When he was fourteen years old and beset by chronic ill health, Patrick O'Brian began creating his first fictional character. "I did it in my bedroom, and a little when I should have been doing my homework," he confessed in a note on the original dust-jacket. Caesar tells the picaresque, enchanting, and quite bloodthirsty story of a creature whose father is a giant panda and whose mother is a snow leopard. Through the eyes and voice of this fabulous creature, we learn of his life as a cub, his first hunting exploits, his first encounters with man, his capture and taming. Caesar was published in 1930, three months after O'Brian's fifteenth birthday, but the dry wit and unsentimental precision O'Brian readers savor in the Aubrey/Maturin series is already in evidence. The book combines Stephen Maturin's fascination and encyclopedic knowledge of natural history with the narrative charm of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. It was published in England and the United States, and in translation in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Japan. Reviews hailed the author as the "boy-Thoreau." "We can see here a true storyteller in the making....a gripping narrative, which holds the reader's attention and never flags."—The Spectator

    It's North America, but very little of what you know is the same. The sun still shines and the grass still grows, but there are no people. There are, or perhaps there aren't, twelve Curials -- kit fox, dolphin, raven, lioness, and the rest -- who intervene in the lives of the inhabitants. There are the inhabitants, a myriad of animals: mice, otters, meekrats, and buffalo, to name a few. They live in their towns and cities, pursuing various occupations, having occasional celebrations...and now and then they live in fear.In fear of the Blood Jaguar, the thirteenth Curial, who returns from time to time and visits a horrible plague on the world, nearly killing it entirely. At such times, a fisher, a skink, and a bobcat are somehow impelled to go on a quest to stop her. They always fail. There is no reason to think that this time, of all times, Bobcat will somehow not fail.

    These aging giants, calling themselves the ‘freakin’ old guys’ are hard-working leaders in their respective fields and have a menagerie of skills to show for it. But what starts out as a dream quickly turns into a nightmare.With these guys, the action never stops.While preparing to set sail, they have a run in with a teenage troublemaker that plagues the locals. The son of a senator, Sean has no respect for authority and is a little lost. The FOGs come from an era where a little rough handling never hurt anyone, and so strike a deal with Sean’s mother to have him sail along with them. She agrees, hoping that two weeks of hard work alongside six respected, intelligent men will get Sean turned around. Things quickly take a turn for the worst when the six small boats get caught in the crossfire of a mafia drug deal. It soon becomes clear that some of the group’s members may be hiding secrets and past lives from the others… Suddenly, the six boats are caught in an odd fog bank, and when they come out the other side, things are not as they seem. Their radios and compasses no longer work and time seems to have lost its way. Where are they? Things quickly start to defy the accepted order of things. Suddenly dropped into their own Odyssey, they fight against strange creatures and demi-goddesses as they try to find a way back home. Together, they must navigate this strange new land. Caly’s Island is a rip-roaring pseudo-fantasy thriller of a modern quest to conquer the unknown amongst seas of turmoil. Dick Herman retired from the US Air Force in 1983 with the rank of Major after serving for twenty- one years. He has flown over 200 combat missions himself and was stationed in Vietnam, West Germany and Great Britain. He has flown the F-4 and C-130 and received five medals, including the Bronze Star. He and his English-born wife now live in Fair Oaks, California. He is the author of several aviation thrillers from Endeavour Press.Venture Press is a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We are committed to the discovery and rediscovery of immensely talented authors in the SFF genre, and continue to push boundaries in search of great literature. Join us as we venture across universes and unknown landscapes – past, present and future. Sign up to our newsletter: http://bit.ly/1LUVI4n Follow us on Twitter @venture_pressFacebook: http://on.fb.me/1NnFow7

    This is one of those books. It's the story of a boy growing up in a lost time in an idyllic place—rural Virginia of the late 1940s. Charlie Lewis is the only child of city people who, after the war, choose to live at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains on a "gentleman's farm" near Charlottesville. Six years old when his family settles in the renovated corn crib on old Professor Jame's place, Charlie grows up in his personal version of heaven. His innocence is, of course, lost in the process. And so is his version of heaven. But, as the old saying goes, still waters run deep, and Charlie runs deep, with a natural (almost supernatural) affinity for the land and its animals. For knowledge , he instinctively turns to a group of older black men, some of whom work the farm, others who are neighbors. Jim Crow laws and "the curse left on the land by slavery"—as old Professor James puts it—are still very much in evidence. Even so, Charlie's passions endear him to these men. They understand that he is lonely even if he does not. They watch out for him. And more—they love him. Winter Run is a story that lets us escape for a moment our own noisy and complicated contemporary lives. Like The Red Pony, like Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals, it takes us back to the joys of childhood's unrestricted enthusiasm and curiosity.

    Creggan begins to lose his sense of freedom, as the cage curls around himself, cutting off access to the sky. An older female eagle who's been trapped in the cages for a long time gives Creggan the strength to survive, and the hope of one day escaping this man-made construct.

    When the family converges for the annual Gathering, a mob mounts a revenge attack on a cat with disastrous consequences. The Gathering should be a time to rejoice. Instead, it becomes a time of fear, danger and uncertainty, when ancient laws and customs are tested. A tribunal passes judgment the instigator of the mob, the impulsive and charismatic Kyp, must be punished. Then, just when the Kinaars are divided over The Mob attack, an unexpected blizzard spells more trouble. They desperately need a safe roost. The family splits, leaving the Gathering Tree to seek shelter in forbidden worlds "

    New arcanists. The rise of the Second Ascension.Volke Savan has proven himself time and time again, but now the others of the Frith Guild want their opportunity. Illia wants to recover a lost runestone, Master Zelfree hopes to learn the magics of the Mother of Shapeshifters, and Adelgis surprises himself with the new depths of his dreamweaving abilities.But while the Frith Guild prepares for the coming war, the Second Ascension has grand plans for the world. When two more god-creatures are born, dastardly arcanists try their hands at braving the godly lairs. With the Dread Pirate Calisto as a ferry, men like Theasin Venrover will have to outsmart puzzles and traps that put the world serpent’s to shame.Witness stories from the viewpoints of friend and foe alike, all while the world races to find and bond with the remaining god-creatures.

    His music was sure to attract the human hunters with their killing ships and harpoons. Toby would have to be banished--unless he could silence his song.But then a strange, ghostly spirit appeared, setting Toby on a quest that led from the depths of the haunted oceans to the mystery of an enslaved, sunken city. A quest in search of his true voice. Somewhere in Toby's song was a secret that reached from the seas to the stars. And only Toby's music could unite all the begins of the land and the water, to save Earth from a dark, evil creature who hated whales, hated humans, hated Nature and, most of all, hated--Dreams.

    Two unusual black cheetahs share a mental link, one cat coming from the past to reveal scenes from his life with the young pharaoh Tutankhamen, and one struggling to survive in a future world ravaged by ecological disaster.

    Predators of the wild. Stalkers of the forests. Born into rankings and expected to live up to their roles. Blue Boy, the alpha male of his pack, is the largest wolf many have ever seen, and his dream is to have a firstborn son who will take after him in every way. But Lamar is not turning out the way his father hoped. Lamar likes to watch butterflies. He worries if his younger siblings fall behind in the hunt. He has little interest in peacocking in front of other clans. Blue Boy grows increasingly dismayed at Lamar’s lack of wolf instincts, and then Lamar does the intolerable: he becomes attracted to a coyote. While the other infractions can be begrudgingly tolerated, this one cannot, and the unity of the pack is in jeopardy. Lamar wants to make his family happy, but is doing what is expected of him worth losing the only true friend he’s ever had?Full of bite and beauty that will make you think of White Fang, then Ferdinand, this story cuts to the heart of what’s most important: being true to yourself, and being true to others.

    Then again, he never imagined that a chance meeting with a lost and dying dog named Shandy would change his life forever. Step into the small Irish village of Galbally, where the unwitting Spencer stumbles headfirst into a parallel world that will test his will, sanity, and even physical well-being. Time and promise are running out. Will unnatural forces and events scare Spencer away before he can connect again with the mysterious dog? Will he find his way forward before Shandy meets her inevitable fate? Or will suspicious locals and a nefarious Dublin innkeeper force Spencer from the village before he completes his life-altering mission? Follow Spencer as he races to save a little Irish dog named Shandy. If he only realized that it is Shandy who is trying to save him...

    But not before they were provided with an alternative—an alternative that would mould their uncertain future...and that of the Delhi-based graduate, Mohan Sharma, who, while flipping through the lesser-known pages of mythology, becomes cognisant of a sinister presence lurking around. This is followed by a cryptic letter, revealing the existence of his grandfather of whom he has no recollection.Pandemonium strikes as Mohan unwittingly unravels a closely guarded secret that shall bring him face-to-face with an unspeakable horror, his adversary who is blessed with the boon of immortality by Lord Shiva. Accompanied by five men, each possessing a distinct ability, Mohan must find the weapon, long forgotten by mankind, that can spell doom for his nemesis—Lord Rama’s wondrous bow...the ‘Kodanda’!

    Pedlar, a yellow-necked mouse, has reached that point. Told to leave the Hedgerow and go on a long journey, the adventurous mouse says his farewells and sets out for a far-distant country knows as The House. Reaching his destination, Pedlar enters a strange new world inhabited by many warring tribes: the Stinkhorns of the cellar, the great Savage Tribe in the kitchen, the library Bookeaters, the Invisibles, the Deathshead and the rebellious 13-K Gang.

    An ancient way of life is under threat.One young Barn owl, Hunter, has a crucial role to play in the fight to defent the age-old community of Barn owls. From his territory on the edge of a huge abandoned forest, Hunter has made contact with Little owls and Tawnies and is able to help form a defensive alliance to take on the invading monster.But Hunter's heroism in battle is only the prelude to a more deadly prospect facing the owls - the struggle for survival pure and simple. As the encroachments of humankind affect thenatural world in deeper and more frightening ways, the denizens of the ancient solitary reign have desperate need of the courage and wisdom of the mysteriously vanished Hunter.