Great Literature

The end of the world had arrived just as many had predicted, in a global exchange of nuclear weapons. What no one predicted was the sudden message that appeared before every living soul moments before impact, a message from "The Administrators" revealing our entire world and everything in it to be a species simulation. According to the message, humanity had been reset over a million times and every single time we could not prevent our own extinction. No more resets for humanity. No more chances.

One moment, a certain salaryman is on cloud nine, that promotion finally within his grasp, and the next, he’s keeled over pain, and that was all she wrote. Luckily for him, fate had a bit more to say. A world of magic, monsters, and other such life-shortening entities await his newly reincarnated self for a second shot at life. With nothing but his past-life experiences and sharp business skills to guide him in the foreign lands of Galdardia, he takes up the name Luciel and vows that his (next) demise will be from naught but old age.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal ( Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. There, he has a firsthand view of Gatsby’s lavish West Egg parties - and of his undying love....

Pip is an orphan, brought up in a village on the Essex marshes by his disagreeable sister and her husband Joe Gargery, the kind-hearted village blacksmith. Life is harsh and Pip has few prospects until he receives from an anonymous benefactor the chance of escaping the forge for a more promising life in London. But his expectations are fraught with difficulties as he is haunted by figures from his past such as the escaped convict Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham, and her proud, beautiful ward, Estella.

Alaska, 1974. Untamed. Unpredictable. A story of a family in crisis struggling to survive at the edge of the world, it is also a story of young and enduring love. Cora Allbright and her husband, Ernt, a recently returned Vietnam veteran scarred by the war, uproot their 13-year-old daughter, Leni, to start a new life in Alaska. Utterly unprepared for the weather and the isolation, but welcomed by the close-knit community, they fight to build a home in this harsh, beautiful wilderness.

There’s no time to lose. Luciel and the gang make for Grandol with all haste, on a heroic quest to save a damsel in distress… not. The hapless healer is in no rush to go sticking his neck out for others, but he’s not one to break a promise to an all-powerful dragon. When they arrive, though, things don’t exactly go as planned, and a detour takes Luciel on yet another rescue mission—this time at an auction.

How do you define yourself when others have already decided who you are? Six years ago, when Camden Daniels came back from war without his younger brother, no one in the small town of Alba, Colorado, would forgive him - especially his father. He left, swearing never to return. But a desperate message from his father brings it all back. The betrayal. The pain. And the need to go home again. But home is where the one person he still loves is waiting. Willow. The one woman he can never have. Because there are secrets buried in Alba that are best left in the dark.

This bundle includes Basil of Baker Street, Basil and the Cave of Cats, Basil in Mexico, and Basil in the Wild West.

Change is coming for the Church of Saint Shurule, and Luciel’s first act as an S-rank healer is one that promises to shake the very foundations of the healing profession. But leave it to the ignorant masochist to find himself once again in way over his head in the process. The shoes that he’s inadvertently stepped into—those of his legendary predecessor—won’t be easy to fill, and the whole “imprisoned dragons” debacle continues to loom over the hapless young man as he struggles to move forward.

When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice knows this is it: her big break. And even more rare: a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication. Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing. The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she’ll choose who’ll tell her story.

A virulent virus of unknown origins has decimated the UK, turning the majority of the population into monsters hungry for human flesh. Through luck and a sheer bloodymindedness to make the right decisions for everyone, Warren has survived. Not everyone has been so lucky, however, and he is now desperate to reunite with his family and find somewhere safe for them all to exist. Warren enters the Community; a collection of organised survivors in a gated safe-haven.

The wonder and mystery of The Great Tomes series continues with The Great Tome of Fantastic and Wondrous Places. Volume three of this collection features narratives revolving around the exploration of fantasy or alien locales in which the acts of exploration and adventure are central to the plot.

Calidan the Imperator has sworn to save Cassius from his afflictions and destroy the Emperor. He pushes on to lands unknown, hoping to find someone, anyone, who can assist in his endeavour. But what if the cure is worse than the disease?

In this Audible Exclusive performance by Matt Lucas of Great Expectations, Charles Dickens demonstrates that conscience, loyalty and empathy are virtues far more valuable than intellect, wealth and social standing. First published in Dickens’ own periodical, All the Year Round, the novel was divided into nine monthly instalments, from December 1860 to August 1861. Unsurprisingly, it was an instant success and managed to sell over 100,000 copies per week. Though written at a challenging time in Dickens’ life, when the impending breakdown of his marriage loomed over him, Great Expectations proves to be one of his most optimistic, comical and romantic novels.

The hotly anticipated next novel from number-one best-selling author David Walliams, with audio hilariously read by the author himself! Jack's Grandpa wears his slippers to the supermarket, serves up Spam à la Custard for dinner, and often doesn't remember Jack's name. But he can still take to the skies in a speeding Spitfire and save the day.

Napoleon Bonaparte lived one of the most extraordinary of all human lives. In the space of just 20 years, from October 1795, when as a young artillery captain he cleared the streets of Paris of insurrectionists, to his final defeat at the (horribly mismanaged) battle of Waterloo in June 1815, Napoleon transformed France and Europe. After seizing power in a coup d'état, he ended the corruption and incompetence into which the revolution had descended.

Tom Fitzgerald, better known as the Great Brain, is struggling to stay reformed now that his friends have threatened to shut him out if he pulls even one more swindle. But his younger brother, J. D., knows Tom's reformation makes for a dull life, and is not altogether unhappy - or blameless - when his brother's money-loving heart stealthily returns to business as usual.

This volume contains a variety of imaginative stories from both famous and not-so-famous science fiction writers.

While President Roosevelt defends the US, the British Empire rallies to repel their alien foe again, and a young Winston Churchill helps to rally international forces. Not all the world sees the Martians as a threat, though; some see them as leverage against Britain. As the military tries to come up with solutions, the international arena takes the stage.

Long ago, a mysterious event known as The Great Forget ravaged Earth. Magic was born. Millennia later, a baby with red eyes is abandoned at the gates of a small kingdom whose sole mandate is to guard the Pass of Death. The young orphan, Chip, is condemned by a spiteful king to a life of misery in the castle kitchens, looked upon with disdain and treated as an outcast. In an unexpected turn, Chip catches the eye of the wise wizard Xander, who sees something special in him.