"We are merely the stars' tennis balls, struck and --bandied/Which way please them." ---- The Duchess of Malfi --by John Webster
Everything about Stephen Fry's new novel, including the title, will be a surprise, perhaps even a shock. The only thing that can be guaranteed is that it will be his next earth-movingly funny bestseller. And we are still pretty confidently saying it will not be about earthworm migration patterns in East Devon.
This is the story of Ned Maddenstone, a nice young man who is about to find out just what hell it is to be one of the stars' tennis balls.For Ned, 1978 seems a blissful year: handsome, popular, responsible and a fine cricketer, life is progressing smoothly for him, if not effortlessly. When he meets Portia Fendeman his personal jigsaw appears complete. What if her left-wing parents despise his Tory MP father? Doesn't that just make them star-crossed lovers? And surely, in the end, won't the Fendemans be won over by their happiness?But, of course, one person's happiness is another's jealous spite. And spite is about to change Ned's life forever.A promise made to a dying teacher and a vile trick played by fellow pupils rocket Ned from cricket captain to solitary confinement, from head boy to political prisoner. Twenty years later, Ned returns to London a very different man from the boy seized outside a Knightsbridge language college.A man implacably focused on revenge. Revenge is a dish he plans to savour and serve to those who conspired against him, and to those who forgot him.- From the Hardcover edition.

In his early thirties, Stephen Fry - writer, comedian, star of stage and screen - had, as they say, 'made it'.
What could possibly go wrong?
As the 80s drew to a close, he discovered a most enjoyable way to burn the candle at both ends, and took to excess like a duck to breadcrumbs. Writing and recording by day, and haunting a never ending series of celebrity parties, drinking dens, and poker games by night, he fooled all those except the very closest to him.
He was - to all intents and purposes - a high functioning addict - he was so busy, so distracted by the high life, that he could hardly see the inevitable, headlong tumble that must surely follow . . .
Containing raw, electric extracts from his diaries of the time, More Fool Me is a brilliant, eloquent account by a man driven to create and to entertain - revealing a side to him he has long kept hidden.

The number one Sunday Times bestseller.
Features 75 stories narrated by their authors.
Curated and edited by Adam Kay (author of multi-million best seller This Is Going to Hurt), Dear NHS features household names telling their personal stories of the health service. Contributors include Paul McCartney, Emilia Clarke, Stephen Fry, Sir Trevor McDonald, Sir Michael Palin, Naomie Harris, Dame Emma Thompson, Joanna Lumley, Miranda Hart, Ed Sheeran, David Tennant, Dame Julie Walters, Emma Watson and many, many more.
The NHS is our single greatest achievement as a country. No matter who you are, no matter what your health needs are, and no matter how much money you have, the NHS is there for you. In Dear NHS, an amazing list of inspirational people come together to share their stories of how the national health service has been there for them and changed their lives in the process. By turns deeply moving, hilarious, hopeful and impassioned, these stories together become a love letter to the NHS and the 1.4 million people who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day - selflessly, generously, putting others before themselves, never more so than now.
They are all heroes, and this book is our way of saying thank you.
This audiobook features readings by: Monica Ali, Pam Ayres, David Baddiel, Mary Beard, William Boyd, Frankie Boyle, Jo Brand, Kevin Bridges, Kathy Burke, Jimmy Carr, Candice Carty-Williams, Lauren Child, Lee Child, Bridget Christie, Emilia Clarke, Rev Richard Coles, Daisy May Cooper, Jilly Cooper, Fearne Cotton, Juno Dawson, Kit de Waal, Victoria Derbyshire, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Anne Fine, Stephen Fry, Professor Green, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Mark Haddon, Matt Haig, The Hairy Bikers, Naomie Harris, Miranda Hart, Victoria Hislop, Nick Hornby, Sali Hughes, Konnie Huq, Marina Hyde, E L James, Jackie Kay, Lorraine Kelly, Marian Keyes, Shappi Khorsandi, Joanna Lumley, Lee Mack, Catherine Mayer, Alexander McCall Smith, Paul McCartney, Sir Trevor McDonald, Caitlin Moran, Kate Mosse, Jojo Moyes, David Nicholls, Sir Michael Palin, Sue Perkins, Katie Piper, Jonathan Ross, Ed Sheeran, Paul Sinha, Frank Skinner, Kate Tempest, David Tennant, Dame Emma Thompson, Sandi Toksvig, Stanley Tucci, KT Tunstall, Dame Julie Walters, Phil Wang, Emma Watson, Mark Watson, Jack Whitehall, Josh Widdicombe, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Greg Wise, Benjamin Zephaniah.
A minimum of £1 from the proceeds received by The Orion Publishing Group from this audiobook will be made available by the publisher to NHS Charities Together. A minimum of £0.05 from the proceeds received by The Orion Publishing Group from this audiobook will be made available by the publisher to the Lullaby Trust.
The Lullaby Trust Limited is a registered charity in the UK with charity number 262191 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
NHS Charities Together is a registered charity in the UK with charity number 1186569 (England and Wales)

Stephen Fry’S The Ode Less Travelled provides us with a witty and entertaining guide to the mysteries of writing poetry.
Stephen Fry has always had a secret passion for poetry and he reveals this in this book about how to write poetry. This book will give everybody the tools to write poetry; covering the full spectrum of the different poetic forms, structures and techniques. According to Stephen it will make writing poetry fun, easy, satisfying, fulfilling and delightful.
Here is a taste of Stephen’s own efforts;
Lesbian Sappho made this form
With two beats to the final line
Her sex life wasn’t quite the norm
And nor is mine -- From the Hardcover edition.

A hilarious collection of the many articles written by Stephen Fry for magazines, newspapers and radio. It includes selected wireless essays of Donald Trefusis, the ageing professor of philology brought to life in Fry's novel The Liar, and the best of Fry's weekly column for the Daily Telegraph.

Those of us who have already discovered Stephen Fry know him as the brilliant British comedian behind TV series such as Jeeves & Wooster and Blackadder, and the author of two enormously funny novels, The Liar and The Hippopotamus. But his new film (in which he plays Oscar Wilde) and his new novel (this one) represent a somewhat alarming departure from his previous work: They're more serious. Though humor is still an essential ingredient of both, Fry's fans are finally getting to witness the emotional depth that this brilliant polymath usually keeps hidden.
In Making History, Fry has bitten off a rather meaty chunk by tackling an at first deceptively simple premise: What if Hitler had never been born? An unquestionable improvement, one would reason--and so an earnest history grad student and an aging German physicist idealistically undertake to bring this about by preventing Adolf's conception. And with their success is launched a brave new world that is in some ways better than ours--but in most ways even worse. Fry's experiment in history makes for his most ambitious novel yet, and his most affecting. His first book to be set mostly in America, it is a thriller with a funny streak, a futuristic fantasy based on one of mankind's darkest realities. It is, in every sense, a story of our times.- From the Hardcover edition.

Adrian Healey is magnificently unprepared for the long littleness of life; unprepared too for the afternoon in Salzburg when he will witness the savage murder of a Hungarian violinist; unprepared to learn about the Mendax device; unprepared for more murders and wholly unprepared for the truth. Unprepared or not, Adrian is led through an adventure that takes in toast, Piccadilly rent-boys, Charles Dickens’s lost pornographic novel, an international espionage conspiracy, disgraceful scenes on the cricket field and a machine that compels its victims to tell the truth.

There are Heroes - and then there are Greek Heroes.
Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes.
In this companion to his bestselling Mythos, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales. Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta - who was raised by bears - outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witness wily Oedipus solve the riddle of the Sphinx and discover how Bellerophon captures the winged horse Pegasus to help him slay the monster Chimera.
Filled with white-knuckle chases and battles, impossible puzzles and riddles, acts of base cowardice and real bravery, not to mention murders and selfless sacrifices, Heroes is the story of what we mortals are truly capable of - at our worst and our very best.
___________
'Ebullient and funny' The Times
'Entertaining and edifying' Daily Telegraph
'A rollicking good read' Independent
'Fry exhibits enormous erudition and enthusiasm' Mail on Sunday
'The Greek gods of the past become relatable as pop culture, modern literature and music are woven throughout. Joyfully informal yet full of the literary legacy' Guardian

There are Heroes - and then there are Greek Heroes.
Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes.
In this companion to his bestselling
, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales. Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta - who was raised by bears - outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witness wily Oedipus solve the riddle of the Sphinx and discover how Bellerophon captures the winged horse Pegasus to help him slay the monster Chimera.
Filled with white-knuckle chases and battles, impossible puzzles and riddles, acts of base cowardice and real bravery, not to mention murders and selfless sacrifices,
is the story of what we mortals are truly capable of - at our worst and our very best.
Read by the author. Running time 15 hours.

Michael Young is a brilliant young history student whose life is changed when he meets Leo Zuckerman, an ageing physicist with a theory that can change worlds.
Together they realise that they have the power to alter history and eradicate a great evil. But tinkering with time lines is more dangerous than they can imagine, and nothing - past, present or future - will ever be the same again.

This brilliant recasting of the classic story The Count of Monte Cristo centers on Ned Maddstone, a happy, charismatic, Oxford-bound seventeen-year-old whose rosy future is virtually pre-ordained. Handsome, confident, and talented, newly in love with bright, beautiful Portia, his father an influential MP, Ned leads a charmed life. But privilege makes him an easy target for envy, and in the course of one day Ned’s destiny is forever altered. A promise made to a dying teacher combined with a prank devised by a jealous classmate mutates bewilderingly into a case of mistaken arrest and incarceration. Ned finds himself a political prisoner in a nightmarish exile that lasts years, until a fellow inmate reawakens Ned’s intellect and resurrects his will to live. The chilling consequences of Ned’s recovery are felt worldwide.

"IRRESISTIBLE!"
--The Boston Globe
Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.
Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!
"[A] WHIMSICAL ODYSSEY...Characters frolic through the galaxy with infectious joy."
--Publishers Weekly
From the Paperback edition.

AN EPIC BATTLE THAT LASTED TEN YEARS. A LEGENDARY STORY THAT HAS SURVIVED THOUSANDS.

'An inimitable retelling of the siege of Troy . . . Fry's narrative, artfully humorous and rich in detail, breathes life and contemporary relevance into these ancient tales' OBSERVER

'Stephen Fry has done it again. Well written and super storytelling' 5***** READER REVIEW
________

'Troy. The most marvellous kingdom in all the world. The Jewel of the Aegean. Glittering Ilion, the city that rose and fell not once but twice . . .'

When Helen, the beautiful Greek queen, is kidnapped by the Trojan prince Paris, the most legendary war of all time begins.

Watch in awe as a thousand ships are launched against the great city of Troy.

Feel the fury of the battleground as the Trojans stand resolutely against Greek might for an entire decade.

And witness the epic climax - the wooden horse, delivered to the city of Troy in a masterclass of deception by the Greeks . . .

In Stephen Fry's exceptional retelling of our greatest story, TROY will transport you to the depths of ancient Greece and beyond.
________

'A fun romp through the world's greatest story. Fry's knowledge of the world - ancient and modern - bursts through' Daily Telegraph

'An excellent retelling . . . told with compassion and wit' 5***** Reader Review

'Hugely successful, graceful' The Times

'If you want to read about TROY, this book is a must over any other' 5***** Reader Review

'Fluent, crisp, nuanced, begins with a bang' The Times Literary Supplement

'The characters . . . are brilliantly brought to life' 5***** Reader Review

PRAISE FOR STEPHEN FRY'S GREEK SERIES:

'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods. Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased' Times

'A head-spinning marathon of legends' Guardian

'An Olympian feat. The gods seem to be smiling on Fry - his myths are definitely a hit' Evening Standard

'An odyssey through Greek mythology. Brilliant . . . all hail Stephen Fry' Daily Mail

'A rollicking good read' Independent

IMAGINE SANDALS ON YOUR FEET, A SWORD IN YOUR HAND, HOT SUN BEATING DOWN ON YOUR BRONZE HELMET. ENTER THE WORLD OF STEPHEN FRY'S SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, HEROES

'An odyssey through Greek mythology. Brilliant . . . all hail Stephen Fry' Daily Mail
___________

Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes.

In this companion to his bestselling Mythos, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales.

Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta - who was raised by bears - outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witness wily Oedipus solve the riddle of the Sphinx and discover how Bellerophon captures the winged horse Pegasus to help him slay the monster Chimera.

Filled with white-knuckle chases and battles, impossible puzzles and riddles, acts of base cowardice and real bravery, not to mention murders and selfless sacrifices, Heroes is the story of what we mortals are truly capable of - at our worst and our very best.

Order TROY now, Stephen Fry's bewitching retelling of the most legendary story ever told

'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods. Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased' Times

'Assured and engaging. The pace is lively, the jokes are genuinely funny' Guardian

'An Olympian feat. The gods seem to be smiling on Fry - his myths are definitely a hit' Evening Standard

'Just as delightful and difficult to put down as the first. Heroes makes the stories relatable without skimping on the gory details, or sacrificing the truths of the myth. It's rich, it's funny and you'll feel like you've learned a lot' Herald

Praise for Mythos:

'Ebullient and funny' Times

'Entertaining and edifying' Daily Telegraph

'A rollicking good read' Independent

'The Greek gods of the past become relatable as pop culture, modern literature and music are woven throughout. Joyfully informal yet full of the literary legacy' Guardian

Thirteen years ago, "Moab is my Washpot", Stephen Fry's autobiography of his early years, was published to rave reviews and was a huge bestseller. In those thirteen years since, Stephen Fry has moved into a completely new stratosphere, both as a public figure, and a private man. Now he is not just a multi-award-winning comedian and actor, but also an author, director and presenter. In January 2010, he was awarded the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. Much loved by the public and his peers, Stephen Fry is one of the most influential cultural forces in the UK. This dazzling memoir promises to be a courageously frank, honest and poignant read. It will detail some of the most turbulent and least well known years of his life with writing that will excite you, make you laugh uproariously, move you, inform you and, above all, surprise you.

Britain's best-loved comic genius Stephen Fry turns his celebrated wit and insight to unearthing the real America as he travels across the continent in his black taxicab. Stephen's account of his adventures is filled with his unique humour, insight and warmth in this beautifully illustrated book that accompanies his journey for the BBC1 series.

'Stephen Fry is a treasure of the British Empire.' - The Guardian

Stephen Fry has always loved America, in fact he came very close to being born there. Here, his fascination for the country and its people sees him embarking on an epic journey across America, visiting each of its 50 states to discover how such a huge diversity of people, cultures, languages, beliefs and landscapes combine to create such a remarkable nation.

Starting on the eastern seaboard, Stephen zig-zags across the country in his London taxicab, talking to its hospitable citizens, listening to its music, visiting its landmarks, viewing small-town life and America's breath-taking landscapes - following wherever his curiosity leads him.

Stephen meets a collection of remarkable individuals - American icons and unsung local heroes alike. Stephen starts his epic journey on the east coast and zig-zags across America, stopping in every state from Maine to Hawaii. En route he discovers the South Side of Chicago with blues legend Buddy Guy, catches up with Morgan Freeman in Mississippi, strides around with Ted Turner on his Montana ranch, marches with Zulus in New Orleans' Mardi Gras, and drums with the Sioux Nation in South Dakota; joins a Georgia family for thanksgiving, 'picks' with Bluegrass hillbillies, and finds himself in a Tennessee garden full of dead bodies.

Whether in a club for failed gangsters (yes, those are real bullet holes) or celebrating Halloween in Salem (is there anywhere better?), Stephen is welcomed by the people of America - mayors, sheriffs, newspaper editors, park rangers, teachers and hobos, bringing to life the oddities and splendours of each locale.

A celebration of the magnificent and the eccentric, the beautiful and the strange, Stephen Fry in America is our author's homage to this extraordinary country.