Showing results by narrator "Chris Smith" in All Categories

There is no ancient evil to defeat, no orphan destined for greatness, just two guys in the wrong place at the wrong time. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles until they become the unwitting scapegoats in a plot to murder the king. Sentenced to death, they have only one way out...and so begins this tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend. Avempartha is the second of a six book series entitled the Riyria Revelations.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?

The alliance of humans and renegade Fhrey is fragile — and about to be tested as never before. Persephone keeps the human clans from turning on one another through her iron will and a compassionate heart. The arrogant Fhrey are barely held in check by their leader, Nyphron, who seeks to advance his own nefarious agenda through a loveless marriage that will result in the betrayal of the person Persephone loves most: Raithe, the God Killer.

When Murph Cooper rocks up to his new school, he can't help but feel a bit out of his depth. And it's not because he's worried about where to sit, and making friends, and fitting in, or not knowing where the loos are. It's because his mum has enrolled him at a school for superheroes by mistake. And unlike his fellow students Murph has no special abilities whatsoever. But just because you don't have superpowers, it doesn't mean you can't save the day....

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake. Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles.

When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan without consciousness, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos. Shai is given an impossible task: to create - to Forge - a new soul for the emperor in less than 100 days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors.

When Gabriel Winter's daughter mysteriously disappears and is presumed dead, the wealthy whiskey baron seeks revenge. Having lived in Colnora during the infamous Year of Fear, he hires the one man he knows can deliver a bloody retribution - the notorious Duster. Ride with Royce and Hadrian as the cynical ex-assassin and idealistic ex-mercenary travel to a mysterious old-world city filled with nobles claiming descent from the imperial aristocracy.

For more than a year Royce Melborn has tried to forget Gwen DeLancy, the woman who saved him and his partner Hadrian Blackwater from certain death. Unable to get her out of his mind, Royce returns to Medford with Hadrian but the two receive a very different reception—Gwen refuses to see them. The victim of abuse by a powerful noble, she suspects that Royce will ignore any danger in his desire for revenge. By turning the thieves away, Gwen hopes to once more protect them. What she doesn't realize is what the two are capable of—but she's about to find out.

Three times they tried to kill her. Then they hired a professional. She hired Riyria. When the last member of the oldest noble family in Avryn is targeted for assassination, Riyria is hired to foil the plot. Three years have passed since the war-weary mercenary Hadrian and the cynical ex-assassin Royce joined forces to start life as thieves for hire. Things have gone well enough until they receive the odd assignment to prevent a murder.

Prince Corum has defeated the Chaos Lord Arioch. But any peace for him and his faithful Rhalina is brief. His actions have evoked the murderous anger of Arioch’s sister, the dreaded Xiombarg. The Prince in the Scarlet Robe must continue his odyssey, face the terror of the Mabden armies, and challenge the might of the Queen of the Swords. Only the legendary City of the Pyramid offers a glimmer of hope. But Corum must get there first, and along the way he will encounter horrifying creatures, strange forms of sorcery, and new planes of existence.

Not all heroes have superpowers. Don't believe us? Well, Murph Cooper is living proof. Since becoming Kid Normal, he and the Super Zeroes have been catching baddies all over the place. But being a hero is about to get a whole lot harder.... Far away in a top-secret prison, the world's most feared supervillain has broken a 30-year silence. His first words? 'Bring Kid Normal to me!'

“My name is Rylee, and I am a Tracker.” When children go missing, and the humans have no leads, I’m the one they call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage what they cannot. I’m on the FBI’s wanted list. I have a werewolf for a pet and a witch of a best friend and have no need for anyone else in my life. But when a hunt for a missing child starts to spin out of control, help comes from a most unexpected direction. One who is dangerously dark, brooding, and doesn’t know a thing about the supernatural. One whose kisses set me on fire.

It isn’t often that Kate Daniels and the Beast Lord Curran get to take a break from protecting their pack and enjoy some time for themselves. So when Curran offers Kate a romantic dinner in town, there’s no way she’s going to pass. But their quiet night doesn’t stay quiet for long. The trouble starts with a necromancer dying at a nearby table, continues with bloodthirsty vampires crashing through the windows, and ends with more blood on the walls than any dining establishment needs.

No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall. When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?) Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans! Again!

Originally broadcast on Radio 4 in 2003-4, We’ve Been Here Before is the topical, satirical, historical panel game that aims to show beyond all doubt that there’s nothing new in the news. Hosted by award-winning comedian, broadcaster and Whose Line Is It Anyway? star Clive Anderson, it takes a wry, witty look at long-gone days through a present-day lens, as the panellists battle it out to discover who’s got the best memory for detail when it comes to raking up the past.

Brought to you by Penguin. From the incredible imagination of Chris Smith - bestselling author and now a major new solo talent - comes an extraordinary accidental adventure for fans of Cressida Cowell and Pixar's Onward. Frankie Best is not happy. She's stuck at Grandad's with her annoyingly...

The old races have perished. Across the 15 planes of reality, the ceaseless struggle between Law and Chaos continues. Corum, the Prince in the Scarlet Robe, has destroyed two of the company of Chaos, but Mabelode the Faceless will not see his actions go unpunished. The Eternal Champion must call upon the power of other incarnations - Elric and Erekosë - and travel to the last five planes to defeat the King of the Swords. At stake: not only the balance of forces at the crux of existence but also a personal vendetta....

"My name is Rylee, and I am a Tracker." But this isn't Rylee's story. It's mine. Before I lost my ability to think like an adult. Before my body became stuck between wolf and human. Before I knew the supernatural and Rylee even existed. This is the last of what I remember before becoming a werewolf. . . .this is the last of what's important to me.

When children go missing, and the Humans have no leads, I'm the one they call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage what they cannot. After months of danger, running for my life, and dealing with one crisis after another, I'm finally getting that vacation I deserve. I even get to take my favorite guardian with me for some serious one on one time. Of course, when it comes to my life, even a vacation can turn ugly.

Demons are putting rips in the veil in order to cross over and steal my friends and allies away. But, going after them isn’t even close to simple. The deepest level of the veil is not a place you can just open a doorway to, after all, and, of course, that’s where they’ve been taken. As fate would have it, it looks like I might get some help from a trained demon slayer and his fire-breathing ride. The only problem? Said demon slayer claims to have family ties to me. And I’ve never trusted my family. Nor am I about to start now.