18 books like The Napoleon of Notting Hill
In the days of the comet
H. G. Wells, in his 1906 In the Days of the Comet uses the vapors of a comet to trigger a deep and lasting change in humanity's perspective on themselves and the world. In the build-up to a great war, poor student William Leadford struggles against the harsh conditions the lower-class live under. He also falls in love with a middle-class girl named Nettie. But when he discovers that Nettie has…
Shares: London, British and irish fiction, Classic Literature, Fantasy fiction
Coniston
This book is about a love-story of long ago, of a time some little while after General Jackson had got into the White House and had shown the world what a real democracy was. The Era of the first six presidents had closed, and a new Era had begun. I am speaking of political Eras. Certain gentlemen, with a pious belief in democracy, but with a firmer determination to get on top, arose,—and got on…
Shares: Politics and government, British and irish fiction
Can you forgive her?
The Palliser Novels, book 1: Can You Forgive Her?
Alice Vavasor cannot decide whether to marry her ambitious but violent cousin George or the upright and gentlemanly John Grey - and finds herself accepting and rejecting each of them in turn. Increasingly confused about her own feelings and unable to forgive herself for such vacillation, her situation is contrasted with that of her friend Lady…
Shares: Political Fiction, London, British and irish fiction, Classic Literature
Seventh Son
In an alternate version of frontier America, young Alvin is the seventh son of a seventh son, and such a birth is powerful magic. Yet even in the loving safety of his home, dark forces reach out to destroy him.
Age rating: 10+
Shares: Fantastic fiction, Fantasy fiction
The amateur gentleman
IN WHICH BABNABAS KNOCKS DOWN HIS FATHER, THOUGH AS DUTIFULLY AS MAY BE
Shares: London, Classic Literature
The Guilty River
During his lifetime, British fiction writer Wilkie Collins came to rival Charles Dickens in popularity and critical acclaim. Like Dickens, Collins often gravitated toward characters who overcame significant obstacles to learn important life lessons. The novella The Guilty River continues in this vein, recounting an against-all-odds love affair that blossoms between a couple that each…
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The dynamiter
All fourteen-year-old Robbie Hendrick ever wanted was a family. Yet as another Mississippi summer begins, his wayward mother has run off again fearing a breakdown and he's left to burn the days caring for his half brother, Fess. As the deep days and nights pass without her return and with older brother Lucas dangerously in their lives again, Robbie must face the fact that his dream of a family…
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Within the tides
In the private editorial office of the principal newspaper in a great colonial city two men were talking. They were both young. The stouter of the two, fair, and with more of an urban look about him, was the editor and part-owner of the important newspaper.
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The Quiet American
One of Graham Greene's best works. The story is set at the time of the French war against the Viet Cong and tells the story of liberal British journalist Thomas Fowler, his mistress Phuong, and their relationship with American idealist Pyle. The latter is an earnest young man indocrinated with geo-political theory and whose attempts to shape the world to American ideals ends in his own personal…
Shares: Political Fiction, Politics and government, British and irish fiction
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, the novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The book's tagline explains the title as "'the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns": the autoignition temperature of paper. The lead character, Guy Montag,…
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The Poison Belt
Being an account of another adventure of Prof. George E. Challenger, Lord John Roxton, Prof. Summerlee and Mr E. D. M
alone, the discoverers of "The Lost World".
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The Darkness That Comes Before
Strikingly original in its conception, ambitious in scope, with characters engrossingly and vividly drawn, the first book in R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series creates a remarkable world from whole cloth—it's language and classes of people, its cities, religions, mysteries, taboos, and rituals—the kind of all-embracing universe that has thrilled readers of Stephen R Donaldson and George…
Shares: Fantasy fiction, Science Fiction
Nerilka's Story
Everyone, holder and dragonrider alike, pitched in to help--except Nerilka's father, who refused to share Fort Hold's bounty with the other holds. So, ashamed of her family and determined to do her part, Nerilka packed up medicines and supplies and sneaked off to aid her people.Her quest to help wherever she was most needed led her finally to Ruatha Hold, where Lord Alessan was frantically…
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The house of the Wolfings
The House of the Wolfings tells the tale of a band of German Goths living in a wood they call the Mark. Their lives are idyllic until the long shadow of the Roman Empire threatens the peace in their land. Thiodolf, the leader of the Wolfings and a descendant of the ancient gods, must rally the surrounding tribes to defend their home and way of life. Like much of Morris’s work, The House of the…
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Rodney Stone
From the book:On this, the first of January of the year 1851, the nineteenth century has reached its midway term, and many of us who shared its youth have already warn-ings which tell us that it has outworn us. We put our grizzled heads together, we older ones, and we talk of the great days that we have known; but we find that when it is with our children that we talk it is a hard matter to make…
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The Gunslinger
[The Dark Tower][1] I
The Gunslinger is a dark-fantasy by American author Stephen King. It is the first volume in the Dark Tower series.
The Gunslinger was first published in 1982 as a fix-up novel, joining five short stories that had been published between 1978 and 1981. King substantially revised the novel in 2003; this version has remained in print ever since, with the subtitle…
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The Tolkien Reader
Anthology of Works, published 1966, including poems, short stories, a play, and some non fiction.
Compilation of materials previously published as "Tree and Leaf", "Farmer Giles of Ham," and "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil", along with one additional piece and intro material.
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All The King's Men
The story is about Willie Stark, a slick politician of humble birth, who was based on real-life Huey Long, a Louisiana governor, but the real main character is Jack Burden, a reporter who serves to narrate the story and Stark's rise to power.
Shares: Political Fiction, Politics and government