Neal Stephenson, Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Nicole Galland, Cooper Moo, Mark Teppo This riveting second installment in Stephenson and company’s epic tale focuses on the aftermath of the world-shattering Mongolian invasion of 1241 and the difficult paths undertaken by its most resilient survivors.

The Shield Brethren, an order of warrior monks, search for a way to overthrow the horde, even as the invaders take its members hostage. Forced to fight in the Mongols’ Circus of Swords, Haakon must prove his mettle or lose his life in the ring. His bravery may impress the enemy, but freedom remains a distant dream.

Father Rodrigo receives a prophecy from God and believes it’s his mission to deliver the message to Rome. Though a peaceful man, he resigns himself to take up arms in the name of his Lord. Joining his fight to save Christendom are the hunter Ferenc, orphan Ocyrhoe, healer Raphael, and alchemist Yasper, each searching for his place in history.

Deftly blending fact and fantasy, The Mongoliad: Book Two captures the indomitable will to survive against immense odds.

A note on this edition: The Mongoliad began as a social media experiment, combining serial story-telling with a unique level of interaction between authors and audience during the creative process. Since its original iteration, The Mongoliad has been restructured, edited, and rewritten under the supervision of its authors to create a more cohesive reading experience and will be published as a trilogy of novels. This edition is the definitive edition and is the authors' preferred text.

Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson

When Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the director of an international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., encounters an unexpected enemy that threatens global safety and security, he finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins for Earth's mightiest heroes. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and two of the world's greatest assassins, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), must assemble to defeat Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the darkest villain the Earth has ever known.

Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman Pixar Animation Studios, the creator of Toy Story 3, whisks you away on an astonishing adventure to an ancient land full of mystery and tradition. Bursting with heart, unforgettable characters and Pixar’s signature humour. Take a heroic journey with Merida, a skilled archer and headstrong daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor. Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the unruly and uproarious lords of the land. When Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos in the kingdom, she must harness all of her skills and resources – including her clever and mischievous triplet brothers – to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late, and discover the meaning of true bravery

John Lloyd "QI" is the smartest comedy show on British television, but few people know that we're also a major legal hit in Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Africa and an illegal one on BitTorrent. We also write books and newspaper columns; run a thriving website, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed; and produce an iPhone App and a sister Radio 4 programme. At the core of what we do is the astonishing fact - painstakingly researched and distilled to a brilliant and shocking clarity. In Einstein's words: 'Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.' Did you know that: cows moo in regional accents; the entire internet weighs less than a grain of sand; the dialling code from Britain to Russia is 007; potatoes have more chromosomes than human beings; the London Underground has made more money from its famous map than it has from running trains; Tintin is called Tantan in Japanese because TinTin is pronounced 'Chin chin' and means penis; the water in the mouth of a blue whale weighs more than its body; Scotland has twice as many pandas as Conservative MPs; Saddam's bunker was designed by the grandson of the woman who built Hitler's bunker; Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981, it is explicitly illegal in Britain to use a machinegun to kill a hedgehog. "1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off" will make you look at the universe (and your socks) in an alarming new way.

China Mieville China Miéville's novel Iron Council is the tumultuous story of the "Perpetual Train". Born from monopolists' greed and dispatched to tame the western lands beyond New Crobuzon, the train is itself the beginnings of an Iron Council formed in the fire of frontier revolt against the railroad's masters. From the wilderness, the legend of Iron Council becomes the spark uniting the oppressed and brings barricades to the streets of faraway New Crobuzon. The sprawling tale is told through the past-and-present eyes of three characters. The first is Cutter, a heartsick subversive who follows his lover, the messianic Judah Low, on a quest to return to the Iron Council hidden in the western wilds. The second is Judah himself, an erstwhile railroad scout who has become the iconic golem-wielding hero of Iron Council's uprising at the end of the tracks. And the third is Ori, a young revolutionary on the streets of New Crobuzon, whose anger leads him into a militant wing of the underground, plotting anarchy and mayhem.

Miéville (The Scar, Perdido Street Station) weaves his epic out of familiar and heavily political themes—imperialism, fascism, conquest and Marxism—all seen through a darkly cast funhouse mirror wherein even language is distorted and made beautifully grotesque. Improbably evoking Jack London and Victor Hugo, Iron Council is a twisted frontier fable cleverly combined with a powerful parable of Marxist revolution that continues Miéville's macabre remaking of the fantasy genre. —Jeremy Pugh, Amazon.com

George R. R. Martin Brand New Item, Fast Dispatch

George R. R. Martin Brand New Item, Fast Dispatch

Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks

Clive Gifford Which of the Simpson family has webbed feet? ...occasionally drinks from the dog dish? ...discovered Blinky the three-eyed fish? ...went into space as a NASA astronaut? This quiz book includes 100 questions based on the series of 'The Simpsons', in addition to the original 1000 questions about life with Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.

Ned Beauman

Peter F. Hamilton

Chris Hemsworth, Jesse Williams, Drew Goddard

Peter F. Hamilton MINDSTAR RISING (B) (NEC)

Madeline Stowe, Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, Frank GorshinDirector: Terry Gilliam

Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal After the relatively short first season left viewers salivating for more, season two of The Walking Dead, this time with 13 episodes, was always going to be battling expectation to some degree. It’s a fight it just about wins, though, save for a few bumps around the middle of the season, as the mixture of horror and drama continues to impress. It's a show more than capable of some excellent rug-pulls, too.

The Walking Dead, then, continues to follow a small group of survivors in a zombie-infested world. At first, it’s a slower collection of episodes than we saw with season one this time around. Certainly in episodes around the middle of the season, there's a sense that things are being saved and held back, and that the brakes are being gently applied. But then, season two of the show shoots out of the blocks exceptionally well, and the final run-in, too, is excellent. The strands it leaves in place for season three are particularly salivating, and there's an awful lot to like here.

As with season one's boxset, there's been a lot of effort with The Walking Dead season 2 to make it worth picking up on disc. Exclusive to the UK edition, for instance, is a series of character profiles. But you'll find more meat in the series of genuinely interesting featurettes. Elsewhere, you'll also find a selection of scenes that didn't make the final cut of the episodes.

Grown up drama in more than one sense, The Walking Dead is, even on its dryer days, an excellent series, and season two has ample evidence to support that. That it comes packed into a such an impressive set is all the better. —Jon Foster

Mark Seaman

Adam Pranica In 2007, acclaimed Seattle indie rock band The Long Winters returned home from a grueling several-month international tour and played a rip-roaring set to over a thousand of their hometown fans at the still-intimate venue The Showbox. The set featured guest appearances by local music luminaries and Barsuk-roster labelmates, plus a full horn section. A local film crew was on hand to capture the performance as part of an ongoing documentary about the band, but the show and footage wound up being pretty great so DorsiaFilms is proud to be releasing the Live At The Showbox concert film this December, in a limited-edition DVD pressing.

John Swartzwelder One of a series of comedy/science fiction novels featuring slow-witted detective Frank Burly. By John Swartzwelder, the writer of 59 episodes of The Simpsons.

Mike Jay

Andrew Martin

Gardner Dozois Drawing on the annual series 'Best New SF', this title features 13 of the finest science fiction novels. The tales include: 'Sailing to Byzantium', 'Griffin's Egg', 'Turqouise Days', 'Mr Boy', 'Forgiveness Day', and, 'Oceanic'.

Gavin Mooney

The phenomenon continues as Breaking Bad hits a stunning new hight with its most suspenseful season yet! In his multiple Emmy® Award-winning role, Bryan Cranston stars as Walter White, a one-time mild-mannered chemistry teacher whose transformation into a deadly criminal kicks into overdrive in the explosive fourth season. As his young accomplice Jesse (Aaron Paul in his Emmy® Award-winning role) turns increasingly distant and hostile, Walt must deal with his estranged wife (Anna Gunn), his relentless DEA Agent brother-in-law (Dean Norris), and the ruthless kingpin manipulating the entire operation (Giancarlo Esposito) - culminating in a bombshell season finale that will leave you speechless. Breaking Bad is executive produced by Vince Gilligan and Mark Johnson.

Jane Rogers Jane Rogers creates an extraordinary character in Jessie Lamb, determined to make her life count in a self-destructing world as the certainties of her life are ripped apart.

Ed Smith

Cyril Lionel Robert James

Bruce Schneier

Cordelia Fine A vehement attack on the latest pseudo-scientific claims about the differences between the sexes.

Ariel Levy Lively polemic on contemporary sexual politics that examines the post-feminist phenomenon of 'raunch culture' .

Neal Stephenson, Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, E.D. deBirmingham, Cooper Moo, Mark Teppo

Adam Roberts In a world where we have been genetically engineered so that we can photosynthesise sunlight with our hair hunger is a thing of the past, food an indulgence. The poor grow their hair, the rich affect baldness and flaunt their wealth by still eating. But other hungers remain ...The young daughter of an affluent New York family is kidnapped. The ransom demands are refused. A year later a young women arrives at the family home claiming to be their long lost daughter. She has changed so much, she has lived on light, can anyone be sure that she has come home? Adam Roberts' new novel is yet another amazing melding of startling ideas and beautiful prose. Set in a New York of the future it nevertheless has echoes of a Fitzgeraldesque affluence and art-deco style. It charts his further progress as one of the most important writers of his generation.

Philip K. Dick

Samuel Eliot Morison SICILY-SALERNO-ANZIO, june 1943 - June 1944 is volume 9 in the series. This volume takes up the story of American naval activities in the Mediterranean with three major amphibious operations: the invasion of Sicily, the capture of the Salerno beachhead, and the long Anzio beachhead struggle. In describing these joint operations, Morison discusses individual exploits and strategies. Never reluctant to tackle controversial subjects, he calls the Sicilian Operation ill conceived, the evacuation of three German divisions from Sicily preventable, the Italian armistice woefully bungled, and the hard-fought Anzio Operation a mistake. The introduction this volume is by Douglas Porch.

Tim Moreman From their establishment in June 1940, the Commando units conducted a succession of daring hit-and-run raids from the sea into North-West Europe, Scandinavia, Italy and the Middle East. Among the highly publicised Commando operations were the raids on Vaagso, Dieppe, and St Nazaire. The Commandos also spawned a range of other Special Forces, including the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service and the Parachute Regiment. This Battle Orders title provides a detailed examination of the Army (and later Royal Marine) Commandos raised in the United Kingdom, from their inception in 1940 through to 1946, when the Army Commandos were disbanded and the role was assigned exclusively to the Royal Marines.

Adam Christopher It was the last great science hero fight, but the energy blast ripped a hole in reality, and birthed the Empire State - a young, twisted parallel prohibition-era New York. When the rift starts to close, both worlds are threatened, and both must fight for the right to exist. File Under: Science Fiction [Pocket Universe | Heroes or Villains | Speak Easy | Loyalties Divided].

Paul Preston

Enjoy Monsters inc, includes coverart in Spanish, however movie plays in both Spanish and English Two Disc Blu-ray+ DVD copy of Film Monsters, Inc. is a factory which sends monsters around the world to scare kids who are trying to sleep. It's nothing personal, in fact the screams are used to power Monstropolis where the monsters live. This job isn't easy for the monsters, who believe children are toxic. James P. Sullivan (John Goodman), a large woolly blue monster, is one of the company's top scarers. Teamed up with a troublesome green one-eyed monster named Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), the two roommates and best friends are finding that today's kids are not as easily scared as they used to be. One night Sulley accidentally lets a young girl named Boo into the monster world. Now Sulley and Mike must risk their own safety as they race to get Boo back into the human world without letting anyone know of her existence.

Sean Bean, Mark Addy

Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Tomas Alfredson

Jon Ronson

Gene Wolfe A supernatural horror novel. Set a hundred years in the future, it is the story of an actress who becomes the lover of both a mysterious private detective and an even more mysterious and rich man, a man who has been to the human colony on an alien planet and learned strange things there. Her loyalties are divided - perhaps she loves them both.

Boris Strugatsky, Arkady Strugatsky

Mastodon Mastodon has taken hold of the leadership of the New Wave of Progressive Heavy Metal. The band's 2006 major-label debut Blood Mountain spun off a Grammy nomination and earned Top 5 Best Album Of The Year nods from Kerrang!, Revolver, and Metal Hammer, and a Top 10 at Rolling Stone. Now Crack The Skye, its fourth original studio album, mines subject matter from czarist Russia and astral travel to out-of-body experiences and Stephen Hawking's theories on wormholes for an unrepentantly heavy aural assault that will shake the heavens.

Lawrence Archer, Fiona Bawdon In January 2003, the British media splashed the news that anti-terror police had disrupted an Al-Qaeda cell, poised to unleash the deadly poison ricin on the capital. Police had reportedly found traces of ricin, as well as a panoply of bomb and poison-making equipment in the cell’s "factory of death" — a shabby flat in north London. "This danger is present and real, and with us now," announced prime minister Tony Blair. But, when the "ricin plot" came to trial at the Old Bailey, a very different story emerged: there was no ricin and no sophisticated plot. Rarely has a legal case been so shamelessly distorted by government, media and security forces to push their own tough on terror agendas. In this meticulously researched and compellingly written book, Lawrence Archer (the jury foreman at the trial) and journalist Fiona Bawdon give the definitive true story of the ricin plot trial and its aftermath.