Showing results by narrator "Ciaran Saward" in All Categories

We are entering a new technological age in which artificial intelligence and immersive media will transform society at all levels, mediating our lives by altering what we see, hear, and experience. If managed well, this could unleash a new age of abundance. If managed poorly, this technological revolution could easily go astray, compromising our privacy, autonomy, agency, and humanity. Two industry veterans provide a data-driven debate on whether the new world we're creating will be a technological utopia or an AI-powered dystopia and give guidance on how to aim for the best future we can.

Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics. He can summon butterflies with a song or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Though such minor charms don’t earn him much respect, anything more elaborate always blows up in his face, and so Leo vowed long ago never to use powerful magic again. That is, until a mishap with a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime rival, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and absolutely insufferable.

Danny Walker, my big brother’s arrogant, powerful, handsome, and completely unobtainable best friend. He’s a ruthless tech tycoon, and I take calls from angry clients who can’t reset their passwords. He lives in a Grade II listed mansion with holiday homes worldwide, and I rent a room in a flat-share with my best friend and mice.

One school morning, Nate barely survives his Dad's toxic porridge before rushing off to school, forgetting his lunch. He thinks he has a test and he hasn't studied for it! Nate's class notes are full of doodles but sadly lacking any useful information… On the way to school he accidentally body slams his head teacher, then, during his first lesson of the day, he manages to insult his least favourite teacher, Mrs. Godfrey (aka Godzilla).

He was the sexy, gorgeous-as-hell older stranger with piercing blue eyes fixated on me. Annoyed. The perfect candidate for a holiday fling. You’re hired. It was my final summer of fun before I moved to London to start my trainee contract at Madison Legal, London's most elite law firm. Three of the steamiest nights of my life…until it ended in heartbreak.

Emily dreams of one day owning a house where her son, Josh, and the little one on the way can grow up, but when her husband, Aidan, insists on leaving his lucrative job as a luxury car salesman, she senses something more is afoot - even while she harbours a secret of her own. What is Aidan hiding, and will it jeopardize their young family’s future?

Naira and Tarquin have found a new home on Seventh Cradle. But the peace they’ve built is short-lived as mysterious assailants ambush the settlement and Naira is haunted by visions of a monstrous future. Catastrophe strikes when Tarquin uncovers a plot to bring about the end of the universe. As humanity races against the clock to prevent their extinction, old secrets come to light and loyalties fracture, and Naira realizes she may be the key to saving the world—or ending it.

A personal portrait of a fascinating people, a sideways history, and an entertaining travelogue, Why the Dutch Are Different is the story of an Englishman who went Dutch. And loved it.

Naira and Tarquin have escaped vicious counter-revolutionaries, misprinted monsters, and the pull of a dying planet. Now, bound together to find the truth behind the blight that has been killing habitable planets, they need to hunt out the Mercator family secrets. But, when the head of Mercator disappears, taking the universe’s remaining supply of starship fuel with him, chaos breaks loose between the ruling families. Naira’s revolution must be put aside for the sake of humanity’s immediate survival.

The Soviet Union is gone, but its ghostly traces remain, not least in the material vestiges left behind in its turbulent wake. What was it really like to live in the USSR? What did it look, feel, smell, and sound like? In The Soviet Century, Karl Schlögel, one of the world's leading historians of the Soviet Union, presents a spellbinding epic that brings to life the everyday world of a unique lost civilization. A museum of—and travel guide to—the Soviet past, The Soviet Century explores in evocative detail both the largest and smallest aspects of life in the USSR.

As one of the most famous and influential couples in the world, David and Victoria Beckham have attained iconic status. The ultimate power couple have together built a multi-billion-dollar global brand. For decades, adoring fans have been captivated by the glamorous world they have created, but are their lives really as perfect as the Beckhams would like the world to believe? The House of Beckham unravels the extraordinary reality of the business-savvy cultural icons to tell an engrossing, often astonishing story of money, sex and power.

Billionaire property tycoon Jack Knight is propping up the UK rich list and keeping the national tabloids ablaze with his scandalous love life. And making my life hell. To him, I’m just another architect in a small design firm bidding for his latest prestigious project. To me, he’s a ruthless businessman who plays people like pawns. I should know. I’d rather work for Satan on designing Hell than have to answer to him.

The nation of Torwyn is run on the power of industry, and industry is run by the Guilds. Chief among them are the Hawkspurs, whose responsibility it is to keep the gears of the empire turning. That’s exactly why matriarch Rosomon Hawkspur sends each of her heirs to the far reaches of the nation. Conall, the eldest son, is sent to the distant frontier to earn his stripes in the military. It is here that he faces a threat he could have never seen coming: the first rumblings of revolution.

Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they're found and Naira Sharp thinks she knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity's expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

40 per cent of self-made millionaires are dyslexic.Dyslexia does not equal stupidity. For many, it’s a superpower. Think Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, Steven Spielberg and Sir Richard Branson. The Dyslexic Edge challenges the narrative that views dyslexia as a deficit or impediment to success, presenting compelling research to demonstrate quite the opposite. By delving into the lives and experiences of some of the best-known dyslexic minds worldwide, Jamie Waller and Dr Helen Taylor highlight the distinct advantage that dyslexic thinking brings.

When a parish priest is brutally murdered in cold blood, a rural community is left in shock–and fear. New to the Vale of the White Horse, Detective Sergeant Mark Turpin discovers the murder bears the hallmark of a vicious killer who shows no remorse for his victim, and leaves no trace behind. After a second priest is killed, his broken body bearing similar ritualistic abuse, the police are confronted by a horrifying truth–there is a serial killer at large with a disturbing vendetta.

Fortunes rise and fall in Wilbur Smith's tale of warring siblings and illegal diamond trading, The Diamond Hunters. The Van Der Byl Diamond Company, willed by its founder to his son Benedict, his sister Tracey and their estranged foster brother Johnny Lance, turns out to be a bequest of hatred. For it is couched in such terms as to offer Benedict the instrument of destruction of his bitterest rival. 'Destroy Johnny' is the old man's implacable message. And so, consumed with envy for Johnny, Benedict sets out in ruthless pursuit of this goal.

Eight jobs. Eight specialists in modern technology required. Applicants to be married, with no children, and prepared to travel. Highly persuasive salaries. Eight positions filled. Eight scientists – and their wives – disappear. Completely. Advertisement no.9. Sydney, Australia. Fuel specialist required. Looks like a job for John Bentall.

The Rhine is one of the world's greatest rivers. Once forming the outer frontier of the Roman Empire, it flows 800 miles from the social democratic playground of the Netherlands, through the industrial and political powerhouses of Germany and France, to the wealthy mountain fortresses of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Conrad needs a rest. The universe has other ideas. He had planned the perfect weekend in the English Lake District - tie up some loose ends before spending the night with his girlfriend. Simple. What could possibly go wrong? Everything is the answer. An innocent man is murdered to cover up magickal misdeeds, and before they can draw breath, Conrad and his partner in magickal crime-fighting, Vicky Robson, are on the trail of a mage who hides behind dark magick to kill at a distance.