Beyond the Black Gate

Mark Hudson

Sinossi

‘Deeply felt and expertly researched, “Beyond the Black Gate” is an immersive, heart-racing story of love and survival in a fracturing, vividly realised, end of empire world.’  Howard Cunnell, author of The Painter's Friend 
In the year 409 the Roman Empire is collapsing. A young woman called Nehtan hides her enslaved status when she is rescued in Gaul by a resentful Patrician. Thrown together on a dangerous odyssey through a land devastated by invading barbarians, the two start to fall in love, despite the vast gulf between them. However, a brutalised member of the cavalry escort has recognised the fugitive slave and will do anything to possess her in body and soul. ‘Beyond the Black Gate’ is a compelling story of journeys from trauma towards spiritual healing, set during a time of disintegrating identity and authority, with echoes of contemporary social crisis and migrant suffering.
‘Unique and intriguing ... with a terrific richness of description. It’s quite shocking in places and Nehtan makes for a strong and memorable protagonist.’ Gabriel Gbademosi, author of Vauxhall  ‘Mark Hudson’s book conjures up with uncanny intensity the collapsing world of the Roman Empire to fashion a story that is by turns deeply strange, gripping and moving.’  Roger Crowley, author of Empires of the Sea ‘The characters leap from the page. Mark Hudson pulls off the difficult trick of making his dramatis personae both true to their historical context and appealing for the modern reader. I was enthralled by them, and the dramatic arc of the story, from start to finish.’  Simon Acland, author of The Waste Land‘I was gripped… A fascinating and vivid depiction of the Empire crumbling under internal and external stress, when Christianity offers the only rock for the poor to cling to.’  Peter Popham, author of India Be Damned

Disponibile da: 06/03/2025.

Narrativa

Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

The Emperor of Portugallia

Selma Lagerlöf

Selma Lagerlöf was born in Vaermland, Sweden, in 1858 and enjoyed a long and very successful career as a writer, receiving the Nobel-Prize in Literature in 1909. She died in Vaermland in 1940. The Emperor of Portugallia was first Published 1914 in Sweden, and 1916 in English, translated by Velma Swanston Howard. The Story i set in Vaermland around 1860 or 1870. In the centre is Jan of Ruffluck Croft. He loves his daughter more than anything, but when she moves to Stockholm and never sends a word home about her doings, he sinks into a dream-world where she is a noble Empress of Portugallia. And he believes himself to be Emperor too. His whole world and all his thoughts are dominated by the thoughts of her return and what will happen then. In the role of Emperor in the poor forest country where he lives he can question the social hierarchies around him, and dressed in his Royal regalia he sits in the frontbench in the Church, and he takes the place of honour at Parties etc. After 15 years his daughter returns home and is shocked to see what a mad clown her father has become and .... (Summary by Lars Rolander)

Mostra libro

Campus God

Jennifer Sucevic

Crosby Rhodes is considered a god when it comes to Western Wildcats football.
And who knows?
Maybe he actually is one. There’s certainly no shortage of girls on campus who agree with the sentiment. They swoon over his pretty face, dark messy hair, and hard body honed from years of lifting and two-a-day practices. That alone makes him catnip for the female species.
Now add a lip ring and surly disposition to the package and you can understand what all the fuss is about.
Would I be included in that majority?
Hell, no.
As far as I’m concerned, Crosby can eat shit and die. The guy is a major jerk. Not to mention, a pain in my assets. And that’s putting it nicely. For reasons I’ve never understood, he goes out of his way to humiliate and hurt me. His barbed comments are always a direct hit before exploding on impact.
I’d love to know what I did to elicit such hatred but that would involve conversing with him and I refuse to do that. There’s only one more semester before graduation. Surely, we can get through the next six months without coming to blows.
That’s the hope, anyway.
Which is exactly why I’m thrown off guard when my nemesis pulls me aside and suggests a truce. Do I necessarily trust him after everything he’s put me through?
Nope. For the time being, I’ll agree so there can once again be peace in the kingdom all the while keeping him at a firm distance. Except that turns out to be impossible. Everywhere I go, there he is. It’s like I can’t get away from him. More shocking than that, he’s actually being nice.
If stomping out the underlying attraction that constantly flares to life between us was difficult before, it’s all but impossible now. But that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’ve been burned by one athlete, I’ll be damned if I allow it to happen again.

Mostra libro

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903-1904, by Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the Strand Magazine in Great Britain, and Collier's in the United States.
The book was first published in February 1905 by McClure, Phillips & Co. (New York) then on 7 March 1905 by Georges Newnes, Ltd. (London) and was the first Holmes collection since 1893, when Holmes had "died" in "The Final Problem". Having published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901–1902, which was set before Holmes' "death", Doyle came under intense pressure to revive his famous character. The first story is set in 1894 and has Holmes returning in London and explaining the period from 1891–1894, a period called "The Great Hiatus" by Sherlockian enthusiasts. Also of note is Watson's statement in the last story of the cycle that Holmes has retired, and forbids him to publish any more stories.
Content: The Adventure of the Empty House / The Adventure of the Norwood Builder / The Adventure of the Dancing Men / The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist / The Adventure of the Priory School / The Adventure of Black Peter / The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton / The Adventure of the Six Napoleons / The Adventure of the Three Students / The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez / The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter / The Adventure of the Abbey Grange / The Adventure of the Second Stain

Mostra libro

Abyss

Bethany Adams

A mage out of her element  
After five hundred years as a magic teacher, Selia thought she’d seen everything. But nothing prepared her for the chaos of her assignment at Braelyn. Assassins, rogue princes, and a grown, half-human student—all had caught her off guard. Now, things have settled down, and her life has begun to take on a sense of normalcy. Until her seemingly dead husband reappears astride a dragon with a dire warning about Earth.  
An adventurer far from home  
For seven years, Aris was held captive on the isle of dragons, hidden so well that only his captor knew of his presence. But when a dragon claims him as her rider and flies him away on an urgent mission, Aris isn’t certain he wants to return home. Tortured and scarred, not even thoughts of his lost family renew his desire for life. Unfortunately, death isn’t on the table—not with danger threatening multiple worlds.  
A widening abyss  
Life might have settled on Moranaia after Prince Kien’s death, but the rogue prince hasn’t gone to his death as quietly as his people believed. As poison seeps into a crack in Earth’s energy field, a greater catastrophe looms. Now a dragon, a broken adventurer, and an uncertain mage are the only ones who stand in the way of disaster.

Mostra libro

incident at the apartment of...

Alexander Grin

It is difficult to combine mysticism with humor, but Alexander Grin takes on the challenge and comes out with flying colors. For all its mystical and mythical references, An incident at the apartment of Madam Cerize, is quite a heartwarming story, giving all of us some hope that, sometimes, powers that be do care.

Mostra libro

The Book of Demons

Kevin Moore

The Book of Demons, the much-anticipated sequel to The Book of Souls, finds Jack Kelly in the fight of his life. This time, he's not battling ghosts. His nemesis is the shapeshifting necromancer, Mr. Philips, who inhabits both the world of the living and the world of the dead.
Ghost-touched teen Jack Kelly returns in this polished urban fantasy/horror sequel to Moore’s The Book of Souls. At times an intriguing mystery, at others a chilling thriller, The Book of Demons offers a sensational stroll through the hustle and bustle of an inventively paranormal version of 80s New York City. Jack’s development throughout is an adventurous, if spooky, coming of age story that will thrill and at times scare readers of classic urban fantasy and YA series... — Booklife Reviews
When Mr. Philips discovers a powerful, cursed painting whose magic he can use for personal gain, he will stop at nothing to acquire it…including murder.
Before he can get his hands on it, the painting goes missing and its artist is found dead. Enraged, Mr. Philips vows to hunt it down. But someone else finds it first: Jack, a teenage mystic who understands the painting’s tremendous power and would do anything to keep Mr. Philips from harnessing it.
Along with two unexpected allies—a non-verbal autistic child and the spirit of a dead nun—Jack battles to keep the painting away from Mr. Philips. But as the stakes rise along with the body count, their epic battle for possession of the painting may cost Jack everything and everyone he loves.

Mostra libro