A powerful new novel set in the fourth-century Roman Empire by critically acciaimed historical novelist Simon Turney, Para Bellum will delight fans of Scarrow, Kane and Cornwell. AD 381. Five years have gone by since a Roman governor ordered the deaths of a Gothic king and his attendants at a feast in their honour. This disastrous act led to warfare in the Roman Empire and the death of the Emperor Valens. Now, the Empire is calm once more, but for the eight legionaries who committed the killings, the bloodshed is only just beginning. Fritigern, brother of the murdered king, has sworn revenge on his brother's killers. Now king of a powerful Gothic tribe, he will not rest until the men are hunted down. Flavius Focalis is one of those legionaries. Surviving an attack at his villa, he realises the danger he and his family are in, and seeks to warn his former comrades, for he knows Fritigern will give them no quarter. So begins a deadly game of cat-and-mouse across the Empire, as, by land and sea, the former soldiers face the wrath of their implacable enemy, and return to the scene of the greatest battle of their age: Adrianople. For war is coming again - and the only question is, do they die now, or die later?

IF YOU DON'T KNOW SIMON SCARROW, YOU DON'T KNOW ROME! THE EAGLE IN THE SAND is the action-packed seventh novel in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Eagles of the Empire series. Essential reading for fans of Bernard Cornwell. 'Scarrow's [novels] rank with the best' Independent Judaea in AD 46. Roman centurions Cato and Macro have been posted to Judaea for a 'hearts and minds' operation. The Empire needs to win over the locals after some of their religious figures have started revolts - and since the Romans crucified the last charismatic Judaean leader, the natives' rebellions have become bolder. Not only are these small villages causing trouble, but there are also thousands of Parthians eager to fight Rome. With the threat of suicide attacks and even all-out war, Cato and Macro have their peace-keeping work cut out...

The fight for vengeance has no victors... AD 936 The great warrior, Einar Unnsson, wants revenge. His mother's assassin has stolen her severed head and Einar is hungry for his blood. Only one thing holds him back. He is a newly sworn in Wolf Coat, and must accompany them on their latest quest. The Wolf Coats are a band of fearsome bloodthirsty warriors, who roam the seas, killing any enemies who get in their way. Now they're determined to destroy their biggest enemy, King Eirik, as he attempts to take the throne of Norway. Yet, for Einar, the urge to return to Iceland is growing every day. Only there, in his homeland, can he avenge his mother and salve his grief. But what Einar doesn't know is that this is where an old enemy lurks, and his thirst for vengeance equals Einar's... Read Tim Hodkinson's newest epic Viking adventure. PRAISE FOR TIM HODKINSON: 'A brilliantly written historical adventure which will appeal to fans of Bernard Cornwell, George R.R. Martin, and especially Theodore Brun' HISTORICAL NOVEL ASSOCIATION 'A gripping action adventure like the sagas of old; and once finished, you just want to go back and read it all over again' MELISENDE'S LIBRARY 'An excellently written page-turner, with a feel for the period which invites you into the era and keeps you there' HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION

*The brand new novel in the global bestselling series, SHARPE'S ASSASSIN, is available to buy now* Spain, July 1809 Lieutenant Richard Sharpe faces not only great danger on the battlefield but also, even more dangerous, treachery within his own ranks. But as the enemy approaches, he must pick up his rifle and prepare to lead his men against the French at one of the biggest, bloodiest fights of the war - the Battle of Talavera. Out of the mist comes the roaring, undefeated army sent by Emperor Napoleon. Over their heads soar the Eagles, the standards touched by the hand of the Emperor himself. And boldly waiting for them is Sharpe . . . 'A master storyteller' DAILY TELEGRAPH

The Vinland Viking Saga: Book 1 History set her fate in stone... Murderer. Mercenary. Temptress. Trickster. Traitor. Thief. But under a hammer that falls like thunder, stone will always shatter. So with her voice she lights the forge. The Voyage of Freydis sings the silenced tale of Freydis Eiriksdottir, the first and only woman to lead a Viking voyage across the Atlantic in this tempestuous retelling of an ancient Icelandic saga set at the dawn of the 11th century. Content notice: spousal abuse. Praise for The Voyage of Freydis: 'Anyone who loves Vikings and historical fiction definitely should pick up this book' Emily, NetGalley reviewer 'Very lyrically written, I felt as if I was reading a song' Tiffany, NetGalley reviewer 'As a lover of mythology and historical fiction I knew immediately I was going to like this book - and I'm pleased to say I not only liked it but I LOVED it!' Libby, NetGalley reviewer 'Tamara Goranson's writing really shines here. I felt the cold, heard the wind, flinched with the blows - that takes a lot of skill' Dawn, NetGalley reviewer 'Took me on a rollercoaster of emotions' Charlotte, NetGalley reviewer

'Superbly told' The Times 'Richly imagined' Sunday Times 'An engrossing, seamlessly written deliberation on the enduring power of art' Mail on Sunday Assyria, in the reign of Ashurbanipal. For Aurya and Sharo, every day is a struggle for survival. One evening, everything changes. Soon, they are on the barge of King Ashurbanipal, bound for the city of Nineveh. Their fates become inextricably bound to that of the king - and the injured lion captured by his men. Twenty-six centuries later, British-Iraqi archaeologist Katya joins a dig in Mosul to protect the ancient ruins of Nineveh from looters. But the real world crashes in to their studious idyll when ISIL storm Mosul - and take Katya, Salim and local girl Lola hostage. 'Dual timeline novels often fail: one strand is more interesting than the other, or the links between the two are contrived. Not here. Both stories are superbly told and share the same preoccupation - the coexistence of cruelty and creative beauty' The Times, Historical Novel of the Month

A stunning novel of courage, camaraderie and deadly enemies from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Centurion and The Emperor's Exile. AD 59. BRITANNIA. TENSION IS SIMMERING. DANGER LIES ROUND EVERY CORNER FOR ROME'S BRAVE SOLDIERS ... Fifteen years after Rome's invasion of Britannia, centurion Marco is back. The island is settled now, bustling with commerce. Macro's goal is to help run his mother's Londinium inn, and exploit his land grant. He's prepared for the dismal weather and the barbaric ways of the people. But far worse dangers threaten all his plans. A gang led by an ex-legionary rules the city, demanding protection money and terrorising those who won't pay up. The Roman official in charge has turned a blind eye. Macro has to act. He needs the back-up of the finest soldier he knows: Prefect Cato. But Cato is in distant Rome. Or is he? As the streets run red with blood, the army's heroes face an enemy as merciless and cunning as any barbarian tribe. The honour of Rome is in their hands ... For readers of Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden and Ben Kane - unputdownable fiction from an author who knows the Roman world like no other. IF YOU DON'T KNOW SIMON SCARROW, YOU DON'T KNOW ROME Praise for the Eagles of the Empire novels: 'Scarrow's novels rank with the best' Independent 'Blood, gore, political intrigue' Daily Sport 'Always a joy' The Times (P) 2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE'S ENCORE AWARD 2018

LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE 2018

'A sheer fantastical delight' The Times

'Epic' New York Times

'An immense treat' Observer Books of the Year

'A fast-paced adventure story' The i

'Magical' Sunday Express

In uncharted Peru, the holy town of Bedlam stands at the edge of a mysterious forest. Deep within are cinchona trees, whose bark yields the only known treatment for malaria.

In 1859, across the Pacific, India is ravaged by the disease. In desperation, the India Office dispatches the injured expeditionary Merrick Tremayne to Bedlam, under orders to return with cinchona cuttings. But there he meets Raphael, an enigmatic priest who is the key to a secret which will prove more valuable than they could ever have imagined.

In Oathbringer, the third volume of the New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive, humanity faces a new Desolation with the return of the Voidbringers, a foe with numbers as great as their thirst for vengeance. Dalinar Kholin's Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. While on a desperate flight to warn his family of the threat, Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with the fact that the newly kindled anger of the parshmen may be wholly justified. Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. And Dalinar realises that his holy mission to unite his homeland of Alethkar was too narrow in scope. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar's blood-soaked past and stand together?and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past?even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilisation. The story continues in Oathbringer: Part Two.

'All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. It's the best book we've had.' Ernest Hemingway To escape from his abusive father, 13-year-old Huckleberry Finn fakes his own death and floats away on a raft down the Mississippi with Jim, a runaway slave. In a series of unforgettable adventures narrated by Huck, they encounter a cross-section of characters from slave-hunters, thieves and conmen to feuding aristocrats and even some relatives of Tom Sawyer.Ground-breaking in its vernacular English language, it is still considered one of the great American novels of all-time and a rite of passage for any fiction reader.

Private McAuslan, J., The Dirtiest Soldier in the World (alias the Tartan Caliban, or the Highland Division's answer to Pekin Man) first demonstrated his unfitness for the service in' The General Danced at Dawn'. He continued his disorderly advance, losing, soiling, or destroying his equipment, through the pages of' McAuslan in the Rough. The Sheikh and the Dustbin 'pursues the career of the great incompetent as he bauchles (see Glossary) across North Africa and Scotland, swinging his right arm in time with his right leg and tripping over his untied laces. His admirers already know him as court-martial defendant, ghost-catcher, star-crossed lover and golf caddie extraordinary; here he appears as the most unlikely of batmen to his long-suffering protector and persecutor, Lieutenant Dand MacNeill, as guardroom philosopher and adviser to the leader of the Riff Rebellion and even as Lance Corporal McAuslan, the Mad Tyrant of Three Section. Whether map-reading his erratic way through the Sahara by night or confronting Arab rioters, McAuslan's talent for catastrophe is as sure as ever.

‘Written with the kind of unaffected vigour which has characterised the greatest British humorists, these stories confirm that he can do for the Scots what Flann O'Brien did for the Irish and P.G.Wodehouse for the English.’
DAILY MAIL

‘The third McAuslan volume should certainly be among the first books you pack this or any other holiday season’
THE TIMES

'A gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' ROBERT FABBRI. Tuscany, 1358: Thomas Blackstone has built a formidable reputation in exile, fighting as a mercenary amid the ceaseless internecine warring of Italy's City States. But success has bred many enemies, and when a dying man delivers a message recalling him to England, it seems almost certain to be a trap. Yet Blackstone cannot disobey - the summons is at the Queen's demand. On his journey, Blackstone will brave the terrors of the High Alps in winter, face the Black Prince in tournament, confront the bloody anarchy of a popular revolt and submit to trial by combat. And every step of the way, he will be shadowed by a notorious assassin with orders to despatch him to Hell.

Sister Fidelma returns in BLOOD IN EDEN, the thirtieth Celtic mystery by Peter Tremayne, acclaimed author of BLOODMOON, PENANCE OF THE DAMNED and NIGHT OF THE LIGHTBRINGER. If you love Ellis Peters, you'll be gripped by BLOOD IN EDEN and the Sister Fidelma series. Ireland. AD 672. The hamlet of Cloichin is said to be a veritable Eden, with its prosperous farms and close-knit, friendly community. But when Sister Fidelma and Eadulf arrive, a new priest has ordered the villagers to lynch a man accused of murdering a local farmer, his wife and two sons. The only evidence they hold against him is the fact that he is a stranger to their land. Saving the man's life, Fidelma is determined that the villagers must give the newcomer a fair trial. But there is to be more blood in Eden and more lives will be lost as long-standing friends become new-found enemies, and no one knows who to trust . . . What readers are saying about the Sister Fidelma series: 'Tremayne is one of those very few historical mystery writers who can perplex and bewilder. He weaves the twisty plots into a complex historical narrative' 'A must-read for anyone looking for a good mystery' 'The characters are original, the settings are imaginative and true-to-life and the intricate plots form enough threads to keep you guessing at every turn'

Jack West Jr has made it to the Supreme Labyrinth. Now he faces one last race - against multiple rivals, against time, against the collapse of the universe itself - a headlong race that will end at a throne inside the fabled labyrinth.

But the road will be hard. For this is a maze like no other: a maze of mazes. Uncompromising and complex. Demanding and deadly.

It all comes down to this. It ends here - now - in the most lethal and dangerous place Jack has encountered in all of his many adventures. And in the face of this indescribable peril, with everything on the line, there is only one thing he can do.

Attempt the impossible.

The year is 1807, and Richard Sharpe is back in England, where his career seems to have come to a dead end, despite his heroics in Britain's recent victory at Trafalgar. Loveless, destitute, and relegated to the menial tasks of quartermaster, Sharpe roams the streets of London, pondering a bleak future away from the army.

Then, out of the blue, an old friend invites him to undertake a secret mission--the delivery of a bribe--to the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Denmark is officially neutral, but Napoleon is threatening an invasion in order to capture the powerful Danish fleet, which would replace the ships France lost in its disastrous defeat at Trafalgar. The British, fearing such enhancement of French power, threaten their own preemptive invasion, and Sharpe, whose errand seemed so simple, is trapped in a web of treachery that will end only when the city, which thought itself safe, is subjected to a brutal and merciless bombardment.

Ferocity, heroism, and savage bloodshed: the next gripping instalment in the Twilight of Empire series. For fans of Ben Kane and Conn Iggulden.

When the simmering conflict between Rome and Persia threatens once again to ignite into open war, there is only one man the Emperor Constantine can trust to hold the eastern frontier.

Aurelius Castus, retired general of the empire, has fought long and hard for Rome. When the summons comes to command an army once more, he obeys with a heavy heart. Is he still the fearsome fighting machine of old? Will his young, ambitious officers respect and follow a great soldier of former days?

But when tragedy strikes the imperial household, Castus must race to defend the last bulwark standing against the might of Persia. In the pitiless heat of the Syrian desert, engulfed by whirling sandstorms and facing a fearless, treacherous foe, Castus knows that the fight ahead will be the fiercest he has ever known, and will very probably be his last.

'I was immersed from the very first page. Wonderful writing. Rich and evocative, astute and assured. Great stuff!' Giles Kristian, bestselling author of Lancelot.

A simple mission. A battle for their lives.

It is 1667 and the war between the Dutch and the English continues apace. Sir Francis Courtney, his son Hal and their crew are carried around the southern tip of the African colonies by the good ship Lady Edwina, licensed to attack and seize the treasure-laden ships of the Dutch East India company. When they capture a Dutch trader and hold the passengers to ransom, Sir Francis hopes only for a good price and a small sense of satisfaction.

But this is unlawful territory they sail in. An unexpected betrayal will mean the men on board will face greater peril than they have ever faced before - and many good men may never see home again . . .

A GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH AND FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR BRITAIN, WITH THE WRONG QUEEN. 1955. The Leader has been dead for two years. His assassination, on British soil, provoked violent retribution and intensified repression of British citizens, particularly women. Now, more than ever, the Protectorate is a place of surveillance and isolation - a land of spies. The royal family has been usurped, and the widowed Queen Wallis reigns in their place. Yet still some citizens hold out hope that Elizabeth may one day return. Every evening Rose Ransom looks in the mirror and marvels that she's even alive. A mere woman, her role in the Leader's death has been miraculously overlooked. She still works at the Culture Ministry, where her work now focuses on the outlawed subject of Poetry, a form of writing that transmits subversive meanings, emotions and signals that cannot be controlled. Therefore all Poetry is banned and Rose is appointed a Poet Hunter. To widespread surprise, President Eisenhower is to make a state visit to the Alliance and Rose is tasked with visiting the widowed Wallis to provide a background briefing. When she arrives at the palace, she finds Wallis in a state of paranoia, desperate to return to America and enjoy the liberty of her homeland. She claims she has a secret document so explosive that it will blow the Protectorate apart - but will she dare to pull the trigger on the Alliance? PRAISE FOR QUEEN HIGH 'Begins with a bang' CLARE CHAMBERS 'Full of twists' RED 'A gripping thriller' BEL MOONEY 'Exciting and provocative' OBSERVER 'Thrilling, subversive' JANE HARRIS 'A triumph' AMANDA CRAIG 'Enthralling' THE SUNDAY TIMES 'Ingenious' SABINE DURRANT

Captain Jack Aubrey, RN, arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the Navy. He and his friend Stephen Maturin take passage for England in a despatch vessel. But the war of 1812 breaks out while they are en route. Bloody actions precipitate them both into new and unexpected scenes where Stephen’s past activities as a secret agent return on him with a vengeance.

The third gripping instalment in an exciting new generation of Pitt novels, from the New York Times bestselling author and queen of Victorian crime, Anne Perry. It is 1910 and a warehouse fire on the banks of the Thames has left one criminal dead and another charged with his murder. Convinced of his innocence, Jessie Beale begs barrister Daniel Pitt to defend the accused. It's a hopeless case - unless Daniel can find an expert witness, whose testimony on fire damage is so utterly convincing that any jury would believe him. Daniel's friend Miriam fford Croft was taught by formidable forensic scientist Sir Barnabas Saltram, who has built his reputation on giving evidence of this kind. But when Saltram agrees to testify, thus saving an innocent man from the gallows, Daniel unwittingly starts a chain of events that has devastating consequences for all of them...