Norman Fiction

Hrolf the young Viking has left the service of Jarl Dragonheart and sails with Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson. When they find a home off the Frankish coast they begin to accumulate a vast fortune which earns them the enmity of other Vikings. The novel culminates in a bloody battle where Viking fights Viking but Hrolf begins to fulfill his destiny as Hrolf the Horseman!

When Albert finds a mysterious wooden box waiting for him in the driver's seat of his locked car, he has no idea that it will lead him on an extraordinary and terrifying adventure. Each clue he unravels leads only to more questions as he pieces together a map of the complex, subterranean system that lies beneath the city and the strange labyrinth hidden deep within. Can he discover the meaning behind the box? Or will the endless darkness and the things that lurk unseen within these walls swallow him forever?

England, 1065: The Saxon kingdom is under threat of invasion at both ends. From the north comes Harald Hardrada of Norway intent on pillage, while across the Channel, Duke William of Normandy is about to enforce his claim to the throne. Between the two lie the villages and townships defended only by part-time armies maintained by the Earls of Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria, barely united under King Harold Godwineson. It falls to brave and determined young men like Will Riveracre and Selwyn Astenmede to stand firm against whichever marauding invader reaches them first.

Ten years after the bloody events of season one, the Kingdom of Awadh is now being ruled by an iron hand by Maharani Sukanya. It's an uneasy peace she has fostered, which has led to minor rebellions in remote parts of her kingdom. The absence of the magical forces of Mayawar hasn't gone unnoticed by Sukanya's enemies. Awadhpuri Palace is torn from the inside, and loyalties continue to shift.

Rudiger doesn't kill because he wants to. He kills because he needs to. When the sadistic Preacherman stole the last bit of Rudiger's already troubled childhood soul, Rudiger lost himself forever. As an adult, Rudiger has committed atrocities even he cannot explain and he yearns for the End of Days to release him from his pain. God has told him he must crucify The One to bring about the Final Judgment, but Rudiger is left to his own special abilities to figure out who The One is.

Frank Renfield, Baron of Renfield Hall, will stop at nothing to save himself from ruin. Even if that means marrying his daughter off to a rich American. Unfortunately for him, she is already in love with a penniless nobody named Alan Lavender—to the glee of Alan’s greedy uncle Guy. He’s been nosing into the Renfields’ murky past, and he says he’s uncovered a secret. Something so shocking it casts a shadow over Frank’s entire legacy. Tensions run high at the hall, until Guy Lavender turns up dead.

For centuries two meg-powers from the future have been waging war for control of timelines of history. Alan Norlund, a WWII airman vet, is promised a lifesaving cure for his granddaughter, if he will undertake a mission 50 years back in time to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Hitler with his "angels" from the opposing power would like to take over our timeline and 1933 Chicago may be just the place to start.

Probably no one uses baseball as metaphor better than Kinsella. The stories in this collection range in tone from zaniness to pathos. It's hard to choose a favorite story: maybe the bizarre "Reports Concerning the Death of the Seattle Albatross Are Somewhat Exaggerated", about a mascot from outer space who really looks like a bird. Or the title story, about childhood innocence violated. Or the touching "Valley of the Schmoon", told by a man who has lost everything without having the faintest idea why.

In the heart of Savannah, Georgia, lies Solomon Brandt Plantation, a spanking piece of suburban sprawl with a sordid past. When an amnesiac bearing this cursed name stumbles into town, he’s immediately drawn to the haunted antebellum and also to a Hoodoo practitioner who converses with spirits—and to her gorgeous green-eyed niece, Desiree McClinton. A descendant of the Brandt slaves, Desiree sparks emotions in Solomon—the likes of which he’s never known.

Tobias Butler has been sitting on death row since being sentenced for a gruesome murder in 2007. Bored out of his mind, he decides to apply to the online pen pal program in 2012. It's a pleasant distraction - nothing more, nothing less - for three years, until he's contacted by a beautiful, smart young lawyer named Jess. She's convinced he's innocent and wants to see him freed. As they organize their attack on the judicial system, he wonders how she plans to get his conviction overturned - because he's guilty, and he knows it.

Of all the sports played across the globe, none has more curses, superstitions, or supernatural events like baseball, America's national pastime. While some of these can easily be explained, there are just as many that cannot. Field of Fantasies delves right into that superstition with short stories written by several key authors about baseball and the supernatural.

A multi-layered tale of two very different pigs that you will find yourself snickering at . . . yet you will find very thought-provoking. Sidney & Norman uses the simple context of two pigs living next door to each other to communicate a profound truth about how we judge each other and often judge ourselves. On the surface, Sidney & Norman appears to be a picture book that will entertain kids. But this story has deeply moved adult audiences in informal readings, leading to deep-thinking discussions.

Ein liebeskranker Erzähler reist mit seiner Tochter in das verschneite Davos. Aus dem "Familienurlaub" wird eine vergnügliche Reflexion über die Auswirkungen der Moderne, des Skifahrens und der Tuberkulosepandemie. Auch spürt er der Geschichte nach, wie aus dem bettelarmen Bergdorf das Symbol des globalen Reichtums wurde. Und wie in Thomas Manns ›Zauberberg‹ stellen sich auch ihm inmitten der Schneemassen die wirklich schwierigen Fragen: Wie müssen sich unsere Lebensweisen ändern? Welche Welt vererben wir unseren Kindern?

Andy Clark has always been different. But it isn't just the tumorous mass covering half his face that sets him apart—it's his quiet kindness. As an anonymous do-gooder in Flatsboro, North Carolina, Andy lives out what his mama taught him, even though she's no longer there.

Norman Mailer's dazzlingly rich, deeply evocative novel of ancient Egypt breathes life into the figures of a lost era: the eighteenth-dynasty Pharaoh Rameses and his wife, Queen Nefertiti; Menenhetet, their creature, lover, and victim; and the gods and mortals that surround them in intimate and telepathic communion. Mailer's reincarnated protagonist is carried through the exquisite gardens of the royal harem, along the majestic flow of the Nile, and into the terrifying clash of battle.

At age 45, Dr. Neil Taylor is an eligible bachelor, living a seemingly satisfied existence as a deacon of his church and director of Kingdom Builder's Academy. But despite outward appearances, Neil harbors secret pains that have caused him to erect a well-constructed wall of defense around his heart. Everything changes, however, when Shaylynn Ford, a beautiful young mother, strolls through the doors of his office. There's a marked difference in their ages, but the years that separate them are the least of Neil's worries.

Corcyrus is ruled by a beautiful woman, the cruel, arrogant, much-hated Sheila, an agent of Kurii. It is thought advisable to find a double for Sheila, who, in case of military or political disaster, may serve as her proxy, or substitute. For this role an unwitting young Earth girl, Tiffany Collins, is chosen and brought to Gor. She is introduced into her role and led to believe that she, unaware of the true Sheila, is the Tatrix, or female administrator, of Corcyrus.

Jim Stenson has been flown to the bohemian island of Formentera for a monthlong gig: writing a screenplay for a famous Spanish director, loosely based on the classic French film Contempt. With his career flagging, Jim is determined to make the most of the opportunity. But the director raises the stakes, pushing Jim to draw inspiration for the script from his strained relationship with his wife Anna.

In A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean claims that “in my family, there is no clear line between religion and fly-fishing.” Nor is there a clear line between family and fly-fishing. It is the one activity where brother can connect with brother and father with son, bridging troubled relationships at the junction of great trout rivers in western Montana. In Maclean’s autobiographical novella, it is the river that makes them realize that life continues and all things are related.

Hailed as one of the finest novels to come out of the Second World War, The Naked and the Dead received unprecedented critical acclaim upon its publication and has since become part of the American canon. This fiftieth anniversary edition features a new introduction created especially for the occasion by Norman Mailer.