Author:Cavan Scott,Orlagh Cassidy,Euan Morton,Pete Bradbury,Jonathan Davis,Neil Hellegers,Sean Kenin,January LaVoy,Saskia Maarleveld,Carol Monda,Robert Petkoff,Rebecca Soler,Marc Thompson
Brought to you by Penguin.
Delve into the history of the sinister Count Dooku in this audio original set in a galaxy far, far away....
Darth Tyranus. Count of Serenno. Leader of the Separatists. A red saber, unsheathed in the dark. But who was he, before he became the right hand of the Sith? As Dooku courts a new apprentice, the hidden truth of the Sith Lord's past begins to come to light.
Dooku's life began as one of privilege-born within the stony walls of his family's estate, orbited by the Funeral Moon where the bones of his ancestors lie interred. But soon his Jedi abilities are recognized and he is taken from his home to be trained in the ways of the Force by the legendary Master Yoda.
As he hones his power, Dooku rises through the ranks, befriending fellow Jedi Sifo-Dyas and taking a padawan of his own, the promising Qui-Gon Jinn-and tries to forget the life that he once led. But he finds himself drawn by a strange fascination with the Jedi Master Lene Kostana, and the mission she undertakes for the Order: finding and studying ancient relics of the Sith, in preparation for the eventual return of the deadliest enemies the Jedi have ever faced.
Caught between the world of the Jedi, the ancient responsibilities of his lost home, and the alluring power of the relics, Dooku struggles to stay in the light-even as the darkness begins to fall.
© Cavan Scott 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2019
It is a masterpiece in the true sense of the word.
—— CONN IGGULDEN, author of The Falcon of SpartaSome of us grew up with T H White’s Once and Future King as our touchstone for authenticity in the Arthurian myths; others found that Rosemary Sutcliff, Bernard Cornwell or Mary Stewart filled that role. Giles Kristian pulls together the best of the best and infuses it with his own utterly transformative understanding of myth, magic – and the many faces of love . . . There are so many modern retellings of the Arthurian myth, but this one stands head and shoulders above the rest, in the company of true greatness.
—— MANDA SCOTT, author of BoudicaWithout doubt this is Giles Kristian’s finest novel to date. Glorious. Tragic. Lyrical. Totally gripping. I loved it.
—— BEN KANE, author of Clash of EmpiresThis most fascinating character from Arthurian legend has been plucked from the 14th-century romances and positioned firmly back in the early medieval environment he belongs in. Giles is an extraordinary writer, able to capture sounds, smells, sensations in a sentence. No other writer thinks and feels his way back to the medieval past the way he does . . . Lancelot is an exceptional book and does what only great historical fiction can do: transport you back through time to feast, fight and feel alongside fascinating characters from the past. No one does this better than Giles Kristian.
—— DR JANINA RAMIREZA gorgeous, rich retelling of the Arthurian tale.
—— Antonia Senior , THE TIMESI loved the post Roman chaos of Giles’ vision, just as I imagine it would have been but with the life of that vision breathed into it to render it in stark and bloody tones. But what I enjoyed most was the sheer glorious brutality of the age, delivered by a writer with the heart of a warrior and the soul of a poet. It’s really, really good.
—— ANTHONY RICHES, author of The Centurions seriesHis Lancelot is no airy tale of magic and romance, but a muscular telling of warriors and survival, beautifully rendered in a prose that is both visceral and lyrical. This is historical fiction at its very best.
—— ELIZABETH FREMANTLE, author of The Girl in the Glass TowerIntense and powerful . . . written with deep expression and enormous feeling. It is a marvellous historical adventure.
—— Sunday ExpressKristian is a writer with rare power to grab you at the opening of the story and to keep the pace going. Lancelot is a powerful reworking of the King Arthur myths. The pages turn by themselves.
—— JUSTIN HILL, author of Viking FireMy impression as I was reading Lancelot was of a flare being held up in the gloom of this peculiarly dark passage of history. Every detail illuminated, every motive believable, every heart laid bare. A bright intensity but passing away, guttering, about to go out. And, by the time his tale comes to its conclusion, that seems to be his point. A gentle lament at the onrushing of a dark and inexorable tide which comes to extinguish a bright and golden age of Britain forever. Lancelot is a gem of a book. If there were six stars, it could have them all. Or, to use the words of Spinal Tap, “This one goes to eleven.” Loved it.
—— THEODORE BRUN, author of The Wanderer ChroniclesTruly magical . . . reads with the authority and gravitas of Manda Scott's Boudica books, such that I found it utterly believable throughout . . . it was a stroke of genius to retell this legend through Lancelot's POV, the betrayer rather than the betrayed.
—— ANNA STEPHENS, author of GodblindGiles Kristian’s brilliant take on the Arthurian love-triangle is impressively fresh and original . . . the language is arrestingly beautiful, poetic and poignant; the fights are satisfyingly bloody; the background is a believably muddy, pagan and benighted post-Roman Britain, against which Giles unfolds a tender and tragic love story. We know it will end badly, but reading this enchanting and elegiac novel, you can’t help rooting for Lancelot and his love and hoping it will all work out somehow by the final page.
—— ANGUS DONALD, author of OutlawAuthentic, epic, and wonderfully Arthurian.
—— CHRISTIAN CAMERON, author of The Ill-Made KnightKristian is one of the finest storytellers in the genre . . . this is a novel that you feel as much as you read. What we end up with is utterly staggering . . . Giles has surpassed the Cornwell trilogy in a single title.
—— ROBIN CARTER , Parmenion BooksFiercely beautiful and gripping.
—— ANNA SMITH-SPARK, author of The Court of Broken KnivesIt’s difficult to think of any author more gifted to retell Lancelot’s story than Giles Kristian . . . [he] writes so beautifully. He brings these post-Roman years so vividly to life. I love the way in which the recent Roman past haunts this landscape. There is myth here, there is the Druid Merlin, and we’re reminded of many of the famous Arthurian legends, such as Excalibur, but Giles Kristian evokes a time rooted in history and in the land around us even now . . . his writing comes closest to the feeling, mood and beauty of the Old and Middle English verse that I love so much . . . there is power here, deep expression and enormous feeling. I cried and cried as the story ended in the only way it could.
—— KATE ATHERTON , For Winter NightsThis is a story that is packed full of imagery and meaning. Kristian’s prose is unique – stunningly beautiful without ever feeling overdone . . . a wonderfully textured story from a perspective I had never encountered before. Truly masterful storytelling.
—— FANTASY HIVE[A] gem of a novel. With a sure sense of place, and a convincing portrayal of life lived at the edgy margins, it vividly plots the landscape of the heart en route to a gripping and ultimately redemptive finale.
—— Daily MailRaw and redemptive.
—— Sunday Business PostGripping and beautiful.
—— Image magazineRyan's third novel is an elegant, unflinching, entirely brilliant look at the waywardness of desire. . . . searing honesty that is raw but utterly riveting.
—— Psychologies magazineA powerful story that will pull you into a whirlwind of emotion and pain, but also the faintest glimmer of hope.
—— Irish Country magazineShines through its female characters.
—— Irish TatlerA stunning story that deserves great success.
—— Good HousekeepingAll We Shall Know blew me away, left me blubbering on my commute and wide awake at 2 a.m. . . . He excels at first-person narrative, and it's this that makes All We Shall Know unforgettable.
—— Stylist magazineAn intense, dramatic story . . . rather touching.
—— Mail on SundayHis best yet . . . I kept re-reading paragraphs and whole pages to savour Ryan's remarkable prose. The book imbues profanity with poetry, and the characters, for all their flaws, are beautifully and sympathetically drawn.
—— Hot PressUnflinching.
—— Radio TimesA wonderful novel.
—— S MagazineIn a word, this book is stunning.
—— The BooksellerMcEwan muses on love, empathy and the morality and ethics of artificial intelligence… very good.
—— Richard Dismore , Daily Mirror, *Book of the Month*An important literary contribution to the AI debate, one of the great questions of our time.
—— Country and TownhousePrecisely rendered and well observed… [McEwan] neatly delineates humanity’s remorseless self-demotion from the centre of the universe to flotsam.
—— Lionel Shriver , Standpoint[An] undeniably another excellent novel from McEwan, who demonstrates that he can conjure up challenging characters, witty dialogue and moral ambiguity when dealing with sex robots just as brilliantly as he does on literary turf.
—— Hilary Lamb , Institution of Engineering and TechnologyDexterous, utterly gripping and intensely thought-provoking.
—— attitude, *Book of the Month*Deeply unnerving… What starts out as a darkly funny ménage à trois becomes an unsettling examination of the human condition. Bold, clever.
—— Laura Powell , Sunday TelegraphThe latest novel from my favourite author tackles the subjects of artificial intelligence and what it is to be human. He does this in a surprising, original way, and Adam, the strong, seductive “robot”, is a character that will haunt me for a long time.
—— Victoria Hislop , The Week[This] new, gripping, beautifully written and constructed, disturbing, and provocative novel…is a thrilling read… the chilling conclusions that hyper-rationalism can come to are brilliantly described.
—— Roger Jones , BJGPMcEwan maintains his status as a master of fiction.
—— Maria Crawford , Financial Times, *Summer Reads of 2019*A new collection of stories that explores the complex - and often darkly funny - connections between gender, sex, and power across genres.
—— The Week, *Summer reads of 2019*Ian McEwan’s sublimely playful new novel transports you back to the Eighties but with some major changes, including eerily life-like robots… Dark and slyly funny, it’ll also give your brain a workout.
—— Neil Armstrong and Hephizbah Anderson , Mail on Sunday, *Summer Reads of 2019*