When Tryfan, son of Bracken and Rebecca, returns to the sacred Burrows of Uffington, he finds dreadful signs of death and destruction. For out of the chilly North have swarmed the grikes, a fanatical tribe of warrior moles bent on destroying all believers in the powers of the Stone. Tryfan’s duty is clear – to muster and protect the few remaining Stone followers from the evil that seems certain to engulf them. With only a frail and timid mole named Spindle for company, he sets off on an epic journey… But can he save his friends?

The ruthless war against the Stone has almost been won by disciples of the Word – only wild Siabod and mysterious Beechenhill still hold out, and everywhere the followers of the Stone go in peril of their lives. Yet in the shadows of Duncton Wood a new light is shining. For the Stone Mole has come, to revive the moles’ faith in themselves and in the ancient power of the Stone to defeat and deny the evil Word. But it is a task that will demand a greater sacrifice than any mole has yet to face…

The climactic final volume in the Hyddenworld sequence, a lyrical epic fantasy adventure of bravery, loss and a quest for the impossible. ONLY COURAGE CAN SAVE THEIR LANDS Storms rage as the worst winter in living memory ravages the human and Hydden worlds. The prophesied End of Days is here and the universe is dying, yet only a few are even aware of the forces at work. Jack and Katherine must help their friend Bedwyn Stort halt this chaos by locating the last gem of Winter, something only he can do. Then it must be returned to the Earth's unwilling guardian, their daughter Judith. She will need it to try and reignite the fires of the universe. Yet Stort is riddled with uncertainty. He yearns for Judith, as she does for him, but a love between mortal and immortal cannot be. To find the gem, he must solve this conundrum and vanquish death itself. But can he really lead mortalkind to salvation? The climactic final volume in the Hyddenworld sequence, a lyrical epic fantasy adventure of bravery, loss and a quest for the impossible, from William Horwood, the acclaimed author of the Duncton Wood novels.

This stunning sequel follows the further adventures of four of the most beloved characters in English literature: loyal Mole, resourceful Water Rat, stern but wise Badger, and of course, capricious, irresistible Toad. In this new tale, the comfortable bachelor world of the River Bank is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of a formidable female character who seems to win Toad's heart. Recognizing the familiar danger signals, his long-suffering companions must do all that they can to save the infatuated Toad from himself. Enriched once again by the delightful illustrations of Patrick Benson, Toad Triumphant is another captivating tale for audiences and imaginations everywhere.

The epic million-copy bestseller, available as an ebook for the first time The moles of Duncton Wood live in the shadow of Mandrake, a cruel tyrant corrupted by absolute power. A solitary young mole, Bracken, is thrown into leading the fight to free Duncton Wood. Only by putting his trust in the ancient Stone, forgotten symbol of a great spiritual past, can he find the strength to challenge Mandrake’s darkness. When Bracken falls in love with Rebecca, Mandrake’s daughter, the moles must make life and death choices as their extraordinary search for freedom and truth begins… Together Bracken and Rebecca will embark on moving journey that will challenge them in ways they could never have imagined. But can they save Duncton before it’s too late? Duncton Wood is the first instalment in The Duncton Chronicles, an unforgettable six-book series now widely regarded as a fantasy classic. For readers of J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Jacques and Richard Adams’ Watership Down, this is a quest into the heart of nature, the redemptive power of love and the triumph of spirit. The Duncton Chronicles Duncton Wood Duncton Quest Duncton Found (ebook coming soon) Praise for Duncton Wood ‘An inspiring novel… An epic in the tradition of The Lord of the Rings’ Sunday Times ‘A breathtaking achievement’ Washington Post ‘A passionate, lyrical, appealing tale… Consistently absorbing… Enchanting’ Cosmopolitan ‘A great big mole-epic with a great big theme’ Daily Mail ‘Horwood has placed his astute ear to the ground and fashioned… a modern masterpiece… Classic themes of conflict are here, good and evil, love and hate, the clash of traditional and modern values.’ Houston Chronicle ‘Destined to be a classic… A beautiful story.’ Little Rock Arkansas Gazette 'An earthy epic fantasy… The themes of power, survival, passion, courage, sacrifice, love and devotion are presented with astonishing clarity.' Los Angeles Times Book Review ‘An absolute spell-binder, by Lord of the Rings out of Watership Down. I found it enchanting, compulsive reading… I am still haunted by its beauty’ Magnus Magnusson ‘The stuff of legend… Horwood’s natural world is lyrically realised, his mole empire a delight, his romantic tale full of adventure, suspense, battle and searchings… A rich, cautionary fairy tale.’ Publishers Weekly ‘More readable and more rewarding than The Lord of the Rings’ The Times ‘Special, endearing, successful… truly touching… This is a novel for the pure-at-heart and slightly naive, for the childishness in the weary, and the children we should be having… Allegorically fabulous.’ Village Voice ‘Luxuriantly written… richly drawn, painting a detailed and loving panorama.’ Associated Press

The twelve days of Christmas are fast approaching and Mole is planning to enjoy every one of them with his River Bank friends. So when the normally cheerful Toad despairs at the arrival of Mrs. Ffleshe, an impossibly rude houseguest who every year sets out to protect Toad from overindulgence, Mole must do something about it. But the plan he hatches with Ratty, Badger, and Otter goes horribly wrong. With the prospect of spending Christmas in jail, Mole will have to work hard if he is to salvage some Christmas spirit for his friends. The Willows at Christmas is the crowning achievement of William Horwood's enchanting sequels to Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. The new story is set just after the original, but before Horwood's critically acclaimed The Willows in Winter. It will give pleasure to the countless readers around the world who have reveled in each new work. Merry Christmas!

This is the second book in The Book of Silence, the second of the Duncton Trilogies… As Privet, scholar and scribemole and her adopted son Whillan escape from Duncton Wood in search of the Book of Silence, the Newborn Inquisitors seek to take the system over. Only old Stour, Master Librarian, and the timid aide Pumpkin, can defend Duncton and the precious Books of Moledom against the Newborn moles. But time is running out as Privet journeys in search of the lost and last book. To find it she and her friends must go to Caer Caradoc, centre of the Newborns’ power and face Thripp himself. There, too, she must reveal the secrets of her past and give up all hope of reconciliation with the only mole she had ever truly loved: Rooster, Master of the Delve. But it may be too little, too late for Duncton Wood itself as its brave moles struggle against the Newborns’ oppression, with only their faith, the Stone and their hope in Privet to sustain them.

The adventure of a lifetime is just beginning… It has lain lost and forgotten for fifteen hundred years in the ancient heartland of England – a scrap of glass and metal melded by fierce fire. It is the lost core of a flawless Sphere made by the greatest of the Anglo-Saxon CraeftLords in memory of the one he loved. Her name was Spring and contained in the very heart of this work is a spark from the Fires of Creation. But while humans have lost their belief in such things, the Hydden – little people existing on the borders of our world – have not. Breaking the silence of centuries they send one of their own, a young boy, Jack, to live among humans in the hope that he may one day find what has been lost for so long. His journey leads him to Katherine, a girl he rescues from a tragic accident – it’s a meeting that will change everything. It is only through their voyage into the dangerous Hyddenworld that they will realize their destiny, find love and complete the great quest that will save both their worlds from destruction. Their journey begins with Spring…

Born of the Hyddenworld but living in our reality – Jack knows that he has a foot in both worlds but doesn't wholly belong to either. Even his relationship with his wife can't convince him that this is the place where he truly belongs. He has to decide – is he human, or hydden? Leaving everything he loves behind, including his daughter Judith, Jack travels back to the Hyddenworld to try to find the missing gem of summer. Judith is also a child of two worlds with her human mother and giant-born hyddenworld father. She knows her destiny, she knows who she is supposed to be – but she's tortured. She feels just like a normal teenage girl, with typical teenage angst. How could she possibly be the legendary Shield-Maiden? While Judith tries to come to term with her future, the world around her is starting to deteriorate. The weather is changing and destruction and upheaval follow in its wake. Jack knows that the four gems need to be reunited soon and that the Shield-Maiden needs to be ready to wield them. And if Judith can't accept her destiny, or the gems can't be found, then both the Hydden world and the human are threatened with extinction.

A century after the great days of moledom described in the great Chronicles, Privet, a lonely female pilgrim from the north, arrives in fabled Duncton Wood. Only old Stour, Master of the Library, realizes the importance of her quest. For Privet seeks an answer to moledom’s final mystery: where and what is the Book of Silence, whose scribe nomole knows, whose content none can guess, whose existence many still doubt? Decades of harmony have passed since the brave moles of Duncton saved moledom’s peaceful Stone followers from the disciples of the evil Word. But now all is not well. Their system has grown sleepy, while moledom is dangerously complacent about the spread of zealots from Caer Caradoc. Led by the sinister Thripp of Blagrove Slide, the Newborns believe that any other way than theirs to the Stone’s Silence is blasphemy and deserves death. As the Caradocian moles gain power, shy Privet, aided by Stour and inspired by the strange and inarticulate Rooster, finds herself the agent of change and renewal in Duncton Wood.

For now, in an act of homage and celebration, William Horwood has brought to life once more the four most-loved characters in English literature: the loyal Mole, the resourceful Water Rat, the stern but wise Badger, and, of course, the exasperating, irresistible Toad. The result is an enchanting, unforgettable new novel, enlivened by delightful illustrations, in which William Horwood has recaptured all the joy, magic, and good humor of Grahame's great work - and Toad is still as exasperatingly lovable as he ever was.

William Horwood is the author of the acclaimed Duncton trilogies. Patrick Benson studied at the Chelsea Art School and St. Martin's School of Art. Both live in England.

It is August, time of the first harvest, traditional time of plenty. But at the farthest reaches of the Hyddenworld, in sea-bound Englalond, disaster looms. A blight in the land is growing, marked by quakes and increasingly unnatural blizzards. Judith is tasked with healing the land, but this burden is almost unbearable. Lonely and lovelorn, she threatens to reap a terrible harvest of her own. Yet a trio of hydden travellers hold out hope – for both the land and the war threatening the hydden people. For Jack and Katherine, Judith’s parents, the shadow of the hydden Empire’s army looms large. They must muster allies or it will mean disaster for the city of Brum. And only Bedwyn Stort, Brum’s famed scrivener, has the courage to unravel a secret that could heal their world. The lost gem of Autumn must be found and Stort must risk death to seek it. Only his love for Judith will give him the will to endure – and bring her the gem she needs to tame the wild earth.

Under the cruel leadership of Quail, sectarian Newborns have taken control of the key systems of Moledom. But the loyal followers of the Stone have not given up. In Duncton Wood, home of spiritual truth and liberty, resistance lives on. Its champion is the timid Library aide Pumpkin, while in holy Uffington, Fieldfare inspires revolt. Even in dread Wildenhope, headquarters of the Newborn leadership, the once-evil Thripp, strives to undermine Quail’s position and right the wrongs he originally inspired. Meanwhile, Stone followers everywhere await news of Privet, female scholar and scribemole, and of her quest for the lost Book of Silence. Even if she finds it, will she have the strength to bring it home?