Orion Books

When 14-year-old Sophie encounters a mysterious mentor who introduces her to philosophy, mysteries deepen in her own life. Why does she keep getting postcards addressed to another girl? Who is the other girl? And who, for that matter, is Sophie herself? To solve the riddle, she uses her new knowledge of philosophy, but the truth is far stranger than she could have imagined. A phenomenal worldwide bestseller, SOPHIE'S WORLD sets out to draw teenagers into the world of Socrates, Descartes, Spinoza, Hegel and all the great philosophers. A brilliantly original and fascinating story with many twists and turns, it raises profound questions about the meaning of life and the origin of the universe.

At Cold Mountain Penitentiary, along the lonely stretch of cells known as the Green Mile, killers await death, whilst their guards watch over them. Good or evil, innocent or guilty, none of them have ever seen the likes of brutal new prisoner John Coffey, seemingly a devil in human form.

It is autumn 1941 and a German U-boat commander and his crew set out on yet another hazardous patrol in the Battle of the Atlantic. Over the coming weeks they must brave the stormy waters of the Atlantic in their mission to seek out and destroy British supply ships. But the tide is beginning to turn against the Germans in the war for the North Atlantic — their targets now travel in convoys, fiercely guarded by Royal Navy destroyers, and when contact is finally made the hunters rapidly become the hunted. As the U-boat is forced to hide beneath the surface of the sea a cat-an-mouse game begins, where the increasing claustrophobia of the submarine becomes an enemy just as frightening as the depth charges that explode around it. Written by a survivor of the U-boat fleet — of the 40,000 men who served on German submarines, 30,000 never returned — DAS BOOT is a psychological drama merciless in its intensity, and a classic novel of World War II.

Fifty years ago a girl disappeared from her home in Norway. She ran after a lamb and found herself travelling right across Europe to Palestine, and back through 2000 years to meet the Holy Family in Bethlehem. There she met angels, shepherds, wise men and other biblical characters who joined her on her pilgrimage; and she heard of many of the things that happened in the world in the last 2000 years. In present-day Norway, a boy acquires a strange old Advent calendar. Hidden in each of the windows is a tiny piece of paper. Little by little these pieces unfold the girl's story and as we learn what happened to her, another story is revealed — that of the strange old man who made the calender.

The Principle of Simultaneity is a scientific breakthrough which will revolutionize interstellar civilization by making possible instantaneous communication. It is the life work of Shevek, a brilliant physicist from the arid anarchist world of Anarres. But Shevek's work is being stifled by jealous colleagues, so he travels to Anarres's sister-planet Urras, hoping to find more liberty and tolerance there. But he soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game.

Mars is a desolate world. Largely forgotten by Earth, the planet remains helpless in the stranglehold of Arnie Kott, who as boss of the plumber's union has a monopoly over the vital water supply. Arnie Kott is obsessed by the past; the native Bleekmen, poverty-stricken wanderers, can see into the future; while to Manfred, an autistic boy, time apparently stops. When one of the colonists, Norbert Steiner, commits suicide, the repercussions are startling and bizarre.

The stories within «Second Variety» were written between 1952 and 1955, while America was in the grip of McCarthyism. The concerns of the time are reflected in stories such as «Second Variety», which tells of an endless war fought by ever more cunning and sophisticated robots, or 'Imposter' where a man accused of being an alien spy finds his whole identity called into question. Using his marvellously varied, quirky and idiosyncratic style, Dick speaks up for ordinary people against militarism, paranoia and xenophobia.

“The Father Thing” contains the stories written in 1956, just before the publication of Dick's first novel, “Solar Lottery”. The stories are a mix of the previously uncollected and some of his most famous pieces such as “Foster, You're Dead” a powerful extrapolation of nuclear war hysteria, and “The Golden Man”, a very different story about a super-evolved mutant human.

The story of Scotland from the Ice Age to the Vikings, the Picts and the Romans, to Robert the Bruce, Mary Queen of Scots, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Flora Macdonald, Sir Walter Scott, Logie Baird, Keir Hardie and many more famous Scots up to the present day. Each page is packed with colourful pictures and witty captions and speech bubbles, and a pithy text gives the facts and tells the story.This is a fun book, but it covers the material in a way that will make it attractive both to schools and to tourists. With NESSIE, THE LOCH NESS MONSTER a continuing bestseller in Scotland, Richard Brassey is the perfect author/illustrator for a book that should have a long life ahead. His co-author, Stewart Ross, is an ex-teacher with a special interest in Scottish history.

A chance sighting on a bus; a letter which should never have been read; a pianist with a secret that touches the heart of her music... «An Equal Music» is a book about love, about the love of a woman lost and found and lost again; it is a book about music and how the love of music can run like a passionate fugue through a life. It is the story of Michael, of Julia, and of the love that binds them.

Four favourite HORRID HENRY stories: Horrid Henry and the Comfy Black Chair, Horrid Henry's Haunted House, Horrid Henry's School Fair, and Horrid Henry Minds his Manners.

When actress Gloria Lamark takes her own life, her devoted son, Thomas, is heart-broken. Something must be wrong with a world in which such a tragedy is allowed to happen. How could her high-profile, media-star psychiatrist have failed to save such a special person, whom Thomas loved in such a very special way? Dr Tennent has a lesson to learn... a very painful one. Michael is caught up in the first flush of love — but has no idea how dangerous romance can be. For both Michael and Thomas will do anything for the women they love...

Three men, an international movie star, an arms dealer and a pharmacueticals giant, meet in a bar in a French Riviera Hotel. Each of them has a secret, and in walks Guthrie Everyman, who presents them with a challenge — put up a million pounds sterling to join a treasure hunt that will lead to the Elixir of Life.

Horrid Henry tries to be perfect for one day; he learns to dance, quarrels with his arch-enemy Moody Margaret and goes on holiday.

Twelve-year-old Hans Thomas lives alone with his father, a man who likes to givehis sons lessons about Life and has a penchant for philosophy. Hans Thomas' mother left when he was four (to find' herself) and the story begins when father and son set off on a trip to Greece, where she now lives, to try to persuade her to come home. En rout, in Switzerland, Hans Thomas is given a magnifying glass by a dwarf at a petrol station, and the next day he finds a tiny book in his bread roll which can only be read with a magnifying glass. How did the book come to be there? Why does the dwarf keep showing up? It is all very perplxing and Hans Thomas has enough to cope with, with the daunting prospect of seeing his mother. Now his journey has turned into an encounter with the unfathomable... or does it all have a logical explanation?

Three women, each despairing in their own way, discover an organisation which appears to offer them hope. At first they are amused and intrigued by the ways of the group; they relax and are lulled into a false sense of well-being. But the meditation and encounter groups become more sinister, and as the novel builds to a gripping climax, we see that dramatic change is inevitable for each of them.

Four stories about Horrid Henry, in which he tries to trick the tooth fairy, has Moody Margaret to stay and sends her packing, makes teachers run screaming from school, and wrecks a wedding.

Singapore just before the Japanese invasion in the Second World War: the Blackett family's prosperous world of tennis parties, cocktails and deferential servants seems unchanging. But it is poised on the edge of the abyss... This is the eve of the Fall of Singapore and, as we know, of much else besides. Not only the Blacketts, their friends and enemies, but many individuals are caught up in the events. Singapore at this historical watershed has never been so faithfully and passionately recreated.

The story of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra has fired the worlds imagination ever since their violent deaths during the Russian Revolution. In this biography, first published in 1967, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Massie sets out to show how the personal tragedy of the young heirs haemophilia, and the decisive influence it brought Rasputin, became fatally linked with the collapse of Imperial Russia. The book presents an account of one of historys most dramatic episodes, anportrait of the two people caught at the centre of the maelstrom.

Four stories about Henry, in which he goes to the dentist, torments his brother Peter, creates havoc at his birthday party, and plans revenge when Moody Margaret won't let him into her secret club.

Kit McMahon lives in the small Irish town of Lough Glass, where everyone knows everyone; children who walk to school together grow up and become sweethearts and marry, people gossip and grumble and dream their lives away. For it is a place where change comes slowly. Until one day, beautiful, mysterious Helen McMahon disappears, presumed drowned in the lake, and then the gossip runs wild. The consequences for Helen's husband, her son, but above all for her daughter, Kit, are unimaginable and will leave not one of their lives unchanged.

Vikram Seth's novel is at its core a love story, the tale of Lata — and her mother's attempts to find her a suitable husband, through love or through exacting maternal appraisal. Set in post-Independence India and involving the lives of four large families and those who orbit them, it is also a vast panoramic exploration of a whole continent at a crucial hour as a sixth of the world's population faces its first great General Election and the chance to map its own destiny.

Inca-Kola is the funny, absorbing account of Matthew Parris's fourth trip to Peru, on a bizarre holiday which takes him among bandits, prostitutes, peasants and riots. He and his three companions seem to head into trouble, not away from it, and he describes the troubles, curiosities and wonders they meet with the spell-binding fascination of a traveller relating adventures over the campfire. 'A backpacker's classic: atmospheric, touching, instructive and compulsively readable' The Times.

HBO's GAME OF THRONES is one of the most remarkable success stories of recent television. Critically acclaimed, a ratings smash and going from strength to strength, the series will define fantasy for years to come. This second official companion book, following the hugely successful INSIDE HBO'S GAME OF THRONES, gives fans new ways to enter the world of Westeros and discover more about the beloved (and reviled) characters and the electrifying plotlines. Hundreds of set photos, production and costume designs, storyboards and insider stories reveal how the show's creators translate George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series for the screen. Featuring interviews with key actors and crew members that capture the best scripted and unscripted moments from seasons three and four, this special volume offers behind-the-scenes access to this ground-breaking and hugely successful series.