Books with author Michael Fry

'Heroes, Gods and Monsters in Ancient Greek Mythology' is a collection of classic archetypal Ancient Greek myths, including the stories of Jason, Perseus, Odysseus, Heracles, Oedipus and Theseus, and many more dark and delirious, famous Ancient Greek myths. These stories, which have had a great influence on thinkers throughout the centuries, inform popular culture even today. Here they are told as if by a fireside storyteller, detailing the horrific perils these heroes faced. A historical introduction explains who the Ancient Greeks were, describing their beliefs and customs, and a 'Finding out more' section provides you with the tools you need to discover even more about this increidble civilisation and their beliefs.

'Manning's old friend Proctor-Gould was in Moscow and anxious to get in touch with him. Or so Manning was informed. He looked forward to the meeting. He had few friends in Moscow, none of them old friends, and no friends at all, old or new, in Moscow or anywhere else, called Proctor-Gould . . .' Paul Manning, a young Englishman working on his thesis in Soviet-era Moscow, takes on a part-time job as interpreter for the enigmatic Gordon Proctor-Gould, ostensibly an honest businessman, but possibly involved in more clandestine activities. When Proctor-Gould falls for the mercurial blonde Raya, Manning finds himself in the awkward position of acting as interpreter in their love affair, a situation made even more awkward by Manning's own feelings for her. And when it begins to appear Raya may be a police spy, Manning realizes he may have gotten himself into more than he bargained for ... Featuring an unusual blend of humor and suspense, Michael Frayn's second novel, The Russian Interpreter (1966), was inspired in part by the author's own experiences in Communist Russia and won the Hawthornden Prize as the best work of imaginative fiction published that year. This edition includes a new introduction by the author. 'Altogether a notable book ... Frayn is now our best equipped younger prose-writer as well as being a very sane and very funny one.' - Times Literary Supplement 'Imaginative and delightful - zany characters who stick in the memory and have a genuine life of their own. Frayn juxtaposes the humorous and the frankly sinister into a satisfying and witty picture.' - Sunday Telegraph 'Full of quirky, quixotic surprises ... will catch your curiosity and convert it into admiration.' - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

THE HEARTSTONE CHRONICLES VOLUME IThe Allarei Heartstone has sustained the world of Lor for two thousand years. But now, as natural disasters ravage the lands and Hellsprings manifest with alarming frequency to spew murderous daemons into the Mortal Realm, one thing is becoming clear…The Heartstone is dying. And with it, the world will die, too.As an ancient evil stirs in the bowels of Hell, hope is borne from the Heavens in the form of an angelic saviour whose very touch will heal the Heartstone. However, if she is to reach her destination before the world is swept away by the terrifying might of an army of Daemon-Gods, she will have to rely on a man whose soul teeters upon a blade’s edge between darkness and light. And in doing so, she may be placing the world in even greater peril, for he is the Windchaser, Darkmalian – dispassionate, violent and unpredictable, his very soul may be the key to the destruction of the mortal races…Windchaser is the stunning first volume of The Heartstone Chronicles, introducing the myriad races of Lor as they prepare to undergo a testing: a terrible, all-consuming conflict is coming to the Mortal Realms, and only a handful of reluctant heroes will stand fast to decide the fate of Heaven & Hell – and all that lies between…

Lysander is a slave in ancient Sparta, a Helot, but a chance meeting reveals his noble heritage and he is permitted to begin training as a Spartan warrior. The vestiges of his life as a slave are hard to shake off and he struggles to survive the brutal and nepotistic life of a Spartan-in-training. Worse still, his precious amulet, the Fire of Ares, is stolen from him, and with it goes some of his formidable strength. His mother had made him swear he would guard the amulet with his life, without ever telling him why. Lysander is desperate to find the missing jewel, but when he picks up the trail, it leads him to dark secrets about the few people he felt he could trust, and forces him to make a choice between his Helot friends and his Spartan instincts.

Eleven-year-old Benwise Larsen’s favorite sight is the blanket of snow that covers Minnesota every winter. He’s never considered life without it until his mother accepts a new job in Florida. He’s still reeling from this news when he receives an unexpected invitation to attend Christmas camp. Excited and curious, Benwise travels to New York where he meets Michaela, Jordan, and Spencer, three other kids who’ve been invited on the journey, and they set sail for Weinachtsinsel—Christmas Island! Upon their arrival, they meet Gelben Stern, an old man who reveals the island’s history and explains how the Christmas legends have evolved over generations. While exploring the island, the children encounter Otto, an adversary of Stern’s who also wants their trust. When Jordan and Spencer go missing, it’s up to Benwise and Michaela to discover the truth and rescue their friends. Will they be able to save Weinachtsinsel and the spirit of Christmas?Written in the spirit of a Christmas mystery, Benwise Larsen’s Last Christmas in Minnesota is a race to discover what unites all humanity during this special time of year.

Lysander had to leave his roots as a Helot slave far behind him, when he discovered his true identity as the descendant of a Spartan warrior. The training is ruthless and now he faces his toughest challenge. Sent to the mountains with nothing but a goatskin flask, he and two other boys must prove their ability to survive before they can return. Facing starvation, wild animals and the elements, Lysander discovers that his real enemy is in fact one of the other boys, sent to sabotage his trial.From his vantage point in the mountains, Lysander can see another threat on the horizon - the Persians are invading. He must prove his worth as a Spartan and return to the village as soon as possible in order to warn of the attack. But who is Lysander fighting for - to save Spartan honour, or to protect the Helot slaves, whom he used to live among?

A bully, who spends a lot of time alone, drawing, is visited one night by one of his drawings that comes to life. This "Vision" then makes him live a day in the life of the other kids he bullies until he learns the lesson of empathy. He then turns his life around and becomes friends with the kids as he helps them with certain problems in their life.

The Boy in the Oversized Coat is a journey into yesterday. The book evokes memories of school during the colonial and post-independence era. In those days “Spare the rod and spoil the child” was about the only verse of value in the good book. The rules were decidedly British and attending school was a heart-pulsating ordeal. All wrong deeds were rewarded with only one punishment, floggings from the baranzu. The twin towers of terror were the subjects English Dictation conducted mainly in the afternoons, and the morning Mental Arithmetic. Pupils were mercilessly flogged for iniquities such as the inability to pronounce words like psychology or multiply seventeen by nineteen. To the children it seemed there was a conspiracy by teachers to create opportunities for visiting pain on them.Nevertheless most of the children would be nowhere except school. They created their own entertainment and gave as well as they received from these tyrant teachers making for a pedagogic equilibrium that was fascinating to say the very least. The story captures the adventures of a modern day Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Nanka and Mensah were twinned together by their disdain for school. The duo cut classes and roamed the plains of Tamale visiting both joy and mayhem on kids their age. Growing up in those days was a serious business and the book tells this serious story with a wittiness that can engulf a reader into paroxysms of laughter. A picture as they say is worth a thousand words and this book has fifteen of them. Many adventures of Nanka and the main protagonist Mensa are captured by the artist’s brush. The pictures depict surroundings and environments that are authentically African. The book mounts a serious attempt to introduce African themes stories into mainstream novel literature.