Simon Vance

On a dark night along a lonely stretch of coast, a small ship, the Silver Wake, sends two people ashore to a stony strand. Their purpose is assassination. They have been hired to do this by two of the most dangerous men alive. The consequences will affect so many lives both great and small, and possibly alter the balance of power in the world.

One of those arriving on that night strand is a woman abducted by corsairs from her home as a child, escaping that fate, that destiny, years after, now trying to chart her own course - and bent upon revenge. Another figure, on the boat, bringing it to meet the secretive landing party at the city where they are going, is a merchant who still remembers being exiled as a child with his family from their home, for their faith.

Returning triumphantly to the brilliantly evoked near-Renaissance world of his most recent novels, international bestseller Guy Gavriel Kay deploys his signature 'quarter turn to the fantastic' to offer listeners a wide-ranging, vividly memorable set of characters in a story of vengeance, power, and love, built around profoundly contemporary themes of exile, loss, and memory.

It is seven years since France's top chef, Marc Fraysse, was murdered and the identity of his killer remains an enigma. Enzo Macleod, in opening up this celebrated cold case, finds himself reopening old wounds from his own past.  Book 5 of series.

By 1535 Thomas Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry VIII. His fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boleyn. But now Anne has failed to give the king an heir and Henry falls in love with plain Jane Seymour, an attachment that risks the safety of the nation. Cromwell must find a solution, but no-one will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days. Book 2 of the Wolf Hall Trilogy.

Planet Dune has been destroyed; only pockets of resistance remain with the opposition mainly from the Bene Gesserit co-ordinated from their still undiscovered home world. Chapter House. There is a new Scattering being planned and they still hold one asset which has not fallen into enemy hands: they have sandworms, offspring of one giant worm that was rescued from Dune before the end, and in the specially prepared desert they work to turn it into a wasteland.  Book 6 of series.

Paul Atreides has been succeeded by his twin children Leto and Ghanima, under the regency of his sister Alia. But all is not well in the Empire; a harsh tyranny has been established under the fanatical direction of the Fremen disciples. On Arrakis itself, much has changed. A slow ecological transformation has brought vast areas of greenery and even stretches of open water. The sand-worms are vanishing and this spells disaster for the planet.  Book 3 of series.

His victims are young and beautiful. He calls himself the Beijing Ripper. Li Yan, of Beijing's serious crime squad, must stop him. When Li receives a letter from the killer, portraying his cruel intentions, there's no way he can misinterpret the Ripper's motives: he wants to write the darkest chapter in Beijing's history...  Book 6 of series.

Set in the distant future when planets form part of a Galactic Empire, two great dynastic families are locked in a bitter feud. The Duke of Atreides has been manoeuvered by his enemy, Baron Harkonnen, into accepting the job of administering the planet of Dune. It is a vast desert where a drop of water is worth a fortune. It is also a planet of vast wealth because it possesses a drug prized throughout the galaxy.  Book 1 of series.

Paul Atreides is the religious and political leader of the Galaxy and was raised to his exalted position by a holy war, fought in the spaceways and on a thousand planets. He has been trained in arcane disciplines by the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and he has superhuman powers. When the order is no longer able to dominate the man they have made a god, they set out to overthrow him. But Paul, able to foresee their plans, resolves to shape them to a shocking goal...  Book 2 of series.

THE INSPIRATION FOR HBO AND SKY'S HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

Centuries before A Game of Thrones, an even greater game began, one that set the skies alight with dragon flame and saw the Seven Kingdoms turned to ash.

The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in George R.R. Martin's FIRE & BLOOD.

So began the Targaryens' bloody rule, with fire and blood. Setting brother against brother, mother against daughter, and dragon against dragon.

Chronicled by a learned maester of the Citadel, this thrilling and bloody history of Westeros tells the story of where the battle for the Iron Throne began...

This audio edition now includes an exclusive interview between George R.R. Martin and historian Dan Jones.

A promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleod to the study which the man's heir has preserved for nearly twenty years. A crime scene frozen in time and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo's most difficult cases.  Book 4 of series.

Arrakis, the barren desert planet, is now a green and hospitable world. The giant sandworms are gone and there is only one link between the world and its epic past: the grotesque figure of Leto Atreides, son of the prophet Paul Muad'Dib and now the virtual immortal God Emperor of the Galaxy because he holds the sole ingredient which confers longevity. But his final victory, to produce a species that can outwit him despite his prescient vision, means his own death.  Book 4 of series.

It's been a year since Kate and Tom became conductors on the Great Secret Intercontinental Railway, and life has changed completely! Delivering animal passengers to their rightful habitats using their very own secret steam train, The Silver Arrow, is exciting and magical and fulfilling. Until one day a new and mysterious train almost rams them off the track! Its name? The Golden Swift. Kate catches a glimpse of the conductors. They're children, like them, and they're dropping animals off at all the wrong stations! Kate is determined to catch up with their rivals and confront them. Her actions will lead to an adventure bigger than she could have dreamed of, racing through the highlands of Western Scotland, trekking in the Australian outback and diving down deep into the Bering Sea on a magical submarine. Kate will have to discover a whole new way to offer endangered animals safe and lasting homes…

Charlie Howard, in Amsterdam working on his latest novel, is persuaded by a mysterious American to steal two seemingly worthless monkey figurines. Only when the American is killed and police suspect him of the murder, does Charlie start to think he may have made a huge mistake.

The wheel of history has turned full circle: the deserts have returned to Dune and with them the giant sand-worms. The death of the Tyrant Leto II triggered the release of a swarm of sand-trout, the earliest stage in the sand-worm cycle. They and their descendants have reversed the ecological miracle which changed Rakis (as Dune is know known) from a burning desert to a verdant, pleasant world.  Book 5 of series.

London, 1386: Sixteen corpses have been discovered in a sewer, their wounds like none ever seen before. Enter John Gower, poet and intellectual whose ‘vocation’ is dealing in men's secrets. Gower pursues his dangerous quarry and comes to the shocking conviction that the men have been killed by a new and deadly weapon of war.

With the death of Steve Jobs in 2011, JONY IVE has become the most important person at Apple. Some would argue he always was.

Steve Jobs discovered Ive in 1997, when he found the scruffy British designer toiling away in a studio surrounded by hundreds of sketches and prototypes. Jobs instantly realised he had found a talent who could reverse Apple's decline, and become his 'spiritual partner'.

Their collaboration produced iconic products including the iMac, iPod, iPad and iPhone. Designs that overturned entire industries and created the world's most powerful brand.

Little has been known about this shy, softly-spoken designer. Until now. Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products tells the riveting story of a creative genius, from his early interest in industrial design to his meteoric rise, as well as the principles and practices that led Ive to become the designer of his generation.

The world-famous Fastnet Race takes yachts from the Isle of Wight to the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland and back. The 1979 race began in perfect conditions, but was soon engulfed by the deadliest storm in the history of modern sailing.

It had been Nick Ward's childhood ambition to sail in the Fastnet Race, and being asked to join the crew of the 30-foot yacht Grimalkin was a dream come true. But then the storm hit.

Grimalkin was capsized again and again. With the skipper lost overboard, three of the crew decided to abandon the boat for the liferaft after hours of struggle. Nick and another crewmember, both unconscious, were left on the beleaguered yacht in the middle of the Irish Sea. Both were presumed dead. Gerry died a few hours later, and Nick was left to face the storm alone.

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline. But are the Ayres haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life?

For Gabriel Allon it was supposed to be the start of a pleasant weekend in London, but a pair of deadly bombings in Paris and Copenhagen has already marred this autumn day. And then Gabriel is drawn into a confrontation with the new face of global terror.

A top Chinese swimmer kills himself on the eve of an international event. An Olympic weightlifter dies in the arms of his mistress. Both men's deaths are connected to a sinister series of killings and Beijing detective Li Yan finds himself in charge of what could be his last investigation.  Book 5 of series.

When Rob Hale wakes up in hospital after a motorcycle crash he is told that Lena, the woman he claims was travelling with him, doesn't exist. The woman he describes bears a striking resemblance to his recently deceased sister, Laura, but has he really only imagined her?

When Kate is given a colossal steam train, the Silver Arrow, for her birthday, she can't believe her luck. After eleven years of waiting, adventure has finally found her! Soon the Silver Arrow is whisking Kate and her brother Tom to a magical station where their passengers stand ready to board. From the porcupine to the pangolin, each one is rare and wonderful. But these animals have been waiting a very long time too. Can Kate deliver them home... before it's too late?