Showing results by narrator "Lloyd Matthew Davies" in All Categories

At its height in 660 BCE, the kingdom of Assyria stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. It was the first empire the world had ever seen. Here, historian Eckart Frahm tells the epic story of Assyria and its formative role in global history. Assyria’s wide-ranging conquests have long been known from the Hebrew Bible and later Greek accounts. But nearly two centuries of research now permit a rich picture of the Assyrians and their empire beyond the battlefield.

Earth is all but dead. With meteors exploding in their midst, the shuttle Grace boards takes flight in a last ditch effort to save human lives. With little food, water and eight stowaways the situation is volatile while they race to the new planet, Ulsy. A wormhole and a crash are their undoing.

Elfland is an intimate, sensual novel of people—both human and Aetherial—caught between duty and desire. It is a story of families, and of Rose Fox, a woman born to magic but tormented by her place in her adopted world.Led by Auberon Fox, a group of Aetherials—call them the Fair Folk, if you will—live among us, indistinguishable from humans. Every seven years, on the Night of the Summer Stars, Lawrence Wilder, the Gatekeeper, throws open all gates to the Other World. But this time, something has gone wrong.

Stephen and his friends spent their teenage years immersed in the fantasy gaming worlds of wizards and warriors, undertaking quests to fight evil occultists, vanquish terrible monsters, and rescue damsels in distress. Now, 20-something years later, there is a real-life quest. Life as a monk has hardly prepared Brother Stephen for the mission ahead. Demon Rutspud is definitely not a damsel, but he is in distress. The evil occultists are real and if Stephen doesn’t rescue Rutspud from a fate worse than death, no one will...

When Jeremy Clovenhoof realises that he's become too fond of his creature comforts, he signs on as a roadie for a Danish heavy metal band and goes on tour. A whirlwind adventure of sex, drugs and rock and roll awaits this horny devil. However, things take a turn for the ridiculous when they pick up a band of Morris dancers on their way to a grudge match competition in the North of England.

A smash-hit reality show is offering a lifetime of luxury to the one person living the world's worst life, and now everyone is out to prove just how bad they've got it. Want in? All you've got to do is accept ocular implants that let the whole world see life through your eyes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Fortunately, there's still one person who hasn't lost faith in all humanity. The show's ever-smiling host is determined to wring some tiny bit of meaning out of this twisted competition and your unhappy existence.

Isolation is no joking matter but Jeremy Clovenhoof just can’t help himself. Join Clovenhoof on the first of six short adventures in the strange world of lockdown. A 100 percent of author profits from his edition of the book will go to The Trussell Trust, a charity that supports 1,200 UK food banks and provides emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, people who need help more than ever at this time.

For The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, writer and anthologist Michael Sims did not summon the usual suspects. He sought the unfamiliar, the unjustly forgotten, and little-known gems by writers from outside the genre. This historical tour of one of our most popular literary categories includes stories never before reprinted, features rebellious early “lady detectives," and spotlights former stars of the crime field—Austrian novelist Auguste Groner and prolific American Geraldine Bonner among them.

Spanning three centuries and eight thousand nautical miles, and compiled by a direct descendant of a sailor who waged war with pirates in the early nineteenth century, The Penguin Book of Pirates takes us behind the eye patches, the peg legs, and the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger and into the no-man’s-land of piracy that is rife with paradoxes and plot twists.

As punishment for his part in an attempted coup in heaven, the archangel Michael is banished to Earth. The holiest of the angelic host has to learn to live as a mortal - not an easy job when you’ve got Satan as a next-door neighbor. Michael soon finds that being a good person involves more than helping out at Sunday school and attending church coffee mornings. He has to find his purpose in life, deal with earthly temptations, and solve a mystery involving some unusual monks and a jar of very dangerous jam.

The Jules Verne Collection includes 8 of Verne's most beloved novels. Read by the award-winning duo of Matthew Lloyd Davies and Jonathan Keeble, this collection is the perfect opportunity to delve into some of Verne's most formative and iconic writings.

When Jeremy Clovenhoof decides to set himself up as president for life of his own breakaway country, he knows he’ll need money, lots and lots of money. That might be a bit difficult, particularly since the Inland Revenue has just presented him with an enormous tax bill and Heaven and Hell have sent Joan of Arc and Rutspud of the Sixth Circle to bring him under control.

Today, the economic environment is global, highly sophisticated, and in continuous flux. Thus, the challenge for business leaders is to stay ahead of market flow and change, in order to gain competitive advantage. Creating Competitive Advantage explores why this pioneering can be the safest and best course for organizations to get ahead and guides leaders on how to forecast trends without increasing risk. It introduces the new concepts of market flow visualization and the line of probability, pioneering the safe course, and analytically supported intuition.

Tired of reporting the news but never investigating, Jane Hartley is determined to expose the truth of the Carlisle dragon hunters. While meeting with one of her sources, she spots the tall, blond dragonman she first saw three months ago back on Stonefire. When the dragonman warns her off, Jane becomes more determined than ever to find the truth before he does. With most of the threats to his clan under control, Kai Sutherland wants to find a way to take down the Carlisle hunters for good.

Nikki Gray has reason to hate the dragon hunters - they brutally murdered one of her friends a year ago. Not only that, they have caused havoc on several of the British dragon clans, injuring countless individuals. Determined to defeat the hunters by kidnaping their leader, Simon Bourne, she teams up with a human male in the British Special Forces. After six months of work, they're finally ready to carry out their mission and capture Bourne. However, one kiss derails their plans and changes their lives forever.

At precisely two minutes to seven every morning, Gabriel Ward KC steps out of his rooms in the Inner Temple, presses his oak front door three times to ensure it is locked, and walks to his office to begin his day. Except for today. Today, the dead body of the Lord Chief Justice of England, immaculately clad in evening dress except for his bare feet, is lying on his doorstep – with one of the silver Temple carving knives sticking out of his chest. As rumour and gossip fly round the chambers and the press set up camp outside the gates, an investigation is ordered by the head of the Temple.

Leaving home to go to university is an exciting phase in anyone's life. One that's full of new places, new friends, and new experiences. But Lewis is not prepared for the sudden and intense crush he develops on his out-and-proud flatmate, Max - given that Lewis had always assumed he was straight. Max starts dating another guy, and Lewis' jealousy at seeing them together forces him to confront his growing attraction.

Grace Ashman has lost everything: her mother five years ago, and now her father and her home just a week before Christmas. She lives on the streets until one kind man invites her inside for a meal before the holiday. What she couldn't know is that his kindness will change her life forever.

As ever, the onus is on brands to find compelling ways to earn the attention of the consumer. Yet content scarcity has given way to overload, fixed channels have dissolved into fluid networks, and audiences have become participants in consumer-driven conversations. This shift requires a new course of action for brands; it demands new marketing imperatives. Paid Attention is a guide to modern advertising ideas.

To the devil a daughter! Parenthood can come as a shock to some. It’s especially shocking if you are Satan, the Prince of Hell, and are trying to live a quiet life of semi-retirement in suburban England under the name of Jeremy Clovenhoof. Clovenhoof quickly finds that being a single parent involves more than lullabies and nappies and has to contend with social disapproval, paternity tests and, possibly, the end of the world.