Philip Palmer

THE GREAT WEST WOOD is a magic realist thriller set in the South London suburb of Westwood. A vibrant urban village set upon a hilltop, looking out across London, in an area once covered by an ancient forest. This is a place where magic is taken for granted; where trees can talk; and children can float; and where a long-dead peat body can be resurrected to become a much-feared crime boss. This is a strange, wonderful, original and exhilarating fantasy novel with vivid, compelling characters, leavened with wit and humour.

When the corpse on the mortuary slab sits up and speaks to Hayley, asking for her help, she thinks she's losing her mind. If only it were that simple... A tense and fast-paced tale of a secret society through which the privileged govern from the shadows, of immortality bought at a horrific price.

Three lively retellings of Daniel Defoe’s classic novels, plus two bonus programmes about his extraordinary life and far-reaching influence. Robinson Crusoe and his Farther Adventures An imaginative blend of the famous castaway tale and its lesser-known sequel, this thrilling drama sees Crusoe setting sail for the far north. Facing danger in the Siberian wastes, he keeps terror at bay by telling his companions campfire tales of his many adventures on his beloved island. Starring Tim McInnerney as Crusoe. Moll Flanders When Daniel Defoe meets Elizabeth Atkins in Newgate jail, she recounts her stranger-than-fiction story of a rags-to-riches life that took her from prostitution to prosperity – but culminated in destitution. Inspired, Defoe mixes fact and fiction to re-invent her as one of his most engaging characters: Moll Flanders. Starring Ben Miles as Defoe and Jessica Hynes as Elizabeth Atkins. A Journal of the Plague Year Writing a fictional journal of the Great Plague of 1665, Defoe soon comes to be haunted by the characters he is conjuring. Starring Ben Miles as Defoe. This exciting new collection of reinvented tales will also include two bonus programmes about Daniel Defoe himself:Defoe: Merchant, Writer, Convict, Spy by Philip Palmer - A biographical drama about Defoe’s life, starring Ben Miles as Defoe and Niamh Cusack as his wife Mary. Defoe: The Facts and Fictions - A documentary by Mark Lawson, exploring the far-reaching influence of the pioneering author.

Artemis McIvor is a thief, a con-artist, and a stone cold killer. And she's been on a crime-spree for, well, for years. The galactic government has collapsed and the universe was hers for the taking. But when the cops finally catch up with her, they give Artemis a choice. Suffer in prison for the rest of her very long life, or join a crew of criminals, murderers, and traitors on a desperate mission to save humanity against an all-consuming threat. Now, Artemis has to figure out how to be a good guy without forgetting who she really is.

She's a stone cold killer, a rebel and a librarian ... Raised on the library planet of Rebus, Artemis McIvor has a love of books in a future where reading is a lost art. Unfortunately, she's also been imprisoned for a string of brutal murders she didn't commit. Not that she hasn't killed people. She just didn't kill these people. A war is coming and Artemis will find that her talents will be in high demand. But she has debts to pay and when they come due she will have a choice: fight for her freedom, or die a slave.

The Hell Ship hurtles through space. Inside the ship are thousands of slaves, each the last of their race. The Hell Ship and its infernal crew destroyed their homes, slaughtered their families and imprisoned them forever. One man refuses to accept his fate. Sharrock, reduced from hero to slave in one blow, has sworn a mighty vengeance. But help is closer than he knows. Jak has been following the Ship for years. Battle after battle has left Jak scarred and broken, a mind in a starship's body, bent on destroying the Ship for its crimes. Working together, can they end this interstellar nightmare?

A wide-screen adventure of death and robots on a violent frontier world.

The Exodus Universe. Your odds of surviving quantum teleportation are, more or less, fifty/fifty. The only ones crazy enough to try it are the desperate, the insane, and those sentenced to exile for their crimes. Belladonna is home to the survivors of the fifty/fifty -- and is therefore a planet run by criminals and thieves. But when a horrific and improbable murder catches the attention of the Galactic Police force, one cyborg cop -- Version 43 -- is sent to investigate. Version 43 has been here before and has old friends and older enemies lying in wait. The cop was human once, but now, he is more program than man and will find a way to clean up this planet once and for all.

Take an entirely unexpected voyage through the cosmos in a space opera dubbed "an intelligent action adventure replete with intellectual rigour, human insight and superb storytelling" by The Guardian. From Space Marines to alien jungles filled with terrifying monsters and killer robots, you'll lose yourself in Philip Palmer's utterly inventive, wild journey -- an extraterrestrial scientific expedition that goes horribly awry. "It's been a while since I've read a science fiction novel as invigoratingly original in approach and theme as this one Morning Star Red Claw moves at a relentless pace . . . I was hooked" -- TheBookBag.com

Professor Richard Helms heads up a tight-knit band of scientists and soldiers sent to explore New Amazon, a lush but savage planet seemingly determined to attack them at every turn. When they are done cataloguing every detail of this vast, unfamiliar ecosystem, they will burn it to the ground and make it fit for human habitation. But when the team falls under attack, Helms and his followers are forced to flee into the depths of the jungle. Here, old enemies and petty rivalries surface as they struggle to survive. They soon end up fighting for their lives - against the planet they are exploring, the robots designed to protect them and, most of all, against each other. For the countdown into madness is ticking. Palmer burns a new path for science fiction in this gripping, dark tale of man's place in the universe.

Flanagan (who is, for want of a better word, a pirate) has a plan. It seems relatively simple: kidnap Lena, the Cheo's daughter, demand a vast ransom for her safe return, sit back and wait. Only the Cheo, despotic ruler of the known universe, isn't playing ball. Flanagan and his crew have seen this before, of course, but since they've learned a few tricks from the bad old days (being particularly bad if you happen to have been one of the myriad sons or daughters the Cheo let die rather than give in to blackmail) and since they know something about Lena that should make the plan foolproof, the Cheo's defiance is a major setback. It is a situation that calls for extreme measures. Luckily, Flanagan has considerable experience in this area. . .