The Use of Weapons()
Read by Jonathan Hackett
The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost
agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue,
dirty tricks or military action. The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him
from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all
their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought. The drone known as
Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life
by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the
man to be a burnt-out case. But not even its machine intelligence could see the
horrors in his past.
The Steep aproach to Garbadale
Read by Grant Ritchie
The Wopuld family built its fortune on a board game called Empire! - now a hugely
successful computer game. So successful, the American Spraint Corp wants to buy the
firm out. Young renegade Alban, who has been evading the family clutches for years,
is run to ground and persuaded to attend the forthcoming family gathering - part
birthday party, part Extraordinary General Meeting - convened by Win, the Wopuld
matriarch and most powerful member of the board, at Garbadale, the family's
highland castle. Being drawn back into the bosom of the clan brings an inevitable
and disconcerting confrontation with Alban's past.
The Wasp Factory
Read by Hugh Ross
The private world of Frank, just sixteen, is unconventional to say the least.
'Two years after I killed Blythe I murdered my young brother Paul... Then a year
after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim. That's my
score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever
again. It was just a stage I was going through.'
Whit
Read by Jacqueline King
Isis Whit is no ordinary teenager - she exalts in the status of Elect of God of
the Luskentyrian Sect, a small religious cult. When her cousin Morag renounces her
faith, Isis is chosen to venture out amongst the Unsaved and bring her back into
the fold. But her mission through the spiritual barrenness of Nineties Britain is
treacherous - not only has Morag embraced the ways of the Unsaved with abandon,
but she seems to be actively avoiding Isis, whose own hallowed status undergoes
a radical about-turn as her pillar of faith slowly crumbles from within.
The Business
Read by Jacqueline King
Kate Telman is a senior executive officer in The Business, a powerful and
massively discreet transglobal organisation whose origins predate the Christian
Church. Financially transparent, internally democratic, it wants to buy its own
State to gain a seat at the United Nations. Kate's job is to keep abreast of
current technological developments and her global reach stretches from Silicon
Valley to the remote Himalayas. In the course of her journey Kate must peel away
layers of emotional insulation and the assumptions of a lifetime. She must learn
to control the world at arm's length.
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