Classic Fiction

Nestled deep in the mist-shrouded mountains, The Village of Eight Graves takes its name from a bloody legend: in the sixteenth century, eight samurai, who had taken refuge there along with a secret treasure, were murdered by the inhabitants, bringing a terrible curse down upon their village. Centuries later, a mysterious young man named Tatsuya arrives in town, bringing a...

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. In a moment I was clutched by several hands, and there was no mistaking that they were trying to haul me back . . . You can scarce imagine how nauseatingly inhuman they looked – those pale chinless faces and great, lidless, pinkish-grey eyes! An English scientist regales...

Kinue Nomura survived World War II only to be murdered in Tokyo, her severed limbs discovered in a room locked from the inside. Gone is the part of her that bore one of the most beautiful full-body tattoos ever rendered. Kenzo Matsushita, a young doctor who was first to discover the crime scene, feels compelled to assist his detective brother,...

'A fiendishly clever tale of ambition, deception, and power' - Derren Brown Belfast, 1914. Two years after the sinking of the Titanic, high society has become obsessed with spiritualism, attending séances in the hope they might reach their departed loved ones. William Jackson Crawford is a man of science and a sceptic, but one night with everyone sitting around the...

'A tantalising mystery... a mesmerising work of literature' - Antony Beevor 'Truly troubling, a weird meditation on death, war and sex' - Paris Review A superb early postmodern classic by one of Nabokov's fellow émigré writers, rediscovered after more than half a century A man comes across a short story which recounts in minute detail his killing of a soldier,...

The Sound Of One Hand Clapping is described as a 'heartbreaking story, beautifully told' by the Literary Review, and it delivers from its wonderfully atmospheric opening to its touching conclusion. Written by the winner of the Man Booker Prize, The Sound Of One Hand Clapping is one of the most-loved and biggest-selling literary novels in Australian history. In the winter...

‘A kind of miracle … Not only made me laugh (again and again) but brought tears to my eyes’ Jonathan Franzen ‘One of the most brilliant satirical novels about life in East Berlin’ New York Times Thomas Brussig’s classic German satire, translated into English for the first time and introduced by Jonathan Franzen, is a comedic, moving account of life...

‘A kind of miracle … Not only made me laugh (again and again) but brought tears to my eyes’ Jonathan Franzen ‘One of the most brilliant satirical novels about life in East Berlin’ New York Times Thomas Brussig’s classic German satire, translated into English for the first time and introduced by Jonathan Franzen, is a comedic, moving account of life...

Germany, November 1938: Otto Silbermann receives a knock on his door and realises he must flee. A respected German-Jewish businessman, he has managed to evade the escalating brutality of the Nazi regime. But now, as he and his wife plan to leave, all avenues are shut down and he is forced to abandon his home amid the untrammelled violence of...

An apartment on the rue Morgue turned into a charnel house; the corpse of a shopgirl dragged from the Seine; a high-stakes game of political blackmail—three mysteries that have enthralled the whole of Paris, and baffled the city's police. The brilliant Chevalier Auguste Dupin investigates—can he find the solution where so many others before him have failed? These three stories...

WINNER OF THE CWA SILVER DAGGER 'In a class of his own' - Guardian 'Reads like a breathless scalpel through the bloody heart of a great city' - Denise Mina Eck Adamson, an alcoholic vagrant, summons Jack Laidlaw to his deathbed. Probably the only policeman in Glasgow who would bother to respond, Laidlaw sees in Eck's cryptic last message a...

The Napoleon of Notting Hill is G. K. Chesterton's wild and whimsical debut novel, set in a future embattled London. London, 1984. Democracy has given up the ghost. England's ruler is randomly selected, and this year it's Auberon Quin, a clerk with an odd sense of humour. Quin mandates that each borough of London become an independent neo-medievalist state, complete...

Every year, a small group of acquaintances pay a visit to the remote, castle-like Mill House, home to the reclusive Fujinuma Kiichi, son of a famous artist, who has lived his life behind a rubber mask ever since a disfiguring car accident. This year, however, the visit is disrupted by an impossible disappearance, the theft of a painting and a...

A new collection of Rudyard Kipling's short stories, selected and edited by Jan Montefiore. Rudyard Kipling is one of the most magical storytellers in the English language. This new selection brings together the best of his short writings, following the development of his work over fifty years. They take us from the harsh, cruel, vividly realised world of the 'Indian'...

In the packed queue for a popular West End Theatre in 1920s London, the crowd surges forward as the doors open at last. But as they do so, one of their number falls to the ground - a man, stabbed in the back with a stiletto while people jostled for position in the throng. There is nothing in the man's...

The Magic Pudding was first cooked in 1918, and thousands of children (and their parents) have been relishing it ever since. Norman Lindsay's timeless classic follows the adventures of debonair young koala Bunyip Bluegum, sailor Bill Barnacle and penguin Sam Sawnoff—owners of the much-desired Magic Puddin' Albert—who try to outwit Possum and Wombat, the professional, and extraordinarily persistent, puddin' thieves....

Winner, Miles Franklin Literary Award Winner, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction - NSW Premier's Literary Awards Shortlisted, Stella Award Shortlisted, Victorian Premier's Literary Awards - Fiction Shortlisted, Kibble Literary Prize 'I so much admire Michelle de Kretser's formidable technique - her characters feel alive, and she can create a sweeping narrative which encompasses years, and yet still retain the sharp,...

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories adds the best-known works of Washington Irving to the Chartwell Classics series. Washington Irving's short stories have captured the imaginations of generations since they were originally published in the early nineteenth century. His stories are sometimes chilling and sometimes reflections of society, but they are consistently filled with adventure and a joy...

One of America's best-loved short stories, plus other tales, in a handsome, collectible edition. Washington Irving's short stories have captured the imaginations of generations since the early nineteenth century. Now book lovers can enjoy The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, "Rip Van Winkle," "A Sunday in London," "John Bull," and "Christmas" in this stunning new edition of The Legend of Sleepy...

The Last Girls Standing, a queer YA psychological thriller from the author of Some Girls Do, is now available in paperback and features a glow-in-the-dark cover! "Shocking, captivating, and utterly chilling. A delicious thriller that will have you tearing through pages to get to the end, where you won't be disappointed." - Jessica Goodman, bestselling author of They Wish They...

Glamorous socialite Iris Carr is on her way back to England from a European summer holiday and looking forward to the comforts of home, when she strikes up a conversation with the kindly Miss Froy on the train to Trieste. Irene warms to her companion, and is alarmed when Miss Froy suddenly disappears from the train. Worse still, she is...

In 1940s Japan, the wealthy head of the Inugami Clan dies, setting off a chain of bizarre, gruesome murders. Detective Kindaichi must unravel the clan's terrible secrets of forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty, and hidden identities to find the murderer. The Inugami Curse is a bloody, intricately plotted classic mystery from a giant of Japanese crime writing.

Relive the glorious excess of the roaring 1920s with this beautifully designed, jacketed hardcover edition of The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald's best-known novel is set in hedonistic Jazz Age Long Island and tells the story of millionaire Jay Gatsby and his pursuit of his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. A novel that touches on the topics of materialism, class, desire,...

Beautifully illustrated by Alice Tye, this is a cornerstone of modernist fiction and an incisive critique of wealth, class and the inescapable heartache of lost love. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings, and the champagne, and the stars. Glamour. Opulence. Excess. This is the world Jay Gatsby has created for himself,...

An epic, devastating, majestic mystery. Clever, richly imagined and outright thrilling — Chris Whitaker Berkeley, California 1944: A former presidential candidate is assassinated in one of the rooms at the opulent Claremont Hotel. A rich industrialist, Walter Wilkinson, could have been targeted by any number of adversaries. But Detective Al Sullivan's investigation brings up the spectre of another tragedy at...

The expected humour, warmth and sparkle is here, in every line of this new Everyman Library edition of The Girl on the Boat. When Sam Marlowe falls in love with his cousin's sparky ex-fiancée, he finds himself up against stiff opposition from her millionaire father, her father's best friend, and the best friend's son for whom she is destined, all...

New in Penguin Japanese Classics - a gripping novel about a love affair gone wrong. Introducing Penguin Japanese Classics - a collection of some of Japan's most celebrated and ground-breaking 20th-century writers, with covers inspired by Japanese art and design. Taking us from a sun-drenched affair in a seaside town to an underground 'ark' full of shadows and eccentrics, with...

The Fine Art of Invisible Detection is a BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club pick featuring an unlikely heroine, an even more unlikely detective, and a cold case resurfacing with deadly consequences. Dive into the new book from 'the world's greatest storyteller' (Guardian). 'One of the finest crime writers of any generation' - Daily Mail 'He's the high priest...

Amid the rubble of post-war Tokyo, inside the grand Tsubaki house, a once-noble family is in mourning. The old Viscount Tsubaki, a brooding, troubled composer, has been found dead. When the family gather for a divination to conjure the spirit of their departed patriarch, death visits the house once more, and the brilliant Kosuke Kindaichi is called in to investigate....

The members of a university mystery club decide to visit an island, which was the site of a grisly, unsolved multiple murder the year before. They're looking forward to investigating the crime, putting their passion for solving mysteries to practical use. However, before long, there is a fresh murder, and soon the club members realise they are being picked off...

A glamorous ship. A missing woman. A holiday to DIE for… The gripping thriller from the Sunday Times bestseller! ‘A brilliant new storyteller has arrived’ ERIN KELLY ‘Intense and claustrophobic’ HEAT ‘Agatha Christie with glamour’ SUNDAY TIMES A glamorous ship During a New Year’s Eve party on a large, luxurious cruise ship in the Caribbean, the ship’s dancer, Lola, goes...

One man's obsession with the mysterious life of a silent film star takes him on a journey into a shadow-world of lies, illusions, and unexpected love. After losing his wife and young sons in a plane crash, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in grief. Then, watching television one night, he stumbles upon a lost film by...

The second in a deliciously spine-tingling, spooky series. Turn on your torches and join Aveline Jones! Aveline is thrilled when she discovers that the holiday cottage her mum has rented for the summer is beside a stone circle. Thousands of years old, the local villagers refer to the ancient structure as the Witch Stones, and Aveline cannot wait to learn...

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 'We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.' Huck Finn escapes from his alcoholic father by...

Tales of the Greek Heroes by Roger Lancelyn Green is a cherished addition to the Favourite Puffin Classics series, now available in beautiful hardback. Immerse yourself in the mysterious and exciting legends of Ancient Greece, featuring tales of gods and heroes that have captivated readers for centuries. Journey through the adventures of Perseus, endure the challenging labours of Heracles, and...

When Charles Swann first lays eyes on Odette de Crecy, her beauty leaves him indifferent. Their paths continue to cross in the drawing rooms and theatres of Parisian high society, and the seeds of desire in Swann begin to flourish. What follows is a journey through self-delusion, jealousy and delirious fantasy, which will take Swann far from the sedate comfort...

In the quiet cul-de-sac where Keith and Stephen live, the only immediate signs of the Second World War are the blackouts at night and a single random bombsite. But the two boys start to suspect all is not what it seems when one day Keith announces a disconcerting discovery: the Germans have infiltrated his own family. And when the secret...

If you imagine you are going to read of model children, you had better lay down this book immediately. Not one of the seven is really good, for the very excellent reason that Australian children never are. And thank goodness. Inventive, cheeky and mischievous, Ethel Turner's seven little Australians are perfect just as we find them here. Their story of...

Gareth Hinds's stylish graphic adaptation of Shakespeare's romantic tragedy offers modern touches, including a diverse cast underscoring the story's universality. Romeo and Juliet tells the tale of two young lovers from rival families. She's a Capulet. He's a Montague. When they first meet, they remain unaware of their family's feud, and when they find out, they don't care. Their love...

Quicksand by Nella Larsen is a powerful first novel that evocatively portrays the racial and gender restrictions that can mark a life. Born to a white mother and an absent black father, and despised for her dark skin, Helga Crane has long had to fend for herself. As a young woman, Helga teaches at an all-black school in the South,...

Palo Alto is the debut of a powerful new literary voice. Written with an immediacy and sense of place, Palo Alto traces the lives of an extended group of teenagers as they experiment with vices of all kinds, struggle with their families and one another, and succumb to self-destructive, often heartless nihilism. Franco presents his characters in all their raw...

'He stretched himself. He rose. He stood upright in complete nakedness before us, and while the trumpets pealed "Truth! Truth! Truth!" we have no choice left but confess - he was a woman.' A young man in the court of the ageing Queen Elizabeth I, the beautiful Orlando seems to belong everywhere and nowhere. One morning, Orlando awakens transformed—transported into...

Inspector Maigret investigates a case of deception in an isolated community. Maigret has been interrogating Carl Andersen for seventeen hours without a confession. He's either innocent or a very good liar. So why was the body of a diamond merchant found at his isolated mansion? Why is his sister always shut away in her room? And why does everyone at...

The fierce, irreverent novel of aspiration and rebellion that is both a cornerstone of Australian literature and a feminist classic. Miles Franklin began the candid, passionate, and contrary My Brilliant Career when she was only sixteen, intending it to be the Australian answer to Jane Eyre. But the book she produced—a thinly veiled autobiographical novel about a young girl hungering...

A rich historical novel about the aftermath of betrayal, from the Booker prize-winner. 'What was freedom, she thought, other than the right to exercise one's choices?' Isabel Osmond, a spirited, intelligent young heiress, flees to London after being betrayed by her husband, to be with her beloved cousin Ralph on his deathbed. After a sombre, silent existence at her husband's...

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. ‘She had a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day.’ One hot summer’s day in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway sets out to buy...

A compelling collection of new Kafka translations in a Penguin Classics Deluxe edition. A brilliant new translation of Kafka's best-known work, published for the 125th anniversary of his birth. This collection of new translations brings together the small proportion of Kafka's works that he thought worthy of publication. It includes Metamorphosis, his most famous work, an exploration of horrific transformation...

In this classic Dr. Seuss tale, it’s time for Marvin K. Mooney to go to bed… but will he get the message? Some people just won’t take the hint when it’s time to go to bed, and Marvin K. Mooney is one of them… although he eventually gets the message! This fun tale by Dr. Seuss will delight young readers...

Here at last is an exciting new translation of the modernist Brazilian epic Macunaíma, by Mário de Andrade. This landmark novel from 1928 has been hugely influential. It follows the adventures of the shapeshifting Macunaíma and his brothers as they leave their home in the northern Amazon for a whirlwind tour of Brazil, cramming four centuries and a continental expanse...

WINNER OF THE CWA SILVER DAGGER 'If you only read one crime novel this year, this should be it' - Guardian 'A bloody good read' - Val McDermid When a young woman is found brutally murdered in Kelvingrove Park, only one man stands a chance of finding her killer. Jack Laidlaw. He is a man of contrasts, ravaged by inner...

‘Women are never lazy. They don't know what it is to be quiet. They are Semiramides, and Cleopatras, and Joan of Arcs, Queen Elizabeths, and Catharine the Seconds... To call them the weaker sex is to utter a hideous mockery. They are the stronger sex, the nosier, the more persevering, the most self-assertive sex.’ The beautiful and innocent-seeming Lady Audley...

An exquisite depiction of a doomed love affair, set in noirish 1950s New York. In a Manhattan bar, a middle-aged man tells a young woman of his love affair with a lonely divorcee; of how one night she was offered one thousand dollars to sleep with a stranger; and of how he and she would subsequently betray each other in...

THRILLERS THAT RACE FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE . . . 'Felix Francis' novels gallop along splendidly' Jilly Cooper ‘From winning post to top of the bestseller lists’ Sunday Times Iced features Miles Pussett, a former steeplechase jockey. Now he gets his adrenaline rush from riding down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, head first, reaching speeds of...

'A work of pure brilliance', Seattle Times From the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2014, this is his Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning novel. Once upon a time, which was called 1828, before all fishes in the sea and all living things on the land were destroyed, there was a man named William Buelow Gould. A white convict who fell in...

Wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit, a young aristocrat is sent to pay his dues in Van Diemen's Land. As a criminal in this new colony, Richard Devine is forced to endure tremendous suffering and inhumanity, from the baseless cruelty of those in power to the harsh brutalities of an untamed country. Yet, with enduring human spirit...

When five siblings - Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother, the Lamb - discover a sand-fairy in their gravel pit, they are jolly surprised and a little delighted. Even better, the Psammead is able to grant them wishes, although the magic wears off at the day's end. Unfortunately, all of the wishes the children make go hilariously wrong,...

'The places, events and people are all real. I have invented nothing.' Natalia Ginzburg wrote her masterful, Strega Prize-winning novel Family Lexicon while living in London in the 1960s. Homesick for her big, noisy Italian family, she summoned them in this novel, which is a celebration of the routines and rituals, in-jokes and insults, and above all, the repeated sayings...

Effi Briest is only seventeen when she is married off to Baron von Innstetten, travelling to live with him in a provincial town on the remote Baltic coast of Prussia. He is twenty years her senior, an ambitious bureaucrat who is uninterested in his young wife, and lively Effi becomes increasingly isolated, bored and anxious in her stifling surroundings. A...

In Dubliners, James Joyce takes us on an extraordinary journey with the ordinary men and women from the city of his birth. In 'Araby', a young boy struggles with everyday tasks in the face of a growing infatuation with his neighbour's sister; in 'The Boarding House', a single mother orchestrates a marriage proposal for her daughter; in 'The Dead', the...

Death on Gokumon Island is perfect summer fun - Anthony Horowitz Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the remote Gokumon Island bearing tragic news – the son of one of the island's most important families has died on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War. But Kindaichi has not come merely as a messenger – with...

When Wim and Marie, a young Dutch couple, agree to hide a Jewish man in their home during the Nazi occupation, they think they are fulfilling their patriotic duty. Tension and awkwardness reign in the house as they try to adapt to this forbidden guest, whom they know as Nico. Small accidents and unexpected encounters ensue as the dynamic unsettles...

A fun and festive tale by the author of Love in a Cold Climate The formidable, fox-hunting obsessed Lady Bobbin has put together a Christmas house party at Compton Bobbin. This includes her rebellious daughter Philadelphia, the girl's pompous suitor, a couple of children obsessed with newspaper death notices, and an aspiring writer whose deadly (in more ways than one)...

A biting science fiction satire of American racism, and one of the first works of Afrofuturism. It's New Year's Day in 1933 in New York City and Max Disher, a young black man, has just heard the news: a mysterious doctor has discovered a strange process that can turn black skin white—a new way to 'solve the American race problem'....

The first major poem in English literature, translated by Howell D. Chickering with the Old English on facing pages, Beowulf tells the story of the life and death of the legendary hero Beowulf in his three great battles with supernatural monsters. The ideal Anglo-Saxon warrior-aristocrat, Beowulf is an example of the heroic spirit at its finest. Leading Beowulf scholar Howell...

Explore Dickens' classic tale of order and disorder, death and resurrection with A Tale of Two Cities. Taking place in London and Paris in the eighteenth century, in the years leading up to and during the French Revolution, Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities is one of injustice, revenge, rebirth, love, and sacrifice. Originally published in thirty-one weekly installments...

Both a love song to Italy and a criticism of class and patriarchy in England at the time, this young adult illustrated edition is an exquisite, tumultuous romance. 'One doesn't come to Italy for niceness,' was the retort; 'one comes for life. Buon giorno! Buon giorno!' Lucy's rigid, middle-class life is meticulously mapped out for her. Boredom and monotony await,...

When Dublin pathologist Quirke glimpses a familiar face while on holiday with his wife, it's hard, at first, to tell whether his imagination is just running away with him. Could she really be who he thinks she is, and have a connection with a crime that nearly brought ruin to an Irish political dynasty? Unable to ignore his instincts, Quirke...

Retired schoolteachers and amateur sleuths Liz, Pat and Thelma have a brand-new mystery to solve in this witty tale – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and Robert Thorogood. Curious white envelopes have been delivered to friends and neighbours. Inside are letters revealing the deepest secrets they have tried to hide. As one by one, careers are ended,...

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. It's just an ordinary farm – until the animals revolt. They get rid of the irresponsible farmer. Two young pigs assume command. The other animals are sure that life is improving, but as systems are replaced and half-truths are retold, a new hierarchy emerges... Orwell's tale of propaganda,...

Orwell’s powerfully unnerving and enduring allegory of oppression and rebellion, brought to life for a new age of readers in a stunning dyslexia-friendly edition from Barrington Stoke. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others …” When the lazy and drunken Mr Jones of Manor Farm forgets to feed his livestock, the down-trodden and over-worked animals...

From the multi-award-winning author of A Monster Calls comes a haunting tale of power and obsession that turns the story of Moby Dick upside down. Call me Bathsheba. The whales of Bathsheba's pod live for the hunt. Led by the formidable Captain Alexandra, they fight a never-ending war against men. Then the whales attack a man ship, and instead of...

"Mind-bendingly brilliant and fearlessly strange." – Frances Hardinge "A haunting, lyrical fable." – The Bookseller "Awe-inspiring." – The Times, Children's Book of the Week From the multi-award-winning author of A Monster Calls comes a haunting tale of power and obsession that turns the story of Moby Dick upside down. The whales of Bathsheba's pod live for the hunt. Led by...

Delve into this stunning gift edition boasting the complete collection of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Other Tales with original, iconic illustrations by John Tenniel. The next elegant edition in the Timeless Classics series, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Other Tales is unabridged and complete, and comprised of: Both Alice books (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass) The...

'Bah,' said Scrooge, 'Humbug.' But that was before he was presented with visions of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come, which gave him a whole new lease of life: 'I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken...

Shinako has been ousted from her marriage by her husband Shozo and his younger lover Fukuko. She's lost her home, status, and respectability, but the only thing she longs for is Lily, the elegant tortoiseshell cat she shared with her husband. As Shinako pleads for Lily's return, Shozo's reluctance to part with the cat reveals his true affections, and the...

Here today, up and off to somewhere else tomorrow! Toad has always been a silly sort of fellow. But when his latest obsession with motor cars - the faster the better - threatens to lead him to disaster, it is up to Toad's good friends Mole, Ratty, and Badger to get him under control. Can they save Toad from prison...

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. From picnics by the riverbank to the battle for Toad Hall, the adventures of Mole, Ratty, Badger and the mischievous Mr Toad have delighted generations of readers. Rediscover Kenneth Grahame's timeless classic in this beautiful new edition, illustrated by Kate Greenaway Medal...

When the Velveteen Rabbit first arrives in the nursery, he is snubbed by the other toys. But the Rabbit soon makes friends with the Skin Horse who explains how toys can become 'real', if only they are loved enough. The Velveteen Rabbit longs for this to happen until, one day, he finds that he is Boy's very favourite toy. They...

HONOUR BOOK: 2021 CBCA Book of the Year, Younger Readers SHORT-LISTED: 2021 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Children's Literature SHORT-LISTED: 2021 Queensland Literary Awards, Children's Book Award Long ago, the little Prince of Cloudburst was stolen from the seashore by a Water Sprite. Now, ten years later, the prince has found his way home. The King and Queen are planning the...

WINNER: 2019 QLD Literary Awards, Griffith University Children's Book AwardSHORT-LISTED: 2019 CBCA Book of the Year, Younger Readers I was taken by Whisperers at 2pm, so I never pulled the lever for the laundry chute.That's what bothered me most.This is way ahead in the story, though. A lot happened before that. The town of Spindrift is frequented by pirates, Shadow...