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5908106 | /m/0fc_f1 | Simpatico | Sam Shepard | null | null | As youths in Azusa, Vinnie, Carter, and Rosie pull off a racing scam, substituting winners for plodders and winning big bucks on long odds. When an official uncovers the scam, they set him up for blackmail. The story jumps ahead for twenty years, when Carter and Rosie are married, successful racers in Kentucky, who are about to sell their prize stallion, Simpatico. Vinnie is a drunk in Pomona. He decides to make a play for Rosie, and lures Carter to California, where he steals his wallet and heads for Kentucky with the original blackmail material. Carter begs Vinnie's friend, a grocery clerk named Cecilia, to follow Vinnie and get the material back. |
5908247 | /m/0fc_lx | On Stranger Tides | Tim Powers | 10/19/1988 | {"/m/035qb4": "Historical fantasy", "/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | This book follows the exploits of John "Jack Shandy" Chandagnac, who travels to the new world after the death of his puppeteer father to confront his uncle, who apparently has made off with the family inheritance. During the voyage, he gets to know a woman named Beth Hurwood and her father Benjamin Hurwood, an Oxford professor. Before they arrive, their ship is waylaid by pirates and, with the help of the professor and his assistant, the captain is killed and Chandagnac is forced to join the pirate crew. The reader discovers a sinister plot being concocted by the professor involving his dead wife, his living daughter, the Fountain of Youth, and Blackbeard. Chandagnac, now known as "Jack Shandy", must put a stop to these plans and save Beth Hurwood. |
5909618 | /m/0fd1_6 | Deathtrap | Ira Levin | null | null | ACT I, SCENE 1 Sidney Bruhl, an accomplished writer, has had a series of box office flops and is having trouble writing the next play. When he reads a play by Clifford Anderson, a younger writer, he decides to steal the script and kill him. SCENE 2 Clifford stops by Sidney's office to learn what he thinks of his play. While asking Clifford questions that allude to murder, Sidney kills him as Sidney's wife Myra looks on in horror. Sidney wraps Clifford's body in a rug and discusses how he plans to take credit for Clifford's play. SCENE 3 As Sidney returns from disposing of Clifford's body, psychic Helga ten Dorp visits to tell Sidney and Myra that she is receiving bad vibes from the house. Helga wanders around the house revealing only trivial insights. When she leaves, Sidney is elated that Helga has not discovered the murder. As he goes to turn off the lights, Clifford, covered in mud, snatches him from behind, attack Sidney as Helga had predicted he would. Myra, shocked by the evening's events, collapses, apparently the victim of a heart attack. Clifford confirms Myra's death and exclaims to Sidney that their plan has been successful. Clifford's murder had been staged to shock and kill Myra. ACT II, SCENE 1 Two weeks have elapsed. Clifford is working on his manuscript. Sidney continues to suffer from writer's block. Porter Milgrim, Sidney's attorney, tells Sidney he has seen Clifford locking his manuscript away and tells Sidney not to trust Clifford. Sidney surreptitiously reads Clifford's manuscript and learns that Clifford is writing a play called Deathtrap that reveals their whole plot for Myra's death. Sidney confronts Clifford, who persuades him that the murder was so clever they will never be suspected. SCENE 2 Helga once again tells Sidney that she has a bad feeling about Clifford. She leaves, and Sidney telephones Clifford to invite him to visit and see the progress Sidney has been making on the second act of his play. Sidney asks Clifford to act out parts of the second act, which includes a violent struggle. Sidney reveals that the struggle was to produce evidence that he needed to kill Clifford and that he plans to burn the manuscript of Deathtrap. Sidney shoots at Clifford but finds that the bullets in his gun are blanks. Clifford aims a gun at Sidney and handcuffs Sidney to a chair. The Handcuffs prove fake, and Sidney escapes, grabs a crossbow, and shoots Clifford. Imagining that the fight is over, Sidney starts to telephone the police, but Clifford rises up behind him, and pulls the arrow from his own body, and stabs Sidney. Both die. SCENE 3 Helga and Porter wandering through the room as she reveals the events that led to the deaths. They discuss how the story would make an excellent thriller. They begin to argue about which of them should claim authorship of the play. The curtain falls. |
5913404 | /m/0fd87s | Skybreaker | Kenneth Oppel | 7/20/2005 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/06www": "Steampunk", "/m/08sdrw": "Adventure novel"} | Matt Cruse has been stationed on the Flotsam, an old cargo ship. The Flotsam is his training vessel. All Airship Academy students are assigned a training vessel for two weeks, he is assigned to partake in journeys made by the training vessel. During one trip, the ship flies through the Devil's Fist, a permanent storm in the Indian Ocean. After several dangerous maneuvers through wind drafts, the Flotsam levels. A vessel, drifting at 20,000 feet, is suddenly spotted from the crow's nest. Captain Tritus deduces that it is the Hyperion, a long-lost ship built for billionaire Theodore Grunel that was supposedly carrying great riches. Tritus foolishly attempts to go tow the ship; however, he and most the crew are stricken with altitude sickness. Despite Tritus's protests, Matt, the sole crew member unaffected by the altitude, pilots the ship down and steers for the nearest port, saving the crew in the process. Matt returns to the Airship Academy where he is approaching finals and is told by the principal that he is failing and needs to study to pass the exams. Matt then gets a request to meet a strange man named John Rath requesting the coordinates of the Hyperion. When the man is revealed to be a criminal in search of the Hyperion's loot, Matt escapes with a gypsy girl named Nadira. Matt, Kate, Nadira and Kate's chaperone Ms. Simpkins hire a man named Hal Slater, an accomplished pilot, to fly them to the Hyperion. The group travels several days toward Skyberia, a cold and desolate area around the Antarctic. They discover a large, squid-like creature that lives in the sky when it gets trapped in the ship's rudder. One of the crew dies while trying to get it out. Hal then allows Matt to become part of the crew. Kate and Hal begin to get along, causing Matt to feel jealous. Nadira and Matt kiss in the crow's nest shortly after. Matt and Kate's relationship begin to falter. They find out that there's a homing signal coming from the ship, and Hal immediately suspects Nadira because of her secretive nature and because she's a gypsy. Matt realizes Rath put the beacon in the lining of his duffel. He interrupts Hal's rough search of Nadira's cabin where it is revealed her father was Szpirglas. Hal locks Nadira in her cabin for a day, but Matt and Kate get him to let her out. Soon after, they come across the "Hyperion". While exploring the skies in the ship, they learn from Grunel's diary that a man named "B" is searching for the ship to plunder it. They dismiss "B" as a product of Grunel's diseased mind, but later find out that "B" is Barton, Rath's employer who wished to steal Grunel's work years ago, as Grunel was a brilliant inventor and scientist, and also studied rare animals. It is revealed that Rath, Barton, and the rest of the group are also on an airship headed toward the Hyperion. Aboard Hal's ship, the Sagarmatha, the gang finds the Hyperion and climbs aboard. They find a whole collection of rare animals and a blueprint of a machine that produces hydrium. Knowing that the blueprints will be worth millions, the gang tries to leave, but is stranded on the ship when Rath and his men shoot at the Sagarmatha. Kate later reveals she knew that Matt and Nadira kissed and they made up. After a battle onboard (during which the animals strike Rath and Barton, killing Barton but leaving Rath's fate unknown), the gang manages to escape the Hyperion in an ornithopter before the ship is destroyed. They lose the blueprints, but ultimately get away with 40 gold bars, found in a compartment of the ornithopter. |
5913749 | /m/0fd8r5 | How I Live Now | Meg Rosoff | 8/5/2004 | {"/m/0mz2": "Alternate history", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature"} | Fifteen-year-old Manhattanite Elizabeth (who goes by the name of Daisy) is sent to stay with cousins on a remote farm in the English countryside during the outbreak of a fictional third world war (WWIII) of the 21st century. Though enthusiastic about moving away from an evil stepmother who is with her child, Daisy is homesick at first. This only lasts for a short while before she and her extended family become close, and Daisy begins to embrace her new home. Daisy soon finds herself falling in love with cousin Edmond and, after realizing that the affection is mutual, begins a relationship with him. Meanwhile, the family receives news that Daisy's aunt Penn is stranded in Oslo. During this period of time, terrorists attack from an unknown enemy who later occupies England. The war becomes increasingly difficult for Daisy and her family as it affects their lives to a greater extent, eventually leading to food shortages and lack of other resources. One day, the farm is taken over by soldiers who separate the boys from the girls by sending them away to live at separate homes, and then separate farms. Daisy and Piper are forced to put survival as their top priority and cannot look for the male members of their family. After the war ends, Daisy must deal with putting the pieces of her life back together and overcoming the terrible experience of war as she reunites with the forever changed members of her family, including a physically and emotionally scarred Edmond. The Meg Rosoff written young adult novel How I Live Now has been made into a film by Director Kevin Macdonald featuring Irish actress Saoirse Ronan playing the role of Daisy, with George MacKay as Edmond, Tom Holland as Isaac and Harley Bird as Piper. How I Live Now is currently in post production and is set for a 2013 release. |
5915106 | /m/0fdbbw | Dragon Venom | Lawrence Watt-Evans | null | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Arlian has discovered how to kill the dragons, he now faces an all-out war between dragons and humans. The Dragon Society is split between those loyal to the dragons and those loyal to themselves. Arlian's quest for vengeance will find many secrets of the past, including the origins of the dragons greatest foes...the gods. He gives dragon venom to his stewards wife who is carrying a child. She becomes a dragonheart (a human carrying a baby dragon) and her baby becomes a god. To protect the new born god Arlian battles the dragons killing the three dragons who killed his family and turned him into a dragon heart. He becomes badly injured by dragon venom (the only substance that can harm a dragonheart) so mages cut open his heart and remove the dragon within him. He then awakens to find the young god has healed him and at long last ends his quest for vengeance. At the end of the story Arlian is joined by his closest friends and for the first time in a long time feels the emotion of love. |
5916166 | /m/0fdcsq | The Cocktail Party | T. S. Eliot | null | null | Edward and Lavinia Chamberlayne are separated after five years of marriage. She leaves Edward just as they are about to host a cocktail party at their London home, and he has to come up with an explanation for why Lavinia is not present, in order to keep up social appearances. Lavinia is brought back by a mysterious Unidentified Guest at the party, who turns out to be a psychiatrist whom Edward and Lavinia both consult. They each learn that they have been deceiving themselves and must face life's realities. They learn that their life together, though hollow and superficial, is preferable to life apart. This message is difficult for the play's third main character, Edward's mistress, to accept. She, with the psychiatrist's urging, also moves on towards a life of greater honesty and salvation and becomes a Christian martyr in Africa. Two years later, Edward and Lavinia, now better adjusted, host another cocktail party. |
5916209 | /m/0fdcvs | Taronga | Victor Kelleher | 1986 | {"/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/0hc1z": "Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature"} | The book begins two years after the Last Days. Ben lives with a callous man named Greg, who uses Ben's powers, which he calls "the Call", to attract game for hunting. Ben feels guilty about leading the animals to their death but faces a beating from Greg if he does not comply. When he finally escapes, he promises not to use the Call again. He breaks this promise less than a day later when he is pursued by a man on horseback. Ben decides to return to Sydney, where he once lived with his parents. He travels first on foot, then by bike, using mountain roads to avoid local gang activity. He is joined by a stray dog. As he draws closer to his destination, he hears the Call of something wild and ferocious. When he reaches the city, he realizes that the Call is coming from Taronga Zoo. He then makes up his mind to travel to Taronga zoo to find out what creature could still be so wild and free. In Sydney, Ben is chased by a gang. The dog sacrifices itself to give Ben the opportunity to escape, but Ben is still captured. The gang takes Ben to Taronga Park Zoo, which houses another gang of survivors and is guarded by tigers and other predators. The gang wishes to break into the zoo and plans to use Ben as bait. Inside, Ben is almost attacked by two tigers, Raja and Ranee. He is saved by Ellie, an Aboriginal girl who is in charge of the big cats. She takes him to their leader, Molly, who allows Ben to stay after he proves that he can also round up and cage the cats. Ben quickly earns the trust of all of the animals except for Raja, the male tiger, who hates Ben for restricting his physical freedom. Although Ben originally sees Taronga as an ideal community, he soon discovers that Molly is a ruthless and selfish leader. When the Sydney gang tries to break into the zoo, Molly divulges her plan to burn Taronga to the ground before she lets another gang occupy it. Ben and Ellie decide to act. Ben convinces the rival gang that he wants to help them break in and they set a date for an ambush. During the next week, Ben and Ellie cut a hole in the outer fence and disguise it with ivy. On the day of the ambush, they set the animals free. The Sydney gang and the Taronga gang fight. Ben and Ellie are the only survivors. Ben once again swears that he will no longer use the Call. When he is cornered by Raja, he keeps that promise. But Raja does not attack him; instead, he gives Ben a playful swat. Raja and Ranee head towards the Blue Mountains and are followed by Ben and Ellie. |
5916631 | /m/0fddf1 | Cover Her Face | P. D. James | 1962 | {"/m/0lsxr": "Crime Fiction", "/m/02n4kr": "Mystery", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/0c3351": "Suspense"} | The story opens with a dinner party hosted by Mrs. Eleanor Maxie at Martingale, a mediaeval manor house in the (fictional) Essex village of Chadfleet. Mrs. Maxie's son and daughter, Stephen Maxie and Deborah Riscoe, are both at the party. Also present are Dr. Charles Epps, the vicar Bernard Hicks, Miss Alice Liddell, who is the Warden at St. Mary's Refuge for Girls, and Catherine Bowers, a guest at the estate who is in a relationship with Stephen Maxie. Serving at the party is Sally Jupp, an unmarried mother with an infant son, who was employed by Mrs. Maxie at the recommendation of Miss Liddell. Stephen Maxie champions Sally during dinner, and afterwards Deborah Riscoe cryptically predicts that the young servant will cause trouble. During dinner, it is also mentioned that the Maxie's elderly domestic servant, Martha Bultitaft, is not very pleased with Sally Jupp. On the Thursday before St. Cedd's church fete, which takes place every year on the grounds of Martingale, Deborah goes to London and visits Stephen at the hospital where he works. There she sees her brother talking with Sally, who looks carefully dressed in a grey suit. Stephen says that Sally brought him some of their father's tablets, which she found on old Mr. Maxie's bed. Stephen suspects that old Mr. Maxie manages to deceive Martha, pretending to take his tablets when he is simply hiding them in his bed. Stephen again praises Sally and tells Deborah to take the tablets and put them in the medicine cupboard at their father's room. Deborah is suspicious as to why Sally came to Stephen with the tablets and not to Mrs. Maxie or herself. When Sally returns to Martingale, she taunts Martha about the tablets and her care for old Mr. Maxie. On the day of the fete, Sally shows up wearing exactly the same dress that Deborah is wearing, with the same accessories. Guests are shocked into silence, but Deborah appears unconcerned. Later that day, Sally announces that Stephen has asked her to marry him. Miss Liddell is distraught by this announcement and her unkind words are met by abuse, with Sally calling her a "sex-starved old hypocrite" and threatening to reveal her secrets. The following day, Martha complains that Sally has overslept again. When there is no response to repeated knocking at her bedroom, Stephen and Felix (a close friend of Deborah's, who is staying at the house) go up a ladder to enter the room through the window, and find Sally Jupp's lifeless body. Sally Jupp is found to have died of manual strangulation by a right-handed person. She is also found to have been drugged. The local constabulary request that Scotland Yard send an experienced homicide detective, and Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh and Detective Sergeant Martin arrive. They interview the family members and guests of the Martingale household. They also interview Miss Liddell, Dr. Epps, some neighbours of the Maxies, and Sally's aunt and uncle. It emerges that Sally is already secretly married to James Ritchie, who has a successful job in Venezuela, but returns to England after her death. Sally has been saving money for her husband's return. She blackmails her uncle (who unbeknownst to her had spent her modest trust fund) into giving her 30 pounds. She pretended to be an unmarried mother because revealing the marriage would jeopardise her husband's job and she likes to 'play with people'. She revealed Stephen Maxie's proposal of marriage for the same reason, although it is notable that she did not accept it. Martha had been regularly drugging Sally at night so that she would oversleep, and be discredited, and eventually dismissed from Martingale. It is Mrs. Eleanor Maxie who eventually confesses to the murder of Sally Jupp after Dalgliesh reveals everyone's movements on the night. It is clear, through a process of elimination, that only she could be the culprit. She goes to prison, having been found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, and Deborah is left alone in the house. Martha goes to stay with a friend in Herefordshire. Old Mr. Maxie, an invalid throughout the story, dies shortly before Mrs Maxie confesses; it becomes clear that she was waiting for his death before doing so. The novel ends with a meeting between Adam Dalgliesh and Deborah Riscoe. Adam gives Deborah a lift back to Martingale. Deborah tells him that Catherine will probably marry James Ritchie, thus providing a mother for Sally Jupp's son Jimmy (named after his father). It is hinted that a relationship will develop between Adam and Deborah. |
5918875 | /m/0fdj0_ | The Brothers | C. J. Cherryh | null | {"/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/0l67h": "Novella"} | The Brothers is a story of two valleys, Gleann Gleatharan, ruled by Cinnfhail of Dun Gorm, and Gleann Fiach, ruled by Sliabhin of Dun Mhor. Separating the two valleys is a Sidhe-wood, which Dun Gorm respectfully keeps out of, but in which Dun Mhor defiantly hunts. The Sidhe have blessed Gleann Gleatharan with peace and good fortune, but cursed Gleann Fiach with bad luck and misery. Sliabhin is also cursed by the Sidhe for committing fratricide, killing his older brother Gaelan to seize Dun Mhor and Gaelan's queen, Moralach. Moralach had two children, Caith and later Brian, both during Gaelan's reign, but Caith was exiled soon after birth to live with Gaelan's cousin Hagan of Dun na nGall. After Sliabhin became king, Moralach hanged herself. Caith grows up believing that Gaelan is his father and when he learns that Sliabhin murdered Gaelan, and that he has a younger brother, now in Sliabhin's hands, he returns to revenge his father's death and rescue Brian. As he passes through Gleann Gleatharan, he is told that Sliabhin is his real father who raped Moralach, and this increases his resolve to rid Dun Mhor of Sliabhin and free Brian. Cinnfhail, uneasy that Caith's meddling may disturb Gleann Gleatharan's peace, reluctantly lends Caith his fay horse Dathuil. Dathuil takes Caith straight to the Sidhe wood where he meets Nuallan, of the Sidhe Fair Folk, and Dubhain, a mischievous shapeshifting pooka. They bargain with Caith, who ends up losing everything he has, including Dathuil, in exchange for their help in overthrowing Sliabhin and freeing Brian. Caith and Dubhain, alternating between a black horse and a boy, set off for Dun Mhor. Meanwhile, Cinnfhail's son, Raghallach, rides to the Sidhe-wood to find and assist Caith, but is stopped by Nuallan. At Dun Mhor, Caith and Dubhain are let in and taken to Sliabhin, who shows them Raghallach, captured and tortured. But a discrete smile from Raghallach reveals to Caith that it is actually Nuallan in disguise. Caith and Dubhain themselves are imprisoned, and Caith bargains away his scruples for help from Dubhain in freeing them and rescuing Brain. Dubhain, as the horse, takes Caith through the locked door and down to a cellar containing Brain locked in a cage, a shackled and disfigured Raghallach/Nuallan, and Sliabhin. The chains holding Raghallach suddenly fall away and Nuallan escapes with Brian, leaving Caith to confront Sliabhin. Caith kills Sliabhin, escapes the dun and is taken by Dubhain back to the Sidhe-wood. In the wood, Caith sees a group of Fair Folk around a sleeping Brian, but they won't let Caith near his brother. Nearby Raghallach sits on his horse, frozen-in-time, and Nuallan puts Brian in Raghallach's arms, letting Raghallach believe that he rescued Brian from Dun Mhor. Nuallan then takes Caith into Faery from where Caith looks down on Dun Gorm and sees an older Brian playing happily. Nuallan offers to take Brian's happiness and give it to Caith, but Caith refuses. Caith is returned to the wood where he is cursed with torment for the rest of his life for committing patricide. Not permitted to return to Dun Gorm or Dun Mhor and with nowhere else to go, the wayward Dubhain appears at his side and offers to be his companion. Caith reluctantly agrees. |
5920663 | /m/0fdm57 | Wizard of the Pigeons | Robin Hobb | 1/28/1986 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy"} | The plot focuses on the homeless character 'Wizard' and his battle with a malignant force from his forgotten past. In order to survive, Wizard must rely on his powerful gift of 'Knowing'. This allows him to know the truth of things, to receive fortunes and to reveal to people the answers to their troubles. Aiding him in his battle for survival is the enigmatic 'Cassie' and several other people from the streets. |
5924321 | /m/0fdth0 | The Stars Are Cold Toys | Sergey Lukyanenko | null | null | During a usual trading flight Pyotr found a Counter on his craft who called himself Karel and, most importantly, made it through the jump unhurt (ironically, the alien accomplished this by going into a self-induced coma caused by division by zero). Standing orders require Pyotr to destroy the ship and all evidence of the alien's survival, as this would eliminate the Conclave's need in Humanity. The alien requested an informal meeting with Andrey Khrumov — Pyotr's grandfather and a known political scientist, also a great patriot of Humanity, biased against the Strong races. A fleet of Alary has captured a small but deadly scout of an unknown civilization. Its pilot was killed, but without a doubt it was a human being. Studying the memory of the scout showed that another civilization had transferred its planetary system to a region of space close by, perhaps escaping a cataclysm. Strangely enough, they shaped their continents to resemble a perfect circle and square — so Andrey Khrumov called them Geometers. The new civilization seems to be strong enough to take on the entire Conclave, as the single scout ship managed to wipe out two-thirds of one of the strongest Alary fleets before being tractored into the Alary flagship. This is a chance for Weak races to improve their positions... but also a threat for Earth, since on receiving the information the Strong races would destroy it to prevent its possible alliance with a biologically-identical race. A conspiracy of four races decide to carry out a reconnaissance mission. Pyotr Khrumov agrees to enter a symbiosis with a Kualkua, who morphes him to look like the dead pilot, gives him the language of Geometers, and temporarily erases his memory... |
5925685 | /m/0fdw6k | Pal Joey | John O'Hara | null | null | Based on original 1940 book ;Act I In Chicago in the late 1930s, singer/dancer Joey Evans, a charming "heel" with big plans, schemes to get his own nightclub. He auditions for an emcee job at a second-rate nightclub ("You Mustn't Kick It Around"). Joey gets the job and begins rehearsals with the chorus girls and club singer Gladys Bumps. Joey meets young and naïve Linda English outside a pet shop, and he impresses her with grandiose lies about his career. Linda innocently falls for Joey's line ("I Could Write a Book"). As the chorus girls are doing a song-and-dance number at the club that night ("Chicago"), Linda arrives with a date. Wealthy married socialite Vera Simpson arrives at the club and shows a definite interest in Joey. Joey plays hard-to-get and insults Vera, who walks out. Mike, the club owner, fires Joey, but Joey, believing Vera will be back, strikes a deal: if Vera doesn't come back within the next few days, Joey will leave without pay. The chorus girls continue with the show ("That Terrific Rainbow"); Linda, having witnessed Joey's caddish behavior, has left the club. Vera doesn't return, so Joey is fired. When Linda refuses to answer his calls, Joey calls Vera ("What is a Man"). After his last night as emcee, Vera picks Joey up from the club and they start an affair ("Happy Hunting Horn"). Vera is glowing in the romance and sets Joey up with an apartment and expensive clothes ("Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"). Joey and Vera run into Linda while shopping for clothes for Joey, leaving Vera jealous and Linda distraught. Vera gives Joey his own nightclub, "Chez Joey", and Joey looks forward to rising to the top ("Pal Joey"/"Joey Looks to the Future" ballet). ;Act II The chorus girls and singers from the old club have relocated to "Chez Joey", and they rehearse for the opening performance ("The Flower Garden of My Heart"). Melba, an ambitious reporter, interviews Joey, recalling her interviews with various celebrities, including Gypsy Rose Lee ("Zip") [In the 2008 revival, Gladys plays a "reporter" in a skit during the floor show at Chez Joey, performing "Zip" as a striptease]. Ludlow Lowell, Gladys' old flame, introduces himself as an agent with papers that Joey unthinkingly signs as the rehearsal continues ("Plant You Now, Dig You Later"). In Joey's apartment the next morning, Joey and Vera reflect on the pleasures of their affair ("In Our Little Den"). Linda overhears Gladys and Lowell plotting to use the papers Joey signed to blackmail Vera. [In the 2008 revival, Joey fires Gladys, and to get back at him, she conspires with Mike, the club manager, to blackmail Vera. Mike is forced into the scheme because Gladys threatens to have him fired because he is gay.] Linda calls Vera, who initially distrusts Linda; Vera confronts Joey, asking what his relationship is with Linda, and Joey responds defensively ("Do It the Hard Way"). Linda comes to the apartment to convince Vera, and Vera, seeing Linda's sincerity, now believes her. Vera and Linda agree that Joey is not worth the trouble ("Take Him"). Vera calls her friend the police commissioner, who arrests Gladys and Lowell. Vera throws Joey out and closes "Chez Joey" ("Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" reprise). Joey runs into Linda again outside the pet shop, and she invites him to dinner with her family. He refuses the invitation, and, saying she hopes she'll see him again, she leaves him standing alone. {|class="wikitable" ! width="100"| Character ! width="200"| Description ! width="200"| Notable performers |- ! Joey Evans | A small-time womanizing MC and dancer/singer who has dreams of opening his own night club | Gene Kelly; Harold Lang; Bob Fosse; Christopher Chadman; Clifton Davis; Joel Grey |- ! Vera Simpson | A bored rich socialite | Vivienne Segal; Siân Phillips; Viveca Lindfors; Joan Copeland; Lena Horne; Donna Murphy; Patti LuPone; Stockard Channing; Christine Andreas |- ! Linda English | A naive stenographer (in the 2008 revival, a clerk in a men's clothing store) | Leila Ernst; Rita Gardner; Daisy Prince |- ! Gladys Bumps | A chorus girl who takes an instant dislike to Joey (in the 2008 revival, they have history) | June Havoc; Helen Gallagher; Vicki Lewis; Martha Plimpton |- ! Melba Snyder | An ambitious reporter (does not appear in the 2008 revival) | Elaine Stritch; Kay Medford; Josephine Premice; Dixie Carter; Bebe Neuwirth |- ! Ludlow Lowell | A crooked "artists representative" | Jack Durant; Lionel Stander; Ned Eisenberg; Ron Perlman |} |
5925835 | /m/0fdw9z | Bright Lights, Big City | Jay McInerney | 8/12/1984 | {"/m/05hgj": "Novel"} | The story's narrator is a writer who works as a fact checker for a high-brow magazine—likely based on Harpers or The New Yorker, where McInerney himself once worked as a fact checker—for which he had once hoped to write. By night, he is a cocaine using party-goer seeking to lose himself in the hedonism of the 1980s yuppie party scene, often going to a nightclub called Heartbreak. His wife, Amanda, recently left him and he copes with this by pretending nothing happened and telling no one that she's gone. Initially hopeful that she will return someday, he eventually resorts to searching for her at a fashion event. He obsesses over every item she owned in his apartment, every modeling photo and every club she visited, even repeatedly visiting a mannequin based on her. Also, his partying is affecting his work and he appears to be on the verge of getting fired by his temperamental boss. The novel would go on to be the source material for the 1988 film Bright Lights, Big City, which was also written by McInerney. In 1999, an off Broadway stage musical was produced by the New York Theater Workshop, written by Paul Scott Goodman and directed by Michael Grief, with orchestrations and musical direction by Richard Barone. |
5925896 | /m/0fdwd2 | The Sinner | Tess Gerritsen | null | {"/m/01jfsb": "Thriller", "/m/02n4kr": "Mystery", "/m/0lsxr": "Crime Fiction", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/0c3351": "Suspense"} | The Sinner involves Detective Jane Rizzoli and a main character new to the series, first seen in "The Apprentice" as a minor figure, medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. When a young novice nun about to take vows is found murdered in the abbey's summer chapel, Isles and Rizzoli are immediately called to the scene. The elderly nuns are of little help to Isles and Rizzoli but when another body is found, mutilated beyond recognition (and testing reveals the body to be that of a fortyish Indian Hansen's Disease victim), it is soon discovered that there is more to these killings than meets the eye. |
5926108 | /m/0fdwrh | Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance | null | null | null | The novel follows the journeys of three young European boys represented in a circa 1913 or 1914 photograph by August Sander. Two parallel narratives, one in the voice suspected to be the author, whose surname, we learn starts with P, offer contemporary perspectives and illustrate the interconnectedness of events. These voices provide contemporary perspectives on technology -- the major theme of the novel. A series of rather academic essays on the nature of photography, including quotes from Walter Benjamin and Hannah Arendt- in the authorial narrative voice of Mr P - are interspersed with the story. The story begins with the authorial narrative voice of Mr P. first sighting the photograph taken in the months before the outbreak of World War I of three young boys in Germany - a photograph which is titled Three Farmers on their Way to a Dance and which is being exhibited at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The novel follows the fictional fates of these three young men in war time, as well as the stories of Peter Mays, a technical editor for a 1980s electronics magazine and Mr P - the first person narrator of sections of the novel - who is obsessed with the photograph and with concepts of photography and technology. Note that Powers's later novel Galatea 2.2, published in 1995, uses the first person perspective of semifictional narrator Richard Powers to describe to a large extent the conditions under which Powers wrote Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance attempts to balance the technological advancements that caused the large scale deaths in World War I with those that created art for the masses in the form of photography. |
5926213 | /m/0fdwvy | The Bourne Betrayal | Robert Ludlum | 6/5/2007 | {"/m/01jfsb": "Thriller", "/m/06wkf": "Spy fiction"} | At the beginning of the book, Bourne is in Doctor Sunderland's office. Sunderland, recommended by Lindros, is a specialist in memory restoration and miniaturization. Unfortunately for Bourne, he doesn't know that this man posing as Sunderland is actually Costin Veintrop, hired by Fadi to mess with Bourne's brain by creating new memories. These new memories can be evoked by new smells or even hearing things. As Bourne exits the office two things happen: Veintrop calls Fadi and tells him the work is done, and Bourne receives a call that Martin is missing. He then catches a cab and heads back to the CIA headquarters to talk to the Old Man. Back at the CIA Bourne is introduced to a number of new people: Matthew Lerner (the Deputy Director until Lindros gets back), Soraya Moore (a senior case officer), Hiram Cevik (a prisoner, actually Fadi in disguise), and Tim Hytner (who is framed as a traitor to the CIA organization). Tim is working on cracking a cipher created by Fadi. Unwittingly Bourne brings Cevik out of his prison cage to take a walk with him in an attempt to extract more information about Fadi. Then Cevik escapes under the cover of a gun battle in which Hytner is killed. Bourne then steals a motorcycle from the back of a truck to follow the Hummer, which he thinks Cevik is still trying to escape in. Once the Hummer is stopped up the street, CIA officers surround the car, waiting for the prisoners to step out. Bourne then realizes the car is rigged to explode. He grabs Soraya and they make their way to safety just before detonation. Later, Jakob and Lev Silver (Fadi and Muta ibn Aziz in disguise) arrive at the Hotel Constitution, located on the northeast corner of 20th and F Streets. They have a hotel worker named Omar bring them some champagne; the room service was merely a ruse to kill the innocent man and use his likeness to disguise Fadi in an elaborate diversion to easily get Fadi out of the country. Fadi kills Omar, uses makeup and props to disguise his own face with Omar's features, sprays the room with Carbon Disulfide and sets fire to the suite. The room burns, and turns Omar's body into unrecognizable ash as Fadi slips away. Bourne boards a plane intent on finding Fadi. While on board he looks at some of the pictures that Deron has given him on Fadi. Bourne ends up going from London to Addis Ababa; Ababa to Djibouti. In Djibouti, he takes a CIA helicopter to Ras Dejen to look for Fadi and check the area. He finds a body suspiciously drained of all its natural fluids; he suspects radiation is the key. While there, in the wreck of Skorpion One, Bourne sees a boy, Alem. Alem leads him into town and to his father. After being chased by terrorists, he goes and sees the victims of Skorpion One inside a church. There the pilot, Jaime Cowell, tells him that Fadi was torturing Lindros. Meanwhile, Martin Lindros is being tortured by Fadi and his men, and they are all on the move. They relocate Martin to places that are safe for Fadi and his people; and sufficiently away from Bourne. In this case they move him to a Dujja hiding place in a cave. When Bourne arrives in Ras Dejen, he is able to rescue Lindros (actually an impostor named Karim al-Jamil) and brings him back to the CIA, where Karim sends him to Munich to meet with Yevgeny Feyodovich, a man that does business with Dujja. Karim gets word from his source that Bourne will be landing tomorrow, and gives orders for him to be executed. Upon arriving and starting what he believes to be his mission, Bourne discovers Edor Vladovich Lemontov (a fictitious drug lord that Bourne was to meet with) is not a real person, and ends up in a chase with the terrorists. The chase culminates with Bourne ending up on a beach face to face with Fadi. Fadi says "I've waited a long time for this moment," referring to the time that Bourne killed his sister (which we later learn is untrue). Fadi and Bourne fight, with Fadi stabbing Bourne with a knife. During the struggle, a dog attacks Fadi and bites him in the face, knocking him off his guard. The dog (a boxer named Oleksandr) is with Soraya and she is there in Odessa to help Bourne, unaware that she was sent by the impostor Lindros to be killed as well. Bourne and Soraya escape and end up in Istanbul, Turkey, where they find a tracking device planted on him. This happened the day that they took Hiram Cevik out of his prison cage. Bourne figures out that the prisoner was actually Fadi in disguise. They also discover the truth behind a lot of the other deceptions being played out, including the fact that Soraya's friend, Anne Held was Karim (The Fake Lindros)'s Mistress, and the true mole in the CIA. They find out that Veintrop was hired by Fadi to do the surgery. They find out that Sunderland's office wasn't even open on Tuesday. Bourne sends Soraya back to the CIA to find the mole inside. Bourne goes to Nesim Hatun's house to ask him about some things. There he starts following Fadi's messenger back to Buyukada, where he poses as the pilot of Muta's airplane. They end up crashing, and Bourne finds out that he didn't actually kill Fadi's sister Sarah; Muta and his brother Abbud did because she was having a secret love affair. Bourne and his friend Feyd al-Sould find the underground opening to the Dujja facility in Miran Shah. Feyd al-Sould and his cadre go and blow up the water pipes, flooding the underground facility. Bourne then finds Lindros, being held hostage by Fadi, and kills Fadi. Fadi however, had managed to shoot a bullet through Lindros' jaw and eye socket, giving the injured CIA deputy director very little time to live. Katya Veintrop, Costin's wife, is also killed. Costin then deactivates the detonator bomb. Jason makes his way back to the CIA to kill Karim al-Jamil. Meanwhile, Soraya and Tyrone are on the run from supremacists and terrorists. They end up finding the Old Man being embalmed in a mortuary, as they set out for the CIA headquarters. They get shot at by terrorists in the Old Man's limousine, thinking that they can get into the headquarters by showing them the DCI's face, redone by another one of Fadi's men. Bourne kills Karim al-Jamil at the IVT facility by using the same trademark as his nemesis Carlos the Jackal, a bullet to the throat . He then realizes that there is a second timer on the bomb. However after thinking about it he realizes that the second timer was put in there by Veintrop, who, to get back at Fadi and Karim's men for hurting and torturing his wife, didn't connect it to the bomb. fa:بورن، خیانت fr:La Trahison dans la peau pl:Zdrada Bourne'a |
5926782 | /m/0fdxnb | Freedomland | Richard Price | 6/1/1998 | {"/m/0lsxr": "Crime Fiction", "/m/02n4kr": "Mystery", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/05hgj": "Novel"} | Brenda Martin walks into the hospital emergency room in a state of shock. As doctors bandage her hands, they find out she is the victim of a carjacking near Armstrong. Detective Lorenzo Council meets with her, and through her tears gets the story that her four-year-old son Cody was in the backseat of the car. She then describes the assailant as being a young black man with a shaved head and scary eyes. Local reporter Jesse Haus follows up on this relatively minor news story, and is one of the first to learn about the kidnapping. After promising to write a story on Bump Rosen’s son, she gets an inside chance to be next to Brenda. As the Gannon and Dempsey police blockade the crime area, Lorenzo works to get more details from Brenda, and Jesse works on details for her story. Lorenzo has Jesse stay with Brenda so she is not alone, and Jesse discovers Brenda’s love of classic R&B music. Lorenzo, under a deadline to solve the case or lose it to the FBI, starts asking all of his contacts for any information. False or no information is the result, and the residents of Armstrong are beginning to express outrage at the blockade. George Howard is arrested in hopes of getting information from him, but his unfair arrest only pushes passions higher. In a last chance to elicit information from Brenda, Lorenzo takes her to the abandoned Freedomtown theme park and opens up to her, hoping that she will do the same in turn. Ben Haus brings in Karen Collucci and the Friends of Kent (an organization that searches for missing children) to speak to Brenda and organize a search party for Cody. They figure the most likely place to search would be an abandoned, overgrown mental hospital not too far from where the carjacking occurred. Understanding that the Friends of Kent have a hidden agenda, Jesse sticks close to Brenda and Elaine during the search. Lorenzo has an asthma attack and ends up in the hospital. After he is gone, the group arrives at a building where a child’s body had been found years earlier. There, Brenda hears a child crying, and confesses to knowing where Cody is. Days before, when Brenda had gone downstairs to meet her boyfriend Billy, she came back up and found Cody dead of a Benadryl overdose. She panicked and ran away, until she finally called Billy and told him what happened. He went over and took Cody to Freedomtown and buried him in front of the Chicago Fire exhibit, as per a written request from Brenda. When Brenda returned, Cody was gone and the spot was cleaned up. Then, while sitting next to the railroad and only half thinking about it, she jams her hands into the ground (causing her injuries) and makes her way to the hospital on foot. As the story comes out, Dempsey residents are outraged, and Lorenzo feels a protest riot in is the air. That night, the feeling subsides when a man dies in an elevator accident. The next day, local leaders plan a march to demonstrate against the unfair treatment they received during the carjacking-kidnapping story. They march into Gannon with a police escort, and then back into Dempsey. At the end of the march, a fight breaks out and another resident is killed. The novel ends with a funeral for Cody, followed soon after by Brenda’s suicide. This seems to end the saga, leaving the residents of both cities emotionally exhausted. |
5927277 | /m/0fdy6d | Green Rider | Kristen Britain | 1998-11 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/03qfd": "High fantasy"} | Karigan G'ladheon, a merchant's daughter, is cast out of her school in Selium by Dean Geyer following a duel in which she bested a wealthy aristocrat. Running away from the shame of her expulsion, she travels into the forest called the Green Cloak, she meets a Green Rider (a group of legendary and elite messengers in the king's service) who is dying with two black arrows protruding from his back. The Green Rider F'ryan Coblebay, makes Karigan swear to carry a message to Sacor City for the 'love of her country', and there to deliver into the hands of either Laren, the Captain of the Green Riders, or the king himself. He also orders Karigan not to read the letter for the sake of her life. Coblebay entrusts a second more private letter to her care also. As his life passes, he whispers with his last breath; "beware the shadow man...".She also takes the gold winged horse brooch, which she only noticed after his death. It is the symbol of his office as a Green Rider. Karigan, following her promise, rides the horse (whose real name is Condor) to Sacor City through perilous paths. The Horse appears to have an uncanny ability to navigate the various dangers Karigan encounters, always delivering Karigan to safety. During the journey, she meets many people, including the Berry sisters, members of the mystical, elf-like race of Eletians, and two traitorous Weapons (a special rank given only to the bodyguards of the king). Throughout her journey, the ghost of F'ryan Coblebay follows her, urging her on and providing help when desperately needed. When she reaches Sacor City, she is hailed as a Green Rider, and she delivers both letters. The second seemingly less important letter, which Karigan felt justified in reading as it was not addressed to the king, was a love letter to the beautiful Lady Estora. Karigan delivers the letter from F'ryan Coblebay but to everyones' dismay the letter appears to contain nothing of any importance. The Lady Estora, confused by inaccuracies in the letter delivered to her, approaches Karigan; who then takes the letter to Laren for closer inspection. The love letter is decoded to reveal a plot by his brother Amilton and one of the clan chiefs to kill King Zachary. Amilton, the elder brother of Zachary, was denied the throne due to his dishonorable character and eventually even lost the right to rule over the family province of Hillander due to his shameful behaviour. There follows a desperate battle as Shawdell, an Eletian who has infiltrated the kings court and gained the trust of the crown, is revealed as the Shadowman F'ryan Coblebay warned Karigan of. After a dangerous battle involving ghosts and a wraith like being called a munariel, Karigan kills the rogue Eletian and Zachary's throne is safe again. She then leaves for home with her father. |
5927549 | /m/0fdyh0 | Sandry's Book | Tamora Pierce | null | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy"} | Lady Sandrilene fa Toren is locked away in a dark room with a fading oil lamp. She was magically hidden in this storeroom days ago by her nurse, who was murdered moments later just outside the door by a mob bent on destroying everything infected by the fierce plague that killed Sandry's parents. Sandry is concerned about the flickering oil lamp, even though she knows there is no chance of anybody finding her as the room she is locked in is protected by magic so that it cannot be found either magically or non-magically, and the only person who knows her whereabouts is her nurse, who is dead. Sandry is afraid of going crazy in the darkness. Unknowingly doing her first piece of magic, Sandry traps the remaining light in a simple braid. A powerful seer, Niklaren Goldeye, finds her and takes her to Winding Circle in Emelan. Trader Daja Kisubo is the lone survivor when her family's ship is destroyed in a storm. She floats on the water for days, surviving only because she finds a suraku- a survival box full of food and water from the ship. When Niko finds her, they go to the Trader Council so they can decide Daja's fate. Because Daja is the only survivor of her family, they declare her trangshi, or outcast- the worst sort of bad luck. As trangshi, she is forbidden to speak, touch, or write to other Traders. Niko is outraged at the council's decision and conducts her to Winding Circle. Roach (later named Briar Moss) is a "street rat" in Hajra, Sotat. His mother died when he was four; he was then taken in by the Thief Lord, the leader of the gang Lightning. Each time Roach is caught committing a crime, an "X" is tattooed onto the web of skin between his thumb and forefinger. After his third capture, Roach is sentenced to the docks but is saved by Niko, who stopped the judge and convinced her to allow him to take Roach to Winding Circle. Roach also has the opportunity to choose a new name for himself; he chooses Briar Moss because of his curiosity and experience with plants. Trisana Chandler is from a merchant's family. She has been passed from relative to relative because of the strange things that occur when she is around. Never staying long in one house, she never had a real family. Eventually, she is brought to Stone Circle Temple by her parents and left there, where she wreaks more havoc still. The temple's dedicate superior pleads with Niko to take her to Winding Circle, and he agrees after Tris starts a hail storm out of anger. The four children are brought to Winding Circle Temple in Emelan, where they do not fit in. Daja is secluded and ignored because she is a Trader, Tris wreaks havoc through weather when girls upset her by making fun of her, Briar threatens other boys with knives, and Sandry is caught looking at the looms too much. They are all taken to Discipline Cottage, an isolated cottage for children who do not fit in, where they are overseen there by Dedicate Lark, a kind and gentle thread mage, and Dedicate Rosethorn, a sharp plant mage. The four learn they have magic, which none of them knew about. While they all practice meditation, each of the four is matched with a main teacher to guide them through their magical learning. Sandry begins studying with Lark, learning to weave and spin; Tris studies with Niko about weather; Daja is taken under the wing of Dedicate Frostpine, the greatest smith mage; Briar works with Rosethorn in her garden and workshop. They each grow closer together and stronger in their magic. During the course of the book, there have been tremors all summer. Near the end of the book, a big earthquake comes, having gained power by bouncing off the walls of a crystal used in an attempt to trap it. Just before, the four were out walking Little Bear, their dog, when he runs down a path and into the back of a large cave. The four and their dog are stuck underground when the earthquake begins. Daja holds to roof of their small space up by making a magical "suraku" around the space to help save them. Tris and Briar begin their own protections and Tris starts to open up air vents. However, the three of them cannot finish, because each person does not have the skill to finish. Sandry remembers her time trapped in the storage room and is paralyzed with fear when she remembers her weaving bag. She infuses it with the essences of the four and weaves their magic together, so each can complete his or her jobs. The four and their dog are rescued by their teachers after the quake. It is discovered that they are under the kitchens of the temple. At the very end of the book, Tris, Briar, and Daja present Sandry with a light-filled crystal to help her conquer her fear of the dark. |
5927768 | /m/0fdysd | The Maracot Deep | Arthur Conan Doyle | null | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/08sdrw": "Adventure novel"} | The novel revolves around the legend of Atlantis, mentioned as an ancient city or continent which was drowned by the sea due to divine intervention. The novel is narrated by Headley who first writes a letter to his friend Sir John Talbot. On his subsequent rescue, he completes his story giving details on his escape and how they fought off possibly the greatest danger to humanity, the Devil himself. The novel begins with preparations for the dive, off the coast of Africa. Prof. Maracot claims to have located the deepest trench in the Atlantic and is vehement that he shall go down in the specially prepared submersible actually a bathysphere along with Headley and Scanlan. On reaching the edge of the trench, a description of the undersea world is presented. The team comes face to face with a giant crustacean who cuts off their line and hurls them down into the trench. Down in the trench, the team is rescued by the Atlanteans who are the last survivors of the land that was Atlantis. Although the description of Atlantis may not sound quite futuristic and may seem fantastic, the fact that the novel was written in 1929 should be taken into account. One device in particular is often made use of. This is a thought projector which visualizes the thoughts of a person for others to see. This helps the team and the Atlanteans to communicate. Descriptions of work habits, culture and various sea creatures are provided. The Atlanteans forage for their food from the sea bed and their slaves, Greeks who are the descendants of the original slaves of the kingdom of Atlantis work in undersea mines. This is made possible thanks to an exceptionally strong and light transparent material which is fashioned into helmets to enable people to work underwater. The team eventually uses the levity of these spheres to escape to the surface. Headley elopes with the daughter of Manda, leader of the Atlanteans. In the later part of the novel, Headley describes the encounter with the Lord of the Dark Face, a supernatural being who led the Atlanteans to their doom and was the cause of untold miseries to humanity ever since. This being is likened to the Phoenician god Baal who was demonized by later religions and cultures. The being is defeated by Prof. Maracot who becomes possessed by the spirit of Warda, the man who managed to convince a handful of Atlanteans to prepare for the worst and thus built an Ark which saved them from the cataclysm which destroyed their land. |
5928939 | /m/0fd_q3 | Flesh and Blood | Jonathan Kellerman | null | {"/m/0lsxr": "Crime Fiction", "/m/02n4kr": "Mystery", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Alex receives a call from the mother of an ex-patient, Lauren Teague. Considering it unresolved business, Alex contacts Milo and they ask around to see if they can find her. Her body turns up and the missing person case turns into a murder investigation. Alex and Milo visit her parents, former co-workers, roommates, and employers. They follow connections back and find that Lauren had $350,000 saved up, probably earned from prostitution. She had recently started to attend college, and was part of an intimacy experiment. When a former co-worker ends up dead after speaking to them, they know the murder was no ordinary mugging. Then Lauren's mother is killed, presumably by her husband. While kayaking along the beach near the Duke mansion, Alex rescues a boy who had swum out too far. This gets him invited in, and he makes the acquaintance of Duke's ex-wife, Cheryl. They flirt, and when a rendezvous is arranged, the killer shows up and shoots Cheryl. Alex is saved by Lauren's brother, Ben Dugger. |
5929667 | /m/0ff0wm | Justinian | Harry Turtledove | 1998 | {"/m/0hwxm": "Historical novel"} | The book centers around Byzantine Emperor Justinian II and is told through the ideas of a fictional soldier named Myakes. The book follows Justinian's time before and after taking the throne, as well as his overthrow, mutilation and exile in the Crimea, his subsequent return to power (following a possibly apocryphal nose-job), his insane quest for revenge, and his finally being unseated a second time and executed. |
5934156 | /m/0ff7x7 | The Blunderer | Patricia Highsmith | 1954 | {"/m/01jfsb": "Thriller", "/m/02n4kr": "Mystery", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/0c3351": "Suspense"} | For years, mild mannered lawyer Walter Stackhouse has suffered as a result of his neurotic, unstable wife Clara, whose constant alienation of all his friends, coupled with her penchant for overly dramatic gestures, has slowly driven him to hate her. After he becomes infatuated with the sweet and sensuous music teacher Ellie Briess, Clara jealously attempts suicide via an overdose, forcing him into her arms once again. However, he eventually stands his ground and demands a divorce. When Clara subsequently turns up dead, having fallen off a cliff during a bus trip to see her dying mother, Walter finds himself blundering around in the dark as the official investigation ensues. He admits that he stalked her bus in his car, whilst daydreaming about the possibility of killing her at the first stop, just as Melchior J. Kimmel, a 40-year-old bookshop manager, murdered his own domineering partner Helen, an unsolved crime that Walter had read of in the paper and grown fascinated by. Both men soon encounter the formidable, possibly psychotic Lieutenant Lawrence Corby, a police officer with savage ambition who is convinced of their guilt and believes that they are somehow in cahoots with one another. He soon begins encroaching on his suspects' lives, sowing the seeds of doubt into the minds of those they care for and even ferociously assaulting Kimmel. |
5934648 | /m/0ff90r | The Gospel According to Larry | Janet Tashjian | 5/13/2003 | {"/m/05qt0": "Politics", "/m/05hgj": "Novel", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01qxvh": "Romance novel", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/01z4y": "Comedy"} | The Gospel According to Larry revolves around seventeen-year-old Josh Swensen, an articulate teen whose dream is to change the world. He creates his own website which he calls "The Gospel According to Larry" because Larry was the most un-biblical name he could think of. He writes articles on this site "preaching" his feelings and ideas about making the world a better place. At first he does not get many hits until someone writes an article about him in a local newspaper and the number of hits begins to grow. That is when he decides to start photographing and posting his possessions. He was curious to see if it was possible to track down someone anywhere in the world simply by their possessions. Josh only has 75 possessions counting all clothes, underwear, school supplies, recreational equipment, software and the keys to his step-father's house. He has a list of guidelines to keep track of how many possessions he has. If he wants a new CD, or book, or video he has to sell an old one or trade for it. A notebook counts as one even though it has 70 sheets of paper in it. A pair of socks counts as one and so do shoes. He decided to start doing this after reading about Native Americans who did not want to leave a "footprint" behind. This means every purchase is a major decision and he takes it very seriously. Not everyone is happy with his blog. A poster named betagold does not like the fact that Josh is hiding behind a screen name. She threatens to find him out, no matter what he does to hide himself. She even notices little things that he speaks of that she figures point to where he lives, such as Red Maples which grow in the New England area. Things really take off when U2's lead singer Bono takes an interest in the site causing much more publicity. Soon after Bono decides to host a giant rock festival called Larryfest where all of the bands would play for free and all companies would sell food and drink at cost. After the festival Josh is at home when an older woman knocks on his door. It is Tracy Hawthorne, also known as betagold. She is surrounded by reporters wanting to get a photograph of "Larry." He is then thrown into the public eye and at first he is glad because then he can spread his anti-consumerism message to all those who do not have access to the internet. He quickly realizes that reporters do not want to know about his message; they want to know about him: his life, his family, and his friends. Josh likes to talk to his deceased mother at the makeup desk at Bloomingdale's. His mother would go there once a month to buy makeup and talk to the woman who worked there. Josh sits on a chair and talks out loud to his mother. He waits for the next voice he hears and whatever they say is his answer. Josh gets really depressed by the fact that he cannot leave his house without being harassed by reporters and tries to talk to his mother. He is very confused and does not know where to go from there. He hears a woman say "Sometimes I could just kill myself." Immediately after that another woman says "I'm completely serious. Sometimes it's the only way." This is when he begins to consider suicide as a way out. He ends up biking to the Sagamore bridge because he has heard stories of how people had jumped from there. He rides home after that, pretty shaken up. The next day he gets bored and is looking up Greek and Latin roots. He puts two words together and comes up with pseudocide (Pseudo-, "false." and -cide, "killing") to pretend to kill yourself. He starts working out plans for this, not entirely considering going through with it, but it is a project. He does everything necessary for this fake suicide to occur. On the day he decides to do it he cuts and dyes his hair and rides his bike to the Sagamore bridge, after seeing no one around throws a homeless Indian child over and tucks his pants into his bag so he is wearing shorts. He waves down a passing car and tells them he was running past and saw a kid jump. He describes himself as he looked before. They see his bike is registered. Josh is so freaked out that he throws up. He leaves and stays at a small motel as he watches the local news about how everything goes. He does not want there to be a doubt that it was a successful suicide. |
5935404 | /m/0ffbgw | The Purple Land | William Henry Hudson | 1885 | {"/m/08sdrw": "Adventure novel"} | The novel tells the story of Richard Lamb, a young Englishman who marries a teenage Argentinian girl, Paquita, without asking her father's permission, and is forced to flee to Montevideo, Uruguay with his bride. Lamb leaves his young wife with a relative while he sets off for eastern Uruguay to find work for himself. He soon becomes embroiled in adventures with the Uruguayan gauchos and romances with local women. Lamb unknowingly helps a rebel guerrilla general, Santa Coloma, escape from prison and joins his cause. However, the rebels are defeated in battle and Lamb has to flee in disguise. He helps Demetria, the daughter of an old rebel leader, escape from her persecutors and returns to Montevideo. Lamb, Paquita, Demetria and Santa Coloma evade their government pursuers by slipping away on a boat bound for Buenos Aires. Here the novel ends, but in the opening paragraphs, Lamb had already informed the reader that after the events of the story he was captured by Paquita's father and thrown into prison for three years, during which time Paquita herself died of grief. |
5936650 | /m/0ffdz8 | Tris's Book | Tamora Pierce | 1998 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy"} | As the book begins and progresses, Tris hears voices on the wind telling her seemingly useless bits of information. In an effort to cool herself off in the summer's cruel heat, she and her three "mates"- Sandry, Daja, and Briar- head up to the wall that encloses Winding Circle. On the wall, Tris hears more voices and then suddenly a lighthouse nearby blows up. As Tris and her teacher Niklaren Goldeye examine the ruins, they realize that the tower was blown up by a new substance they have never heard of. In the ruins, Tris finds a baby starling, which she decides to take care of. While repairing a magical net protecting Winding Circle with Dedicate Frostpine and his apprentice Kirel, Daja sees a magically hidden boat out of the corner of her eye. While eating a turnover from Dedicate Gorse's kitchen's, Briar smells the unmistakable scent of cinnamon and poppy, a sure sign of someone invisible. A forgetful novice realizes that there are a lack of bandages, so Dedicate Lark and Sandry are forced to make some more. The Temple is short on medicine, so Dedicate Rosethorn and Briar are forced to make more. All the signs lead to trouble. When Daja finally tells Frostpine about the ship, he immediately tells Dedicate Superior Moonstream, who sends word to Duke Vedris IV, Sandry's uncle and the ruler of Emelan. Pirates are afoot. Tris's cousin Aymery Glassfire comes to bring Niko a letter, and is recognized by her. He tries to get Tris to go home, saying her father is ill, but she refuses, saying that if he wanted her, he would send for her. While everyone is talking, a novice comes and tells Niko that every mirror, crystal, and vision bowl has been broken. That leaves Winding Circle blind to the future. Early the next morning, when jumping into a wind magically, Tris realizes that there is a huge invisible magic box coming slowly toward Winding Circle. Later in the morning, Frostpine takes Daja to repair two chains that protect Winding Circle. During the repairs, the pirates begin their attack. As the attack goes on, the four start to help. Tris takes one of the pirate's "boomstones"-- a hard sphere containing gunpowder-- with her winds and sends it away. Briar and Rosethorn take seeds of thorny plants and grow them quickly and thickly along the cove to capture and kill the pirates. When all the adults leave to help defend Winding Circle, Tris practices zapping targets with her lightning and the help of Sandry, Daja, and Tris. Tris tests herself when a boomstone begins a descent on Discipline and blows it up. When looking through Aymery's belongings, Briar finds that even though he claims he's staying for several weeks, Aymery has only brought a very small wardrobe. In a locked trunk, Briar finds cinnamon oil and poppy, used for invisibility. He also finds a mirror, when all of the mirrors in Winding Circle had broken the night before. When following Aymery out of Discipline at midnight, Tris and Briar confront him, whereupon he reveals that he had been working for Enahar, the pirates' chief mage, for some time. Then Aymery lets in the pirates through a side gate. Sandry, Daja, Lark, and Niko come and deal with the pirates, and Tris takes the dying Aymery's earring that links him to Enahar. Maddened by helplessness, Tris goes up on the south wall to deal with the pirates herself and get them away from the one place she can call home and Sandry, Daja, and Briar join her and help. They bash through the pirates' barrier by pulling their strength together. Daja finds all the metal in the pirates' fleet like nails and weapons, pulls it out, and drops it in the water. Tris uses her lightning to blast ships. The four start destroying the fleet when they are all caught in mage traps on the ships. They appear to be lost when Niko returns their string of combined magic. With the extra power of the string and their arrived teachers, they destroy the rest of the fleet. Enahar attempts to capture Tris using his link with Aymery's earring, but Sandry, Daja, and Briar realize this and use stray lightning on Tris's hair to destroy the small piece of jewellery. Because she killed and injured many of the helpless slaves on the pirate ships, Tris decides to help with the wounded pirates and slaves. She gets little thanks. All she cares about is trying to make up for some of the harm she did to so many people with her lightning. |
5936812 | /m/0fff6n | If Only It Were True | Marc Levy | 1999 | {"/m/05hgj": "Novel"} | Lauren Kline is a pretty, young, medical resident, completely devoted to her work in the Emergency Room of San Francisco Memorial Hospital. She worked round the clock dealing with patients until she got into a serious auto accident. As a result of the accident, Lauren went into a coma. She "woke" to awareness outside of her still comatose body, and was frustrated that she could not communicate with anyone. After a while, she chose to spend most of her time at her old apartment, where she is discovered by Arthur, the man who took over renting the place. Only he can see, hear or touch her. After some initial disbelief on his part, they fall in love. |
5937848 | /m/0ffgzt | Bedroom Farce | Alan Ayckbourn | null | null | The play takes place in three bedrooms during one night and the following morning. The cast consists of four married couples. At the beginning of the play, the oldest couple, Delia and Ernest, are getting ready to go out for a meal to celebrate their wedding anniversary; Malcolm and Kate, the youngest, are about to host a housewarming party, to which the other two couples, Jan and Nick and Susannah and Trevor (the only ones whose bedroom is not seen), have been invited. At the last minute Nick has hurt his back and is unable to go. The complicating factor is that Jan used to be Trevor's girlfriend, and after Susannah and Trevor have a blazing row, Susannah finds Trevor kissing Jan. As a result Susannah leaves the party and goes to visit Delia and Ernest, whose connection with the rest of the plot is that they are Trevor's parents; she ends up sharing Delia's bed, while Ernest is forced to sleep in the spare room. Meanwhile Trevor himself, feeling unable to go home, is also offered a bed in a spare room by Kate, but decides to go and "straighten things out" with Nick and Jan, leaving Kate waiting up for him. Eventually Trevor and Susannah seem to be reconciled, but at the end of the play the audience might doubt whether this state of affairs will last. |
5940868 | /m/0ffnd2 | David and the Phoenix | Edward Ormondroyd | 1957 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/0dwly": "Children's literature"} | The novel begins with David moving to a new house at the base of some beautiful mountains. Rather than settle in the new house, he decides to climb the next day. Upon reaching the summit, he encounters the brash Phoenix. At first they are frightened of each other, as Phoenix had been chased by a Scientist for several weeks and David had, of course, never seen anything like the Phoenix before. The Phoenix seems quite flattered by David's attentions, and takes a shine to him. Thus, the Phoenix decides that he should educate David about the various legendary creatures in the world—to round out his knowledge. But years of hiding from scientists have made the Phoenix's wings flabby, and David has to coach the rather comical bird on his flying. The first adventure in the Phoenix's curriculum for David involves seeing the Gryffins, said to be the friendliest of three similar races: the Gryffins, Gryffons, and Gryffens). On this journey, they first meet a Witch who goads the Phoenix into a race, which he later wins. Though David never actually meets a Gryffin on his first journey, the Phoenix attempts to talk to a lazy Gryffen. But they get captured by the violent and arrogant Gryffons, who sentence the Phoenix to death for bringing humans into their magic world. After escaping the Gryffon Cave through combined ingenuity, the Phoenix keeps his appointment with the Witch. David returns home to meet the unpleasant Scientist visiting his parents. David's evasiveness makes the villain suspicious. David warns the Phoenix as he unceremoniously shows up later that night, exhausted from his race. The two friends begin implementing various plans to avoid the Scientist, firstly by finding some buried treasure with the help of a gruff, but friendly Sea Monster, and spending the gold coins on magic items to foil the Scientist's plot to capture the rare bird. While visiting the magical world to buy necessities, David has a brief adventure with a prankster Leprechaun, meets a cantankerous potion-selling Hag, and even makes friends with a Faun, who races and plays with the boy before joining his people for an alluring dance in the Forest. However, the Phoenix rescues David from remaining too long in this world, which could absorb those beings who are not magical. Using their collected magical items, the Phoenix and David sabotage the Scientist's equipment and frighten him into leaving town—at least for the moment. However, the old Phoenix celebrates his 500th birthday, and soon reveals he must "bow to tradition," and build himself a pyre of cinnamon logs. David tearfully complies with his friend's wishes, buying the necessary items from town. Unfortunately, the Scientist shows up and follows David up the mountain trails. The Phoenix is reborn, but as a hatchling, does not yet comprehend its peril. David appeals to the young Phoenix, who dimly recognizes a friend, and flies away to avoid captivity. David watches as the Old Phoenix's token, a blue feather, changes to a golden hue. |
5942332 | /m/0ffqwg | Other Songs | Jacek Dukaj | 2003 | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy"} | Twelve centuries have passed since the fall of Rome; fewer since the death of Kristos (Christ). Hieronim Berbelek was once a powerful strategos (a natural born leader whose form makes other people listen to him or her), but when he was defeated by one of the kratistoses, known as the Warlock, his Form and spirit were broken, reduced to those of a lowly merchant, a sad, small man, easily molded by others with stronger Forms. However, a chain of events sets him off on a journey — first to Africa, and later into many new lands, from the depths of Warlock's domain, through the fabled Library of Alexandria and mysterious flying city, to the Moon colony, and on this journey he may have a chance of regaining his Form… |
5943148 | /m/0ffs5d | Stet | null | null | null | Stet tells the life story of a visionary Soviet filmmaker named Stet who lives through Stalin's repressions, manages to direct his first feature film, but ends up in a prison camp for various offenses against the bureaucracy. The novel is narrated in a "Russian" voice, by an ostensible third-person narrator who is nevertheless full of opinions and bitter aphorisms. Despite his third-person status, the narrator seems to be a major character in the book. The tone of the book is black humor, and often entirely pessimistic, as it delineates the difficulties of living as an artist who does not accept or worry about the judgments of his surrounding world. Yet the character of the filmmaker Stet, to whom aesthetic ecstasy remains available throughout his trials, seems to give the reader an alternative to the pessimism of the narrator. |
5946164 | /m/0ffxnj | Rules for Radicals | Saul Alinsky | 1971 | null | Outlining his strategy in organizing, Alinsky writes: There's another reason for working inside the system. Dostoyevsky said that taking a new step is what people fear most. Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and chance the future. This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution. To bring on this reformation requires that the organizer work inside the system, among not only the middle class but the 40 per cent of American families – more than seventy million people – whose income range from $5,000 to $10,000 a year [in 1971]. They cannot be dismissed by labeling them blue collar or hard hat. They will not continue to be relatively passive and slightly challenging. If we fail to communicate with them, if we don't encourage them to form alliances with us, they will move to the right. Maybe they will anyway, but let's not let it happen by default. For Alinsky, organizing is the process of highlighting whatever he believed to be wrong and convincing people they can actually do something about it. The two are linked. If people feel they don’t have the power to change a situation, they stop thinking about it. According to Alinsky, the organizer — especially a paid organizer from outside — must first overcome suspicion and establish credibility. Next the organizer must begin the task of agitating: rubbing resentments, fanning hostilities, and searching out controversy. This is necessary to get people to participate. An organizer has to attack apathy and disturb the prevailing patterns of complacent community life where people have simply come to accept a situation. Alinsky would say, "The first step in community organization is community disorganization." Through a process combining hope and resentment, the organizer tries to create a "mass army" that brings in as many recruits as possible from local organizations, churches, services groups, labor unions, corner gangs, and individuals. According to Alinsky, the main job of the organizer is to bait an opponent into reacting. "The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength." In a separate chapter he suggests that the perennial question, "Does the end justify the means?" is meaningless as it stands: the real and only question regarding the ethics of means and ends is, and always has been, "Does this particular end justify this particular means?" These rules of the ethics of means and ends are only one chapter of his book, totally distinct from his "clear set of rules for community organizing." |
5946747 | /m/0ffyp6 | Jack Frusciante è uscito dal gruppo | null | null | null | Jack Frusciante Has Left the Band tells the story of the relationship between Alex, a 17 year old rebel, and Aidi, a girl who enters his life out of the blue one Sunday with a phone call. She asks about a poetry book and they end up talking about their projects and aspirations. Before they part she kisses him on the cheek. Alex falls for her, and later asks her to be his girlfriend. She begins behaving increasingly coldly to him until she states that she doesn't want any relationship because she'll be leaving for the States the following year and doesn't want to be in a long-distance relationship. Alex accepts her decision. Nonetheless, they maintain a relationship that, though not full-blown love, is stronger than mere friendship. Meanwhile, Alex takes a position in opposition to bourgeois society, rejecting the commonplace life that everyone expects him to be leading in the future ("a car, two children, a wife and a business consultant") and befriending Martino, the son of a rich family but an "outcast" like Alex himself. |
5948815 | /m/0fg3xq | The Inscrutable Americans | Anurag Mathur | 1991-07 | null | Gopal Kumar, the son of a hair oil tycoon in Madhya Pradesh, arrives in America to study chemical engineering in a university in Eversville. Being a rural boy, he is singularly a virgin. Randy Wolff, his designated buddy attempts to introduce him to the dating culture of the USA, which Gopal resists at first. He is slowly coaxed by him while discovering more of America. Towards the end of his stay, Gopal becomes frustrated due to being unable to "score" a girl. He leaves America still a virgin, but on a flight, he meets a mysterious woman who shares his affection, although they don't touch. |
5949254 | /m/0fg53x | Quadrille | Noël Coward | null | null | The date is 1873. The wife (Spencer) of Diensen, a railway magnate (Lunt) has run off to the South of France with Lord Heronden (Jones). Diensen and Lady Heronden (Fontanne) join forces to find their errant partners and get them back. They succeed, but are not glad to have done so because they have fallen in love with each other. At the end of the play, they elope together. |
5953255 | /m/0fgdms | Scratch One | Michael Crichton | 1967-09 | null | Roger Carr has a lot going for him. He's a handsome, charming and privileged man who practices law—more as a means to support his playboy lifestyle than a career. Thanks to his father, who is a powerful politician, Carr has many connections. For this reason, his law associates tolerate him and keep him around. Carr is sent to Nice, France on a job by one of his wealthy political connections to find and secure the purchase of a Villa. Little does he know that this cushy assignment is going to put him in the middle of an arms deal investigation involving the CIA and a gang called Associates Both sides mistake him for someone else—an American assassin—and neither side can understand why Carr is ignoring them. The CIA take it as a sign of defiance, the Associates perceive him as a cool and collected professional, who knows exactly what he's doing and is difficult to predict. Carr becomes slowly aware that something strange is going on. He's not sure...but he thinks someone may be trying to kill him. The worst part of it is, he has no clue as to why. What happens next will send Carr on a thrilling roller-coaster ride involving fast cars, fast women and international terrorists. tr:Scratch One |
5953317 | /m/0fgdr7 | Easy Go | Michael Crichton | 1968 | null | Harold Barnaby is a brilliant Egyptologist who has discovered a hidden message while translating some hieroglyphics. The message tells of an unnamed Pharaoh whose tomb hasn't been discovered yet. Barnaby is exhilarated by the discovery and the prospect of the fame and fortune that will come with it. There is only one problem. He doesn't have the knowledge, influence or wherewithal to pull off such a job without alerting the Egyptian authorities who would surely encroach on his discovery. Luckily, Barnaby meets Robert Pierce, a transient freelance writer who is in between jobs and looking for some excitement. In a moment of drunken indiscretion, Barnaby shares his discovery with Pierce along with his small logistical problem. Pierce, who because of his job has many friends in high—and low—places, offers his services to plan and manage the "extraction". For a cut, of course. He brings on Lord Grover, the fifth Earl of Wheatston to bankroll the project; smuggler Alan Conway; and international thief, Nikos Karagannis. Together, this motley crew set up camp in the harsh conditions of the Egyptian desert and "dig in" for the long haul. Their task is made all-the-more challenging when an Egyptian official becomes suspicious of their activities. tr:Easy Go |
5953789 | /m/0fgfk3 | Pride of Baghdad | Brian K. Vaughan | null | null | The story revolves around the brief freedom experienced by a small pride of captive lions, who escape from Baghdad Zoo during the 2003 invasion of Baghdad by the U.S.-led coalition. As the lions roam the streets of Baghdad trying to survive, each lion comes to embody a different viewpoint regarding the Iraq War. |
5958545 | /m/0fgn5h | Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver | Michael Ende | 1960 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/0dwly": "Children's literature"} | The story begins on a tiny island called Morrowland (original German: Lummerland), which has just enough space for a small palace, a train station and rails all around the island, a grocery store, a small house, a king, two subjects, a locomotive named Emma, and a locomotive engineer by the name of Luke (Lukas) (who, as railway civil servant, is not a subject). One day, the postman – who has to come by ship – drops off a package with a nearly illegible address for a Mrs. Krintuuth at Zorroulend. On the back was a large 13. After a futile search for the addressee among Morrowland's few inhabitants, they open the package. To their immense surprise, there's a black baby inside. After the commotion has died down, the baby is adopted by the islanders and is named Jim Button. As Jim grows up, the King begins to worry that the island is too small and there won't be enough space for Jim to live on once he's an adult. He announces to Luke that Emma has to be removed. Luke, upset about this decision, decides to leave the island with Emma, and Jim (who had accidentally overheard Luke relating his woes to Emma) decides to come along. They convert Emma into a makeshift ship and sail off the island in the night, eventually arriving at the coast of China. When they arrive in Ping, the capital, they win the friendship of a tiny great-grandchild named Ping Pong, who tells them the Emperor is in mourning. His daughter, Li Si, has been kidnapped and is being held in the Dragon City. Luke and Jim offer their help, and while investigating the circumstances of Li Si's disappearance, they stumble upon several names which are directly connected to Jim's mysterious arrival on Morrowland: Mrs. Grindtooth (Frau Mahlzahn), the Wild 13, and Sorrowland (Kummerland). Now Jim and Luke have another reason to go to the Dragon City, located in Sorrowland, and confront Mrs. Grindtooth. After a long and hazardous journey, they arrive in the Dragon City. Along the way, they make two new friends, the giant Mr. Tur Tur (who is actually a "Scheinriese" – he only appears to be a giant), and Nepomuk, the half-dragon. Jim and Luke free Princess Li Si and a large number of children, who had all been kidnapped and sold to Mrs. Grindtooth by a gang of pirates (the Wild 13). Mrs. Grindtooth had chained the children to desks at her school, where she had barked lessons to them like a kommandant. Jim and Luke take Mrs. Grindtooth with them as they make their way back on the Yellow River, which begins right at the Dragon City. Arriving back in China, they receive a triumphal welcome and are surprised by some startling news. Mrs. Grindtooth is about to turn into the Golden Dragon of Wisdom, and the other inhabitants of Morrowland want them back on the island! With parting advice given by the now-reformed Mrs. Grindtooth and generous assistance from the Emperor, Luke and Jim come into possession of a floating island, which is named New-Morrowland, to serve as Jim's future residence. After a cordial welcome back on Morrowland, Jim and Li Si become engaged, and Jim gets a small locomotive for his own, which he names Molly. Jim Button and the Wild 13 (original German title: Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13) is the sequel and concludes the story. Following the events in Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver, life in Morrowland continues as usual for a year until the postman rams New-Morrowland with his mail boat in the dark of night. It is decided that the island needs a lighthouse, but it is too small to support one. Jim remembers Mr. Tur Tur and his ability to appear as a giant when seen from afar, and Jim and Luke decide to invite him to Morrowland to use his unique ability as a living lighthouse. While sailing the oceans with Emma and Molly (Jim's locomotive) to get to the desert where Mr. Tur Tur lives, Jim and Luke stop to help out a mermaid named Sursulapitschi and her father, Lormoral, the king of the seas. This leads to a precarious encounter with the Magnetic Cliffs. The magnetic pull can be turned of and on. When on, they activate a phenomenon called the Sea Glow, which illuminates the bottom of the sea, but also activates the magnetic pull, endangering passing ships. Someone must be found to ensure that no ships are endangered while the Sea Glow is switched on. In addition, Sursulapitschi is distressed because her fiancee, a "Schildnöck" (turtle man) named Ushaurishuum, has been assigned by her father to refashion the Crystal of Eternity, a task only possible with the aid of a creature of fire, with whom the merpeople are at war. Using the special properties of the cliffs' material, Jim and Luke convert Emma into a flying vehicle which they dub the "Perpetumobile" due to its unlimited means of locomotion. With it, they cross the Crown of the World to get Mr. Tur Tur. To their surprise, in the desert, they also encounter their half-dragon friend Nepomuk, who had had to flee the Dragon City following the events in the first book, for his help in capturing Mrs. Grindtooth. Jim and Luke persuade Nepomuk to accompany them and take up the post at the Magnetic Cliffs. Unexpectedly, the four meet Sursulapitschi and Ushaurishuum at the cliffs, and the Schildnöck and Nepomuk quickly become friends, enabling the recreation of the Crystal of Eternity. Meanwhile, Jim's locomotive Molly, whom Jim and Luke had left at the cliffs when getting Mr. Tur Tur and Nepomuk, has been abducted by the band of pirates called the Wild 13. Luckily for Jim and Luke, the former Mrs. Grindtooth awakes as a Golden Dragon of Wisdom in China and can help them out with information and tells Jim how to find out about his origin. With the help of the Chinese emperor, Jim and Luke – and Princess Li Si as a stowaway – start their journey to meet the Wild 13 and rescue Molly. They encounter the pirates, who prove to be too much for them in battle. Molly is lost at sea, and all but Jim are captured and brought to the pirates' base, Castle Stormeye, a pinnacle of rock within the eye of a perpetual hurricane. Unseen, Jim manages to sneak into the pirates' fortress, overpower them with a trick and some luck, and become their leader. As it turns out, Jim is the last descendant of Caspar, the third of the Three Kings, whose heirs were doomed to be homeless after Mrs. Grindtooth had sunk their kingdom beneath the ocean millennia ago. Only the sinking of Castle Stormeye will raise it up again. In the end, the Wild 13 sacrifice their fortress, Jim's old kingdom reappears – and to everyone's surprise, Morrowland is located at the top of the realm's highest mountain. All the families whose children Jim and Luke had rescued from the Dragon City come to live in the new country. Jim marries Li Si and receives Molly from the merpeople, her iron frame transformed into the Crystal of Eternity. The Wild 13, reformed by their sacrifice, remain in Jim's kingdom as its protectors and royal guards. |
5958929 | /m/0fgnt2 | An Acceptable Time | Madeleine L'Engle | 10/1/1989 | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/0dwly": "Children's literature", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Happy to be away from her large family for a while, Polly O'Keefe is spending the autumn with her maternal grandparents, Dr. Kate Murry and Dr. Alex Murry, getting a better education from them in science than she would have received at home. Soon, however, surprising things start to happen, including the unexpected arrival of Zachary Gray, a charming but troubled college student whom Polly met in Greece and dated on Cyprus the year before (in A House Like a Lotus). Then, while walking near her grandparents' Connecticut home, Polly meets druids Karralys and Anaral and a warrior named Tav, all of whom lived in the area some three thousand years ago. She soon learns that she is not the first person from her time to meet the Murrys' Pre-Columbian neighbors. Bishop Nason Colubra, the brother of a family friend, Dr. Louise Colubra, has been investigating the hieroglyphs found on rocks in nearby, relics of Karralys' time. In doing so, he has also come into repeated contact with Anaral's tribe, the People of the Wind (a tribe that previously appeared in A Swiftly Tilting Planet). The retired bishop is initially reluctant to discuss this, having been met with his sister's skepticism in previous attempts. However, he feels responsible for exposing Polly to the potential dangers of a tesseract of intersecting periods of time. The Murrys and the Colubras try to protect Polly from being drawn into the past, but although she tries to obey their restrictions on her movements, she continues to encounter Anaral and the others. Karralys and Tav formerly lived in ancient Britain, but have since crossed the ocean and made their home with the People of the Wind. On Samhain, Polly feels a compulsion to visit the Murrys' indoor swimming pool, the modern location of a site considered sacred by Karralys and Anaral. Polly is suddenly transported to the past, where she learns that Tav wants to offer Polly in blood sacrifice in order to avert a drought. Already the People Across the Lake are conducting raids due to the privations of drought, and Tav wants to protect his adopted people. Karralys sends Polly home. Zachary, however, is intrigued when he learns that the odd people he has seen are from the ancient past. His heart, previously seen as damaged by rheumatic fever in the Austin family novel The Moon by Night, is now so weak that he does not expect to live much longer. On the slight possibility that the solution to his problem lies with the ancient druids, Zach rashly leads Polly back to the star-watching rock, a place where Polly found herself in the past once before. Polly and Zach are drawn through a time gate and trapped in ancient Connecticut, with neither the Murrys nor Louise Colubra there to help Polly out of a potentially fatal situation. Tav soon changes his mind about whether his goddess wants Polly to be sacrificed. Her primary danger is not from the People of the Wind, but from their neighbors across the lake, where the drought is more severe. The People Across the Lake conduct another raid, and leave behind two of their injured members as they withdraw. One of them, Klep, is expected to be his tribe's future leader. He develops an attachment to his healer, Anaral, and learns from Polly the concept of love. The other injured man, Brown Earth, persuades Zachary to cross the lake with him during the night. Tynak, the current leader of the People Across the Lake, promises to let the tribe's medicine man heal Zachary's heart if he helps bring Polly to them. Zach agrees. He participates in another raid, with Polly's capture as the goal. Polly tries to convince Zach that the People Across the Lake intend to sacrifice her for her blood, but he refuses to admit this. Polly escapes, but returns for Zachary's sake. Ultimately, Polly's spirit of self-sacrifice and love, accompanied by the timely return of rain on her captors' side of the lake, wins out as a better way to interact with the Divine than an offering of death. The two tribes agree to unite and help each other. Zachary repents his betrayal of Polly, and his heart is physically healed (at least in part) before they return to their own time. When they return Polly tells Zachary they shouldn't see each other any more. |
5959933 | /m/0fgq4n | Ramona Quimby, Age 8 | Beverly Cleary | 1981 | {"/m/0dwly": "Children's literature", "/m/05hgj": "Novel"} | The schools in Ramona Quimby's neighborhood have been reorganized, and now she gets to ride the bus to Cedarhurst Primary, where she and her fellow third graders will be the biggest kids in the school. Ramona is happy about the changes until a boy on the bus steals her new eraser, but she rises to the challenge and ends up deciding the "Yard Ape" may not be so bad, after all. The best part of being in third grade is Sustained Silent Reading. Ramona loves getting time to read in school every day. The worst part is that she isn't sure if her teacher, Mrs. Whaley, likes her. When Ramona cracks a hard boiled egg on her head at lunch- and finds out her mother forgot to boil it- she ends up in the secretary's office with a head full of raw egg, where she overhears Mrs. Whaley describe her as a show-off and a nuisance. Even Yard Ape can't make her feel better about that. Things get worse when she throws up in class and her mother has to leave work to take her home. Then there's the problem of spoiled Willa Jean. Every day after school Howie goes outside to ride bikes with his friends, and Ramona is forced to play baby games with her. Beezus can always say she's busy doing homework, but that doesn't work for Ramona. Clearly, though, she is growing up, as she uses her creativity to find ways to help her family by getting along. |
5963476 | /m/0fgy4_ | Catalyst | Laurie Halse Anderson | 2002-09 | {"/m/0dwly": "Children's literature", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Kate Malone, a preacher's daughter and high school student who is excellent in chemistry and aspires to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, faces multiple tragic situations ranging from rejection by MIT to the fire of her neighbor Teri Litch at the end of her senior year. All of these become catalysts propelling self-centered, arrogant Kate to change. Throughout the novel Anderson makes extensive references to the periodic table of elements. |
5963679 | /m/0fgymb | René | François-René de Chateaubriand | 1802 | {"/m/0l67h": "Novella"} | René, a desperately unhappy young Frenchman, seeks refuge among the Natchez people of Louisiana. It is a long time before he is persuaded to reveal the cause of his melancholy. He tells of his lonely childhood in his father's castle in Brittany. His mother died giving birth to him and since his father is a remote, forbidding figure, René takes refuge in an intense friendship with his sister Amélie and in long, solitary walks in the countryside around the castle. When René's father dies and his brother inherits the family home, he decides to travel. He visits the ruins of ancient Greece and Rome which inspire him with melancholy reflections. He travels to Scotland to view the places mentioned by the bard Ossian and to the famous sights of Italy. Nothing satisfies him: "The ancient world had no certainty, the modern world had no beauty." He returns to France and finds society corrupt and irreligious. His sister Amélie inexplicably seems to avoid him too. As René explains: :"I soon found myself more isolated in my own land, than I had been in a foreign country. For a while I wanted to fling myself into a world which said nothing to me and which did not understand me. My soul, not yet worn out by any passion, sought an object to which it might be attached; but I realised I was giving more than I received. It was not elevated language or deep feelings that were asked of me. My only task was to shrink my soul and bring it down to society's level." Disgusted, René withdraws from society and lives in an obscure part of the city. But this reclusive life soon bores him too. He decides to move to the countryside but he finds no happiness there: "Alas, I was alone, alone on the earth. A secret languor was taking hold of my body. The disgust for life I had felt since childhood came back with renewed force. Soon my heart no longer provided food for my mind, and the only thing I felt in my existence was a deep ennui." René decides to kill himself, but when his sister learns of his plan, the two are joyfully reunited. But there is no happy ending. Amélie seems to be pining for something. One day, René finds she has gone, leaving a letter saying she wants to become a nun but giving no explanation why. René goes to witness her initiation ceremony where she reveals she has joined the convent because she wants to overcome her incestuous love for him. Devastated by this confession, René decides to leave Europe forever and travel to America. After spending some time with the Indians, he receives a letter announcing his sister's death. The novella concludes by revealing shortly after René told his tale, he was killed in a battle between the Natchez and the French. (Note: according to the version in Les Natchez, the action of the story takes place in the 1720s). |
5966618 | /m/0fh2cm | The Quincunx of Time | James Blish | 1973-10 | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | Capt. Robin Weinbaum of Earth Security submits to a request for an interview from Dana Lje, a video commentator, mostly because she can and has made his life difficult with her reporting of Security lapses, especially in a recent case involving the Government of Erskine, another planetary system. Ms. Lje reveals that she has received a communication from an outfit calling itself "Interstellar Information Ltd." about an incident in a star system so far away that even by a faster-than-light ship, no message could return from it in less than two months. The incident in fact is due to take place in the next few days. The communication also alleges that there is a new device aboard the ship, and gives the name of the device. When Weinbaum hears the name—the Dirac communicator—he is forced to believe that Interstellar Information have access to information even he doesn't have. He brings in Dr. Thor Wald to explain the Dirac device to Dana Lje. She agrees to play along with Interstellar and its owner, J. Shelby Stevens, to let Security find out how the company gets its information. A long investigation turns up exactly nothing. Even when J. Shelby Stevens allows an interview, under the conditions of so-called "stoolie's arrest" in which he voluntarily places himself in custody for interview, with a guarantee of being set free immediately afterward, there is no progress. The only result is that Stevens predicts the date of their next meeting. Weinbaum uses the Dirac device to communicate with his agents, even though he suspects the communications may not be secure. Each audiovisual message is preceded by a loud beep and burst of visual static, which is so annoying that Weinbaum orders it edited from the tapes he reviews. Finally Weinbaum discovers who Stevens really is, and to his amazement the day this happens is the exact day Stevens predicted they would meet again. He orders his agents to arrest the miscreant. The explanation he gets is this: the beep that he found so annoying represents all the messages ever sent, or that ever will be sent, using the Dirac device. With proper techniques, it is possible to extract any message, whether it be recent, or far in the future. Weinbaum realizes that this is an incredible and dangerous thing. On the one hand he can be ready for any hostile act on the part of Earth's enemies, but on the other he may, by choosing some events over others, affect the course of future history. The final chapters of the book are a long and well-informed discussion on free will and determinism (the preface of the novel has a quote on the subject from philosopher William James). Eventually Weinbaum decides that the best choice is no choice at all. If information in the beep states that something will happen, then his agents must make sure that it happens. He calls this principle "Thy will, not mine". |
5967227 | /m/0fh3wg | East | Edith Pattou | null | {"/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/0dwly": "Children's literature", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | When Arne married the superstitious Eugenia, he agreed to have seven children with her, one for each point of the compass, excluding North, which she believed to be wild and uncontrollable. Each direction fortold a different personality. Her favourite child, East-born Elise, died young and Eugenia had another child to replace her. As soon as Rose (Nyamh) finds out that she is not actually an East bairn, but a North, she and her short temper go hysterical, driving her to go with the White Bear. Eugenia was told years before by a skjebne-soke (fortune teller) that any North Child she had would die crushed beneath an avalanche with ice and snow. Rose has always felt out of place in her family, a wanderer in a bunch of homebodies. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with him--in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family--she readily agrees. The bear takes Rose to a distant castle, where each night she is confronted with a mystery. In solving that mystery, she loses her heart, discovers her purpose, and realizes her travels have only just begun. |
5968160 | /m/0fh60v | Premonitions | Judy Blundell | 4/7/2005 | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature"} | Gracie knows when bad things are about to happen. Or sometimes when they have already happened. She begged her mother not to leave for a trip that ended with her dying when her car was hit by a truck delivering oranges, and now, living in Washington with her aunt Shay, Gracie has visions that involve her best friend Emily. Gracie would prefer that her psychic powers did not exist, but when Emily disappears, she has to use every vision she gets as a clue to solving the mystery. The problem with Gracie's visions is that she does not know exactly what she is seeing. Sometimes she sees the past, sometimes the present, and sometimes she misinterprets her visions completely. Assisted by her cousin Diego, Gracie follows her visions in hopes of finding Emily. After a few false starts and a little research, she finds Emily's trail and is taken captive by Emily's kidnapper. Trapped in a guarded and gloomy house, Gracie begins to see the dark childhood of her kidnapper and his kins in unstoppable visions, the kidnapper is a madman who regrets not saving his ill sister Nell. This leads to the house being set ablaze by his enraged father and most of his brothers and sisters are killed in the fire including his dear sister Lizbet. This disillusioned madman wants to end this properly this time and so plans to die with his foster 'family'. |
5968846 | /m/0fh7f3 | Magic's Pawn | Mercedes Lackey | 1989 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy"} | Vanyel Ashkevron, age sixteen, is the heir to a great estate, Forst Reach, though he does not measure up to what his father, Lord Withen, deems to be a "proper" man. He is devoted to music and cultivating an elegant appearance. Withen sends Vanyel to school in Haven, the capital of Valdemar, under the supervision of Vanyel's aunt Savil. Savil has little interest in Vanyel because he has no psychic or magic powers, but realizes he is not as arrogant as Withen described. Vanyel finds schooling at Haven more suited to his nature, but is told he does not have the Bardic gift, and cannot become a true Bard. Feeling he has lost his dream, he becomes depressed. Vanyel develops feelings for Tylendel Frelennye, one of Savil's protégés. He learns that Tylendel is shay'a'chern, or homosexual. They become lovers and later find they are lifebonded, that is, soulmates. For the first time, Vanyel is truly happy. Tylendel introduces Vanyel to Gala, his Companion; one of the intelligent horse-like creatures that bond with Heralds. Staven, Tylendel's twin brother, is assassinated by a family enemy. Tylendel senses his brother's death and goes mad with grief. Not understanding Tylendel's trauma, Vanyel continues supporting him as he seeks revenge. Using Vanyel's dormant energies Tylendel 'Gates' them to the enemy family. Tylendel casts a complicated spell summoning deadly wyrsa to kill members of the enemy family. Gala repudiates Tylendel and dies sacrificing herself to give time for Heralds to arrive to stop the massacre. Tylendel commits suicide, and the backlash from the 'Gate' spell tears open Vanyel's dormant magic potential. Suffering from psychic and emotional damage, Vanyel is "chosen" by a Companion, Yfandes, who reassures him of her love and friendship and his worth. Vanyel begins recovering, but is unable to control his newly "opened" powers. He telepathically overhears thoughts blaming him for Tylendel's death. Vanyel attempts suicide, but is rescued, and the Heralds see that his love for Tylendel was real. Savil, realizing Vanyel needs special assistance, takes him to the Tayledras, human beings who live in K'Treva, an environment immersed in magic. They teach him how to control his abilities, and convince him that being gay is not wrong or sinful. Vanyel does not want to be a Herald or a Mage, and suspects the people around him value his powers, not himself. He runs away, but as he thinks things over he realizes that Savil and the others have shown that they care about him. Just when he realizes that and moves to return he discovers a village being terrorized by a colddrake, a type of dragon. Before he can even think to do anything, he witnesses the dragon killing an elderly man. He pulls himself together and kills the dragon, but the unfortunate timing gives Vanyel the impression that he is a coward. The Tayledras later explain that he is not at all cowardly and that his reactions were normal. Vanyel is about to return to the Tayledras when he receives a telepathic cry for help. He ends up assisting a village in overcoming a mad wizard along with his aunt and teachers. With a combination of strategy and half-learned magic, he defeats the wizard. He believes he will die as well, but is comforted by the thought that he will be with Tylendel. Vanyel wakes to find himself with his aunt in K'Treva as she presents him with the white robes of a full-fledged Herald-Mage. |
5969504 | /m/0fh847 | Taming The Star Runner | S. E. Hinton | 1988 | {"/m/0dwly": "Children's literature", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Travis is a tough kid living in a big city. When he comes home to find his stepfather cramming the fireplace with his writing, Travis assaults him with a fireplace poker. As a result, he is sent to live with his paternal uncle, Ken, on his ranch outside of Tulsa. Travis, used to life in the city, soon finds country life to be boring. Formerly the coolest, toughest kid in school, he is now an out-of-place loner, torn between his desire to fit in and his contempt for country living. Even Ken seems too busy for him, between work at his law-firm and his divorce; he is often too busy to even keep food in the house. Travis continues work on his book while maintaining a correspondence with Joe, the only one of his friends to even occasionally write back. He also meets Casey Kencaide, who runs a riding school on Ken's ranch and is the only one brave enough to ride the Star Runner, a creature who, like Travis, was never meant to be tamed. Soon Travis is working for Casey as a stable boy, and he receives an offer to publish his book. In response he takes a trip into town to celebrate. While in town he gets drunk and is beat up by the bouncer when his true age is discovered. In bad shape, he contacts his uncle to bring him home and reveals his book deal to Ken, a surprise for Ken, as he was unaware that Travis was even fully literate. For a while life, to Travis, at least seems bearable. Things soon get worse though, as Travis' stepfather refuses to allow the book to be published without his prior approval. Hearing this, Travis has another fit of rage and throws the phone, nearly hitting Ken's wife, Teresa, and their son, Christopher. Teresa, in response to this, and discovering Travis' criminal record, threatens to use his presence in Ken's house to win full custody of Christopher and Ken almost kicks Travis out in his zeal to be with his son. Eventually they make peace after they realize that they both hoped that the other would be the father and son they were looking for. It turns out Travis' father died in the Vietnam War two months before Travis was born. Ken then agrees to help Travis get his book published, going with him to meet the publisher Ms. Carmichael when she comes to town, and even arranges some publicity with a TV interview at a station owned by a friend of his. Travis then gets a surprise visit from his friend Joe, who had hitchhiked his way there. Instead of this being a joyous event, Joe reveals that after Travis left, his friends, Joe and the twins, Billy and Mike, had turned to burglary, fencing the goods through a man named Orson. After Joe quit, the twins continued their burglaries, but found a new fence. For this, Orson killed the twins and tried to make Joe help him. Travis and Ken convince Joe that he must return to face trial as an accomplice, and take him to the local police for extradition. As they return to Ken's ranch, a huge lightning storm strikes and Ken and Travis must go help Casey round up the horses into the barn. As they do this, the Star Runner breaks free of his padlock. Casey and Travis give chase only to have Casey's jeep struck by lightning. Although it is not directly stated, the Star Runner is killed(This is implied from Travis smelling burned flesh). The book ends as Casey and Travis have recovered from the accident and the temporary hearing loss. Though Casey had previously spurned Travis' romantic overtures, they are now close friends who share a common bond. Travis also realizes that he, like the Star Runner, should never allow himself to be tamed or broken, even when life is at its worst. |
5969644 | /m/0fh89h | Magic's Promise | Mercedes Lackey | null | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy"} | The book opens with Herald-Mage Vanyel returning to his country Valdemar from an extensive campaign along the border with Karse, the neighboring enemy country. He checks in with Valdemar's King Randale and his lifebonded mate, Shavri, and their daughter Jisa. Only a select few know that Jisa is Vanyel's daughter. Because King Randale is sterile, he had asked Vanyel to father an heir. Now, Shavri confides in Vanyel her fear that Randale is mortally ill. Vanyel and his mentor Savil return to Vanyel's family home at Forst Reach, where they find little rest or peace. His parents both try to change his mind about being shay'a'chern, or homosexual. Vanyel becomes somewhat confused about his own sexuality. He wonders if he is truly in love with Shavri. Yfandes, Vanyel's Companion, doesn't buy it and finds the situation amusing. Vanyel also meets his illegitimate nephew, Medren. Medren is small for his age as Vanyel was, and like him it appears that he is often bullied by the armsmaster Jervis. The boy has a powerful Bardic gift, and Vanyel sponsors him for the Bardic Collegium. Vanyel confronts Jervis and learns that the armsmaster is not being intentionally rough. He also apologizes for beating Vanyel long ago, and explains his difficult position with Vanyel's father. He also mentions that he knew Vanyel was shay'a'chern from the beginning, but also knew from his army service that being gay does not keep men from being courageous warriors. Vanyel accepts this and they form an uneasy friendship. The main plot focuses on how Vanyel assists young Prince Tashir Remoerdis. Vanyel and Yandes receive a psychic summons into the neighboring country of Lineas. Upon arrival, they find Tashir, who has just become a Herald, with his Companion, Leshya (nicknamed Ghost by Yfandes). Another Herald, Lores, is beating the child and attacks Ghost when he tries to interfere. He believes that Tashir is actually an evil sorcerer who has murdered his own family. Vanyel immediately stops Lores and commands him to return to Valdemar. Vanyel takes Tashir back to his own home, Forst Reach, and begins to try and discover what truly happened to Tashir's family. He then returns to Lineas, disguised as a minstrel to gather information. In Lineas magic is taboo; no one is supposed to perform it for any reason. It shares a border with Baires, a country ruled by the Mavelan, a family of mages. A treaty was signed to end the warring between the two countries, sealed by the marriage of Tashir's parents. In the treaty there exists a clause that if the royal family of Lineas dies out, the Mavelan can take over the Lineas throne, and vice versa. Vanyel meets an old servant of the Remoerdis family who tells him of Tashir's sad childhood. Tashir was physically and emotionally abused by his father and sexually abused by his mother. His mother was mentally unstable and made seductive overtures to Tashir even as a young child. Tashir looks very much like his mother's uncle Vedric, and rumor has it that he is the product of an incestuous affair between them. Returning to Forst Reach, Vanyel recruits Savil and Jervis to help. Together with Tashir, they return to Lineas, breaking through the palace's magic shields to search the place. They find a secret room which contains a "heart-stone", an ordinary rock connected with a magical "node" which is keeping a deep, dangerous fault sealed. As the stone was unstable and any magic done in the area could disturb it, a guardian family without magic was appointed. If the stone were to be removed, a giant earthquake would occur destroying Lineas, parts of the outlands, and the border of Valdemar. That was why magic was anathema in Lineas, and also why everyone in the palace was blood related member of the Remoerdis family, sworn to protect the node. In the palace Vanyel and Savil discover a "trap-spell", which targets one person and also kills the target's entire family. Tashir's family were the victims of the trap-spell, which was placed by Tashir's uncle Vedric, whose intention is to control both Lineas and Baires. (He is not, however, Tashir's father.) Vedric tries the same trick on Vanyel, who has already caught on and sent Savil away, along with Tashir, while keeping Jervis with him. In defending himself, Vanyel ends up killing most of the Baires family as well as Vedric. Now king of both Baires and Lineas, Tashir considers himself too young and inexperienced. He allows King Randale to annex the two smaller countries into Valdemar. Vanyel finally sorts out that he actually is gay, and that Shavri is just a good friend. |
5970467 | /m/0fhb0x | Magic's Price | Mercedes Lackey | 1990 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy"} | The story begins with the last four Herald-Mages, Vanyel among them, creating a magic barrier around their nation of Valdemar. This barrier prevents hostile mages from using magic. Vanyel intends to add other defenses when he has the time. Valdemar's King Randale is dying of a mysterious ailment. Vanyel has taken over nearly all the responsibilities of the throne, while young Prince Treven is trained. A young bard named Stefen is discovered in the Bardic Collegium. He has the unusual ability to block pain with his music. Vanyel arranges for Stefen to play for Randale during an official audience, proving his ability. Stefen is openly shaych (homosexual) and falls in love with Vanyel. Vanyel hesitates to love anyone because he fears his enemies will attack those he cares about, but finds that he and Stefen have become lifebonded—that is, they are complementary soulmates. It is unheard-of to have more than one lifebond in one lifetime, and Vanyel had already had such a link with (now dead) Herald-Mage apprentice Tylendel when very young. While visiting his family with Stefen and his aunt and mentor Savil, Vanyel wanders alone to think things over and is ambushed by a rogue mage, whom he overcomes and delivers to the family priest. The mage escapes and attacks a group of women who are listening to Stefen's music. Yfandes tries to help but is injured; Vanyel shows up just in time to step in front of a thrown dagger meant for his mother. Savil recognizes the dagger as a leech-blade, which sucks life energy from its victim. Savil Gates away to the land of the Tayledras Hawkbrothers, to ask for help; she returns with Vanyel's former mentors, Moondance and Starwind. They discover that Vanyel's lifebond with Stefen may have saved his life and speculate that Stefen is the reincarnation of Tylendel. Vanyel is not told, as the Hawkbrothers think it would complicate his relationship with Stefen. Vanyel, Stefen and Savil return to Haven, bringing Vanyel's parents along for their protection. King Randale has deteriorated further. Shavri, his lover and King's Own, has decided to provide him with strength through a psychic link. When Randale dies, so will Shavri. To make matters worse, Karse, the traditional enemy of Valdemar, is about to declare a holy war. Vanyel departs to negotiate a treaty with the land of Rethwellan. Upon his return he finds that Herald-Mages are dying in what look like accidents. Savil doesn't believe it and asks Vanyel to strengthen the protective wards around her home. Vanyel is tired and puts it off; the same night a mage-made creature murders Savil. Vanyel is now the last Herald-Mage. Vanyel sets out to find the mage behind the deaths, followed by Stefen. They are ambushed by bandits who work for the mage, whom they call Master Dark. As instructed, Stefen runs away to hide and returns later. He finds Yfandes injured and Vanyel kidnapped. A blocking spell has been put on Vanyel to prevent him from using his powers. The bandits rape and beat Vanyel savagely and he nearly dies; they send for a healer to revive him. This man sees the magical block on Vanyel's mind and removes it. Vanyel revives, and temporarily loses his sanity, killing everyone in sight. Stefen and Yfandes arrive and so do a pack of Kyree, who take the humans in and help them. Vanyel is healed, but is determined to find "Master Dark", whom he now suspects of having been behind a number of mysterious deaths in Valdemar. Vanyel finds a mountain pass, where the mage intends to take his troops down into the heart of Valdemar. Vanyel sends Yfandes and Stefen to the guard post for help; knowing he may never see them again. The dark mage's army shows up. Vanyel defeats them and finally faces Leareth, "Master Dark" himself. Yfandes returns and together they invoke the ultimate spell, Final Strike, which kills not only one's enemy but oneself. Vanyel and Yfandes die together. Stefen, who has felt Vanyel die, finds only a cracked and burned amber focus-stone—a present he had given Vanyel—and a few strands of blood-soaked horse hair. Some months later, King Randale and Shavri have died. Lost in grief and despair, Stefen returns to the site of Vanyel's death, intending to commit suicide, but Vanyel's spirit appears before him. Vanyel tells Stefen that in order for Stefen to be free to join him, he must convince all of Valdemar that Herald-Mages are no longer necessary, and that Heralds are enough; a nearly impossible task. Stefen agrees and spends the rest of his life working for this change, until his death when he is able to join Vanyel on the other side. |
5970542 | /m/0fhb8y | St. John's Eve | Nikolai Gogol | null | null | This story is retold by Rudy Panko from Foma Grigorievich, the sexton of the Dikanka church. Rudy was in the middle of reading the story to the reader, when Foma butts in and demands to tell it his way. His grandfather used to live in an old village not far from Dikanka that no longer exists. There lived a Cossack named Korzh, his daughter Pidorka and his worker Petro. Petro and Pidorka fall in love, but Korzh catches them one day kissing and is about to whip Petro for this, but stops when his son Ivas pleads for his father to not beat the worker. Korzh instead takes him outside and tells him to never come to his home again, putting the lovers into despair. Petro wants to do whatever he can to get her, and meets up with Basavriuk, a local stranger who frequents the village and many believe to be the devil himself. Basavriuk tells Petro to meet him in Bear’s Ravine and he’ll show him where treasure is in order to get back Pidorka. He has to find a fern that blooms on St John's Eve, a folk legend not based in fact. Basavriuk tells Petro to pluck the flower he finds, and a witch appears who hands him a spade. When he finds the treasure with the spade, he cannot open it until he sheds blood, which he agrees to do until he finds that they captured Ivas in order to acquire it. He refuses at first but in a fury of uncertainty lops off the child’s head and gets the gold. He falls asleep for two days and when he awakens he sees the gold but cannot remember how he got it. After they are married, things go downhill and Petro becomes increasingly distant and insane, thinking all the time that he has forgotten something. Eventually, after a time, Pidorka is convinced to visit the witch at Bear’s Ravine for help, and brings her home. Petro then remembers, upon seeing her, what happened and tosses an axe at the witch, who disappears. Ivas appears at the door with blood all over him and Petro is carried away by the devil. All that remains is a pile of ashes where he once stood and the gold has turned into pieces of broken pottery. After this, Basavriuk begins to appear in the village again and Pidorka goes on a pilgrimage. Foma’s grandfather’s aunt still had problems with the devil however; a party is ruined when a roast lamb comes alive, a chalice bows to his grandfather and a bowl begins to dance. Even after sprinkling the entire area with holy water the tavern is still possessed, so the village becomes abandoned. |
5974342 | /m/0fhk0q | Dracula's Guest | Bram Stoker | null | null | "Dracula's Guest" follows an Englishman (whose name is never mentioned but is presumed to be Jonathan Harker) on a visit to Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night, and in spite of the hotelier's warning to not be late back, the young man later leaves his carriage and wanders toward the direction of an abandoned "unholy" village. As the carriage departs with the frightened and superstitious driver, a tall and thin stranger scares the horses at the crest of a hill. Upon reaching a desolate valley after a few hours, it begins to snow and as a dark storm gathers intensity, the Englishman takes shelter in a grove of cypress and yew trees. The Englishman's location is soon illuminated by moonlight to be a cemetery, and he finds himself before a marble tomb with a large iron stake driven through the roof, the inscription reads: Countess Dolingen of Gratz / in Styria / sought and found death / 1801. Inscribed on the back of the tomb "graven in great Russian letters" is: The dead travel fast. The Englishman is disturbed to be in such a place on such a night and as the storm breaks anew, he is forced by hail to shelter in the doorway of the tomb. As the Englishman avoids the pelting hail, the bronze door of the tomb opens under his weight and a flash of forked lightning shows the interior - and a "beautiful woman with rounded cheeks and red lips, seemingly sleeping on a bier". The force of the following thunder peal throws the Englishman from the doorway (experienced as "being grasped as by the hand of a giant") as another lightning bolt strikes the iron spike, destroying the tomb and the now screaming woman inside. The Englishman's troubles are not quite over, as he painfully regains his senses from the ordeal, he is repulsed by a feeling of loathing which he connects to a warm feeling in his chest and a licking at this throat. the Englishman summons courage to peek through his eyelashes and discovers a gigantic wolf with flaming eyes is attending him. Military horsemen are the next to wake the semi-conscious man, chasing the wolf away with torches and guns. Some horsemen return to the main party and Harker after the chase, reporting that they had not found 'him' and that the Englishman's animal is: "A wolf - and yet not a wolf". They also note that blood is on the ruined tomb yet the Englishman's neck is un-bloodied, "See comrades, the wolf has been lying on him and keeping his blood warm". Later, the Englishman finds his neck pained when a horseman comments on it. When the Englishman is taken back to his hotel by the men, he is informed that it is none other than his expectant host Dracula that has alerted his employees, the horsemen, of "dangers from snow and wolves and night" in a telegram received by the hotel in the time the Englishman was away. |
5975647 | /m/0fhmtn | Young Man with a Horn | Dorothy Baker | 1938 | null | A jazz fiction novel set in a world of speakeasies, big bands, and the Harlem Renaissance. It is loosely based on the life of the great cornet player Bix Beiderbecke who died of alcoholism in 1931 at the age of 28. It tells the story of Rick Martin, a tormented genius from childhood until his death at age 30. The story also dwells on the white/black abilities to play jazz. However, Rick establishes a strong relationship to black musicians who in fact teach him a great deal. The book details both the widely accepted public view of the jazz musician of the time as well as a musician's own struggle for perfection. This drive finally destroys Rick. |
5976174 | /m/0fhn_1 | The Wheels of Chance | H. G. Wells | 1897 | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/01z4y": "Comedy", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | The Wheels of Chance was written at the height of the cycling craze (1890–1905), when practical, comfortable bicycles first became widely and cheaply available and before the rise of the automobile (see History of the bicycle). The advent of the bicycle stirred sudden and profound changes in the social life of England. Even the working class could travel substantial distances, quickly and cheaply, and the very idea of travelling for pleasure became a possibility for thousands of people for the first time. This new freedom affected many. It began to weaken the rigid English class structure and it gave an especially powerful boost to the existing movement toward female emancipation. Wells explored these social changes in his story. |
5976731 | /m/0fhpwk | The Arrows of Hercules | L. Sprague de Camp | 1965 | {"/m/0hwxm": "Historical novel"} | The protagonist is the engineer Zopyros of Tarentum, a follower of the Pythagorean philosophical school. Having invented an improved type of catapult, he is drafted into Syracuse's war effort against Carthage by the tyrant Dionysios, creator of the first military ordnance department known to history. The historical Battle of Motya of 399 BC is a major event in the novel. Also portrayed is the incident upon which the legend of the Sword of Damocles is supposedly based. |
5979692 | /m/0fhwcc | Berlin Game | Len Deighton | 1983 | {"/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/05hgj": "Novel"} | The time is the early 1980s. A highly-placed agent in East Germany codenamed "Brahms Four" wants to come to the West. Brahms Four is one of Britain's most reliable, most valuable agents behind the Iron Curtain, and that he should be urgently demanding safe passage to the West sends a ripple of panic through the SIS. Bernard Samson, a former field agent, and now working behind a London desk, is tasked to undertake the crucial rescue. After all, it was Brahms Four who had once, nearly twenty years ago, saved his life. But even before Samson sets out on his mission, he is confronted with undeniable evidence that there is a traitor among his colleagues — a traitor planted by the KGB. Clearly, it is someone close to the top, close to Samson himself. It could be Dicky Cruyer, his incompetent supervisor - whom Samson despises. It could be the American Bret Rensselaer, who has built his entire career around the work of Brahms Four — and who is spending an inordinate amount of time with Samson's wife, Fiona (also an intelligence officer). It could be Frank Harrington, the 'rezident' - or head of the Berlin field unit. In fact, it could be any member of the senior staff at London Central — even the Director-General himself. Bernard travels to East Berlin to assist the escape of Brahms Four, and decides at the last moment to send Brahms Four out in his place. His suspicions of treachery prove well-founded when he is captured and subsequently confronted by his wife, who had defected and betrayed the operation. |
5980075 | /m/0fhx0p | Late Victorian Holocausts | Mike Davis | 2000-12 | {"/m/03g3w": "History", "/m/05h83": "Non-fiction"} | Part 1 is further subdivided into three chapters – 1) Victoria's ghosts 2) The Poor Eat Their Homes 3) Gunboats and Messiahs. In this section Davis writes about the drought that occurred in the various parts of the British empire in the 1870s and the reactions of the colonial government. Part 2 is further subdivided into three chapters – 1) The Government of Hell 2) Skeletons at the Feast 3) Millenarian Revolutions. This section deals with the impact of the colonial famine policy and its effects on the colonial subjects. Part 3 contains two chapters – 1) The Mystery of the Monsoons and 2) Climates of Hunger. It describes the effect of the ENSO on the lives and livelihood of the people around the world. The final part of the book has four chapters – 1) The Origins of the Third World 2) India: The Modernization of the Poverty 3) China: Mandates Revoked 4) Brazil: Race and Capital in the Nordeste. |
5983051 | /m/0fj0kf | First Rider's Call | Kristen Britain | 8/5/2003 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/05hgj": "Novel", "/m/03qfd": "High fantasy"} | Now a Green Rider, one of the king's elite troop of messengers, Karigan returns to Sacor City giving up her merchant lifestyle. The story opens a year into this service as danger is threatening the kingdom of Sacoridia once again. The dark magic in Blackveil Forest is restless, and has found an outlet through the breach in the D'Yer Wall, which has protected Sacoridia from the forest for over 1000 years. This influx of magic has messed up a land that has largely learned to live without magic during this time. Strange instances of animals turned to stone and entire villages disappearing are brought to the palace from around the country. In the end the strange magic touches even the main city as suits of iron are brought to life and snow falls within the castle. Even the Green Riders' magic goes haywire sending Captain Mapstone into solitary confinement. As a result Mara (another rider) and Karigan are left to lead the riders as best they can. Throughout the book Karigan has visions of the First Rider, Lil Ambriodhe, who is the long-dead founder of the troop. Karigan meets with an Eletian prince and learns that she has wild magic within her that entered her as a result of her battle with Shawdell in the previous book. This wild magic augments her rider ability and allows her to do some interesting time travel, even visiting Lil in her own time. However, it also allows Mornhavon the Black to possess her. However, Karigan uses this to her favour at the end of the book. Whilst Mornhavon possesses her, she transports him into the future and then with the help of Lil Ambriodhe, deposits him there. This buys the defenders of Sacoridia time to prepare for Mornhavon's return. With the weakening of the wall, Mornhavon's spirit reawakens in Blackveil forest and begins to control the forest. Alton D'Yer is sent to fix the wall, but is betrayed by Seargent Uxton and knocked over the side of the wall into Blackveil. Mornhavon then possesses Alton and tricks him into singing the song that would destroy the D'Yer Wall keeping him imprisoned. Mornhavon also raises two lietenants from his army from the dead but they are destroyed later in the book. An interesting web woven throughout the book is the journal of Hadriax el Fex. Hadriax El Fex was Mornhavon's right hand man and best friend. From Hadriax's journals you learn who Mornhavon the Black was. He was Alessandros del Mornhavon, a prince of a foreign land called Arcosia. He comes to Sacoridia to conquer the land and harvest the lands magic to prove himself to his father. He destroys the Eletian city of Argenthythe and many of the human cities. He faces resistance, though, and the war becomes long and drawn out and becomes the Long War referred to in the book. He loses contact with his father and the empire of Arcosia and feels abandoned by his father. This abandonment and his quest for ultimate power lead him to commit foul experiments to increase his power and make a foul weapon called the Black Star. Hadriax, increasingly dislikes the Long War and Mornhavon's experiments. It becomes too much for Hadriax when Mornhavon sacrifices one of his elite units to power the Black Star. Hadriax joins the Sacoridian league against Mornhavon and helps to bring Mornhavon down. Mornhavon is defeated by the Eletian king in the final battle of the long war. Karigan receives a copy of Hadriax's journal from Estral who finds it in the archives in Selium. From the journal, Karigan learns that Hadriax changes his name to Hadriax G'ladheon and that he is Karigan's ancestor. Overall the book more fully develops the characters met in the first book and introduces new characters that further the plot. |
5983624 | /m/0fj1m0 | The Mystery Of Holly Lane | null | null | null | The Five Find Outers - Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip and Bets - are together again in the school holidays. Bored without a mystery, they decide to practice disguising themselves and shadowing people. Larry dresses up as a window cleaner, and unexpectedly the five children come across a robbery at a house in Holly Lane, the windows of which Larry has cleaned. The house belongs to a blind old man, who has apparently hidden his savings somewhere in the furniture. When the man reports the money stolen, the Find Outers initially believe it to be a simple robbery, but then in the middle of the night, all the old man's furniture is mysteriously spirited away as well. The suspects include Wilfrid, the old man's grandson, and his cousin Marian. When Marian herself disappears, suspicion falls firmly on her and bumbling village policeman Mr Goon is convinced she is the thief - but Fatty thinks differently. |
5985623 | /m/0fj4xk | Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh | null | null | {"/m/06c9r": "Role-playing game"} | The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh can be played by five to ten characters of 1st–3rd levels. The module includes optional pre-generated first level characters for use by the players. The scenario is the first of the Underwater (U) series of modules set in Saltmarsh, and details a ghostly ship and the haunted mansion of an evil alchemist. The module sleeve contains the following description: The module is divided into two parts, The Haunted House and Sea Ghost, which are intended to be played consecutively. The first part is set in the town of Saltmarsh and deals with unraveling the secret of the haunted house that lies on the edge of town. The abandoned, dilapidated mansion of an evil alchemist has been the subject of rumors about hauntings and treasure. The second part of the module follows on from the first, expanding on the concept. (preview) |
5990366 | /m/0fjgch | In the Beauty of the Lilies | John Updike | 1996 | null | Beginning in 1910 and ending in 1990, it covers four generations of the Wilmot family, tying its fortunes to both the decline of the Christian faith and the rise of Hollywood in twentieth century America. In her apprasial of Updike's work New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani wrote: "Mr. Updike’s stunning and much underestimated 1996 epic, “In the Beauty of the Lilies,” tackled an even wider swath of history (than his Rabbit Tetralogy). In charting the fortunes of an American family through some 80 years, the author showed how dreams, habits and predilections are handed down generation to generation, parent to child, even as he created a kaleidoscopic portrait of this country from its nervous entry into the 20th century to its stumbling approach to the millennium." |
5990391 | /m/0fjgg8 | Elusive Isabel | Jacques Futrelle | 1909 | {"/m/06wkf": "Spy fiction", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | The eponymous heroine, Isabel Thorne, is a young woman, half British, half Italian, who works for the Italian secret service and who has been commissioned to bring about the signing of the secret contract right in the capital of the enemy by representatives of all countries involved, both European and American. Her brother, an inventor, has devised a secret weapon by which missiles can be fired from submarines (see also depth charge) which will, it is hoped, secure military dominion over the rest of the world. Members of the U.S. Secret Service, who have been alerted, are assigned to prevent the signing of this "Latin compact" and bring to justice those involved who have no diplomatic immunity. One young representative by the name of Grimm, however, although absolutely loyal to his government, falls in love with the beautiful foreign agent. In the end Isabel Thorne, who reciprocates her admirer's love, becomes estranged from her employer, the Italian government, because she does not want Grimm, who has been captured by the conspirators and knows all their secrets, to be murdered. Stripped of all her power and possessions, she unites with him at the end of the novel, no longer elusive. A trivial novel in its time, Elusive Isabel has been completely forgotten but can now be easily accessed via the Project Gutenberg web site. |
5994383 | /m/0fjnyr | Ramona Forever | Beverly Cleary | 1984 | {"/m/0dwly": "Children's literature", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/05hgj": "Novel"} | Ramona Quimby is growing up. She and Beezus manage to convince their parents to let them stay home alone together after school for one week to see how it goes. When the sisters find their cat, Picky-Picky, dead in the basement and handle the funeral and burial themselves, their parents decide they are responsible enough to take care of themselves. Ramona is especially happy not to have to go to the Kemp's after school any more because Howie's rich Uncle Hobart has arrived from Saudi Arabia. He's the kind of man who thinks it funny to tease kids, and the girls don't like him. There are more changes coming for the Quimbys. Mr. Quimby is almost finished with college, and everyone hopes he'll get a teaching job in the area. It's especially important because Mrs. Quimby is expecting another baby, and she plans on staying home to take care of it. Beezus thinks it will be wonderful to have a baby around to take care of, but Ramona realizes she won't be the littlest any more. She's not sure how she feels about being the middle child. Before she gets a chance to find out, something else changes. Aunt Bea and Howie's Uncle Hobart get engaged, and Beezus and Ramona are to be maids of honor. They only have two weeks to plan the wedding, though, and by the time the wedding day arrives everyone in the neighborhood has become involved. By the time baby Roberta arrives, Ramona realizes, along with everyone else, that "She was winning at growing up." |
5994440 | /m/0fjn_v | Forest Mage | Robin Hobb | 2006 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | The story picks up where Shaman's Crossing left off. The Gernian Cavalla Academy is recovering from the devastating effects of Speck plague, a disease causing severe dysentery. The disease has run through the ranks of all the Academy (and civilian) population of Old Thares, killing many of the Old and New Noble soldier sons and leaving the Academy ranks severely depleted. Many who were fortunate enough to have survived the outbreak, including Nevare Burvelle's friend Spinrek "Spink" Kester, have been forced to resign from the academy and return to their homes to struggle with the long-term effects of the disease. Cadet Burvelle also returns home, to attend his brother Rosse's wedding. Nevare continues to have dreams about a seductive Speck woman (usually referred to as "Tree Woman") whom he fought to stop the plague epidemic in the dreamworld. On the way home, he stops as a tourist to see a giant spindle-shaped monument belonging to the Kidona plains people, but the Speck magic working through him causes him to accidentally destroy it. Unlike most of those who were affected by the plague, Nevare was not left weak and gaunt after his bout of plague; in fact, he is swiftly gaining weight. This fact is annoying but doesn't affect his thinking too much as he travels home expecting to meet with his betrothed, a beautiful young noblewoman, Carsina. Yet the reaction he receives on returning home brings into stark relief the physical problem that he struggles with: the Speck plague has caused him to "grow" rather than shrink and waste away. This is a virtually unknown reaction to the plague and is seen by Nevare's father, who will not listen to his excuses, as the result of gluttony. Nevare also visits his old mentor, the Kidona warrior Dewara who introduced him to the dream world. The Kidona tribe has been reduced to a bunch of derelicts living on a reservation due to the actions of the Gernian government. Dewara also blames Nevare for being seduced by Tree Woman and destroying the Spindle, the source of Kidona magic. Nevare's betrothal to Carsina, though informal, is cancelled. After his fruitless attempts to lose weight, Nevare is locked away by his father and his meals regulated. However, while Nevare is locked away, a plague ravages the Widevale Estate, killing many, including his mother, eldest sister and brother Rosse. Nevare and his sister Yaril survive and run the estate while their father is in mourning, but when their father recovers, he banishes and disowns Nevare. Nevare travels east toward the remote outpost Gettys. On the way, he stops at a small settlement called "Dead Town" and helps a widow, Amzil, and her three children by doing odd jobs to make their lives easier, in exchange he gets to eat and sleep there. Nevare wants to win Amzil's trust, but she finds it hard to trust men, having had to work as a prostitute to feed herself and her children. One day, a wounded cavalla scout named Buel Hitch reaches the town and asks Nevare's assistance in getting to Gettys, to which Nevare agrees. As they leave, he uses his dormant Speck magic to create a bountiful vegetable garden for Amzil, and his Speck self comes closer to the surface. On their journey to Gettys, Nevare realises that Hitch is in a similar position to his: he is a tool of the Speck magic also. The Gernian goal of building a highway through the forest is being blocked by Speck magic. He enlists in the army there, but only as a lowly cemetery guard, a far cry from his former goal of a cavalla officer. He works very hard and the colonel is thinking about promoting him. After a while he meets two Specks, a girl named Olikea and her father. Olikea brings Nevare food that satisfies the magic that runs through his veins. He is getting pulled between two worlds, the Gernian world and the Specks' magical forests. He doesn't know where to settle down and he does not wish to betray his own people. Nevare's reputation is damaged by his gross appearance and his attempts to talk to his ex-fiancee Carsina, who has moved to Gettys with her new husband. Spink Kester and Nevare's Cousin Epiny, married, are also in town, but he distances himself so as not to ruin their reputation. One day at his way home he gets attacked and shot in the head. His horse is stolen and he is left on the ground with his head bleeding. However, he survives and the wound heals rapidly due to his magic. Unfortunately, Nevare's magic is not as strong as it could be, since he has been avoiding the Specks so he could not get the magical food that Olikea brought. The cavalla scout Buel Hitch(also a Gernian seduced by the Specks) uses the stolen horse's bridle to strangle a prostitute who was friendly with Nevare, thus framing him for murder. As days go by, the Speck plague sweeps by the outpost of Gettys so Nevare is kept busy as cemetery guard/gravedigger. Among the dead is Carsina, who revives briefly at the cemetery and is cared for by Nevare, then dies in his bed. He is accused of necrophilia in addition to the earlier murder, and sentenced to be tortured and hanged. But fortunately for Nevare, the Tree Woman comes and frees him from his cell and impending doom. During his escape, confrontations with Spinrek and Amzil and the townspeople force Nevare to finally give in to the magic. With his magic, he gives the townspeople false memories of his death before embracing his future life in the forest. |
5995203 | /m/0fjpxw | Pentagon | Allen Drury | 1986 | null | The Soviet Union invades and occupies a sparsely-populated Pacific atoll and proceeds to kill the inhabitants and gradually construct a missile and submarine base. This is perceived as a major threat to the United States, which is called upon to respond. When diplomacy fails, the United States must respond militarily if anything is to be done. Plans to do so, though, are frustrated by infighting within Congress, the Pentagon, and elsewhere in the government. When the novel ends, the U.S. has failed to respond and the Soviets have consolidated their hold on the atoll. |
5997068 | /m/0fjsjf | The Ragged Edge of Science | L. Sprague de Camp | 1980 | null | The essays in the book fall into three general categories, dealing with ancient civilizations and certain unscientific theories regarding them, occult-related subjects, and pseudoscience in general. Anecdotes from history and de Camp's travels to some of the locales he writes about pepper the narrative. The first eight chapters fall into the first category. Discussions of Bronze Age Troy and the ancient Sudanese civilization of Kush counter romantic speculations with a resume of what is known of them from historical sources and archaeological investigations. In contrast, the section on King Arthur, of whom little factual information has been established, puts to rest unverified notions regarding him by tracing the development and elaboration of his legend down through the ages. The chapter on the Maya debunks diffusionist theories seeking the origin of their culture in Old World civilizations rather than from indigenous factors. Later sections about Teotihuacan and the Toltecs serve more as general introductions to these cultures. There is also a brief discussion of the Tour Magne, a Roman ruin in Nîmes, France, and a chapter on myths that discounts them as reliable reportage of prehistoric events. Chapters in the second category include discussions of memories of previous lives supposedly recovered via hypnosis, the Kabbalah, lives of famous charlatans claiming to have been magicians, such as Cagliostro and Aleister Crowley, the hoax perpetrated by Léo Taxil and others that purported to expose Freemasonry as devil worship, theosophist C. W. Leadbeater, the development of occultist cultism around Mount Shasta in Northern California (demonstrated to have a literary basis), and the origins of the mystic trance, with rational explanations for the visions experienced. A satirical chapter of advice on how to set one's self up as a prophet rounds out the section. An account of the early history of Fundamentalist movement to prohibit the teaching of evolution in schools leads off the third category. There is also a biography of Populist politician Ignatius Donnelly focusing on his speculations regarding Atlantis and like matters, and then a speculative chapter regarding future languages, essentially a didactic piece on language change with application to science fictional treatments of time-travel. It leads in to a discussion of nonscientific claims about the "fourth dimension" in general. This part of the book also includes reviews of Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision and Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods?, both of which de Camp discounts. |
5998983 | /m/0fjx2j | Die Dame im Chinchilla | null | null | {"/m/0lsxr": "Crime Fiction"} | The body of a murdered woman is discovered in a New York apartment. Her luxurious buttocks have been thoroughly searched, and expensive clothes are lying around. Chief Inspector David Brewer knows that the victim lived on the edge of legality: in a previous life, she was a stripper and the owner of a night club that got mentioned in a call-girl scandal and in a case involving hard drugs. All motives are present for murder. |
5999601 | /m/0fjygj | Jessica | Bryce Courtenay | null | {"/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Jessica is a tomboy, raised to be her father's son to help out on the farm. Her older sister Meg is very much her mother's daughter, and it is Meg's and their mother's mission for Meg to seduce Jack Thomas, the town's wealthiest eligible bachelor. Jessica and her dad work each year shearing at Riverview station for the Thomases - the richest family in the district. In the shearing shed, Jessica becomes close friends with Jack Thomas and William D'arcy Simon. Jessica is teased by the other boys, predominanly for simply being female. Eventually she is attacked, with tar poured over her head and hair. Jack and Billy defend her, but William is stepped on by a horse, causing brain damage and earning him the name Billy Simple. Subsequently, Jessica and Jack's relationship blossoms and they become Billy's sole friends. Jack gets Billy a job working as a gardener for his rich family, but one day Billy kills Jack's mother and two sisters, because of their constant taunting of him. Jessica takes him on the long journey to the nearest town with a courthouse, endangering herself. Jessica holds off the angry mob of farmers, to give Billy a fair trial. When they finally reach the courthouse, the farmers (including Jack) catch them. However, although Billy has murdered his mother and sisters, Jack holds off the mob and sweeps exhausted Jessica off her feet and carries her into the courthouse. Billy is later sentenced to death, but not without a fight from his lawyer, Richard Runche. It is discovered a few months later that Jessica is pregnant. Her parents suspect that she had intimate relations with Billy Simple on the way to town, although it turns out that she slept with Jack while in hospital for her own injuries travelling the long journey with Billy. She is locked up in a tin hut by her family, and her mum and sister come up with a scheme. Jack enlists for war, but not before being seduced by Meg as a "goodbye present." She pretends to be pregnant, forcing him to marry her, although he loves Jessica. Her mother tells the town that Jessica has gone crazy, so had to be isolated (during her pregnancy). They pretend that Meg is pregnant, and when Jessica gives birth, helped by an Aboriginal friend, they take her baby and pass it off as Meg's. Jessica's father tries to kill Jessica's mother, his wife, because of how she tricked him and Jessica, but he has a heart attack. At the funeral, when they announce that Meg gave birth, Jessica breaks down, screaming that they stole her baby. She is put in a mental asylum, and makes friends with a Jewish man, Moishe Goldberg. She helps him to get better and when he is released, Moishe contacts Billy's lawyer, Richard Runche who fights and frees Jessica. Meg and her mother agree to give her the land entitlement for their old property plus another 10 acres (40,000 m2) on the condition that she never approaches her son, Joey, or tries to get him back. Her Aboriginal friend, Mary's (who helped her during her pregnancy) half-caste children are taken by the authorities, and Jessica, with the help of Runche and Moishe, gets them back in a court case to make history. Upon return to her house one afternoon, Jessica finds her dog has been bitten by a snake. She goes off to find the snakes and while Jessica is successful in killing one, its mate bites Jessica before being bludgeoned to death with her rifle. Knowing that death is near, she goes back to her hut and is found dead by Mary. Mary also finds a letter Jessica wrote to Jack, but never sent advising him of being pregnant with his child. *1998, Australia, Viking Australia ISBN 0-670-88351-4, Pub date 1 December 1998, hardcover *1999, Canada, ISBN 1-55278-088-0, Pub date 1 January 1999, hardcover *2000, United Kingdom, Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-14-027960-3, Pub date 27 July 2000, paperback |
6000000 | /m/0fjzg5 | Lautlos wie sein Schatten | Frank Arnau | 1959 | {"/m/0lsxr": "Crime Fiction", "/m/028v3": "Detective fiction"} | When James Baldon comes home from a party late at night, he is not able to open the front door of his apartment. The reason: a dead man is blocking his entrance. David Brewer, head of the Homicide Squad, starts the investigation. When it is discovered that the body was moved after being shot, everybody in the building turns out to have an alibi. However, Brewer is convinced that one of the alibis must be false. nl:Lautlos wie sein Schatten |
6000399 | /m/0fj_4d | Der perfekte Mord | null | null | {"/m/0lsxr": "Crime Fiction"} | To celebrate the successful illegal transaction of weapons to Algerian freedom fighters, Nissim Cordanu is going to organise a dinner for ten people at his house. Walter Reyder, head of the Hamburg Police research force, is oblivious when he is almost struck by Nissim's car. Nissim immediately recognises his old friend, even though twenty-five years have passed since they met. Nissim invites his old friend for dinner, not suspecting that by doing so, he invites the law as the eleventh guest. When it is announced that a very special hypnosis act will be performed at the party, Reyder decides that it is not yet time to reveal his true identity. nl:Hamburg na middernacht |
6002164 | /m/0fk24y | The Spook's Curse | Joseph Delaney | 6/30/2005 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/0dwly": "Children's literature"} | The book begins with Tom binding a Ripper in Horshaw. Although he is successful, the Ripper's victim, Father Gregory, the Spook's brother, dies from shock. He's sent to be buried in Priestown and the Spook goes there with Tom, to pay his respects and to finally deal with an ancient demon locked in the catacombs under the city. The demon, also known as the Bane, has already bested the Spook once and has since grown in power. The Spook makes preparations to enter the catacombs but is betrayed by his cousin, Father Cairns and is arrested by the Quisitor. Tom enters the catacombs to slip inside the prisons undetected, but only manages to free Alice. Andrew hides them into a haunted house in town and they fall asleep. The Bane comes to tempt them both in their dreams, yet although Tom refuses him, he wakes up to find Alice at the Silver Gate, where she confesses she made a deal with the Bane so that she could help him. She helps save the Spook and the other prisoners from the execution. Tom takes the Spook to his mother who heals him and they set out to find the cemetery of the segantii, the first people to have bound the Bane. Their leader, Naze, tells them that he too had made a pact with the Bane, so that if the Bane was to be freed and then enter his prison once again, he was to be bound there for the rest of the Bane's existence. Following this information, the Spook takes Alice back to the catacombs. Tom follows without his knowledge after opening a letter from his mother where she wrote that if he does not go too, both the Spook and Alice will die pointlessly. After Alice summons the Bane, he whisks her away and turns into his material form to feed for the last time from her blood. The Spook being knocked out, Tom follows the Bane on his own and binds him with the silver chain that his mother gave him on his last visit. The Bane tries once again to sway him but fails and Tom kills him. He dies, as predicted by Naze, but Alice doesn't let him go and uses the power of the mark she'd made on his arm during the events in The Spook's Apprentice to bring him back to life. The Spook, Alice and Tom return to Chippenden where the Spook tries to put Alice into the pit he had Tom dig for her. Tom uses what he knows about Meg Skelton and the Spook to demand Alice's freedom and the Spook is swayed. He allows Alice to stay at Chippenden in exchange for her knowledge about witches and her skills with latin. |
6002269 | /m/0fk2bf | The Spook's Secret | Joseph Delaney | 7/6/2006 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/0dwly": "Children's literature"} | In this third and terrifying instalment in the Wardstone Chronicles, the nights are drawing in and it is time for Tom and his master to move to Anglezarke, the Spook's winter house. Tom has heard it will be a sinister and menacing place, but nothing could fully prepare him for what he finds there. For this house, and indeed the whole of Anglezarke moor is full of secrets about the Spook's youth. When they reach Anglezarke Tom and the Spook leave Alice with the Hursts, who owe the Spook a favour. They then head to the Spook's winter house. There Tom meets Meg, and finds out that the Spook has been keeping her drugged so she wouldn't harm the other inhabitants. Trouble arises at the Hursts and Tom and the Spook have to face a rock throwing spirit. They win, but barely, and the Spook is severely injured. With Alice's help, he pulls through, against all odds, but is still weak. Alice then moves back with Tom to help and undertakes the task of giving Meg her potion. She takes a liking to Meg so she decreases the dosage and to help her and Meg becomes more lively. |
6004380 | /m/0fk60v | The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl | Tim Pratt | 11/29/2005 | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/0hfjk": "Western", "/m/05hgj": "Novel"} | 'Rangergirl' focuses on Marzipan "Marzi" McCarty, who is an art major dropout from UC Santa Cruz, who now runs the night shifts at the popular coffeeshop Genius Loci. While she is not serving coffee to the various people of Santa Cruz, she works on a comic book under the same name as the title of the book. In her comic book, Rangergirl takes on a more surreal western environment where there is a rattlesnake sphinx, a scorpion oracle, menacing natives, and the eternally evil Outlaw. Recently, a college student from the east coast, named Jonathan, had rented the upstairs room located in Genius Loci because he is interested in the murals depicted within the coffee shop. The murals were painted by Garamond Ray, who was an interesting artist but went missing the day of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake; Jonathan is looking into doing his graduate thesis on the works of Garamond and these murals were his last pieces. Lindsey, Marzi's best friend, is a regular at the coffee shop and made her goal to get Marzi and Jonathan together; Lindsey is not interested since she claims she is "done with boys." She has her interests with Alice, a motorcycle riding lesbian. The three become an outgoing group. Amongst all of this, strange things begin to unravel. An art student named Beej, who was a coffee shop regular, becomes more dirty and homeless-like, claiming he is to unleash a god. A graduate teacher's assistant named Jane, becomes ambushed by a mudslide and is then transformed into mud being who can morph her body at her will into different shapes; she declares that her mission is to resurrect the earth goddess. Also, Alice, Lindsey's lover, has developed her urge to set things on fire increasingly. However, all of this connects to Genius Loci. Both Beej and Jane make various visits to the coffee shop to unleash a god that, according to them, is held prisoner in there; Alice wants to burn the place to the ground but does not know why. Even Marzi is subject to some strange encounters like her surreal dreams where she is floating over Santa Cruz county and sees all of it destroyed. Plus, her own personal problems becomes apparent again when she is to confront her own fears such as opening any closed door. Once everything is put into perspective, Marzi realizes there is some kind of presence in the Genius Loci coffee shop; an earthquake god is in the kitchen storage room, which Marzi made a distinctive point for everyone not to open. Since Jonathan was curious about the Garamond Ray murals and he knew there was one more mural located in the storage room, he fulfilled his own curiosity and opened the door to the storage room (with the help of the power of the earthquake god). The earthquake god pulled Jonathan into the unknown realm and the god came into the present reality. Since Marzi became the guardian of the door, the unknown realm took on the appearance of the western world she had created in her comic, and the god became the villainous Outlaw. Once freed, the Outlaw recruited his assistants, Beej, Jane, and Jane's supposed lover, Denis, a graduate student who is to be blamed for her mudslide incident. The Outlaw gives Denis and Beej a project to work on: to create metal door that is reminiscent of the bat wing doors found in saloons in the Wild West. The two do their part and create the door. Meanwhile, Marzi and Lindsey realize that Jonathan is missing and that the Outlaw has been unleashed; they realize they need to go into the unknown realm and figure out how to save Jonathan and destroy the Outlaw. Upon entering the storage room, the two find themselves in the western setting that Marzi had created. When learning this, Marzi finds out that she can control the surroundings, which means manipulating the weapons they have (like Lindsey firing a gangster-style tommy gun), being knowledgeable about the enemies they encounter (like savage Native Americans who ride car-sized bugs), and many other circumstances. They also encounter Garamond Ray, who managed to capture the Outlaw back in 1989 and put it in this realm, however, Garamond was pulled into it and was not able to get out. While the three talk, it is revealed that the Loma Prieta earthquake was due to Garamond and the god fighting over being imprisoned. Later, the three encounter an oracle, who explains that Marzi must go to its temple and ask one question. After a wild adventure through the world that Mazri created, they find themselves at the oracle's temple. Instead of asking about how to defeat the Outlaw, Marzi asks about how to save Jonathan (who was discovered by being unconscious). The oracle answers, although disappointed because it feels that Marzi should have asked about the Outlaw, and it explains that they must enter Jonathan's soul and revive him from there. Meanwhile, the Outlaw, Beej, Jane, and Denis have created nothing but chaos and havoc throughout Santa Cruz by firebombing parts of the downtown area and the coastal beach areas. Once Marzi and Lindsey free Jonathan, they meet up with Garamond and all of them know their part in terms of destroying the Outlaw. However, the door that the Outlaw demanded Denis and Beej to create was put to use. They went to Genius Loci and placed the door on the outside of the storage room, which then fused into the mural setting (hence the saloon like door). The door would then transport whoever walked through the door into another reality. Marzi, Lindsey, Jonathan, and Garamond walked through the door and found themselves enveloped in Genius Loci, which was dominated by the murals coming to life. Marzi realized that Beej is in control of the surroundings and manages to persuade him to stop the animated murals. They then enter the present reality and confront the Outlaw. While migrating to the Outlaw, the group encountered Jane, who had become a more monstrous mud being. Before Jane was able to attack, suddenly Alice, Lindsey's lover, came roaring on her motorcycle and blazed Jane with an ultimate amount of fire, which disintegrated her instantly. Marzi was stunned by this, knowing that Alice had left town in order to avoid her pyro urges. Lindsey was an artist as well, and found a way to manipulate reality and therefore summoned the persona of Alice into the situation. Marzi earlier was thinking of ways of destroying the Outlaw. She realized, at first, that since all of this reality was being maintained by her comic book setting, then she and the Outlaw would have to have some kind of showdown. Usually what happened in the stories, was that if there was no showdown, then local enforcement would imprison the outlaw, but his henchmen would be able to free him out of his cell, which is exactly what happened in this case. While getting closer to the Outlaw, Marzi realized that if she can manipulate this reality she would be able to destroy the Outlaw willingly. However, before she moved in on this action, it dawned on her that if she went outside from what the western reality was providing, that meant that the Outlaw would become something outside of the recent reality. This is something the Outlaw was anticipating. But due to the sudden realization, this altered the Outlaw's powers and Denis (who was already frustrated by the Outlaw) was able to stab him numerous in the torso and the back, killing him as if he was some kind of mortal. Knowing that the Outlaw was destroyed, Marzi and everyone felt everything would slowly come back to normal. Denis did time in prison, Jane was no more, Beej was in his own world, Jonathan decided to stay in Santa Cruz, Lindsey was pleased to see the return of Alice, and Garamond became a legend to hero with his return to the world. |
6012159 | /m/0fkjq7 | The Albino's Dancer | Dale Smith | null | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | An encounter with the mysterious Catherine Howkins warns Honoré Lechasseur that Emily Blandish is about to die. However, even with this knowledge, can he prevent her death? At the same time, the Albino, a gangster operating in post-rationing London, has also taken an interest in Emily. |
6013197 | /m/0fkl5x | The Cabinet of Light | Daniel O'Mahony | null | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | Honoré Lechasseur, a "fixer" with time-sensitive abilities, is hired by Emily Blandish to find someone known only as the Doctor. He soon discovers that the Doctor is a legendary figure that has drifted in and out of Earth's history. As he follows the trail of the Doctor, questions arise: what is the Doctor's connection with 1949 London and with the mysterious "cabinet of light" that another group is seeking? |
6013414 | /m/0fklpx | Last Of The Breed | Louis L'Amour | null | {"/m/02p0szs": "Historical fiction", "/m/0dwly": "Children's literature", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | The start of the book chronicles Joe Mackatozi (Mack) daring escape from captivity, but also introduces another captive, an English chemist whom the Soviets believe is working on chemical warfare agents. The chemist is mentioned later, as the first of their captor Zamatev's mistakes, because it turned out he was after all only working on developing insect repellents. The success of his subsequent foot travel across Siberia to the Bering Strait is dependent on his Native American hunting, tracking, and evasion skills. It is mentioned several times in the text that these skills were learned by his people, and taught to each generation across thousands of years. Now the skilled flyer of aircraft must remember and practice bow and arrow, fire-making, tracking, stalking, hunting, skinning, and ambush skills taught by his elders. Knowing that "a man with a knife can survive," he sneaks into a miner's cabin, and leaving no evidence he was there, he steals preserved food, a heavy sweater, and a knife. Although this knife is needed for Mack to survive in the wilderness, his stealing of the knife gives the Yakut tracking him a clue as to where to begin searching for Mack. He also has strong attachments to his people's discipline and self-mastery. When he comes upon an army patrol he crawls inside in an old hollow tree to hide. His pursuers make camp in the same area, and he must remain motionless until it gets dark and only the sentries are awake. When captured, he receives a very rough beating from his pursuers, but true to his heritage, he never makes a sound. A man who previously informed on him unlocks the shed he is in and allows him to escape. He ends up killing Alekhin the Yakut, who was following him, and sending his scalp back to Colonol Arkady Zamatev with a note written on birchbark that reads "This was once a custom of my people. In my lifetime I shall take two. This is the first." At the end of the book, the success of Joe's 90-mile kayak ride to Alaska (given a good kayak) is left unresolved. The resolution of the story is left to the imagination of the reader. |
6016488 | /m/0fkrwf | The Great Indian Novel | Shashi Tharoor | 8/24/1989 | {"/m/016lj8": "Roman \u00e0 clef", "/m/06nbt": "Satire", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/0hwxm": "Historical novel"} | The organization of the sections and chapters of the novel mirrors the organization of the Mahabharata and the themes and events addressed in each allude to themes and events of the mirrored sections of the epic. The novel has 18 "books," just as the Mahabharata has 18 books and the Battle of Kurukshetra lasted for 18 days. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Beginning." In this section, Ved Vyas ("V.V."), the narrator, recounts his personal history; the seduction of Satyavati by the Brahmin Parashar and his own birth; the origin of Ganga Datta from the union of Shantanu and the now absent Maharanee (whom he met on the banks of the Ganga (Ganges) and who had had seven suspicious miscarriages); the marriage of Shantanu and Satyavati and Ganga Datta's vow of chastity; the birth of Chitrangada and Vichitravirya and the latter's marriage; Ved Vyas's insemination of Ambika and Ambalika; the vow of revenge against Ganga Datta taken by Amba; the birth of Dhritarashtra and Pandu; and the assignment of Ganapathi by Brahm's Apsara Agency to transcribe Ved Vyas's memoir, which V.V. describes as the "Song of Modern India." Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Assembly Hall." The title of this section alludes to Paul Scott's The Jewel in the Crown. Ved Vyas also compares his memoir to The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad Chaudhuri. The British resident's equerry is named "Heaslop," an allusion to a character in A Passage to India. Introduced is the character of Sir Richard, the British resident at Hastinapur, who is complaining about the increasing radicalization of Ganga Datta, who is still serving as regent of Hastinapur. Ved Vyas discusses the upbringing of Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidur Dharmaputra under the care of the regent, Ganga Datta. Discovering the suffering of the people of Motihari, Ganga Datta embarks on his first protest campaign. Gangaji is arrested and he pleads guilty to defying a police order, but his action results in a victory for the peasants of Motihari. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Forest." The title of this section alludes to Louis Bromfield's The Rains Came. Sir Richard is furious about the events of Motihari and Heaslop notes that Gangaji had never formally resigned from the regency of Hastinapur. The regent having committed sedition, Hastinapur can now be annexed by British India. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari’s marriage is off to a good start. The devoted young bride has resolved to forever covering her eyes with a blindfold so that she is deprived of whatever her husband is deprived of. Pandu is also enjoying his two sexually expert wives. While enjoying sexual congress with both at once, he suffers a "massive coronary thrombosis" and is prohibited from ever again engaging in sexual intercourse. Pandu joins Gangaji’s movement and instructs his wives to seek other sexual partners so that they may still bear him heirs. Kunti reveals that in her youth she bore Hyperion Helios’s child but sent the baby boy down the river in a basket. Gandhari the Grim gives birth not to a hundred sons, but to one daughter, Priya Duryodhani, who is to be the equivalent of a thousand sons. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of Virata." The title of this section alludes to Paul Scott's Raj Quartet. Hastinapur is annexed to the British Presidency of Marabar (an allusion to the "Marabar Hills," which figure prominently in A Passage to India). The people of Hastinapur are milling in the streets, threatening revolt. There is a rumour that Gangaji will address a rally at the Bibighar Gardens (an allusion to the "Bibighar," which figures prominently in A Jewel in the Crown). Heaslop counsels Sir Richard to let passions dissipate on their own, but Sir Richard instead calls in Colonel Rudyard and the Fifth Baluch, which starts firing on the unarmed gathering in the Bibighar Gardens. Almost 400 people are killed and more than a thousand are injured. After the Bibighar Gardens Massacre, Colonel Rudyard is retired with a half-million pound pension. An unnamed Nobel Prize-winning poet (an allusion to Rabindranath Tagore) returns his knighthood. Gangaji kicks off the Quit India Movement (an allusion to the Quit India Movement started by Mahatma Gandhi). Bungling assassins kill a Professor Kipling instead of Colonel Rudyard. This Professor Kipling was the racist teacher whom a young Pandu had struck, resulting in the end of Pandu’s formal education. Vidur resigns from the civil service but Gangaji and Dhritarashtra order him to rescind his resignation. Dhritarashtra becomes head of the Kaurava Party and Pandu becomes the party’s chief organizer. Kunti bears the sons of Dharma (a young magistrate), Major Vayu of the palace guard, and Devendra Yogi: Yudhistir, Bhim the Brave, and Arjun. Exhausted, Kunti calls a halt to the cuckolding and Madri begs to be permitted to take up the torch. She has an affair with the twins Ashvin and Ashwin and bears the twin sons Nakul and Sahadev. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of War Preparations." The title of this section alludes to Paul Scott's The Towers of Silence. During an epidemic, a Sarah Moore persuades her brother, the manager of a jute mill in Budge Budge, near Calcutta, to offer the mill workers a bonus. After the epidemic, the workers refuse to give up the bonus and are locked out. Sarahbehn enlists Gangaji's aid and Gangaji embarks on his first protest fast. The British Raj directs the Mill Owners' Association to give in. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of Bhishma." A rift begins to develop between Dhritarashtra and Pandu, both working within the Kaurava Party to further the cause of Indian independence, with Pandu advocating a harder line than that pursued by Gangaji and Dhritarashtra. Gangaji attends the Round Table Conference hosted by the British government. Mahadeva Menon, a Kaurava Party official from Palghat, persuades Gangaji to do something about the tax on mangoes. Gangaji kicks off the Great Mango March, which prompts Pandu to leave the Kaurava Party. In Chaurasta, a Kaurava protest turns violent and Gangaji calls off the mango agitation. Gangaji is called for a meeting with the viceroy and entertains an uncomfortable Sir Richard with the tale of why he drinks goat's milk instead of cow's milk. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of Drona." The title of this section alludes to Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Ved Vyas describes the divisions in Indian society engendered by British policy and the formation of the Muslim Group under the figurehead leadership of the Gaga Shah, an "overweight sybarite." The arrogant and (literally) brilliant Mohammed Ali Karna, the son of Kunti and Hyperion Helios, educated by the generosity of Indra Deva, the employer of Karna's adoptive father, rises to prominence as a lawyer and as a member of the Kaurava Party. Dhritarashtra insults Karna upon discovering that his (adoptive) father is a chauffeur. Kunti sees Karna and realizes that he is her firstborn son. The story is told of how Indra Deva gave him the surname "Karna," the "Hacker-Off," after Karna circumcised himself with a knife. Karna leaves the movement and goes to England, but the Gaga Shah invites Karna back to India to lead the Muslim Group. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of Karna." The title of this section alludes to Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. The five Pandavas and Priya Duryodhani grow up, each revealing their characters. Priya tries and fails to poison and drown her cousin Bhim. While playing cricket, the Pandavas meet the sage Jayaprakash Drona who tells the tale of his son, Ashwathaman, and his insult at the hands of Ronald Heaslop, which led him to his mission of educating young Indians in order to facilitate the overthrow of the British. The Pandavas choose Drona to be their tutor. Pandu decides to seek the presidency of the Kaurava Party and Dhritarashtra fears that there is a good chance he will lose the election to Pandu. Gangaji persuades Dhritarashtra to step down in favor of a less prominent figure, and untouchable. Thus, if Pandu wins the election, then Gangaji and Dhritarashtra will not be seen as having suffered a defeat. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of Shalya." The title of this section alludes to Rudyard Kipling's Kim and to M. M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions. Pandu is elected president of the Kaurava Party and a struggle begins between him and Gangaji for control over the direction of the party. Gangaji outmanoeuvres Pandu, who loses a vote of confidence and resigns. Ved Vyas switches to verse to tell Pandu's story. Pandu forms the Onward Organisation (an allusion to the All India Forward Bloc), the OO. Pandu allies himself with the Nazis and the Japanese against the British and forms the Swatantra Sena (an allusion to the Indian National Army formed by Subhash Chandra Bose) to fight against British forces on the Burmese front. Pandu sends for Madri to join him and the sight of her wearing a military uniform begins to break down his control over his carnal desires. While fleeing from defeat in Singapore by air, Pandu and Madri succumb to their passion. Pandu dies of a heart attack and the plane is shot down, killing Madri as well. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Sleeping Warriors." - title may be an allusion to Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" Ashwathaman joins the Pandavas as the students of Drona in the military, terroristic, and nationalistic arts. When Arjun has to share an academic prize with Ekalavya, the son of a maidservant, Ekalavya admits that he has been sharing in the Pandavas' lessons while standing outside the door. In exchange for payment for his tuition, Drona demands that Ekalavya cut off his own right thumb and give it to Drona. Unlike in the original Mahabharata, Tharoor's Ekalavya refuses and flees in horror. Drona has a good laugh. Karna considers his options after the Muslim Group's candidates are bested by Muslim members of the Kaurava Party in the elections. Karna proposes a coalition government in the legislative assembly of the Northern Province. Vidur urges Dhritarashtra to accept Karna's proposal, even though the Kaurava Party controls enough seats in the Northern Province to rule without a coalition. Mohammed Rafi, a Muslim Kauravaman, urges rejection of Karna's offer and Dhritarashtra and Gangaji concede. Karna is resolved to find other means of gaining power. The viceroy and Sir Richard consider what to do in reaction to the initiation of the Second World War. Sir Richard relates the story of Sir Francis Younghusband, who inadvertently annexed Tibet. ("He'd really intended just to see the tourist spots and to get a few good pictures of the Potala Palace, but one of his rifles went off accidentally and when he then saw all the notables on their knees cowering he couldn't really disappoint them by not conquering them.") Sir Richard persuades the viceroy to declare war on Germany without consulting the elected governments of the provinces. Kaurava Party legislators react to the declaration of war by resigning en masse. The absence of the Kaurava Party in the administration benefits the Muslim Group, which takes over the government in three provinces. Gangaji initiates the Quit India Movement and the leaders of the Kaurava Party are imprisoned. The emboldened Muslim Group begins calling for a separate Muslim state, to be called Karnistan (the "Hacked-Off Land"). Amba, planning her revenge on Gangaji, goes to a plastic surgeon for a sex-change operation. Following the end of the war, the Kaurava Party does well in the election, but the Muslim Group's strength is not diminished. The British government charges with treason the soldiers who joined Pandu's Swatantra Sena. Viscount Bertie Drewpad is appointed viceroy. His wife, Georgina, is excited at the prospect of dallying with lusty Indian men. While Dhritarashtra plans to meet the new viceroy, his wife, Gandhari the Grim, lies dying, calling Priya Duryodhani her "son." Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Women." Lord Drewpad announces the British intent to withdraw from India on Aug, 15, 1947, to Dhritarashtra, Mohammed Rafi, Ved Vyas, Sardar Khushkismat Singh, and Karna. Dhritarashtra and the Kaurava Party agree to the Partition of India. A Mr. Nichols is assigned to draw the border between the two new countries, to the derision of an experienced administrator named Basham. Vidur assists the viceroy in making decisions related to the transfer of power. Gangaji initiates an experiment in eliminating sexual desire by inviting Sarah-behn to sleep in his bed. While violence tears India apart, Dhritarashtra initiates an affair with Lady Drewpad. While India celebrates independence, Amba, now Shikhandin the Godless, assassinates Gangaji. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of Peace." The title of this section alludes to Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King. Ved Vyas refers to "Children being born at inconvenient times of the night who would go on to label a generation and rejuvenate a literature," which alludes to Rushdie's Midnight's Children. Drona's secretary is called Sir Beverley Twitty, K.C.M.G. Jayaprakash Drona, now serving as Minister of State for Administrative Reform, gets his opportunity for revenge against Ronald Heaslop, who has lost everything in the rioting. Drona, instead of answering Heaslop's long-ago refusal to help him with co-ordinate cruelty, he offers Heaslop a job. Georgina Drewpad's affair with Dhritarashtra (now prime minister of India) continues. On 26 January 1950, the day India becomes a republic, she gives birth to a daughter, who is given up for adoption and given the name Draupadi Mokrasi. Vyabhichar Singh ("Mr. Z"), the maharaja of Manimir, tries to avoid acceeding either to India or Karnistan. Mohammed Rafi urges Dhritarashtra to ensure that Manimir remains part of India. Vidur, now Principal Secretary for Integration, counsels patience, hoping that Sheikh Azharuddin, a Kaurava ally, might be able to overthrow Mr. Z. Dhritarashtra decides to let Karna, now governor-general of Karnistan, make the first move, which he does, leaving the Indian government the perfect excuse to send in Khushkismat Singh, the Minister of Defence, with Indian troops. Vidur goes to Devpur to get Vyabhichar Singh to sign the instrument of accession, and persuades Colonel Bewakuf Jan to disturb the maharaja from his sporting with a Frenchwoman. Vidur states his case while the maharaja is fellated under an "enormous silk razai." The maharaja is finally persuaded to sign by his companion, "a steatopygous blonde wearing nothing but a look of panic." Vidur helps the maharaja flee to Marmu, his winter capital. The Pathans invading Manimir get drunk and the Indian Army parachutes into Devpur. Dhritarashtra snatches defeat from the jaws of victory by halting the Indian Army's advance and calling in the United Nations. Professor Jennings delivers a critique of his student, D. Mokrasi. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of Bhishma's Final Instructions." The title of this section alludes to E. M. Forster's A Passage to India. Drona decides to resign from government and do "constructive work" in rural areas, taking Ashwathaman with him. The five Pandavas they also want to go along and break the news to Kunti, their chain-smoking and still glamorous mother. In order to secure her blessing, Yudhishtir promises never to disobey his mother. Dhritarashtra consults V. Kanika Menon, India's high commissioner in London, regarding what he should do about the increasing popularity of Drona and the Pandavas. Kanika counsels Dhritarashtra not to allow the Pandavas to attain too much political power, but Dhritarashtra is too idealistic to take the advice. Priya Duryodhani, however, is listening and she takes Kanika's advice seriously. Vidur, now Secretary of the Home Ministry and head of the Central Bureau of Intelligence, goes to a Drona land reform rally to warn the Pandavas that Priya Duryodhani is plotting against them. Vidur arranges for the Pandavas to hide out in Varanavata with Kunti. Karna, who has not been well, dies when he tries to pull a car out of the mud with his bare hands. Kunti, hearing the news, repeats her firtborn son's final gesture—by shaking her fist at the sun. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Horse Sacrifice." The title of this section alludes to the Hindu sacred work the Rig Veda. Purochan Lal, the owner of the hotel where Kunti is staying, is an agent of Priya Duryodhani. Vidur intercepts the cables and sends a coded message explaining that the house is coated with lac and will be set fire. The building is burnt, but Vidur arranges their escape while letting the world believe they have perished in the fire. Vidur tells Dhritarashtra about a joke by Winston Churchill botched by Khushkismat Singh. After discussing the Manimir situation, Dhritarashtra appoints Kanika to replace Singh as Minister of Defence. The Pandavas wander India sticking up for the rights of the downtrodden. The refuse to take sides between two corrupt landlords, Pinaka and Saranga (whose men attacked a man named Hangari Das). Dhritarashtra and Kanika start the "non-aligned" movement. They decide to annex the Portuguese colony of Comea. Bhim saves a beautiful girl from her abusive brother, Hidimba ("a large man with a small goatee"), and weds. The Chairman of the People's Republic of Chakra, watching the annexation of Comea by India, orders the Chakar People's Liberation Army to cross the Big Mac Line and annex the nation of Tibia, on the Indian border. In order to enter Tibia from the province of Drowniang, however, Chakar troops must cross into territory claimed by India. Bhim has a baby son, Ghatotkach, who is born in the town of Ekachakra. Sahadev challenges the champion wrestler Bakasura and is trounced. Kunti is annoyed with her other sons for allowing Sahadev to go through with it. The Chakars annex a piece of Indian territory and the humiliation breaks Dhritarashtra's heart and he dies. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Hermitage." Dhritarashtra leaves nothing in his will to Draupadi Mokrasi and her adoptive father worries that he will not be able to find her a suitable husband. The Kaurava Party's Working Committee appoints the "honest but limited" Shishu Pal to replace Dhritarashtra as prime minister. Ved Vyas convenes a training camp where the Pandavas are captivated by Draupadi. Priya Duryodhani is annoyed that Draupadi is drawing the attention away from her lectures and orders Ved Vyas to get Draupadi married. In Ved Vyas's mind, only Arjun is good enough for Draupadi, but he realises that Arjun will not be faithful to her. Priya Duryodhani decides to match her up with Ekalavya, of whom Drona had demanded his right thumb, and, apparently with whom Priya Duryodhani had had a youthful fling. Draupadi chooses Arjun, but through a misunderstanding, Kunti instructs the Pandavas to share equally the "surprise" they have brought home. All five Pandavas marry Draupadi, Ved Vyas using his father's magic to ensure that she is a virgin for each of the five successive wedding nights. Bhim's wife leaves him. Perceiving India as weak following its defeat at the hands of the Chakars, Karnistan invades Manimir again. Shishu Pal directs a successful counterattack. Shishu Pal dies of a heart attack after signing a cease fire. Unable to find a successor that is universally unobjectionable, the Working Committee is persuaded by Ved Vyas to appoint Priya Duryodhani. The Pandavas work out a strict schedule to share Draupadi's bed. Arjun violates the rule when he goes to retrieve the manuscript of a speech while Yudhishtir and Draupadi are together. Under the rules, Arjun is banned from his conjugal rights for a year. Arjun decides to spend the year as a "roving correspondent" for a newspaper and, in addition to witnesses the condition of the people, he finds a new sexual companion in every locale he visits. Arjun ends up in Gokarnam where he meets Dwarakaveetile Krishnankutty Parthasarathi Menon (known as "Krishna"), the local Kaurava Party secretary who has recently unseated the local political machine boss, Kamsa. When Arjun first sees Krishna, he is using a traditional dance form, Ottamthullal, as a medium for social satire. Arjun and Krishna become close friends and Arjun falls for Krishna's sister, Subhadra. Krishna advises Arjun to woo her through abduction. In the dark, a confused Arjun mistakenly abducts Kameswari. A second attempt is more successful and the two are married. Arjun cables Draupadi, telling her that he is bringing home a new maid, making their eventual meeting rather uncomfortable. However, by the time Draupadi and Subhadra give birth to their sons, Prativindhya and Abhimanyu, they are as close as sisters. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Maces." The title of this section alludes to Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. The Kaurava Party is dealt a blow in state and local elections, although still holding a majority in the national Parliament. Yudhishtir suggests that new leadership is needed. Priya Duryodhani agrees to a national election. Yudhishtir is named deputy prime minister, but is shut out of the Cabinet by Priya Duryodhani and Yudhishtir resigns. Ashwathaman, Drona' son and the leader of a socialist splinter party, is invited by Priya Duryodhani to join the Kaurava Party Working Committee. Priya Duryodhani takes Ashwathaman's side in advocating the elimination of the privy purses of India's former princes. Yudhishtir resigns from the Working Committee. Priya Duroydhani and Ashwathaman then champion a bill to nationalise the banks. Dr. Mehrban Imandar, the president of India, dies. The Kaurava Old Guard thwarts Priya Duryodhani by nominating Ved Vyas as the Kaurava Praty's candidate for president. Priya Duryodhani backs Ekalavya as an independent candidate. The Working Committee expels Ekalavya from the Kaurava Party for opposing the party's official candidate. Before the Working Committee can act to expel Priya Duryodhani, Ekalavya narrowly wins the election. Priya Duryodhani splits the Kaurava Party, forming the Kaurava Party (R) ("R" for "real") to oppose the Kaurava Party (O) ("O" for "official" or "old guard"). Priya Duryodhani wins with the support of the Left. Jarasandha Khan, the military dictator ruling Karnistan, decides to call elections. The Gelabin People's Party, representing the Gelabi people of East Karnistan, wins a majority in the Karnistani Parliament. Zaleel Shah Jhoota persuades Jarashanda Khan to declare the election results null and void and declare martial law in East Karnistan. Priya Duryodhani enters the conflict on the side of the Gelabins and the Gelabi Desh War results in the creation of a new nation-state. The success against Karnistan boosts Priya Duryodhani's popularity, but her rule grows increasingly oppressive. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Great Journey." Drona leads the opposition to Priya Duryodhani's rule. Priya Duryodhani is convicted of electoral misconduct. Shakuni Shankar Dey, a Bengali lawyer and president of the Kaurava (R) Party, counsels her to declare a Siege and seize dictatorial powers. President Ekalavya concedes to the seizure of emergency powers. Priya Duryodhani orders the arrest of her political opponents. Counterpart to the Mahabharata's "Book of the Ascent to Heaven." Ved Vyas refers to the Kama Sutra as the "Great Indian Novelty." Priya Duryodhani calls elections. Ved Vyas chooses Krishna to lead the opposition campaign. Priya Duryodhani thus gets Krishna's experienced Kaurava Party grassroots electoral machine. At a critical moment, Krishna persuades Arjun that he should criticise Priya Duryodhani's administration instead of remaining a disinterested reporter. Bhim, Nakul, and Sahadev stay out of the campaign, refaining from endorsing either party. The People's Front defeats the Kaurava (R) Party. Drona and Ved Vyas consult with the parties of the People's Front coalition to choose the new prime minister. Their ultimately erroneous choice is Yudhishtir. Ashwathaman is appointed head of the party organisation. The People's Front leadership gathers at the Taj Mahal for a ceremonial oath. The return of Krishna to local politics marks the beginning of the failure of the People's Front. Yudhishtir proves to be "as stiff and straight-backed and humourless as his critics had always portrayed him, and his colossal self-righteousness was not helped by his completely inability to judge the impression he made on others." Yudhishtir becomes a target of fun in the national and international press when he admits to drinking his own urine. The "strongmen" of Yudhishtir's cabinet are locked in squabbles and Yudhishtir "remained tightly self-obsessed, seemingly unaware that half of those who sat on the executive branch with him were busily engaged in sawing it off." Priya Duryodhani, labeling the faltering government as the "Backward Front," begins to gain political strength again. As Zaleel Shah Jhoota is toppled in another Karnistani military coup, Priya Duryodhani runs rings around her prosecutors while being tried for subverting the constitution. Yudhishtir suffers another publicity blow when he attends a speech by a holy man who uses the word "Untouchables" instead of "Harijans." Ashwathaman criticises Yudhishtir and the party organisation awaits word from an ailing Drona that it is time for Yudhishtir to go. Yudhishtir dispatches Sahadev to tell Drona that Ashwathaman's plane has crashed. When asked Yudhishtir confirms that "Ashwathaman is dead" and Drona dies without throwing support to Yudhishtir's opponents in the People's Front. When Ved Vyas confronts Yudhishtir regarding his lie about Ashwathaman, Yudhishtir says that early that day he had caught a cockroach, named it Ashwathaman, and killed it; thus, his statement to Drona was not a lie. Ved Vyas refuses to accept Yudhishtir's explanation and abandons him. In any case, Yudhishtir's deception is ultimately pointless. The government falls and Priya Duryodhani is victorious in the next election. Ved Vyas sees a vision in which the Pandavas, Draupadi, and Krishna hike up a mountain. One by one they are killed, except for Yudhishtir, who reaches the top. When Kalaam, the god of time, offers to bear Yudhishtir to the court of history, Yudhishtir refuses to leave his faithful dog behind. The dog reveals himself to be Dharma, Yudhishtir's father, and the three board Kalaam's chariot together. In the court of history, Yudhishtir is stunned to find a place of honour given to Priya Duryodhani. |
6020411 | /m/0fkyzh | Collaborator | Murray Davies | null | {"/m/0mz2": "Alternate history", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | The novel begins in December 1940 with the return of Sergeant Nick Penny to his home in an unnamed West Country port town. A former prisoner of war, he had been captured in the aftermath of the successful German invasion of Britain. A former schoolteacher, his ability to speak German had secured his release to work as a translator for the military governor of region, Generalleutnant Kurt von Glass. Glass soon puts Penny to work in organizing the "Anglo-German Friendship League", which is designed to foster greater unity. Penny is uncomfortable with his current position, and his viewed with suspicion by much of the community. Soon after his return, he visits the Three Horseshoes, a local pub operated by the family of his friend, Roy Locke. There he reconnects with Locke, who immediately begins to recruit him for the emerging resistance movement. Penny begs off, requesting time while he sorts matters out. Penny soon finds himself drawn into the resistance, motivated in part by the gradually increasing harshness of German rule. Penny's mother and sister, with whom he lives, suffer physically and psychologically from the effects of German rule, while Penny's nephew, David, desires to strike back. Though Glass supports Penny's suggestions for fostering Anglo-German amity, the region's security chief, Standartenführer Stolz, is using every pretext for brutalizing the local population. Penny and Locke nearly miss curfew, but are saved at the last minute by the timely arrival of Matty Cordington, their old friend, who was released from internment and who brought Sara Burskin, a Polish refugee, with him. Roy quickly enlists them into a plan to smuggle the Regent, his wife, and the crown jewels out of the country, but they are thwarted by the Abwehr. Though Penny and Cordington manage to evade capture, Locke is arrested but kills himself before revealing any information. After their failed operation, Penny loses contact with the resistance. Loathing his life, he watches as profiteers like the local newsagent reap the benefits of the growing crackdown on Jewish businesses. In March, however, the German invasion of the Soviet Union breathes new life into the resistance as Communists now join the effort. Penny is contacted once again by Coral Kennedy, a young woman whom he met during the failed effort to smuggle out the Regent and the jewels. Once again involved with the resistance, Penny assists in a number of their operations, informing Kennedy of an attempt by the IRA to assassinate Glass and helping to smuggle a Danish scientist and his wife out of the country. Yet these are isolated successes amidst a series of setbacks, as the Germans disrupt operations and shut down networks. Glass himself soon leaves Britain to serve on the Eastern Front; his departure coincides with the roundup of foreign-born Jews by the authorities, including one in hiding on Cordington's estate. A ruse by the resistance reveals the leak: Sara Burskin. Informed of this discovery, Cordington agrees to kill her himself. The discovery of the leak leads the resistance to abandon contact with Penny yet again, as the German security services are clearly aware of his participation in the resistance and hope by monitoring him they can discover the identity of other members. Penny is therefore surprised when Kennedy suddenly contacts him in July with a new mission: to smuggle out Otto Frisch, who the Gestapo has discovered knows information which could be vital to the development of a "superbomb". Traveling to Liverpool, they succeed in persuading Frisch to agree to escape. Avoiding discovery, Penny hides Frisch among the Jenner family, where he poses as a visiting relative. The Germans order a second round-up of the Jews, though, this time including native-born British citizens. Frisch is captured along with the Jenners, and Penny and Cordington travel to Imber in order to stage an escape from the concentration camp the Germans have built there. Upon their return Cordington tells Penny about his plans to meet with a nearby resistance leader, followed by a trip to London for an upcoming conference to resistance leadership to be held during the Regent's re-coronation. After he leaves, Penny is sent to intercept him and to head-off an ill-advised ambush that threatens to draw in a nearby Waffen-SS unit. Penny arrives in time to save Cordington but not to stop the ambush, which leads the Germans and their British auxiliaries to massacre everyone in the nearby town of Merricombe in response. He returns with news of the massacre, which Kennedy quickly exploits for propaganda purposes. When they attempt to smuggle Frisch out of England, however, they are met by Sara, who is very much alive and who reveals that Cordington is in fact a double agent who was coerced into working with the Gestapo upon the discovery that his deceased mother was in fact Jewish. Killing Sara, Penny and Kennedy race to London to prevent Cordington from revealing the location of the resistance meeting to the Germans. Pursued by the authorities, they make it to London and warn the resistance, but they are unable to stop Cordington before he executes his real plan: using the credentials given to him by the Gestapo to get through security at the coronation and setting off a suicide bomb that kills the Regent and assembled German leadership. In the aftermath, the Germans retaliate by massacring over 100,000 people (including Penny's remaining family), triggering a nationwide rebellion that threatens the Germans' hold on their empire. |
6023177 | /m/0fl1tw | Dancer from the Dance | Andrew Holleran | null | {"/m/0cgx58": "Gay novel", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | The novel revolves around two main characters: Anthony Malone, a young man from the Midwest who leaves behind his "straight" life as a lawyer to immerse himself in the gay life of 1970s New York, and Andrew Sutherland, variously described as a speed addict, a socialite, and a drag queen. Their social life includes long nights of drinking and dancing at New York gay bars. Though they enjoy many physical pleasures, their lives lack any spiritual depth. The "dance" of the novel's title becomes a metaphor for their lives. Malone is described as preternaturally beautiful; much of the plot concerns Sutherland's efforts to leverage Malone's beauty by "marrying" him to a young millionaire. |
6026387 | /m/0fl6cv | The Winning Side | Lance Parkin | null | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Emily Blandish has been murdered by an unknown assailant, but when Honoré Lechasseur turns up to see the body, he is surprised to be met by… Emily Blandish. They soon find themselves embroiled in a revolutionary plot stretching into their own futures, with the freedom of the entire world at stake. |
6027087 | /m/0fl7p1 | Shell Shock | Simon A. Forward | null | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | The Sixth Doctor and Peri find themselves stranded on an alien world that is mostly covered by water. The Doctor manages to make it to shore, where he has to work out a way to save Peri, the TARDIS and himself. Peri, however, is swallowed by an alien life-form intent on making her its god. |
6027788 | /m/0fl94n | Heavy Weather | Bruce Sterling | 1994-09 | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | Set in the year 2031, Heavy Weather depicts a world where mankind has unbalanced the world's ecosystem with their continuing production of greenhouse gases and unchecked expansion. As a result, the weather has become unpredictable and dangerous. Powerful storms routinely leave trails of devastation in their wake. Alex Unger, a young man suffering from numerous medical problems, is liberated from an illegal Mexican clinic by his sister Janey and brought back to America to her group of friends and colleagues, the Storm Troupe. The Troupe are dedicated and knowledgeable storm chasers who use high technology to document and research the weather, led by Janey's lover, the charismatic and brilliant scientist Jerry Mulcahey. They are preparing to meet an F-6, a storm of truly monstrous proportions. |
6027958 | /m/0fl9jk | First Amoung Sequels | Jasper Fforde | 2007 | {"/m/0mz2": "Alternate history", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | In order to save the future, undercover SpecOps investigator Thursday Next attempts to convince her son Friday to join the ChronoGuard. To complicate matters, she'll have to deal with renegade apprentices, ruthless corporations, and a sting operation from the Cheese Enforcement Agency. The title First Among Sequels was met with stiff resistance from Fforde's publishers because it had 'sequel' in the title, and it was felt that telegraphing the 'sequelness' of the book might be a bad move. It was decided, however, to capitalise on the fact that this was a series - a sort of 'Have you discovered Thursday Next yet?' approach to marketing. First Among Sequels is the first part of a new four-part Thursday Next series, which is reported to be continued with One of our Thursdays is Missing in 2011. The title is a parody of First Among Equals, which is the title of a best-selling Jeffrey Archer novel, but also comes from the English translation of the Latin phrase primus inter pares. It is traditionally used to describe the position of the British Prime Minister, since in the British Constitution the position of prime minister has no official existence, and the office holder is simply the 'most powerful' of the Queen's advisors in Cabinet. |
6030224 | /m/0flfkz | Runaway | Tom Clancy | 2001 | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature"} | Tracking down a runaway friend, Net Force Explorer Megan O'Malley discovers that the web is just as fraught with danger as the streets ... |
6030706 | /m/0flgbs | Down a Dark Hall | Lois Duncan | null | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | After her mother gets re-married, Kit is forced to attend Madame Duret's Blackwood Boarding School. Kit originally planned to attend with her best friend, Tracy, but Tracy wasn't accepted despite having better grades. The place is far out in the country and upon glimpsing the restored ancient building, Kit feels something dark emanating from the school. She is further disturbed to find that her room only locks from the outside. The faculty consists of Madame Duret, Professor Farley, and Jules, Madame Duret's son who teaches piano. Blackwood students are taught individually, according to their 'level of learning and ability'. There are only three other students: Lynda, her best friend Ruth, and Sandy, each with a unique gift. Lynda excels at painting; Ruth, at math, and Sandy writes poetry, which none had shown any talent for before. Kit's specialty is the piano. Kit learns that Madams Duret is using the students to connect telepathically with famous artists who died young and channel their talents to create masterpieces for her. She also learns that all former students at Blackwood either lost their lives, or lost their minds. Kit devises a plan for escape and attempts to contact her friend, Tracy, for help. |
6032175 | /m/0flkgg | Gallows Hill | Lois Duncan | 1998 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/03mfnf": "Young adult literature"} | Sarah Zoltanne is an extra ordinary girl. Her widowed mother, Rosemary, decides to move to Pinecrest because of Ted Thompson. When Sarah starts school as the new pupil, she makes no friends. Eric Garrett convinces Sarah to play a fortune teller at the fortune telling booth. He says it is to benefit the prom and she would be perfect because she is new and almost no one knows her. Sarah accidentally agrees while having a strange vision at home. At the carnival, Kyra feeds her information on the customers coming in. Sarah uses an old paperweight that belonged to her departed parternal grandmother as her crystal ball. The night is going well until Sarah does a reading for an abundantly contoured but likeable boy named Charlie Gorman. When reading for him, she sees a vision in the paperweight of Charlie falling down a flight of stairs. Sarah quickly closes down the booth and leaves. She becomes friends with Charlie, and discovers that he believes in reincarnation and past lives. Sarah starts writing a history paper about the Salem Witch Trials, and begins having dreams and visions in which she is participating in the trials. Charlie tells her he thinks that everyone in the town participated in the trials, and they are back together to finish something. Meanwhile, Eric convinces her to start doing readings as a business, but things start going down hill when Sarah makes the popular cheerleaders angry and keeps seeing visions about people. The cheerleaders become convinced that Sarah is a witch. Sarah receives threats, such as a sketch of a gallows and a dead crow in her locker. In desperation, she goes to the principal, and then Ted and her mother. Neither party does anything to help her. Later, Ted forces Sarah to go to a party with Kyra. Eric comes by to pick up Sarah for the party, but she has changed her mind about it. Eric persuades her to come out and apologize to Kyra, but she is forced into the car and brought to the party. Eric and the others take Sarah to Garrote Hill, in the middle of Pine Crest, where many drunk students are waiting. The students begin acting strangely and calling the place Gallows Hill, the place in Salem, Massachusetts where the witches of the trials were hanged. They try to hang Sarah, but Charlie intervenes, and the students suddenly relive their past lives in Salem before attacking Charlie. Sarah almost ends up getting hanged until Ted saves her. Sarah and Rosemary decide to move back to California, and Sarah realizes that in a past life, she was Betty Parris, the young girl who brought about the Salem Witch Trials. She leaves Charlie with a night of passion, and gives him the paperweight. It was once cloudy, but now it is 'clear and transparent as window glass'. |
6032387 | /m/0flkyp | The Keep | F. Paul Wilson | 1981-08 | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/03npn": "Horror", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/09kqc": "Humour"} | German soldiers and SS Einsatzkommandos alike are being slowly killed off in a mysterious castle (the "Keep" of the title) high in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania in April 1941. A Jewish History Professor living in Bucharest, Theodore Cuza, and his daughter Magda, are collected and delivered to the keep in a desperate effort by SS Sturmbannfuhrer Eric Kaempffer to find out what it is that is murdering the men and put a stop to it by any means necessary. The professor is useful in translating a mysterious message that has been written in blood on a wall of the keep in a forgotten dialect of Old Romanian or Old Slavonic. He is also tasked with finding a method of defeating the unknown evil that is wreaking havoc. This evil entity, which calls itself "Molasar", sees a certain usefulness in Professor Cuza and procures his services through deception and false promises. Molasar is later revealed to be Rasalom, an ancient sorcerer from the "First Age" of humans. Shortly, a reluctant champion of the ancient Forces of Light appears; an immortal man calling himself "Glenn", but whose real name is Glaeken. He built the Keep as a prison for Rasalom out of the reluctance to kill him outright. The two beings are mystically linked in a way that binds their destinies together, even though Rasalom's supernatural abilities vastly outmatch Glenn's innate abilities. Magda and Glenn meet and develop a relationship which quickly becomes romantic as Professor Cuza manipulates the German SS into arresting Glenn and bringing him into the Keep where he will be vulnerable to Rasalom's ever-increasing power. The scheme fails when Magda rescues Glenn from dying by bringing him his healing power-sword after he is riddled with bullets. Professor Cuza, meanwhile, is excitedly carrying Glenn's Talisman through the lower levels of Rasalom's 500-year-old prison and upwards toward the surface where the Professor plans to re-bury it according to Rasalom's instructions. Magda leaves Glenn to recuperate while intervening with her misguided father to keep him from crossing the perimeter of the fortress area, giving Glenn just enough time to arrive on scene where, after joining the Talisman to his power-sword, he is able to drive Rasalom backwards into the depths of the keep. Rasalom then uses his telekinetic abilities to launch an overwhelming assault against Glenn. Finally, Glenn prevails as Rasalom rashly launches himself bodily at his age-old enemy and is reduced to ashes by a single stroke from Glenn's sword. Glenn himself plummets onto the craggy rocks below as Rasalom's body decays into nothingness. However he reawakens to discover that he is now mortal, having vanquished his long-time foe, and he and Magda are reunited. |
6035060 | /m/0flqlh | Reborn | F. Paul Wilson | 1990-03 | {"/m/01jfsb": "Thriller", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/03npn": "Horror", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Almost immediately after being slain by Glaeken in a castle keep in Romania in the Spring of 1941 Rasalom has opportunistically entered the body of a clone that grows within a woman hired by the scientist in charge of a project seeking to create a genetically enhanced super-soldier for the U.S. Army. The boy comes to term, is born and grows into an unusually strong and aggressive specimen but has a personality of his own which prevents the johnny-come-lately Rasalom from doing anything but secretly encouraging his host whenever possible to indulge his inclination to violence. This all changes when the host dies a seemingly untimely death in his late 20s and the fetus conceived by his wife becomes the newest, un-co-opted vessel for evil. The wife Carol acquires one chief protector in the form of a lifelong sociopath and occasional murdering psychopath known as Jonah Stevens. He stops at nothing to ensure the baby's survival and guarantees that Rasalom will have more than a fighting chance to take over the Earth after attaining early adulthood. The ancient being known as Glaeken is content to take a back seat to all of this as he feels he has earned his permanent retirement from the battle between the forces of Darkness and Light. He realizes that a major confrontation is inevitable but placidly aspires to count himself and his wife Magda among the dearly departed before that dark day descends with a deafening thud upon humanity's collective cranium. |
6035356 | /m/0flr7m | Nightworld | F. Paul Wilson | 5/21/1992 | {"/m/01jfsb": "Thriller", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/03npn": "Horror"} | Rasalom returns in reincarnated form to transform the Earth into unrelenting hell. Rasalom is shortening the daylight hours and letting loose a plague of ever-more-fearsome flesh-eating monsters that prey on the world's populace during the ever-lengthening nights. Whole communities turn on one another; riots break out over food; gangs wage war on the public; and Rasalom grows ever stronger as he feeds on the ever-increasing chaos, violence and terror. The only one who can possibly stop the horror is Glaeken, an enfeebled old warrior who has battled the Adversary across the millennia. Too weak to fight alone, Glaeken gathers together a select band of people to assist him, among them a young boy with mysterious powers, a 150-year-old Hawaiian woman with magical necklaces, a semi-catatonic scientist with a mystical connection to Rasalom, and an all-too-human vigilante named Repairman Jack. So supremely confident is Rasalom of his eventual victory that he spares Glaeken for an especially gruesome fate and allows him to pursue his desperate plan to save the Earth so that Glaeken's ultimate failure will become both Rasalom's greatest victory as well as Glaeken's - and humankind's - most tragic final defeat. Glaeken's only hope in defeating Rasalom and reversing the planet's descent into madness is to forge another power-sword out of the widely scattered materials that remain of his first two mystical weapons of Light. To do this he sends a two-man team to Romania to collect as many fragments of the second sword as possible. Another two-man team is dispatched to Maui to collect two very special necklaces containing material from the first power-sword ever to be created many millennia ago before Glaeken himself became the only surviving, reluctant torchbearer for the Legions of Light on this planet. The raw materials are finally gathered together and then forged into a new power-sword by a peculiar collection of specialists hiding out in a shack on the northeastern shore of Long Island in the little hamlet of Monroe. What remains now is for the weapon to be imbued with the ancient, sentient power that resides in the young boy Jeffy and then, finally, for the power-sword itself to choose a new champion whom it deems worthy of engaging the Powers of Darkness as embodied in the evil Rasalom. The manner in which the new hero or heroine is to be chosen is very strongly reminiscent of the way in which Arthur was chosen by Excalibur to be a worthy successor to his father, Uther Pendragon. The choice ultimately comes as a great surprise to many readers because of the shrewdly roundabout way in which the author lets the little drama play out. The warrior who is finally selected engages Rasalom in his deep, dark lair where he lies waiting for the completion of his transformation into the reigning creature of terror on Earth. For the second time in a mere 50 years the champion for the Legions of Light gets into a serious bind and only prevails in the end because of major assistance from the throngs of mere mortal humans anxiously awaiting the outcome on the surface. |
6035638 | /m/0flrkl | Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator Part 2 | Kouhei Kadono | null | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | Sneaking into Paisley Park to sit with her memories of Asukai Jin, Kinukawa Kotoe fell into the clutches of Spooky E, who had been hiding there since his defeat by Boogiepop. Capturing her as a new terminal, he worked on her to lead his search for Imaginator. Using her vast wealth, the manipulated Kinukawa began taking those whose friends had been changed by Imaginator to help find it. Under the suspicion of Kirima Nagi, Taniguchi Masaki headed off to meet Orihata Aya, planning to again impersonate Boogiepop for her. Kinukawa had already met up with Orihata and had instructed her that this was the end of her relationship with Taniguchi. Trying to save him, Orihata tries to make Taniguchi hate her, but he instead runs off to continue impersonating Boogiepop for her sake. Spotting one of the girls who had been with Asukai at her school, Suema followed to investigate. The girl had been looking for someone. After, at their cram school, Suema confronts Asukai. Both manage to surprise each other with their knowledge, though neither managed to identify how the other was linked. Living as 'Boogiepop', Taniguchi stopped returning home. Finding new targets by himself, he continued to act the part of a hero, but was gradually becoming sloppier in his actions. Kinukawa and some of her hired thugs managed to find Taniguchi and tried to use him to kill 'Boogiepop', thereby making the real Boogiepop a fake in the eyes of others. Though able to protect himself against the initial attack, Taniguchi was soon overwhelmed, however, he was rescued by Kirima, who had also been looking for him. She defeated the attackers and freed them all from Spooky E's control. Kinukawa escaped, but was found by Asukai, who restored her to normal, as he had done with many of the other Terminals. Trying to find Orihata, Taniguchi searched her apartment, but soon realised that she had not returned since they last met. Meanwhile, Spooky E quickly discovered that he had lost all his Terminals, and was soon confronted by Asukai, who identified himself as Imaginator. Protecting himself from Spooky E's powers with anti-magnetic sheets, Asukai grasps Spooky E's 'flower' and begins changing his heart, but the synthetic human chose suicide over being manipulated by Imaginator. Fearing for Orihata's life, Taniguchi attempts to contact her by phone. She is found by Asukai, who allows her to speak with Taniguchi, but he needs her to be his sacrifice to create his perfect world. From the phone call, Taniguchi was able to deduce that they were at Paisley Park and immediately set off for it. Meanwhile, Suema also discovers that everything is at Paisley Park and makes her own way to the abandoned site. Breaking into Paisley Park, Taniguchi is confronted by those manipulated by Imaginator. Unable to effectively fight back, he is soon overwhelmed, but at the last moment is saved by a microfilament wire. Accompanied by the Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Boogiepop makes his appearance and quickly defeats the manipulated humans. Making his way to where Asukai and Orihata were, Boogiepop appeared before them. From the way she feared him, Asukai deduced that Boogiepop was a powerful opponent, but it was not until his plan to use Orihata fails that he realised that he had lost. After expelling Imaginator, Boogiepop left Orihata and Asukai alone. Suema arrived at Paisley Park to again find that everything had already finished around her. Suema saved Asukai and helped reunite Orihata and Taniguchi, who need no longer be separated. |
6035643 | /m/0flrky | The Keep | F. Paul Wilson | null | {"/m/03npn": "Horror", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction", "/m/09kqc": "Humour"} | The Keep had stood empty in the Transylvanian Alps for some 500 years. No one knew who built it, or why. But on the eve of World War II, German soldiers moved in and awoke something—something hungry… something more merciless than the SS einsatzkommandos accompanying them. |
6036644 | /m/0fltfh | Windows on the World | null | null | null | The novel alternates between two voices: the first Carthew Yorsten, a Texan realtor accompanied by his two sons (ages 7 and 9) who are having a tourist-style breakfast at Windows on the World restaurant on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center on the morning of the September 11 attacks; the second, the voice of the author writing the story while having breakfast at a restaurant atop a Paris skyscraper (Tour Montparnasse). Each chapter, averaging three pages a piece, represents one minute from 8.30 am - just before the time the building is hit at 8:46am - to 10.29, just after its collapse at 10:28am. |
6038490 | /m/0flx2_ | Red Thunder | John Varley | null | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction"} | The novel is set in Florida in the near future. China and the United States are sending competing first missions to Mars, although it is clear the Chinese will arrive first. The book's protagonist is Manny Garcia, a teenager who is fascinated by space flight. He, along with his girlfriend Kelly, his best friend Dak, and Dak's girlfriend Alicia, are partying on the beach one night and almost run over a man who has passed out from drinking. The man is Travis Broussard, a former astronaut who was forced to retire in disgrace. Travis lives with his cousin Jubal, who is mentally deficient in some ways, but is also a scientific genius. Jubal has invented a device called the "squeezer", a spherical impenetrable silver force field that can be formed or have its size changed with no cost of energy. Travis and the teenagers realize the device could have numerous practical uses as well as being a dangerous weapon. They decide to use the squeezers to power a spaceship and plan to arrive at Mars ahead of the slower traveling American and Chinese missions already in transit, and to be available should Jubal's prediction of problems with the American drive prove true. They succeed in building the Red Thunder out of used railroad tank cars on schedule, and near their shoestring budget of $1 million dollars and take off. The four teenagers form the crew with Travis as pilot. They arrive at Mars a day ahead of the Chinese mission. They learn from the Chinese that the American mission was stranded by an accident (their VASIMR drive exploded). Red Thunder is able to locate and rescue the surviving crew members during their return to Earth. When they arrive back on Earth, they are heroes. They use the publicity of their trip to ensure that no nation or individual controls the squeezer technology, and help form a separate non-political organization to control and disseminate the new technology. With this new technology, people are able to eliminate waste dumps and pollution, and begin a new era of space travel throughout the solar system and beyond. |
6041679 | /m/06c0hr0 | Red Hand of Doom | James Jacobs | 2006-02 | {"/m/06c9r": "Role-playing game"} | The plot of Red Hand of Doom follows a group of adventurers who have entered the Elsir Vale, a thinly populated frontier region. The party uncovers and then is placed in the position of stopping a massive hobgoblin horde who are fanatically devoted to the dark goddess Tiamat and led by the charismatic half-dragon warlord Azarr Kul. To stop the horde, the players have to muster the inhabitants of the Vale, battle hobgoblins, giants, and dragons, and defeat an overwhelming enemy. |
6041804 | /m/0fm27t | Blow Your House Down | Pat Barker | null | {"/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | The novel is divided into three parts. Part 1, which is centred on Brenda, starts off by showing Brenda in the role of a mother of three children; she is shown putting them to sleep before she goes out for the evening. Most of Part 1 sees Brenda (in conjunction with Audrey) walking the street; episodes/encounters with customers are juxtaposed with passages telling Brenda’s history of becoming a prostitute. In the final section of part 1 the focus switches to Kath, an ‘old’, experienced, but ruined prostitute whose three kids were taken into communal care and whose luck has steadily deteriorated since that time. On leaving Palmerston (a pub where the prostitutes have their drinks before starting their work) Kath is approached by a client. He turns out to be the killer. Kath in her highly intoxicated state is unable to proffer any resistance to the man and he kills her. Part 2 shows the intensifying of the fear among the prostitutes. It also further elaborates on the motherly part of the prostitutes’ lives; Elaine is expecting a baby but continues in her job - she starts working in a pair with Jean who seems to have a plan of some sort to trap and find the killer. The focus of the narrative gradually switches to Jean. Part 3 is the climax of the novel as it leads to Jean’s identification and killing of the serial killer. It is narrated by Jean who tells the story of her friendship, teamwork, and love-relationship with Carol, a young and vulnerable fellow prostitute who one day disappeared under dramatic circumstances. After Carol’s corpse has been found on a heap of rubbish the strength of Jean’s love for Carol makes her determined to track down the murderer. From the clues given to her by her instinct and the murderer’s ‘handwriting’ she chooses a spot where she thinks she is most likely to meet him. Her waiting finally bears fruit and she manages to stab the man with a knife. Though in the end she herself is left to wonder whether she has killed the real murderer the reader – from the description of the murderer’s encounter with Kath – suspects that she has killed the right person (although this is never made clear). In the final chapter the news is told that Elaine has given birth to a boy. |
6042010 | /m/0fm2qw | Peculiar Lives | Philip Purser-Hallard | null | {"/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction"} | Honoré Lechasseur and Emily Blandish become embroiled in the endgame of a plot which began a generation ago, with the birth of the superhuman children known as "the Peculiar". While Emily encounters their chronicler, the elderly science-fiction novelist Erik Clevedon, Honoré is pitched against his will into an unimaginably distant future. |
6042972 | /m/0fm440 | Wieland | Charles Brockden Brown | 1798 | {"/m/039vk": "Gothic fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/03npn": "Horror", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Set sometime between the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War, Wieland details the horrible events that befall Clara Wieland and her brother Theodore's family. Clara and Theodore's father was a German immigrant who founded his own religion; he came to America just before the American Revolution with the conviction to spread his religion to the indigenous people. When he fails at this task, he believes he has also failed his deity. One night, as he worships in his bare, reclusive temple, he seems to spontaneously combust, after which his health rapidly deteriorates and he dies. His children inherit his property, which is divided equally between them. Theodore marries their childhood friend, Catharine Pleyel, and they have four children. Soon, Theodore begins to hear voices and Catharine's brother, Henry Pleyel, begins to hear them, too. Though at first doubtful of the voices that the men claim to hear, Clara also begins to hear a strange voice. The mysterious Carwin appears on the scene, and suggests that the voices may be caused by human mimicry. Clara is secretly in love with Pleyel, and makes a plan to tell him so; however, her chance is ruined. When she returns home, she finds Carwin hiding in her closet. He admits he had been planning to rape Clara, but believing her to be under the protection of a supernatural force, leaves her. The next morning, Pleyel accuses Clara of having an affair with Carwin. He leaves quickly, without giving Clara enough time to defend herself. She decides to go to see Pleyel, to tell him he is mistaken, but he does not seem to believe her. On her way home, Clara stops to visit her friend Mrs. Baynton, where Clara finds a letter from Carwin waiting for her, which requests an audience with her. At Theodore's house, Clara finds that everyone seems to be asleep, so she continues on to her own home, where she is to meet with Carwin. When she arrives, there are strange noises and lights, and she sees a glimpse of Carwin's face. In her room, she finds a strange letter from Carwin, and Catharine in her bed – dead. Shocked, she sits in her room until Theodore arrives and threatens Clara. When he hears voices outside, he leaves Clara unharmed. Clara learns that Theodore’s children have also been killed. Clara falls ill; later, she is able to read the murderer's testimony. The killer is her brother, Theodore. He claims to have been acting under divine orders. Clara is sure that Carwin is the source of Theodore's madness. Carwin reveals to Clara that he is a biloquist. He was the cause of most of the voices, but he claims that he did not tell Theodore to commit the murders. Wieland, having escaped from prison, arrives at Clara's house and tries to kill her. Carwin uses his ability to tell Theodore to stop. He says that Theodore should not have listened to the voices, and Theodore suddenly comes to his senses. He kills himself, full of remorse for what he has done. Clara refuses to leave her house, until it burns down one day. She then goes to Europe with her uncle, and eventually marries Pleyel. Clara feels she has finally recovered from the tragic events, enough to write them down. As for Carwin, he has become a farmer in the countryside. Apparently the novel was based on the true story of murders which took place at Tomhannock, New York (a hamlet near Pittstown) in 1781. Mirroring the incidents of the later novel, one James Yates, under the influence of a religious delusion, killed his wife and four children, then attempted to kill his sister, and expressed no remorse for his conduct in court later. Brown gave his tragic hero a pedigree related to that of the actual German author Christoph Martin Wieland, who is mentioned obliquely in the text: My ancestor may be considered as the founder of the German Theatre. The modern poet of the same name is sprung from the same family, and, perhaps, surpasses but little, in the fruitfulness of his invention, or the soundness of his taste, the elder Wieland. This and others of Charles Brockden Brown's novels were very influential in the later development of the Gothic genre by such writers as Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and most especially, George Lippard. |
6045681 | /m/0fm94f | Upland Outlaws | Dave Duncan | null | {"/m/06n90": "Science Fiction", "/m/014dfn": "Speculative fiction", "/m/01hmnh": "Fantasy", "/m/02xlf": "Fiction"} | Having escaped across the Cenmere Sea, the group takes to ship and sets sail. |
6046538 | /m/0fmc8x | Another Day in Paradise | null | 10/2/1997 | {"/m/0lsxr": "Crime Fiction"} | At age 13, Bobbie leaves the violent, abusive home where he was raised, and this book details his following year. He has an older girlfriend, carries a gun, takes drugs, and is on an ever-tightening spiral to hell, his crimes escalating until they include murder. The plot, which highlights Bobbie's increasing dependence on the highs of violence, is not pointless but instead emphasizes a frightening reality. For Bobbie, read Little. He's been there, and his graphic story is written with an immediacy and realism that will make normal thinking people cringe and parents anxious to protect their children from the harshness in which some youth live. |
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