Showing results by author "Naomi Alderman" in All Categories

'She throws her head back and pushes her chest forward and lets go a huge blast right into the centre of his body. The rivulets and streams of red scarring run across his chest and up around his throat. She'd put her hand on his heart and stopped him dead.' Suddenly - tomorrow or the day after - girls find that with a flick of their fingers, they can inflict agonizing pain and even death.

Franz Kafka is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most enigmatic geniuses of European literature. What happens when his idiosyncratic imagination meets some of the greatest literary minds writing in English across the globe today? From a future society who ask their AI servants to construct a giant tower to reach God; to a flat hunt that descends into a comically absurd bureaucratic nightmare; to a population experiencing a wave of unbearable, contagious panic attacks, these ten specially commissioned stories are by turns mind-bending, funny, unsettling and haunting.

In these ten absorbing series, award-winning authors Naomi Alderman and Philip Ball and guest presenters take a look at the many amazing events and characters from science's long history. Among the topics explored are feuding dinosaur hunters, jumping genes, the engine that nearly ran out of steam, the day the Earth stopped standing still, how laughing gas was discovered, the first female professional scientist in Britain, and how an eel sparked our interest in electricity.

It's barely a few months since the shambling dead began to rise.

In a cramped synagogue in north-west London, the eminent elderly rabbi passes away. On the other side of the Atlantic, his estranged daughter, Ronit, hears of her father's death and returns to London for the funeral. She has not returned home in 15 years. Ronit looks forward to a week or two of revisiting old friends, perhaps settling old scores. But she finds the community she grew up in a more confusing place than she'd anticipated.

The Future – as the richest people on the planet have discovered – is where the money is. The Future is a few billionaires leading the world to destruction while safeguarding their own survival with lavish bunkers. The Future is private weather, technological prophecy and highly deniable weapons. The Future is a handful of friends—the daughter of a cult leader, a non-binary hacker, an ousted Silicon Valley visionary, the concerned wife of a dangerous CEO, and an internet-famous survivalist—hatching a daring plan. It could be the greatest heist ever. Or the cataclysmic end of civilization.

A brand-new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by 12 remarkable best-selling and acclaimed authors. This collection of 12 original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.

Naomi Alderman's The Lessons reflects the truth that the lessons life teaches often come too late. Hidden away in an Oxford backstreet is a crumbling Georgian mansion, unknown to any but the few who possess keys to its unassuming front gate. Its owner is the mercurial, charismatic Mark Winters, whose rackety trust-fund upbringing has left him as troubled and unpredictable as he is wildly promiscuous.

"You want more time Mr Brown, of course you do. We all want more time. Let me make you an offer...." Andrew Brown never has enough time. No time to call his sister, or to prepare for that important presentation at the bank where he works. The train’s late, the lift jams. If only he’d had just a little more time. And time is the business of Mr Symington and Mr Blenkinsop. They’ll lend him some - at a very reasonable rate of interest. Detecting a problem, the Doctor, Amy and Rory go undercover at the bank.

In this episode: Jody and Chris, runners from Abel Township, take shelter from the zombie horde in a mysterious country house, Gadsen Manor. They have company - who seem friendly at first. But when things turn sour, where will suspicion fall? Set in the universe of the worldwide best-selling app Zombies, Run! this is a murder mystery like no other. Why would anyone still want to kill a fellow human even after the zombie apocalypse? And having started, how can they be stopped?

In this episode: There's been a second murder, and everyone left alive in the house is under suspicion. What was the meaning of the victim's final words, which were caught on tape? And why has one member of the group disappeared? The truth lies buried in the past; but in the zombie apocalypse, what's dead will never stay underground for long. Set in the universe of the worldwide best-selling app Zombies, Run! this is a murder mystery like no other.

In this episode: It's time to learn the truth about the murder victim. Or at least part of the truth. Someone's covering up evidence. Someone's tried to conceal what's going on. And that puts everyone trapped in Gadsen Manor in danger. Before night falls, another victim will die. Set in the universe of the worldwide best-selling app Zombies, Run! this is a murder mystery like no other. Why would anyone still want to kill a fellow human even after the zombie apocalypse? And having started, how can they be stopped?

It's barely a few months since the shambling dead began to rise. Now nine people are trapped in an English country house together by the zombie horde outside. They're strangers to each other. There'd be no reason for any of them to harm the others. And yet, before their first night in the house is done, one of them will be dead, and it will be clear to the others that among their number is a murderer. Set in the universe of the worldwide best-selling app Zombies, Run! this is a murder mystery like no other.

Author and narrator of The Power, Naomi Alderman and Adjoa Andoh, join Laurence Howell in the Audible Studios for a discussion about the audiobook version of this dystopian novel.

In this episode: The zombies are encroaching. Time is running out, and there's an obvious suspect in the murders. But the more Jody and Chris find out about the life of the victim, the more certain they are that there's more to this case than meets the eye. Set in the universe of the worldwide best-selling app Zombies, Run! this is a murder mystery like no other. Why would anyone still want to kill a fellow human even after the zombie apocalypse? And having started, how can they be stopped?

It's barely a few months since the shambling dead began to rise. Now nine people are trapped in an English country house together by the zombie horde outside. There's a journalist, a student, a professor, a surgeon, a housekeeper, a math teacher, a bank clerk, a taciturn Scotswoman, and a celebrity actor. They're strangers to each other. There'd be no reason for any of them to harm the others. And yet...before their first night in the house is done, one of them will be dead, and it will be clear to the others that among their number is a murderer.

Four original stories featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory: In Hunter's Moon, the travellers visit Leisure Platform 9, where gamblers and villains mix with socialites and celebrities. In Touched By An Angel, the Weeping Angels are using history itself as a weapon - and the Doctor, Amy and Rory must stop them. In Paradox Lost, an ancient android is dredged from the Thames, with a message that can only be delivered to the Doctor. In Borrowed Time, by Naomi Alderman, the three friends go undercover at a bank where time is the commodity on offer for loan.