from—and continues—a long Caribbean musical tradition." -- The Millions"Brave and strange: in the great cosmic scheme of this book there's constant traffic between this world and the next." -- Colin Grant - The New York Review of Books"Marvellous Equations of the Dread is a celebration of the conflicted Jamaican experience. The women in Marcia Douglas’s books are proud women: they are the descendants of Queen Nanny, the Maroon chieftain who, according to legend, could catch the bullets of the British soldiers between her teeth." -- The Rumpus"A pulsating tale revolving around the return of Bob Marley’s spirit on a Kingston street corner dubbed Half Way Tree—it's about the transmigration of souls, Rasta dreams, and the powerful vibrations of consciousness passed down through generations. A whirlwind of a novel that sways to an irresistible beat." -- Vanity Fair"Marvellous Equations of the Dread harkens back to the past of slavery, oppression, and violence to account for the situation in Jamaica today...Mystical." -- World Literature Today"A vast panorama of a small corner of Kingston, a musical novel where the music is reggae, a historical documentary set in the present: As the illustrious and anonymous living and dead materialize to reenact, retell, and undo their life stories, it’s impossible to resist reading these voices out loud, adding your own to this orchestrated hubbub." -- Eliot Weinberger"A rollicking, music-rich, dream-filled, polyphonic tour through Jamaica’s past and present, both in this world and, on the “dub-side,” beyond it, The Marvellous Equations of the Dread is a masterpiece of linguistic and narrative inventiveness, a contemporary literary marvel." -- John Keene
£12.99
Hays (Nicolas) Ltd ,U.S. Priestess of Isis
Book Synopsis
£15.19
Dorothy a Publishing Project The Taiga Syndrome
Book Synopsis
£14.41
Dorothy a Publishing Project Wild Milk
Book Synopsis
£14.41
Random House USA Inc The Bloody Chamber Wise Children Fireworks
Book Synopsis
£21.60
St Martin's Press The Fox Wife
Book SynopsisSome people think foxes are similar to ghosts because we go around collecting qi, but nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . .Manchuria, 1908.In the last years of the dying Qing Empire, a courtesan is found frozen in a doorway. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and handsome men. Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman's identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they've remained tantalizingly out of reachuntil, perhaps, now.Meanwhile, a family who owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments but can't escape the curse that afflicts themtheir eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. When a disruptively winsome servant named Snow enters their household, the family's luc
£22.39
St Martin's Press The Fox Wife
Book Synopsis
£37.49
