Showing results by narrator "Ric Jerrom" in All Categories

Ian Cormac was raised to adulthood during the end of the war between the human Polity and the vicious arthropoid race the Prador. In Neal Asher's Shadow of the Scorpion, Cormac is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn't remember. In the years following the war, he signs up with Earth Central Security and is sent out to help either restore or simply maintain order on worlds devastated by Prador bombardment.

London, 1471. The War of the Roses rages on. Edward of York has claimed the English throne, and his Yorkist supporters gleefully slaughter their adversaries; there's no mercy for anyone who supported the Lancastrian cause. Margaret Beaufort - mother of Henry Tudor, the only hope for the House of Lancaster - knows her enemies are closing in. Desperate for help, she turns to Christopher Urswicke for protection. But when ruthless scheming and pitiless killings are the only routes to survival, Urswicke will have to choose where his loyalties truly lie.

Charles II returns from exile bringing with him unease to the Spanish Main. In this vivid description of seventeenth-century buccaneers, Ned Yorke, the leader and hero of the swashbuckling band are depended upon for the defense of Jamaica, fighting with captured Spanish guns. Daring raids on the Spanish seem inevitable, as Yorke sets out on the high seas to distant adventures on behalf of the King and his own honor.

Neal Asher has firmly established himself as one of the leading British writers of science fiction. Most of his stories are set in a galactic future-scape called The Polity, and with The Gabble - and Other Stories, a collection of marvellously inventive and action-packed short stories, he takes us further into the manifold diversities of that amazing universe.

This collection of narratives from autistic adults is structured around their decades of experience of life, covering 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60 and 70s+. These are varied and diverse, spanning different continents, genders, sexualities and ethnicities, yet the author highlights the common themes that unite them and skilfully draws out these threads. Each chapter is based on accounts from one age group and includes accounts from people of that age, giving an insight into the history of autism and signifying how gaining a diagnosis (or not) has changed people's lives over time.

Rome, 51 BC: The centurion Lucius Oppius has left the battlefields of Gaul to venture to Rome. But he is about to discover the capital of the Empire can be every bit as dangerous as its provinces. Under orders from Caesar to secure an item of intelligence that will help him become a Consul again, Oppius is manipulated into taking part in a gladiatorial contest. The soldier must not only fight his enemies in the arena however. Marcus Porcius Cato warns "Caesar’s Champion" that victory inside the arena will bring death outside of it.

This ambitious and fascinating history considers why, in the space of sixty years between 1850 and 1910, football grew from a marginal and unorganised activity to become the dominant winter entertainment for millions of people around the world. The book explores how the world’s football codes—soccer, rugby league, rugby union, American, Australian, Canadian and Gaelic—developed as part of the commercialised leisure industry in the nineteenth century.

Alesia, 52 BC: The besiegers have become the besieged. Caesar's army stands upon the brink of annihilation, caught between two enemy armies. Ramparts have been constructed, but they must also be defended. The centurion Lucius Oppius believes he will be part of the defence, but Caesar has other plans for the former standard bearer. Oppius is ordered to venture north of Alesia to capture Vercingetorix's war chest of gold.

The essential guide for working in diverse teams and across cultures today. This practical self-help guide will optimise the performance of individuals and teams working in an intercultural environment. By increasing awareness of the nature and impact of diversity in the workplace and national cultural differences, it demonstrates how to use the power of difference to achieve positive results for all. Learn how to mitigate unconscious bias to create inclusive organisations and how to use key cultural dimensions to communicate and cooperate in intercultural teams.

From 800 years in the future, a runcible gate is opened into the Polity. Those coming through it have been tasked with taking the alien 'Maker' back to its home civilization in the Small Magellanic cloud. Once these refugees are safely through, the gate itself is rapidly shut down - because something alien is pursuing them. From those who get through, agent Cormac learns that the Maker civilization has been destroyed by a pernicious virus known as the Jain technology.

Pharsalus, 48 BC: The battle will decide the fate of a civil war and empire. Caesar's forces are outnumbered, but he believes his veterans will not be outmatched. For one veteran, the centurion Lucius Oppius, the battle will be about revenge rather than glory. Oppius has vowed to avenge his father's death. His enemy is Flavius Laco - a former gladiator and an agent of Pompey the Great. Against the backdrop of one of Ancient History's most momentous battles two soldiers will wage their own personal war.

When you see your nation's flag fluttering in the breeze, what do you feel? For thousands of years flags have represented our hopes and dreams. We wave them. Burn them. March under their colours. And still, in the 21st century, we die for them. Flags fly at the UN, on the Arab street, from front porches in Texas. They represent the politics of high power as well as the politics of the mob.

Myshkin was born on a certain day and died on a certain day - and some things happened to him in between. These things presented him with ethical questions, and this book is a record of his attempt to answer those questions. Discovered by his son after Myshkin's death, A Good Life is one man's reckoning with the life he has led and the choices he made. It is at once a philosophical handbook for living and a pause-resisting narrative.

Outlink station Miranda has been destroyed by a nanomycelium, and the very nature of this sabotage suggests that the alien bioconstruct Dragon - a creature as untrustworthy as it is gigantic - is somehow involved. Sent out on a titanic Polity dreadnought, the Occam Razor, agent Cormac must investigate the disaster.

From the well-worn tin dispatch box belonging to Dr J. H. Watson, three untold stories are brought to light. In Sherlock Holmes and The Murder At Lodore Falls, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are drawn into a case that involves murder, blackmail and robbery. It is a case that leads to danger to both Homes and Watson and brings a confrontation with their old adversary. With Dr Watson facing his own personal nightmares, will Holmes be able to solve the mystery

After Mina Murray asks Sherlock Holmes to locate her fiancé, Holmes and Watson travel to a land far eerier than the moors they had known when pursuing the Hound of the Baskervilles. The confrontation with Count Dracula threatens Holmes' health, his sanity, and his life. Will he survive his battle with Count Dracula?

In the 1660’s Jamaica was an uneasy island, occupied by Spain but settled by the English and French. When Admiral of the Brethren, Ned Yorke, a brave, loyal Buccaneer, learns that Spain is mounting a Caribbean fleet perhaps to protect the treasures of Spanish ships, or carry an army to Jamaica, he vows to find out the truth. Yorke’s audacious attacks on Spanish camps reveal all and the Buccaneers must fight a bloody, desperate battle to try and hinder them.

It is the 1650s and Spain considers the Caribbean to be its own private sea, but England, Holland, and France conspire to battle for freedom on the oceans. Set in days littered with the plunder of piracy; Ned Yorke, a loyal Royalist living in Barbados has a small vessel and devoted crew and together they sail, hunted by Roundheads and Spaniards, determined to pay whatever the price for freedom from tyranny. What transpires is a colourful, dramatic retelling of historical events surrounding the capture of Jamaica and the infamous raid on Santiago.

In outer space you can never feel sure that your adversary is altogether human. The runcible buffers on Samarkand have been mysteriously sabotaged, killing many thousands and destroying a terraforming project. Agent Cormac must reach it by ship to begin an investigation. But Cormac has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Pelter, who is prepared to follow him across the galaxy with a terrifying android in tow.

As England falls under a blanket of peace with the restoration of Charles II, in distant Jamaica all is not well. Though there is peace with Spain, there is no peace "beyond the line". It seems that the West Indies have become the private estate of the King of Spain. But Ned Yorke, Admiral of the Brethren and leader of the Buccaneers will not kowtow to the new Governor in Jamaica who is bent on weakening the Island’s defences and destroying its currency. The Buccaneers must not remain idle.