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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Myth & legend told as fiction
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Lost & Found
(Hardcover)
Elizabeth Garner; Illustrated by Phoebe Connolly
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R397
Discovery Miles 3 970
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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Folk tales take us beyond our own boundaries into unknown lands.
Yet within these adventures, riddles and enchantments we find our
common ground and shared humanity. Lost & Found is Elizabeth
Garner's own retelling of fifteen treasured folk tales that have
nurtured, sustained, terrified and enthralled her in equal measure.
Some of the stories are taken from the books of her childhood, some
are remembered, and others she has discovered in her reading over
the years. Garner's tapestry of words is adorned with engraver
Phoebe Connolly's beautiful woodcut illustrations that bring the
friends and foes of folklore to life. Included in the collection
are stories such as 'The Riddle of the Crossroads', 'The Twisted
Oak', 'The Wits of the Whetstone' and many more. With a varied and
diverse cast of characters, Garner's retellings expertly traverse a
myriad of mysterious worlds; always staying true to tradition,
while simultaneously speaking to modern times. This illustrated
collection is another link in the chain between storyteller,
listener and our shared ancestors: tales from the past, told to
enrich the present and to be carried forward into the future.
First ever deluxe, slipcased edition of the peerless A-Z guide to
the names, places and events in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, fully
illustrated in colour throughout by acclaimed Tolkien artist, Ted
Nasmith, and featuring an exclusive colour foldout poster. J.R.R.
Tolkien's works of epic adventure and fantasy, The Hobbit, The Lord
of the Rings and The Silmarillion have delighted many millions of
fans since they were first published, and are now more popular than
ever before. The Complete Guide to Middle-earth has been compiled
to enhance the reader's enjoyment of Tolkien's books by bringing
together in an A-Z sequence all the key facts and information about
names, places, languages and events from The Hobbit, The Lord of
the Rings and The Silmarillion. Coupled with numerous genealogical
tables and a unique Chronology of the First Age, it will provide an
indispensable aid to every reader's discovery of Tolkien's world.
The first, and definitive, encyclopedia, The Complete Guide to
Middle-earth is now available for the first time as a clothbound
deluxe edition, housed in a fully illustrated slipcase, to
complement the deluxe illustrated editions of The Silmarillion and
Unfinished Tales, and is lavishly illustrated with more than 50
full-colour paintings by acclaimed Tolkien artist, Ted Nasmith,
with many appearing exclusively in this edition.
Here is a treasury of favorite and little known tales from Africa,
Asia, Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Oceania, gracefully
retold and accompanied by fascinating, detailed information of
their historic and cultural backgrounds. The introduction provides
an informative overview of folklore, its purpose in world cultures
and in contemporary society and popular culture. Following this,
the main sections of the book are arranged by tale type, covering
wonder tales, hero tales, tales of kindness repaid and hope and
redemption, and finally tales of fools and wise people. Each
section begins by comparing the tales cross-culturally, explaining
similarities and differences in the folkloric narratives. Tales
from diverse cultures are then presented, introduced, and retold in
a highly readable fashion.
A modern-day expansion of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little
Mermaid, this unforgettable debut novel weaves a spellbinding tale
of magic and the power of love as a descendent of the original
mermaid fights the terrible price of saving herself from a curse
that has affected generations of women in her family. Kathleen has
always been dramatic. She suffers from the bizarre malady of
experiencing stabbing pain in her feet. On her sixteenth birthday,
she woke screaming from the sensation that her tongue had been cut
out. No doctor can find a medical explanation for her pain, and
even the most powerful drugs have proven useless. Only the touch of
seawater can ease her pain, and just temporarily at that. Now
Kathleen is a twenty-five-year-old opera student in Boston and
shows immense promise as a soprano. Her girlfriend Harry, a mezzo
in the same program, worries endlessly about Kathleen's phantom
pain and obsession with the sea. Kathleen's mother and grandmother
both committed suicide as young women, and Harry worries they
suffered from the same symptoms. When Kathleen suffers yet another
dangerous breakdown, Harry convinces Kathleen to visit her hometown
in Ireland to learn more about her family history. In Ireland, they
discover that the mystery-and the tragedy-of Kathleen's family
history is far older and stranger than they could have imagined.
Kathleen's fate seems sealed, and the only way out is a terrible
choice between a mermaid's two sirens-the sea, and her lover. But
both choices mean death...Haunting and lyrical, The Mermaid's
Daughter asks-how far we will go for those we love? And can the
transformative power of music overcome a magic that has prevailed
for generations?
How did a spider change the course of history? What would a body in
the chimney want with a lonely old woman? And what terrible deed
could make a Celtic warrior cry? North of Ireland Folk Tales for
Children is full of mermaids and pishogues, haunted dolmens and
plenty of ghosts, rude Celts and bloodthirsty warriors. This
collection of weird, wonderful and irreverently told tales from
award-winning storyteller Doreen McBride is not for the faint of
heart - and certainly not appropriate for adults.
What if you learn that everything you have been taught about
happiness is false? What if you realize that happiness is not a
goal and therefore it cannot be achieved? What if you discover that
it is the ordinary path that leads to extraordinary treasure? This
is a story about how two men from different walks of life learn
that neither robes of honor nor the total renunciation of worldly
life is required to enjoy the most fundamental human desire -
happiness. Happiness is not a philosophical enigma but an
attainable state of the mind and everyone can cherish the greatest
joys through the simplest and smallest acts of daily life.
Unavailable for more than 70 years, this early but important work
is published for the first time with Tolkien's 'Corrigan' poems and
other supporting material, including a prefatory note by
Christopher Tolkien. Set 'In Britain's land beyond the seas' during
the Age of Chivalry, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun tells of a
childless Breton Lord and Lady (the 'Aotrou' and 'Itroun' of the
title) and the tragedy that befalls them when Aotrou seeks to
remedy their situation with the aid of a magic potion obtained from
a corrigan, or malevolent fairy. When the potion succeeds and
Itroun bears twins, the corrigan returns seeking her fee, and
Aotrou is forced to choose between betraying his marriage and
losing his life. Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien's
imagination, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, together with the two
shorter 'Corrigan' poems that lead up to it and which are also
included, was the outcome of a comparatively short but intense
period in Tolkien's life when he was deeply engaged with Celtic,
and particularly Breton, myth and legend. Originally written in
1930 and long out of print, this early but seminal work is an
important addition to the non-Middle-earth portion of his canon and
should be set alongside Tolkien's other retellings of myth and
legend, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, The Fall of Arthur and The
Story of Kullervo. Like these works, it belongs to a small but
important corpus of his ventures into 'real-world' mythologies,
each of which in its own way would be a formative influence on his
own legendarium.
Have you ever wondered about the people who lived and worked along
the canals? Have you ever caught a glimpse of something they might
have seen or an echo of something they might have heard? As the
Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames and Severn canal wind their
way from Framilode to Inglesham, they hold the stories of all who
lived and worked on them. From Jack spinning yarns as he legs
barges through the Sapperton Tunnel to Elizabeth swimming for all
she is worth in the Wallbridge gala, the stories in 'Tales from the
Towpath' span 250 years of life on the Cotswold canals. Mixing fact
and fiction, they bring the past to life and, like all the best
tales, appeal to children and adults alike. These original tales by
storyteller Fiona Eadie are complemented by the evocative
illustrations of local artist Tracy Spiers.
Woven from the ancient fabric that is the landscape of the West
Midlands and passed down through the generations, these stories
from a modern county with a rich and varied history are brought
together by local storyteller Cath Edwards. Here are mysterious
tales and local legends. Here are witches and noodleheads, ghosts
and magpies, mines and wishing trees. Retold in an engaging style,
and stylishly illustrated with unique line drawings, these
humorous, clever and enchanting folk tales are sure to be enjoyed
and shared time and again.
The true story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Everyone thinks they
know Theseus, the great Hero of Athens. But what legend has
retained is merely a web of lies, a fable to hide the truth-a truth
that time was not ready to accept... It's time Her story was told.
Marcelino lives alone on his parents' farm, set deep in the
beautiful but impoverished countryside of northern Spain. It's the
place where he grew up, the place where he doted on his beloved
baby brother and protected his mother from his father's drunken
rages. But when Marcelino's brother tricks him out of his house and
land, a moment of anger sparks a chain of events that can't be
reversed. Marcelino flees to the wild peaks of rural Asturias,
becoming a cult hero as he evades authorities. Into this
unconventional crime story, Astur weaves fables about the sun and
the moon, tales of death and love, and reveals a community and a
way of life that may soon be lost. Of Saints and Miracles is a
sensuous and poetic portrayal of an outcast's struggle to survive
in a changing world, and a seamless blend of the tragic and the
majestic.
The bestselling author and historian Lisa Hilton picks up the
mythical 'City of Ladies' where the medieval writer Christine de
Pisan left off, continuing a conversation about gender and
greatness that began more than six hundred years ago. In 1405
Christine de Pisan took up the pen to defend her maligned sex. Her
book, The City of Ladies, was built around preserving women's
reputations from the slights and misunderstandings of history. In
it the author is visited by three spirits - Justice, Rectitude and
Reason - who guide her in sifting through countless lives, in
search of worthy citizens. Over 600 years later, the historian and
novelist Lisa Hilton picks up the book and promptly falls asleep,
only to be visited by three great women from history: Cleopatra,
Lucrezia Borgia and Catherine the Great. And they aren't happy.
Having found themselves barred from the original 'City of Ladies',
they want to know why. And isn't it time, they ask, for a new
author to take up the pen? What follows is a reassessment of the
past, in which deeds and reputations, rumours and reality are held
up to the light, and history is wrested back from the distortions
of misogyny.
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By Force Alone
(Paperback)
Lavie Tidhar; Narrated by Toby Longworth
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R293
R242
Discovery Miles 2 420
Save R51 (17%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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There is a legend... Britannia, AD 535 The Romans have gone. While
their libraries smoulder, roads decay and cities crumble, men with
swords pick over civilisation's carcass, slaughtering and being
slaughtered in turn. This is the story of just such a man. Like the
others, he had a sword. He slew until slain. Unlike the others, we
remember him. We remember King Arthur. This is the story of a land
neither green nor pleasant. An eldritch isle of deep forest and
dark fell haunted by swaithes, boggarts and tod-lowries,
Robin-Goodfellows and Jenny Greenteeths, and predators of rarer
appetite yet. This is the story of a legend forged from a pack of
self-serving, turd-gilding, weasel-worded lies told to justify foul
deeds and ill-gotten gains. This is the story - viscerally
entertaining, ominously subversive and poetically profane - of a
Dark Age myth that shaped a nation. EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT BY
FORCE ALONE: 'A bloody, bravura performance, which Tidhar pulls off
with graphic imagery and modern vernacular' Guardian. 'As eclectic
as the Sword in the Stone and as ruthless as A Game of Thrones,
this retelling of the whole Arthurian legend stands alongside the
very best' Daily Mail. 'The narrative voice is deadly serious but
there's a strong undercurrent of gleefulness to the profanity,
violence and otherworldly magic that makes By Force Alone a whole
lot of fun to dive into' Spectator. 'Lavie Tidhar has crafted a
punk epic on the mouldering bones of legend and jolted it to life
with ten thousand volts of knowing wit and fury. By Force Alone
eviscerates the complacent posturing of the Arthurian myth,
explodes the well-worn conventions of the tale and from the shiny
jagged pieces assembles a wholly fresh rollercoaster ride of cheap
violence, vicious magic and messy human truth' Richard Morgan. 'A
twisted Arthur retelling mixing the historical and the magical with
a very modern eye. Brutal and vicious, funny, Peaky Blinders of the
Round Table' Adrian Tchaikovsky.
The mythology and folklore of England is as old as the land itself,
rich in symbolism and full of tales of quests and heroic daring-do,
ghosts and witches, romantic heroines and noble outlaws. Who hasn't
heard of the master sorcerer Merlin, Robin Hood and his merry men,
or the legendary monster Grendel? Beginning with the great
Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, English Myths explores the early legends
of post-Roman England, many of which blend history and myth. The
book goes on to examine the rich seam of Arthurian and romantic
legends first told in the Medieval era, before looking at English
folk heroes and the beasts, witches and ghosts that have haunted
the land. Discover the brothers Hengist and Horsa, legendary
leaders of the first Angles, Saxons and Jutes to settle in England;
learn the tragic story of Cornish hero Tristan and his love for
Irish princess Iseult; tremble at the Black Dog ghost, a nocturnal
hellhound found stalking the country from Suffolk in the east to
Devon in the west; and enjoy the tale of George and the dragon, who
saved the nation from a rampaging serpent and became the patron
saint of the country. Illustrated with 150 photographs and
artworks, English Myths is an accessible, entertaining and highly
informative exploration of the fascinating mythology underlying one
of the world's oldest and most influential cultures.
In fierce, textured voices, the women of Ovid's Metamorphoses claim
their stories and challenge the power of myth I am the home of this
story. After thousands of years of other people's tellings, of all
these different bridges, of words gotten wrong, I'll tell it
myself. Seductresses and she-monsters, nymphs and demi-goddesses,
populate the famous myths of Ovid's Metamorphoses. But what happens
when the story of the chase comes in the voice of the woman fleeing
her rape? When the beloved coolly returns the seducer's gaze? When
tales of monstrous transfiguration are sung by those transformed?
In voices both mythic and modern, Wake, Siren revisits each account
of love, loss, rape, revenge, and change. It lays bare the violence
that undergirds and lurks in the heart of Ovid's narratives,
stories that helped build and perpetuate the distorted portrayal of
women across centuries of art and literature. Drawing on the
rhythms of epic poetry and alt rock, of everyday speech and folk
song, of fireside whisperings and therapy sessions, Nina
MacLaughlin, the acclaimed author of Hammer Head, recovers what is
lost when the stories of women are told and translated by men. She
breathes new life into these fraught and well-loved myths.
Malevolent and dark, the fairy tales collected by the Brothers
Grimm are not for the faint-hearted. The stories were originally
published in 1812 and form a vivid and fascinating body of work
that is rich in folkloric significance. Replete with sinister
characters and grotesque imagery, this collection is the perfect
addition to our series of deluxe Gothic Fantasy giftbooks, and
features some of the lesser-known tales alongside favourites like
Snow White, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, and Hansel and Gretel.
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Apollo
(Paperback)
Carly Spade
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R466
R389
Discovery Miles 3 890
Save R77 (17%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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In this sequel to the Nebula Award-nominated and Tiptree Award
Honor Book that New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire
called "exciting, inventive, and brilliantly plotted," Millie
unwillingly returns to the Arcadia Project when an impossible and
deadly situation pulls her back in. Four months ago, Millie left
the Arcadia Project after losing her partner Teo to the lethal
magic of an Unseelie fey countess. Now, in a final visit to the
scene of the crime, Millie and her former boss Caryl encounter
Teo's tormented ghost. But there's one problem: according to Caryl,
ghosts don't exist. Millie has a new life, a stressful job, and no
time to get pulled back into the Project, but she agrees to tell
her side of the ghost story to the agents from the Project's
National Headquarters. During her visit though, tragedy strikes
when one of the agents is gruesomely murdered in a way only Caryl
could have achieved. Millie knows Caryl is innocent, but the only
way to save her from the Project's severe, off-the-books justice is
to find the mysterious culprits that can only be seen when they
want to be seen. Millie must solve the mystery not only to save
Caryl, but also to foil an insidious, arcane terrorist plot that
would leave two worlds in ruins.
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