English Fairy

For ten years, I lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas's golden castle. One night changed everything. Now I'm here, a prisoner of Fourth Kingdom's army, and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it out of this in one piece. They're marching to battle, and I'm the bargaining chip that will either douse the fire or spark a war.

What is the story of the dark fairy, Maleficent? Why does she curse the innocent princess? What led to her becoming so filled with malice, anger, and hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account, pulled down from the many passed down through the ages. It is a tale of love and betrayal, of magic and reveries. It is a tale of the mistress of all evil.

In the midst of war, Soren's sister, Eglantine, unwittingly becomes a spy for Kludd, leader of the Pure Ones, a group of evil owls. She is brainwashed by an owl sent by the Pure Ones to infiltrate the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. Her odd behavior eventually attracts attention, and Soren and his friends vow to find out what's wrong with Eglantine. They ultimately learn what happened and help her reverse the effects of the brainwashing.

For hundreds of years, the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table has been one of the world's most precious literary possessions. In 1902, the distinguished American artist Howard Pyle undertook to retell and illustrate this classic. His four-volume work has long been considered one of the outstanding interpretations of the Arthurian cycle.

Audible are delighted to present Sleeping Beauty, a unique listening experience for all the family to enjoy over the Christmas season. This exclusive new audio drama has been created in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra and is inspired by Tchaikovsky's beloved ballet music. Marty Ross’s reimagining of the famous fairy story draws on the worlds of folktale and the Brothers Grimm, while the LSO's specially-commissioned new recording, conducted by Gavin Sutherland, weaves through the drama like a rich and majestic film score.

Silla Nordvig is running for her life. The Queen of Íseldur has sent warriors to bring Silla to Sunnavík, where death awaits her. When her father is killed, his last words set Silla on a perilous quest: travel the treacherous Road of Bones—a thousand-mile stretch haunted by warbands, creatures of darkness, and a mysterious murderer—and go to Kopa, where a shield house awaits her. After barely surviving the first stretch of road, a desperate Silla sneaks into a supply wagon belonging to the notorious Bloodaxe Crew. To make it to Kopa, she must win over Axe Eyes, the brooding leader of the Crew.

Pack's Queen is the epic, fast-paced conclusion to the Wolves of Crimson Hollow trilogy. Get ready for romance, action, and jaw-dropping revelations. After a harrowing battle in Shadow Creek, Red and her allies defeated Valerius and freed his wolves. But the victory came at a great cost. Tristan was captured by the archdemon Harkon, and Dante's whereabouts are unknown. Despite the odds stacked up against her, Red is determined to save her mates at any cost. Even if it means making deals with devilish creatures or working side by side with her ex.

The nightmare continues for the new vampire's assistant in the second installment of the New York Times best-selling Saga of Darren Shan.

Darren Shan was just an ordinary schoolboy until his visit to the Cirque du Freak. Now, as he struggles with his new life as a vampire's assistant, he tries desperately to resist the one temptation that sickens him, the one thing that can keep him alive. But destiny is calling. The Wolf Man is waiting.

Since the beginning of times, there has always been two sides: Norms and Idols. But never have the scales been so unbalanced as they are today. I'm a Norm, which means I grew up in fear of the Idols and their godly powers. And now, I'm going to be surrounded by them, day and night. I've been offered a place at the prestigious Gifted Academy, an opportunity very few Norms get. To survive, I must become invisible. But my hope to get through the academy unscathed goes down the drain when the most powerful boys in school set their eyes on me. But I'm done cowering away from Idols....

When the Lords of the Icelandic Elves summon me to use my talents to find a lost dragon's egg, I find it hard to say no. I've seen what a dragon can do, and a young, just-hatched dragon is a being of pure destruction. But word of the egg gets out, and the race to find it begins. Mages from many realms are on the hunt - including a dragon - and they don't always play well together. Unless I want to join the casualties, I need to find that egg and return it to where it belongs. Luckily, I have help, but I wish that damned golden-winged Nephilim would keep his shirt on.

Soren's beloved mentor, Ezylryb, is finally back at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. But all is not well. There's a war between good and evil in the owl kingdom. On one side is a group led by Soren's fearsome brother, Kludd, who wears a terrifying metal mask to cover his battle-scarred face. On the other side are the owls of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, who must fight to protect their legendary tree from Kludd's attacks.

J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a ‘dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told’. And for many years readers would need to be content with the tantalizing glimpses of it found within the pages of The Lord of the Rings and its appendices, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the building of the Barad-dûr and the rise of Sauron.

My name's Tamara Bentley, and I should be happy to be heading home for the holidays. Too bad tensions between the supernatural forces surrounding my hometown are at an all-time high - witches and werewolves, ancient enemies who would happily slaughter each other. One side fears me, the other doesn't know I exist, and I aim to keep it that way, lest they both decide to find common ground in killing me.

Okiku wants vengeance...and she gets it. Whenever there's a monster hurting a child - the same way she was hurt 300 years ago in Japan - her spirit is there to deliver punishment. But one American boy draws her like no other. The two are pulled into a world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from the American Midwest to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan. The boy is not a monster, but something evil writhes beneath his skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos.

Charlie Davenport is the bad boy of British tennis - and third in line to the throne. He's a beast on the courts and a wild animal in bed (according to all the tabloids). Girls are lining up for chance at his crown jewels, and when I stumble into the wrong Wimbledon dressing room and catch a glimpse of his game, set, and match, I can see why. So what's a little good luck kiss between friends (I mean, strangers)? I know better than to get involved with a bad boy like Charlie. But now he's on a winning streak, he thinks I'm his lucky charm.

One Christmas Eve in a small hollow in Boone County, West Virginia, struggling songwriter Jesse Walker witnesses a strange spectacle: seven devilish figures chasing a man in a red suit toward a sleigh and eight reindeer. When the reindeer leap skyward, taking the sleigh, devil men, and Santa into the clouds, screams follow. Moments later, a large sack plummets back to earth, a magical sack that thrusts the down-on-his-luck singer into the clutches of the terrifying Yule Lord, Krampus.

The hunters have become the hunted. Outnumbered, outsmarted, and desperate, the hunters are on the run, pursued by the vampaneze, the police, and an angry mob. With their enemies clamoring for blood, the vampires prepare for a deadly battle. Is this the end for Darren and his allies? This third and final installment in the Hunters trilogy finds Darren and his friends facing their longest night and most testing challenge yet.

A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully. Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

"If you step through after Harkat, you might never comeback. Is your friend worth such an enormous risk?" Darren and Harkat face monstrous obstacles on their desperate quest to the Lake of Souls. Will they survive the savage journey full of killer animals, monstrous mutants, and fiery winged beasts? And what awaits them in the murky waters of the dead? The two companions must unravel the riddle of Harkat's identity before they are destroyed. Be careful what you fish for.

When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed. Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed. Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her, and hers towards him. And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.