Showing results by narrator "Michael Ball" in All Categories

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College–Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

1926. Running a theatre may appear to be all about the showbiz, but times are hard at The Empire. Following a turbulent period Jack Treadwell, erstwhile proprietor, his mother Lillian, and his playwright wife Grace, know they need to get things back on track - and how better than with the annual pantomime, a new venture, and an all-singing all-dancing talent contest, showcasing the best performers around.

Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. 

The Empire is not just a theatre. From music hall to vaudeville, from revue to grand musical spectacular, it holds a special place in the nation's heart. For its audience, for its actors and singers, for the stagehands, the front-of-house staff, for its backers and its debtors—and above all for its owners—it truly is a palace of dreams. And for young Jack Treadwell, struggling to adapt to civilian life after the horrors of the trenches, it's a lifeline. When he receives a letter out of the blue inviting him to work at The Empire, he leaps at the chance.

In 1989, a young Michael Ball landed the lead role in the musical Aspects of Love. It was a moment that changed his life forever. It was the first time he worked with legends of the stage like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn; it was from that show that came his smash hit song, Love Changes Everything, which rode high in the charts for 15 weeks; it was then, also, that he first met his long-term partner Cathy McGowan and battled back against the stage fright that had threatened his career.

Sinister forces lurk in the corners of the Iron Kingdoms - restless souls, mischievous and cunning creatures, darker beings that bargain for mortal souls. Most pass unmarked, shunned, or avoided, but there is one group willing to seek out and study what others fear. In abandoned halls and forgotten ruins, the investigators from the Strangelight Workshop illuminate the darkness, armed with wisdom, curiosity, and specialized tools.

War is coming, and she must decide how badly she wants the vampires on her side. Or as a thorn in her side. 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. Bringing my allies together as war approaches is my number one concern. But that means I have to play nice with a vampire who is blackmailing me. If I don’t, I’m screwed and my family is dead. But I don't play nice. And I have a backup plan. Kinda.

There's no hiding from an enemy who knows your next move. Everything I've ever known is gone—forever. My fated mate is an alpha with incredible strength, who will stop at nothing to protect me. But my newfound pack is at risk because of me. Secrets that have been kept from me are only reinforcing the truth that Griffin and I are in serious danger. The closer we become, the more danger surrounds us. One thing is clear, there's no way to win if we don’t even know who we’re up against. My only hope is that we make it out alive.

Picking up exactly where Playing Gods 1: Isolation left off, Playing Gods 2: Adaptation brings the zehuderan warriors Xriah and Vylis to the world of Gravios. A far cry from the last plane where the two battled, Gravios is an ocean world of cybernetically augmented humans and post-apocalyptic sea vessels. All land on Gravios has been completely submerged into the depths, the sea level elevated by the planet-swallowing marine creature known as the Grava. 

The most beloved fairy tales of Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, narrated by the very best of British stage and screen talent. Perfect for bedtime, the long car journey or rainy afternoons at home, let Andersen delight and enchant children (and adults) of all ages with characters that stand the test of time.

Arch-criminal Tyvian Reldamar has gotten complacent. For him, he's reached the pinnacle of all he's really hoping to achieve: he's got money, he's got women (some of which aren't even trying to kill him), and he's got his loyal friends and family nearby and safe. Except...maybe not so safe. Because this is Eretheria, a city known as much for its genteel aristocracy as for its diabolical scheming. Long without a king, the scions of the ruling families scrabble for control - including levying cruel taxes and drafts on the peasantry in order to wage "polite" wars against each other.

Seven centuries in the future, the sport of American football has never been bigger, never been faster, never been more lethal. Trillions of fans from all over the galaxy watch six unique races battle in contests so violent that deaths are part of the stat sheet. Star quarterback Quentin Barnes has led his beloved Ionath Krakens to glory on the gridiron and become the most-recognized individual in history, but it is off the field where his world crumbles around him.

Making his west end debut in 1985, Ball has been a constant in musical theatre, performing many parts in Les Misérables around the country over the years, appearing in The Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray and Sweeny Todd. Ball is no stranger to the charts either: after representing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest, he has regularly released albums. Michael has now taken to writing and we will be talking about his debut novel, The Empire.

After the disappearance of a suspect and a hastily organized election, the power balance in Leadville and the friendship of Sheriff Gannon and Marshal Spencer are thrown into turmoil. But the unknown forces driving the election, push both men to decide on which side of justice they are willing to reside; lawman or outlaw.

With Tyvian Reldamar feigning his death, the forces that still carry his banner are left to fight a vicious battle against the warlord Banric Sahand and the noble houses that flock to his side. Led by Myreon and Artus, this band of freedom fighters and angry rebels is faced with an enemy the likes of which they’ve never faced before: one who will do anything, no matter how brutal, to secure victory.

Armored little people riding armored dinosaurs in a full-contact bloodsport? Welcome to Dinolition, the biggest show in the galaxy. Star rider Poughkeepsie Pete and his T-Rex mount “Old Bess” are fixtures of a league struggling to reach profitability and gain intergalactic recognition, to be thought of as something other than circus-freak sideshows. 

When Duff MacCallister journeys to Texas to deliver 100 head of angus cattle, he finds a land on fire. Unruly, lawless teams of fence cutters, branded Blue Devils by the locals, are rampaging across grazing land and cutting fences in the name of an eastern land company. The ranchers are fighting back, and Duff joins the fray. But the fight leads to Austin, and into an even deadlier mission. 

With Tyvian Reldamar feigning his death, the forces that still carry his banner are left to fight a vicious battle against the warlord Banric Sahand and the noble houses that flock to his side. Led by Myreon and Artus, this band of freedom fighters and angry rebels is faced with an enemy the likes of which they’ve never faced before: one who will do anything, no matter how brutal, to secure victory.