Engelska

From Sunday Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent and the Shadow and Bone series comes a highly anticipated, gorgeously written novel with a dusting of magic brimming with peril and dark deeds In a shabby house in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil. But when her scheming mistress discovers her scullion is hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to win over the royal court. Determined to seize this chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of power-hungry nobility, desperate kings, holy men and seers, where the lines between magic, science and fraud blur. With the pyres of the Inquisition burning, she must use every bit of her wit and resilience to win fame and hide the truth of her ancestry - even if that means enlisting the help of an embittered immortal familiar, whose own secrets could cost her everything. From Sunday Times bestselling author comes a bewitching novel, brimming with peril in a world where a woman's ambition can prove deadly.

<p>Hidden in the margins of history books, classical literature, and thousands of years of stories, myths and legends, through to contemporary literature, TV and film, there is a diverse and other-worldly super community of queer heroes to discover, learn from, and celebrate.<br/><br/>Be captivated by stories of forbidden love like Patroclus & Achilles (explored in Madeleine Miller's bestseller <i>Song of Achilles</i>), join the cult of Antinous (inspiration for Oscar Wilde), get down with pansexual god Set in Egyptian myth, and fall for Zimbabwe's trans God Mawi. And from modern pop-culture, through Dan Jones's witty, upbeat style, learn more about 90s fan obsessions <i>Xena: Warrior Princess</i> and <i>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</i>, Neil Gaiman's <i>American Gods</i> and the BBC's <i>Doctor Who</i>.<br/><br/><i>Queer </i><i>Heroes of Myth & Legend </i>brings to life characters who are romantic, brave, mysterious, and always fantastical. It is a magnificent celebration of queerness through the ages in all its legendary glory.</p>

<p>John Rebus spent his life as a detective putting Edinburgh&apos;s most deadly criminals behind bars. Now, he&apos;s joined them... As new allies and old enemies circle, and the days and nights bleed into each other, even the legendary detective struggles to keep his head. That is, until a murder at midnight in a locked cell presents a new mystery. They say old habits die hard... However, this is a case where the prisoners and the guards are all suspects, and everyone has something to hide. With no badge, no authority and no safety net, Rebus walks a tightrope - with his life on the line. But how do you find a killer in a place full of them?</p>

<p><i>The saying goes that "God only gives you what you can handle." Well God didn't grow up in my atheist, Wiccan, fame-laden, oversexed, teetotalling, drug-free, cloistered, chaotic, non-communicative, workaholic, feral-feeling house.'</i><br/><br/>For Moon Unit, daughter of musician Frank Zappa and his 'manager', Gail, processing a life so unique, so punctuated by the whims of creative urges, the tastes of popular culture and the calculus of celebrity, has at times been eviscerating. But it is her deep sense of humour and unshakeable humility that keeps her - and this memoir - pinned to the ground.<br/><br/>A child-star at age 14 after her accidental international hit single (recorded with her father), 'Valley Girl', turned her into a reluctant celebrity, Moon Unit Zappa's life has been utterly extraordinary from her birth in 1967 into a family that was already blessed/cursed as music royalty thanks to the acknowledged genius of Frank. But what are the consequences of growing up in a family who spend most of their time naked arguing about sexual/extra-marital liaisons and practising white magic in a free-for-all state of nonconformist, virtuoso abandon?<br/><br/><i>Earth to Moon</i> is a reckoning with self-esteem, the ghosts of the past and a mother and a father who, in the process of leaving their mark upon on the world, scarred their first daughter on home soil. Brutally self-deprecating and funny as hell, it belies a rose-tinted perspective on the 70s and 80s west coast American scene, from within the belly of the beast of the rock and roll world.</p>

<p><b>Are you sitting comfortably? Then he'll begin . . .</b><br/><br/>Washington Poe has a story to tell.<br/>He needs you to listen.<br/>He needs you to pay attention.<br/><br/>It starts with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . . Poe will tell you about that.<br/><br/>He'll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, not even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw could break it. He'll tell you how the man's murder was connected to tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family.<br/><br/>And finally, he'll tell you about the Mercy Chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it.<br/><br/>Poe hopes you've been listening closely. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .<br/><br/><b>Praise for M W Craven</b><br/><br/><b><i>The Curator</i> shortlisted for the VN Thriller of the Year 2022 & longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger 2021<br/><br/><i>Dead Ground </i>longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2022 & longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2022<br/><br/>'The Poe and Tilly books are a joy' Steve Cavanagh<br/><br/>'Unputdownable, gripping, clever and with a rich seam of trademark Craven humour running through it' Imran Mahmood<br/><br/>'A sinful treat' Vaseem Khan<br/><br/>'Fast, furious, and utterly enjoyable.' Keith Nixon<br/><br/>'An unforgettably compulsive read' <i>Bishop's Stortford Independent</i><br/><br/>'Heart-pounding, hilarious, sharp and shocking, <i>Dead Ground</i> is further proof that M.W. Craven never disappoints. Miss this series at your peril.' Chris Whitaker<br/><br/>'Dark and entertaining, this is top rank crime fiction.' Vaseem Khan, Author of the Malabar House series and the Baby Ganesh Agency series<br/><br/>'M. W. Craven is one of the best crime writers working today. <i>Dead Ground</i> is a cracking puzzle, beautifully written, with characters you'll be behind every step of the way. It's his best yet.' Stuart Turton<br/><br/>'Fantastic' Martina Cole<br/><br/>'Dark, sharp and compelling' Peter James<br/><br/>'I've been following M.W. Craven's Poe/Tilly series from the very beginning, and it just gets better and better. <i>Dead Ground</i> is a fast-paced crime novel with as many twists and turns as a country lane. I can't wait for the next one.' Peter Robinson<br/><br/>'<i>Dead Ground </i>is both entertaining and engaging with great characters and storyline. I loved this first dip into the world of Tilly and Poe!' BA Paris<br/><br/>'A brutal and thrilling page turner' Natasha Harding, <i>The Sun</i><br/><br/>'A thrilling curtain raiser for what looks set to be a great new series' Mick Herron<br/><br/>'A powerful thriller from an explosive new talent. Tightly plotted, and not for the faint hearted!'<br/>David Mark<br/><br/>'Satisfyingly twisty and clever and the flashes of humour work well to offer the reader respite from the thrill of the read.' Michael J. Malone<br/><br/>'Nothing you've ever read will prepare you for the utterly unique Washington Poe' Keith Nixon</b></p>

<p>Marvel Entertainment was a struggling toymaker not even twenty years ago. Today, Marvel Studios is the dominant player both in Hollywood and in global pop culture. But what accounts for its stunning rise?<br/><br/>In MCU, beloved culture writers Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards draw on more than a hundred interviews with actors, producers, directors, and writers to present the definitive chronicle of Marvel Studios and its sole, ongoing production, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As they delve into the studio's key moments - from the contentious hiring of Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man to the negotiations over Disney's acquisition of Marvel to studio head Kevin Feige's embrace of streaming TV - the authors demonstrate that the genius of Marvel was its resurrection and modification of Hollywood's old studio system. Dishy and authoritative, MCU is the first book to tell the Marvel Studios story in full - and an essential, effervescent account of popular culture.</p>

In an alternate world where the mere presence of American superheroes changed history, the US won the Vietnam War, Nixon is still president, and the cold war is in full effect. Watchmen begins as a murder-mystery, but soon unfolds into a planet-altering conspiracy. As the resolution comes to a head, the unlikely group of reunited heroes - Rorschach, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias - have to test the limits of their convictions and ask themselves where the true line is between good and evil. In the mid-eighties, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created Watchmen, changing the course of comics' history and essentially remaking how popular culture perceived the genre. Popularly cited as the point where comics came of age, Watchmen's sophisticated take on superheroes has been universally acclaimed for its psychological depth and realism. Watchmen is collected here with a new cover, sketches, extra bonus material, and a new introduction by series artist Dave Gibbons.