Regular price: £26.49
A Special Edition of the original radio series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978 and recently voted the Nation's Favourite Audiobook in a Guardian poll. Starring Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern, Mark Wing-Davey, Susan Sheridan and Stephen Moore, these six episodes (Fit the First to Fit the Sixth) have been remastered to modern-day standards by Dirk Maggs, and for the first time feature Philip Pope's arrangement of the familiar theme tune.
The famous D-Day landings of 6 June, 1944, marked the beginning of Operation Overlord, the battle for the liberation of Europe. Republished as part of the Pan Military Classics series, Max Hastings’ acclaimed account overturns many traditional legends in this memorable study. Drawing together the eyewitness accounts of survivors from both sides, plus a wealth of previously untapped sources and documents, Overlord provides a brilliant, controversial perspective on the devastating battle.
Imagine you could travel back to the 14th century. What would you see? What would you smell? More to the point, where are you going to stay? And what are you going to eat? Ian Mortimer shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. He sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking you to the Middle Ages. The result is the most astonishing social history book you are ever likely to read: evolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail.
Twenty years ago Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation’s heart and became the best-selling travel book ever and was voted in a BBC poll the book that best represents Britain. Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of that modern classic, Bryson makes a brand-new journey around Britain to see what has changed.
A Vampire Chronicles novella from the internationally best-selling Anne Rice. In a cafe in modern-day Paris, in the aftermath of a fresh kill, the fearless and beautiful Pandora begins to tell her tale of treachery, vengeance and love stretching across two millennia. As a young mortal in Imperial Rome in the time of Caesar Augustus, Pandora was first introduced to the blood-tainted cult of Isis. Later, in exile in Antioch, she was drawn even further into the dark, ancient rites. Now, looking back across the centuries, Pandora decides to return once more to New Orleans.
Hadrian, a warrior with nothing to fight for, is paired with Royce, a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm's most prized possessions. But it isn't gold or jewels that their employer is after; if he can keep them from killing each other, they might just get him his prize.
A Special Edition of the original radio series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978 and recently voted the Nation's Favourite Audiobook in a Guardian poll. Starring Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern, Mark Wing-Davey, Susan Sheridan and Stephen Moore, these six episodes (Fit the First to Fit the Sixth) have been remastered to modern-day standards by Dirk Maggs, and for the first time feature Philip Pope's arrangement of the familiar theme tune.
The famous D-Day landings of 6 June, 1944, marked the beginning of Operation Overlord, the battle for the liberation of Europe. Republished as part of the Pan Military Classics series, Max Hastings’ acclaimed account overturns many traditional legends in this memorable study. Drawing together the eyewitness accounts of survivors from both sides, plus a wealth of previously untapped sources and documents, Overlord provides a brilliant, controversial perspective on the devastating battle.
Imagine you could travel back to the 14th century. What would you see? What would you smell? More to the point, where are you going to stay? And what are you going to eat? Ian Mortimer shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. He sets out to explain what life was like in the most immediate way, through taking you to the Middle Ages. The result is the most astonishing social history book you are ever likely to read: evolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail.
Twenty years ago Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation’s heart and became the best-selling travel book ever and was voted in a BBC poll the book that best represents Britain. Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of that modern classic, Bryson makes a brand-new journey around Britain to see what has changed.
A Vampire Chronicles novella from the internationally best-selling Anne Rice. In a cafe in modern-day Paris, in the aftermath of a fresh kill, the fearless and beautiful Pandora begins to tell her tale of treachery, vengeance and love stretching across two millennia. As a young mortal in Imperial Rome in the time of Caesar Augustus, Pandora was first introduced to the blood-tainted cult of Isis. Later, in exile in Antioch, she was drawn even further into the dark, ancient rites. Now, looking back across the centuries, Pandora decides to return once more to New Orleans.
Hadrian, a warrior with nothing to fight for, is paired with Royce, a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm's most prized possessions. But it isn't gold or jewels that their employer is after; if he can keep them from killing each other, they might just get him his prize.
An erotic novel of discipline, love, and surrender for the enjoyment of men and women.
This sequel to The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, the first of Anne Rice's elegantly written volumes of erotica, continues her explicit, teasing exploration of the psychology of human desire. Now Beauty, having indulged in a secret and forbidden infatuation with the rebellious slave Prince Tristan, is sent away from the Satyricon-like world of the Castle. Sold at auction, she will soon experience the tantalizing punishments of "the village", as her education in love, cruelty, dominance, submission, and tenderness is turned over to the brazenly handsome Captain of the Guard. And once again Rice's fabulous tale of pleasure and pain dares to explore the most primal and well-hidden desires of the human heart.
I've always loved this author, and this series, and once again I wasn't let down, you MUST give it a try, although it certainly won't be for everyone and definitely not for the faint hearted
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
To much anal sex for my taste. Not clear on why this is needed. I read it bef6years ago, it didn't leave an impression. I read it this time and it sounded foreign to me.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Would you try another book from Anne Rice and/or Samantha Prescott and Corbin Steele ?
I would definitely (and certainly have) listen to/read anything by Anne Rice. When I was younger I thought her writing rather stilted, but as an adult, I very much appreciate her fluid writing style! This book, along with its predecessor and sequel, is wonderful: inventive, thought provoking, engaging. Not so much the narrators though. They do their best, I believe (and hope), but it really does fall flat. Thank goodness I've actually read these books before and didn't go through them for the first time with these audiobooks.
What did you like best about this story?
In the Sleeping Beauty novels, I find the most charm coming from the interaction of the characters. Remove the copious amounts of sex and there are psychological wonders here in their interactions with one another. There is something compelling about having so many extraneous elements to life stripped away, leaving only this one thing that these characters all have to build their existences around.
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
In my mind, I always imagined the Sleeping Beauty novels to be in need of some sort of European accent, at least British, yet Samantha Prescott and Corbin Steele are as American as it comes (except for the one random character of the auctioneer she played with a cockney accent). Characters come from different countries and need distinction to capture the exotic feeling Ms. Rice has written so masterfully. Clearly from the narrative they are using English currency, why then the rather uninflected American accents? And obviously, these two narrators did not ever meet up to discuss how to make things cohesive. Case in point: the character, Prince Laurant. This is a french name. It would natively be pronounced with almost no sounding of the last two letters. Ms. Prescott pronounces it "Luh-RAWnt". Mr. Steele pronounces it "LOR-rint". Such things are distracting and I don't find an excuse for them. The producer and director should have put everyone on the same page.
Was Beauty's Punishment worth the listening time?
I enjoy the story so much that I can tune out most of the flaws in the audiobook production. But I would always recommend anyone actually read the books before I would recommend these audio versions.
Any additional comments?
I did not notice it much in "The Claiming Of Sleeping Beauty" but I certainly noticed it in this sequel. This recording has been MASSIVELY over produced. As an audiobook narrator and producer, I am constantly tuned in to the sound of the recording as well as the performance, and every breath that these two actors take has been meticulously edited out, making the performances feel tight and airless. There has also been such editing on vocal 'noises' ("F" sounds, "P" sounds, "S" sounds) that certain words are distorted and clipped to be almost unrecognizable. For example: a world like PURELY comes out with a strong "H" sound: hughr-ly, because the first letter has been edited to non-existence. This was monstrously distracting and it puzzles me that this final version was permitted to be sold.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful
The narrator was easy to understand, the story is interesting. An amazing fantasy explained in great detail. My husband even listened for a while!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I enjoyed the story as much as the first book. Definitely enjoyed the voices done by both narrators. Listened straight through for 8 hours I was so enthralled.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
liked it better than the first one likes it having male and female voice big difference
Basically it's a whole lot of paddling and degradation which is fine buy doesn't even begin to cover the fringe of BDSM.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
loved loved loved it it was a non stop rollercoaster of heated pleasure KUDOS ANNE KUDOS
Anne Rice has done an excellent job with the first book that I knew the second book would go the same excellent way
Normally I do not read erotic novels. But after hearing about this series from a friend of mine, I decided to listen to it and see if I would like it. I found it simply amazing and could not stop listening at any chance I could get. True Ann Rice and her current and former form. Outstanding job.