Showing results by narrator "Michael Maloney" in All Categories

‘Will you swear to take me?’Halfdan stared gravely at his daughter. ‘In my heart, I will.’ One morning Solveig wakes to find her father, Halfdan, gone.Halfdan is a Viking mercenary who longs to rejoin his friend, Harald Hardrada, in Constantinople, where he is leader of the Empress’s guard. But when he goes, he breaks his promise to take his daughter.Solveig decides to follow him. She sets off in a tiny boat and into an adventure along the Baltic and through the river routes of Russia to the Black Sea.

Charlotte Pollard's adventures are over. She escaped death aboard the R101 and travelled in time and space - but now in the service of the monolithic, unknowable Viyrans, their unending mission is stifling her. An encounter with would-be adventurer Robert Buchan near the mysterious Ever-and-Ever-Prolixity provides the opportunity Charley needs for escape.... So the adventuress is abroad once more, meeting a lost expedition in uncharted forests, solving enigmas and hoping beyond hope to see the people she misses most: her family.

Denis Stone, a self-conscious young poet, is invited to the English town home of Crome, renowned for its gatherings of intellectuals. Hosted by Henry and Priscilla Wimbush, the house party has much to offer the naive Denis. The guests include the self-contained Anne, whom Denis adores; the handsome artist Gombauld, his rival for Anne's affections; and the cynical Mr. Scogan. All have their stories and ideas to unfold but, as Denis comes to realize, ideas cannot compensate for reality.

Join our brave young knight Sir Charlie Stinky Socks in this third collection of the best-selling super duper adventure series - oh my! Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and his friends are back in these fast-paced adventures full of mystery and surprises.

Lulu is a lobster who yearns to become a champion dancer. However, after a dramatic experience at the prestigious "Shell We Dance Contest", she quickly realises that to grow into her ambition, she is going to have to moult out of her shell. Leaving behind what she knows and exposing herself to her greatest fears, terrifies her, but after an inspirational interaction with a hermit crab fashion show, she learns that sometimes change can be necessary to unlock life's greatest adventures!

Methuen Pryce has arrived with his wife and daughter on the remote Caribbean island of Phillips Cay. It is 2050. He is there to lead a Project–devised by the tech giant Allied Answers–aimed at creating a new type of sustainable society, in a world re-shaped by overpopulation, rising pollution and depleted resources. On the quayside, he discovers an ‘AI gift’ from Nick O’Grady, the founder of Allied. ‘That will help you on your Way’, an attached note reads–referring to Methuen’s novel approach to implementing the Project Plan.

Freddie and Fifi are two fashionista flamingos who decide to open a fashion boutique and style other animals on the Savanna in fluffy pink feathers. The outfits they create have silly results and calamitous outcomes, teaching the valuable lesson that we are perfect, just the way we are!

"A truth we all know...but agree not to talk about..." was how the Clapping Lady from the secretive Consilience Foundation described it to a teenage Methuen Pryce in 2012 as they discussed his Segmented World model. But it was also a "truth" that Nick O’Grady, ambitious young CEO of the high-tech Allied Answers, had not "talked about" - that was until he invited Methuen to his plush New York office in the summer of ’23.

This is a story from the Canterbury Tales III: Modern Verse Translation collection.