Christopher Reid wins Costa book prize

An intensely personal and moving series of poems written as a tribute to his late wife tonight won Christopher Reid one of the UK's most important literary prizes.

Reid follows in the footsteps of Douglas Dunn, Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney by becoming only the fourth poet to win the overall Costa book of the year award, picking up, in total, a £30,000 prize and an incalculable increase in readership.

Novelist Josephine Hart, who chaired the panel of judges, said his winning book, A Scattering was "good bordering on great," and that when she said great she meant the likes of Yeats and Browning. "It is devastating piece of work and all of us on the jury felt it was a book we would wish everybody to read."

Hart said the winner, decided by an 11-person jury, had been chosen by a "substantial" majority. The dissenters were happy for it to win, she said. The strong favourite had been Colm Tóibín for Brooklyn who could be forgiven for developing a complex. He is something of a bridesmaid when it comes to major literary awards: he almost always nearly wins them.

100 Cupboards Trilogy book trailer

ND Wilson's 100 Cupboards trilogy began with the eponymous book one, 100 CUPBOARDS. Book 2, DANDELION FIRE, followed in early 2009 and the ...

Ptolemy's Gate (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 3)



List Price: $17.95

Product Description

Three years after the events of The Golem's Eye, the young magician Nathaniel is an established member of the British Government.

But he faces unprecedented problems: foreign wars are going badly and Britain's enemies are mounting attacks close to London.

Increasingly distracted, he is treating Bartimaeus worse than ever: the long-suffering djinni is growing weak from too much time in this world, and his patience is at an end. Meanwhile, undercover in London, Kitty has been stealthily completing her research into magic and Bartimaeus' past. She hopes to break the endless cycle of conflict between djinn and humans -- but will she be able to get anyone to listen?

Before any of these problems can be resolved, disaster strikes London from an unexpected source and the destinies of Bartimaeus, Nathanial, and Kitty are thrown together once more. They have to face treacherous magicians, a long-fermented conspiracy, and an enemy from 'The Other Place' that threatens London and the world. Worst of all, they must somehow cope with each other . . .

Bartimaeus fans will be entranced by Stroud's brilliantly conceived finale to the series -- sure to be a major best seller.


Midnight Crystal (Book Three of the Dreamlight Trilogy)

JOVEH

List Price: $7.99

Product Description

It began with Krentz...continued with Quick...and now it will end with Castle.

Book Three of the Dreamlight trilogy.


For many earthly centuries, a legendary curse has plagued the Winters family, stemming from the tumultuous founding of the Arcane Society. But now, on the futuristic world of Harmony, the curse's final mystery will be unraveled...

Head of the ghost hunters guild Adam Winters and dreamlight reader extraordinaire Marlowe Jones must break the curse, save Harmony's entire underworld-and fight a passion that could destroy them both.

Dragon Hunt (Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy, Book 1)

Tokyopop

List Price: $9.99

Product Description

Set in the same rich universe as Blizzard's upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game World of Warcraft, Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy is a fresh take on the Warcraft universe using original characters and storylines. The three manga volumes follow the adventures of Kalec, a blue dragon who has taken human form to escape the forces that seek to destroy his race, and Anveena, a maiden with secrets of her own. What starts as a flight for survival turns into a quest to save the entire High Elven Kingdom from the forces of the Undead Scourge.

- From the artist of the best-selling King of Hell, cover art by Charles Park (Street Fighter, Robotech, X-men)
- Written by Richard Knaak, the New York Times best-selling author of Warcraft, Diablo, Dragonlance and English adaptor of Ragnarok
- Since the debut of Warcraft in 1994, it has sold more than 14 million copies of various iterations of the popular PC game
- Check-out the World of Warcraft game and Blizzard's website, battle.net


The Bourne Trilogy (The Bourne Identity / The Bourne Supremacy / The Bourne Ultimatum) (Slim Packaging) [Blu-ray]

Universal Studios

List Price: $69.98
Price: $35.99
You Save: $33.99 (49%)

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Get ready for non-stop action, edge-of-your-seat suspense and spectacular chase sequences with everyone’s favorite assassin in The Bourne Trilogy! Matt Damon is Jason Bourne, an elite government agent determined to outwit and outmaneuver anyone who stands in the way of his finding out the secrets of his mysterious past. Follow his explosive, action-packed adventures in three blockbuster films from one of the most popular series of all time: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. Loaded with hours of bonus features, The Bourne Trilogy is the complete Bourne experience for movie fans everywhere!
The Bourne Identity
Freely adapted from Robert Ludlum's 1980 bestseller, The Bourne Identity starts fast and never slows down. The twisting plot revs up in Zurich, where amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), with no memory of his name, profession, or recent activities, recruits a penniless German traveler (Run Lola Run's Franka Potente) to assist in solving the puzzle of his missing identity. While his CIA superior (Chris Cooper) dispatches assassins to kill Bourne and thus cover up his failed mission, Bourne exercises his lethal training to leave a trail of bodies from Switzerland to Paris. Director Doug Liman (Go) infuses Ludlum's intricate plotting with a maverick's eye for character detail, matching breathtaking action with the humorous, thrill-seeking chemistry of Damon and Potente. Previously made as a 1988 TV movie starring Richard Chamberlain, The Bourne Identity benefits from the sharp talent of rising stars, offering intelligent, crowd-pleasing excitement from start to finish. --Jeff Shannon

The Bourne Supremacy
Good enough to suggest long-term franchise potential, The Bourne Supremacy is a thriller fans will appreciate for its well-crafted suspense, and for its triumph of competence over logic (or lack thereof). Picking up where The Bourne Identity left off, the action begins when CIA assassin and partial amnesiac Jason Bourne (a role reprised with efficient intensity by Matt Damon) is framed for a murder in Berlin, setting off a chain reaction of pursuits involving CIA handlers (led by Joan Allen and the duplicitous Brian Cox, with Julia Stiles returning from the previous film) and a shadowy Russian oil magnate. The fast-paced action hurtles from India to Berlin, Moscow, and Italy, and as he did with the critically acclaimed Bloody Sunday, director Paul Greengrass puts you right in the thick of it with split-second editing (too much of it, actually) and a knack for well-sustained tension. It doesn't all make sense, and bears little resemblance to Robert Ludlum's novel, but with Damon proving to be an appealingly unconventional action hero, there's plenty to look forward to. --Jeff Shannon

The Bourne Ultimatum
The often breathtaking, final installment in the Bourne trilogy finds the titular assassin with no memory closing in on his past, finally answering his own questions about his real identity and how he came to be a seemingly unstoppable killing machine. Matt Damon returns for another intensely physical performance as Jason Bourne, the rogue operative at war with the CIA, which made him who and what he is and managed to kill his girlfriend in the series' second film, The Bourne Supremacy. Now looking for payback, Bourne goes in search for the renegade chief of CIA operations in Europe and North Africa, partnering for a time with a mysterious woman from his past (Julia Stiles) and constantly--constantly--on the run from assassins, intelligence foot soldiers, and cops. Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93) with the director’s thrilling, trademark textures and shaky, documentary style, The Bourne Ultimatum is largely a succession of action scenes that reveal a lot about the story’s characters while they’re under duress. Joan Allen, Albert Finney, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, and Paddy Considine comprise the film’s terrific supporting cast, and the well-traveled movie leads viewers through Turin, Madrid, Tangiers, Paris, London, and New York. Overall, this is a satisfying conclusion to Bourne’s exciting and protracted mystery. --Tom Keogh

Click to learn more about the BD-Live Experience


Lord of the Rings Instrumental Solos: Flute (Book & CD) (The Lord of the Rings; the Motion Picture Trilogy)

Warner Bros. Publications

List Price: $12.95
Price: $11.01
You Save: $1.94 (15%)

Product Description

Twelve themes from all three blockbuster films. Includes: The Prophecy, In Dreams, Concerning Habits, Many Meetings, The Black Rider, Gollum’s Song, Rohan, Evenstar, Forth Eorlings, Into The West, The Stewart Of Gondor and Minas Tirith. Each book contains a carefully edited part that is appropriate for the Level 2-3 player and a fully orchestrated accompaniment CD. Each theme on the CD is presented as a "demonstration" track (which features that particular instrument) and also as a "play-along" track without the solo instrument.