{"title":"Local and family history, nostalgia","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-first-binding","title":"The First Binding","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e'A work of extraordinary depth; people are going to be unpicking the secrets of Tremaine for years to come'\u003c\/b\u003e Richard Swan, \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003e\u003cb\u003eAll legends are born of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I've stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I've called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy name is Ari.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd this is the story of how I let loose the first evil.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThus begins the tale of a storyteller and a singer on the run and hoping to find obscurity in a tavern bar. But the sins of their past aren't forgotten, and neither are their enemies. Their old lives are catching up swiftly and it could cost them the entire world. No one can escape their pasts and all stories must have an ending.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReaders love \u003ci\u003eThe First Binding\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eThe world is extremely rich in its myth and history \u003c\/b\u003e. . . I loved this book . . . it's only a matter of time until Virdi and the Tales of Tremaine will be remembered for many years to come' Novel Notions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Once you lose yourself in this South Asian-inspired fantasy world, there's no turning back. \u003ci\u003eThe First Binding\u003c\/i\u003e is a grand, mesmerizing story'\u003c\/b\u003e Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Lyrical, lovely, and beautifully South Asian'\u003c\/b\u003e Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003ci\u003eThe First Binding \u003c\/i\u003eis magnificent, it marks itself out because of the way the author has utilized South Asian culture and Hindu mythology to make this epic fantasy story more than a bit unique. \u003cb\u003eR.R. Virdi [has written] a story for readers such as myself \u0026amp; thousands of South Asian fantasy readers\u003c\/b\u003e' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'[There is something the] author infused into his story with that's completely him: \u003cb\u003eSouth Asian mythology and culture were clearly the foundation of the world Virdi imagined\u003c\/b\u003e, while ticking all the boxes of a classical epic fantasy' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eIt's beautiful, like poetry.\u003c\/b\u003e I love the stories within stories and genesis myths shown throughout it. My family is East African in origin ancestrally, \u003cb\u003eand there are themes in here even though this is mostly Asian that feel so similar and like I'm reading bits of my own culture, and that is beautiful to see\u003c\/b\u003e' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐","brand":"Gollancz","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44649193701662,"sku":"9781473234000","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0571\/2642\/0664\/products\/9781473234000-original.jpg?v=1767942677"},{"product_id":"ubik","title":"Ubik","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA classic science fiction tale of artifical worlds by one of the great American writers of the 20th century\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ch3\u003eGlen Runciter is dead.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr is he?\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSomeone died in the explosion orchestrated by his business rivals, but even as his funeral is scheduled, his mourning employees are receiving bewildering messages from their boss. And the world around them is warping and regressing in ways which suggest that their own time is running out.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf it hasn't already.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReaders minds have been blown by \u003ci\u003eUbik\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e'\u003cb\u003eSheer craziness\u003c\/b\u003e, a book defying any straightforward synopsis . . . \u003cb\u003ea unique time travel adventure\u003c\/b\u003e that could only be concocted from the fertile psychedelic imagination of the incomparable PKD' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'This \u003cb\u003epre-cyberpunk gigglefest was an absolute joy\u003c\/b\u003e to behold . . . I would bill it as a \u003cb\u003eTruman Show-Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-Barbarella-type of sci-fi\u003c\/b\u003e' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'If you have not read PKD before I highly recommend Ubik as \u003cb\u003ethe gateway into his wonderfully weird fiction\u003c\/b\u003e. I kind of envy you' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'UBIK is much stranger and \u003cb\u003emore darkly humorous than Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep\u003c\/b\u003e . . . although there are many humorous elements, \u003cb\u003eoverall the story is dark, philosophical, and just plain disorienting\u003c\/b\u003e. I found the book impossible to put down' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eA darkly humorous blurring of lines between reality and illusion\u003c\/b\u003e and a concomitant degree of paranoia' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'About eighty decades \u003cb\u003eahead of its time\u003c\/b\u003e, only Ubik can help to process the overwhelmingness of the contemporary age. \u003cb\u003eChock full of post-death theology\u003c\/b\u003e, psionics, proto-cyberpunk, \u003cb\u003eand retro-retro-retro future nostalgia\u003c\/b\u003e' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'We spend a great deal of it unsure of what is real and what isn't and some of the ideas Dick manages to throw in as the story progresses \u003cb\u003ehad me grinning and shaking my head at the crazy logic of it all\u003c\/b\u003e' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gollancz","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47716273258782,"sku":"9781857988536","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0571\/2642\/0664\/products\/9781857988536-original.jpg?v=1765003896"}],"url":"https:\/\/store.gollancz.co.uk\/collections\/local-and-family-history-nostalgia.oembed","provider":"Gollancz","version":"1.0","type":"link"}