Steve Roud was Local Studies Librarian for the London Borough of Croydon and served as Honorary Librarian of the Folklore Society for over fifteen years. He has been researching British folklore for over thirty years and is the joint author of the Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore, plus other books on traditional drama and folk song, and the Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland, which won the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award in 2004. His publications include London Lore (2008) and The Lore of the Playground (2010). He also compiles the Folk Song Index and the Broadside Index, two internationally acclaimed computer databases of traditional folk and popular song. He lives in Sussex.

Steve Roud

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Matt Dinniman

Carl and Donut have survived so far, but this fourth level is unlike anything they could imagine. The Iron Tangle: an impossibly complicated subway system tied together into a knot of trains of all kinds. The top ten list is populated, and Carl and Donut have made it. But that popularity comes with a price. They each now have a bounty on their head. They have to work with other crawlers to solve the puzzle of the floor, but how can they do that when they don’t know who to trust? The secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly-useless book. Welcome, Crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They’ve already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline royalty are an almost unstoppable team. Their ratings are off the chart. The watchers can’t get enough. But the dungeon gets more dangerous each day, and now there’s a whole new problem to deal with. Quests. They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered women rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose. Can Carl and Donut solve the mystery in time? And can Carl finally find some pants?

Carl's Doomsday Scenario

As chaos and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they’re forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks. Races. Get from point A to point B, and don’t come in last. It all seems a a little too simple. 
 
Ignore those whispers about what’s happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles. Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means. Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it “a coming-out party for the ages.” 
 
So Carl is planning a party of his own. 
But if it goes wrong, it’s not just the end of Carl and Donut. No. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.

A Parade of Horribles

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent. 
 
Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy’s most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, that there’s only one thing they can count on apart from each other: they never know what’s coming next. And this floor is no exception. 
 
A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps. 
 
It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked. Here's the thing. It's never easy. Going it alone is not an option this time, so Carl and his team must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted? 
 
Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

The Gate of the Feral Gods

Chaos reigns on the eighth floor. 
 
Coast Guard vet Carl and Princess Donut have survived longer—and climbed higher—than anyone expected in the galaxy’s favorite reality show, but now the game is wide open. The task: capture six monsters and turn them into battle cards. The stronger the creature, the better the hand.But there’s always a catch. To win, Carl and Donut must claim the deadliest monster of all: Shi Maria, the Bedlam Bride—once wed to a now-missing god, her very attack can shatter the mind.Capturing a monster is one thing. Taming it? That’s another story entirely.

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic, intergalactic game show. That’s what. 
 
Join Coast Guard veteran Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game-like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. 
 
Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

Robin Burcell

Husband-and-wife team Sam and Remi Fargo face a new exciting adventure, continuing the bestselling series from UK No. 1 Bestseller Clive Cussler, the Grand Master of Adventure. 
 
The latest action-packed thriller featuring treasure-hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo. 
 
Praise for Clive Cussler: 
 
 'The Adventure King' Sunday Express 
 
 'Just about the best in the business' New York Post 
 
 'Cussler is hard to beat' Daily Mail

Clive Cussler's The Serpent's Eye

All colonist Oliver Lewis ever wanted to do is run the family ranch and keep his family’s aging fleet of intelligent agriculture bots ticking. But when his planet's transfer gate finally opens and restores instant travel and full communication between Earth and his planet, New Sonora, there’s a complication. The colossal Apex Corporation is hired to commence an “eviction action.” and they charge bored Earthers for the opportunity to design their own war machines, remotely pilot them and make it a game. Oliver and his friends soon find themselves fighting for their lives against these machines. But with the help of an old book from his grandfather, Oliver is determined to defend the only home he’s ever known.

Operation Bounce House

Margaret Weis

Tracy Hickman

Denis Beauvais

Jeffrey Butler

Once merely creatures of legend, the dragons have returned.But with their arrival comes the departure of the old gods &ndash; and with them, all healing magic vanishes and war engulfs the land . . .Former Comrades and lifelong friends, Sturm the Solamnic knight, Tanis Half-Elf, Tasslehoff Burrfoot the irrepressible Kender, Flint the Dwarf, Caramon the warrior and his twin brother, Raistlin the red-robed mage reunite for an adventure.Trouble starts when they see a woman use a blue crystal staff to heal a villager. Wondering if it&rsquo;s a sign the gods haven&rsquo;t abandoned them after all, they investigate and quickly find themselves catapulted into trouble that will change their lives and the world forever.

Dragonlance Chronicles

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, Dragons of Spring Dawning

Graham Brown

When a NATO super-weapon is successfully tested at the North Pole, the aircraft carrying it suddenly vanishes off the radar, the crew are found murdered at their stations, and the weapon – capable of triggering global catastrophe – disappears into the Arctic mists. 
 
NUMA’s Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are pulled into a race against time to lead the search. 
 
Rival Russian and Chinese powers are closing in, but as Kurt and his team race to reach the wreck first, a darker mystery emerges: the world’s great powers are all being carefully manipulated by one vengeful man with a deadly plan . . .

Clive Cussler’s Cold Fire

C.S. Forester

Now a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks. 
 
Set in the early days of WWII, Greyhound is the story of an international convoy of 37 Allied ships, led by captain Ernest Krause (Hanks) in his first command of a U.S. destroyer. The convoy ploughs through icy, submarine-infested North Atlantic seas while hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi U-boats. 
 
Faced with 48 hours of desperate peril, Captain Krause's hopeless mission is doomed to fail. But armed with extraordinary courage and grit, hope may just be on the horizon.

The Good Shepherd

‘Unbelievably good. Amazing tension, drama and atmosphere’ James Holland

They call it Faction Wars. 
 
The ninth floor: nine armies led by wealthy alien elites, all battling to seize the central castle. Strategy, alliances, treachery—it’s perfect television.After all, none of these powerful aliens really die when they’re playing war.But not this season. Winner takes all, and the fallen stay dead.With the AI collapsing, Carl and his team seize the chaos and join the war as one of the nine factions—just as a tenth army rises: NPCs, who have become fully self-aware and formed a team of their own.And for Donut and Katia, only one can leave this level.If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help from a veteran or two.This. Is. War.

This Inevitable Ruin

Attention. The gates are down. The hunters are loose. Run.A deadly jungle. Bloodthirsty dinosaurs. A fallen princess seeking revenge. And a mysterious celebration known as The Butcher’s Masquerade. Coast Guard veteran Carl and Princess Donut think they’ve seen everything the galaxy’s favorite game show can throw at them—until they reach the sixth floor: The Hunting Grounds.Now, for the first time, outside tourists are allowed in, eager to stalk and kill the remaining crawlers. Among them is Vrah, a legendary hunter determined to claim her greatest trophy yet. But this season, the prey is fighting back.Welcome, crawlers, to the sixth floor.

The Butcher's Masquerade

Alex Dekker

After a catastrophic deployment that left most of his team dead or injured, Nathan Wilde has said his goodbyes to the life of the Green Beret. He is now seeking the quiet life, dedicating himself to his academic passion for history and archaeology—but his hero days are far from over. Nathan’s attempt to lead a normal existence is soon threatened by his remarkable discovery of the lost civilisation of Ubar. Catapulted onto the world stage, Nate attracts more than just academic acclaim—mysterious forces are at play, leading to missing friends, summons from world leaders, and conscription back into the military. 
 
Knowing he’s going back into harm’s way, Nate turns to the only men left alive that he truly trusts: his group of tight knit former teammates—a motley crew of expertly trained warriors, to help him navigate the challenges ahead, as well as the demons of his past. Finding themselves hunted by a former Spetsnaz soldier who works for a shadowy organization and chased through the desert by al Qaeda terrorists, the former commandos must utilise their skills in a race to discover whether the city truly exists, as well as uncover a deeper geopolitical mystery that will have resounding ramifications around the world.

The Desert Heist

SenLinYu

This stunning hardcover edition features a deluxe jacket with gold foil on the front and a full-color illustration on the reverse, gorgeous designed endpapers, a gold foil case stamp, and, from acclaimed artist Avendell, a black-and-white interior illustration. 
 
“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.” 
 
Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed. 
 
In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile, undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive. 
 
According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit? 
 
To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.

Alchemised

Mike Maden

From the outside, The Oregon is a rustling hunk of junk. But beneath the ships decaying exterior lurks a state-of-the-art vessel equipped with a uniquely effective array of weaponry. It's manned by the charismatic Juan Cabrillo, chair of the US government sponsored organisation 'The Corporation'. Aided by his crew of mercenaries, Cabrillo takes the Oregon on missions that the law can't handle, dealing justice to villains who threaten chaos on a global scale.

Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon face a ghost ship, deadly assassins and a threat from Cabrillo’s own past in their race to stop the launch of the world’s deadliest machine in this electrifying new entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. 
 
There’s a tempest brewing in Central America. A government crackdown on cartels leaves most of the drug lords locked up in an impregnable prison. In response, Amador Fierro, a brilliant, tech-savvy crime boss forges the seven largest cartels into an allegiance called La Liga. If they are to defeat the U.S. led offensive, they will need a powerful weapon. Thus is born Project Q: an Artificial General Intelligence computer that, when finished, will grant Fierro such overwhelming control of America. 
 
Chairman Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon are the only ones standing in his way, but they have their own problems. While two members of the team are unreachable in the Darien Gap searching for an Iranian Quds Force base, the Oregon crew have a mole in their midst. Meanwhile, other dark forces are at play, competing for the all consuming power at hand. 
 
The race to stop the launching of Project Q will come down to the wire. It’s a race neither Juan Cabrillo, nor the western world, can afford to lose . . .

Clive Cussler’s Quantum Tempest

Gregg Hurwitz

A thrilling new story featuring Gregg Hurwitz's bestselling Orphan X! 
 
Joey Morales was the last recruit of the government's full black operation, the Orphan Program. Trained to be an assassin until she washed out, she was rescued by Evan Smoak, the former agent known as Orphan X. 
 
Now Joey, still a teenager and under the watchful eye of Evan Smoak, lives on her own (with Dog the dog) and attends college. 
 
While on campus, she tries to stop a young woman's suicide attempt - and fails. Then Joey uncovers the reason for Becca Morgan's desperate act - a document called The List, which ranks and rates women around campus based on their sexual appeal and performance. 
 
Determined to find the boys behind The List, the ones whose callous acts drove Becca Morgan to suicide, Joey recruits the help of her mentor, Orphan X, and uses all her skills to uncover and expose the ones responsible. 
Usually working from the shadows, Joey has to put herself on the line and in harm's way this time to not just avenge the dead but to protect the rest of the women who are targets of the hidden cabal behind The List. 
 
Praise for Orphan X 
'OUTSTANDING IN EVERY WAY' LEE CHILD 
'WEAPONS-GRADE THRILLER WRITING' GUARDIAN

The List

Two problems: A tech-billionaire whose psychological crisis could have catastrophic implications for the global order. And the abduction of vulnerable young woman, Anca, seized from the New York City Subway, held, hurt, then discarded like trash. 
 
One solution: Evan Smoak, a former black ops assassin codenamed Orphan X, now dedicated to helping the desperate with nowhere else to turn. 
 
But saving the world from a powerful man who has lost his mind while pursuing justice for an innocent survivor will test Evan like never before. Especially when complicated by Anca's inconvenient insistence that he show some measure of mercy to the men who abducted her. 
 
Because if the world's greatest assassin cannot kill, then this mission just got a whole lot more daunting and dangerous. 
 
As lethal threats mount, Evan may have to choose between upholding a higher code . . . and his own life.

Antihero

Shannon Mayer

Still reeling from the betrayal that shattered her at Neverthorn, Harlow Daygon is in hiding. Again. Magically disguised and barely holding it together, she and the rest of House Phoenix are masquerading as students at Heathermoor, Neverthorn’s mysterious Scottish sister school. But for the first time in a long time… Harlow feels almost at home. Too bad peace never lasts in the Dwimmerworld. The Grym Dunaris is still lost. The Kraken gold has vanished. And Typhon has found her and her friends. And soon they'll see, he's not the only danger hot on their heels.

Heathermoor

Kalayna Price

Grave witch Alex Craft is no stranger to the dead talking. She raises shades, works with ghosts, and is dating Death himself. But the dead walking? That's not supposed to happen. And yet reanimated corpses are committing crimes across Nekros City. 
 
Alex's investigation leads her deep into a web of sinister magic. When Briar Darque of the Magical Crimes Investigation Bureau gets involved, Alex finds herself with an unexpected ally of sorts. But as the dead continue to rise and wreak havoc on the living, can she get to the soul of the matter in time?

Grave Ransom

LJ Andrews

The Songbird 
 
Captive. Challenger. Queen. 
 
Enemies took her from the man who held her heart. They might see her as weak, as a pawn in wicked games, but they're no match for the first Ever Queen. 
Let them think they've won. Her heart belongs to a beautiful monster, and she will never stop fighting until she's back in his arms. 
 
The Serpent 
 
Captor. Villain. King. 
 
His enemies stole the woman who claimed his soul. They betrayed him out of greed and desire for the crown, but they won't die for that betrayal. No. They'll die for touching her. 
His heart belongs to a stunning little bird. He will never stop searching for her light across the skies. Not until the blood of his enemies spills at her feet, and his queen wears their bones around her neck.

The Ever Queen

C.J. Merritt

A DYING RUSSIAN SCIENTIST 
confesses to his children what he did as a young man. 
 
A MURDERED SPY 
shares vital intelligence before he’s ruthlessly assassinated in the English countryside. 
 
A RITUAL KILLING 
hidden in a forest clearing in Sweden hints at something much worse. 
 
FORMER MI6 AGENT RUNNER 
Stella McCrae is the only person who can be trusted to investigate now her former employer has been compromised. 
 
EX-SAS OPERATOR 
Tommy Kane has always had Stella’s back, but as the threats against them escalate, will his formidable skills be enough this time? 
 
OCTAGON 
A devastating plot against the West is already in train. Only Stella and Tommy stand in its way. And time is running out...

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