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FTN CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE: Books

December 17th, 2013 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

Struggling to find that perfect literary gift for your families and friends this Christmas, look no further FTN has the solution- here is a list of the top ten best literary gifts available this Christmas for the gamers, movie buffs, horror aficionados and sci-fi nerds in your life.

Number 10- Thrills and spills for thriller fans.
Accidents Waiting to Happen.
Author: Simon Wood.
Paperback: 295 pages
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (13 Nov 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1612184022
ISBN-13: 978-1612184029
RRP: £8.99

Josh Michaels isn’t wanted dead or alive—just dead. That fact becomes shockingly clear when a stranger runs his car off the road. Instead of a helping hand, the man gives Josh a “thumbs down” and abandons him to what is almost certainly a watery grave. Luckily, Josh cheats death… this time. But when more harrowing “accidents” threaten his life, it’s clear he’s a marked man.

Are his past mistakes coming back to bite him? Or is something more sinister afoot? And how can he convince his family, friends, and especially the cops, that he’s in danger? The harder Josh fights to stay alive, the more determined his unknown enemy is to see him dead. And the deeper he digs for answers, the more chilling the truth becomes. As his time and luck rapidly run out, he must unmask an insidious conspiracy bent on making a killing—in more ways than one.

Nerve-jangling noir doesn’t get much blacker than Simon Wood’s top speed trip into cold-blooded murder and hot-blooded vengeance.

Number 9- For fussy teens
ZOM-B Angels (Hardcover)
Author: Darren Shan
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books (20 Jun 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0857077643
ISBN-13: 978-0857077646
Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.2 x 2.6 cm
RRP: £12.99

Where can you find shelter in a city of the damned? How can you build a new life if you’re undead? Who can you trust in a world gone mad? B Smith has come to a crossroads…

After spending the last few months wandering around London–a city filled with the dead–B Smith has given up hope for any sign of normal human existence. But then B finds strange signs all over the city–a “Z” plus red arrows. Following them, B finds The Angels– a group gathered in the hopes of combating the evil dead and the forces that introduced them. But all is not as it seems and it’s up to B to find out: what battle are they truly waging?

Number 8 – One for the Kids.
My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish (Unabridged, Paperback)
Author: Mo O’Hara
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books; 1 edition (28 Feb 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1447227980
ISBN-13: 978-1447227984
Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 1.4 cm
RRP: £4.99

‘Sami was still holding the goldfish. “Swishy little fishy,” she whispered, over and over. Frankie stared at her with his big, bulging, glowing eyes. Suddenly a little light bulb went on . . . Frankie was a Big Fat Zombie Goldfish and somehow he’d hypnotized my best friend’s sister!’ Tom’s big brother is an Evil Scientist who wants to experiment on Tom’s new goldfish, Frankie. Can Tom save his fish from being dunked in radioactive gunge? Er, no. In an act of desperation Tom zaps Frankie with a battery, bringing him back to life! But there’s something weird about the new Frankie – he’s now a zombie goldfish with hypnotic powers, and he wants revenge . . . Tom has a difficult choice to make – save his evil brother, or save his fishy friend?

Number 7-A must have for Sci-fi nerds
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars (Hardcover)
Author: Ian Doescher
RRP: £11.99

May the verse be with you! Inspired by one of the greatest creative minds in the English language – and William Shakespeare – here is an officially licensed retelling of George Lucas’ epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon.

The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter, William Shakespeare’s Star Wars will astound and edify learners and masters alike.

Zounds! This is the book you’re looking for.

Number 6- Ideal book for gamers
The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia
Hardcover:
276 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse (29 Jan 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616550414
ISBN-13: 978-1616550417
Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 2.8 x 30.5 cm
RRP: £25.99

Dark Horse Books and Nintendo team up to bring you The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, containing an unparalleled collection of historical information on The Legend of Zelda franchise.

This handsome hardcover contains never-before-seen concept art, the full history of Hyrule, the official chronology of the games, and much more! Starting with an insightful introduction by the legendary producer and video-game designer of Donkey Kong, Mario, and The Legend of Zelda, Shigeru Miyamoto, this book is crammed full of information about the storied history of Link’s adventures from the creators themselves!

As a bonus, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia includes an exclusive comic by the foremost creator of The Legend of Zelda manga – Akira Himekawa!

Number 5- For the joker in your life
Let Me Off at the Top! : My Classy Life and Other Musings (Hardcover)
Author: Ron Burgundy
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Century (19 Nov 2013)
Language: Unknown
ISBN-10: 1780892241
ISBN-13: 978-1780892245
Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.5 x 2.4 cm
RRP: £16.99

The autobiography everyone has been waiting for: a shockingly candid and raw confessional from an international treasure.

The world’s most trusted and beloved television News Anchor, Ron Burgundy, pulls no punches in Let Me Off at the Top! Burgundy tells the tale of his humble beginnings in a desolate Iowa coal-mining town to his years at Our Lady Queen of Chewbacca High School to his odds-defying climb to the dizzying heights of Anchordom.

In his very own words Burgundy reveals his most private thoughts, his triumphs – and his disappointments. His life reads like an adventure story complete with knock-down fights, beautiful women and double-fisted excitement on every page. He has hunted jackalopes with Bobby Kennedy and Peter Lawford, had more than his share of amorous exploits and formed the greatest on-air team in the history of televised news. Along the way, he’s hobnobbed with people you wish you knew and some you honestly wish you didn’t- celebrities, presidents, presidents’ wives, celebrities’ wives, dogs and, of course, Veronica Corningstone, the love of his life. Who didn’t Mr. Burgundy, or ‘Ron’, as he is known to his friends, rub elbows with in the course of his colourful and often criminal life?

This may well be the most thrilling book ever written, by a man of great physical, moral and spiritual strength and, not surprisingly, a great literary talent as well. We owe it to him, and to ourselves, to read it.

With never-before-seen photographs. Some in colour!

 

Number 4- For TV buffs
Fringe – September’s Notebook. (Hardcover.)
Authors: Tara Bennett , Paul Terry, Jeff Pinkner and J F Wyman.
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Titan Books (15 Mar 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1781166099
ISBN-13: 978-1781166093
Product Dimensions: 28.6 x 25.2 x 2.8 cm
RRP: £29.99.

Delve into television’s most otherworldly phenomenon! Fringe: September’s Notebook is a uniquely in-world collection that explores the intricate destinies of Walter Bishop, Peter Bishop, and Olivia Dunham. Gathered by the Observer known only as September, these pages reveal new truths about the Fringe Division and Massive Dynamic. The book also closely examines the Amber timeline and the alternate universe Over There.

Packed with concept art, exclusive photos, and intriguing ephemera, September’s Notebook will satisfy every serious fan’s hunger for details about the Observers, quirks and little-known facts about each character, insight into Fringe Science, and much more. Easter eggs throughout build on the many symbols and codes woven into the show’s fabric, uncovering truths never before revealed.

With its layered storytelling, well-rendered characters, and complex overarching narrative, Fringe is the ideal show around which to publish, and Fringe: September’s Notebook provides a totally immersive reading experience.

Number 3- For comic and graphic novel fans
Batman Volume 3: Death of the Family HC (The New 52) (Hardcover)
Authors: Scott Snyder and Gregg Capullo.
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: DC Comics (15 Nov 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401242340
ISBN-13: 978-1401242343Product Dimensions: 26.8 x 17.4 x 1.2 cm
RRP: £18.99

After having his face sliced off, The Joker makes his horrifying return to Gotham City in this epic from issues #13-17 that shook Batman to his core! But even for a man who’s committed a lifetime of murder, he’s more dangerous than ever before. How can Batman protect his city and those he’s closest to?

This new hardcover features an acetate dust jacket showcasing the face of The Joker as it appeared on the die-cut covers of the “Death of the Family” comics — and under that dust jacket lies the horror that is The Joker’s skinless skull!

 

Number 2- Perfect for Star Wars fans
Star Wars Frames
Hardcover: 736 pages
Publisher: Abrams; Reprint edition (5 Nov 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1419704702
ISBN-13: 978-1419704703
Product Dimensions: 36.2 x 32 x 9 cm
RRP: £100.00

After George Lucas finished work on 2005’s Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, he wanted to look back on the now-completed Star Wars Saga through an entirely new point-of-view: isolating stills, or frames, from each of the six Star Wars films, focusing on them intensely as works of photography and design and reproducing them in a book.

For two years, Lucas went through more than 200,000 frames per film, eventually editing more than a million frames down to the 1,416 images that now comprise Star Wars: Frames, an essential part of the Saga and a testament to the hard work, craftsmanship and dedication evident in every frame of every film. Within the pages of Frames, iconic and unexpected moments from each film reveal abstractions and deepen appreciations of the films’ artistry.

Star Wars: Frames, previously available only as a $3,000 limited edition, presents these stills in a new, lower-priced edition, bringing together Lucas’s personal shot-by-shot selections from all six Star Wars films into a lavishly designed two-volume hardcover set–one volume for the Original Trilogy and one volume for the Prequel Trilogy.

For collectors and fans, Star Wars: Frames is a more affordable edition of this grand project devoted to the art and craftsmanship of a cinematic phenomenon–an essentially photographic and yet filmic, look at the cinema of George Lucas, printed with the highest production values–the ultimate Star Wars book and collector’s piece.

Number 1- Perfect for horror fans.
Doctor Sleep
Author: Stephen King
Hardcover: 500 pages
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (24 Sep 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1444761161
ISBN-13: 978-1444761160
Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 23.4 cm
RRP: £19.99

An epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

King says he wanted to know what happened to Danny Torrance, the boy at the heart of The Shining, after his terrible experience in the Overlook Hotel. The instantly riveting Doctor Sleep picks up the story of the now middle-aged Dan, working at a hospice in rural New Hampshire, and the very special twelve-year old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless – mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the ‘steam’ that children with the ‘shining’ produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him and a job at a nursing home where his remnant ‘shining’ power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes ‘Doctor Sleep.’

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.