Showing titles in Classics

A premier adventure novel and one of the most loved science fiction classics of all time. It's 1866 when a group of ships from different countries spot a massive sea monster. Back home, the U.S. government puts together a crew to find and kill the beast. Pierre Aronnax, a French marine biologist, is one of the team, as is Canadian whaler Ned Land; they set out from New York and travel for months before they find—and run smack into—the monster.

George Orwell’s classic satire of the Russian Revolution has become an intimate part of our contemporary culture, with its treatment of democratic, fascist, and socialist ideals through an animal fable.

The case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce has ground its way through the courts for generations. At its heart are Ada Clare and Richard Carstone, who find love - and terrible loss - through their involvement in the endless battle. Meanwhile, her friend Esther Summeson, who believes she is an orphan, gradually discovers the truth of her identity. The court case throws out a web ensnaring all who come near it, including Lady Dedlock, the menacing lawyer Tulkingham, detective Bucket and tragic little waif Jo.

The stunning second novel in Tad Williams' classic fantasy series, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, set in the fantasy world of Osten Ard. Following a brutal civil war, Osten Ard has been crushed under the rule of the two villainous High Kings. A single hope remains: if the rebels can find the three swords of legend - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn - they might be able to bring the Storm King and evil King Elias down. Once but a humble kitchen boy, Simon is now Simon Snowlock, dragonslayer and bearer of the mythical sword Thorn.

Mary Challoner must protect her sister at all costs. When she discovers that the notorious Marquis of Vidal is planning to run away with her little sister, Mary will not stand idly by. To save Sophia's reputation without destroying her own, Mary will take her sister's place - and once the Marquis sees through her disguise, he will be humiliated and forced to return her home. But the irresistible Marquis is a wilder rake than even Mary anticipated, and her growing feelings for him are proving an unexpected complication.... 

In the last and most complex of the Barsetshire novels, many of Trollope's best-loved characters appear, but the mood of the novel is darker and more uneasy than in earlier volumes. At the heart of the novel is the penniless Reverend Josiah Crawley, first encountered in Framley Parsonage, who in the opening of the book is accused of theft, creating a public scandal that threatens to tear the community apart.

Hans Castorp is, on the face of it, an ordinary man in his early 20s, on course to start a career in ship engineering in his home town of Hamburg, when he decides to travel to the Berghof Santatorium in Davos. The year is 1912 and an oblivious world is on the brink of war. Castorp’s friend Joachim Ziemssen is taking the cure and a three-week visit seems a perfect break before work begins. But when Castorp arrives he is surprised to find an established community of patients, and little by little, he gets drawn into the closeted life and the individual personalities of the residents.

Have you ever wondered why the journey home is often the most dangerous adventure of all? The Odyssey is the cornerstone of Western literature. While the Iliad chronicled the glory of war, this sweeping saga explores the agony of the aftermath. It is the story of a hero stripped of his army and ships, left with nothing but his sharp mind and an indomitable will to survive. As Odysseus battles mythical beasts and wrathful deities across the wine-dark sea, his wife Penelope fights a different kind of war at home, holding off over a hundred suitors to preserve their fragile world.

First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.

Great Expectations follows Pip's life from a plucky but poor and put-upon child in the Kent marshes, to a young man with "great expectations" in London and the choices he must make as a result of his winding journey. On the way, we meet some of Dickens' most memorable and unique characters - the mysterious and brutal Magwtich; eternally heartbroken Miss Havisham; and her cold-hearted child Estella.

A brand new CD audio editon of Agatha Christie’s classic thriller. Features the recurring character Colonel Race from Death on the Nile, Cards on the Table and The Man in the Brown Suit. Six people sit down to dinner at a table laid for seven. In front of the empty place is a sprig of rosemary...

This Audible Exclusive production revisits Charles Dickens’ tragi-comic novel Little Dorrit. Written during the Crimean War, it a story of fortunes won and lost and a masterly portrayal of the failings of Victorian Society, with the ever-present spectre of law enforcement and imprisonment looming over a fearful population. Divided into two parts, Book One: Poverty and Book Two: Riches, Little Dorrit satirises the debtors prisons and the detrimental effect of enforcing a British class system.

Brought to you by Penguin. ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS BOOKS AND WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 'Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice' Gabriel García Márquez's...

The outcast youth Ishmael, succumbing to wanderlust during a dreary New England autumn, signs up for passage aboard a whaling ship. The Pequod sails under the command of the one-legged Captain Ahab, who has set himself on a monomaniacal quest to capture the cunning white whale that robbed him of his leg: Moby-Dick. Capturing life on the sea with robust realism, Melville details the adventures of the colorful crew aboard the ship as Ahab pursues his crusade of revenge, heedless of all cost.

A heartwarming festive tale of redemption and cheer, The Christmas Hirelings is the story of a lonely widower who reluctantly invites a group of children to his manor for Christmas. It showcases the benefits of opening your doors and hearts during the holiday season.

Through the study of these time-honored myths, the Greek heroes and gods - including Heracles, Zeus, Achilles, Athena, Aphrodite, and others - leap from the page in all their glorious splendor. The following lectures are not only an entertaining guide to Greek mythology, but a fascinating look into the culture and time that produced these eternal tales.

Three novels from comic master PG Wodehouse, featuring the incomparable Psmith!

Dombey and Son is a poignant exploration of pride, family, and the pursuit of legacy in Victorian England. The novel follows the powerful and often cold-hearted Paul Dombey, a wealthy shipping magnate, who places all his hopes for the future on his son, young Paul. Obsessed with the idea of inheriting his business and name, Dombey’s disregard for the emotional needs of his children—especially his daughter Florence—leads to devastating consequences. As the story unfolds, Dombey’s single-minded pursuit of his goals ultimately challenges his understanding of love, family, and success.

It is one of the most well-known and well-loved fantasy epics of the twentieth century: the story of Elric, emperor of the dying kingdom of Melniboné. For a hundred centuries the Melnibonéans have ruled from the Dragon Isle of Imrryr. Now, after years of corruption and decadence, Elric’s amoral cousin Prince Yyrkoon, the brother of his beloved Cymoril, sets his eyes on the Ruby Throne. Elric must face his treacherous cousin not as a warrior but as a sorcerer king once again in league with the ancient gods of Melniboné, the Chaos Lords, and thus sealing his inexorable fate.

A complex plot of love and inheritance is set against the English legal system of the mid-19th century. As the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce drags on, it becomes an obsession to everyone involved. And the issue on an inheritance ultimately becomes a question of murder.