The charmingly eccentric Otto Draxinger appears to be your typical pipe-smoking Oxford professor, doing his best to preserve his sanity while his beloved former students are being slaughtered at the Western Front. But the American expatriate has diagnosed himself with the newly coined term "schizophrenia." And he believes the nightmarish waking visions he's been experiencing are caused by the psychological trauma of the catastrophe that is The Great War.
But after a chance encounter on a train with a beautiful and dangerous woman, the witty academic is drawn into a web of espionage and the paranormal. Conscripted by a secret British intelligence agency called The Department of Anti-Mageia, the astonished Draxinger is transported to an isolated castle and immediately put into training for a desperate mission.
Here, at the mysterious brigade's headquarters called The Crypt, Draxinger makes friends with his fellow recruits including the fighter pilot ace Buppy Singh, the wily weapons inventor code named "Fizz," and the brilliant cryptologist/suffragette known only as Abacus.
But Draxinger soon learns that to uncover the appalling truth about his terrifying visions, he will have to come face to face with the German side of his family's legacy of the Dark Arts. For he has been ordered to fly straight into the heart of enemy territory, and assassinate his murderous brother-an operative for the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm's own agency of the occult.
From Oxford to Berlin to the skies above No Man's Land, the reluctant yet always humorous professor-turned-spy must discover how to wield magic for good ... in a world gone truly bad.
Produced by Aubrey House PublishingRecorded at Deyan Audio, Los AngelesEngineered by Dilara Senbilgen
The Peloponnesian War has begun. An army of merciless Spartan invaders have arrived at the gates of Plataea, bent on obliterating the city and its inhabitants. Plataea’s oldest allies, the Athenians, are spread too thin in their own campaigns to send help. Cut off and alone, the Plataeans dig in behind their high walls for the coming siege, while the ruthless Spartans gather outside.
On a rugged mountain road, a young Plataean warrior named Nikias rides to Athens on an urgent quest. He carries with him a bag of ill-gotten gold, hoping to raise an army of mercenaries to help defend his city from the coming Spartan assault. But in the sprawling stronghold of Athens, Nikias encounters perils that prove to be more dangerous than those he has faced on the battlefield.
Noble Smith’s Spartans at the Gates is a thrilling action-adventure novel set during the war between the great powers of ancient Greece.
“I loved this book. The writing is as tight as a phalanx, the action as bloody and satisfying as a well-cooked steak, and the characters are beautifully drawn and utterly convincing. Noble Smith brings the gory political struggles of fifth-century Greece vividly to life in a way that I haven’t seen since the novels of Mary Renault. A superb historical novel by a master storyteller.”—Angus Donald, author of Warlord
A young fighter must save his city from a genocidal invasion in this debut that calls to mind the historical adventures of Steven Pressfield and Conn Iggulden
Sons of Zeus launches an epic series set in 432 BC during the "Pearl Harbor" of the Ancient World—the treacherous sneak attack that started the bloody war between the democracy of Athens and the tyranny of Sparta. Between these superpowers sits the independent city-state of Plataea where the young Nikias dreams of glory in the Olympic games as he studies “the pankration”—the no-holds-barred ultimate fighting of the era.
An act of violence in defense of his beloved threatens to send Nikias into exile. But before his trial can take place a traitor opens the city gates to a surprise attack force and the citizens are trapped inside their own fortress. As Nikias seeks to discover the identity of the man who betrayed the city, he makes a daring escape, gathers an army and leads this ragtag band into a suicidal battle at the gates of the citadel—a battle that will decide the fates of his family, his friends, and the girl he loves.
A richly detailed action-adventure, Sons of Zeus marks the start of a thrilling new series.
In The Wisdom of the Shire, Noble Smith sheds light on the life-changing ideas tucked away inside the classic works of J. R. R. Tolkien and his most beloved creation-the stouthearted Hobbits.
Drawing on The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other tales of Middle-earth, Smith shows how a snug hobbit-hole is actually just a state of mind and how even the smallest person can have the valor of a Rider of Rohan. He explores subjects dear to a halfling's heart, such as beer, food, and friendship, as well as more serious concerns, such as courage, living in harmony with nature, and good versus evil.
How can simple pleasures such as gardening, taking long walks, and eating delicious meals with friends make you significantly happier? Why is the act of giving presents on your birthday instead of getting them such a revolutionary idea? And how can we carry the burden of our own "Ring of Power" without becoming devoured by it? The Wisdom of the Shire holds the answers to these and more of life's essential questions.
Foreword by Peter S. Beagle
"The Wisdom of the Shire is an idea whose time has unquestionably come...I'd buy it like a shot, give copies away to deserving friends, and keep it by the bed for bad nights."-Peter S. Beagle, award-winning author of The Last Unicorn
