Snow White And The Seven Samurai

There are very many reasons why British summers are either non-existent or, alternatively, held on a Thursday. Many of these reasons are either scientific, dull, or both - but all of them are wrong, especially the scientific ones.The real reason why it rains perpetually from January 1st to December 31st (incl.) is, of course, irritable Chinese Water Dragons.Karen is one such legendary creature. Ancient, noble, near-indestructible and, for a number of wildly improbable reasons, working as an estate-agent, Karen is irritable quite a lot of the time.Hence Wimbledon.But now things have changed and Karen's no longer irritable.She's FURIOUS.More information on this book and others can be found on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

From the moment the first Homo Sapiens descended from the trees, possibly onto their heads, humanity has striven towards civilisation. Fire. The Wheel. Running Away from furry things with more teeth than one might reasonably expect - all are testament to man's ultimate ascendancy.It is a noble story, a triumph of intelligence over adversity and so, of course, complete and utter fiction.For one man has discovered the hideous truth: that humanity's ascent has been ruthlessly guided by a small gang of devious frogs.More information on this book and others can be found on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

As everyone knows, when great warriors die their reward is eternal life in Odin's great hall - otherwise known as Valhalla.But Valhalla has changed. It's grown. It's diversified. Just like any corporation, the Valhalla Group has had to adapt to survive.Unfortunately, nothing could have prepared it for the arrival of Carol Kortright, one-time cocktail waitress, currently dead, and not at all happy.Sparkling comic fantasy from one of Britain's sharpest, funniest writers.More information on this book and others can be found on the Orbit web-site at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Welcome to your Heart's Desire. It was a busy day on Lake Chicopee. But it was an eclectic bunch of sightseers and tourists that had the strange local residents rubbing their hands with delight. There was Calvin Dieb, the lawyer setting up the property deal, who'd lost his car keys; there was Linda Lochuck, the tabloid journalist who could smell that big, sensational story; there was dumpy Janice DeWecoe, who was just on a walking holiday but who longed for love. But, most promising of all, there was Wesley Higgins, the young man from Birmingham, England, who was there because he knew about the legend of the ghost of Okeewana and what she promised. Just immerse yourself in the waters of the lake and receive your heart's desire. The only drawback was that it was Okeewana who decided just what that was . . . And it isn't always what you have in mind. Ask the ghost of Talks with Squirrels, the Indian brave who still dwells hereabouts. Or those very polite Vikings whose boat keeps on sinking.

OVERTIMEIt all started for Guy Goodlet somewhere over Caen. One moment he was heading for the relative safety of the coast, aware that fuel was low and that the Mosquito had more than a few bullet holes in it. The next, his co-pilot was asking to be dropped off. This would have been odd if Peter had still been alive. Since he was dead, it was downright worrying. GRAILBLAZERSFifteen hundred years have passed and the Grail is still missing, presumed ineffable; the Knights have dumped the Quest and now deliver pizzas; the sinister financial services industry of the lost kingdom of Atlantis threatens the universe with fiscal Armageddon; while in the background lurks the dark, brooding, red-caped presence of Father Christmas.

PAINT YOUR DRAGON - The cosmic battle between Good and Evil ... But suppose Evil threw the fight? And suppose Good cheated? When sculptress Bianca's recreation of St. George and his scaly chum gets a bit too life-like it opens up a whole new can of wyrms ... The dragon knows that Evil got a raw deal and is looking to set the record straight. And George (who cheated) thinks the record's just fine as it is. OPEN SESAME - Just as the boiling water was about to be poured on his head and his life flashed before his eyes, Akram the Terrible, the most feared thief in Baghdad, knew that this had happened before. Many times. And he was damned if he was going to let it happen again, just because he was a fictional character. Meanwhile, back in Southampton, Michelle gets a bit of a shock when she puts on her Aunt Fatima's ring and the computer and the telephone start to bitch at her. But that's nothing compared to what the kitchen appliances have to say ...

J.W. Wells seemed to be a respectable establishment, but the company now paying Paul Carpenter's salary is in fact a deeply sinister organisation with a mighty peculiar management team. Paul thought he was getting the hang of it (particularly when he fell head over heels for his strangely alluring colleague Sophie), but death is never far away when you work at J.W. Wells. Unlike the stapler - that's always going awol. Our lovestruck hero is about to discover that custard is definitely in the eye of the beholder. And that it really stings.Tom Holt's exceedingly comic fantasies are populated with evil goblins, annoying sprites and people like us. However, it's not always possible to tell the difference.