Showing results by narrator "David Pickering" in All Categories

The history of Ukraine is a fascinating story of how cultures, political systems, religions, and power have met, intersected, morphed, and expanded. The region was relatively sparsely populated for much of ancient history, a wilderness of rivers, forests, and steppes, but that does not detract from the rich historical development of the region. This geographical formation has influenced some of the country’s key historical developments, as well as the location of its major settlements.

Word Come Alive is an expanded translation of the New Testament of The Bible by respected editor Martin Manser. This audiobook aims to express the sense of the original in contemporary, natural English that will have a powerful effect on listeners. It has a fresh, incisive quality that will make listeners sit up and think. 1, 2 & 3 John focuses on John's Letters.

On December 16, 1945, Prince Konoe committed suicide after refusing to collaborate with US Army officer Bonner Fellers in Operation Blacklist. His refusal to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and the imperial family of war crimes responsibilities. A week before he took the cyanide, he wrote a memoir regarding his experience governing Imperial Japan during World War 2. The memoir shows many efforts of Prince Konoe's efforts for negotiations with Chinese and US government officials to try to end the war early as well as his governing during a time of crisis.

The Late Bronze Age Near East (c. 1500-1200 BCE) was a time and place where great kingdoms and empires vied for land and influence, playing high stakes diplomatic games, trading, and occasionally going to war with each other in the process. The Egyptians, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, and several smaller Canaanite kingdoms were all part of this system, which was one of the first true “global” systems in world history and also one of the most materially prosperous eras in antiquity.

Peregrine was the bastard son of the King of Sapodilla, the last Pagan kingdom in the world to resist Christianity. Accompanied by his page and the rather time-worn sorcerer, Appledore, the prince sallies forth into the Dark Ages to find his fortune. What he finds instead is: dragons, whores, Huns, Roman legions, emperors, and a most fantastic collection of mysteries and adventures.

The Maze is a pathway between worlds and times. Its Masters know the secret but decline to interfere. Its Guardians at different levels prevent invasion of one world by the inhabitants of another. But the alien hive-creatures called Chulpex mean to find their way past the Guardians to colonize a new world, and one ordinary, untrained Earthman is catapulted into wild adventure in his determination to stop them.

Fictional? Authoritative? Fantastic? Deadpan? Investigations into the real, the true...and the things that should be true....

The history of Ukraine is a fascinating story of how cultures, political systems, religions, and power have met, intersected, morphed, and expanded. The region was relatively sparsely populated for much of ancient history, a wilderness of rivers, forests, and steppes, but that does not detract from the rich historical development of the region. Modern Ukraine examines the turbulent history of the country in the last 120 years, from being absorbed by the Russians to the ongoing conflicts. You will learn about modern Ukraine like never before.

This bundle of books takes you to every corner of Greek mythology. It ranges from gods to drama. It covers legendary heroes like Heracles and Oedipus, and it sheds light on the dark side of the epic saga of these made-up creatures, gods, and historical men and women.

When 14 year-old Marcel leads his crew out of a dark and disused snake tunnel in search of fresh air, little does he know he is entering the labyrinthic galleries of an ant nest. With Brim (an inchworm), Bea (a honeybee), and Rhino (a beetle) at his side, he not only discovers the smell of danger but also the essence of friendship and the power of perfume.

Morigan lives a quiet life as the handmaiden to a fatherly old sorcerer named Thackery. But when she crosses paths with Caenith, a not wholly mortal man, her world changes forever. Their meeting sparks long buried magical powers deep within Morigan. As she attempts to understand her newfound abilities, unbidden visions begin to plague her - visions that show a horrific madness descending on one of the Immortal Kings who rules the land.

It is difficult to say when the Immersion happened. There is little doubt as to where it began. It was in a village. Despite an impoverished life, the village held a community rich in the love of life and each other. Some would say these conditions are the essence of an Immersion. Mik and his friends are at that age when the future looks infinite in all its possibilities. Life in the Village has never seemed so good. This year they attend the county fair as adults. But there is a world outside that cares little for the country people and their yearly celebrations of life together.

Featuring Steve Carell and Amy Morton, Sin is a contemporary morality play about a helicopter traffic reporter who is trying to keep herself above life's messiness. Her soon-to-be-ex-husband is a charming alcoholic, her roommate is a glutton, she's trapped daily in a helicopter with an envious coworker, and her blind dates are disasters. It takes her dying brother to make her see that pride is the deadliest of sins, and it takes an Act of God to bring her back down to Earth.

Celina had never meant to fall in love–certainly with a Gaelorian. As soon as she had given her heart to Gorvan, he had shattered it upon the wall of her tavern for all to see. Love was for fools, she realized, and she had become the grand jester in a court of misery. Cynical and guarded, she held her secrets close. But when the crazed monk Rogart arrived–cursed with dreams of what was to come--she realized she had been discovered. The demons of Nolagarg were close, and once they found her, she would be a slave to them once more.

As we explore the ancient deities from Greece (also copied and somewhat altered by the Romans), we can find many fascinating stories and dramatic characteristics in them. Aside from looking at gods like Mercury and Hades, we will also look at stories that involve Eros (or Cupid), Psyche (the origin of a lot of our words in the dictionary), and the infamous and seductive nymphs and satyrs.

The redemption of the Erimocan Manaar had been incomplete. They had sought vindication, from any connections they had to the Reaping, through the eradication of the evil that they had failed to contain. But the true redemption of the Erimocans would never exist without a return to balance. The Immersion at the Windbeck County Fair was only the beginning of a struggle for that balance.

Journey to the exotic South Sea island of Bali, a magical land of dark jungles, of ancient gods, and terrifying demons! Madai lives in Bali and dreams of life beyond his island paradise. Yet, his wildest dream could not prepare him for the odyssey that lies ahead after he finds a moonstone amulet that introduces him to the spirit world.

The Phoenix and the Mirror: or, The Enigmatic Speculum by Avram Davidson is a fantasy novel that tells the story of a sorcerer named Vergil Magus. This sorcerer was named for Virgil (or Publius Vergilius Maro), poet and author of The Aeneid. In an introduction to The Phoenix and the Mirror, Davidson claims that during the Dark Ages, people tended to forget that Virgil was a poet and instead believed he was a sorcerer. The Phoenix and the Mirror was the first book in which Davidson attempted to retell the legend of this mysterious sorcerer.

Welcome to Teargarden, a town bereft of law and order. It's controlled by two individuals–the devious innkeeper Therolim, and the mysterious yet beautiful Celina. Their rivalry was about to tear the town part, but all that would change with the arrival of the Archon. Archons were supposedly celestial saviors, sworn to protect the citizens of Agarath from demons, but Celina knew better. In order to protect herself and the rest of the town, she would need to devise a way to kill an angel.

Ten years ago, the Starsingers - tyrannical magicians who draw their power from the stars - suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of an ancient order of magic-resistant peacekeepers. Their rebellion quelled, their magic controlled, the five families of starlight magicians have been forced to live in a fragile truce with the starless commoners...until now. When an assassin begins killing Starsingers, the defiant peacekeepers are blamed, for who else could slay a magician? As another war approaches, Ezai and Ahryn form an unlikely alliance.