Showing results by narrator "David Pickering" in All Categories

Ever felt that awful rush of dread as you turn out the lights after a late-night horror film? Ever wondered if something is following you up the stairs when you go to bed? No? Well, you will after this....

The Late Bronze Age Near East (c. 1500-1200 BCE) was a time and place where great kingdoms and empires vied for land and influence, playing high stakes diplomatic games, trading, and occasionally going to war with each other in the process. The Egyptians, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, and several smaller Canaanite kingdoms were all part of this system, which was one of the first true “global” systems in world history and also one of the most materially prosperous eras in antiquity.

From the best-selling author of A Drive Through Time comes a time travel novella with a hint of fantasy. A down-on-his-luck historian, William, meets an enigmatic woman at a coffee shop in London. Her fascinating stories spark the beginning of an adventure that leads him to the banks of the Nile river. But his past catches up with him, and William is left to die alone in the Sahara desert. What happens next will have you wonder and second-guess yourself until the end. If you liked the Inception movie, surely you'll enjoy this book.

Evil has returned to Arasah after a long respite. The Reaping was only forestalled until this moment, and so it begins again. The Second Reaping. The innocent will pay the price for the usurpers of the power that is released at death. But there is always a redemption. A balance. And sometimes, an immersion. In the aftermath of the destruction of their world, 10 refugees struggle to stay alive. But the Immersion has happened, and they have a greater role yet to play. This is the First Chronicle of the Manaar.

It is difficult to say when the Immersion happened. There is little doubt as to where it began. It was in a village. Despite an impoverished life, the village held a community rich in the love of life and each other. Some would say these conditions are the essence of an Immersion. Mik and his friends are at that age when the future looks infinite in all its possibilities. Life in the Village has never seemed so good. This year they attend the county fair as adults. But there is a world outside that cares little for the country people and their yearly celebrations of life together.

Peregrine, bastard son of King Paladrine, thought he had trouble when he was transformed by a sorcerer into a falcon. In fact, his real troubles began when the prepubescent princess Ruby changed him back into...well, almost a prince. A bastard. Whereupon he found himself dragged off by a dyspeptic dragon, smooched by a sphinx, wooed by the weefolk, and finally appointed Sub-Imperial-sub-Legate, which is still not quite a prince, but somewhat more elegant than a bastard.

Peregrine was the bastard son of the King of Sapodilla, the last Pagan kingdom in the world to resist Christianity. Accompanied by his page and the rather time-worn sorcerer, Appledore, the prince sallies forth into the Dark Ages to find his fortune. What he finds instead is: dragons, whores, Huns, Roman legions, emperors, and a most fantastic collection of mysteries and adventures.

Set during the reign of the Aztecs in Mexico, two alien forces, dormant for centuries, enter a confrontation on a remote mountain that will decide Earth's fate. The great old ones benevolently ruled before the cruel Aztecs were shaped by the Huitzil, who came from the evil stars and taught the Aztecs how to conquer and demanded endless human sacrifice.

As we explore the ancient deities from Greece (also copied and somewhat altered by the Romans), we can find many fascinating stories and dramatic characteristics in them. Aside from looking at gods like Mercury and Hades, we will also look at stories that involve Eros (or Cupid), Psyche (the origin of a lot of our words in the dictionary), and the infamous and seductive nymphs and satyrs.

Jon-Joras had come to Earth simply to oversee arrangements for a dragon hunt to amuse the king. These hunts were as much pageantry as sport - the dragons, brought to Earth centuries before as pets of an alien race, were powerful but slow-witted....

Earth was old, her riches gone. Her children too had left her, all but a few who lived peacefully off the land. And then came the Kar-Chee, to crack Earth open and suck out what remained of her richness, threatening the twilight of the old planet with an evil beyond anything that had gone before. With them they brought their servants, beasts so cruel and horrible that men could recall their like only from ancestral nightmares, and named them "dragons"....

The Enquiries of Doctor Eszterhazy is a collection of historical mystery fantasy short stories by Avram Davidson, featuring his scholarly detective character Doctor Eszterhazy and set in an imaginary European country. It never got better than this - short stories set in the "triune monarchy of Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania" in the decades before the World Wars.

Morigan lives a quiet life as the handmaiden to a fatherly old sorcerer named Thackery. But when she crosses paths with Caenith, a not wholly mortal man, her world changes forever. Their meeting sparks long buried magical powers deep within Morigan. As she attempts to understand her newfound abilities, unbidden visions begin to plague her - visions that show a horrific madness descending on one of the Immortal Kings who rules the land.

In 19th-century Paris, Justin Trotter, an immigrant from England, is making his way as a book translator while paying for his blind twin sister’s care. One evening, Marc Noël, Justin’s well-to-do friend and fellow thespian, invites him to a masquerade party at an abandoned schoolhouse. Justin hopes this will be an opportunity to get to know Marc’s lovely though sharp-tongued sister Francine.

Contrary to popular belief, the term “Creole” is not restricted to the Louisiana Creole, nor the Creoles of color, which collectively refers to the overall ethnic group and different local Creole cultures that blossomed across the Spanish and French colonies in Louisiana, Mississippi, and northwestern Florida. Today, the term is much more complex and may be applied to any of the various Creole cultures around the globe.

Eleven-year-old Vincent van Gogh discovers a curious new world through a tunnel on the moor. A mysterious white rabbit introduces Vincent to Alice, and their quest begins - defeat the dreaded Jabberwock before it consumes all of Wonderland. A slithy tove, an ill-tempered caterpillar, and the Cheshire cat meet them along the path as their adventures take them through fields dancing with flowers, tangled forests, and looking-glass pools.

Learn English in a Month will help you learn more about English grammar and also about everyday life in the United Kingdom. Subjects covered include: the weather, family, shopping, filling in forms, going on holiday, television, schools, writing emails, and using the phone.

Marcel faces a life-changing decision. He can play it safe with a job at a neighboring estate or take his chances at a prestigious Parisian university. Torn between following his heart or stepping into his father’s footsteps, Marcel takes the wisdom of an enchanted tree…and promptly shrinks to the size of an insect.

When 14 year-old Marcel leads his crew out of a dark and disused snake tunnel in search of fresh air, little does he know he is entering the labyrinthic galleries of an ant nest. With Brim (an inchworm), Bea (a honeybee), and Rhino (a beetle) at his side, he not only discovers the smell of danger but also the essence of friendship and the power of perfume.

Focusing on the early church during the 50 years that followed the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Emerging Ekklesia is a chapter-by-chapter reflection on the New Testament from Acts 1 through the book of Jude. Meant to be listened as a companion to the actual biblical text, it's filled with the author's personal insights, developed over a period of 60 years.