About John Gibbons: John Gibbons is an environmental journalist and commentator who has been speaking about climate change in Ireland for over a decade. The Lie of the Land is his first book.

John Gibbons

Dave Gibbons

About Stella Gibbons: Stella Gibbons was born in London in 1902. She went to the North London Collegiate School and studied journalism at University College, London. She then worked for ten years on various papers, including the Evening Standard. Stella Gibbons is the author of twenty-five novels, three volumes of short stories, and four volumes of poetry. Her first novel Cold Comfort Farm (1932) was an immediate success and won the Femina Vie Heureuse Prize for 1933. Among her works are Nightingale Wood (1938), The Bachelor (1944), Westwood (1946), and Starlight (1967). She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950. Stella Gibbons died in 1989.

Stella Gibbons

Edward Gibbon

Lewis Grassic Gibbon

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Wu Ch'eng-en

Monkey depicts the adventures of Prince Tripitaka, a young Buddhist priest on a dangerous pilgrimage to India to retrieve sacred scriptures accompanied by his three unruly disciples: the greedy pig creature Pipsy, the river monster Sandy &ndash; and Monkey. Hatched from a stone egg and given the secrets of heaven and earth, the irrepressible trickster Monkey can ride on the clouds, become invisible and transform into other shapes &ndash; skills that prove very useful when the four travellers come up against the dragons, bandits, demons and evil wizards that threaten to prevent them in their quest. Wu Ch&rsquo;&ecirc;ng-&ecirc;n wrote Monkey in the mid-sixteenth century, adding his own distinctive style to an ancient Chinese legend, and in so doing created a dazzling combination of nonsense with profundity, slapstick comedy with spiritual wisdom.

Monkey

Wu Cheng’en

One of China's Four Great Classical Novels, Monkey King was written anonymously during the Ming dynasty and is most commonly attributed to Wu Cheng'en, the son of a silk-shop clerk from east China. It recounts a Tang-dynasty monk's quest for Buddhist scriptures, accompanied by an omni-talented kung-fu Monkey King called Sun Wukong; a rice-loving divine pig; and a depressive man-eating river-sand monster. 
 
Comparable to The Canterbury Tales or Don Quixote, the tale is at once a comic adventure story, a humorous satire of Chinese bureaucracy, a spring of spiritual insight and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeys towards enlightenment.

Monkey King

Journey to the West

Wu Cheng’en’s 16th-century novel Journey to the West is widely regarded as one of the most important Chinese novels ever written. Here, in Julia Lovell’s witty and charismatic translation, we meet one of its heroes: Sun Wukong, or Monkey King, whose powers include shape-shifting, immortality and being incredibly rude. Though he rises to a position of power in the heavenly bureaucracy, Monkey King’s arrogant exploits attract the attention of the Buddha – with very unfortunate consequences.

Monkey King Makes Havoc in Heaven

Jatinder Verma

Claudia Mayer

Amber Lone

Full-cast dramatised retellings of the two most important epic Sanskrit poems of ancient India 
 
The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are literary classics, the longest epic poems in world literature, as significant as the Bible, the Qu'ran and the works of Shakespeare. Estimated to have been composed over a period of time around the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, they encompass some of the greatest stories ever told - tales of the deeds of gods and men, and the eternal battle between good and evil. Included here are full-cast BBC Radio adaptations of both, directed by award-winning producer Claire Grove and with original music by acclaimed composer Niraj Chag. 
 
Viewed from the perspective of one of the central characters, Yudhishtra, The Mahabharata recounts the struggles of a divided family as they fight over their inheritance and destroy the very thing they seek most - a peaceful and harmonious land. Exiled for 13 years, Yudhishtra knows his cousin will never give up the throne. War is inevitable - but which side will Krishna be on? Paul Battacharjee, Nitin Ganatra and Raad Rawi star in this intimate, accessible reimagining by Jatinder Verma and Claudia Mayer. 
 
One of the world's most popular love stories, The Ramayana centres around the separation and reunion of Rama and Sita. When Sita first glimpses the beautiful Prince Rama, she determines to marry him or die. She wins his heart - but his stepmother's plot sees him banished from his position as heir to the throne. Exiled, he retreats to the forest, where Sita is abducted by a ruthless warlord. Rama enlists the help of an army of monkeys to get her back - but has she betrayed him with the evil ruler of Lanka? Manjinder Virk stars as Sita, with Lloyd Thomas as Rama in Amber Lone's distinctive modern version of the ancient legend. 
 
Also included is the 5-part series Let's Talk About Rama and Sita, in which award-winning poet and broadcaster Daljit Nagra takes stories from The Ramayana into his community and finds the ancient tales alive with contemporary Asian dilemmas. Are Rama and Sita useful role models for men and women nowadays? How is the duo's relationship relevant to marriage today? And what lessons can the Indian epic teach us about loyalty and betrayal? 
 
Produced and directed by Claire Grove 
Music composed by Niraj Chag 
 
The Mahabharata 
Yudhishtra - Paul Bhattacharjee 
Krishna - Nitln Ganatra 
Bhishma - Raad Rawi 
Dhirtrashtra - Sam Dale 
Duryodhana - Zubln Varla 
Arjuna - Paul Bazely 
Bhima - Danny Sapani 
Draupadi - Sasha Behar 
Gandhari - Sudha Buchar 
Kunti - Indira Joshi 
Shakuni - Jude Akuwudike 
Uttara - Saikat Ahamed 
Dramatised by Jatinder Verma and Claudia Mayer 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4-18 February 2007 
 
The Ramayana 
Sita - Manjinder Virk 
Rama - Lloyd Thomas 
Lakshman - Adeel Aktar 
Ravan - Paul Bhattacharjee 
Surparnaka - Sasha Behar 
Dasarath/Sugreeva - Jude Akuwudike 
Sister/Mandodari - Deeivya Meir 
Bharat - Saikat Ahamed 
Hanuman - Kulvinder Ghir 
Kush - Omar Kent 
Lava - Neil Reynolds 
Dramatised by Amber Lone 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 October-7 November 2010 
 
Let's Talk About Rama and Sita 
Presented by Daljit Nagra 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 24-28 February 2014 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Mahabharata and The Ramayana

Two full-cast BBC Radio dramatisations based on the classic Indian epics

Various

Discover the dark, whimsical wonder of ancient Korea in this spellbinding hardback collection of magical tales told and retold across the centuries. 
 
Leave behind drab, dark nights to battle the moonlit snowstorms of the winter mountains, shiver at the uncanny horror of the wild-cat woman, explore the enchanted halls of the fairy palace, and follow the strange cries that beckon from beneath the Mysterious Hoi Tree. 
 
The Sky Bridge of Birds brings together some of the best, most bewitching Korean folk stories from across the ages in one new beautiful hardback collection. Carefully commited to writing during the turn of the twenieth cenutry by a unique set of folklorists, the tales of yore presented in this new anthology will transport readers to a time of myth and mystery.

The Sky Bridge of Birds

Classic Korean Folk Tales

Tania James

'There he was, his trunk wrapped in hers. Whatever hurt or sorrow befell him was not really happening to him. He was on the other bank with his mother. He was not here' 
 
When a young elephant is brutally orphaned by poachers, he begins terrorising the countryside, earning his malevolent name, the Gravedigger, from the humans he kills and then tenderly buries with leaves. Manu, the studious son of a rice farmer, loses his cousin to the Gravedigger and is drawn into the alluring world of ivory hunting. 
 
Emma is working on a documentary set in a Kerala wildlife park with her best friend. Her work leads her to witness the porous boundary between conservation and corruption, until eventually she finds herself caught up in her own betrayal. 
 
'One of the most unusual and affecting books... a compulsively readable, devastating novel' Jonathan Safran Foer 
 
VINTAGE EARTH is a collection of novels to transform our relationship with the natural world. Each one is a work of creative activism, a blast of fresh air, a seed from which change can grow. The books in this series reconnect us to the planet we inhabit - and must protect. Discover great writing on the most urgent story of our times.

The Tusk That Did the Damage

A novel from the Vintage Earth collection

Wendy Doniger

Recorded in sacred Sanskrit texts, including the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata, Hindu Myths are thought to date back as far as the tenth century BCE. Here in these seventy-five seminal myths are the many incarnations of Vishnu, who saves mankind from destruction, and the mischievous child Krishna, alongside stories of the minor gods, demons, rivers and animals including boars, buffalo, serpents and monkeys. Immensely varied and bursting with colour and life, they demonstrate the Hindu belief in the limitless possibilities of the world - from the teeming miracles of creation to the origins of the incarnation of Death who eventually touches them all.

Hindu Myths

A Sourcebook Translated from the Sanskrit

Ava Reid

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
A dark, evocative and unforgettable fantasy debut steeped in Hungarian history and Jewish mythology, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden. 
 
'Rooted in history and myth, The Wolf and the Woodsman is a stunning debut . . . It will twine like a dark forest around your heart.' Samantha Shannon, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree 
______________________________________ 
A spirited outcast. A disgraced prince. 
A world where monsters roam free. 
 
In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power. So when soldiers from the Holy Order of Woodsmen arrive to claim a girl for their king's blood sacrifice, the villagers only have one person to offer up. 
 
But when they are attacked en-route to the capital, and everyone but Évike and a lone Woodsman are slaughtered, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman - he's the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. 
 
As they travel from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, they form a tenuous pact that slowly turns their loathing turns to affection. But trust is easily betrayed, and as Évike discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gaspar must decide where their loyalties really lie . . . 
______________________________________ 
'Entertaining, appealing, and strikingly imagined' Tor.com 
 
'An intricate, gut-wrenching fantasy that will set the bar for dark historical fantasy for years to come.' The Book Report 
 
'Gorgeously written and grimly real' Alix Harrow 
 
'A grown-up, complicated, angsty, sexy, dark book' Cultured Vulture 
 
'Richly imagined, densely textured, and endlessly delightful' Katherine Addison 
 
'A powerful feminist story about acceptance, The Wolf and the Woodsman is perfect for fans of The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden' British Fantasy Society

The Wolf and the Woodsman

The Sunday Times Bestseller

''A tale of fear and survival, hope and yearning and defiance, in timelessly elegant prose. It will enchant you, break your heart, and chill you to the very marrow.' Samantha Shannon on The Wolf and the Woodsman 
 
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Wolf and the Woodsman comes a gothic retelling of The Juniper Tree, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her abusive wizard father. Perfect for fans of Angela Carter, Catherynne M. Valente and Shirley Jackson 
_________________________________ 
 
A gruesome curse. A city in upheaval. A monster with unquenchable appetites. 
 
Marlinchen and her sisters are the last true witches in a city shifting from magic to industry. Viewed as little more than tourist traps, they spend their days treating clients with archaic remedies and nostalgic charm, while attempting to placate their tyrannical, xenophobic wizard father, who keeps his daughters locked away in their crumbling home. 
 
But at night, they sneak out to revel in the city's thrills, particularly the recently established ballet theatre, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who quickly captures her heart. But as their late-night trysts grow more fervent and frequent, so does the threat of her father's rage. And while their city flourishes, a monster lurks in its midst, borne of intolerance and resentment and suffused with old-world power. 
 
Sunday Times bestseller, June 2022

Juniper & Thorn

Jody Shields

'He watches her eating one fig, then two more, grinding the seeds between her teeth, the sound echoing in her head, perhaps the last sound Dora heard before there was the thunder of blood in her ears...' 
Vienna, 1910. On a warm August night, the body of a young girl is discovered in the city's celebrated Volksgarten. She has been strangled. Using the latest forensic methods and psychological thinking, the Chief Inspector of Police begins his painstaking search for the killer. He is not alone, however. His wife Erszébet - an exotic, passionate woman steeped in the folk tales and Gypsy lore of her native Hungary - becomes obsessed with the dead girl. In secret, and enlisting the help of a young English governess, she conducts her own investigation of the murder, guided by intuition, instinct and superstition... With its beautifully-evoked setting of Vienna just prior to the Great War, a city embracing the modern and yet in thrall to superstition and prejudice, and riven by corruption, perverse sexual practices and disease, The Fig Eater is a rich and seductive period page-turner of a novel.

The Fig Eater

Philippa Rice

Evnie Treedle makes magical things and for the last few years has been working at the magical knickknack shop, The Magpie Nest.But everything changes when Evnie’s crafting abilities catch theattention of the nearby Reignclowd Palace. She is soon whisked away to become the Palace’s spellsmith and is put to work making and mending magical objects.But disaster strikes when a dragon threatens the Kingdom’s princess and it is up to Evnie to put her crafting talents to the test to save the girl, and the Kingdom, from this mysterious beast.

Reignclowd Palace

Christopher Fowler

It is said a legend is just a beautiful lie... 
 
In the second half of the first millennium, the legends say that London disappeared for over four hundred years. We know almost nothing about what happened during that time. But if we could shine a light on the city's ruined walls, we would be in for a shock. 
 
The Romans are long forgotten. It is now King Scarabold who rules what little remains of the city, together with his over-entitled daughter Giniva, her effete brother Leperdandy and their wayward, lunatic relatives - all squabbling and fighting amongst themselves for the future of their corrupted dynasty while trying to hide their most terrible secret. 
 
And ranged against Scarabold is a horde of bitter enemies from both without and within his dysfunctional household - the eerie Sheathwing, Lord Carapace Earl of Beetles, the warlike nuns of Étranges Cadeaux, a primate called M'Lin, Orobus the serpent, the terrifying Mater Moribund and the sinister child-spies Spackle and Peut - united in their desire to bring king's troubled reign to a bloody end. 
 
But the arrival of a mysterious outsider into the midst of the beleaguered Scarabold's snake-pit of a court that seems to offer a semblance of hope. The stranger's name is Watborn and he is a birdcatcher - strong, silent, he will infiltrate the royal family for a purpose that is all of his own . . . 
 
As fiendishly-armed warriors gather beneath the walls, the battle for London, its body and its soul as much as its bricks and mortar, is about to begin - and who will be left unscathed at the field's end?

The Foot on the Crown

Rudyard Kipling

The Camel gets his Hump, the Whale his Throat and the Leopard his Spots in these bewitching stories which conjure up distant lands, the beautiful gardens of splendid palaces, the sea, the deserts, the jungle and its creatures. Inspired by Kipling's delight in human eccentricities and the animal world, and based on bedtime stories he told to his daughter, these strikingly imaginative fables explore the myths of creation, the nature of beasts and the origins of language and writing. They are linked by poems and scattered with Kipling's illustrations, which contain hidden jokes, symbols and puzzles.

Just So Stories

John Fuller

Once upon a time in a Middle Eastern land, a fat, sweet-natured little boy grows up as the son of an important ruler. His older brother was apparently still-born and so he is the heir to his father's kingdom. 
 
But far away from the royal palace a lonely prospector happens across a wild creature, half boy, half animal, roaming the forests. Eventually this strange child's adventures lead him to the capital and into the path of a platoon of deserters from Napoleon's army - the flashy, ultimately dangerous, face of Enlightenment thought in this isolated kingdom - with drastic consequences. 
 
With original poems embedded like gems in the text, this is a fable for all ages, full of shivers and delights, sadness and wonder.

Flawed Angel

Hans Christian Andersen

Step into the enchanting world of Hans Christian Andersen with this collection of timeless Christmas tales, capturing both the magic and melancholy of the season. This selection brings together Andersen’s most beloved works, from the magical journey of ‘The Snow Queen’ to the heart-breaking ‘The Little Match Girl’, and the tender reflections on the passage of time in ‘The Fir Tree’. Together these stories show how Andersen transformed the traditional fairy tale with his unique ability to blend exuberant whimsy and profound insight.

The Snow Queen

Salman Rushdie

She will breathe a new empire into life – but all worlds can escape their creator… 
 
‘Full of adventure… A celebration of the power of storytelling’ GUARDIAN 
 
In the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for a goddess, who tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga, ‘victory city’. 
 
Over the next two hundred and fifty years, Pampa Kampana’s life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga’s as she attempts to make good on the task that the goddess set for her: to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world. But all stories have a way of getting away from their creator, and Bisnaga is no exception. 
 
‘Mesmerising’ ELIF SHAFAK, author of The Island of Missing Trees 
 
‘A total pleasure to read’ SUNDAY TIMES 
 
‘One of the planet’s greatest writers’ EVENING STANDARD 
 
‘A triumph… Enthralling’ I 
 
***A FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR*** 
***A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK***

Victory City

Miguel Ángel Asturias

Deep in the mountain forests of Guatemala, a community of Indigenous Mayans – the 'men of maize' – serves as stewards to sacred corn crops. When profiteering outsiders encroach on their territory and threaten to abuse the fertile land, they enter a bloody struggle to protect their way of life. Blurring the lines between history and mythology, Nobel Prize winner Miguel Ángel Asturias's lush, dream-like work offers a prescient warning against the loss of ancestral wisdom and the environmental destruction set in motion by colonial oppression and capitalist greed.

Men of Maize

Daisy Johnson

'Weird and wild and wonderfully unsettling... Dive in for just a moment and you'll emerge gasping and haunted' Celeste Ng, bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere 
 
 It's been sixteen years since Gretel last saw her mother, half a lifetime to forget her childhood on the canals. But a phone call will soon reunite them, and bring those wild years flooding back: the secret language that Gretel and her mother invented; the strange boy, Marcus, living on the boat that final winter; the creature said to be underwater, swimming ever closer. 
 
 In the end there will be nothing for Gretel to do but to wade deeper into their past, where family secrets and aged prophesies will all come tragically alive again. 
 
 'As readable as it is dazzling, full of unsettling twists and dark revelations' Observer 
 
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018**

Everything Under

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

David Gemmell

Perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Duncan M. Hamilton and Conn Iggulden, this heroic fantasy by the Sunday Times bestselling author David Gemmell is packed with old world magic, battles, ancient heroes and the terrifying forces of evil... 
 
"Gemmell is a master at what he does." -- SFX 
 
"Gemmell's great reading - the action never lets up. He's several rungs above the good - right into the fabulous!" -- ANNE MCCAFFREY 
 
"Gemmell is top of the tree in the fantasy field." -- STARLOG 
 
"Multilayered, moving, poignant, action packed, surprising, humourous and totally unique" -- ***** Reader review 
 
"Powerful heroic fantasy full of unforgettable characters" -- ***** Reader review 
"Cracking read!" -- ***** Reader review 
 
**************************************************************** 
 
The prophecy was clear: upon the death of three kings, the world will be plunged into chaos, and all the cast-out demons of history will return to bring blood and horror to the world. 
 
Two of the kings are dead. The third, about to be born, is hunted by the Demon Riders of the Krayakin, Lords of the Undead. 
 
All the terrifying forces of evil range against a pregnant queen at bay in a haunted forest. But she is not alone. Three warriors stand with her, the last remnants of the once proud Drenai army. Three old men, ancient heroes, discarded by the king; Nogusta the Swordsman, Kebra the Bowman, and the hulking fighter, Bison. 
 
The fate of empires rests on their fading skills as they journey through a tormented world on a perilous quest to save the unborn king.

The Winter Warriors

A stunning all-action adventure from the master of heroic fantasy that will have you gripped

Hermann Hesse

Of course, very few people go through the gate and abandon the beautiful phenomenon of the outside world for the interior reality that they intuit… 
 
A visitor to a zoo discovers he can understand the animals talking, a young man turns into a mountain and a bird guides a boy to another planet in this selection of dream-like and visionary fairy tales from the great German-Swiss master.

Strange News from Another Planet

Laird Hunt

I was strong and he was not so it was me went to war to defend the Republic. I stepped across the border out of Indiana into Ohio. Twenty dollars, two salt-pork sandwiches, and I took jerky, biscuits, six old apples, fresh underthings and a blanket too. 
 
There was a conflagration to come; I wanted to lend it my spark. 
 
Meet Gallant Ash: hero, folk legend and master of war. Ash is a leader of men and a brutal and fearless soldier. Will look you dead in the eye and kill for no reason. But Ash has a secret. Gallant Ash is a woman. This is her story.

Neverhome

Camilla Bruce

'This might be the best book I've read all year' JOANNE HARRIS 
 
'A glorious, pitch-black fairytale of a book' KIRSTY LOGAN, author of Things We Say in the Dark 
 
'A feast of storytelling...lingers long after the last morsel's been consumed' SAM LLOYD, author of The Memory Wood 
 
'Brutal and beguiling story of love and revenge' LUCIE McKNIGHT HARDY, author of Water Shall Refuse Them 
 
'Lascivious and bloody' JAMES LOVEGROVE in the Financial Times 
 
Everyone knew bestselling novelist Cassandra Tipp had twice got away with murder. 
 
Even her family were convinced of her guilt. So when she disappears, leaving only a long letter behind, they can but suspect that her conscience finally killed her. 
 
But the letter is not what anyone expected. It tells two chilling, darkly disturbing stories. One is a story of children lost to the woods, of husbands made from twigs and leaves and feathers and bones . . . 
 
The other is the story of a little girl trying to make sense of a damaged life lived in the shadows . . . 
 
But which story is true? 
 
Unsettling yet unputdownable, You Let Me In dares to cross the boundary between reality and somewhere else entirely . . . 
________________________ 
 
What readers are saying... 
 
'I loved this book, was blown away by it' 
'I would certainly read more from this author' 
'Unexpected, thrilling and darkly twisted' 
'I found myself thinking about it for several days afterwards' 
'The writing was just sensational' 
'An impressive debut' 
'I would love to see Guillermo del Toro make a movie based on this story'

You Let Me In

The acclaimed, unsettling novel of haunted love, revenge and the nature of truth

Sorcery and savagery combine in this heroic fantasy by the Sunday Times bestselling author David Gemmell, perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Duncan M. Hamilton and Conn Iggulden. 
 
"The story flows like a torrent..." - THE GUARDIAN 
 
"Gemmell is past the point of needing recommending - he is an institution that becomes more valuable with each new novel." - ENIGMA 
 
"How could you fail to be captivated? Gemmell... always guarantees a blasting good read" - FEAR 
 
"Full of fantastic action scenes with beasts warriors and quirky characters..." -- ***** Reader review 
 
"I enjoyed every minute spent reading this book..." - ***** Reader review 
 
******************************************************* 
 
Skilgannon the Damned had vanished from the pages of history. 
 
Following the terrible triumph at Perapolis, he had taken the legendary Swords of Night and Day and ridden from the lands of Naashan. No-one knew where he had gone, and the assassins sent by the Witch Queen could find no trace of his passing. 
 
Three years later, a mob intent on murder gathers outside a distant monastery: they are faced by a single unarmed priest. In a few terrifying seconds their world is changed for ever, and word spreads across the lands of the East. 
Skilgannon is back. 
 
Now he must travel across a perilous, demon-haunted realm seeking a mysterious temple, and the ageless goddess who rules it. With assassins on his trail, and an army of murderous foes ahead, he sets off on a quest to bring the dead to life. But he does not travel alone. 
 
The man beside him is Druss the Legend.

White Wolf

An epic, all-action tale of love, betrayal and treachery from the master of heroic fantasy

For millennia, societies have told tales of their fears incarnate – otherworldly couriers of plague, death, temptation and moral decline. Drawing from three thousand years of religious traditions and world literature, The Penguin Book of Demons follows these supernatural creatures – and the humans who have hunted and been haunted by them – through accounts across cultures and continents, including: the daimones of ancient Greece and Rome; the giant, biblical half humans known as Nephilim who stalked the earth before the Great Flood; corrupted angels, condemned to eternity in Hell; the djinn of Islamic Arabia; the female, child-eating gelloudes of Byzantium; the seductive incubi and succubi of northern Europe; the animal spirits of early modern China; and the cannibalistic wendigo of Native American folklore. From demonic possession to black magic, these accounts give life to a spellbinding, skin-crawling history of the paranormal.

The Penguin Book of Demons

A captivating all-action tale of bloodshed and brotherhood by the Sunday Times bestselling author David Gemmell, perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Duncan M. Hamilton and Nicholas Eames. 
 
"Gemmell is top of the tree in the fantasy field." -- STARLOG 
 
"Gemmell's great reading - the action never lets up. He's several rungs above the good - right into the fabulous!" -- ANNE MCCAFFREY 
 
"Gemmell is a master at what he does." -- SFX 
 
"Amazing characters, a fantastic story and perfect pacing all combined into an absolute stunner of a novel." -- ***** Reader review 
 
"Absolutely riveting stuff as expected from a master of his craft." -- ***** Reader review 
 
"Gripping and well written, leaving you wondering till the end!" -- ***** Reader review 
 
********************************************************** 
 
The peaceful Eldarin were the last of three ancient races. The mystical Oltor, healers and poets, had fallen before the dread power of the cruel and sadistic Daroth, who themselves had vanished from the face of the earth in one awesome night. The Great Northern Desert was their only legacy. Not a trace remained for a thousand years... 
 
Then on one unforgettable day, a dark moon rose above the Great Northern Desert, and a black tidal wave swept across the land. In moments, the desert had vanished beneath lush fields and forests and a great city could be seen glittering in the morning sunlight. 
 
From this city re-emerged the blood-hungry Daroth, powerful and immortal, immune to spear and sword. They had only one desire: to rid the world of humankind for ever. 
 
Now the fate of the human race rests on the talents of three heroes: Karis, warrior-woman and strategist; Tarantio, the deadliest swordsman of the age; and Duvodas the Healer, who will learn a terrible truth...

Dark Moon

A stunning, high-octane page-turning adventure from the master of heroic fantasy

Anders Nilsen

From the revered graphic artist and writer Anders Nilsen, Tongues collects together in one volume for the first time Nilsen's cult comics and their retelling of the myth of Prometheus 
 
'Mindbendingly good. It’s up there with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis, Jimmy Corrigan' 
MARK HADDON, author of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME 
 
In the remotest reaches of Central Asia where rival groups war over oil, a minor god is chained to a mountainside. Unfolding in a series of conversations with his unlikely friend the eagle, who visits every day to carry out a gruesome sentence of torture, Tongues I follows the titan’s pursuit of revenge on the god that imprisoned him. 
 
Entwined with their story are those of Astrid, a teenage East African orphan on an errand of murder, and a man with a teddy bear strapped to his back wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. 
 
Tongues I is a postmodern, apocalyptic reimagining of Prometheus' story, here a fallible god failing in his duty as the creator and protector of humanity. 
 
A visual meditation on our deep evolutionary past and our complicated prospects for the future, Tongues I is both a propulsive story of adventure and an examination of human nature in our present moment. 
 
'A genuinely mind-blowing achievement. [...] A dazzlingly innovative feat which surprises and delights on every page, across the epic whole and in every strange detail.' 
MAX PORTER, author of LANNY 
 
'One utterly gorgeous comic' 
VULTURE

Tongues I

Kim Liggett

'. . . seethes with love and brutality, violence and hope . . . a remarkable and timely story of the bonds between women' Sabaa Tahir 
 
'An incredibly important and empowering read' Natasha Ngan 
_____________________________________________ 
 
THE RESISTANCE STARTS HERE. 
 
No one speaks of the grace year. 
It's forbidden. 
We're told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we're allowed to return to civilisation. 
But I don't feel powerful. 
I don't feel magical. 
 
Tierney James lives in an isolated village where girls are banished at sixteen to the northern forest to brave the wilderness - and each other - for a year. They must rid themselves of their dangerous magic before returning purified and ready to marry - if they're lucky. 
 
It is forbidden to speak of the grace year, but even so every girl knows that the coming year will change them - if they survive it... 
 
A critically acclaimed page-turning feminist dystopia about a young woman trapped in an oppressive society, fighting to take control of her own life. 
 
'Beautiful, devastating, and deeply moving' Samira Ahmed, New York Times bestselling author of Internment and Love, Hate &amp; Other Filters 
 
'A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel . . . I couldn't stop reading' Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author of The Diviners and A Great and Terrible Beauty

The Grace Year

Apollonius of Rhodes

'The Argonauts were terrified at the sight. But Jason planting his feet apart stood to receive them, as a reef in the sea confronts the tossing billows in a gale.' 
 
The tragic, epic love affair that allowed Jason to get the Golden Fleece. 
 
Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. 
 
Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BCE). Apollonius of Rhodes's The Voyage of Argo is also available in Penguin Classics.

Jason and Medea

Homer

'You must be Odysseus, man of twists and turns...' 
 
The tales of Odysseus's struggle with a man-eating Cyclops and Circe, the beautiful enchantress who turns men into swine. 
 
Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. 
 
Next to nothing is known about Homer's life. His works available in Penguin Classics are The Homeric Hymns, The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Circe and the Cyclops

Annamaria Murphy

Alan Harris

Meic Povey

All eleven series of the mystical drama set in the wild Welsh coastal village of Glan Don 
 
When Gareth finds his wife Diane in bed with another man, the couple attempt to save their marriage by uprooting from London to the West Wales village where Gareth grew up, and buying the local pub. It's a bit of a dive - the wallpaper's peeling, there are squirrels in the saloon bar and something's growing out of the pool table. But it's got potential, and they're determined to make a go of it. 
 
Soon, the locals are flocking to The Druid's Rest - and as Diane discovers, her husband's old friends are an eccentric bunch. There's ex-soldier Gwyn, who carries a machine gun everywhere; garrulous waitress Megan; cook Matty, whose dishes cast a spell over everyone who eats them; and enigmatic potman (and narrator) Emlyn, who seems built into the fabric of Glan Don. And then there's Bethan - beautiful, bewitching Bethan, Gareth's teenage sweetheart, who may still have a hold on his heart... 
 
If the villagers are strange, Glan Don itself is even stranger. Steeped in ancient folklore, it is both eerie and enchanting. The sea is an all-pervading presence, magical and menacing in turn, home to mermaids and submerged forests. On land are haunted caves, dark woods, ruined castles, old lead mines - and legendary beings including ghosts, dragons, witches and the King under the Hill. 
 
As Gareth and Diane struggle to cope with the dual challenges of running a pub and dealing with the supernatural, will Glan Don bring them closer together - or tear them apart? 
 
Starring Elis James (Tourist Trap), Louise Ford (Chickens), Amy Hoggart (Almost Royal), Emma Sidi (W1A), Ifan Huw Dafydd (Gavin &amp; Stacey) and Amy Ffion Edwards (Detectorists), Curious Under the Stars takes us deep into a Welsh landscape of myth, magic and mayhem. 
Gareth - Elis James/Sion Pritchard/Richard Elis 
Diane - Louise Ford/Amy Hoggart/Emma Sidi 
Emlyn - Ifan Huw Dafydd 
Bethan - Eiry Hughes/Hannah Daniel 
Gwyn - Matthew Gravelle 
Matty - Siw Hughes 
Megan - Aimee-Ffion Edwards/Gwyneth Keyworth 
Pierre - Lee Mengo 
Gwyneth/Customer - Kath Weare 
Charlie - Donal Gallery 
Magda - Wanda Opalinska 
Gregor - Marc Danbury 
Guto - John Weldon 
Referee/Doctor - Mike Bubbins 
Gertrude - Joanna Scanlan 
Fluffy - Sion Pritchard 
Hadrian - Paul Rhys 
Geraint - John Pierce-Jones 
Fleur - Catrin Stewart 
The Ghost - Owain Gwynn 
 
Anwen - Juno Robinson 
 
 
Created by Meic Povey 
Written by Meic Povey, Annamaria Murphy and Alan Harris 
Directed by James Robinson and Nigel Lewis 
A BBC Cymru Wales Production 
Music: Knee-Deep in the North Sea by Portico Quartet 
 
 
 
 
? 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Curious Under the Stars

The complete BBC Radio 4 magical comedy drama

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