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The Pirate Loop | Simon Guerrier | null | After escaping from over-eager serving robots in Milky-Pink City, Martha asks the Doctor about the Starship Brilliant, which mysteriously disappeared. He agrees to investigate, but the TARDIS crashes on arrival and Martha is knocked out. She wakes in the ship's engine room, where she and the Doctor are led to the starship's experimental drive by the slave-like mechanics, who have small holes instead of mouths. The Doctor realises that the starship's experimental drive works by skipping out of space-time. However, it has become stalled, putting it at risk of exploding. They attempt to contact the captain, but find that the door out of the engine rooms is blocked with a membrane like scrambled egg. The Doctor notes that it separates regions where time flows at different rates, and uses his sonic screwdriver to allow them to pass through. Martha emerges by herself and meets the robot Gabriel, the ship's steward. He escorts her to the cocktail lounge, where she is befriended by Mrs Wingsworth, an egg-shaped alien. Martha learns that the ship has been invaded and asks Gabriel to warn the Doctor, but three badger-faced space pirates enter and disintegrate him. Two of the badgers, Dashiel and Jocelyn, leave to scout out the ship, leaving the third badger, Archibald, to guard the prisoners. He is amazed at the canapés which Martha offers to him, as he was raised on recycled food, and she convinces him to share the food with the passengers. Dashiel and Jocelyn return, having been unable to find either the ship's drive or their comrades. They try some of the food and are similarly impressed, with Martha noting that the canapés are mysteriously replenished. Dashiel disintegrates Mrs Wingsworth after she expresses her scorn at their lack of culture. Martha grabs Jocelyn's gun after she shoots another passenger, but she is startled when Mrs Wingsworth enters the room, allowing Archibald to take the gun. Dashiel shoots at Martha, but she shields herself with the canapé tray, which reflects the shot at Jocelyn and kills her. Martha runs back to the engine room door, pursued by Archibald. She hits him with the tray, but she dies when he stabs her. On emerging from the scrambled egg membrane, the Doctor is met by Gabriel, who tells him that Martha has gone to the cocktail lounge. The Doctor learns that three hours have passed since Martha's arrival, as time passes more slowly in the engine rooms. He meets Jocelyn and Archibald, who disintegrate Gabriel again. The Doctor leads them to the engine room door, deducing that they intend to steal the ship's drive. However, they cannot pass through the scrambled egg membrane, as it is impossible to move from a region of faster time to one of slower time. Jocelyn blocks off the corridor by activating the fire doors, then escorts the Doctor to Dashiel in the cocktail lounge. Mrs Wingsworth antagonises the badgers and is once again disintegrated. While the Doctor attempts to negotiate, Archibald offers him some of the canapés, which continue to be replenished. Mrs Wingsworth enters the cocktail lounge again, explaining that the passengers are brought back to life after they die. However, Archibald mentions that Martha did not come back to life after she was killed. The Doctor resolves to find Martha's body and return it to her family once he has resolved the issues on the starship. Dashiel attacks the Doctor after he is tricked into disabling the guns using the sonic screwdriver, but runs into the window and is knocked unconscious. The Doctor takes his dagger and heads to the bridge with Mrs Wingsworth and Archibald, leaving Jocelyn to tend to Dashiel. They reach the capsule in which the badgers arrived, where Archibald mentions that Jocelyn died and woke up again there. The Doctor realises that everyone is resurrected where they first appeared and goes to open the fire doors in the engine room corridor, where he finds that both Martha and Gabriel have been resurrected. He explains that they are in a time loop, and the ship is attempting to protect the passengers by resurrecting them and replenishing the food, using its drive to alter reality. However, this is draining the ship's energy, as the loop is incomplete. Gabriel leads them to the bridge, where the door is blocked by another scrambled egg membrane. The Doctor and Martha pass through it, and are immediately killed by an electrical barrier. They are promptly resurrected and the Doctor convinces the captain, Georgina Wet-Eleven, to let them pass. Observing the pirate vessel on the wall screens, the Doctor realises that it has been frozen in time by the starship's drive, preventing the other pirate capsules from reaching them. The three badgers then invade the bridge and attack the crew, with everyone other than the Doctor and Martha being killed. The Doctor alters the electrical barrier so that it separates the resurrected crew and badgers. He lets the badgers out after they promise to behave, but the crew initially refuse to co-operate. Archibald offers Captain Georgina some canapés, and she reluctantly agrees to a truce. The Doctor uses the transmat booth to travel back to the engine room so that they can escape from the time loop, connecting the ship's drive to the TARDIS and using it to warp space-time. Meanwhile, the pirate ship has unfrozen and the scrambled egg membrane has disappeared. The badgers attempt to negotiate with their comrades, but they are unsuccessful. The other badger pirates board the ship, capture Martha, and shoot Dashiel and Captain Georgina. Archibald, Jocelyn and Martha are taken to Captain Florence on the pirate ship. On emerging from the TARDIS, the Doctor finds that the pirates have attacked and stolen the ship's drive. He leaves a note for Gabriel and is found by Mrs Wingsworth, who tells him that people have stopped coming back to life. They travel to the pirate ship in the TARDIS and take the lift to the bridge. The pirate ship destroys the Brilliant on Captain Florence's orders as they arrive, and she shoots Mrs Wingsworth and Archibald. The Doctor duels with her using the dagger he had taken from Dashiel, and she accidentally stabs herself. She refuses the Doctor's offer of help and shoots him. The badgers try to shoot Martha and Jocelyn, but find that their guns have been disabled. The Brilliant reforms and everyone who died is brought back to life. The Doctor explains that the ship drained the power from their guns because the note he left for Gabriel told him that the guns were a danger to the passengers. Instead of breaking them out of the time loop, he completed it and extended it to include the pirate ship. Reality is now only adjusted once every cycle and the loop has become self-sustaining, so the ship no longer needs to expend energy. The Doctor invites the badgers to a party on the Brilliant, and Martha, Jocelyn and the resurrected Captain Florence join the other badgers as they head for the capsules. The crew, passengers, mechanics, robots and badgers all party together on the starship. The Doctor announces that he will leave in the TARDIS, and that going with him will be their last chance to leave the never-ending party and return to the real world. The party-goers make their decisions as they dance to Mika's song Grace Kelly. |
Orphan at My Door | Jean Little | null | The book tells the story of Victoria Cope, following her experience of hosting a home child - an orphan from England sent to Canada by Barnardo's, essentially as a servant, receiving care and education in exchange. The Copes end up with a girl one year older than Victoria, named Marianna Wilson. She tells Victoria about her life in England, and as they become friends Victoria becomes more aware of some of the discrimination that Marianna faces from the local children, as well as from members of Victoria's own family, notably her oldest brother, David. Something seems to be distracting Marianna and one night Victoria wakes up and finds Marianna in the barn with her younger brother, Jasper, who had escaped from the home where he was placed after his guardian whipped him and broke his arm. The family must decide what to do with Jasper, which is made difficult by David's attitude towards the home children. The book ends with an epilogue detailing where Marianna and Victoria went in their lives, and explaining how the home child program worked. The orphan becomes rich and famous. |
It's Superman | Tom De Haven | null | Smallville, Kansas in 1935; Clark Kent is interviewed by the local Sheriff over the death of a wanted man who Clark confronted at a movie theatre. He died from, what everyone agrees to be, his handgun firing backwards. Clark and his father, Jonathan Kent, know the real story: he shot Clark, and the bullet bounced off Clark's forehead, and killed the wanted man instead. Clark is scared over what he is becoming. Matters worsen when Clark's beloved mother, Martha Kent, dies of a terminal illness. In Manhattan; Willi Berg storms out from Lois Lane's, his girlfriend's, apartment because she could not help him buy back his camera, so he intends to steal it. Arriving at the pawn shop, he discovers several men dead, and gets wounded trying to escape when he sees the ringleader of the gang: Lex Luthor. Because he is an alderman, Lex frames Willi for the murders and a henchwoman attempts to murder him at the hospital days later until she is stopped by federal agents, led by Meyer Lansky. With their help, and Lois', Willi goes on the run, finding himself in Smallville as a member of the WPA. There, he meets Clark, who is now a reporter for the Smallville Herald Progress, and befriends him after he shows off his superspeed. After solving the crime of a kidnapped child that ends unhappily; Clark quits the paper and Willi discusses with him the idea of leaving Smallville to travel. Because he wants to see what else is out there, Clark agrees. Hollywood of 1937; Clark has a job as a stuntman and has a girlfriend named Diana Dewey, a costume designer. Willi meets with a former roommate of Lois', a voluptuous nurse who goes by the nickname Skinny, where he is found by police and gets arrested. Clark tries out a costume that was made for a science fiction film that is now cancelled: a blue leotard with a red cape and a red "S". Upon trying it on, he is taken by it. After he discovers his ability of flight; Clark puts on the costume to free Willi from the police. Clark and Willi then head back to New York where they meet back up with Lois, now a reporter for the Daily Planet. Clark falls instantly in love with Lois. There at Clark and Willi's new apartment, they describe to an unbelieving Lois the person who freed Willi who is a "friend" of him and Clark's: Superman. The conversation turns from good to bad when Lois reports the sad news: the case that had been building against Lex Luthor has been dropped over the death of the head agent of the case and the missing, presumed destroyed, evidence. In a shocking turn of events, Lex announces his resignation from his position as an alderman. Inside the offices of his company, LUTHOR Corp., he initiates the construction of robots - seemingly benign, but equipped with surveillance and weapons capabilities - dubbed "Lexbots". On Halloween Night; Clark tries to cheer up a depressed Willi as they walk throughout the city. At the same time, Lois tries to help her former boyfriend, an ex-cop who believes Lex murdered his partner. When Ceil Stickowski, widow of one of Lex' old henchman, calls to reveal secret information on what Luthor is planning, the two head out only to get into a gun fight with Paulie Scaffa, another henchman who just now murdered Ceil and Mrs. O'Shea, Luthor's partner. Paulie takes off - not before shooting Ben, Lois' police officer boyfriend - and takes off only to be stopped by Clark, wearing his Superman costume, as he damages the car to get Paulie out. However, inside the trunk is one of the Lexbots and it soon activates and attacks Superman. After a horrifying attack that leaves a few sections of the city street on fire, a bruised and exhausted Superman finally destroys the Lexbot and escapes before police can arrest him. The next morning, thanks to his article and the revelation that the evidence against Lex was not destroyed, as well as new evidence found by Lois of the LUTHOR Corp. logo on the robot; Lex Luthor is called to be arrested and Clark gets a job at the Daily Planet. Before he is arrested, Superman meets with Lex at his home; as Lex talks about how similar the two are, making them "perfect rivals"; Lex forces his assistant to jump from the window to which Superman saves. Returning, he learns that not only is the assistant dead of a heart attack, but that Lex used that time to escape. In the closing chapter; our central characters watch the play Our Town in February 1938. During the play, Clark thinks at what has happen to him and Superman since: he has saved countless lives from accidents and disasters, Lex (still on the run) had given Superman (through Clark) a new more powerful costume with a red on yellow "S" crest, FDR has called for Superman to have a "chat" (to which Clark is reluctant to attend), and sometimes Clark hates his Superman persona because of the pressures put upon him and also because Lois dislikes Clark but loves Superman. Finally, as the play ends, he thinks of what his father said to him on his deathbed, to use his powers for good. Lois notices Clark sobbing in his theater box and, surprised by her own concern, calls out to him. She finally gains his attention by throwing a shoe at him. When Clark takes off his glasses to wipe his eyes, a thrill goes through Lois as, immediately spotting his resemblance to the Man of Steel, she first develops the classic suspicion that Clark is Superman. At the same time, Clark looks into Lois' eyes and realizes that he will love her for the rest of his life and that this love will fuel him to do his best to do good in the world. He has struggled through the entire book to feel "like everyone else;" and now, he is, "like everyone else." |
Skallagrigg | William Horwood | 1,987 | The story concerns Arthur, a young boy suffering from cerebral palsy, abandoned in a grim hospital in the north of England and subject to extreme cruelty and neglect; Esther, a keenly intelligent teenager who also suffers from CP but whose talents are recognised in these enlightened days; and Daniel, an American computer-gaming genius. They are linked by the Skallagrigg; whatever or whoever it is will transform their lives. Esther sets out on a quest to find the truth of the Skallagrigg, founded in the life and experiences of Arthur. She encapsulates what she finds in a tortuously complex computer game, knowing that the truth is never likely to be uncovered. A man named Martin has heard the word Skallagrigg from his senile grandmother and when he hears of Skallagrigg the game, he is determined to solve it and discover what it means... |
Wideacre | Philippa Gregory | 1,987 | The novel is set in the second part of the eighteenth century, during the time of the enclosure acts. Beatrice Lacey is the daughter of the Squire of Wideacre, an estate situated on the South Downs, centred around Wideacre Hall. Most of the novel is narrated in her voice. She is five years-old when her father takes her around the estate for the first time, and she falls in love with the estate. Wideacre is Beatrice's first and most enduring love. For the rest of her life, Beatrice makes one attempt after another to claim it, directly or indirectly, for herself. She spends her childhood accompanying her father around the estate, becoming an excellent horsewoman, learning the land and becoming a favourite of the villagers who live in Acre, the estate village. She is uninterested in her mother's attempts to make her more ladylike and is completely devoted to her father. Her brother, Harry, is away at a private school and Beatrice rarely sees him. But at the age of eleven, her dreams are shattered when her father tells her that Harry will inherit the estate and she will make a good marriage and leave, and this is just the way of the world. Beatrice is stunned by this pronouncement, as she believed she would live on Wideacre forever; she is also shocked that the estate will go to Harry, who has no idea how to run it and no interest in rural pursuits. She immediately decides "if that was the way of the world, the world would have to change; I would never change". Now rapidly blossoming into a beautiful young woman, Beatrice is attracted to Ralph, the gamekeeper's lad, who lives with his mother, Meg, a village witch, in a cottage on the estate. They become lovers, but their private world is shattered by the return of Harry, who discovers them together. Harry tries to punish Ralph for 'spoiling' his sister but Ralph easily disarms him. Seeing the whip in his hand, Harry suddenly becomes craven and submissive, begging Ralph to beat him. Beatrice realises that the private school has somehow warped her brother's mind, turning him into a masochist. Beatrice and Ralph are estranged for a short time, until Beatrice sees that her father is taking Harry out on the estate, teaching him the ways of the land. Threatened by this, Beatrice starts scheming everyway she possibly can to keep 'her' land, so when Ralph reveals a scheme of his to take the estate for their own, with him taking the squire's place, Beatrice agrees without really thinking about it. The next day, Beatrice realizes what she has agreed to and rushes to stop the plan from happening, but finds she is too late. Ralph murders the Squire, Beatrice's father, and sets it up to look as if the man's horse reared and threw him, convincingly enough that everyone on Wideacre regards it as a horrible accident. Enraged by the sight of her father's corpse, filled with guilt and fear that if Ralph were ever caught he would tell others she was involved, Beatrice decides she cannot allow him to continue living on Wideacre. She had never intended to marry him or let him take her father's place, secretly thinking Ralph too lowly to take her beloved father's position, and indulged his dreams of being the master of Wideacre because she never thought they'd come true. After planning her revenge, Beatrice meets up with Ralph one evening, lays with him one last time, and then deliberately takes a path home that leads over a man trap. She then crouches in the undergrowth and screams for Ralph's help. Running after her, Ralph's legs are crushed by the man trap. Beatrice listens as his screams die away and then hurries back to the Hall. To her everlasting horror, she discovers that Ralph cheated death, escaping maimed with his mother's help, to slip away into the outer darkness, recover and someday return for revenge on Beatrice. With the loss of first her beloved Papa, and then her lover, Ralph, something inside Beatrice dies. She becomes more callous, manipulative and ruthless. All is peaceful for a time on the estate, but as Beatrice teaches Harry how to run Wideacre, her position is threatened by Harry's attraction to their neighbour's stepdaugher, Lady Celia Havering. Beatrice quickly convinces Harry that she and Ralph did not have sex, that Harry saved her from rape. She then sets about seducing him to make her position more secure. It is not hard for her to overcome Harry's doubts about their sexual relationship, as she is well practiced in the art of seduction and confident of her allure. Meanwhile, Beatrice befriends Celia, casting herself as the understanding sister-in-law who can protect her from the "brutish" Harry. Celia, who is sweet and innocent, quickly warms to Beatrice and confides in her. Harry marries Celia with Beatrice's blessing and Beatrice accompanies them on their honeymoon to France, where Harry spends his days with Celia and his nights with Beatrice. Celia is so scared and ignorant that she is actually grateful for this arrangement. Then Beatrice discovers she is pregnant with Harry's child. She lies to Celia, saying the child is the product of a rape, and Celia decides that she will pass the child off as her own. She sends Harry back to England, then writes to him with the 'good news'. Beatrice gives birth to a girl. Celia names the baby Julia, and the two women return to Wideacre as proud mother and aunt. Beatrice suppresses her maternal instincts with ease while Celia develops a mental strength and determination that she did not formerly possess. She takes a very firm stand in everything concerning Julia, especially taking the baby out on the estate. Beatrice is slightly disconcerted by this new Celia, but does nothing until she discovers that Harry and Celia have started sleeping together and that Celia is moving into Harry's room and symbolically taking her place as the Lady of Wideacre. Desperate, Beatrice tricks Harry into meeting her alone and physically abuses him until he is completely under her thumb. They resume sexual relations, with Beatrice completely dominant and secure. Now at the peak of her power, Beatrice's life is complicated by the new doctor, a young Scotsman called John MacAndrew, who has been prescribing her laudanum for her nightmares (which usually involve Ralph coming to kill her in revenge). He is intelligent and provocative, challenging Beatrice to a horse race around the estate, which he wins. After this, Beatrice begins to seriously respect and admire John, but she is not sure how to proceed, as this is the first time she has been properly courted by someone of her own class. Determined to stay on Wideacre, she refuses his marriage proposal. Then she discovers she is pregnant by Harry once more. She tries to induce a miscarriage but fails. Alone and afraid, knowing she cannot give this baby to Celia, she breaks down. John finds her crying in the library and comforts her, though she will not tell him why she is so upset. After they make love, Beatrice agrees to marry him, knowing she can pass the baby off as John's. The marriage satisfies everyone: Beatrice's mother is happy that her daughter is finally married to a respectable man; Harry and Celia are happy that Beatrice will know their 'happiness'; Beatrice is happy because John has no problem with living on Wideacre. Beatrice goes into labour while John is away, and gives birth to a healthy boy. Beatrice names him Richard, and almost pulls off her deception, but John arrives back early from his journey. As a doctor, he can see immediately that the baby is not premature. Disillusioned, he asks Beatrice why she lied to him. Devastated by this turn of events, Beatrice lies again, telling him that she was raped but that her love for him is not a lie. John does not believe her. He begins to drink in order to forget her betrayal. Meanwhile, Beatrice and Harry grow more and more careless. One night, Harry persuades Beatrice to lie with him in the parlour, despite her initial reservations, and their mother comes upon them. She faints from the shock and falls unconscious. In her catatonic state, she mutters over and over "I only came to get my book... Harry, Beatrice, no!" John McAndrew attends her despite his distress and prescribes laudanum, four drops, four hourly. Beatrice knows her mother will tell people about the incestuous coupling between her children, which she has now witnessed. When Celia says that she will stay up to watch over the patient, Beatrice calculatingly tells Celia that John prescribed the whole bottle be taken at once. Her mother dies from the overdose without regaining consciousness or revealing what she saw, though John MacAndrew suspects the truth from what she kept repeating. He also knows he would not have prescribed the whole bottle to be taken at once and thus recognizes the murderess in Beatrice. Unwisely, John confronts Beatrice, telling her that he could ruin her, but she pre-empts him, setting the scene to ruin his reputation and succeeds. He drowns his despair in drinking, unwittingly giving Beatrice the weapon with which she totally destroys his name. Within a very short time he is despised and nobody will believe anything he says. Beatrice finishes him off with a coup de grace of horrifying ruthlessness: she has him committed to a lunatic asylum in a violent scene which ends with John MacAndrew being taken away in a strait-jacket, screaming the truth about Beatrice - that she is an incestuous whore and a murderess. Not only does nobody believe him, but his screams only convince the witnesses he is indeed mad. With her husband out of the way and his £200,000 fortune transferred under power of attorney, Beatrice decides to make her incestuous offspring, Julia and Richard joint heirs to the Wideacre estate and convinces Harry, through seduction and emotional manipulation, to agree to this outrageous crime. As a girl, Julia cannot inherit on her own but Richard is part Lacey and a marriage between cousins is a suitable way to keep the estate in the family. However, the estate is entailed, meaning that only male heirs can inherit, and changing the entail requires a lot of money. The MacAndrew fortune is not quite enough to seal the deal, and in order to raise the rest of the necessary monies, Beatrice and Harry mortgage the estate and begin to enclose the common land, so the villagers have nowhere to graze their pigs or raise their own vegetables. This creates a lot of anger and resentment on the estate but Beatrice no longer cares, so focused is she on her children inheriting Wideacre. Celia realizes what is happening and rescues John MacAndrew, freeing him from the lunatic asylum and telling him his fortune has been stolen by Beatrice in order to make her son and daughter the heirs to Wideacre. She brings him back to Wideacre a pauper but a free man, and manages to restore his medical reputation by calling on him when baby Richard chokes on a stone from his rattle. John performs an emergency tracheotomy, cutting Richard's throat open in order to allow air into his windpipe. The two of them do their best to help alleviate the villagers' poverty and depravation, in contrast to the increasingly corrupt and ruthless Beatrice and Harry. Beatrice is by this time completely annexed from any human feeling. She has destroyed herself in her determination to win at all costs. She has lost her soul and is no longer in harmony with Wideacre. The estate is suffering under her "maximum profit" mentality; every spare piece of land is devoted to crops in order to produce more money and both the people and the land are dying of starvation, of lack of love. Then they hear that The Culler, a shadowy outlaw who is against enclosure and the aristocracy, is heading for Wideacre. Beatrice knows the Culler is her first love, Ralph, and is both afraid and desirous of his vengeance. By this time, the villagers have turned against her and Wideacre is vulnerable to attack. In a dramatic scene, Celia and John discover that the estate itself is now mortgaged, and Harry discovers that Julia is Beatrice's daughter (though not that he is Julia's father, or Richard's). Finally recognizing the enormity of Beatrice's crimes, Celia quite rightly calls her a "wrecker", telling her that she destroys everything she touches, including her beloved Wideacre. She then leaves, taking a blubbering Harry with her, although he dies en route of a heart attack. John also leaves with them, as his only remaining desire is to save Celia and the children from the shadow and corruptive influence of Beatrice's wickedness. Beatrice is left alone in the Hall, a scene exactly like the nightmare that haunted her throughout the book, hinting that she has some sort of sixth sense. (This is a nod to Gone With The Wind, where the protagonist's nightmare comes true at the end of the novel.) She dreams of Ralph and of an end to the horror of her life. When she wakes, she can sense that he has been in the room with her, as the window is open. She sees the torches of the villagers glowing outside. She knows they have to come to burn down the Hall and kill her, but she does not care, she only longs to see Ralph. She runs outside and sees him astride his horse, his legs severed at the knee. Overjoyed, Beatrice goes to him and holds up her arms. He bends down as if to embrace her. The last thing Beatrice sees is the knife in his hand. She welcomes her death at his hands, understanding that it is justice and her only hope of redemption. In the epilogue, which is the only part written in the third person, Wideacre Hall is a burnt out shell. The estate is ruined and bankrupt; Beatrice has become a demonic figure for the children of the village, an evil but beautiful witch who destroys those she loves. Julia Lacey and Richard MacAndrew play as children in the overgrown garden. Despite this image of innocence in paradise, the novel ends on an ambiguous note, stating that sometimes Julia looks at the ruined Hall and smiles "as if it were very lovely to her". |
The Iron Ring | Lloyd Alexander | null | The narrative is 36 chapters in four parts. Tamar, the king of the fictional realm of Sundari, is rudely awoken by the procession of a passing maharajah named Jaya. Jaya, disobeying the unwritten rules of courtesy, intrudes upon Tamar's house demanding an audience with Tamar for Jaya's own amusement. They play a fictional dice game called aksha, increasing the wagers placed on each successive roll. Finally Jaya calls the wager "life against life." Tamar loses the roll; therefore, his life is Jaya's to do with as Jaya sees fit. Jaya places a black iron ring on Tamar's finger as a sign of his bondage. Jaya says that he has pressing matters to which to attend, so Tamar should come to Jaya's palace in Mahapura. Furious and screaming, Tamar lunges for the king, but because of the ring, he falls to the ground. Tamar is woken by his sage mentor Rajaswami, a brahmana, and quickly discovers that none of his courtiers remember Jaya's ever having been there at all. He has no proof, save the iron ring on his finger, that the encounter was any more than a dream. As a kshatriya, Tamar is honor-bound to make good on the debt he owes to Jaya because to him, dharma is the most important thing in the world. He sets out with Rajaswami, leaving his kingdom in the hands of his military commander, Darshan. The pair ride north through the Danda-Vana forest. They happen upon an enormous talking monkey being attacked by a large river-snake. The monkey, Hashkat, king of the monkeys, has attempted to steal the sapphire atop the head of the snake prince Shesha. Tamar wrestles Shesha in the water and is dragged under then saves Shesha from the weeds in which the serpent is entangled. Shesha pulls Tamar to the realm of the Naga Raja (snake king), where Tamar is given his choice of any of the thousands of precious jewels within the king's hall. He chooses a tiny ruby called the Fire Flower. When Tamar surfaces, he is no longer in the part of the river whence he had left Rajaswami. Instead he is standing naked before a group of beautiful cowgirls called gopis. The most beautiful, Mirri, brings Tamar clothing out of pity, and Tamar is told eventually of the village's traditional "Choosing," where young men compete in games of strength and skill for maidens' affections. Mirri has until this point elected not to take part in the Choosing, but when Tamar arrives, she announces she will choose a man. Rajaswami, after finding Tamar, reminds him that he should never challenge a lesser opponent; therefore, they leave at first light without Tamar being part of the Choosing. On the road through the forest, they reunite with Hashkat and are saved by Mirri when she discovers them stuck in thornbushes' cement-like sap. Mirri joins the party and travels north. Another companion is found in Garuda, a pessimistic eagle whose nests Tamar has accidentally destroyed twice. Garuda was once the messenger of a King Jaya whose job it was to retrieve a ruby with a lotus carved on it. This is the same jewel Tamar carries! Garuda agrees to come with the group to look after the ruby because he is in no shape to fly well (he is referred to as a buzzard before his true species is known). They continue north to a clearing where they meet Kana, a ruthless general of the kingdom of Ranapura who obeys no code of conduct. He and his men set upon Tamar in an unfair matchup, but the group is saved by Ashwara, exiled king of Ranapura. Ashwara tells how his cousin Nahusha has usurped the throne and exiled Ashwara and his brothers. Suddenly a suta (royal crier) named Adi-Kavi emerges from an anthill and joins the party. They decide to travel north to Muktara to plead with the king, Bala, for intervention. Tamar declares that this mission is more important than his mission to Mahapura because treachery is a matter of supreme dishonor. The party arrives in Muktara to engage in durbar with King Bala, only to find that Nahusha is already there. There is nearly a violent confrontation between Ashwara and Nahusha before Bala restores order to the durbar. Nahusha is a hateful man with no respect for anyone save himself, not even for the revered brahmana. He reveals that one of Hashkat's faithful subjects, Akka, has been captured and cruelly enslaved for Nahusha's amusement. Finally Bala reaches the decision that he will take neither side in the struggle, giving neither military support to Nahusha nor protection to Ashwara. They leave the city cautiously, as Bala has warned Ashwara that Nahusha will only be unable to harm him inside Muktara, and are charged by a large talking elephant named Arvati, who ran into them while fleeing from her captors. Adi-Kavi has a plan for dealing with the approaching soldiers who are trying to recapture Arvati. He ties up Hashkat and paints him with mud. When the hunters arrive, Adi-Kavi claims that the elephant was actually a demonic rakshasa. He gets them to fall into a net trap to avoid being killed by the false demon. === Part IV: Jaya === |
People of the Wolf | Kathleen O'Neal Gear | null | The plot concerns a man and woman consummating to have a child. Then a band of Siberian hunters pursues game across Beringia during the last Ice Age. Spurred by a vision he had while on a hunt, a young tribesman named Runs in Light, later called Wolf Dreamer, leads a handful of tribespeople, in rebellion against the tribal shaman, south down the Yukon River valley into what is now Canada and the Pacific Northwest. |
South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating | null | 2,007 | The book includes an article about the character Kenny, by Southern Illinois University philosophy professor Dr. Randall Auxier, entitled: "Killing Kenny: Our Daily Dose of Death." Professor Auxier also gave a talk on his contribution to the work, at Green Mountain College. South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating also addresses issues of applied ethics, such as stem-cell research, euthanasia, drugs in sports, religion, blasphemy, human evolution, environment, and gay marriage. The book is organized into five sections by topic, which include "Religion and Other Disabilities," "Politics and Other Sacred Cows," "Morality and Other Urges," "Science, Logic and Other Really, Really Clever Stuff" and "Humor and Other Insertable Devices." |
Lucky | Cecily von Ziegesar | 2,007 | Jenny Humphrey has attended some crazy parties at Waverly Academy, but none as hot as the bash at Miller farm, where the antique red barn went up in flames. Literally. So when Dean Marymount announces that someone is going to be held responsible and expelled from Waverly, it's every owl for him and herself. Tensions are rising, rumors are flying, and pretty soon everyone is a suspect. Jenny is worried about her adorable, shaggy-haired new crush, Julian, whose silver engraved Zippo was found at the scene of the crime. Callie is petrified she and Easy both will get kicked out, because they were in the barn together when the blaze began. And Tinsley knows she’ll take the heat for organizing the wild soirée in the first place. Luckily she’s come up with a crafty way to keep from getting in trouble: by blaming Jenny. Julian and Jenny get "closer than ever" and just when "things can't get any better," Jenny finds out the only reason Julian even met her is because he was hooking up with Tinsley Carmichael which causes Jenny to not trust him. Easy becomes very suspicious of Callie because of her comments towards Jenny starting the fire. Kara and Brett's relationship goes public and Brett figures out she still loves Jeremiah and Kara and Heath hook up and become a couple. Shockingly, Tinsley's plan works but it also backfires. Easy finds out that Callie had something to do with the plan to kick Jenny out, and tries to rescue Jenny. Callie and Easy's relationship is over—Easy was put off by Callie's plot to get Jenny out, which he discovered when Tinsley texted Callie-and Jenny still hasn't forgiven Julian for lying to her. Easy supposedly paid off Old Lady Miller, whose barn got burned down, and Jenny is rescued and returned to Waverly. Old Lady Miller said that her cows caused it and not Jenny. Jenny admits into setting the barn on fire(and gets expelled) just because she can't take everyone's accusations, dirty looks, and rumors. However, Jenny is admitted back into Waverly. |
Secret of The Sirens | Julia Golding | 2,006 | 'The Secret of the Sirens takes place in the southern regions of a fictional Great Britain in the seaside town of Hescombe. Here we meet (presumed) 11-year-old Connie Lionheart, who is left in care by her parents to her Aunt, Evelyn. The story is about how Connie discovers that she has a special power, to communicate with animals. Not conversationally, but able to get to know who they really are, and sense their actual being. She feels comfortable, and has a sense of belonging with them. But the story is also about mythical creatures, as she discovers that her aunt is part of a hidden society that protects them from discovery. Now the society is in danger. Kullervo, a powerful and evil force, is gathering an army of creatures who want to reclaim their place on earth, and not be hampered by humans. They want to eradicate humans and create a new world they can live in. Connie discovers that she has an amazing power, and she, together with her friends and the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures, have to try to save the creatures from the threat of exposure. |
Girl, Missing | null | 2,006 | The main character is 14-year-old Lauren Matthews, who lives in London with her adoptive parents and their son, Rory. Lauren is doing an essay for homework entitled Who Am I?, in which she has to write about her personality and her life. Eager to find out about her past, Lauren goes on Missing-Children.com, and finds an American girl of her age named Martha Lauren Purditt, who went missing less than two months before Lauren was adopted. After comparing the photograph of Martha with a photograph of Lauren as a toddler, Lauren finds that she and Martha look alike. Lauren's friend James 'Jam' Caldwell comes round, and compares Lauren's face to the age-progressed photograph of Martha. They find that the two girls look alike. Lauren thinks she may be Martha, and finds out information about her adoption is in her adoptive mother's diaries. Whilst Lauren's mother is visiting Jam's mother Carla, Lauren finds her mother's diaries in the attic, and discovers she was adopted from Marchfield Adoption Agency in Vermont, USA. After persuading her family to go on a holiday to a theme park in America, the family go to America (albeit leaving Lauren's adoptive father behind, and taking Jam in his place). While Lauren's mother and Rory are waiting to change planes, Lauren and Jam sneak off and get a plane to Burlington. Once the plane lands, Lauren and Jam get a bus to Marchfield, where Lauren has a meeting with Taylor Tarsen, the owner of the agency. He refuses to show Lauren her adoption file, but when Lauren mentions Sonia Holtwood, a woman from her mother's diaries, Taylor tells Lauren she was looked after by Sonia before her adoption, and gives her $150 so she and Jam can stay in a motel. Jam informs Lauren that he found out where Lauren's adoption file is, and the two stay in a motel for the night. That night, Lauren and Jam break into Marchfield and find Lauren's adoption file, but all that is in it is an address on a scrap of paper. Unfazed, Lauren and Jam go to an 24-hour taxi firm and get a taxi to the address. When they arrive at what they believe to be Sonia Holtwood's flat, they find that a young Spanish woman now lives there. However, they meet an old woman named Bettina, who used to babysit Lauren when she lived in the flat with Sonia. Bettina tells Lauren that, as a toddler, Lauren rarely smiled, but looked pretty when she did. On one of these occasions, Bettina attempted to photograph Lauren but Sonia came bursting in, furious. Sonia and Lauren left the day after. Lauren and Jam set out to find Sonia but end up cold and worried so when a "Police officer" comes up to Lauren and offers to take them to their destination Lauren accepts. After a brief discussion with Jam he accepts and he goes with her. The officer tells them who she really is and they find out she is Sonia Holtwood and she is trying to kidnap them. She gives them drugged orange juice so they both fall into a deep sleep and wake up hours later to find they are still in the car. Lauren pleads with Sonia to let them out and she does: in the middle of nowhere, twenty miles from the nearest place with a name. So Lauren and Jam start walking through the woods where they have an argument. Jam storms off so Lauren just lies down in the snow. She hears voices then goes back to sleep. The next day she wakes up in a log cabin. She sees Jam and asks him what has happened. He says they were rescued by a man called Glane who took them to his log cabin. He then takes them to a motel for them to stay at because he was going home to Boston. Lauren goes on the internet to find out more about Martha Lauren Purditt. Her parents were Annie and Sam Purditt who lived in Evanport. Lauren decides she will hitch hike to get there but Glane offers to take them there himself. On the way Lauren is worrying about how she looks but Jam says she looks beautiful and he wants to ask her something. At the house, Lauren is met by a girl aged thirteen, called Shelby who does not believe Lauren. Then a lady comes out and asks who Lauren is. Lauren replies she is Martha. Lauren meets the other relatives, her real father Sam and a sister who is six. She stays with them for a while but starts missing her own family. Lauren finds out that her adoptive parents have been arrested and are in prison. After a phone call from her parents' lawyer, she has a row with Annie and storms off, prompting Annie to run after her. Lauren slams her bedroom door and when Annie storms in, the two have a furious confrontation. However, Annie apologises and angrily vows that she will never stop loving Lauren and fiercely hugs her, later showing her some baby photos and delights Lauren by showing her some affection. After Lauren moves in with Shelby and Madison, her two sisters, she realises that Annie is a bit extreme in her emotion with Lauren. Lauren likes Sam much better than Annie, but the person she likes best is her grandmother, who understands her much better than either Sam or Annie. One day, Lauren finds Shelby grabbing and twisting a knot in Madi's skin. Lauren sees many painful, big, brown bruises there and is shocked. Lauren stops Shelby and comforts Madison. When she goes back to her room, she finds her phone with a bullying text message supposedly from Shelby, saying to keep quiet or die. She receives another of these later. One night while Lauren is downstairs making hot chocolate, she sees someone at the door. She recognises him as Jam, and lets him in. He proposes that they run away together but Lauren hesitates and says that she needs time to think about it. She, Jam and Madi all go down to the marine so they can talk. Jam gets mad when Lauren says that she does not want to leave her real family, and storms off. Then she gets another text. She thinks its from Shelby, but it is from Sonia Holtwood saying that her sister will die unless she goes to Sam's boat, the Josephine May. There she finds Madi gagged and Sonia and a paid criminal called Frank. Lauren kicks Frank in an attempt to escape, and he tries to slap her. He is stopped by Sonia, who says that they have to be found unharmed so that it looks like an accident. Later, Madi annoys Sonia by pretending to have an aching stomach. She gets hit by Sonia, sending her flying across the room and causing her to crack her head on a hard shelf. Sonia and Frank then leave the boat, after Lauren lies to Frank saying that she hasn't got her cellphone. Madi and Lauren have been wedged into the room by the Sonia and Frank, but then Jam appears and rescues them. The next chapter is in the hospital, where Madi has still not awoken after smacking her head. Annie and Lauren are with her when she awakes, and the two share a true mother - daughter moment. Back at Sam and Annie's house, Lauren meets her adoptive parents at the door; they say that they have been released from jail and have been invited there by Sam and Annie. All of them have a conversation and Lauren is asked who she wants to live with: Sam and Annie or her adoptive parents. She replies that she chooses both. Lauren says that she now partly lives with Sam and Annie, and that she spends the school term in England with her adoptive parents. Jam is now her boyfriend and often comes with her to Sam and Annie's, and Shelby has stopped being horrible to her and Madi. Lauren adds that she never spends more than a few weeks away from either family, and she ends by saying that she was asked to write another 'Who Am I?' essay. She then says that it was easy because she finally knows who she is. In the essay she writes "girl, found" and writes about both families. |
Briar Rose | Jane Yolen | 1,992 | The book is divided into two parts, the "home", and the "castle". The ending is part of the "home" section, returning after the castle. The story is based around the German fairy tale of Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) which is told by "Gemma", an elderly woman, to her three granddaughters. She tells this to the children almost all the time and it is the only bedtime story she ever tells. The times when "Gemma" tells the story are flashbacks and alternate between the present-day story. In the present day, Gemma's Jewish family is living somewhere outside a city in Massachusetts. After her grandmother's death, Rebecca Berlin, the youngest of her three granddaughters (referred to as Becca in the novel) begins to believe that there is some meaning behind the bedtime story that her grandmother told to them hundreds of times. She consults Stan, a good friend and journalist who works for an "alternative" newspaper and uncovers historical facts. She discovers that her grandmother was actually a survivor of the Holocaust who was persecuted for her Polish ethnicity and Jewish belief, and sent to Chełmno extermination camp to be executed. She decides to visit Chełmno and discovers a link with a man by the name of Josef Potocki in Poland. Becca sets off for Poland to find the identity and the life of her grandmother. In Poland, Josef tells his life story and his meeting with Gemma. In the book, his story is told in the "castle" section. He was a target of the Holocaust due to his homosexuality, and became a fugitive, during which time he met many different people, mainly partisans, mainly in Germany. He had heard stories of torture and extermination camps and joined an underground group set out to rescue victims. This leads him to Chełmno (called Kulmhof by the Germans), where he witnesses the gassing to death of numerous people. The people are brought to the camp and then packed into trucks. The trucks drive away, with their exhaust funnelled into the passenger hold. By the time the trucks arrive at their destination, a mass grave, all of the people it was carrying have been gassed to death by the truck exhaust. The people are then dumped into the grave. When Josef sees the bodies of the people dumped, he notices that a woman with red hair (Gemma) is still alive and faintly breathing. He revives her through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which the woman, (who is later called KSIĘŻNICZKA, which means 'princess' in Polish) refers to in her fairy tale as "the kiss of life". In reality, during this period of time, 320,000 were killed in Chelmno via the method of gassing them in trucks. Later, she hid in the forest with Polish partisans, fighting the Nazis, and married another Jew among them. She became pregnant by him shortly after their marriage. Then he, along with almost all of the other partisans, were killed by the Nazis. She escaped and was brought safely to the United States. She never told a soul about these experiences, rather dealing with the trauma by refashioning them in her mind into the form of a familiar fairytale about an evil witch, a princess rendered unconscious who is then revived by a handsome prince, and a happy ending. The final part of the book is simply a conclusion where Becca returns to the U.S. to tell Stewart and her family about what she discovered. At the airport, Stan is there to pick her up. He kisses her, and says "We'll get to our happily ever after eventually". |
Kensuke's Kingdom | Michael Morpurgo | 1,999 | A young boy called Michael,travels with his parents around the world on the yacht Peggy Sue after his parents lose their jobs at the brickworks and decide to sail the seven seas. Michael's parents teach him what he would have normally learnt at school and he has a secret log that he writes in. They travel from England to Africa, South America and Australia. He is on lookout one night when Michael and his dog Stella Artois are washed overboard, near Papua New Guinea. They awake to discover that they are stranded on a desert island that is shaped like an elongated peanut in the Pacific Ocean. While Michael is struggling to survive on the island, food is regularly left for him. To his surprise, he learns that an elderly Japanese man called Kensuke is also living on the island. Kensuke helps Michael to survive. He sets guidelines that Michael thinks are just annoyances, until Kensuke saves him from a jellyfish after warning him never to go in the water. Michael teaches Kensuke English, and Kensuke teaches Michael how to paint, how to fish and where to find the best food and water. He is eventually revealed to be a doctor and survivor of World War II, and he believes that his family died in Nagasaki after the atomic bomb was dropped there on August 9, 1945. Over time Kensuke begins to understand how Michael feels and how he misses his family. Together they build a beacon that can be lit to signal to ships, but for a long time they see no sign of any ships. Later, however, Michael witnesses a Chinese junk and he consults Kensuke as to whether or not he should light the beacon. Kensuke recognizes the ship as that of poachers, and he and Michael rush to gather all the orangutans into the cave to protect them from the threat that lies in the ship. They nearly succeed but cannot find one particular orangutan, the one Kensuke calls Kikanbo his. The ship arrives and they hear gunshots. When the ship leaves, they discover that some gibbon monkeys have been killed but that Kikanbo is still alive. The next time they see a ship it is not the poachers, and they both light the fire. The crew on the ship see the fire and change direction, heading towards the island. When the boat is closer, Michael sees that the boat is the Peggy Sue, with his parents on board. Kensuke decides at that point, despite thinking otherwise earlier, that he will not be sailing home with Michael; he says "This is my place. This Kensuke's Kingdom. Emperor must stay in his Kingdom, look after his people. Emperor does not run away. Not honourable thing to do." Kensuke tells him to keep everything a secret until ten years have passed, when Kensuke will be dead. Michael runs out to the beach where the ship had landed and is reunited with his parents. Four years after Michael's secret log is published, he receives a letter from Kensuke's son (who is still alive). Michael goes to Japan to visit him a month later. |
Death at La Fenice | Donna Leon | 1,992 | Commissario (Detective) Guido Brunetti pursues what appears to be a murder investigation without leads. de:Venezianisches Finale es:Muerte en la Fenice eu:Death at La Fenice fr:Mort à La Fenice sv:Ond bråd död i Venedig |
Up n Under | John Godber | null | It followed the story of an inept pub team from the Wheatsheaf Arms pub in a rugby league sevens competition in Kingston upon Hull in England. Ex-pro Arthur's only passions in life are his wife and rugby league. When he hears about the 'Cobblers Arms' pub team and their corrupt manager, Arthur bets his life savings with Reg Welch that he can train any team to beat them. However, the 'Wheatsheaf Arms' can only muster a side of four whose pride lies in their unbroken record of defeat. The pitifully unfit set of men have to accept the help of a coach, who just happens to be a woman. They have to struggle through adversity, come up triumphant and become a team. They are given a bye to the final of the competition where they have to play The Cobblers. |
Return to the Tomb of Horrors | null | null | This module expanded significantly upon the plot of the original Tomb of Horrors, revealing that the tomb of the first adventure was merely an antechamber to the lich Acererak's true resting place, and the demilich "slain" in the first adventure was both decoy and key to proceeding further. The dust from the destroyed skull opened a way to the cursed city of Moil in a pocket universe of eternal darkness and ice, and beyond that to Acererak's fortress hovering at the edge of the Negative Energy Plane itself. Acererak is revealed in this publication to be near the completion of a multi-thousand-year project to achieve godhood, powered by souls consumed over the years. He now needs only three additional souls to complete the process, but they must be of exceptional purity and strength; to this end he constructed his tomb to serve as an ultimate challenge for heroes, hoping to winnow out all but the very best. He would then consume them when they reached the center of his fortress, where his own undead essence resides in his phylactery. If the player characters fail to defeat Acererak in the course of the adventure they themselves could wind up serving in this role. |
Beggars' Bush | John Fletcher | null | The play is one of several works of English Renaissance drama that present a lighthearted, romanticized, Robin-Hood-like view of the world of beggars, thieves, and gypsies; in this respect it can be classed with plays of its own era like The Spanish Gypsy, Massinger's The Guardian, Suckling's The Goblins, and Brome's A Jovial Crew, as well as a group of earlier works, like the Robin Hood plays of Anthony Munday. Although the timeframe is inconsistent, Beggars' Bush is set seven years after a fictional war between Flanders and Brabant. The victorious Flemish general Woolfort has usurped the throne of Flanders. The rightful royal family, including Gerrard and his daughter Jaculin, have fled, their current whereabouts unknown. Gerrard has adopted a masquerade as Claus, who is elected king of the beggars. Other characters also maintain disguises and have hidden identities, including the missing daughter of the Duke of Brabant. The play's plot shows the working-out of these complexities and the restoration of the rightful rulers; true lovers are also re-united. Yet the play also contains serious aspects that have caused it to be classified as a tragicomedy by some commentators; "Through mixed modes Beggars Bush exhibits serious sociopolitical concerns to earn a classification that at first seems incongruous — a political tragicomedy." (The character of Clause, the King of the Beggars, also appears as a character in later works, such as the memoirs of Bampfylde Moore Carew, the self-proclaimed King of the Beggars.) |
The Testament | Eric Van Lustbader | 2,006 | The book is about Braverman Shaw, whose father, Dexter Shaw, is killed by an explosion. After his death Braverman, for friends Bravo, finds out that his father was a member of the Gnostic Observant, a group of people who possess a very old secret of Jesus Christ. Bravo has to find the secret and keep it hidden from their sworn enemies, the Knights of Saint-Clemens. His father left behind a maze, which Bravo has to solve in order to find the secret. During his journey he's attacked by the Knights multiple times, and they're closer than he thinks. |
Birth of a Salesman | P. G. Wodehouse | 1,950 | Lord Emsworth is visiting America for the wedding of his niece Veronica to millionaire Tipton Plimsoll. With currency restrictions forcing him to stay at Freddie's house in Long Island, Emsworth finds himself ill at ease, chafed by his son's new-found self-confidence, the result of his successes as a salesman. Left alone in the house one day, Emsworth finds the cold lunch left for him unappealing, and resolves to fix himself some scrambled eggs. This task proves more difficult than he recalled from his more active youth, and when a young girl calls at the door selling richly bound encyclopaedias of Sport, he invites her in to make them for him and join him at his lunch. The girl, who is only known as "Mrs Ed", reveals she is trying to earn money, as she has a baby on the way. Emsworth's sense of chivalry is aroused, and he offers to sell her encyclopaedias for her, while she has a lie down on the couch. He heads at once for the house of a near neighbour, who Freddie had earlier warned him had a conspicuous habit of throwing wild parties and filling his house with blondes while his wife was away. This behaviour, striking Emsworth as indicative of a sporting nature, persuades the elderly peer that the man must also be in need of his encyclopaedias. Nervously approaching the house, Emsworth is embarrassed by a carful of blondes, but carries on manfully. After a failed attempt to knock at the door, a Pekinese named Eisenhower, property of one of the blondes, chases him up a tree. The homeowner, lumber king George Spenlow, already unnerved having seen Emsworth mooning over his flower beds earlier in the day, mistakes him for a private eye in the hire of his wife. He approaches Emsworth and offers him a bribe, which Emsworth innocently confuses with an offer to buy his encyclopaedias. He takes the man's $500, and quietly slips it into Mrs Ed's handbag while she sleeps, resolving to put a stop to his son's arrogance right away. |
Sons from Afar | Cynthia Voigt | null | With Dicey and her friends Mina and Jeff away at college, Sons From Afar turns its attention to younger brothers James and Sammy. James is now 15 and wondering about his missing father. He and Sammy begin an investigation across Maryland leading to adventures in Easton, Annapolis, and Baltimore to find clues about the life and character of their father. Sammy at first is uninterested in the man who abandoned their mother and his four children, thinking it has no real bearing on him, but he goes along with James for brotherly support. Their roles eventually become reversed after James has an epiphany about accepting himself for what he is and Sammy realises he needs to start asking questions about himself and where he is heading. Along the way, they find "missing men" affecting the lives of more and more people, and renew their understanding of their place in their family. Abigail "Gram" Tillerman: The Tillerman children's grandmother, Gram took them in at the end of Homecoming, the first book in the cycle. She is 64 years old and lives on her family farm with her grandchildren. She is an older version of Dicey, her eldest grandchild and sees the good in all the Tillermans. James Tillerman: Now almost 16 years old, James has grown into a quiet, insecure teenager who is described as having dark hair, a thin, narrow face, and hazel eyes who looks younger than his age. He is embarrassed by himself, afraid of being labeled a "dork" or "brain". He does not share these feelings with his grandmother because he is afraid of worrying her, although Sammy and Maybeth see through James's facade but do not tell him. He has a hard time asking for things from his grandmother or others (for fear that they will say no) and gives up easily. He is highly intelligent, taking all A-track - advanced - courses at the local high school; however, he lacks athletic ability and physical confidence. He fears the pain of injury. Despite this, he has joined the baseball team because he wants to look well-rounded on his college applications. Even though he hates it and wants to quit, he does not because he does not want people to think he is a quitter. During the story James changes his post-high school goal from becoming a lawyer and building up a business to becoming a medical doctor. His part-time job at a doctor's office and his helping diagnose a patient with a bladder problem is a main factor in his change of heart. Throughout most of the book, he is frustrated with Sammy because of his brother's lack of intellectual curiosity and ambition and his stubborn attitude. At the same time, he is envious of his brother's natural athletic ability and self-confidence and self-acceptance. James's respect for Sammy grows when James sees Sammy's bravery and courage when he stands up to a violent grown man at a bar on their search for their father. Even though he never finds his father, James's experiences teach him that he needs to accept himself for who he is so that he does not "get lost from himself", the way he believes his father had done. It also teaches him to accept his brother. Sammy Tillerman: Now 12 years old, Sammy is described as blond, hazel-eyed, and tall for his age with a stocky athletic build. He looks older than he is. Sammy is his own person and says and does whatever he wants regardless of what others will think of him. Other children at school look up to and admire him, including girls who Sammy ignores as he thinks they are a pain. He likes playing sports and being outside. He prefers physical labor rather than intellectual work. Sammy respects James's "book smarts" but is often frustrated with James's lack of confidence and constant questioning and thinking. Sammy believes James is not smart about life or people or even himself, and Sammy thinks these are more important. This attitude changes when Sammy sees James remain calm throughout the bar fight, talking the men down until the boys are able to leave. Sammy proposes at the very end, that they team up their strengths to protect Maybeth from men who might ruin her life, the way their father did to their mother. Maybeth Tillerman: Now 14 years old, Maybeth resembles the Tillerman's mother, Liza, in looks and personality. She is described by James as pretty, strong looking, with a good figure. She has a great talent for music and singing; even her voice sounds like her mother's. While having this talent and skills in cooking and sewing, Maybeth struggles to maintain decent grades in all school courses other than home economics. James helps her with homework and studying and he is awed that she does not mind having to work so hard to earn only Cs and Ds. Maybeth is gentle and kind so is popular despite being slow at school. Dicey Tillerman: The oldest of the Tillerman children, Dicey only appears briefly when she comes home from college for spring break. Although she is clever and finds college easy, she thinks it is not worthwhile when she is needed at home and really wants to learn boat building. However, Gram is insistent that Dicey finish college. Dicey is a lot like Sammy: direct and stubborn and impatient with James. She has a take-charge attitude and feels she should be at home to take care of her family. |
The Finishing Stroke | Frederic Dannay | 1,958 | Immediately after the publication of his first novel, detailing his investigation and solution of The Roman Hat Mystery, fledgling author Ellery Queen is invited to a house party to be held over the Christmas holiday period (late 1929 and early 1930) by his publisher. The party is large and contains a number of people connected for business or social reasons with a wealthy young man who is about to come into a large inheritance on his imminent birthday. In the days leading up to his birthday, a number of strange little gifts are left anonymously for him, one, two or three daily, together with some cryptic notes describing them. The gifts are sized as for a doll's house and are things like a tiny house, a post, a camel, a fish, an eye, a fence—seemingly without any rhyme or reason behind them. The cryptic notes become more and more threatening and ominous, and some of them have little doodles on the back that seem to represent the gift associated with them. Ellery continues to investigate, with little success, as the mysterious gifts accumulate and the wealthy young man's behaviour becomes more and more unusual. Upon the eve of his birthday, his body is discovered stabbed with an ornate dagger, and a note beside it suggests that the dagger is the final entry in the series of gifts: "the finishing stroke to end your life". Although a number of things are discovered that explain parts of the mystery, Ellery is unable to explain the meaning of the series of gifts, or conclusively identify the murderer. Decades later, he comes across his diary of that time and begins thinking about the murder again—this time, he realizes the significance of the gifts and can thus finally solve the case. |
Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star | Brandon Mull | 2,007 | At the end of the school year Kendra finds a kobold, that has infiltrated her eighth grade. She can see without a magical milk that can make her see things she cant see without it because the year before the fairies kissed her and gave her power to see mythical creatures. To her he seems ugly but to everyone else he seems like every girl's dream. She knows this has problems written all over it. At the end of the day a man named Errol is just outside their school door saying he can get rid of the problem for them. Seth ( Kendra's brother) must get a magical item from a mortuary that is age protected from 13 and older. Seth is the only one that can enter. When he gets the item, it bites him and teeth marks are left in his skin. Later, Errol asks Kendra and Seth to help them retrieve another object that can help save their grandparent's preserve. Kendra is not so sure and calls her Grandpa Sorenson but doesn't respond. After many failed attempts her grandpa finally calls back and tells them to not go with him and that it is possible a trap. He says that a ride is coming for them and to not get out of the house till then. So Seth and Kendra wait until a red sports car shows up. A lady named Vanessa picks them up but Errol pursues them until they reach the preserve. They get away and get to the preserve safely in a short two hours. The Society of the Evening Star, an ancient organization determined to overthrow magical preserves and use them for their own intents and purposes, it is determined to infiltrate Fablehaven. Worst yet, word is abroad that the Society of the Evening Star is rising and working its mischief faster than ever. Preserves are falling at an alarming rate. Grandpa Sorenson, the caretaker, invites three specialists approved by the mysterious Sphinx to help around the property: "Tanu" the Potion Master, Coulter, a magical relics collector and old friend, and Vanessa, a mystical creature trapper. In addition, these three specialists have a more perilous assignment— to find an artifact of great power hidden on the property that is a piece of a key to the great demon prison, Zzyzx. Zzyzx houses hundreds of thousands of the worst demons. Should Zzyzx open, the world as they know would end. Later,The Sphinx meets with Kendra and Seth to discuss the situation. After giving Kendra an uncharged magical object, he determines her fairykind, and not "very kind." Being fairykind is a completely unusual thing that hadn't happened for centuries. Then, the Sphinx speaks to Seth and explains that Olloch the Glutton will prove perilous to Seth as long as it exists. Olloch's only goal is to consume Seth. After being fed by him in the beginning of the book. Olloch will continue to consume creatures until he is big enough and strong enough to destroy everything preventing him from Seth. When Olloch the Glutton pervades the gates of Fablehaven, all evidence points towards the fact that someone inside the preserve is a traitor. Which of the three visitors is it? If the artifact falls into the wrong hands, it could mean the downfall of other preserves and possibly the world. With good intent, Kendra and Seth become both a help and hindrance to their grandfather’s cry to protect Fablehaven. Coulter woke Seth and persuaded him to come to an extremely dangerous portion of Fablehaven, where Warren lost his mind. In the morning at the house, Kendra is thoroughly depressed about the supposed death of her brother. Grandpa finally resolves that Coulter was not acting of his own agency because his plan was so clumsy. That night, Dale was caught in the Thief's Net guarding an artificial key. Dale had gone to sleep and woke up there. Suddenly, all the evidence matched up and the traitor seized control of the house. In order to save their family, friends, the preserve, and ultimately the world, Kendra and Seth must take huge risks they would never have dreamed of doing had the situation been less perilous. The fate of the world rested on their shoulders. |
Disappearance | Judy Blundell | null | Gracie Kenzie has never known her father - he disappeared when she was three and was never heard from again. Now, two years after her mother's death, he's back... with some dark secrets in tow. His and Gracie's histories are mysteriously tied to the disappearance of a student many years ago... and may also be linked to a much more recent death. This would be enough for any girl to deal with, but Gracie is not just any girl. She has premonitions - about the past, the present, and the future. With the help of her cousin, Diego, she solves the murders and reveals the secrets of a few dark pasts! This is the second in the series. The first one is called Premonitions. |
Merry Christmas Mr. Baxter | null | null | George Barton Baxter, the successful CEO of a New York textile house is returning to his Park Avenue apartment from work one mid-October evening. His thoughts turn to the onset of cooler weather, which will bring Christmas around once again. He considers the economic impact on his personal finances grimly, and upon arriving home, he takes a short rest before dinner, fantasizing about the type of gifts he would really like, but which he knows are impossible pipe dreams. He also reflects briefly on the gifts he will likely receive - none of which he really needs or will use. At dinner that evening, he discusses a "Christmas Budget" with his wife, who considers the idea ridiculous - but Mr. Baxter persists. They do mutually decide that their Christmas card list can be cut severely, saving some money there. After deletions and then "necessary" additions, it has expanded by more than 30 names. Purchasing their Christmas cards also turns out to be a much more expensive proposition than planned. This pattern continues throughout the approaching weeks to the Christmas season, and the general circumstances of the impending holiday seem to dog Mr. Baxter's thrifty soul at every turn. Complicating the situation is the heart's desire of his own wife: A mink stole, an idea he rejects outright, though he knows even then, subconsciously, that is exactly what he will eventually buy for her. A disastrous attempted lunchtime shopping trip for a minor gift, the exhausting round of pre-Christmas office parties, and the "invisible hands" of the many service people in his everyday world being extended for a Christmas gratuity all combine to increase his feeling of helplessness in the face of the Christmas juggernaut. But the "season-proof" common sense of his secretary Miss Gillyard, and especially his impulsive gesture in inviting a lower-ranking office member out for a drink on Christmas Eve afternoon begin to kindle a faint glow of Christmas spirit within him, culminating in a hilarious attempt at buying a final gift for his wife in Saks Fifth Avenue later that day. Arriving home at last, Mr. Baxter relaxes after dinner in the living room, admiring the tree and the pile of gifts beneath, which he fully realizes is largely his wife's work. As they prepare to leave the living room for bed, they enter a poignant dialog about the impact and meaning of Christmas, culminating with his wife telling him affectionately: "You love it - you love every bit of it!" to which Mr. Baxter does not disagree, as his wife bids him goodnight with "Merry Christmas, Mr. Baxter". |
The House at Riverton | Kate Morton | 2,007 | The House at Riverton tells the story of Grace Bradley, 98, who was a maid at Riverton Manor during the 1920s. For years Grace has hidden a terrible secret. Now a film is being made about a famous incident at Riverton when a well-known poet, Robbie Hunter, shot himself. Grace is contacted by the director, Ursula, as the only surviving person from that night. Grace's memories are stirred up and she decides to make a tape for her grandson, Marcus, sharing her secret with him. As a young girl, Grace is sent to work at Riverton. She first meets the grandchildren of Riverton, David, Hannah and Emmeline, when they come to stay at Riverton. She immediately feels a connection with them, Hannah in particular. It is later revealed that Grace is a half-sibling to the children. Grace suspects Hannah knows this, but even after Grace deduces her parentage, she does not say anything to Hannah. It is one of many secrets in the novel. One Christmas, David brings home a school friend, Robbie Hunter. Eleven year-old Emmeline is infatuated, but 15 year-old Hannah is less impressed. Nearly ten years later, after David has been killed in WWI, Robbie finds Hannah to return a book she had given her brother. Hannah is living in London and unhappily married to an older businessman; Robbie provides a glimpse of the life she wanted to have. They fall in love and begin an affair. Emmeline, who has grown into a beautiful woman and one of the Bright Young People, prefers London society and often stays with Hannah. She provides Robbie and Hannah the excuse they need to see each other, as Robbie ostensibly calls on Emmeline but is really slipping notes to Hannah with the locations and times for them to meet. Robbie is suffering shell-shock from the War and is deeply in love with Hannah. He wants them to run away and begin new lives together. She assists in planning their escape to appease him, but does not believe they can elope, and is further convinced when her husband announces his plans to relocate them back to Riverton. To celebrate the revival of Riverton, Hannah and her husband plan an extravagant midsummer gala. During the party Grace goes to her room and finds two letters from Hannah. The one addressed to her is in shorthand, which Hannah mistakenly believes Grace can read. It is another of the unspoken secrets of the novel. Grace opens the second letter addressed to Emmeline; it is a suicide note saying that Hannah will have drowned herself in the lake by the time the letter is read. Grace rushes to find Emmeline, and takes her down to the lake to see if they can stop Hannah. Emmeline has been drinking a lot and is wearing a friend's dinner jacket. At the lake they see Hannah who passes it off as a game when questioned. As Grace and Emmeline are about to head back to the house, Robbie emerges from the newly built summerhouse, carrying a suitcase. For a moment Emmeline thinks he has come to see her until Hannah explains that they are in love and are going to run away together. Emmeline becomes very jealous, pulls a handgun from the jacket pocket and threatens to shoot herself. Hannah wrestles the gun from her. Fireworks are going off all around them and each loud bang affects Robbie further, taking him back to his time in the trenches. He shouts at Hannah to shoot Emmeline before she ruins their plans. As both Emmeline and Robbie are rushing to her, at the last minute Hannah shoots Robbie to save her sister. Hearing people coming, Emmeline takes control, tells Grace to take Hannah's bags up to the house quickly and announces that Robbie has shot himself. The police find no suspicious circumstances and Emmeline returns to London where she continues to enjoy the high life until she is killed in a car accident. Hannah is depressed and distant. One day she asks Grace if she can really read shorthand, knowing the answer before Grace confirms that she can't. Hannah realises she is pregnant, despite previous failures to conceive with her husband. There are complications during the birth and she dies. The baby, Florence, has Robbie's eyes, confirming her parentage to Hannah's husband and his family. Baby Florence is sent to live with Hannah's aunt in America. Some years later Grace learns what was in the shorthand letter from Hannah. It explained that she and Robbie were planning to run away together, but in order to do this she must fake her death hence the suicide note left for Emmeline. Grace was to give the letter to Emmeline after the party to give them chance to get away. Hannah was planning to send for Emmeline once they got themselves settled somewhere. Grace has carried this guilt throughout her life. Having finally told the truth via the tapes to her grandson, she is able to die in peace. |
Sticky Wicket at Blandings | P. G. Wodehouse | 1,966 | Freddie Threepwood is back at Blandings on Dog-Joy business, and his wife Aggie, finding country life a little dull, has headed to the French Riviera. Freddie has befriended Valerie Fanshawe, in hopes of persuading her father, local hunting bigwig Colonel Fanshawe, to invest in Freddie's dog biscuits for his sizeable pack of hounds. Gally warns his nephew Freddie of the dangers of consorting with attractive young girls while his wife is away, but Freddie, hungry for the sale, opts to give Valerie an Alsatian she covets, although the dog belongs to Aggie - he believes he can replace it without her noticing. As Freddie leaves with his gift, Gally hears worrying news - his sister Connie is thinking about sacking venerable butler Beach, who has become a little wheezy in his old age. Freddie gets a telegram from his wife, informing him of her plan to return to Blandings the following day, and in his shock on reading it tumbles down the stairs, taking Gally with him. They are both laid up with sprained ankles, so Gally insists his unwilling brother Clarence must go to Marling Hall to retrieve the dog by stealth. Gally is visited in his sickbed by Valerie, who reveals that the dog has upset her father by attacking his beloved spaniel, and that she has thus returned it. Beach then informs him that Colonel Fanshawe has telephoned, requesting Lord Emsworth's judicial services as he has caught a prowler lurking outside his house. Realising Emsworth has been captured, Gally sends Beach to the rescue, armed with a Mickey Finn to knock out the Fanshawes' butler. Beach returns, somewhat shaken but successful, and when Connie brings up the idea of replacing him, Gally easily silences her by telling the tale of Emsworth's imprisonment in Fanshawe's coal-cellar, and Beach's full knowledge of this potential embarrassment to the family name. |
The Easter Parade | Richard Yates | 1,976 | The famous opening line of the novel warns of the bleak narrative to follow, "Neither of the Grimes sisters would have a happy life, and looking back it always seemed that the trouble began with their parents’ divorce." Emily and Sarah Grimes are sisters who share little in terms of character but much in terms of disappointment with their lives. Emily, the more intellectual and cosmopolitan of the two, seeks love in numerous disappointing affairs and short-term relationships while Sarah, the prettier and more conventional sister, marries young and bears children to an uncouth and abusive husband. Their troubled, rootless mother, Pookie, like many Yatesian matriarchs, is likely modeled on his own mother, who was nicknamed "Dookie". The novel, beginning in the 1930s when the sisters are children and ending in the 1970s with Sarah's death, primarily revolves around Emily as the book's central character, though the book employs Yates' characteristic shifts of consciousness throughout. |
Spider Kiss | Harlan Ellison | 1,961 | A seemingly shy and humble country boy named Luther Sellers is discovered to have a magnificent voice and mesmerizing stage presence. He is given the stage name Stag Preston and after a short time on the "Chittlin' Circuit" becomes a major rockabilly music star under the tutelage of a manager who seems to be patterned after Elvis Presley's manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker. Over time Luther's success goes to his head and his "Aw, shucks..." demeanor simply becomes a gimmick used to keep his fans, who he secretly despises, believing that he hasn't really left his country roots and humble upbringing. In reality Stag lives up to his stage name, using his fame and seductive powers to lure any woman he can into his bed, leaving broken hearts and scandals everywhere he goes. The latter are all tidied up by his money-grubbing manager, who doesn't want anything to taint his cash cow. Meanwhile, Stag's growing megalomania eventually has him treating everyone around him like dirt and becoming harder and harder to work with. Eventually he is entangled in a scandal that takes all their power to cover up, and sets into motion the events leading to Stag's downfall. |
Ophelia's Revenge | null | 2,003 | The novel retells the story of Hamlet from Ophelia's point of view. When Ophelia is taken to Elsinore Castle to rejoin her unknown father, she becomes torn between her love for Prince Hamlet and for the pirate Ragnor. She cannot understand why she is the only one who can see the many ghosts who haunt the castle, and soon finds herself involved in a plot to kill the queen and take her place. Eventually, it seems that only madness is the way to save those she loves in the dangerous world of the Danish royal court. |
The Days of his Grace | Eyvind Johnson | null | Duke Rodgaud—cousin of Bertold, castle in Forojuli (contemporary name, Cividale, Italy), starts a rebellion against King Carolus, that is quickly put down. He is executed by the Franks in Papia, summer, 776. Angilperta (“Angila”), the daughter of Rodgaud and Giseverga, is loved by the three Lupigi boys. She cannot be found during the rebellion, but becomes post-rebellion the wife of the Lord of East Burgundy, Gunderic, her name becoming Landoalda. She has Radbert as a lover, has two children, Landoald and Gisertruda, who die young, and a third child, Radaberta is given away. Gunderic imprisons her in the castle tower for seven years, after which Perto comes with an order from King Carolus to let her return to Forojuli. She dies on that trip back to her childhood home. Bertold Lupigi, cousin of Duke Rodgaud. The family name, Lupigi comes from wolf, loup. He disappears in the rebellion and is found in a dungeon. He is freed from prison, post-rebellion, in 793, but is killed by an avalanche. Perto, son of Liuta and Bertold, is 16 years old at the novel’s beginning, the youngest of three brothers. He loves Angila. He is also named Johannes Lupigis, more so as the novel progresses. During the rebellion, he manages to escape the Franks who kill his friend Sinauld. He visits Angilperta with Agibert in the autumn of 783, and sleeps with Angilperta. Late autumn 783 he arrives in Aquisgranum, where there is a royal college. He meets King Carolus and decides he is “indeed great.” Perto goes to Totonisvilla where his brother Warnefrit is in prison, but is seized by guards as he leaves the prison. In prison for three and a half years, in total darkess of the prison cell, he creates a vision of a flowering bush. Then he dines with the Devil, who tempts him. He is released from jail at the age of 31 and goes to Aquisgranum where his Uncle Anselm explains the reasons for his imprisonment. He becomes part of King Carolus’s Court again, and eventually gets an order allowing Angilperta to return to her childhood home. Warnefrit, the son of Liuta and Bertold, the oldest of three brothers, likes relations with slave women. He becomes engaged to Angila. All of chapter 16 is his angry and frustrated monologue as heir to his father. He disappears in the rebellion and is found in a dungeon, where he remains for over ten years post-rebellion. His brother Perto comes to get him from prison, though he does not recognize Perto. Eranbald brings Warnefrit to Gudneric, where Angilperta is, and they all dine together though Warnefrit does not seem to recognize Angilperta. Healthy again, he defends the kingdom against Huns. |
Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel | Eoin Colfer | 2,007 | The plot is the same as that of the book, though there were some modifications to minor facts. Some character's appearances were not exactly the same as noted in the book, most notably the fact that Captain Holly Short's hair is longer than described in the book, and a darker brown, as opposed to the reddish brown described in the book. The graphic novel also does not contain many word balloons, showing each character's story in first-person. A graphic novel for the second book in the series, The Arctic Incident, was created and released in 2009. Again the plot was the same as that of the book with the same amount of modifications. A graphic novel for the third book, The Eternity Code, is set for release in 2012. |
Vecna Lives! | David "Zeb" Cook | 1,990 | The adventure concerns the lich Vecna and his disembodied hand and eye—both powerful magical artifacts. The arch-lich Vecna and his cult are plotting to change Oerth forever. The adventure starts with a scene in which the players play the City of Greyhawk's great Circle of Eight wizards. Vecna has ascended to demigod status, and serves as the ultimate foe for the adventurers in the module. Assuming the players are successful in defeating Vecna, he is transported to and imprisoned within the Ravenloft campaign setting. |
Holmes on the Range | Steve Hockensmith | 2,006 | In 1892, cowboy Old Red is read a Sherlock Holmes story "The Red-Headed League" by his brother Big Red while on a cattle drive and decides to follow in his new hero's footsteps, by using logic and observation to solve mysteries. Unfortunately for him, cowboys do not often stumble on to mysteries and he practices his craft until the pair are hired by a ranch to perform maintenance. When the general manager of the ranch shows up dead after a stampede and everyone believes it an accident despite some suspicious circumstances, Old Red uses his new skills to see that there is more to it then what appears. As the mystery gets deeper and the bodies start to mount, the brothers learn that there is more to solving crimes then simply following the clues - there are also bullets to dodge. |
Dogland | Will Shetterly | 1,997 | The novel is told from the perspective of an adult called Christopher Nix who recounts the story of his family's move to Florida from New Orleans when he was four. The purpose of their move is so that his father can open a tourist attraction that exhibits every breed of dog recognised by the American Kennel Club. The story focuses on his father's 'colourblind' approach to racial segregation and various controversies that occur in his life because of it. |
The Sinister Pig | null | null | An unidentified corpse discovered at the edge of the Jicarilla Apache natural gas field in the San Juan Basin involves Navajo Tribal Police Sergeant Jim Chee in a mystery involving diverted oil and gas revenues, abandoned pipelines, Washington D.C. insiders, and illegal drugs. Assigned to patrol the basin and range topography of the rugged Animas Mountains of Hidalgo County in the extreme southwestern corner of New Mexico, U.S. Border Patrol Officer Bernadette Manuelito photographs a suspicious construction crew on the Tuttle exotic game ranch. After a complaint about her activities by ranch personnel, Manuelito's supervisor advises her that the Border Patrol has a special arrangement with the ranch whereby ranch personnel monitor the border and provide tips to the Border Patrol. In return, the Border Patrol does not patrol the ranch. New to the Border Patrol service, Officer Manuelito accepts this explanation until she learns that a photograph of her, taken by her supervisor, has been distributed to the criminal element across the border in Mexico. Officer Manuelito shares her concerns with her former Navajo Tribal Police supervisor Jim Chee and retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn who are then able to make a connection between the unidentified corpse and the activities Manuelito has observed in Hidalgo County. |
The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man | Lloyd Alexander | null | Lionel, a housecat given the power of speech by the magician Stephanus, begs his master to turn him into a man. After many objections concerning the depravity of humans, Stephanus relents; and the transformed Lionel begins his adventures to town of Brightford. The mayor and his officers are plaguing Brightford with capricious rule and economic hardship. The mayor is especially covetous of the inn belonging to Gillian, with whom Lionel begins a rocky friendship. Lionel becomes entangled in the struggles of Brightford, and escalates the conflicts between the mayor and the people, while falling in love with Gillian as he becomes more and more human. ja:人間になりたがった猫 |
The Late Lancashire Witches | Thomas Heywood | null | In the main plot of the Heywood/Brome play, an upright and hospitable gentleman named Generous discovers that his wife has a secret nocturnal life, as the leader of a coven of witches; his miller wounds her with his sword while she is in the shape of a cat. When one of her servants refuses to get her horse, Mistress Generous bridles him instead and rides him to her coven. The conventional male-dominated relationship between husband and wife is subverted as Mistress Generous seeks greater freedom — until she is arrested and brought to trial. In the Seely family depicted in the subplot, the upset of social norms is even more extreme: the father is cowed by his son, the mother by her daughter, and the children by the servants. The family's butler and maid, Lawrence and Parnell (the only characters in the play who speak in Lancashire dialect), marry, determined to lord it over their employers; but Lawrence is rendered impotent on his wedding night by a bewitched codpiece, and once again the woman inverts the usual social order. It is with the discovery and prosecution of the witches that society's norms are restored. |
Anthills of the Savannah | Chinua Achebe | null | The novel takes place in the imaginary West African country of Kangan, where a Sandhurst-trained officer, identified only as Sam and known as His Excellency, has taken power following a military coup. Achebe describes the political situation through the experiences of three friends: Chris Oriko, the government's Commissioner for Information; Beatrice Okoh, an official in the Ministry of Finance and girlfriend of Chris; and Ikem Osodi, a newspaper editor critical of the regime. Other characters include Elewa, Ikem's girlfriend and Major "Samsonite" Ossai, a military official known for stapling hands with a Samsonite stapler. Tensions escalate through the novel, culminating in the assassination of Ikem by the regime, the toppling and death of Sam and finally the murder of Chris. The novel ends with a non-traditional naming ceremony for Elewa and Ikem's month old daughter, organized by Beatrice. |
The Gift | Alison Croggon | null | The Gift (also published as The Naming) begins with Maerad, in "Gilman's Cot" as a slave, where she has been for many years, with few memories of her former life, her mother having died several years before. She is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great mystics known as 'Bards', who reveals to her that she, like him, possesses "the Gift" shared by all of these, by which she is able to command nature to do her will. Cadvan soon discovers that her mother was the leader of the First Circle of the destroyed School of Pellinor, of whom it was previously assumed that there were no survivors. Knowing this, Cadvan decides to help her escape, believing that it might not be by means of random chance that he came upon the only known survivor of Pellinor. When Cadvan finds that Maerad's Gift is unusually powerful for one never formally taught, he begins to suspect of her more significance than he had before. He takes her to the School of Innail, to make the presence of a survivor from Pellinor known and to make Maerad a Minor Bard of Pellinor. During their time there, Maerad obtains knowledge of a long-forgotten prophecy concerning the 'Foretold One' who will defeat the Nameless One. This Nameless One is a corrupt political leader, formerly called Sharma, who discarded his own true name in order to become immortal. Twice has he attempted to conquer the land of Edil-Amarandh, and he has twice been vanquished. His last bid for power is the one in which the Foretold One, Elednor, will defeat him, leaving him dead or helpless forever. Maerad's own history, being coincident with that of the Foretold One, implies that she is Elednor, although Maerad does not immediately embrace the idea. After their brief but enjoyed stay at Innail, Cadvan takes Maerad across the country of Annar to the school] of Norloch, intending to have her instated as a full Bard and given her Name, and also to see his old teacher Nelac. En route, they discover that the Nameless One's corrupt Bards, the Hulls, are roaming freely, so that non-users of magic are terrified and terrorized; that Maerad is descended on her mother Milana's side from Lady Ardina, a faerie creature, in the book called an Elidhu, who still lives in the forest as monarch of a Lothlórien-like settlement; and that Maerad has a younger brother, called Hem or Cai, who like her is an inheritor of the Gift. When Maerad and Cadvan, who has become her tutor, reach Norloch, they discover that corruption has penetrated even here, in that the First Bard Enkir has fallen under Sharma's influence. He is revealed as the one who had Pellinor destroyed and who sold Maerad into slavery. Largely as a result of this, and partly on account of his own misogyny, Enkir refuses to admit that Maerad is the Foretold One, or even to let her be instated as a Bard. Therefore, Cadvan and Nelac invoke an archaic ritual called the Way of the White Flame, by which Maerad is anointed a full Bard. Her Name, at this point, is revealed to be that of the Foretold One; Elednor, which means "Fire Lily". Driven out by their enemy's hostility, Cadvan and Maerad flee to the island of Thorold, while Hem is sent southward for safety with Saliman, one of Cadvan's childhood friend who was also taught by Nelac. |
Travels in the Scriptorium | Paul Auster | 2,007 | An old man is disoriented in an unknown chamber and has no memory about who he is or how he has arrived there. He tries to understand something from the relics on the desk, examining the circumstances of his confinement and searching for reasons and a method to exit. Determining that he is locked in, the man — identified only as Mr. Blank — begins reading a manuscript he finds on the desk, the story of another prisoner, set in an alternate world the man doesn't recognize. Nevertheless, the pages seem to have been left for him, along with a haunting set of photographs. As the day passes, various characters call on the man in his cell — vaguely familiar people, some who seem to resent him for crimes he can't remember — and each brings frustrating hints of his identity and his past. All the while an overhead camera clicks and clicks, recording his movements, and a microphone records every sound in the room. Someone is watching. |
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism | Vladimir Lenin | 1,917 | In the Preface to the post-war French and German editions of Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1920), Lenin informs the reader that First World War (1914–1918) occurred as “an annexationist, predatory, plunderous” war among monarchic empires, the historical and economic background must be perceived. In order for capitalism to generate greater profits than the home market can yield, the merging of banks and industrial cartels produces finance capitalism — the exportation and investment of capital to countries with underdeveloped economies. In turn, such financial behaviour leads to the division of the world among monopolist business companies and the great powers. Moreover, in the course of colonizing undeveloped countries, Business and Government eventually will engage in geopolitical conflict over the economic exploitation of large portions of the geographic world and its populaces. Therefore, imperialism is the highest (advanced) stage of capitalism, requiring monopolies (of labour and natural-resource exploitation) and the exportation of finance capital (rather than goods) to sustain colonialism, which is an integral function of said economic model. Furthermore, in the capitalist homeland, the super-profits yielded by the colonial exploitation of a people and their economy, permit businessmen to bribe native politicians — labour leaders and the labour aristocracy (upper stratum of the working class) — to politically thwart worker revolt (labour strike); hence, the new proletariat, the exploited workers in the Third World colonies of the European powers, would become the revolutionary vanguard for deposing the global capitalist system. ; I. Concentration of Production and Monopolies ; II. The banks and their New Role ; III. Finance Capital and the Financial Oligarchy ; IV. The Export of Capital ; V. The Division of the World among Capitalist Combines ; VI. The Division of the World among the Great Powers ; VII. Imperialism, as a Special Stage of Capitalism ; VIII. The Parasitism and Decay of Capitalism ; IX. The Critique of Imperialism ; X. The Place of Imperialism |
The Secret Battle | A. P. Herbert | 1,919 | :"I am going to write down some of the history of Harry Penrose, because I do not think full justice has been done to him..." The novel follows the career of a young officer, Harry Penrose, written from the viewpoint of a close friend who acts as narrator. A sensitive, educated young man, Penrose had enlisted in the ranks in 1914, immediately after completing his second year at Oxford. After six months in training he had been prevailed upon by his relatives - like most educated volunteers - to take a commission as an officer. Penrose slowly asserts himself; the war takes a toll on his personality, but he begins to live up to his early dreams of heroism. However, his creeping self-doubt grows by degrees; he is reassigned from his post as scouting officer once on the Somme, knowing he cannot face another night patrol, and earns the wrath of his commanding officer - an irascible Regular colonel - over a trivial incident. The colonel piles difficult, risky work on him - remarking to the narrator that "Master Penrose can go on with [leading ration parties] until he learns to do them properly" - and Penrose submits, working doggedly to try and keep from cracking. After a long period of this treatment, by the winter of 1916, Penrose's spirit is worn down; when the narrator is invalided home with an injury in February 1917, his last support is gone. He is wounded in May at Arras - a friend remarking in a letter that "you'd have said he wanted to be killed" - and they meet again in London in November. Penrose has been offered a safe job in military intelligence; he comes within a moment of taking it, but at the last minute resolves to return to France. Returning to his battalion, he is detailed for a party to the front line by the colonel within an hour; when the narrator arrives six weeks later, he discovers Penrose is under arrest for cowardice in the face of the enemy. It transpired that each time the party advanced, it had to break for the ditches to avoid shellfire, then regroup and move further; after some time, Penrose decided to fall back and wait under cover for the shelling to halt. Seeing a dugout down the road, they make a run for it under shellfire - to find it occupied by a senior officer, himself sheltering from the shelling, who promptly reports that "he had seen the officer in charge and some of the party running down the road — demoralized" and is ordered to arrest him and return. Penrose is court-martialled on these charges, and convicted; the court's recommendation for mercy is ignored, and he is shot one morning, a week later, by a party of men from his own company. Penrose is presented in a glowing light throughout - "never anything but modest and dutiful; he always tries his best to do his bit" - but, ultimately, is failed by the system. He faces his trial honestly, without pleading circumstances ("The real charge was that I'd lost my nerve — and I had. And I didn't want to wangle out of it like that") but it is clear that whilst he is strictly guilty of the charge ("on the only facts they had succeeded in discovering it could hardly have been anything else") justice, by any sense of the word, had not been done to him. :"...[and] that is all I have tried to do. This book is not an attack on any person, on the death penalty, or on anything else, though if it makes people think about these things, so much the better. I think I believe in the death penalty — I do not know. But I did not believe in Harry being shot. :That is the gist of it; that my friend Harry was shot for cowardice — and he was one of the bravest men I ever knew." |
A Majority of One | Leonard Spigelgass | null | The play is a drama concerning racial prejudice involving Mrs. Jacoby, a Jewish widow from Brooklyn, New York, and Koichi Asano, a millionaire widower from Tokyo. Mrs. Jacoby is sailing to Japan with her daughter and foreign service officer son-in-law who is being posted to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. She still considers the country the enemy responsible for the death of her son during World War II, but her feelings change when she meets Mr. Asano on board the ship. When she advises her family of Mr. Asano's desire to court her, Mrs. Jacoby's daughter, whose loyalty is to her mother rather than her husband, objects to the possibility of an interracial marriage. The 1959-60 Broadway production was directed by Dore Schary and ran for 3 previews and 556 performances, with Gertrude Berg, Cedric Hardwicke, and Ina Balin. |
Frisk | Dennis Cooper | 1,991 | Frisk is narrated by Dennis, who had a troubled childhood. In 1969, aged 13, he was regularly allowed to read pornographic magazines and was particularly affected by snuff pornography, even though he later learns that the pictures were faked. He recognises that Henry, now aged 17, was the 13/14-year-old boy portrayed in the pictures. Dennis is gay and a drug-taker and is devastated when his boyfriend Julian leaves him to go off to France. Dennis takes up with Julian’s younger brother Kevin. The boy is psychologically troubled, yet 18-year-old Dennis involves him in drugs and starts a sexual relationship. In 1989, Julian receives a letter from Dennis describing how he embarked on a sadistic killing spree in Amsterdam. The descriptions in the letter are explicit and the torture and sadism are described in graphic terms. Dennis then meets up with two Germans, tells them what he has done, and they join forces to commit a series of random, motiveless murders. One of the serial killer’s most recent victims was an 11-year-old boy, whom they tortured before mutilating and murdering in Dennis’ home, a converted windmill, two weeks before the letter was written. Julian travels to Amsterdam with Kevin to find out if the murders in the letters are true or just a cruel fantasy. |
Professor Sató's Three Formulae, Volume 1: Mortimer in Tokyo | null | null | A dragon has been seen in Japan and Mortimer visits his old friend Professor Sato to find out what's going on. fr:Les 3 Formules du professeur Satō |
The Francis Blake Affair | null | 1,996 | Scandal breaks in the London press: There is a mole in the Intelligence Service! And it appears without a doubt, on a photograph taken by agents of MI 5, that the mole wears the face of Francis Blake! Mortimer is determined to believe that his friend has been forced to act against his will. But the initial investigations sweep away this hypothesis: Blake has opened, under an assumed name, an account fed by payments coming from the Bahamas. In a few months, he has withdrawn ₤30,000—more than 10 times his annual pay! With MI 5 agents planning to try Blake for high treason, or to kill him if needed, Mortimer decides to find his friend before they do. A long hunt begins … |
The Voronov Plot | null | 2,000 | An experimental Soviet satellite crash lands in Siberia carrying with it an incredibly lethal virus. KGB scientist Dr. Voronov, a Stalin admirer, along with Olrik (posing as Soviet Colonel Ilkor) plans to use the virus as a biological weapon to overthrow the Soviet government and conquer the West. After the plot is discovered by a British spy, Blake and Mortimer travel to the Soviet Union to stop Voronov. |
The Strange Encounter | null | 2,001 | Late one night in 1954, a Colorado farmer sees three strange coloured beams of light appearing from the sky. When he goes to investigate the lights have disappeared and left behind the body of a man dressed in the uniform of a British Redcoat. The body is taken to SUFOS (Section of UFO Studies) run by Dr Walt Kaufman which investigates such strange phenomena. Kaufman's research indicates that it is the body of Scottish Major Lachlan Macquarrie who disappeared under strange circumstances after the British defeat at the Battles of Saratoga in 1777! Following the battle, Macquarrie and his men were cut off from the rest of the British forces. According to drummer boy Dermot Pitt, Macquarrie vanished late at night while investigating the sudden appearance of beams of light coming from out of the sky. Pitt's story was rejected and Macquarrie was found guilty in absentia of desertion and dishonourably discharged from the army. Kaufmann contacts Professor Philip Mortimer who happens to be a descendant of Lachlan Macquarrie, the family's black sheep. Mortimer goes to America accompanied by his old friend Captain Francis Blake, the head of Britain's MI5, who is on his way for a "routine meeting" with some American colleagues. On his way to Washington by coach, Blake is attacked by some strange men but gets away. In Kansas, Mortimer meets Kaufman at the offices of SUFOS. He brought with him some family papers which note certain physical injuries that his ancestor endured in his lifetime. These injuries are present on the body and there is no doubt that it is Lachlan Macquarrie, born in 1743 and found dead in 1954 still aged 34! According to a pathologist, Macquarrie died of asphyxiation, meaning that he was deprived of oxygen for a long period. His shoulder strap was inscribed with the words "Yellow King, 8061, Danger, Light, Plutonian, H, Poplar Trees, Temple 1954". He also had in his possession some strange items including some glasses which enable the wearer to see clearly in the dark and a weapon which, when aimed at the head, causes the victim to fall asleep. Wanting to examine the weapon more closely, Mortimer takes it with him before leaving the SUFOS offices, but, overcome with natural fatigue, returns it to Kaufman before booking into a hotel. During the night he is attacked by an intruder who is wearing the same glasses and using the same weapon as Macquarrie had. Mortimer fights back and the man falls out of the hotel room and is killed on hitting the ground. Mortimer then finds that his face is a mask covering a green, highly deformed, alien-like head. Warned by Mortimer, Kaufman has the body taken to SUFOS. One of the words on Macquarrie's shoulder strap was "Plutonian" and the two scientists wonder if this stands for Pluto. The body of the alien suggests that it is not suitable for Pluto's harsh environment, but the planet may be a staging post for an alien invasion. Back at SUFOS Mortimer examines the alien weapon only for it to be stolen by Kaufman's assistant Jimmy Tcheng. Mortimer pursues Tcheng by car into the plains but they are caught in a storm and Tcheng is killed in an accident. It turns out that he is also an alien. Mortimer tries to hitch-hike back to town only to come across two men wearing the same dark glasses as the first alien and knocking him out with the ray from a similar weapon. He wakes up to find himself in a disused and isolated pumping station somewhere in the hills and facing him is none other than his old enemy Olrik! Escorted through the station Mortimer faces more surprises: Asian soldiers dressed in uniforms similar to Olrik's, more aliens including a dwarf-like scientist called Doctor Z'ong, and all of them led by none other than Basam Damdu, the tyrant whom Mortimer helped to overthrow and destroy at the conclusion of the saga of the Swordfish! After confronting Mortimer and announcing that he will pay for the "great wrong" he did to him, Basam Damdu gets into a bulky spacesuit and disappears via three beams of light. Doctor Z'ong explains to Mortimer that he and his fellow "aliens" are in fact from the year 8061 (which was noted on Macquarrie's shoulder strap), a time when the earth is just one dry desert with mankind on the verge of extinction. This, and their alien-like deformities, are due to years of nuclear war which ravaged the planet in the 21st century. Z'ong has mastered the concept of time travel. As part of the process his beams of light rebound on the nucleus of passing comets which determine where and when the time traveller will end up. In his early tests he "picked up" a number of people from the past including Major Macquarrie who, being of good build, survived the journey into the future but died when he returned to warn the present world of a major threat. Indeed, the actual aim of Z'ong and his people is to escape the terrible world they inhabit in the 81st century and take over the current one. Basam Damdu seemed the ideal choice to lead them and was picked up by the beams of light just before his capital was destroyed by the Swordfish aircraft designed by Mortimer. Olrik then interrupts Z'ong and takes Mortimer outside the pumping station to a lake where his hands and legs are tied to a heavy weight and he is thrown into the water by the Asian soldiers. His lungs set to burst, Mortimer has given up when he is suddenly rescued by a pair of scuba divers. They take him to a nearby underwater cave and turn out to be FBI agents led by John Calloway, head of its "Action" service, and Jessie Wingo, a Native American woman who knows the area well. Also present is Blake. Blake tells Mortimer that Olrik's presence was reported on American soil and that he came to assist the FBI since he knows the renegade best. Discretion meant that he had to keep this from Mortimer, a common occurrence in their relationship. Mortimer tells the Feds of his adventure and Calloway decides to use the element of surprise and attack the pumping station before the invasion plan can get underway. An attack is launched but the station is found empty. Evidence left behind shows signs of a sudden departure which means that Olrik and Z'ong are about to carry out their plan, which was dubbed Operation Poplar Trees, a word included on Macquarrie's shoulder strap. Blake, Mortimer, Calloway and Wingo go to see Kaufman at his office at SUFOS. Together they try to figure out what the invasion plan is by using the words found on Macquarrie's shoulder strap. They are joined by Dr Jeronimo Martinez who works at Los Alamos and who is keen to compare theories on nuclear physics with Mortimer. He reveals in passing that Los Alamos is Spanish for poplar tree. This leads the others to believe that Olrik's plan is to steal H-bombs and send them into the future from where they will be used to threaten the present time period. The shoulder strap had the words: "Yellow King, 8061, Danger, Light, Plutonian, H, Poplar Trees, Temple 1954" which translate into: Basam Damdu, the year of origin of the invaders, the threat, the lights used for time travel, the plutonium that is part of the H-bombs, Operation Poplar Trees and a comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel which is due to appear on the 17 October 1954 in just a few days time and will be used to get the bombs into the future. The appearance of the comet coincides with the transfer of four bombs from Los Alamos to a secret military base in Nevada. Calloway is unable to convince the military of the threat or to delay the convoy so he decides to intervene without official cover. He and Wingo set off with their men, accompanied by Blake, Mortimer, Martinez and Kaufman. They discreetly take over the hills surrounding a plain in the desert from where they can see Olrik, his Asian troops and the men from the future preparing to ambush the convoy. The Feds attack and Z'ong attempts to escape using his time machine. Blake however throws in a few stick of dynamite as the lights appear from the sky. The sticks accompany Z'ong back to the future where they destroy him and his machine. Basam Damdu is now trapped in the 81st century, the machine in the current time period is also destroyed and the threat is no more. In the confusion, Olrik manages to escape with one of the trucks containing an H-bomb. Blake and his group are warned of this and Wingo, who knows the area well, drives them to the Hoover Dam where they block Olrik's passage. Facing yet another failure and the fact that Mortimer is still alive, Olrik loses his mind and arms the bomb! Wingo manages to shoot and wound him and Mortimer disarms the weapon before it can go off. A few weeks later, back in Scotland, a low-key funeral is held. Major Lachlan Macquarrie, re-instated into the British army, is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for exceptional bravery and buried with honour. Present at the funeral are Blake and Mortimer who are then approached by the Cabinet Secretary who informs them that a secret report on their adventure has been passed on to all the world's heads of government, regardless of political ideology. The consequences of the future as the result of nuclear war must serve as a warning. The plan is to set up an agreement for all sides to stop the creation of weapon of mass destruction in order to preserve a clean earth for their children and their children's children: a planet worthy of all that is best in mankind, the hope of a sincere bonding between all the peoples of the world. A difficult task — but nothing is insurmountable. |
Miss Temptation | Kurt Vonnegut | null | Miss Temptation's real name is Susanna, and she lives in a small room above a fire house, in a little town with a theater, in which she hopes to make her acting debut. Susanna is beautiful, exciting, and every man's dream. To those who gather in the country store to see her make her daily "entrance", she brings a rainbow to a dreary world. However, to Norman Fuller, a shy and lonely young man, her beauty is too much to bear. In an angry outburst at her, precipitated by years of rejection and hurt feelings from the female sex, he takes out his frustration against all pretty young women. However, neither Fuller nor anyone else had realized just how fragile and vulnerable Susanna really is. She is alone in a new town, and no man her age will even go out of their way to be nice to her. Emotionally shattered by Fuller's outburst, Susanna decides to move out of her apartment, but on the day she is to leave, Fuller arrives at her door. After an emotionally draining conversation, Susanna forgives Fuller for his hurtful words, and the two end the night on friendlier terms. |
The Singing | Alison Croggon | null | Maerad and Cadvan have returned to Innail. Maerad has realised that she has been carrying the runes of the Treesong (the magical, ancient song through which it is believed the Speech came into being) with her the whole time - on her lyre. Maerad believes it is imperative that she find her brother soon, as she senses he has a part to play in the Treesong as well. After spending time resting and catching up with old friends they attempt to leave, only to be forced back to discover themselves in a besieged Innail It is supposed to be the doing of the Landrost, a minor elidhu who is collaborating with Sharma/the Nameless One. None of the occupants are able to leave because of an unnatural snowstorm that brings extreme and fatal cold. Maerad is able to locate the Landrost's attacks, and the bards of Innail are able to hold it back. After witnessing much destruction and facing near-death, Maerad merges into her Elidhu being to destroy the Landrost She is able to strip the Landrost to almost nothing. She is saved by a combination of Arkan, the Winterking, taunting her, and Cadvan calling her her Truename, Elednor. Maerad is now also known as 'the Maid of Innail' and is bedridden for many days. Meanwhile, Hem, Maerad's 13-year-old brother is traveling with his caretaker, Saliman of Turbansk and Soron of Til Amon. Hem too feels the need to get to Maerad. He now knows the significance of the tuning fork Irc (Hem's pet white crow, with whom he can converse in the Speech) stolen from Sharma's tower - the runes it is decorated with are the second half of the Treesong, to match Maerad's lyre. Hem is still mourning the death of Zelika, a friend of his. All party members are anxious to get to Til Amon, Soron's home school. Along the way they meet up with a trio of traveling players named Karim, Marich, and Hekibel, who are unaware of the advancing Black (Sharma's) Army and to warn them about the same. Upon arriving at Til Amon, Hem falls seriously ill, but recovers very quickly. Til Amon prepares to defend themselves against the Black Army, which they believe will arrive shortly. Later, the traveling players show up, hoping to make a quick profit before moving on. Saliman decides that it would not serve Hem and his purposes to be trapped in Til Amon during a siege, so they decide to accompany the players when they leave. When traveling with the players, after a performance, Hem sees Karim speaking to a black-clad figure he believes to be a Hull. Hem has dreams of Maerad, which assure him she is still alive, and that he is meant to find her. Shortly, the group encounters flash floods and must take shelter in a seemingly abandoned inn. Saliman is attacked by a quite mad victim of the White Sickness (a disease brewed by the Dark). Saliman manages to subdue the man, but gets infected as well. Marich, Karim and a slightly reluctant Hekibel decide to abandon Saliman and continue on in fear of falling ill. Hem refuses to leave, despite Saliman's pleas and stays with him. Hem is devastated as only the greatest healer-bards know how to cure the White Sickness. Hem refuses to let Saliman die and tries to heal him himself, with the help of Saliman's Truename. He succeeds, proving he has considerable healing skill. On her own path, Maerad and Cadvan finally manage to leave Innail and are caught by the floods themselves. Maerad ponders the meaning of a song the elidhu Ardina sang her the first time they met. Cadvan shares fear that if the Treesong is made whole, the Bard's Speech may lose its power. Maerad expresses a wish to open all of her abilities, including the ones she fears are Dark. She succeeds and learns Hem's Truename and summons him to her. Hekibel returns to where she left Hem and Saliman, bringing news that Marich and Karim are both dead, and Karim was indeed dealing with Hulls. They allow her to travel with them, after she expresses remorse for leaving them behind. They follow Maerad's summoning which is felt by Hem and eventually they meet up with Maerad and Cadvan. The united group is attacked by Hulls, which Maerad uses her power to destroy. Due to her new powers, Maerad becomes prey to the sights of the dead, as they near the site of an ancient but now destroyed citadel of the Light, Afinil. There is the sight of the Black Army marching up to Lirigon. A desperate Cadvan bids Irc to go and warn the people of the Army. As they finally reach the site of Afinil, Maerad has a brief mental encounter with Sharma. Then she and Hem join their musical objects and Maerad begins to sing the Treesong finally, destroying Sharma once and for all. After the Singing, it is shown that Maerad and Cadvan along with the rest of their friends return to the haven of Innail. Maerad is set to have lost her elemental self in the Singing, and it is shown that Maerad and Cadvan are a couple now, besides Saliman and Hekibel. Also, Lirigon was alerted and saved well in time, thanks to Irc and Hem is invited upon by Nelac (Cadvan and Saliman's teacher) to learn the art of Healing from him. The book ends with Maerad contemplating what to do next with her life, with Cadvan offering to take her to Lirigon and with the usual of Alison's historical appendices. |
A Wrinkle In The Skin | Samuel Youd | null | A massive series of powerful earthquakes on a worldwide scale reduce towns and cities to rubble and plunge the survivors into barbarism. Most of western Europe is dramatically uplifted, transforming the English Channel into a muddy desert, while elsewhere lands are plunged below sealevel and flooded. The protagonist is Matthew Cotter, a Guernsey horticulturalist who finds himself one of only a handful of survivors on the former island. Cotter decides to trek across the empty seabed to England, in the faint hope that his daughter has somehow survived. He finds the situation on the former mainland has descended to barbarism, with competing bands of scavengers preying on survivors. He and his companion, a young boy, meet a captain who has lost his mind, in his ship on the bottom of the Channel. They are welcomed heartily, provided with food, clothes, and lodging, and even shown movies, but forbidden to take any provisions with them, when they leave. They finally make their way to the borders of Sussex, where his daughter was staying, only to discover that the land has slipped beneath the sea. Cotter, along with some survivors from the mainland, eventually returns to Guernsey. |
The Adventures of Mao on the Long March | Frederic Tuten | null | The novel has no linear plot, and is mostly composed of an elaborate arrangement of disparate elements. The novel presents a seemingly straightforward history of the Long March, as well as a fictionalized interview with Mao and several more conventional "novelistic" scenes with Mao as the main character. The novel also includes a large selection of unattributed quotes from various sources and parodies of certain writers, including Faulkner, Hemingway, and Kerouac. |
Carter Beats the Devil | Glen David Gold | 2,001 | This novel is a fictionalised biography of Charles Joseph Carter. The main character, Carter, is followed through his career, from his first encounter with magic to his last performance. Along the way he encounters many historical figures, including fellow magicians Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston, United States President Warren G. Harding, BMW founder Max Friz, the Marx Brothers, business magnate Francis Marion "Borax" Smith, the inventor of electronic television Philo Farnsworth, and San Franciscan madams Tessie Wall and Jessie Hayman. Most of the novel centres on the mysterious death of President Harding, who dies shortly after taking part in Carter's stage show. President Harding apparently knew of many serious scandals that seemed likely to bring down the establishment and it seems certain that he was assassinated by persons and methods unknown. Much of Carter's past is shown in the form of flashbacks as U.S. Secret Service Agent Griffin investigates the magician as a suspect. The flashbacks chart Carter's early career including his first encounter with a magic trick, shown to him by "the tallest man alive", Joe Sullivan (also an actual, if obscure, historical figure) in a fairground sideshow, his first paid performance for Borax Smith, his rivalry with the magician "Mysterioso", his first meeting with Harry Houdini who bestows the title "Carter the Great" on him, and Carter's marriage to Sarah Anabelle. Unbeknownst to Agent Griffin, President Harding passed a great secret to Carter: a young inventor named Philo Farnsworth has a new invention called television. Television is wanted by both the radio industry and the military and they are hunting Carter to get it. Carter must draw on all his magic to escape kidnapping and death as he seeks out the inventor. Along the way Carter meets a young blind woman with a mysterious past and encounters a deadly rival. Finally, in a magic show to end all magic shows, Carter must truly beat the devil if he is to save Farnsworth and his magical invention. |
House of Meetings | Martin Amis | 2,006 | The novel centers around the modern-day (2004) recollections of the unnamed narrator/protagonist of his time spent in an Arctic gulag and the years that followed. The recollections are presented in the form of a memoir sent to the narrator's American stepdaughter, Venus. One of the primary plot elements is the complex relationship between the protagonist and his younger half-brother, Lev, who later joins him in the camp. Through many difficult revelations and trials, they eventually survive the harsh conditions of the camp and then must face a further challenge: re–acclimatizing to everyday life. |
Emperor | Stephen Baxter | 2,007 | A mysterious prophecy from the future shapes the destiny of a family through four centuries of the Roman occupation of Britain. Begins in 4 BC and incorporates such later events as the building of Hadrian's Wall and an attempted assassination of Constantine I. Ends in AD 418. |
Savage Messiah | null | null | The story begins with the revelation that Wulfgar, half brother to both Tristan and Shailiha, lives but it horribly scarred. He returns to the Citadel, where his wife and unborn child await, and he can plan his revenge. Meanwhile the Orb of the Vigors is damaged and is literally burning a path across Eutracia. ristan and his Conclave set out to stop the Orb and Wulfgar. |
When The Road Ends | Jean Thesman | null | Mary Jack is in the foster home of a conscientious but clueless Episcopal priest, Father Matt, and his selfish troubled wife Jill. Also in their care is the silent Jane, a young girl who had been abused. The house becomes further troubled by the introduction of an older boy, Adam; but when Matt's injured sister comes to live with them, Jill threatens to leave. In order to save his marriage, Matt sends the children and his sister to live in a cabin in the mountains, supposedly with the help of a mean housekeeper who abandons them. They must learn to be self-sufficient or risk being taken away to unknown fates. Along the way, they discover just how much it takes to make a family. |
Mirror Image | Michael G. Coney | null | When Victoria's reputation is seriously at risk the only way to retrieve it is by marrying the handsome lawyer Charles Dawson, who also works with the girls' father, Edward Henderson. Olivia is inclined to stay and help their father, who is ill, but Victoria needs her the most when her marriage seems to be failing. It is not helped by Charles's 10-year-old son, Geoffrey, who is still distraught after losing his mother Susan, Charles' first wife, on the Titanic. When Victoria proposes an unthinkable plan, Olivia is forced to accept, leaving her with a marriage she never thought she could have and her sister going off to help in France, when World War I is in full throttle. fi:Peilikuva |
Yksisarvinen | Kaari Utrio | 2,000 | The general pattern follows one of Utrio's usual arrangements: a young woman and a young man encounter one another several different times, even if they come from very remote origins, like fate draws them together, and in the end they get each other. The teenage twins Geir and Ivar, sons of a Viking chieftain Inge Ragvaldson jarl and his wife Ulvhild Svendsdatter in Newfoundland, America, in a Norse colony started by Leif the Lucky, find the carcass of a whale, narwhal, and they take its big horn-like tooth, tusk, to their luggage. The colony fares badly, and the family decides to emigrate to Scandinavia. After seeing the martyr death of their maternal uncle king Canute IV of Denmark, they end up to Germany with their travel companions, a missionary bishop and his family. Their whale tooth -protected in a big sack- becomes a magic item, the unicorn, whose material is believed to have some magical powers. They get paid for both touches of the tusk, and for amulets made of it. Geir, who becomes count Gero, marries Sigberta, the heiress of the bishop's family's German county of Berga, but is restless and decides to embark to the first crusade, after his young wife died leaving an only heiress, baby named Beatrix. Meanwhile, in Italy, Juvalos Gerakis, the Finnish- or Greek-born Count of Sinetra in Calabria and his current wife, countess Aurelia, another Finno-Byzantine noble, rescue Aurelia's daughter Constanzia -heiress of Montecaldo- from a bad marriage in Rome, acquire a Roman fortified tower in the process, and marry her to her stepbrother Roger, son of count Juvalos and his first wife the late countess Adela, who is heir to the county of Sinetra. Then the count sends his son and heir to the crusade. Constanzia and her first husband, the knight Ferro Furni from Rome, had already some years earlier met Geir and Ivar in Hamburg and Berga when they were as envoys in Germany. The count Geir, his brother Ivar and their retinue travel and adventure with the crusade, meeting the troop from the Calabrian county of Sinetra. Also Constanzia de Montecaldo is with the troop. A love affair develops between Geir and Constanzia. A portion of the retinue get abducted by Armenian mountain robbers, but after winter spent in Armeno-Cilician fortress, they flee. After Jerusalem is conquered by the crusader army, Roger dies in the warfaring. The paramours now have one another, and they marry, embarking towards southern Italy with Constanzia's young daughter Maria, who is an heiress of the old Count of Sinetra (although Maria's uncle, Arnulf, son of the old count's second marriage, will be a rival heir). And Constanzia has also inherited Montecaldo. The young girl, Maria, is great-granddaughter of Terhen of "Vaskilintu" from Finland, and granddaughter of Aure from Finland. On the other hand, she is granddaughter of the Italian Norman Fulberto and granddaughter of the French Norman Adela. Her great-grandfather had been the Swedish Varangian Eirik. People think that she has two ancestresses (Terhen 'Theodora' and Aure 'Aurelia') who were Byzantine noblewomen, so in this series of plots, Byzantine is the codeword masking Finnish. Her great-grandfather spatharokandidatos Eirik and great-uncle droungarios Leo were officers in service of Constantinople, in Varangian guard. Her both parents were born in Italy. |
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase | Joan Aiken | null | The story is set at Willoughby Chase, the grand but remote home of Sir Willoughby and Lady Green and their daughter Bonnie. Due to Lady Green's ill health, Bonnie's parents are taking a holiday in warmer climates touring the Mediterranean by ship, leaving her in the care of a newly arrived distant fourth cousin, Letitia Slighcarp. Also due to arrive is Bonnie's orphan cousin Sylvia, who lived in London with Sir Willoughby's impoverished but genteel older sister Jane, coming to keep her cousin company in her parents' absence. Sylvia is nervous about the long train ride into the snowy countryside, especially when wolves menace the stopped train, but once she arrives, the cousins become instant friends. The robust and adventurous Bonnie is eager to show Sylvia the delights of country life, and they embark on an ice-skating expedition almost immediately. Although the adventure ends on a scary note – the girls are chased by the ever-present wolves – all is well thanks to Simon, a resourceful boy who lives on his own in a cave, raising geese and bees. The girls soon learn that the blissful existence they anticipate together is not to last. With the help of Mr. Grimshaw, a mysterious man from the train, Miss Slighcarp takes over the household, dismissing all but the most untrustworthy household servants, threatening to arrest those who defy her, wearing Lady Green's gowns and tampering with Sir Willoughby's legal papers. Bonnie and Sylvia also overhear ominous hints about their parents' ship, which has sunk, perhaps intentionally. Bonnie and Sylvia are not without allies: James, the clever footman, who spies on Miss Slighcarp for the girls; Pattern, Bonnie's loving and beloved maid; and the woodcrafty Simon. With their friends, the girls plan to alert the kindly and sensible local doctor to the crimes of Miss Slighcarp and Mr. Grimshaw, but Miss Slighcarp foils the scheme and sends them to a nearby industrial town, to a dismal and horrid orphanage run by the even more horrid Mrs. Brisket and her pretentious and spoiled daughter, Diana. Sylvia quickly weakens and grows ill due to the backbreaking work, frigid rooms, and scant meals, and the stronger Bonnie realizes they must escape soon. She encounters the faithful Simon, in town to sell his geese and they plot an escape, thanks to some ragged clothes provided in secret by Pattern and a key that Simon copies. Even though it is the dead of winter, the girls are warmer and better fed in Simon's goose-cart than in the dreadful orphanage/workhouse, and the trio embark on a two-month journey to London. On their arrival, they discover that Aunt Jane is near death from poverty-induced starvation, but with the help of a kind and idiosyncratic doctor downstairs, they nurse her back to health. They also catch Mr. Grimshaw sneaking into the lodging house that night. Confronted by the police and the family's lawyer, Mr. Grimshaw confesses the entire plot, and the girls return to Willoughby Chase, with the police in tow, where they trick Miss Slighcarp and Mrs. Brisket into revealing their villainy. At this moment, Bonnie's parents return, having survived the sinking ship; months in the sunny climate of the Canary Islands have restored Lady Green to health, and Sir Willoughby immediately begins setting Miss Slighcarp's depredations to rights. Bonnie's parents adopt Sylvia and agree to set up a school for Mrs. Brisket's charges and the now-humbled Diana, with a post for Aunt Jane, who is too proud to accept charity. |
Twisted | Laurie Halse Anderson | 2,007 | Tyler Miller goes from a nobody to a popular high school senior after he gets arrested for doing graffiti on the school. Tyler ends up with one of the most popular girls at school named Bethany Milbury, who is also Tyler's dad's boss's daughter. After attending a wild high school party with her, Tyler Miller finds himself as the prime suspect in a scandal involving Bethany and her nude pictures on a website and almost having sex with her while she was wasted. Everyone thinks Tyler is the culprit, and his life instantly takes a turn for the worse. Facing a serious charge, Tyler sets out not only to fix his reputation, but his entire life as well. During this novel, Tyler continues to play a video game called Tophet, which he happens to get stuck on whenever there is a problem in his life. When he finally solves his problems, he completes the game. |
Up Above the World | null | null | In the middle of their journey Dr Slade and his wife have a chance encounter with an important looking lady who tells them that she is going to visit her son. Arriving by ship at a provincial town in an unnamed Latin American country, they find that accommodation is sparse, and so Mrs Slade agrees to share a room with her at some seedy hotel for just one night. During that night, the lady is murdered with an injection of curare, but when the Slades leave very early the next morning to catch a connection, Mrs Slade erroneously believes the woman lying next to her is still fast asleep. A few days later, in another town, they read in the paper that the hotel burned down immediately after they had left and that the woman died in the fire. No one suspects the real reason, arson, which was committed to cover up the murder. This is when Mr and Mrs Slade make the acquaintance of Grove Soto, a charming and seemingly rich young man who offers them his hospitality. When it turns out that the recently deceased woman was his mother and Soto feigns shock at her premature death, the Americans have no idea that it was actually him who had her killed out of greed. As Soto cannot be certain about Mrs Slade's complete ignorance of the crime, he extends his hospitality, invites them to his farm in the country and eggs them on to stay there longer than they have planned. At the same time, with the help of both his local household staff and his seventeen year old Cuban lover Luchita, he feeds them a cocktail of drugs whose effects, including partial amnesia, the innocent Americans mistake for the symptoms of a heavy virus infection, recovery from which is supposedly slow. In the end Dr Slade, who has been barely conscious for days, disappears, while his young wife suspects more and more sinister forces to be at work. She escapes to the nearest town, where a fiesta is being held, only to realize that Soto has also planned her very escape. Without seeing her husband again, she has to face both her adversary and her own destiny amid the cheering townspeople. |
Begums Thugs And White Mughals | Fanny Parkes | 2,002 | This is an edited edition of the travel journals of the traveller, Fanny Parkes who was in India from 1822 to 1846. Dalrymple edited Parkes's book, Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque. He wrote the introduction in which he challenged some of the preconceptions of academic studies of travel writing, which attempt to fit all English views on India into the 'Orientalist' template laid down by Edward Said. "Fanny was a passionate lover of India and though a woman of her time, in her writing and her travels did her best to understand and build bridges across the colonial divide," he writes "[A]s Colin Thubron has pointed out, ‘To define the genre [of travel writing] as an act of domination – rather than of understanding, respect or even catharsis – is simplistic. If even the attempt to understand is seen as aggression or appropriation, then all human contact declines into paranoia.’ The attacks made on Fanny highlight the problem with so much that has been written about 18th- and early 19th-century India: the temptation felt by so many critics to project back onto it the stereotypes of Victorian and Edwardian behaviour and attitudes with which we are so familiar." |
The Last Mughal | William Dalrymple | 2,002 | The book, Dalrymple's sixth, and his second to reflect his long love affair with the city of Delhi, won praise for its use of "The Mutiny Papers", which included previously ignored Indian accounts of the events of 1857. He worked on these documents in association with the Urdu scholar Mahmood Farooqui. It won the 2006 Duff Cooper Memorial Prize for History and Biography, and the 2007 Vodafone Crossword Book Award. |
Calling The Swan | Jean Thesman | null | Skylar Deacon is struggling with many things in her life: a toddler brother, a summer school class in another part of town, riding the bus to get there, new friendships at the school, and conflicting advice from her sister. Most of all, she's struggling with a secret tragedy that has been damaging her family for three years. Her mother is even worse, amplifying Skylar's fears and guilt. But Skylar finds help in her strong grandmother, kind priest-counselor, and later her new friends Tasha, Naomi, Margaret, D.J., and Shawn. And with that help, she begins to find the courage to heal her life. |
On the Banks of Plum Creek | Laura Ingalls Wilder | 1,937 | Having left their little house on the Kansas prairie, the Ingalls family travels by covered wagon to Minnesota and settles in a dugout on the banks of Plum Creek. Pa trades his horses Pet and Patty to the property owner (a man named Hanson, who wants to go west) for the land and crops. He later gets two new horses as Christmas presents for the family, which Laura and her sister Mary name "Sam" and "David". Pa soon builds a new, above-ground, wooden house for the family, trusting that their first crop of wheat will pay for the lumber and materials. Now that they live near a town, Laura and Mary go to school for the first time. There they make friends, but also meet the town storekeeper's daughter, Nellie Oleson, who makes fun of Laura and Mary for being "country girls." Laura and Mary attend a party at the Olesons' home, and Ma has Laura and Mary invite all the girls (including Nellie) to a party at their house to reciprocate. The family goes through hard times when grasshoppers (actually Rocky Mountain Locusts) decimate the much-anticipated wheat crop, and lay so many eggs that there is no hope of a crop next year. For two harvest seasons, Pa is forced to walk three hundred miles east to find work on farms that escaped the grasshopper plague. The book ends with Laura's Pa returning safely to the house after becoming lost near their home during a severe four-day blizzard. Laura is portrayed in this book as being seven to nine years old. Although the Ingalls family lived near Walnut Grove, Minnesota during the events described in this book, the name of the town is not mentioned in the book. |
Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague | Brandon Mull | 2,008 | Strange things are happening at Fablehaven. The book begins where the second book left off, during the same summer of their second year at Fablehaven. Kendra and Seth helped save Fablehaven from the Society of the Evening Star, but new troubles present themselves almost immediately. Seth discovers that someone, or something, has released a plague throughout Fablehaven. As the disease spreads throughout the preserve, it is clear they can no longer protect the preserve. Creatures of light are transformed into creatures of darkness. As light creatures can enter most places throughout the preserve, the same rules apply to the darkened form of them. The exception is the shrine of the Fairy Queen, where only Creatures of Light can enter. Sometime throughout the summer, Kendra is requested by the captain of 'The Knights of Dawn' that she should be recruited. For the first time, Kendra and Warren must visit another magical preserve, called Lost Mesa, located in the central state of Arizona. With Lieutenant Dougan Fisk, and dragon tamer Gavin Rose, another hidden artifact must be recovered from Lost Mesa before The Society unveils it. However, the artifact, as told in the secret fairy language Silvian, had a new residence at Fablehaven. Meanwhile, back at Fablehaven, Seth discovers that he has gained new abilities with destroying Fablehaven's revenant and pulling out the nail. With the help of Graulas the dying demon, he is made a shadow-charmer, a person who is able to shadow-walk, hear the voices of prisoners from the dungeon that dwell underneath the main house, and speak the language of many creatures such as giants, goblins, trolls, and demons. Graulas explains how three dark creatures created the plague with the nail. The prisoner from the Quiet Box was never seen to leave the preserve, so this helps prove Vanessa's accusation correct. New friends are introduced and trusted as new magical creatures of light and darkness are confronted. Coulter and Tanu get changed by the plague first, followed by Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson. Then Dale, and finally Warren. Humans are changed to 3D shadows. Will the plague go so far that Kendra and Seth will be contaminated? Seth recovers the Chronometer and brings Patton Burgess forward in time. Patton made artifacts more difficult to recover and also was a famous caretaker of Fablehaven. The Fairy Queen destroys her shrine to make a pebble filled with light energy to help save the plague. Someone must touch the pebble to the nail and the plague will be reversed. One problem though — whoever touches the pebble to the nail dies. When pebble and nail are united by Lena, Lena dies. The plague stops. |
Rainforest | Jenny Diski | 1,987 | Mo Singleton grows up in rural Sussex as the only child of John Singleton, a scientist and university lecturer, and Marjorie, a housewife. When Mo is still quite young, her father confides in her by telling her that he is betraying his incompetent and simplistic wife with a colleague at the university. Up to her father's premature death at 45 and beyond, Mo is able to keep their secret without once meeting her father's lover. Following in his footsteps, Mo studies biology and moves to London, where she gets a job at a university. She enjoys teaching first-year students, especially challenging their faulty assumptions about nature and explaining to them what man's role in the big cycle of things really is. She visits her widowed mother in the country every once in a while and spends pleasant weekends with her, has a satisfactory relationship with her boyfriend Luke, a biochemist, and has started making plans for, and is very much looking forward to, her research project which will take her to an isolated spot in the tropical rainforest that covers large parts of the island of Borneo. When, shortly before her departure, she meets Joe Yates, who has been hired as her replacement for the six month period she will be gone, Mo is both appalled and attracted by his directness but rejects his overt sexual advances as well as his fatalistic philosophy of life. In Borneo, she behaves very professionally, fervently believing that through her academic work she will increase the sum total of human knowledge about the tropical rainforest. Her mental breakdown is already looming but Mo is not yet aware of it. Her mind starts deteriorating rapidly when in the middle of her stay in Borneo, Joe Yates pays her a surprise visit. Questioning the validity and relevance of her findings, he eventually succeeds in seducing her—they have wild, unbridled sex in the wilderness—only to tell her afterwards that he is only passing through and his current girlfriend, one of his students, is actually waiting for him in the nearest town. Mo has to be flown back to England and is institutionalized. News of her beloved colleague Liam deserting his wife and young children for a first-year student only makes matters worse. After her recovery, Mo gives up her academic career and becomes a cleaning lady, working to a fixed schedule and enjoying "the detail and planning involved." She sees a psychiatrist once a week and still has the occasional nightmare about the rainforest. |
Swimming Without a Net | MaryJanice Davidson | 2,007 | A year has passed since Artur and Thomas declared their love for Fred and then left. Since then, Fred has been passing her days by working at the aquarium and being annoyed by Jonas (her best friend) and Dr. Barb's (her boss) relationship. They have been setting Fred up on various blind dates as well, which have all ended badly. Fred is surprised to discover two Undersea Folk requesting her presence at the Pelagic. At the Pelagic, she discovers the identity of her biological father as well as makes a decision between Artur and Thomas. |
The Plague Court Murders | John Dickson Carr | null | Ken Blake is approached by an old friend, Dean Halliday, who tells the story of his family estate, Plague Court. Halliday explains that the house is haunted by the ghost of the original owner, Louis Playge, a hangman by profession. Halliday invites Blake and Chief-Inspector Humphrey Masters to Plague Court to take part in a seance, run by psychic Roger Darworth and his medium Joseph. However, Darworth is a fake, being monitored by the police. The night of the seance, Darworth locks himself in a small stone house, behind Plague Court, while the seance proceeds. When Masters and Blake go to get him, he has been stabbed to death, with the dagger of Louis Playge. But all the doors and windows are bolted and locked, and thirty feet of mud surrounds the house, unbroken—and all the suspects have been holding hands in the seance. The only one who can solve the crime is locked room expert Sir Henry Merrivale. |
A King and No King | John Fletcher | 1,619 | Arbaces, King of Iberia, has been abroad, fighting in the wars, for many years; he returns home in triumph, bringing with him Tigranes, the defeated king of Armenia. He intends to marry his sister Panthea to Tigranes. Meanwhile he learns that his mother, Arane, who hates him, has plotted his assassination. The regent Gobrius has foiled the plot. Tigranes' fiancee Spaconia accompanies him into exile, hoping to avert Arbaces' plans for the marriage alliance. Tigranes promises her he will remain faithful. On his return Arbaces finds that he now has a powerful sexual attraction to his beautiful sister, the princess Panthea, whom he hasn't seen since childhood. Much of the play depicts his increasingly desperate struggle against his incestuous passion. Arbaces blames the protector Gobrius for his predicament; the minister had written Arbaces many letters during the king's years abroad, praising Panthea's beauty and her love for him. Panthea is also attracted to Arbaces, but her virtue restains them both. The king becomes so desperate that he decides to murder Gobrius, rape Panthea, and then commit suicide. Meanwhile, Tigranes too falls in love with Panthea, even though this means he breaks his faith with Spaconia. Tigranes exercises the self-discipline and rationality that Arbaces struggles to achieve, and rededicates himself to Spaconia. Arbaces' dilemma is resolved when it is revealed that the situation is a complex hoax, staged by Arane and Gobrius to give an heir to the childless old king who was Arbaces' predecessor. Arane's plots against her supposed son were intended to restore the rightful succession. Arbaces is in fact Gobrius's son, and so Panthea is not actually his sister. Gobrius had plotted that his son would become the legitimate king, by marriage with Panthea; Arbaces does marry the princess, but steps down from the kingship. Arbaces is presented as a mixed character, brave and formidable in battle, but boastful and somewhat vulgar. His character is explained by the trick of his birth: he cannot behave with the nobility of a king, because he isn't one by "blood." The comic relief in the play is provided by the cowardly Bessus and his cronies; their subplot turns on the customs of honorable duelling — and their comical violation. (Bessus was a well-known comic creation; Queen Henrietta Maria refers to Bessus in a 25 February 1643 letter to her husband, Charles I.) A King and No King has a strong degree of commonality with the same authors' Thierry and Theodoret. The former might be regarded as the tragicomic version, and the latter the tragic, of the same story. |
A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove | James Moloney | 1,996 | When Carl's mother, Kerry, disappears, he and his brother, Harley, are sent to Wattle Beach to live with their aunt Beryl. During his stay at Wattle Beach, Carl works in a barge, an old colleague of Carl's grandfather. Carl does not know that his grandfather was involved in an accident that killed Skips 8-year-old son, Graham. Carl is initially withdrawn; he does not convey his worries about his missing mother, nor the anxiety that he feels over his rebellious younger brother, who is constantly in centrelink. However, during the course of the novel he learns to "open up" and share his feelings with those who care about him. In the end, it is discovered that Kerry Matt died in a bus accident when she was trying to get home to her children, Sarah, Harley and Carl. Once this is unearthed,Carl returns home to find that Aunt Beryl has run off in true Matt spirit to join her boyfriend, Bruce. Because Carl has nowhere else to stay, Joy Duncan invites him to come and live with them at Wiseman's Cove with his brother, Harley, who has already claimed the Duncans as his surrogate family. Their sister Sarah left them and flew to another country to get a chance at her own life. |
The Dare Game | Jacqueline Wilson | 2,000 | Tracy and Cam often argue about anything, including Tracy's new school, where she has a ghastly class teacher, whom she has christened Mrs "Emesis" Bagley. She hates her. Most of her classmates spread rumors about her mum leaving her on purpose. Tracy says that her mum has to leave because she is a movie star in Hollywood. Tracy decides to exclude herself and go to her own secret house. After a few days she discovers she's not the only one who excluded herself from school as she meet two new friends, Alexander and Football. Alexander is a feeble little boy, whereas Football is the complete opposite, very burly, strong and large. Like Tracy, both boys have family problems: Alexander's dad hates him, and Football has a mother who is always going on at him; his dad has left, and keeps promising to take him to a football match, but he never does. They all stay at a secret house and play dares day after day, including one where Tracy hangs her underwear on a tree. Suddenly, Tracy's mum, Carly, appears out of the blue, saying she wants her back. Tracy is allowed to stay with her for a weekend, where her mum showers her with expensive gifts. Cam is upset about losing Tracy, but Tracy is hell-bent on going to live with her mother forever. However, when she goes to her mother's for a second time, her mother leaves her on her own for hours and hours while she attends a karaoke night at her local pub. Tracy feels frightened and anxious, remembering that this is what her Mum used to do when she was younger. When Carly eventually comes home she is accompanied by a man. They were obviously planning to get passionate, but Carly has to cancel their plans when she remembers Tracy is there. However, before he leaves, she arranges to spend the following weekend with him instead of Tracy. Tracy runs away, eventually choosing to live with Cam, who has always taken care of her. |
The Day of the Owl | Leonardo Sciascia | 1,961 | In a small town, early on a Saturday morning, a bus is about to leave the small square to go market in the next town nearby. A gunshot is heard and the figure running for the bus is shot twice in the back, with what is discovered as a (a sawn-off shotgun that the mafia use for their killings.) The passengers and bus driver deny having seen the murderer. A Carabinieri captain from Parma, Bellodi, gets on the case, ruffling feathers in his contemporaries and colleagues alike. Soon he discovers a link that doesn't stop in Sicily, but goes onwards towards Rome and the Minister Mancuso and Senator Livigno. It seems that the man shot, Salvatore Colasberna, was the owner of a small construction company. He had been warned that he should take "protection" from mafia members, but he refused. Although his company was only a very small one, the local mafia decides to make an example of him and has him killed. Using faintly corrupt methods, Bellodi traps one man and uses the names given by a dead informer to trap another, who has money stashed away in many bank accounts that add up to more than his fallow fields would ever bring. He is attempting to take down an organization with many members involved in the police and government, and whose mere existence many Sicilians deny. He has ignored the crime passionel lead, which is often a handy excuse for mafia killings. The death of an eyewitness leads to the collapse of the case against all three, which sees Bellodi taken off the case. The novel ends with Bellodi recounting his time in Sicily to his friends in Parma—who think that it all sounds very romantic—and thinking that he would return to Sicily even if it killed him. |
The Third Life of Grange Copeland | Alice Walker | 1,970 | As a poor sharecropper, Grange is virtually a slave; in cotton-era Baker County, Georgia, the more he works, the more money he ends up owing to the man who owns the fields he works and the house he lives in. Eventually life becomes too much for him and he runs away from his debts to start a new life up North, leaving his family. After declining a loan from a white landowner which he knows he can't pay back, Brownfield begins to head North on foot to follow in his father's footsteps. Brownfield is led to a woman named Josie who owns and operates a lounge/brothel called the Dew Drop Inn (in some printings, the Dewey Inn). Brownfield winds up sharing a bed with Josie, her daughter Lorene, and Josie's deceased sister's daughter Mem. Brownfield takes a liking to Mem and eventually marries her under the disapproving Josie's nose. Brownfield beats and eventually kills Meme (sometimes printed as "Mem") and is jailed for an arbitrary seven years. Grange finds the North unfulfilling and returns to Baker County, which is the only place he knows of as home. |
Jurassic Adventures: Survivor | Scott Ciencin | 2,001 | The book reveals that Amanda Kirby (Eric's mother) and her new boyfriend Ben Hildebrand, had planned to travel to Costa Rica and take Eric to Isla Sorna, the legendary site B of Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, Ben and Eric have a parasailing accident and end up stranded on the island. Ben dies after being injured in the crash, and Eric is forced to leave when dinosaurs start roaming the area. From that moment on he has to survive by himself, matching wits with the fearsome predators (and some aggressive herbivores) in the island. After being injured by an Ankylosaurus and driven off by a pack of compys, Eric finds InGen's old buildings, when he decides to hide. Unfortunately, this place is also being used by raptors as headquarters, and he is almost killed. Later, he decides to find a communications bunker to ask for help. However, he ends up trapped in the middle of a furious battle between a large pack of raptors and a herd of Iguanodons, and eventually he sacrifices his last chance to get help, instead saving a young Iguanodon he had befriended before. After that, he returns to the jungle knowing that perhaps he will spend the rest of his life there. The book reveals some interesting things about InGen, Jurassic Park and its dinosaurs, and also about the main character, for example: * It is revealed that original wildlife on the island has survived despite the introduction of dinosaurs, including sloths, quetzals and snakes. * It seems that the dinosaur population is not as balanced as previously thought, and raptors are actually keeping herds of herbivores prisoners in a valley, so that they can hunt them more easily. * It is revealed how Eric got the Tyrannosaurus pee and also the raptor claw he shows to Alan Grant in the movie. * Iguanodons are introduced in this book; Eric befriends one of them, and names him "Iggy". * A Pteranodon is described as flying around the island, although in the movie, all Pteranodons were captive. The Pteranodon is eventually caught by a T-Rex. * It is revealed that Ben most likely died due to internal injury, not eaten. * The dinosaurs that appear in Survivor are Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Velociraptor, Compsognathus, Tyrannosaurus, Diplodocus, Pteranodon and Iguanodon. The Spinosaurus, although present in the Jurassic Park III movie, did not appear in the book, even though Eric stated in the film that the Tyrannosaurus pee had attracted "a huge dinosaur with a sail on its back". * Scott Ciencin suggests that the reason for the Deinonychus-like appearance on Velociraptors, and the teeth on Pteranodon are most likely the result of InGen's scientists messing up with dinosaur DNA during the creation of Jurassic Park. |
Jurassic Park Adventures: Prey | Scott Ciencin | 2,001 | Prey reveals that Alan Grant has become part of a UN project to protect the dinosaurs of Isla Sorna. He is (somewhat unwillingly) forced to stay in the island coordinating a crew of scientists and other experts, and is decided to return balance to the dinosaur ecosystem by relocating some predators to other parts of the island. In this story, Eric Kirby blackmails Alan Grant so that he will let him go to the island. Alan agrees, but tricks Eric taking him during Christmas time where there are no operations going on in the island. Meanwhile, a group of teenagers led by 18 year old Simon Tunney lands in the island and try to film a movie about the island, so that they will become celebrities (just as Eric has, seemingly, after writing "Survivor"). Simon is obsessed with becoming a rich celebrity, even if that means to endanger his peers. Upon realizing this, Grant and his team go to the jungle and try to find them, while Eric escapes the headquarters and finds them himself. The teenagers then provoke a herd of Triceratops, and they attack them, but Eric saves them by imitating a Velociraptor's call. Eric tries to convince them to go to Grant's headquarters but Simon refuses fearing that Grant will confiscate his footage, and continues his trip. Angered, Eric follows, knowing that they are getting in the territory of large predators. Later, both Grant's and Simon's teams are attacked by three Carnotaurus. Grant realizes that the leader of the pack has a personal vendetta against him and runs away from the group to save the others. But the carnotaurs keep chasing the teenagers and almost kill one of them (Simon's little brother, who he sacrifices instead of his valuable footage). Eric saves the boy in the nick of time and the carnotaurs are dominated by Grant's full team. With recorded video evidence of his behavior, Simon is now trapped and is taken to prison while Grant praises Eric's braveness and allows him to become a temporal member of his team. |
Jurassic Park Adventures: Flyers | Scott Ciencin | 2,002 | The story is unusual in that it is told partially from the animal's point of view. The Pteranodons that escaped Sorna have been spotted all around the world and now they are in Florida. Coincidentally, Alan Grant and Eric Kirby are invited to go to the Universal Studios in Orlando to talk about their adventures on the islands. Unfortunately, the Pteranodons are attracted by the lakes in the park and decide to stay there, wreaking havoc and injuring people by flying off with them and throwing them to the water. With the help of Amanda Kirby and a reporter named Manly Wilks, Alan and Eric try to capture the Pteranodons to get them back to the island before they are culled by Florida's authorities. The Pteranodons manage to destroy some of the park's attractions and kill two helicopter pilots, before they are finally caught. Manly then tries to get one of them to become famous, but Amanda punches him out cold and all reptiles are returned to the island, by means of tricking them to follow an aircraft disguised as a Pteranodon. |
Critique of Criminal Reason | null | 2,006 | Years after Immanuel Kant published his Critique of Pure Reason but now rumours say that the philosophers is about to release another book. This book will be different than all others because it will examine the concept of serial killers. Meanwhile the German city of Königsberg, where Kant lives, is gripped by a series of murders. Prosecutor Hanno Stiffeniis is ordered by King Frederick William III himself to investigate the crimes and bring the murderer to justice. Stiffeniis is aided in his quest by Immanuel Kant, as well as a local police sergeant. eo:Kritiko de kriminala racio |
Fire Star | Chris D'Lacey | 2,006 | Since David and Zanna are in the Arctic, they are unaware of what is happening back at home with Gretel, Zanna's new dragon. After a few hours of Grockle's existence, he was turned to stone. Gretel attempts to revive her lost friend. Liz had locked her up in a wooden cage in the Dragon's Den (her at-home workshop). David writes a novel of the Arctic which he calls White Fire. He thinks what he's writing is fiction, but it's really happening to two bears called Ingavar and Thoran. As Thoran peacefully follows a sign, Ingavar must follow straight orders to steal something very precious from David. Tension is rising at the Pennykettles' as Lucy is suddenly kidnapped by a long forgotten rival. This 'rival' wishes to raise the ancient dragon Gawain from his stone-laden resting place. Over the time Lucy is there, she goes through extreme changes. Gwilanna knew this would happen as Lucy began to look like Guinevere, her ancestor. After a sudden bear attack and the news about Lucy, David returns home to help Liz overcome this rough time. In the middle of a serious conversation with Liz, David receives a heart-breaking phone call. He has just learned Zanna, his girlfriend, has just been kidnapped by bears. Under all this pressure, David breaks down. Liz soothes him in dragonsong, the ancient soothing method Guinevere used on the ancient dragon Gawain. While David is home, Grockle suddenly awakens to find the window opened. Curious as he was, he flew out of the window. Nobody could believe it. Happiness, shock and horror welled up in everyone at the sight of Grockle's sudden move. Lucy is not having a good time at all. She must eat the disgusting stuff Gwilanna enjoys eating everyday. She decides to explore the cave of Gawain when Gwilanna leaves one day. She pushed around and discovers a secret hideaway she thinks her ancestor, Gwendolen, used. Eventually, she falls asleep by the bones of Gwendolen and a bear that guarded her. A female bear that thinks it is her 'last season on earth' ventures into the cave, down into the hideaway, and decides to follow the dead bears example. She guarded Lucy as she slept. Gwilanna returns and finds the hole. She notices Lucy and the female bear. She decides tiredly to leave them be. David gets Liz to tell her who Arthur is after Gadzooks gave him the name out of nowhere. After hearing the cruel things Gwilanna did to break-up Arthur and Liz, he travels to Farlowe Island to find Arthur. Arthur goes by life on a religious island. He chooses the name Brother Vincent. He goes through a lot on the island. In fact, he survives a vicious Fain attack . David arrives at the island and calms down the scared yet vicious Grockle. Grockle flies to the Arctic when David tells him to. After a while of introductions and explanations, Arthur teaches David how to use Dr. Bergstrom's mysterious talisman to teleport from place to place. David teleports to the Arctic and battles the very same Fain to the death. The Fain stabs two spears of ice through David's chest, but David won't die because the ice is really Gawain's fire tear. After revealing the secret of the ice to the Fain, the spirit of Ingavar punches the Fain out of the body of Tootega, the Inuit whose body the Fain had possessed, killing Tootega, and the Fain. Zanna, in tears, comes running over to David. They get locked in a heart-breaking conversation. After assuring her they'd meet once more and giving her a Valentine's Day gift, (a new dragon, G'lant, which you can only see if you really believe in dragons) he parts from Zanna. Some polar bears take David's body on a piece of ice, Ingavars spirit lays down by his head and the polar bears pound the ice and send David and Ingavar into the water. Back at home, after releasing Snigger into the wild after his kidnapping by Gwilanna, Zanna tells Liz, Lucy and Arthur that she is pregnant with David's baby. |
The Fire Eternal | Chris D'Lacey | null | In the Arctic: Slowly the ice is changing; bears are starving; dragons are rising; and the souls of the Inuit dead are haunting the skies. The spirit Gaia, goddess of the Earth, is restless, aching to bring her might down upon these changes. But all living things may suffer if she does. As the weather grows wilder and the ice caps melt, all eyes turn from the north to David's daughter, Alexa. She is the key to stopping it . . .But can one girl save the world from the forces of evil or will she disappear like her father? The book opens with a short chapter about how the Earth, Gaia, is beginning to get restless, and then goes to explain Zanna's sadness about David being gone. She gives the invisible and shapeless dragon G'lant, which David gave to at the end of Fire Star, to her daughter Alexa. Since David's apparent death, Zanna has been trying to get back on her feet. She bought a New Age shop called the Healing Touch and is living with the Pennykettles in David's old room. While Zanna is at her shop one night, Lucy sneaks into her room, and steals a letter that Zanna wrote to David. Every year on Valentine's Day, the day that David died, Zanna writes a letter to David telling him all of the events that are going on in the house. When Lucy reads the letter, she feels the need to do something to tell the world that David is not dead. So she writes an E-mail to a man named Tam Farell, whose role is not yet revealed, telling him to go the Healing Touch and ask for Zanna. As the book goes on, every few chapters, the author puts in a chapter telling the reader what is happening in the Arctic. The Ice Bear, Ingavar is with his two followers, a fighting bear called Kailar, and a Teller of ways called Avrel. They go and meet Thoran, who is really Dr. Bergstorm, and he tells Ingavar that his time on the ice is up. So Ingavar consumes Thoran with icefire, and his spirit is passed on to Ingavar. Meanwhile, in Zanna's shop, Tam Farell comes in and tells Zanna that he is having a pain in his neck. Zanna is rather charmed, amused, and annoyed by him, and moodily schedules a consultation for them. As Tam is leaving, he invites her to a poetry reading at a bookshop, and tells her to bring her partner. Later that day, Zanna, Liz, and Lucy go shopping at the garden store, and find a 'fairy door' for Alexa to play with, and Lucy sends a fateful message to Tam telling him what Zanna's scars are. She writes only one word: Oomara. Meanwhile, in the Arctic, Ingavar remembers how Avrel and he first met. Having disguised himself as a fox, he tricked Avrel into following him, and then had filled his head with old knowledge and legends. As Avrel and Ingavar walked on, they saw the souls of countless Inuit men in the sky. Zanna decides to go to the poetry reading, and discovers that Tam is a poet himself. Tam decides to buy David's book, White Fire, and Zanna gets slightly suspicious. So Zanna investigates and soon finds out that Tam Farrell is a journalist. Zanna brands Tam with Oomara and erases the memory of that day including meeting Lucy. Before Tam passes out he mouths one word - Parents - at Lucy and she knows she needs to find David's parents. Later she packs her stuff and goes to the place Tam works. She instructs Gwendolen to give Tam some of her memories (she still has them.) Gwendolen does as she is instructed and Tam's memory comes back. Lucy asks Tam to travel with her to Blackburn. When they get there where David lived there is no house. And the neighbors claim that there was never a house there. Then Zanna comes in her car and phones Liz. Lucy's phone gives out a ray of violet and projects a image of a squirrel. Lucy chases it right through a portal. Zanna tells Liz she is going after her and Liz tells her that she may never see Alexa again. Then Alexa is on the phone and tells Zanna that she saw David being a polar bear in her toy's eye. Just as Zanna walks towards the portal Tam jumps in and the portal closes. Gwilanna comes to the Arctic and a image of a mammoth appears. Ingavar tells that it's his daughter's toy and turns into David, then sends Gwilanna but before he does his eyes turn to scaline eyes. Lucy finds herself on Farlowe and brother Bernard appears he leads her to a room. Tam follows but before she enters she noticed Bernard's eyes are black. At the Crescent Alexa is putting icefire on David's four dragons and they enter the portal in the fairy door. Liz goes in and Gwillanna as a raven (stuck in that form) talks to Alexa. At Farwole Lucy is forced to a Darkling but it has a flaw - it has no heart. The Ix the flip side of the fain they are what killed David there are upset that the Darkling had an extra piece (It looks like a knife and it is the heart.) so they invade Lucy. Lucy goes home and there her mom greets her but she cuts her with the heart and knocks Liz out. Gwillian sees and cries his fire tear. Gwilanna goes to Zanna and tells her that they need her help, Zanna turns into a raven and flies back. As Zanna arrives the Ix exit Lucy and Zanna turns back saying a spell to pull all of the flower petals and onto the Ix. Alexa walks out and sees the Ix. The Ix dies and Gwilanna saves Liz revealing that Liz is pregnant. That night Zanna and Alexa go out to the library gardens and Alexa runs up the path and jumps into a man's arms. The man is David and a violet light bursts in the sky and it is a dragon. |
The Pig Scrolls | Paul Shipton | 2,004 | After all the Olympian gods go missing, Sibyl has a premonition in which the sun god Apollo tells her to find "the talking pig". Sibyl then sets out looking for the talking pig, Gryllus. She finds him at Big Stavros's Kebab bar where he is forced to entertain customers. Together they set off for the temple at Delphi. Apollo informs Sibyl that she and Gryllus must find a goatherd boy living on top of a mountain. Once Sibyl and Gryllus find the goatherd, (who turns out to be the god Zeus) they set off once more for Apollo's temple at Delphi. It is there that Gryllus, the talking pig, must save the world from utter destruction. Additional: What the author had to say about his work: “I got the idea for The Pig Scrolls when I was rereading Homer's Odyssey and found myself more interested in some of the non-heroic characters in the background. Working on the book gave me a chance to revisit a world I have always loved—that of ancient mythology and history. And, of course, in order to research the character of Gryllus fully, I was forced to eat a huge number of pies.” The Pig Scrolls is set in Ancient Greece, and is about a pig named Gryllus. Gryllus, who was once a member of captain Odesseus’ famous crew, was transformed into a pig by the enchantress Circe. Gryllus, enjoying his quiet life in the woods is soon captured by local hunters when they realize he can talk, and is soon “rescued” by a junior prophetess in training (Sibyl). Sibyl informs Gryllus of a premonition showing her the end of the world. Gryllus believes her to have lost a couple of marbles and escapes, so Sibyl kidnaps him. On their journey to the temple in Delphi, they encounter monsters, gods, a strange goatherd and a scientist who has invented the awesome Atomos Device. Gryllus comes to realize that the entire universe is in the trotters of one talking pig, himself... |
The Swords of Zinjaban | L. Sprague de Camp | 1,991 | Fergus Reith, the main Terran tour guide on Krishna, is at the spaceport of Novorecife to meet his latest clients, the advance party for Cosmic Productions. Cosmic is an earthly motion picture company planning to shoot the first movie on the planet, a gaudy swashbuckler to be titled Swords Under Three Moons. Fergus is surprised to find among the party his ex-wife Alicia Dyckman, who left Krishna twenty years before; she in turn is surprised to find him the father of a teenage son, Alister, by a later wife now deceased. Fergus learns Alicia has undergone psychotherapy to correct the personality flaws that had doomed their marriage, and that moreover she is the one who recommended his services to the film company. Alicia introduces Fergus to her colleagues, Cyril Ordway and Jacob White, and soon the two are squiring them around the local realms to scout filming locations and hire locals as extras, including a company of soldiers for the battle scenes. In addition to the usual complications of mediating between egocentric Terrans and temperamental Krisnans, the ex-lovers warily attempt to sort out their feelings for each other, a task rendered all the more difficult because others are also interested in Alicia—and they keep running into Fergus’ old flames at awkward moments! Finally the advance party’s work is done, and the rest of the company arrives, headed by the dour producer Kostis Stavrakos and the flamboyant director Attila Fodor, who fancies himself a reincarnated barbarian. Filming soon begins in the native republic of Mikardand. Meanwhile, Fergus is sent north on an errand to Ruz, where he is unexpectedly imprisoned by the local ruler, the Dasht Gilan bad-Jam, who suspects him (rightly) of having conspired to sabotage Gilan’s intended marriage to Princess Vazni of Dur. The accusation is true; Vazni, one of those old flames of Fergus, had appealed to him to help her escape Gilan. Fortunately he is able to allay his captor’s suspicions, and is even granted a knighthood in return for teaching the Dasht how to play poker! Soon after his return Alicia is kidnapped by another Krishnan ruler, Dour Vizman of Qirib, who is besotted with her. Fergus rides to save her, but is just in time to help her escape, she having already knifed Vizman. Later, back with the film crew, they finally decide to get married again. During the main filming at the border fortress of Zinjaban, Terran diplomat Percy Mjipa arrives bearing warning that Ghuur, the Kamoran of the much-feared nomad horde of Qaath, is about to invade Mikardand, and the Cosmic Productions operation is right in his path. The knights of Mikardand hired as extras for the movie immediately take charge to organize a defense, aided by those Terrans able to handle a sword, such as Reith, Fodor, local consul Anthony Fallon and lead actor Randal Fairweather. Thanks to strategic advice from Fergus and the fortuitous beheading of the Kamoran by the battle-crazed Fodor (also killed), the nomads are defeated. In the wake of the battle the sobered movie-makers hurriedly conclude their filming, only to face a final hurdle—the abduction of Alicia and leading lady Cassie Norris by Enrique Schlegel, a Terran gone native fanatically opposed to what he sees as the alien corruption of Krishnan culture. He threatens to kill them unless all the company’s film footage and filming equipment is destroyed. Once again Fergus finds himself leading a rescue expedition. With good planning coupled with good luck the bandits are defeated and Schlegel killed. Despite all their services to Cosmic Productions, Stavrakos manages to skip planet without paying Fergus and Alicia what is owed them. On a brighter note, they are now married again, and have each other, Alister, and another child on the way, and are looking forward to helping to establish a college in Novorecife for Terrans settled on Krishna. |
Double Cross | James Patterson | 2,007 | Four years ago, Kyle Craig is sent to prison after his crimes in Roses Are Red and Violets Are Blue and swears revenge upon the person who caught him - Detective Alex Cross. Now, four years later, Alex Cross is on a date with police officer, Brianna 'Bree' Stone, when they are interrupted by the news of crime-writer author, Tess Olsen's death. Upon arriving in Washington, Alex decides to help in the investigation, even though he is no longer a detective. They find a Hallmark greeting card, and find a tape featuring the killer, whom threw Olsen from a balcony in her apartment. In the video, he turns toward the camera, and says "In your honor". Alex, Bree, and Alex's bestfriend/co-worker, John Sampson discover the footage of the murder was used twice. After this puzzling news, the murderer goes to a play and kills Matthew Jay Walker, a male actor, later posting videos of his murders on the internet. Alex realizes that the murderer wants an audience, and therefore is nicknamed 'DCAK' (The Washington DC Audience Killer). Alex then goes to work and talks to Sandy Quinlan, a sex-crazed woman seeking therapy from Alex and later meets another patient, Anthony Demao, who is a war-veteran that killed his partner, Matthew under Matthew's orders and pleas, since 'Mat' was dying anyway. As the murders get more serious, Alex decides to once again work with the DC police department while also being a psychologist for therapy. It is then apparent that DCAK is doing a role-play as every time he kills someone, he has a different alter-ego. The killer sets up so many websites featuring footage, pictures, and messages from him or his victims. Meanwhile, in Florence, Italy, Kyle Craig is in prison when he receives a visit from his lawyer, Mason Wainwright, who is a big fan of Kyle. Wainwright puts on a human-like mask of Kyle's face and gives one with his face to Kyle, allowing Kyle to escape and Mason to stay in his place - only to die shortly afterward. Alex learns of Craig's escape and goes to Florence where he reviews footage of Olsen speaking to Kyle during an interview for her latest book; back in DC, FBI agent, Brian Kitzmiller 'Kitz' is assigned to Sampson, Bree, and Alex. An impostor of DCAK, wearing a Richard Nixon mask, kidnaps a teen couple, and kills the boy while the girl is run over. Meanwhile, Kyle visits his mother, who had, according to Craig, let his father bet Kyle when he was a kid, resulting in Kyle stealing money from his mother, then shooting and killing his mother. In Iowa, Kyle murders a woman after pretending to wish to sleep with her, he then flees. Alex goes to the office and witnesses Sandy give Anthony a hand job. He demands to speak with Sandy while Anthony waits outside, though Anthony runs off. Later that day, the two meet at a coffee shop where they kiss and then 'tongue' each other, as Sandy shouts at all in the restaurant "it's ok, he's my brother". Anthony then sits he received a message from Kyle announcing he wishes to see DCAK - implying they are DCAK. Alex, Sampson, and Bree go to a press conference in Baltimore, where Alex finds a message saying he is missing the "show" from DCAK. He learns the person who originally had this message is a female, and he is able to track her, but she escapes in her car. Alex, in pursuit of the woman, eventually looses them and goes to Washington where in National Air and Space Museum, where a married/pregnant woman named Abby Courlevais. Upon returning home, Alex learns from his kids, Alex 'Ali' Jr. and Jannie, and his grandmother, Nana, that his oldest son, Damon, has run away. Sampson is able to find Damon, who is playing basketball. Alex immediately scolds Damon, then apologizing, for missing a Crushing - a prep school in Massachusetts - meeting that would allow Damon to attend the school. Trying to find peace for a moment - Alex and Bree go to a hotel and make love. Eventually, they receive a message from DCAK who announces he has caught the impostor and uses a helicopter to throw the body of the impostor on the roof of a nearby roof. Alex and Bree use a ladder to get to the roof where they find Kitz' dead body; Bree gets back on the street where she is asked for a interview from Neil Stepehns, a 'reporter' who then punches Bree in the face, revealing himself to be DCAK, he leaves. Alex later suspects that Tyler Bell, the brother of Michael Bell - a murderer that Alex had killed - is DCAK. Kyle Craig then kills another girl, a maid, in his hotel in Paris. Kyle arrives in Washington and murders Judge Nina Wolff, who sentenced him to prison. Meanwhile, Sandy says she will be leaving to Michigan and gives Alex a kiss before leaving. Tracking down Bell's former house - a cabin in the woods, where Alex and Bree learn that Bell purchased milk many days before he was last seen, causing Alex to get suspicious. Alex then discovers DCAK has kidnapped Sampson; when returning to Washington, Alex finds a phone attached to his car. He is given directions to DCAK's hideout, where he is chased by a woman. After arriving at the designated destination, Alex and Bree are tied to chairs while DCAK reveals he has also pretended to be Anthony and Stephens; the woman is his sister, who has acted as Sandy. After angering DCAK, who reveals he is not Bell - since he killed Bell himself. Bree manages to escape her bounds, and shoot and kill Sandy. DCAK escapes with Alex in pursuit, this leads to a chase through a Mexican-food restaurant where Alex stabs DCAK, defeating - but not killing - him. However, Kyle Craig appears, revealing he is a so-called fan of DCAK and that Anthony, Sandy, and Mason are fans of Craig. Alex is nearly killed by Kyle when Bree shows up and shoots him, killing him. He then gets up and runs away, after attempting to shoot Bree, but purposely misses. At the hospital, Alex realizes DCAK and his sister are really Aaron and Sarah Dennison, Aaron then curses at Alex, vowing revenge, which Alex dissmisses. The book ends with Alex taking Damon to Massachusetts to go to Crushing, when Alex receives a message stating there has been a murder in Georgetown, setting up the events for Cross Country. |
Cattail Moon | Jean Thesman | null | Julia Foster gets a chance to break away from her domineering mother for a while by moving from Seattle to Moon Valley to live with her father and grandmother. While trying to decide on the course of her life, especially whether she can have a career in music despite her mother's denigration of it, she happens on a mysterious figure of an old-fashioned girl at night in the marsh by her house. And she meets Luke, a boy whose fate is tied to the girl in ways he doesn't want to explain to Julia, even though a true affection is blossoming between them. Julia must find the strength to make decisions about herself, her mother, and Luke, and investigating the mystery of the ghost of the marsh may be the way to sort things out. |
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters | Gordon Dahlquist | 2,006 | The book follows three main characters, Miss Celeste Temple, Cardinal Chang, and Dr. Abelard Svenson, as they attempt to thwart the mysterious plot of a sinister cabal. There are ten chapters in the book, and each is from the point of view of one of the main characters. Chang and Svenson get three chapters each and Miss Temple gets four (the novel both starts and ends from her point of view). |
Pioneer, Go Home! | Richard P. Powell | 1,959 | The Kwimper family of Cranberry County, New Jersey is on a vacation in Columbiana when their car runs out of gas. Somewhere along the way, the Kwimpers had made a wrong turn and ended up on an unfinished highway. While waiting for assistance to arrive they set up shacks on the side of the road to live out of. The Kwimper clan consists of Pop Kwimper who has lived his entire life off government welfare programs such as unemployment compensation and Aid to Families with Dependent Children, his happy-go-lucky son Toby Kwimper (whose "Strength is as the strength of ten because his heart is pure"), adopted identical twins Eddy and Teddy that nobody can tell apart (and whose parents "tried to beat a train to a crossing and only came out tied"), and the family baby sitter Holly Jones. When confronted by state officials and treated poorly Pop Kwimper decides that the family will settle on the side of the highway permanently. Pop learns of old squatting statutes in the state and determines that he has a legal right to occupy the land. The novel revolves around the family's comical battles with the government, as they establish their lives on the squatted land and are eventually joined by other squatters. The family also contends with social workers, their own poverty, a hurricane, and a group of gangsters that tries to squat on nearby land to run an illegal casino. Of the novel's satire, in the first edition of the novel the publisher writes: "It's possible that some readers may see woven into this comedy the theme of Little Man versus Big Government. They may also find it a study of the classic pioneering spirit and of its chances of survival in America today." |
A March into Darkness | null | 2,007 | The story tells of Prince Tristan, as he is summoned by the Heretics to join them beyond the Tolenka Mountains. It is there they promise to help him discover his destiny. To help spur the prince along they send Xanthus, a binary being (half man, half darkling), to torture the citizens of Eutracia until Tristan agrees to go. Meanwhile Serena plots her revenge against those who worship the Vigors. She personally plans to kill Tristan for the death of her husband Wulfgar and their stillborn daughter, Clarice. With the help of the Heretics, to whom she is now able to commune with, Serena sets a plan into motion that will rock the Conclave to its very core. |
Promise Me | Harlan Coben | null | It has been six years since entertainment agent Myron Bolitar last played superhero. In six years he hasn’t thrown a punch. He hasn’t held, much less fired, a gun. He hasn’t called his friend Win, still the scariest man he knows, to back him up or get him out of trouble. All that is about to change... because of a promise. The school year is almost over. Anxious families await word of college acceptances. In these last pressure-cooker months of high school, some kids will make the all-too-common and all-too-dangerous mistake of drinking and driving. But Myron is determined to help keep his friends’ children safe, and so he makes two neighborhood girls promise him: If they are ever in a bind but are afraid to call their parents, they must call him. Several nights later, the call comes at 2:00 am, and true to his word, Myron picks up one of the girls, Aimee Biel, in midtown Manhattan and drives her to a quiet cul-de-sac in New Jersey where she says her friend lives. The next day, the girl’s parents discover that their daughter is missing. And that Myron was the last person to see her. Desperate to fulfill a well-intentioned promise turned nightmarishly wrong, Myron races to find her before she’s gone forever. But his past will not be buried so easily - for trouble has always stalked him, and those he loves are the ones who suffer. Now Myron must decide once and for all who he is and what he will stand up for if he is to have any hope of saving a young girl’s life. Dr Edna Skylar is revealed as the source for the disappearance as Aimee was involved with her estranged son, Drew Van Dyne, a teacher at Aimee's school who gets her pregnant. She was trying to keep her from her strict father, Erik, who would have wanted a termination. The other missing girl, Katie Rochester, runs away from her father to be with her boyfriend Rufus but returns home. |
Igraine The Brave | Cornelia Funke | 2,007 | Igraine lives in an old castle with her family, magicians who possess powerful books of magic. Her older brother Albert is following in the family line, but Igraine plans to be a knight one day, even though she feels there is not much adventure to be had at home these days. Her ancestors, though, had warded off many attempts to steal the books of magic. On her 12th birthday, Igraine's parents give her a magical suit of armor, but in the process, they are turned into pigs by mistake. Matters get worse when the next-door Baroness's castle is taken over by Osmond the Greedy, who wants to take the magical books so he can overthrow the king. Igraine and her brother must find a way to defend the castle from Osmond's siege while keeping their parents' condition secret and searching for the missing ingredient for their restoration to human form. Albert handles the castle's magical defenses while Igraine leaves to find the missing ingredient. She finds the ingredient and some assistance, in the form of the Sorrowful Knight of the Mount of Tears, who not only agrees to help her return home but also begins teaching her about the rules of chivalry, and eventually helps Igraine and her family end the siege. |
Beginning with a Bash | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | It's a cold winter in Boston, and Peters's secondhand bookstore has a sign that says "Come in and browse -- it's warm inside". The sign attracts the attention of Martin Jones, who's not only chilly but being chased by the police because his former boss, Professor North, has accused him of stealing $50,000 from the Anthropology Society. Inside the bookstore, he meets a former teacher from his days at Meredith Academy; Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare", who had lost all his money in the stock market crash of 1929, and become the bookstore's janitor. The bookstore's new owner is a pretty young redhead of Jones's acquaintance. After the departure of a book thief and a car accident outside, Professor North's body is discovered in the religion section. Witherall and company -- which soon includes a wealthy Boston dowager, North's sassy maid Gert, and Gert's mobster boyfriend Freddy -- spend the evening tracking down clues to the murderer's identity and trying to stay out of the clutches of Freddy's rival gang. Under Witherall's supervision, the group solves the murder and forces a confession from the murderer just in time to save Jones from the police. |
The Cut Direct | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | It's a snowy day in Dalton (a New England town near Boston) and someone's trying to run over Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare". He's saved by brassy young Margie and her muscular boyfriend Cuff, but he promptly escapes them and is knocked down by another car. When he awakens, he's in the home of Bennington Brett, a former pupil, who is sitting stabbed in front of him. Witherall assembles a crew including the dead man's secretary, the lovely Miss Dallas Tring, two neighbors, Stanton Kaye and dotty housewife Mrs. Price (who owns the fatal carving knife), whose new maid is Margie. Together, the group races around Dalton in pursuit of clues and suspects, comes dangerously close to the second murder, and resolves matters by delivering the criminals to the police complete with confessions. |
Cold Steal | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | It's a winter day in Dalton (a New England town near Boston) and Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare", is returning to his new house, which he's never seen. He's inherited money from an uncle and toured the world, and left plans for his home to be built while on his travels, but now he must return home and produce the next volume of the adventures of Lieutenant Haseltine. On the train to Dalton, he meets a mousy woman named Miss Chard (known to all as Swiss Chard) and a beautiful young woman with a brown paper package and a secret. His new home proves a delight, and it includes a kitchen filled with red appliances, a library with ladders, and a garage complete with the pickaxed corpse of Medora, the crabby next-door neighbor. Leonidas assembles a gang of assistants, including dotty housewife Cassie Price and former car thief Cuff (who has reformed and joined the police force). Together, they defend Witherall's new red refrigerator against thieves, track down the missing envelope of money and bring the murderer to justice. |
The Left Leg | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | It's a winter day in Dalton (a New England town near Boston) and Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare", is stepping off a bus after having been accused of bothering a beautiful young woman in a scarlet wimple (who promptly becomes known as the Scarlet Wimpernel). He takes refuge in a hardware store run by a former student, Lincoln Potter. Potter is inclined to be helpful, until the Wimpernel's purse is discovered in Witherall's pocket and Witherall is incautious enough to admit that he saw Potter's cash register being emptied by a man in a green satin suit carrying a small harp. He heads for the home of a former teaching colleague, Marcus Meredith, and finds him murdered -- and missing his artificial left leg. Potter is enlisted by Witherall for help in solving the murder, along with intrepid housewife Topsey Beaton. Together they deceive an entire rummage sale, enlist the Scarlet Wimpernel to play a role, find the man in green satin, locate the left leg, and solve the murder. |
The Hollow Chest | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | It's Egg Day in Dalton (a New England town near Boston) and Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare", returns home from shepherding some students on an Egg Day outing to find his house ransacked, his safe open, and a beautiful blonde bound and gagged on his bed. While he's distracted by the police, she escapes. Then a wealthy neighbor asks him to run an unusual errand, promising his school an endowment if he does so -- in full evening dress, he meets the blonde on a Dalton corner and relieves her of a hollow chest that looks much heavier than it is. Moments later, he discovers a bludgeoned body in a nearby car. He enlists the assistance of plucky Luzzy Jenkins and oafish soldier Goldie to investigate, among other things, the affairs of Goldie's general, a horse named George, a blonde named George, a bank president and a young student named Threewit. Together they explain all the bizarre coincidences and solve the murder. |
File For Record | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | It's a rainy day in Dalton (a New England town near Boston) and Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare", is off to Haymaker's Department Store to retrieve his umbrella at the Lost and Found. When he enters the Lost and Found department, he's knocked unconscious and awakens in a horse-drawn bakery cart filled with French bread. While answering a call for his services as an air raid warden, he decides to call on Mr. Haymaker himself to complain, only to find Haymaker stabbed with a samurai sword. He enlists the assistance of Constance "Pink" Lately, a housewife clutching a Lady Baltimore cake, Jinx the red-headed Haymaker's elevator girl, and many of the participants in a "Victory Swap Meet" to track down an embezzler, a code thief and a murderer. |
Dead Ernest | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare", is writing the final words of the latest adventure of Lieutenant Hazeltine when his housekeeper Mrs. Mullet interrupts to offer her "candied opinion". The next interruption is two men who deliver an unwanted deep freeze and leave, followed by a blonde in an evening gown and an orchid corsage who mistakenly serenades him with "Happy Birthday". The deep freeze proves to contain the dead body of Ernest Finger, the French teacher at Meredith's Academy, which Witherall has recently inherited. Witherall musters an unlikely gang of associates, including Sonia Mullet, her boyfriend and half the Finger family, to trace the trail of the moving Finger corpse and identify the murderer. |
The Iron Clew | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare", is writing the latest adventure of Lieutenant Hazeltine when his housekeeper Mrs. Mullet interrupts to offer her "candied opinion". He then prepares to leave for a dinner to which he's been invited in his persona as a bank director, held at the home of banker Fenwick Balderston, when he notices that a brown-paper parcel of bank papers has disappeared. Upon arrival at Balderston's, he finds the banker has been bashed with a bronze bust of Shakespeare. Assisted by plucky housewife Liz Copley and gang of other assistants, Witherall races around the town of Dalton and tracks down a missing dinosaur footprint, a copy of Tamerlane, the bank documents and the murderer. |
Murder at the New York World's Fair | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | null | Mrs. Daisy Tower is 67, the widow of a former governor, and for the last year has undergone the untender attentions of her nephew Egleston and his overbearing wife Elfrida during her convalescence from pneumonia and a broken hip. That might explain why she stows away in a laundry truck headed for Boston, but it doesn't really explain how she finds herself confronting a dead body aboard the private train of art collector Conrad Cassell, en route to the New York World's Fair. She and her fellow passengers find themselves in a screwball comedy fix, set against the pageantry of opening day under the shadow of the Fair's spectacular trylon. Daisy must not only identify the corpse and the murderer, but save the Fair from destruction by a maniac—and find a way to get Egleston and Elfrida out of her hair. |
Small Favor | Jim Butcher | 2,008 | One quiet year after the events in White Night, Dresden is at the Carpenter home. He is teaching Molly, his apprentice, to create shields. While he and Molly's siblings throw snowballs at her, they are attacked by gruffs, goat-like enforcers of the Summer Court Fae. Attacking the children is just a feint. Dresden is their real target. Between Dresden’s fire magic and Charity’s nail gun, the gruffs are driven off. Dresden doesn’t know what he’s done to antagonize the Summer Court. He needs to find out and make amends before it’s the death of him. Just after midnight, Sergeant Karrin Murphy calls Dresden about a case: a building was almost completely destroyed by chaotic magic. Since he’s inches from bouncing a check, Dresden puts the gruffs on hold and accepts the consulting job. Dresden summons Toot-toot and the other fairies in the "Za-Lord's Guard." He directs them to find out who assaulted the building. Toot-toot returns in a panic, urging Dresden to run. Ducking into an alley, Dresden is startled to see Queen Mab of the Winter Court Fae. Queen Mab offers him the mantle of the Winter Knight. Dresden declines. She asks for one of the two favors that Dresden still owes her—just a small favor. She demands that he be her "Emissary." She reveals that the building he is investigating contained a panic room belonging to John Marcone, Chicago's crime lord. Dresden must protect Marcone—or die. Dresden protests that one of the conditions of their agreement is that he can choose to accept or refuse any of the favors. But, she is very persuasive. Queen Mab is the least of his worries. Three gruffs, bigger and meaner than the first ones, appear and pursue him just as Toot-toot had warned. The gruffs are armed with automatic weapons. Eventually, Dresden escapes. He cannot continue alone, so he calls for back-up. Thomas rolls up in a white, pristine Hummer. Dresden tells his half-brother about the gruffs, the wrecked building, the kidnapping, and Queen Mab. As they talk, Fix, the Summer Knight, appears, pointing a shotgun at Dresden's head. Fix warns Dresden not to become the Winter Emissary. Thomas pulls a gun on Fix. Dresden gets them to lower their guns. Then, Dresden points Thomas's gun at Fix. Fix hints that he is compelled, as the Summer Knight, to obey the exact wording of his orders. As a friendly gesture, Fix tells Dresden, "Remember the leaf Lily gave you." The gorgeous, silver leaf trinket represents a boon that the Summer Court owes Dresden. He realizes the gruffs are using it to track him. At home, Dresden magically links the leaf to his "Little Chicago" mock-up of the city. Dresden gets Mister, his cat, to bat it all over the miniature city. By leading the agents of Summer on a merry chase, Dresden hopes to buy himself some time. Dresden and Thomas go to Executive Priority Health, Marcone's exclusive fitness center and brothel. Marcone gave Dresden a VIP membership plus one, in hopes that this business would escape Dresden’s propensity to wreak havoc. Dresden requests to speak to Ms. Demeter, but he is told that she is not in. Thomas displays his remarkable strength. They will wreck the gym, if they do not see her. Dresden meets with Ms. Demeter, who is uncooperative. Torelli, another of Marcone's lieutenants, enters the room with his men to take over Ms. Demeter's business. Dresden and Thomas manhandle them. In gratitude, Ms. Demeter directs them to a safe house, where Hendricks and Ms. Gard are probably hiding. Dresden and Thomas start their search at the safe house. Ms. Demeter's guess had been correct; the safe house was occupied. Hendricks allows Dresden to speak with Miss Gard, who is severely wounded. Before they can come to any agreement, the Denarians return from Death Masks and attack. Dresden parleys with one—Mantis Girl. She insists that this is a private affair between the Denarians and Marcone. They are both signatories to the Unseelie Accords, so Dresden must stay out of it, or harm will come to him. Dresden counters, by offering to let them leave town in one piece, if they return Marcone. Mantis Girl pretends to leave to consult with her partners, but she boomerangs back to attack. Sensing her return, Dresden fends her off. Then, he, Thomas, Hendricks, and Ms. Gard escape in Thomas' newly battle-scarred Hummer. Suspecting that St. Mary of the Angels church will be watched, Dresden takes Marcone's henchmen to the Carpenter house. On the drive over, Thomas lands a bombshell. During the attack on the safe house, Thomas killed one of the Denarians and took its coin. He was wearing gloves, so he is not corrupted. Sanya, a Knight of the Cross, is stranded in Chicago by the winter storm. He offers his help. Initially, Dresden believes the Denarians want to kill Marcone, because they see him as an upstart mortal. Later, he realizes the Denarians want to recruit Marcone. Dresden sets up a talk with the Denarians. Ms. Gard had already asked him, under the terms of the Unseelie Accords, to request that the White Council file a formal objection to the abduction of one signatory by another. Dresden adopts this as a cover story. He calls Warden Captain Luccio of the White Counsel and bends the truth. He implies that Queen Mab wants the White Council to intervene. Since Mab gave the White Council the right-of-way through the Winter portions of Nevernever, Luccio cannot afford to lose one of the few advantages they've gained against the Red Court vampires. Luccio agrees to facilitate the meeting and to bring in the Archive as a neutral party. Dresden meets Murphy at McAnally's. He updates her on the case of the demolished building. He asks her to let him handle the situation. She insists that Chicago's police should be involved. Dresden gets her to back off, at least temporarily. A larger and stronger gruff enters to speak to Dresden. This older gruff is outraged that Dresden, as the Winter Emissary, burned the younger gruffs with steel. The gruff demands satisfaction. Dresden is saved when Murphy insists that she must become involved, if a gruff threatens a citizen of the city she has sworn to "protect and defend." Her threat to shoot him with steel-jacketed rounds convinces the gruff to back off and leave, at least temporarily. Dresden holds a war council to bring everyone up to speed on the Denarians. Dresden uses magic to make Thomas look like him. He gives Thomas his leather duster and staff to distract the Summer Court agents, so Dresden will be free to do some investigating. Dresden, Murphy, Molly, and Mouse return to the Carpenter’s house, where they are attacked by two of Torelli's men. Murphy is shot. Dresden shoots one in the knee and interrogates the other. Apparently, Torelli has been planning to move against Marcone for quite a while. The first gunman gets up and goes for Dresden. He's saved by Mouse's rapid counterattack. Dresden and company flee the scene as the police arrive. Thanks to her bullet-proof vest, Murphy is alive, but in serious need of medical attention at the Carpenter's. Dresden argues with Michael over his approach to the Denarians. Michael insists the Denarians must have a chance to repent, rather than killing them outright. Dresden confronts Ms. Gard privately. She must have a cache of blood and/or hair samples of Torelli and Marcone for magical security purposes. He needs these samples, so that he can find those men. When he swears by his powers that he will use only those two samples, and will not use either of them for harm, Ms. Gard agrees. The brief case with the samples is in a locker at Union Station. Dresden, Michael, and Mouse—posing as a service dog—head to Union Station. A magical darkness envelopes the Station. Dresden's magic cannot penetrate it, but Michael's sword does, partially. Under the cover of this magical darkness (myrk), thick, squat creatures called hobs pour into the station. Backed into an office with some civilians, Dresden devises a way to dispel the myrk; thereby, weakening the hobs. Using a heating spell, he activates the fire sprinkler system. The "flowing" water disrupts the magical energy maintaining the darkness. Free from the myrk, Michael's sword blazes to its full brightness. Without the protective darkness, Michael carves through the hobs with relative ease and speed. Dresden follows in his wake, but is separated from him when Big Brother Gruff arrives and attacks Dresden. Using the gruff's own mass and momentum, Dresden knocks it into a swarm of hobs. They mob the gruff, weakening it and buying Dresden some time. Dresden locates Ms. Gard's locker, but it has a powerful ward. The gruff confronts Dresden. In desperation, Dresden opens the locker, which releases the powerful ward with spectacular results. The wounded gruff admits defeat and requests a clean death. Dresden spares his life. The grateful gruff vows to stop attacking him. As the gruff leaves, he warns Dresden that the eldest brother gruff will kill Dresden. After rejoining Michael, they realize the remaining hobs are clustered at a station platform. A train bearing Ivy the Archive, her bodyguard Kincaid, and Warden Captain Luccio just arrived. The hobs' real mission is to attack the Archive. They all escape from the hobs and retreat to the safety of Dresden’s warded apartment. The Archive schedules a meeting between Dresden and Nicodemus at the Shedd Aquarium. During the negotiations, Dresden realizes it's a charade to kidnap the Archive. Dresden and Ivy team up to fight off the Denarians. Ivy’s magical abilities are formidable. Dresden uses a new magical ability, which has devastating effects on the demons. Even though they kill several Denarians, Ivy is captured. Nicodemus plans to coerce Ivy into accepting a blackened denarius. To save her, Dresden makes an offer that's too good to pass up. In exchange for the Archive, Dresden will give Nicodemus all the denarii that the Knights of the Cross have collected (11) and a Sword of the Cross. In response to Michael's outraged protest, Dresden explains they can exterminate the remaining Denarians. Thunderstruck, Michael quietly voices the dream that he could finally be a simple carpenter. Before Dresden's meeting with Nicodemus, Michael asks Dresden about his blasting rod. Dresden realizes he lost his rod after his meeting with Queen Mab, but he is not sure how or why. Dresden meets Nicodemus on a deserted island in Lake Michigan for the exchange. Nicodemus reneges on their deal. The Knights of the Cross attack Nicodemus. The Denarians flee at the sight of the swords. Dresden and Sanya free Marcone and the Archive. Ms. Gard arrives with the rescue copter, but the Denarians return and spray the copter with machine gun fire. Michael is badly injured. The damaged copter escapes as fast as possible. Dresden is abandoned on the island, hunted by the Denarians and their mercenaries. Just as the Denarian Magog is about to kill Dresden, the eldest and most formidable gruff brother appears. The Eldest Gruff claims the right to kill Dresden and obliterates the interloping Denarian. The conflicted gruff reveals that he has been compelled to attack Dresden as long as they are both on the battlefield. Dresden reveals his Summer Court token and claims a boon. Dresden demands a freshly made doughnut with white frosting and sprinkles. The gruff agrees and says the Summer Court's hunt will end, when Dresden re-enters the Chicago city limits. The honorable gruff departs to fulfill the boon. Dresden attempts to escape Rosanna’s boat. Nicodemus is waiting for him. They fight. Dresden strangles Nicodemus with the noose of Judas and makes his escape. Deirdre rescues her father, Nicodemus, and pursues Dresden. Thomas and Murphy appear in the Water Beetle rescue boat. Murphy seizes the hilt of Shiro's sword, Fidelacchius. It blazes with divine light, which blinds and drives off Deirdre. Back on shore, Dresden finds a freshly made doughnut with white frosting, sprinkles—and it's still warm. Thomas has no clue how Dresden's doughnut got in his locked Hummer. Dresden savors each bite as "pure heaven." Thomas drives him to the hospital. Michael is still in surgery. In the hospital chapel, Dresden has a heated discussion with a janitor. He explains that God has a plan for us all—complete with angelic assistance. The janitor vanishes leaving behind a worn copy of The Two Towers with a marked section. Dresden suspects the janitor is really an archangel, who has been aiding him. Queen Mab appears in the chapel. She is pleased that the Watchman has enhanced Dresden's potential. She returns his blasting rod and reveals that he would have been killed, if he had used it to rescue his friends. Dresden visits Ivy and Kincaid at Murphy's house. Later, Sanya gives Amoracchius, Michael's sword, to Dresden with the instructions to pass it on, when the time is right. Michael survived the surgery, but might not make a complete recovery—bittersweet news at best. Dresden and Anastasia Luccio end the day with a pleasant dinner and a delightful evening. |
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