Larkin's final collection of poems shows, as does all his best work, his ability to adapt contemporary speech rhythms and everyday vocabulary to subtle metrical patterns and poetic forms. Many of the poems in the collection, which includes some of his best-known pieces ('The Old Fools', 'This Be the Verse', 'The Explosion', and the title poem) show the preoccupation with death and transience that is so typical of the poet.
This beautifully designed edition forms part of a series of ten titles celebrating Faber's publishing over the decades.
';True Detective meets Swamp Thing in the Artemis Fowl author's neo-noirish thriller about a curmudgeonly dragon in Louisiana.'The Guardian
From The New York Times bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series comes a hilarious and high-octane adult novel about a vodka-drinking, Flashdance-loving dragon who lives an isolated life in the bayous of Louisiana, and the raucous adventures that ensue when he crosses paths with a fifteen-year-old troublemaker on the run from a crooked sheriffnow available as a limited limited Olive Edition from Harper Perennial.
In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs; now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his La-Z-Boy recliner. Wyvern, Lord Highfire, of the Highfire Eyrie, who once struck fear in hearts far and wide, is reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binge-watching Netflix in a fishing shack. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon, yet no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness in his molten core.
Vern's glory days are long goneor are they? A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett ';Squib' Moreau does what he can to survive. He's finally decided to work for a shady smugglerbut on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by crooked constable Regence Hooke.
When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself most unexpectedly rescued by a real live dragon.
The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as Vern's go-between in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation in which dragons either finally become extinctor Vern's glory days are back.
The full set of books in the 2026 Olive Editions series include:
The much-praised novel of the original 1980s classic film, the inspiration for a new major blockbuster starring Henry Cavill
'There Can Be Only One'
The battle rages across the centuries, from the wind-scoured Sahara to the wild Russian steppes to the rocky crags of Scotland. And only one Immortal can survive.
MacLeod is the Highlander. A Scottish clan warrior from the 16th century, he was taught the deadly arts by an ancient mentor, who then suffered the only wound that can end an Immortal's life: decapitation.
Now, seven lifetimes later, MacLeod faces the final test. The Kurgan, his ancient adversary, has tracked him all the way to the streets of New York City.
The fight will be the same: blade to blade. Only the outcome is in doubt. Will the Highlander win? Or will the Kurgan's scimitar stop him with a blow that will plunge the earth itself into an era of darkness and chaos?
Based on the cult film classic, the original novel, republished for a new generation.