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Satire, Fantasy and Writings on the Supernatural by Daniel Defoe, Part I Vol 2
by W R Owens P N Furbank David Blewett Peter Elmer John Mullan Geoffrey Sill G A StarrThe publication of the 44-volume Works of Daniel Defoe continues with this collection of Defoe's satirical poetry and fantasy writings, and writings on the supernatural.
The Dragonfly Sea
by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor‘One of the most unforgettable books I have read in the last few years … What a writer! What a thinker! What a woman!’ Fiammetta RoccoFrom the award-winning author of Dust comes a magical, sea-saturated, coming-of-age novel that transports readers from Kenya to China and Turkey.On an island in the Lamu Archipelago lives a solitary, stubborn child called Ayaana and her mother, Munira. When a sailor, Muhidin, enters their lives, the child finds something she has never had before: a father. But as Ayaana grows into adulthood, forces of nature and history begin to reshape her life, leading her to distant countries and fraught choices.Told with a glorious lyricism, The Dragonfly Sea is a transcendent story of love and adventure, and of the inexorable need for shelter in a dangerous world.'One of Africa's most exciting voices ... The Dragonfly Sea is a continent-hopping novel of epic proportions.' Refinery29'In its omnivorous interest in the world, The Dragonfly Sea is a paean to both cultural diffusion and difference . . . as much as [the novel] traces the globe, it also depicts an internal pilgrimage, its heroine in rose attar a broken saint.' New York Times'Owuor continues to break ground among contemporary African writers.' Vanity Fair
Braking Day
by Adam OyebanjiInterstellar Vehicle Archimedes has been hurtling through space for more than five generations, an oasis of heat and light in the middle of absolutely nowhere. But now the ageing starship is preparing to brake, for it is arriving at Destination Star: Tau Ceti, the new home for the space-born descendants of the First Crew.For trainee engineer Ravinder MacLeod, the world he knows is coming to an end. Once Archimedes succumbs to the gravitational pull of the Destination Star and its (hopefully) habitable planet, there will be no going back - or anywhere else. As Braking Day approaches, Ravi finds himself caught between the rigid requirements of the officer class to which he aspires and his blue-collar, ne'er-do-well family. Unfortunately for Ravi, Boz, his brilliant ex-con cousin, seems determined to make his life difficult - not least by her experiments with forbidden technology.Then Ravi is assigned to routine maintenance deep in the massive engines of the Archimedes, where, alone and out of contact, he comes face to face with something impossible - mind-breakingly impossible.Plagued by nightmares and visions and worried that his grip on reality is slipping, Ravi turns to Boz for help. Their search for answers takes them to the jagged place where the ship's future intersects with its long past. For not everyone is excited to be reaching journey's end, and the ghosts of the First Crew may not have been fully laid to rest.
Boy, Snow, Bird
by Helen OyeyemiThe fifth novel from award-winning author Helen Oyeyemi, named one of Granta's best young British novelists. A retelling of the Snow White myth, Boy, Snow, Bird is a deeply moving novel about an unbreakable bond . . . BOY Novak turns twenty and decides to try for a brand-new life. Flax Hill, Massachusetts, isn't exactly a welcoming town, but it does have the virtue of being the last stop on the bus route she took from New York. Flax Hill is also the hometown of Arturo Whitman – craftsman, widower, and father of Snow. SNOW is mild-mannered, radiant and deeply cherished – exactly the sort of little girl Boy never was, and Boy is utterly beguiled by her. If Snow displays a certain inscrutability at times, that's simply a characteristic she shares with her father, harmless until Boy gives birth to Snow's sister, Bird. When BIRD is born Boy is forced to re-evaluate the image Arturo's family have presented to her, and Boy, Snow and Bird are broken apart. Sparkling with wit and vibrancy, Boy, Snow, Bird is a novel about three women and the strange connection between them. It confirms Helen Oyeyemi's place as one of the most original and dynamic literary voices of her generation.
Gingerbread: A Novel
by Helen Oyeyemi‘A writer of sentences so elegant that they gleam’ - Ali Smith Perdita Lee may appear your average British schoolgirl; Harriet Lee may seem just a working mother trying to penetrate the school social hierarchy; but there are signs that they might not be as normal as they think they are. For one thing, they share a gold-painted, seventh-floor flat with some surprisingly verbal vegetation. And then there’s the gingerbread they make. Londoners may find themselves able to take or leave it, but it’s very popular in Druhástrana, the far-away (and, according to Wikipedia, non-existent) land of Harriet Lee’s early youth. In fact, the world’s truest lover of the Lee family gingerbread is Harriet’s charismatic childhood friend, Gretel Kercheval – a figure who seems to have had a hand in everything (good or bad) that has happened to Harriet since they met.Years later, when teenaged Perdita sets out to find her mother’s long-lost friend, it prompts a new telling of Harriet’s story, as well as a reunion or two. As the book follows the Lees through encounters with jealousy, ambition, family grudges, work, wealth, and real estate, gingerbread seems to be the one thing that reliably holds a constant value. Influenced by the mysterious place gingerbread holds in classic children’s stories – equal parts wholesome and uncanny; from the tantalizing witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel to the man-shaped confection who one day decides to run as fast as he can – beloved novelist Helen Oyeyemi invites readers into a delightful tale of a surprising family legacy, in which the inheritance is a recipe. Endlessly surprising and satisfying, written with Helen Oyeyemi’s inimitable style and imagination, Gingerbread is a true feast for the reader.
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
by Helen OyeyemiThe stories collected in What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours are linked by more than the exquisitely winding prose of their creator: Helen Oyeyemi's ensemble cast of characters slip from the pages of their own stories only to surface in another.The reader is invited into a world of lost libraries and locked gardens, of marshlands where the drowned dead live and a city where all the clocks have stopped; students hone their skills at puppet school, the Homely Wench Society commits a guerrilla book-swap, and lovers exchange books and roses on St Jordi's Day. It is a collection of towering imagination, marked by baroque beauty and a deep sensuousness.
White is for Witching
by Helen OyeyemiHigh on the cliffs near Dover, the Silver family is reeling from the loss of Lily, mother of twins Eliot and Miranda, and beloved wife of Luc. Miranda misses her with particular intensity. Their mazy, capricious house belonged to her mother’s ancestors, and to Miranda, newly attuned to spirits, newly hungry for chalk, it seems they have never left. Forcing apples to grow in winter, revealing and concealing secret floors, the house is fiercely possessive of young Miranda. Joining voices with her brother and her best friend Ore, it tells her story: haunting in every sense, White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi is a spine-tingling tribute to the power of magic, myth and memory. Miri I conjure you . . .
The Messiah of Stockholm
by Cynthia OzickFrom the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, who's been shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, the Man Booker International Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction comes the brilliant novel The Messiah of Stockholm.Lars Andeming, perhaps overly intellectual and certainly eccentric, is the Monday book reviewer for a Stockholm daily. He is also the self-proclaimed son of Bruno Schulz, a Polish writer who was executed by the Nazis before his last novel, The Messiah, could be published. When a manuscript of The Messiah mysteriously appears in Stockholm, in the possession of Schulz's 'daughter', Lars's circumscribed world of paper, apartment, and favorite bookstore turns upside down, catapulting him into a whirlwind of dream, magic, and illusion.A Brilliant novel... The Messiah of Stockholm is a worthy companion to Philip Roth's superb Prague Orgy... A complex and fascinating meditation on the nature of writing and the responsibilities of those who choose to create - or judge - tales. - Harold Bloom, New York Times
The Puttermesser Papers (Vintage International Ser.)
by Cynthia OzickRuth Puttermesser lives in New York City. Her learning is monumental; her love life is minimal. And her most idle fantasies have a disconcerting tendency to come true. She yearns for a daughter and promptly creates one, unassisted, in the form of the first recorded female golem - a Jewish mythological homunculus. She also manages to get herself elected mayor. Then Puttermesser inadvisably contemplates the afterlife, whereupon she is immediately hurtled into it headlong and discovers, at the end of it all, that a paradise found is also paradise lost.
Zoopertown: X-Ray Rabbit
by Jem PackerMeet Zoopertown's most brilliant Zooperheroes:Crash-Bang Koala, Zip-Zap Giraffe, Snap-Crack Croc, Zoom-Zoom Zebra and X-Ray Rabbit! No job too big, no job too small - so when ALL the food in Zoopertown goes missing, the Zooperheroes are right on the case. Could a villainously bad baboon be behind the disappearance? There's only one way to find out! Here we go, guys . . . To the Zoopercopters! The first in an action-packed, super-charged ZOOPER series, perfect for superhero fans EVERYWHERE!
Zoopertown: Zip-Zap Giraffe
by Jem PackerThe second book in an action-packed, super-charged ZOOPER series, perfect for superhero fans EVERYWHERE!__________Meet Zoopertown's most brilliant Zooperheroes:Crash-Bang Koala, Zip-Zap Giraffe, Snap-Crack Croc, Zoom-Zoom Zebra and X-Ray Rabbit!No job too big, no job too small - so when ALL of Zoopertown gets covered in ice, the Zooperheroes are right on the case. Could a villainously bad baboon be behind the big freeze? There's only one way to find out! Here we go, guys . . . To the Zoopercopters!
Stolen Hours and Other Curiosities
by Manjula PadmanabhanRebellious cellphones. Lustful holograms. A tourist vampire with a taste for spicy Indian blood. A conference of galactic gods.In twenty-five exhilarating stories, Manjula Padmanabhan brings her trademark twist to familiar reality, dreaming up inventive futures and capturing today's world with equal flair. From bejewelled party guests suddenly stripped naked to a teenager who steals time, from mosquitoes that infect people with Gandhian pacifism to a dystopia where everyone breathes canned air, this remarkable collection poses urgent questions: what does it mean to live in a society, and this one in particular? Where are we headed, and do we even want to get there? At once funny, provocative and profound, Stolen Hours and Other Curiosities is science fiction served up with a dab of ghee and a sprinkling of dark matter that will hold you captive till the very last page.
The Fire Fox
by Alexandra PageAn uplifting, magical book perfect for sharing at bedtime that will leave children feeling warm, cosy and loved.Freya and her mum have gone to a little cabin to get away for a while. The light has gone out of their lives since Freya's dad passed away. Freya isn't sure about going sledging, but when she meets a magical fox in the snow, she can't help but follow him into the forest – and on to a thrilling adventure.A heartwarming bedtime story inspired by the Finnish Saami myth of the revontulet, or fox fires – the sparks that fly from the fur of a mystical fox to become the Northern Lights.The Fire Fox is a gloriously illustrated, beautifully written story about the nurturing light of love that can't be dimmed, written by debut author Alexandra Page and illustrated by the exciting talent Stef Murphy. This enchanting picture book with its touching story of sadness, hope, love and joy begs to be read again and again.
The Secret Society of Very Important Post: A Wishyouwas Mystery
by Alexandra PageIt's 1953, just days from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and Penny Black can't get into the summer holiday spirit. Not when she's about to move to Scotland – and away from everything she knows – for good. But when Wishyouwas plops into the fireplace in a cloud of soot and chaos, with a summons from the Royal Postmistress herself, all of Penny's plans suddenly go up in smoke. The intrepid pair are soon on the trail of a mysterious traitor and a potentially deadly plot to halt the coronation. Their investigation will take them across London's busy streets, high up in the air and deeper into danger than they've ever been before …
The Secret Society of Very Important Post: A Wishyouwas Mystery
by Alexandra PageIt's 1953, just days from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and Penny Black can't get into the summer holiday spirit. Not when she's about to move to Scotland – and away from everything she knows – for good. But when Wishyouwas plops into the fireplace in a cloud of soot and chaos, with a summons from the Royal Postmistress herself, all of Penny's plans suddenly go up in smoke. The intrepid pair are soon on the trail of a mysterious traitor and a potentially deadly plot to halt the coronation. Their investigation will take them across London's busy streets, high up in the air and deeper into danger than they've ever been before …
Dog On A Broomstick
by Jan PageThe countdown has started for the Grand Spell Contest and the Witch's cat has run off to be a cat-food tester! Then the Dog appears on her doorstep. He can't scratch, but he can dig big holes. He can't hiss and spit, but he can growl, dribble and cover everthing in muddy pawprints. Will the Witch let the Dog help her at the Grand Spell Contest? And, most importantaly, can they both fit on her brooomstick?
Science Fiction in Argentina: Technologies of the Text in a Material Multiverse
by Joanna PageIt has become something of a critical commonplace to claim that science fiction does not actually exist in Argentina. This book puts that claim to rest by identifying and analyzing a rich body of work that fits squarely in the genre. Joanna Page explores a range of texts stretching from 1875 to the present day and across a variety of media-literature, cinema, theatre, and comics-and studies the particular inflection many common discourses of science fiction (e.g., abuse of technology by authoritarian regimes, apocalyptic visions of environmental catastrophe) receive in the Argentine context. A central aim is to historicize these texts, showing how they register and rework the contexts of their production, particularly the hallmarks of modernity as a social and cultural force in Argentina. Another aim, held in tension with the first, is to respond to an important critique of historicism that unfolds in these texts. They frequently unpick the chronology of modernity, challenging the linear, universalizing models of development that underpin historicist accounts. They therefore demand a more nuanced set of readings that work to supplement, revise, and enrich the historicist perspective.
The Key to Shimr Citrines (Taranauts #6)
by Roopa PaiMithya's eight worlds - Shyn, Lustr, Sparkl, Glo, Dazl, Shimr, Syntilla and Glytr - were plunged into darkness when the wicked Shaap Azur captured all its 32 stars. There was no hope until Zarpa, Tufan and Zvala - three bright and brave Taranauts with special gifts - set out to bring back light and cheer to Mithya. After five successful missions - each of which has tested their wits, courage and team spirit - the Taranauts head for the blazing hot world of Shimr in search of the golden Citrines. Meanwhile, determined to stop them, a brand new army of Mithya's Most Ruthless, goes into full combat mode. Will all three Taranauts make it safely through the Bhoolabyrinth? Can Tufan survive the oxdrogen-deprived darkness of the underground city of Oop R' Ville? What is the secret of the Drip-Trip Cave? And how in Kay Laas will they tackle the most unexpected problem of them all - Mithyakos who don't want their stars rescued? Will the Citrines return to Tara? Read and find out!
The Mystery of the Syntilla Silvers (Taranauts #5)
by Roopa PaiOne half of Mithya shining another half still in the dark – glide away with the Taranauts on another thrilling ‘chilling’ adventure! Mithya’s eight worlds – Shyn Lustr Sparkl Glo Dazl Shimr Syntilla and Glytr – were plunged into darkness when the wicked Shaap Azur captured all its 32 stars. There was no hope until Zarpa Tufan and Zvala – three bright and brave Taranauts with special gifts - set out to bring back light and cheer to Mithya. At the end of four missions the score reads 4-0 in favour of the Taranauts. Nervous and desperate Shaap Azur’s Ograzurs are in attack mode taking the war to the enemy at impregnable Kay Laas! The attempt fails and the Taranauts zip away to the icy world of Syntilla but Eye-in-the-Sky has other tricks up his sleeve. Will the giant Syntillakos still grieving over the sudden drying up of their life-giving Bisibrooks Waterway rise up to help the Taranauts? Can our heroes negoti
The Quest for the Shyn Emeralds (Taranauts #1)
by Roopa PaiExactly where Earth and Sky meet lies a whole different universe called Mithya! In Mithya is a great ocean, Dariya, and from it rises Kay Laas, the mighty, moody volcano. At it stop, is the home of the absolute Ruler of Mithya, the brave and kind Shoon Ya. He rules over the eight worlds that bob peace fully in Dariya, lit by the Tarasun and its 32 stars that light each world in different colours –emerald green, amethyst purple, ruby red… But danger lurks beneath the surface. In the fiery lands under the ocean bed, is imprisoned Shoon Ya’s evil twin, the fearsome demon Shaap Azur, just as powerful but All Bad. How much longer can Shoon Ya keep him under control? Not too long. When Shaap Azur escapes, he seizes all the stars, leaving Mithya’s eight worlds in darkness. The people of Mithya are horrified and separate, until three young, brave children of Mithya, gifted with special abilities come to their rescue. Will Mithiya shine again? Read and find out!
The Race for the Glo Rubies (Taranauts #4)
by Roopa PaiThree worlds shining on to the fourth! Race away with the Taranauts to another heart-stopping adventure – at Glo! Mithya’s eight worlds - Shyn Lustr Sparkl Glo Dazl Shimr Syntilla and Glytr – were plunged into darkness when the wicked Shaap Azur captured all its 32 stars. There was no hope until Zarpa Tufan and Zvala - three bright and brave Taranauts with special gifts - set out to bring back light and cheer to Mithya. With three successful rescues under their belts the Taranauts head west determined to notch up another win against their foes. But things take a nasty turn right at the start - the Marani of Glo is taken hostage! What’s worse Ograzur Dusht now has a secret agent in the Taranauts’ camp a spy who is known only by the code name Dro Hie. Can the Taranauts get safely across the fearsome Budbudana and the treacherous cliff paths of Pur Butte? Will they survive the motion-sensitive lightning hurlers of Wilderwolf Gorge? Does t
The Riddle of the Lustr sapphires (Taranauts #2)
by Roopa PaiZip away with the Taranauts on another thrilling mission - in a different world! Mithya's eight worlds - Shyn Lustr Sparkl Glo Dazl Shimr Syntilla and Glytr - were plunged into darkness when the wicked Shaap Azur captured all the 32 stars of Tara. All seemed lost until Taranauts Zarpa Tufan and Zvala - three bright brave and gifted mithyakins - set out on the difficult and dangerous quest to bring back light and cheer to Mithya. Having set free the four Emeralds of Shyn the Taranauts are now racing against the dingdial to track down the Sapphires of Lustr. But the wily Shaap Azur has made the challenge tougher than ever - this time all the riddles are hidden in Lustr's baffling brain-scrambling Mayazaal! To make things worse the Demazurs are hot on their trail. Can the Taranauts call upon all their reserves of strength skills and talent as they battle vicious flowers weeping trees vengeful minimits and their own doubts about their mysterious companion Zubreymunyun. Will
The Search for the Glytr Turquoises (Taranauts #7)
by Roopa PaiJoin the intrepid Taranauts on their most formidable mission as the action shifts into high gear on Glytr’s Terror Trail! Mithya’s eight worlds – Shyn, Lustr, Sparkl, Glo, Dazl, Shimr, Syntilla and Glytr – were plunged into darkness when the wicked Shaap Azur captured all its 32 stars. There was no hope until Zarpa, Tufan and Zvala – three bright and brave Taranauts with special gifts – set out to bring back light and cheer to Mithya. Six times they have been stretched to the limit, and six times – undaunted by mind-boggling riddles, monsters and mayhem – the Taranauts have returned successful. Now they are headed for the razzle-dazzle of Glytr’s capital city, Boom Bolly Bay, where, unknown to them, Shaap Azur has changed the rules of the terror game. Can the Taranauts save a hazillion unsuspecting Glytrkos from ‘bubbling, burbling death’? Will Zarpa succeed in preventing a terrible tragedy at the Bel Nolo Inter-World Cup Final? And where in the world has Shaap imprisoned Max Moolah, the 15-octon-old heir to BBBay's biggest fortune? Will the Turquoises shine down on Glytr again? Read and find out!
The Secret of the Sparkl Amethysts (Taranauts #3)
by Roopa Pai8 Tarasuns rescued 24 to go! Can the Taranauts pull off another win at Sparkl? Mithya's eight worlds - Shyn Lustr Sparkl Glo Dazl Shimr Syntilla and Glytr - were plunged into darkness when the wicked Shaap Azur captured all the 32 stars of Tara. All seemed lost until Taranauts Zarpa Tufan and Zvala - three bright brave and gifted mithyakins - set out on the difficult and dangerous quest to bring back light and cheer to Mithya. This time the Taranauts travel to Zarpa's home world of Sparkl to rescue the four Amethysts only to discover that Shaap Azur has upped the stakes like never before. They have to win four deadly games against wily opponents seen and unseen! What's more Shaap Azur's henchman Ograzur Dusht has launched a secret search for a spy in Shoon Ya's camp! Will Zarpa be able to beat the sandinger at 3-D SeeZee? Can Tufan rout Mog Ambow at Lunascoot Latang? Does Zvala have what it takes to crack the mindbenders in Brain Drain? And can the Taranauts defeat th
Taranauts 8: The Magic of the Dazl Corals
by Roopa PaiA great war looming, and four Tarasuns still to be rescued! Take flight with the Taranauts on their incredible final adventure! Mithya’s eight worlds – Shyn, Lustr, Sparkl, Glo, Dazl, Shimr, Syntilla and Glytr – were plunged into darkness when the wicked Shaap Azur captured all its 32 stars. There was no hope until Zarpa, Tufan and Zvala – three bright and brave Taranauts with special gifts – set out to bring back light and cheer to Mithya. Seven missions later, the Taranauts have reason to be proud – they have successfully returned 28 Tarasuns to Tara. But there is little time for celebration. The Corals are still to be rescued, and Shaap Azur, determined not to go down without a fight, is preparing to unleash a terrible war. Will the Taranauts survive the deadly dangers that await them in the Dil of Darkness? Will the giglworms return to the Forest of Gul Izta and make the Dazlkos well again? Can Emperaza Shoon Ya find a way to save the mithyakos from the bloody destruction of the Great Zamara? Who will emerge victorious, and who will be banished to the Fiery Lands? Read and find out!