Late in the twenty-sixth century, the human race has advanced enough to accidentally trigger the Inhibitors-alien-killing machines designed to detect intelligent life and destroy it. The only hope for humanity lies in the recovery of a secret cache of doomsday weapons-and a renegade named Clavain who is determined to find them. But other factions want the weapons for their own purposes-and the weapons themselves have another agenda altogether.
The saga that has enthralled the millions of readers of The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End now continues with Ken Follett's magnificent, gripping A Column of Fire.
Christmas 1558, and young Ned Willard returns home to Kingsbridge to find his world has changed.
The ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn by religious hatred. Europe is in turmoil as high principles clash bloodily with friendship, loyalty and love, and Ned soon finds himself on the opposite side from the girl he longs to marry, Margery Fitzgerald.
Then Elizabeth Tudor becomes queen and all of Europe turns against England. The shrewd, determined young monarch sets up the country's first secret service to give her early warning of assassination plots, rebellions and invasion plans.
Elizabeth knows that alluring, headstrong Mary Queen of Scots lies in wait in Paris. Part of a brutally ambitious French family, Mary has been proclaimed the rightful ruler of England, with her own supporters scheming to get rid of the new queen.
Over a turbulent half-century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed, as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva. With Elizabeth clinging precariously to her throne and her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies and courageous secret agents, it becomes clear that the real enemies - then as now - are not the rival religions.
The true battle pitches those who believe in tolerance and compromise against the tyrants who would impose their ideas on everyone else - no matter the cost.
Revelation Space and Redemption Ark have been hailed as "the best of the new breed of space opera." Now Absolution Gap concludes Alastair Reynolds's epic science fiction trilogy.
1782 First officer on brig o'war . . .
Fresh from duty on the frigate Desperate in her fight with the French Capricieuse off St. Kitts, Midshipman Alan Lewrie passes his examination board for Lieutenancy and finds himself commissioned first officer of the brig o'war Shrike. There's time for some dalliance with the fair sex, and then Lieutenant Lewrie must be off to patrol the North American coast and attempt to bring the Muskogees and Seminoles onto the British side against the American rebels (dalliance with an Indian maiden is just part of the mission). Then it's back to the Caribbean, to sail beside Captain Horatio Nelson in the Battle for Turks Island. . . .
Naval officer and rogue, Alan Lewrie is a man of his times and a hero for all times. His equals are Hornblower, Aubrey, and Maturin--sailors beloved by readers all over the world.
Praise for The Naval Adventures of Alan Lewrie
"Plenty of action . . . Fast-paced, graphically descriptive and well-plotted."
--The Virginian-Pilot & The Ledger-Star
"Fast-moving. . . A hugely likable hero, a huge cast of sharply drawn supporting characters: there's nothing missing. Wonderful stuff."
--Kirkus Reviews
"You could get addicted to this series. Easily."
--The New York Times Book Review
1788--Bahamas Squadron . . .
A fighter, rogue, and ladies man, Alan Lewrie has done the unthinkable and gotten himself hitched--to a woman and a ship! The woman is the lovely Caroline Chiswick. The ship is the gun ketch, Alacrity, bound for the Bahamas and a bloody game of cat and mouse with the pirates who ply the lunatic winds there. But while war comes naturally to the young husband, politics doesn't. Sure that a powerful Bahamian merchant is behind a scourge of piracy, Lewrie runs afoul of the Royal Governor--who holds the most precious hostage of all. . . .
From the windswept Carolinas to the exotic East Indies, Alan Lewrie fights and frolics with all the wild abandon of the high seas themselves. He's a true swashbuckling naval hero in the age of great sailing ships.
"Grand, satisfying . . . Fans as well as newcomers will relish Lambdin's unerring depiction of Navy politicking, the niceties of Nassau society . . . and, in fact, all the rich details of late-18th-century life at sea and shore."
--PublishersWeekly
"Hair-raising action . . . Fascinating . . . Grandly entertaining."
--The Flint Journal
"Recommended . . . Lambdin's work is comparable to that of masters such as C. S. Forester."
--Library Journal
Captain Alan Lewrie returns for his tenth roaring adventure on the high seas. This time, it's off to a failing British intervention on the ultra-rich French colony of Saint Domingue, wracked by an utterly cruel and bloodthirsty slave rebellion led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, the future father of Haitian independence. Beset and distracted though he might be, it will take all of Lewrie's pluck, daring, skill, and his usual tongue-in-cheek deviousness, to navigate all the perils in a sea of grey.
Five families. Three decades. One extraordinary era. Edge of Eternity is the epic final volume in the Century trilogy.
As the decisions made in the corridors of power bring the world to the brink of oblivion, five families from across the globe are brought together in an unforgettable tale of passion and conflict during the Cold War.
When Rebecca Hoffmann, a teacher in East Germany, finds herself pursued by the secret police, she discovers that she has been living a lie. Her younger brother, Walli, longs to escape across the Berlin Wall to Britain to become part of the burgeoning music scene.
In the United States, George Jakes, a bright young lawyer in the Kennedy administration, is a fierce supporter of the Civil Rights movement - as is the woman he is in love with, Verena, who works for Martin Luther King, Jr. Boarding a Greyhound bus in Washington to protest against segregation, they begin a fateful journey together.
Russian activist, Tania Dvorkin, narrowly evades capture for producing an illegal news sheet. Her actions are made all the more perilous as her brother, Dimka, is a rising star in the heart of the Communist Party in the Kremlin.
From the deep south of America to the vast expanses of Siberia, from the shores of Cuba to the swinging streets of Sixties' London, Ken Follett's Edge of Eternity is a sweeping tale of the fight for individual freedom in a world gripped by the mightiest clash of superpowers anyone has ever known.
Judas Unchained is the concluding part of Peter F. Hamilton's blockbuster space opera, The Commonwealth Saga.
After hundreds of years secretly manipulating the human race, the Starflyer alien has succeeded in engineering a war which should result in the destruction of the Intersolar Commonwealth. Now, thanks to Chief Investigator Paula Myo, the Commonwealth's political elite finally acknowledges the Starflyer's existence, and puts together an unlikely partnership to track down this enigmatic and terrifying alien.
The invasion from Dyson Alpha continues with dozens of Commonwealth worlds falling to the enemy. The navy fights back with what it believes to be war-winning superweapons, only to find that the alien fleet has equally powerful weapons. How the aliens got them is the question which haunts Admiral Kime. Could it be that the Commonwealth's top-secret defence project has been compromised by the Starflyer's agents, or is the truth even worse?
Book 3 in the Void Trilogy series
In one of his most eagerly anticipated offerings, Peter F. Hamilton brings his acclaimed Void trilogy to a stunning close.
An innovator praised as one of the inventors of "the new space opera," Peter F. Hamilton has also been hailed as the heir of such golden-age giants as Heinlein and Asimov. His star-spanning sagas are distinguished by deft plotting, engaging characters, provocative explorations of science and society, and soaring imaginative reach. Now, in one of the most eagerly anticipated offerings of the year, Hamilton brings his acclaimed Void trilogy to a stunning close.
Exposed as the Second Dreamer, Araminta has become the target of a galaxywide search by government agent Paula Myo and the psychopath known as the Cat, along with others equally determined to prevent—or facilitate—the pilgrimage of the Living Dream cult into the heart of the Void. An indestructible microuniverse, the Void may contain paradise, as the cultists believe, but it is also a deadly threat. For the miraculous reality that exists inside its boundaries demands energy—energy drawn from everything outside those boundaries: from planets, stars, galaxies...from everything that lives.
Meanwhile, the parallel story of Edeard, the Waterwalker—as told through a series of addictive dreams communicated to the gaiasphere via Inigo, the First Dreamer—continues to unfold. But now the inspirational tale of this idealistic young man takes a darker and more troubling turn as he finds himself faced with powerful new enemies—and temptations more powerful still.
With time running out, a repentant Inigo must decide whether to release Edeard's final dream: a dream whose message is scarcely less dangerous than the pilgrimage promises to be. And Araminta must choose whether to run from her unwanted responsibilities or face them down, with no guarantee of success or survival. But all these choices may be for naught if the monomaniacal Ilanthe, leader of the breakaway Accelerator Faction, is able to enter the Void. For it is not paradise she seeks there, but dominion.
It is 1989 and the disease resulting from the testing of experimental bioweapons has ravaged much of the world. The U.K. and Europe are in chaos as the virus spreads uncontrollably. The U.S., nominally arriving in force to offer military and humanitarian assistance to their allies, are posturing dangerously with the east and failing to unite over the common enemy of humanity.
As command and control are ramping up operations over the British Isles and Europe, the remnants of Johnson's Yeomanry and the scattered troops consolidate their position on their island stronghold and begin to look to the future, but events beyond their knowledge and control force them into desperate action.
Peter, alone by choice and oddly thriving, finds himself suddenly responsible for the life of someone other than himself. Adapting with ease, the young boy begins to show the difference between nature and nurture.
Elsewhere, other survivors stake their own claims to land and resources, but the inexplicable swarms of undead threaten to gather and dissipate constantly.
Brought to you by Penguin.
On 28 February 2013, a 600-year-old tradition was shattered: the conservative Pope Benedict XVI made a startling announcement. He would resign. Reeling from the news, the College of Cardinals rushed to Rome to congregate in the Sistine Chapel to pick his successor. Their unlikely choice? Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,200 years, a one time tango club bouncer, a passionate football fan, a man with the common touch.
From the prize-winning screenwriter of The Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour, The Two Popes is a fascinating, revealing and often funny tale of two very different men whose destinies converge with each other - they both live in the Vatican - and the wider world.
How did these two men become two of the most powerful people on Earth?
What's it like to be the Pope?
What does the future hold for the Catholic Church and its 1 billion followers?
The Two Popes is a dual biography that masterfully combines these two popes' lives into one gripping narrative. From Benedict and Francis' experiences of war in their homelands - when they were still Joseph and Jorge - and the sexual abuse scandal that continues to rock the Church to its foundations, to the intrigue and the occasional comedy of life in the Vatican, The Two Popes glitters with the darker and the lighter details of life inside one of the world's most opaque but significant institutions.
Book 9 in the Alan Lewrie series.
Following in the footsteps of Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, whose ripping adventures capture thousands of new fans each year, comes the heir apparent to the mantle of Forester and O'Brian: Dewey Lambdin and his acclaimed Alan Lewrie series.
In King's Captain, Alan Lewrie is promoted for his quick action in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. But before he's even had a chance to settle into his new role, a mutiny rages through the fleet, and the sudden reappearance of an old enemy has Lewrie fighting not just for his command but for his life.
