Paola Merla Knihy

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. H.M.S. Surprise follows the variable fortunes of Captain Jack Aubrey's career in Nelson's navy as he attempts to hold his ground against admirals, colleagues and the enemy, accepting a mission to convey a British ambassador to the East Indies. The voyage takes him and his friend Stephen Maturin to the strange sights and smells of the Indian sub-continent, and through the archipelago of spice islands where the French have a near-overwhelming superiority. Rarely has a novel managed to convey more vividly the fragility of a sailing ship in a wild sea. Rarely has a historical novelist combined action and lyricism of style in the way that O' Brian does. His superb sense of place, brilliant characterisation, and a vigour and joy of writing lift O'Brian above any but the most exalted of comparisons.

The first book in the Treasures of the Nile series Anippe has grown up in the shadows of Egypt’s good god Pharaoh, aware that Anubis, god of the afterlife, may take her--or her siblings--at any moment. She watched him snatch her mother and infant brother during childbirth, a moment which awakens in her a terrible dread of ever bearing a child. When she learns that she is to be become the bride of Sebak, a kind but quick-tempered Captain of Pharaoh Tut’s army, Anippe launches a series of deceptions with the help of the Hebrew midwives—women ordered by Tut to drown the sons of their own people in the Nile—in order to provide Sebak the heir he deserves and yet protect herself from the underworld gods. When she finds a baby floating in a basket on the great river, Anippe believes Egypt’s gods have answered her pleas, entrenching her more deeply in deception and placing her and her son Mehy, whom handmaiden Miriam calls Moses, in mortal danger. As bloodshed and savage politics shift the balance of power in Egypt, the gods reveal their fickle natures and Anippe wonders if her son, a boy of Hebrew blood, could one day become king. Or does the god of her Hebrew servants, the one they call El Shaddai, have a different plan for them all?

1786. Il comandante di vascello William Rennie e il suo secondo James Hayter sono a terra, desiderosi di tornare a navigare dopo una preoccupante pausa nella loro carriera nella marina militare, quando ricevono una missione particolarmente importante: la messa a punto della nave di Sua Maestà Expedient, una fregata da trentasei cannoni. Dopo un varo difficile e l'ancor più complessa organizzazione di un equipaggio non proprio di prim'ordine, superano il mitico capo Horn e veleggiano nel Pacifico, apparentemente incaricati di svolgere una missione scientifica. Ma gli ordini segreti, rivelati solo in mare aperto, sono differenti...

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. All eighteen books are being re-issued in hardback by HarperCollins with stunning new jackets to coincide with a new film based on the adventures and to introduce these modern classics to a new generation. It is still the War of 1812. Patrick O'Brian takes his hero Jack Aubrey and his tetchy, sardonic friend Stephen Maturin on a voyage as fascinating as anything he has ever written. They set course across the South Atlantic to intercept a powerful American frigate outward bound to play havoc with the British whaling trade. If they do not come up with her before she rounds the Horn, they must follow her into the Great South Sea and as far across the Pacific as she may lead them. It is a commission after Jack's own heart. Maturin has fish of his own to fry in the world of secret intelligence. Aubrey has to cope with a succession of disasters - men overboard, castaways, encounters with savages, storms, typhoons, groundings, shipwrecks, to say nothing of murder and criminal insanity. That the enemy is in fact faithfully dealt with, no one who has the honour of Captain Aubrey's acquaintance can take leave to doubt.

The introduction of Jack Reacher, a resourceful ex-military cop, sets the stage for a gripping thriller in a small Georgia town plagued by its first murder in decades. Arriving in Margrave while investigating a dead musician, Reacher quickly finds himself the prime suspect in a growing body count. As he navigates the dangerous situation, his skills and instincts come into play, showcasing his resilience against a backdrop of tension and intrigue. This first installment of the bestselling series promises relentless action and suspense.

The bestselling author of "A Small Death in Lisbon" tells a gripping tale of a grisly murder that leads a police detective to the seamy side of his famous father's life.

Dvaja mágovia sa zjavia v Anglicku... Ten prvý sa ma bude báť; ten druhý bude túžiť ma vidieť. Pred niekoľkými storočiami, keď v Anglicku ešte existovala mágia, bol najväčším mágom všetkých čias Havraní kráľ. Havraní kráľ ako ľudské dieťa, ktoré vychovali féeri, spojil vedomosti féerov a ľudský rozum a vytvoril anglickú mágiu. Teraz na začiatku 19. storočia, je sotva viac než len legendou a Anglicko so šialeným kráľom a elegantnými básnikmi už neverí, že existuje praktická mágia. Potom sa zjaví samotársky pán Norrell z Hurtfewskeho opátstva a spôsobí, že sochy v Yorskej katedrále sa pohybujú a rozprávajú. Šíria sa správy o návrate mágie do Anglicka a pán Norrell sa sťahuje do Londýna v presvedčení, že musí vláde pomôcť vo vojne proti Napoleonovi. Tu stretáva šikovného mladého mága a prijme ho za žiaka. Jonathan Strange je šarmantný, bohatý a arogantný. Spoločne oslňujú krajinu svojimi činmi. Lenže ich partnerstvo sa čoskoro zmení na súperenie. Pán Norrell sa nikdy nezbavil celoživotného zvyku uchovávať takmer všetko v tajnosti, zatiaľ čo Strangea vždy priťahuje tá najdivšia, najnebezpečnejšia mágia. Fascinuje ho tajomná postava Havranieho kráľa a nerozvážne sa ženie po stopách dávno zabudnutej mágie, pričom ohrozuje nielen svoje partnerstvo s pánom Norrellom, ale aj všetko, čo mu je drahé.

Graham Greene's The Third Man meets Paul Auster as the Cold War heats up amidst the ruins of occupied Berlin.

A romantic historical adventure, set in the tyrannical court of King Ismail, the17th-century ruler of Morocco.

Essere al comando di un veliero, dare la caccia alle navi nemiche nel Mediterraneo o in pieno Atlantico, vivere in prima persona arrembaggi e duelli: questi sono i sogni di Jack Aubrey, uomo di mare temerario e irruente, fedele suddito di Sua Maestà Britannica e capitano di corvetta fresco di nomina. E se la Sophie - la sua prima nave, il suo «primo comando» - non brilla ancora di particolare gloria, Aubrey è deciso a trasformarla in una nave modello, orgoglio della Royal Navy e spauracchio dei nemici a tutte le latitudini. Ma la dura vita di bordo gli riserverà grosse sorprese... Avvincente e serrato nell'intreccio, straordinariamente documentato nella ricostruzione storica e meticolosamente preciso nella descrizione della vita marinaresca del XIX secolo: Primo comando è uno dei migliori romanzi storici di avventure sui mari che siano mai stati scritti.