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Escape to Last Man Peak | Jean D'Costa | null | At the beginning of the novel, the narrator, eleven-year-old Nellie Atkins, as well as nine other children at the Sunrise Home Orphanage (Jimmy; Pauline; Sylvia; Wuss Wuss; Gerald; Frankie; Myrna; Pet and Precious) are shocked to discover that the matron of their orphanage has died in the hospital from the pneumonia epidemic (referred to as "the sickness") that is raging through the country. Afraid that they will be made to work in a labor camp, the children are at first desolate; however they later learn that eleven-year-old Wus Wus, a shy albino boy, is the secret owner of a house and a very large plot of land on the other side of the island called Last Man Peak, where he once lived with his uncle. Gathering the remains of food, clothing and other resources that they have left, the children skulk from the orphanage before dawn the following day. They first visit their neighbor Mr. Henry, who lives about half a mile away, and he explains that his wife has died, and that he has also caught the virus. He entrusts his large Alsatian dog Bess to Jimmy with commands for her to "guard" and follow Jimmy. After a tearful goodbye, the children set off to their other remaining friend, the old Teacher Mack. Teacher Mack gives the children useful advise on how to travel, and the route they are to take, and repeatedly cautions them to avoid being seen by others. After the children leave Teacher Mack, they trudge onward through fields and forest lands, and at nightfall, sleep in an old hut deserted by the path. During the night, Nellie and Jimmy hear footsteps outside and realize that someone has seen them; however, Bess' barking chases the assailants away. The following day, the children hear the sounds of drumming and singing, and are soon approached by a group of mysterious people dressed in white robes. The group, which is really a cult that believes that sacrificing children can prevent/cure the sickness, attacks the children. While the children eventually escape, Bess is stabbed at the neck (although the wound is shallow as her collar deflected the knife's impact), and Wus Wus is injured. Later, the children face more danger when a woman begins to shoot at them with a rifle. Increasing threats of human confrontation force the group of children to forge a path along a more hilly and shrubbery terrain. Someone then notices that Bess is missing, and the group begins to contemplate whether it is safe to even continue on the journey. While resting near a ravine, Wus Wus claims he hears a baby crying, and is determined to go into the ravine to investigate. There they discover Bess, a donkey, a small boy of about seven years old, and a baby all partially submerged in a pool at the bottom of the ravine. Wus Wus acts at once, and with the help of Nellie and Pauline, saves the two children from drowning, and the group is reunited with Bess. The following day, the children are surprised to meet a friendly Rastafarian named Isaiah at Brown's Town, Saint Ann, and he, along with his neighbors Mr and Mrs Jarrett, offer the children refuge for a day. They hold a feast for the children, which the entire community attends, and they hail the children as a sign of "better things to come". On their departure the next day, Isaiah and the Jarretts give the children food and water for the next stage of their journey, and two calves as a Christmas gift. At Goodhope, a town located a few miles from Last Man Peak, the children learn that a dangerous gang, which has been looting and attacking and beating people, are living in an old abandoned hotel by the side of the road. As the group deduces, it would be dangerous to steal past the hotel, since they may be discovered and followed to as far as Last Man Peak, and would never feel safe from future attack. However, Gerald formulates a plan that he believes will ensure the group's safe passage to Last Man Peak. In the pitch dark of the night, while the Goodhope gang prepares to sleep, the older children masquerade themselves in glowing, scary outfits, and with Bess and the animals, perform a strident, eerie song and dance on the front lawn. Believing the raucous to be the work of [ghosts, the Goodhope gang flee their home in terror. The next day, on Christmas Eve, approximately two weeks after the children of Sunrise Home began their journey, they reach their destination. |
Understood Betsy | Dorothy Canfield Fisher | 1,916 | The story tells of Elizabeth Ann, a 9-year-old orphan who goes from a sheltered existence with her father's aunt Harriet and cousin Frances in the city, to living on a Vermont farm with her mother's family, the Putneys, whose child-rearing practices had always seemed suspect to Harriet and her daughter. In her new rural life, Elizabeth Ann comes to be nicknamed "Betsy," and to find that many activities that Frances had always thought too demanding for a little girl are considered, by the Putney family, routine activities for a child: walking to school alone, cooking, and having household duties to perform. The child thrives in her new environment, learning to make butter, boil maple syrup, and tend the animals. When Frances announces she is to be married and has come to "save" Elizabeth Ann from the dreaded Putney cousins, she is amazed to discover that the little girl is quite content to stay. The story ends after Frances has returned home, with Betsy, her aunt Abigail, uncle Henry, and cousin Ann sitting quietly and happily around the fireplace enjoying the knowledge they will now be a family for good. |
Olivia | Judith Perelman Rossner | null | The book opens with Caroline "Cara" Ferrante (née Sindler), a chef and popular cooking teacher, doing a screen test for a cable cooking show. Despite a messy mishap during filming, Caroline easily aces the test, having successfully entertained her audience with anecdotes about her daughter, the title character. Later, at home, she has an unpleasant encounter with her teenaged daughter who is furious that she was discussed on the show. Olivia storms off to her room, leaving her mother on the verge of tears. At this point, Caroline begins to explain her situation with her daughter. In flashback, Caroline, the daughter of two Jewish professors at Columbia University, recounts her early childhood interest in cooking. This is an interest which her academic parents discourage. Learning recipes from several of the housekeeper-cooks that the family employs, Caroline learns to speak Italian from Anna, one of the housekeepers. When Anna leaves to help her sons run a restaurant in Italy], Caroline becomes her family's cook. Caroline eventually enrolls in college, which she hates. Dissatisfied, she drops out to work as a mother's helper in Italy. She reconnects with Anna, who gives her a job at the family restaurant. It is there that she meets Angelo Ferrante, a thirty-something Sicilian who also works at the restaurant. Nineteen-year-old Caroline and Angelo begin an affair. Caroline becomes pregnant and, despite the fact that she is not in love with Angelo, marries him in a civil ceremony. She gives birth to Olivia in October of the same year. Anna dies of heart disease and Angelo begins to squabble with her sons about the menu at the restaurant. Anna's son push Caroline and Angelo out of the business. The couple then sets up a restaurant in Rome. Caroline and Angelo's marriage begins to sour. Angelo begins to cheat, even going so far as having an affair with one of the waitresses. He has also begun to turn Olivia against her mother and to belittle Caroline's Jewish heritage. After several episodes of abuse--one of them physical—Caroline decides to divorce Angelo, leaving twelve-year-old Olivia, who prefers her father, in Rome. Caroline returns to the states and begins teaching cooking classes to support herself. She regularly writes and calls Olivia who wants nothing to do with her having formed a tight bond with her father's girlfriend. Several years later, Olivia comes to the United States to live with Caroline; Angelo has broken up with his girlfriend and Olivia does not get along with Angelo's new wife. Caroline and Olivia have a tense relationship. Olivia, who shows little interest in Caroline, is moody and quick to take offense. She has also internalized her father's anti-Semitism and believes the negative stories that her father has told her about Caroline. Olivia enrolls in high school. A good student, Olivia earns high marks in school, setting her sights on Harvard University. She also gets a part-time job babysitting for Leon Klein, the doctor who lives upstairs. Caroline eventually strikes up a casual friendship with Leon and his children, preparing matzo ball soup for them and teaching the children to bake cookies. When Olivia finds out, she petulantly quits and begins ignoring the Kleins. Caroline and Leon begin to date. They decide to keep the relationship secret from their respective children until Leon officially divorces his wife who abandoned the family many years previously. At around this time, Olivia begins to date Pablo Cruz, a much older telephone company employee. Although Caroline disapproves of the age difference, she does like Pablo and makes an unsuccessful attempt to counsel Olivia about the importance of using birth control. This offends Olivia, who despite never going to church, still considers herself Catholic. Caroline's relationship with Leon intensifies; Even though Caroline is disappointed by Leon's desire not to have any more children, the two talk of marriage, even making a late night visit to the hospital for what they later discover is an unnecessary blood test. Caroline backs out of marriage plans but does move upstairs into Leon's apartment. The two then begin plans to combine the two apartments, obtaining permission from the landlord. She decides to let Pablo and Olivia live downstairs but continues to use the kitchen and office area. Caroline begins to suspect that Olivia, who is experiencing nausea, is pregnant. Olivia confirms Caroline's suspicions. Caroline convinces Olivia, who has been accepted into Harvard, that she cannot attend college in the fall if she goes through with the pregnancy. Caroline then calls the doctor and makes an appointment for a gynecological exam. She also promises to arrange an abortion for Olivia who claims not to want a baby. Olivia talks things over with Pablo who convinces her that it is a sin to terminate a pregnancy. The two run off to Florida and get married in a civil ceremony. When they return, they announce their intention to marry in the Catholic Church in order to please Pablo's family. The newly married couple asks Caroline to cater the event for them. Realizing that Olivia will never have the abortion, Caroline reluctantly agrees. This enrages Leon who feels that Caroline's decision to go along with Olivia's plans is a "cop out." This creates tension between the two; Leon correctly guesses that Caroline is not pushing Olivia to abort because she secretly wishes to become the baby's primary caretaker. He reiterates his desire not to have any more children in his care. After Olivia and Pablo's wedding, Caroline and Leon get married as well, serving kosher food at their ceremony. Olivia gives birth to a girl soon after. Olivia sinks into a deep post-partum depression completely ignoring the baby and taking little interest in anything that goes on around her. After Pablo and Caroline discover Olivia curled up in the cradle one night, they send her to psychiatrist who prescribes anti-depressants. Olivia slowly recovers but never takes much of an interest in her daughter, Donna. The work of caring for the baby falls on Pablo, whose relationship with Olivia begins to fray, and Caroline, who has quit her cooking show. Even Leon develops a fondness for Donna Olivia and Caroline settle into a reasonably friendly relationship. At the end of the novel, Olivia, who intends to enroll in college, who had always claimed to have few positive memories of her mother, spontaneously recounts the times where they walked through the streets of Rome together looking at the statues and visiting the tourist areas. She then holds Donna in her lap. |
Secrets | Jacqueline Wilson | 2,002 | Treasure lives with her mother and her abusive stepfather, Terry, whom she hates very much. When Terry whips Treasure with his belt, scarring her forehead, her grandmother Rita puts her foot down and takes Treasure in herself, although she still has nightmares that Terry is coming to get her. India lives in the upper-class Parkfield estate with her parents and her au pair, miserable Wanda. Her father is a businessman with a terrible drinking problem, and her mother, Moya Upton is a controlling fashion designer who finds India's weight problem particularly embarrassing. India is unpopular at school and her only friend now goes to boarding school. Her only source of comfort is rereading The Diary of Anne Frank, whom she considers her heroine. One day, after Wanda fails to collect her from school, India decides to walk home. While passing through the Latimer Estate she meets Treasure, and the two hit it off instantly. India is very taken with Treasure's charismatic family, and Treasure is impressed by India's posh lifestyle. Their friendship proves to be the bright spot in both of their lives, as India begins to suspect that her dad is having an affair with Wanda and Treasure receives a phone call from her mum and Terry, telling her that they are coming to take her home. To protect Treasure, Rita sends her granddaughter and the other kids out of the flat until the coast is clear. However, Treasure is spotted by Terry and has to run away where he can't find her - to India's house. India takes advantage of her family's inattention to hide her friend away in her attic, where she can live "like Anne Frank". She lends the book to Treasure, who begins to idolize Anne as well. Meanwhile, word has spread around the Latimer Estate that Treasure has been abducted. Her mother and stepfather broadcast an appeal on the news, and her neighbour's son, "Mumbly" Michael Watkins, is accused of kidnapping her. Treasure is horrified and wants to go home, knowing that her Nan is worried about her, but India does her best to convince her to stay where she is safe, all the while coping with her own problems, including her father's alcoholism and the fact that Wanda may be pregnant. When Nan shows up at India's school, demanding to know where Treasure is, India has no choice but to reveal their secret. Her mother is horrified, and scolds her, which results in India revealing Wanda's secret too, out of spite. After Nan promises to keep India's involvement in the incident quiet, and takes Treasure home, Treasure tells her Nan that she is going to tell everyone the truth about Terry. Her revelation on the news leads to a custody battle between her parents and her grandmother, which Rita eventually wins with the aid of a campaign.Treasure's mum declares that she doesen't want Treasure anymore because she told the truth about terry but they hug each other and Treasure sets out into her new life with Rita. In the last chapter, India discloses that her parents are getting a divorce after her father narrowly escaped arrest for embezzlement; Wanda was sent back to Australia, allegedly after terminating the pregnancy; and India is in love with her new therapist, Chris, who has encouraged her to pursue a career in psychology. Treasure, meanwhile, is still her best friend: she is now working as a model for India's mum (Moya Upton, the clothes designer), who takes them on a photoshoot to Amsterdam at the end of the story, complete of course with a visit to Anne Frank's attic. The sight of the book makes both girls cry; although they cannot read Dutch, India states that it wasn't necessary as "we both know it by heart". |
Genius Wars | Catherine Jinks | 2,009 | After abandoning a life full of deception and mistrust, fifteen-year-old Cadel has finally found his niche. He has a proper home, good friends, and loving parents. He's even been studying at a real university. But he's still not safe from Prosper English, who's now a fugitive from justice and determined to smash everything that Cadel has struggled to build. When Cadel's nearest and dearest are threatened, he must launch an all-out attack on the man he once viewed as his father. Can Cadel track down Prosper before it's too late? And what rules will he have to break in the process? |
Spaceship Medic | Harry Harrison | null | On a routine trip to Mars, the passenger liner Johannes Kepler is hit by a meteorite, killing the captain and almost all the senior members of the crew and resulting in the loss of much of the ship's breathable air. Lieutenant Donald Chase, a junior medical officer, finds himself the highest-ranked surviving crew member and has to take over the running of the ship. He is helped by Chief Petty Officer Kurikka, who is familiar with the technical aspects; the Mexican scientist Dr Ugalde, a passenger whose mathematical genius enables the new crew to navigate the ship; and various others. Chase solves the air shortage by using the oxygen content of some of the ship's water. Once the situation has stabilised, a passenger, General Mathew Briggs, who had criticised Chase's methods, overthrows him by force with the apparent help of Ugalde. However, it turns out that Ugalde had only pretended to shift his loyalties and Briggs is faced down by Kurikka, defeated and imprisoned. The ship's occupants are also struck by a deadly plague carried by the meteorite, but Chase and his medical colleagues eventually find a cure, although Chase collapses from disease and exhaustion. Recovering in hospital after the ship has docked safely, he is presented with a captain's cap by his crew. |
The Glass Bees | Ernst Jünger | null | Out-of-work former cavalryman and tank inspector Captain Richard is offered a job interview with a "catch" by a former comrade, Twinnings: namely, he suggests a morally questionable position with Giacomo Zapparoni, whose firm builds advanced robots; occasionally one of his engineers deserts, and he needs a man to "take care of" the problem to protect company secrets. At this point a reluctant Richard offers the first of many essayistic narrative asides, as he outlines the social magnitude of Zapparoni's creations, and the first of many autobiographical flashbacks, recounting his days in Military Academy under the guidance of his strict yet caring instructor, Monteron. Two days later, while nervously awaiting Zapparoni, Richard notices how Zapparoni's modest house appears strangely old-fashioned for a man who made his vast fortune in robotics. This tension between new and old prompts Richard to nostalgically reflect upon the historic demise of cavalry, supplanted by mechanized modern warfare. The suicide of his comrade Lorenz, who refused to adapt to the vertiginous pace of technological, social change, figures prominently in his reflection; for Richard, Lorenz's death exemplifies the fate of those who cannot “find firm ground under [their] feet in the present.” Richard's ruminations then turn inward, as he narrates his own lack of worldly success and his negative evaluations by superiors as an "outsider with defeatist inclinations." When the elderly Zapparoni finally makes his entrance, Richard senses his latent power, remarking that there is more to him than his intelligence. In a narrative aside prompted by a question from Zapparoni, Richard contrasts his former comrades Fillmor, Lorenz, and Twinnings. Unlike either Lorenz and Twinnings, Fillmor, now a successful high officer, is driven entirely by ambition, yet totally lacks imagination. So when Zapparoni asks Richard for his opinion on Fillmor’s memoir, Richard is unsure how to respond. Over the course of a tactical conversation, Zapparoni begins with familiar territory for Richard, namely war, yet is quickly able to master the discussion, forcing Richard into contortions and self-contradictions. Zapparoni then announces that he has other matters to attend to, and asks Richard to wait for him in the garden, warning him to beware of the bees. Out in the garden Richard, through a pair of sophisticated binoculars, discovers the glass bees. Watching them, he observes how these robotic bees are much more efficient at gathering nectar than real bees, and marvels at their construction. As he watches the bees, he notices a pond filled with severed ears. Richard briefly considers contacting the police but realizes that the powerful Zapparoni could easily frame him. Richard's predicament spurs a childhood reminiscence about Atje Hanebut, "chief" of Richard's neighborhood gang. One day, Atje has them savagely beat a member of a rival gang. Richard tries to stop Atje, calling his attention to the boy's bleeding nose, for which Atje has the boys beat Richard, after which they flee. The rival gang then finds Richard, beating him further in retaliation. Finally at home, Richard is beaten once more, this time by his father. Leaving the garden, Richard encounters Zapparoni, who reveals that the ears had been severed from humanoid robots, and were a test that Richard has unfortunately failed. Zapparoni then surprises Richard by offering him a different job requiring sharp moral discrimination, which Richard accepts. On the way home, Richard buys Teresa a red dress, they go out for dinner, and Richard begins to forget the events in Zapparoni’s garden. |
War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage | Lawrence H. Keeley | 1,996 | Keeley conducts an investigation of the archaeological evidence for prehistoric violence, including murder and massacre as well as war. He also looks at nonstate societies of more recent times — where we can name the tribes and peoples — and their propensity for warfare. It has long been known, for example, that many tribes of South America's tropical forest engaged in frequent and horrific warfare, but some scholars have attributed their addiction to violence to baneful Western influences. Keeley says peaceful societies are an exception. About 90-95% of known societies engage in war. Those that did not are almost universally either isolated nomadic groups (for whom flight is an option), groups of defeated refugees, or small enclaves under the protection of a larger modern state. The attrition rate of numerous close-quarter clashes, which characterize warfare in tribal warrior society, produces casualty rates of up to 60%, compared to 1% of the combatants as is typical in modern warfare. Despite the undeniable carnage and effectiveness of modern warfare, the evidence shows that tribal warfare is on average 20 times more deadly than 20th century warfare, whether calculated as a percentage of total deaths due to war or as average deaths per year from war as a percentage of the total population. "Had the same casualty rate been suffered by the population of the twentieth century," writes Nicholas Wade, "its war deaths would have totaled two billion people." In modern tribal societies, death rates from war are four to six times the highest death rates in 20th century Germany or Russia. One half of the people found in a Nubian cemetery dating to as early as 12,000 years ago had died of violence. The Yellowknives tribe in Canada was effectively obliterated by massacres committed by Dogrib Indians, and disappeared from history shortly thereafter. Similar massacres occurred among the Eskimos, the Crow Indians, and countless others. These mass killings occurred well before any contact with the West. In Arnhem Land in northern Australia, a study of warfare among the Indigenous Australian Murngin people in the late-19th century found that over a 20-year period no less than 200 out of 800 men, or 25% of all adult males, had been killed in intertribal warfare. The accounts of missionaries to the area in the borderlands between Brazil and Venezuela have recounted constant infighting in the Yanomami tribes for women or prestige, and evidence of continuous warfare for the enslavement of neighboring tribes such as the Macu before the arrival of European settlers and government. More than a third of the Yanomamo males, on average, died from warfare. According to Keeley, among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, only 13% did not engage in wars with their neighbors at least once per year. The natives' pre-Columbian ancient practice of using human scalps as trophies is well documented. Iroquois routinely slowly tortured to death and cannibalized captured enemy warriors. See Captives in American Indian Wars. In some regions of the American Southwest, the violent destruction of prehistoric settlements is well documented and during some periods was even common. For example, the large pueblo at Sand Canyon in Colorado, although protected by a defensive wall, was almost entirely burned; artifacts in the rooms had been deliberately smashed; and bodies of some victims were left lying on the floors. After this catastrophe in the late thirteenth century, the pueblo was never reoccupied. For example, at Crow Creek in South Dakota, archaeologists found a mass grave containing the remains of more than 500 men, women, and children who had been slaughtered, scalped, and mutilated during an attack on their village a century and a half before Columbus's arrival (ca. A.D. 1325). The Crow Creek massacre seems to have occurred just when the village's fortifications were being rebuilt. All the houses were burned, and most of the inhabitants were murdered. This death toll represented more than 60% of the village's population, estimated from the number of houses to have been about 800. The survivors appear to have been primarily young women, as their skeletons are underrepresented among the bones; if so, they were probably taken away as captives. Certainly, the site was deserted for some time after the attack because the bodies evidently remained exposed to scavenging animals for a few weeks before burial. In other words, this whole village was annihilated in a single attack and never reoccupied. He makes three conclusions which the New York Times considers unexpected: *that the most important part of any society, even the most war-like ones, are the peaceful aspects such as art *that neither frequency nor intensity of war is correlated with population density *that societies frequently trading with one another fight more wars with one another |
Kept in the Dark | Anthony Trollope | null | The plot is a simple one - Cecilia Holt ends her engagement to Sir Francis Geraldine because of his indifference to her; she goes abroad and meets Mr George Western, who has been jilted by a beautiful girl. They marry, but she does not tell him she has been previously engaged, although he has told her his story. When Western is informed of the previous engagement by Sir Francis, he leaves his wife and goes abroad; Cecilia returns to Exeter to live with her mother. Her sister-in-law in the end effects a reconciliation. There is a comic sub-plot, as so often with Trollope, involving one of Cecilia's friends who attempts to marry Sir Francis. The novel is principally about duty and truth in marriage, and the relationship of a couple to society. |
Starclimber | Kenneth Oppel | 2,008 | Matt Cruse is piloting an aerocrane for the France's Celestial Tower where he narrowly survives a terrorist attack by the Babelites, a group of people who are opposed to humans reaching the heavens. After the incident, he meets with Kate de Vries, and is saddened to hear that Kate will soon return to Lionsgate City. Canada's Minister of Air wants Canadians to be the first in space, and invites Kate to join the expedition as an expert in aerial zoology, while Matt is offered a chance to become one of the world's first astralnauts on board the Starclimber. Matt decides to visit his mother and sisters. While he is there, he accepts a party invitation sent by Mr. and Mrs. de Vries. During the party, Matt is informed that Kate's parents will probably marry Kate to James Sanderson. Upon hearing this, Matt seeks out Mr. Sanderson during the party. Matt is enrolled in the astralnaut program and becomes friends with fellow astralnaut trainee Tobias Blanchard. Three people are chosen to be the first astralnauts, but Matt is not amongst them. When he leaves the room, Kate follows him to try and cheer him up. When she takes his hands, Matt finds an engagement ring on her finger. Matt leaves, heartbroken, and goes to a bar with the rest of the rejected astralnauts-in-training. The other astralnauts tell him that he deserved to be chosen. The next morning, Captain Walken tells him that one of the men they chose broke his leg, and offers Matt a spot on the space trip as a replacement. Matt accepts, even though the thought of seeing Kate again is painful. On the day of the Starclimber's maiden voyage, the complete crew is assembled: astralnauts Chuck Sheperd, Tobias Blanchard, and Matt Cruse; photographer and journalist Evelyn Karr with her pet monkey Haiku; zoologists Kate de Vries and Sir Hugh Snuffler; along with Chef Vlad Herzog, Captain Samuel Walken, and Dr. Sergei Turgenev. They board an airship and are brought to the Starclimber's launch site. During the trip, Kate apologizes to Matt, telling him that the engagement was just a way to obtain her parents' consent to go on the space trip, and that she will break it off when she returns home. Matt is not comforted, especially when Kate tells him that they must be careful about whatever suspicions the crew members have about their relationship. The Starclimber is revealed to be an orbital elevator-type cabin, rather than an actual "ship", and climbs on a cable that is held up by a rocket that acts as the counterweight. When the crew is at zero gravity, Tobias is chosen to be the first man in space. He is enthralled by the endless vista of space in front of him and threatens to unclip his harness, provoking Matt to rescue Tobias. That evening, they discover a problem in the cable that endangers the crew. They quickly come to the conclusion that the rocket that pulled the cable up did not reach the proper altitude because of a blown fuse. The team successfully relaunches the rocket, and Matt rescues Captain Walken along the way. Later on, they discover a new creature -which Kate names "etherian"- a limbless creature having baleen that moves by ejecting bursts of air from various holes in its body and emanates light like a firefly. During the journey, Matt discovers a letter from James Sanderson to Kate, leading him to believe that Kate really is preparing to marry James. That night, he tells Tobias his feelings for Kate, hoping that he can help him with his troubles. Tobias suggests that Matt propose to Kate. When he does, Kate attempts to change the subject, only to provoke Matt to claim that she is deceiving him about breaking off her engagement with James Sanderson. A few days after Matt's failed proposal, the Starclimber is homebound. However, unexpected astral barnacles are discovered on the cable. While Matt and Shepherd attempt to clear the barnacles away, the cable snaps, Shepherd is killed, and the Starclimber is left drifting in space with no way to return to the surface. The remaining members of Starclimber are left in orbit around the earth when Matt develops a crude but brilliant brainstorm using an emergency oxygen tank as a propellant and using the toilets' flush mechanisms as maneuvering jets, giving the crew only one chance to reenter the atmosphere. The beginning launch is successful, but Captain Walken is knocked unconscious, and Matt and Tobias are left as the only members of Starclimber's crew who are able to pilot her. Together with Kate and Dr. Turgenev, the four manage to guide the Starclimber into the first stage of reentry. While they are falling, Kate throws away her engagement ring and confesses her love for Matt. However, Dr. Turgenev reveals that everyone already knew, adding that it was "painfully obvious". The Starclimber, after a turbulent fall, successfully lands in Cairo. Kate receives a telegram from her mother, saying that James Sanderson had eloped with another woman. Once Kate and Matt are alone, she apologizes to him. Matt then proposes to her again, using Sanderson's engagement ring, and she accepts, though they both know that getting Kate's parents' consent will be difficult. |
The Thing About Jane Spring | null | 2,005 | The plot of the novel revolves around the title character Jane Spring, an attractive and intelligent 31-year-old Manhattan assistant district attorney and West Point general's daughter who grew up without a female role model and struggles to understand why she fails to 'keep' men in a relationship. Spring is described as "militaristic", "no-nonsense", "aggressive", "abrasive", "caustic" and "tomboyish", and a "domineering hellion ... who makes old ladies cry on the stand and men run for the hills". A review in The Age characterizes Spring as the antithesis of Helen Fielding's fictional character Bridget Jones. A military brat, she prioritizes discipline and motivation and disdains 'civilians' who lack these qualities. A series of events, including overhearing her colleagues' thoughts about her and seeing a Doris Day marathon, ultimately give way to an epiphany and prompt her to reevaluate her approach and undergo a transformation to "get in touch with her feminine side". |
Dolly West's Kitchen | Frank McGuinness | null | The play is set in 1943 during the second world war in the small town of Buncrana, on the border with Derry, Northern Ireland during the Emergency. Dolly West is home after fleeing Italy before the war. She runs the household for her elderly mother Rima, her elder sister Esther and her younger brother Justin. Also living in the house is Esther's husband Ned and the housemaid Anna. Justin, a junior Officer in the Irish army is deeply nationalistic and in favour of Irish neutrality. But questions are asked of the neutrality of both Ireland and the house, when three foreigners are invited across the border into the house by Rima. The first is Alec, an English officer, and former lover of Dolly's. The other two are American soldiers, Marco and Jamie. Soon clashes over issues of loyalty, jealousy, sexual identity and love creep into Dolly West's Kitchen. |
Tom Swift and His War Tank | Victor Appleton | 1,918 | When the United States joins in The Great War, it seems that everyone has war fever. A military base close to Shopton is training soldiers in the art of trench warfare, while pilots are learning aerial combat. Ned Newton has quit his job to sell liberty bonds full-time. Many of the young men have enlisted, or even hoping for the draft. Everyone seems to be doing their bit, except for Tom Swift, which raises many concerns that Tom is a slacker. Tom does not let his country down; the reason he appears to be idle is that he has secretly been developing a new tank for use in combat. The project is so secret that Tom does not even let his close friends know, which causes the concerns being raised about Tom's patriotism. Even though the development is in secret, that does not stop German nationals from trying to steal his tank. |
The Bourne Sanction | Eric Van Lustbader | 2,008 | At the beginning of the book, Bourne is at Georgetown University talking with Moira Trevor. Moira Trevor wants Bourne to be the head of security at their new liquid natural gas terminal in Long Beach, California. Meanwhile, Veronica Hart, a woman determined to get the DCI job, is on her way to the Oval Office to meet with the President of the United States, Luther LaValle (pentagon intelligence czar), and Army General Richard P. Kendall. Whilst at a restaurant with Moira, Bourne senses somebody watching him. He has Moira surruptitiously call him on his phone, leaves the restaurant and waits for his enemy to appear. That failing, Bourne goes back into the restaurant to join Moira. He gradually realizes that it is Moira who is the one being followed. Luther LaValle, Rob Batt and General Kendall are hatching a conspiracy amongst their little triumvirate to get Veronica Hart sacked. They want her out of her job as soon as possible. When Bourne and Specter meet in a library, Specter tells Bourne of Pyotr Zilber and his death. Zilber, it is revealed, was a former student of Specter's at Georgetown University. Specter reveals to Bourne that he is a terrorist hunter as well as an academic and would like Jason to go after Semion Icoupov. In Europe, Jason's investigation into the Black Legion turns into one of the deadliest and most tangled operations of his double life: the pursuit of the leader of a murderous terrorist group with roots in the darkest days of World War II. During all of this Leonid Arkadin, who is just as talented as, but even more damaged than Bourne, is getting closer by the minute. While Bourne thinks he is getting closer to Arkadin, Arkadin thinks he's getting closer to Bourne. Bourne goes to Moscow using information provided by Professor Specter. He is followed by many people sent in pursuit of him because of intercepted information. Bourne checks in to the Metrtopolya Hotel with a girl named Gala. His arrival is expected by many. The taxi driver, Yakov, is paid by a man named Harris Low to drop him off at the hotel. Yakov is a poor man with an unpleasant past who does what he must to survive. Meanwhile in the hotel, Bourne wrestles with and garottes a phony waiter (agent Anthony Prowess) after dodging his blade. As he exits the room he finds a blood trail that leads to the closet where Prowess had executed a man also sent to trail Bourne. Meanwhile, Soraya and Tyrone are meeting with Luther LaValle and General Kendall. Tyrone and Soraya are to meet with them because LaValle and Kendall believe they are getting intel on the Black Legion. Tyrone wanders off to finish what he, Soraya and a woman named Kiki are there for. He gets caught and is thrown into a cell. LaValle and Kendall leave Tyrone's life up to Soraya. She must trade Hart for Tyrone. But what LaValle did not know was that Hart was gathering intel that Rob Batt has been gathering ever since he was fired for being a mole. In Moscow, Bourne meets with Dimitri Maslow, who vaguely tells him about Arkadin's life. After the meeting Bourne calls Specter. Specter reveals that Pyotr Zilber was his son and a member of the Black Legion. Bourne knows what Arkadin is capable of doing and is going to go after Specter's last man, Kirsch. Later on when Bourne is in a museum in Munich he leaves Kirsch behind a statue. When he returns he finds him lying there with a bullet through his head. He meets Jens, one of the men Specter sent to give his apartment to Bourne. The pair leaves the building and Semion Icoupov rides up and shoots Jens point blank outside the museum. Escaping the mayhem in the State Museum in Sheremetyevo, Bourne and Petra, a security guard paid to shoot Kirsch, visit Herr Pelz, an older man that Petra knew when she was a child. He helped her in Dachau, where she grew up. "Old" Pelz tells Bourne more information about the Black Legion. Bourne shows Pelz a picture and asks him if he can identify the people in it. Pointing to the picture of Professor Specter he says "Damn, I'd swear this one is Asher Sever." He told Bourne that Sever's dad, Ibrahim, killed Semion Icoupov's father. For that Icupouv executed Ibrahim. The brothers hated each other and wanted the other one killed. After being dropped of at Kirsch's apartment by Petra, Bourne finds a tiny transmitter planted on his passport. The door bells rings and it is Semion Icoupov. A couple of minutes later Arkadin blasts through the window with Devra coming in the back way and armed as well. Icoupov shoots Devra in the chest, but she then manages to shoot him in the shoulder, and he runs out of the house escaping to a rooftop. Arkadin then catches up with Server and Icoupov in their Mercedes and executes them in cold blood with a SIG Sauer Mosquito. Bourne jumps out a helicopter onto the 'Moon of Hormuz' (the tanker), following Arkadin. Bourne and Arkadin team up (or at least Bourne thinks so) to find Sever's man on board with the Black Legion symbol. Once Moira kills the doctor---Sever's man---Bourne comes down in the lower room because the captain told him that she was down there. As he comes up Arkadin lunges at him with a knife aiming at Bourne's stomach. After a long fight, Arkadain goes overboard with a twelve story drop, plunging into the frigid water below. Back at the hospital where Asher Sever (who we find out is Dominic Specter) is on life support, Bourne meets Willard, the chef at the NSA Safe House. There Willard tells him that Arkadin was a member of Treadstone. Conklin knew Icoupov and they agreed it would be good to train Arkadin because he had the drive and nothing to lose. In the end, however, Jason Bourne was the superior asset. fr:Le Danger dans la peau |
The Dark Fields | null | 2,003 | Eddie Spinola is a copywriter at a small publishing house in New York City. He starts using MDT-48, a fictional experimental drug granting heightened intellectual, creative, and learning powers, and enabling its user to see meaningful patterns in large amounts of disparate information. However, he experiences drug dependence and mental instability. On the run from police and creditors, facing death due to withdrawal from the drug, which he can no longer afford, his new career in high finance cut short by his increasingly erratic behavior, Eddie notices the President on television and recognizes the "alert, gorged MDT expression in his eyes." |
Phantasmagoria | Lewis Carroll | null | "Phantasmagoria" is a narrative discussion written in seven cantos between a ghost (a Phantom) and a man named Tibbets. Carroll portrays the ghost as not so different from human beings: although ghosts may jibber and jangle their chains, they, like us, simply have a job to do and that job is to haunt. Just as in our society, in ghost society there is a hierarchy, and ghosts are answerable to the King (who must be addressed as “Your Royal Whiteness”) if they disregard the "Maxims of Behaviour”. Ghosts, our Phantom tells the narrator, fear the same things that we often fear, only sometimes in the reverse: : “Allow me to remark : That ghosts has just as good a right, : In every way to fear the light, : As men to fear the dark.” |
Who's on First | William F. Buckley, Jr. | null | CIA agent Blackford Oakes is sent to Hungary amid an anti-Soviet uprising. |
Marco Polo, if You Can | William F. Buckley, Jr. | null | CIA agent Blackford Oakes is shot down in a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union in 1958. |
The Story of Henri Tod | William F. Buckley, Jr. | null | CIA agent Blackford Oakes is sent to West Berlin East Germany in 1961, during the time leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall. Henri Tod is a German Jew who during WWII is sent to England to prevent his conscription into the army. After the war he returns to Germany and becomes Germany's leading Freedom fighter. Henri Tod carries a burden of guilt because while in England he told someone of his sister who was still hiding on a farm in Germany. This information gets back to the Death Squads who kill the foster parents and send his sister, Clementa, to the death camps. His sister is rescued from Auschwitz at the last minute by the Soviet armies, but after the war becomes a pawn in an East Block effort to secure Tod's capture. Thrown into this mix of lively characters is a curious East German couple that play crucial roles in the tableau. Of historical interest is their secret meeting place, a relic German railcar, that once belonged to Adolf Hitler. And, of course there's Blackford Oakes. Oakes's mission is to infiltrate the Bruderschaft (Tod's organization) in an effort to learn of its intentions. All this occurs, of course, during the days leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall. |
See You Later, Alligator | William F. Buckley, Jr. | null | CIA agent Blackford Oakes is sent to Cuba to meet with Che Guevara, attempting to ease tension following the events surrounding the Bay of Pigs Invasion in the 1960s. |
High Jinx | William F. Buckley, Jr. | null | CIA agent Blackford Oakes is sent inside the Soviet Union to monitor an internal power struggle within the Kremlin in 1954. |
Mongoose R.I.P. | William F. Buckley, Jr. | null | CIA agent Blackford Oakes is sent to Cuba to determine the feasibility of overthrowing Fidel Castro, following the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963. |
Tucker's Last Stand | William F. Buckley, Jr. | null | CIA agent Blackford Oakes is sent to Vietnam in 1964 to assist in cutting off supply lines to the Viet Cong. |
A Very Private Plot | null | null | In early 1995, CIA agent Blackford Oakes is called to testify before the United States Congress regarding a suspected plot to assassinate Mikhail Gorbachev. |
Last Call for Blackford Oakes | null | null | CIA agent Blackford Oakes confronts Kim Philby, a spy for the Soviet Union, in 1987. |
The Bell | Iris Murdoch | null | Dora Greenfield leaves her husband Paul Greenfield at the start of the novel, but realises that she is more afraid of him when she is away from him than when they are together, so agrees to return to him. During this time Paul has temporarily moved to Imber Abbey, Gloucestershire to work on some 14th century manuscripts. Dora takes a train to Imber, and on her way she sees Toby Gashe (who is going to stay at the community before he goes to Oxford) and James Tayper Pace (a member of the community), but does not realise who they are. During the train journey Dora spots a butterfly crawling along the carriage and picks it up to avoid it being crushed. On the station Paul is waiting for Dora where she is introduced to Toby and James. During this conversation Dora releases the butterfly and they all watch it fly away. Dora, distracted with rescuing the butterfly, leaves the suitcases on the train. Paul then drives them all to Imber where Dora is introduced to Mrs Mark, Michael Meade, Mark, Catherine, Peter Topglass and Patchway. They all attend a small service during which Dora leaves to explore the lake. While doing this she throws her shoes off and forgets where she put them. Shortly afterwards Toby and James volunteer to find them, Toby being the successful person. During that evening Paul tells Dora the legend of the bell and how a nun had a lover but she wouldn't confess when called to do so. Because of this a bishop put a curse on the abbey; the bell then plummeted into the lake. At the same time James and Michael discuss where Toby should stay during his time at Imber. James reluctantly agrees with Michael that Toby should stay with Nick Fawley (Catherine's brother) to keep him company and keep an eye on him as he has threatened suicide in the past. Michael first knew Nick when he was a fourteen-year-old schoolboy. Michael had to leave his position as a teacher after Nick, who was sixteen at the time, told the Headmaster about the sexual relationship they had. Dora has a tour of the grounds with Mrs Mark, before returning to the station to collect her luggage. Dora then visits the White Lion pub, again forgetting her luggage, and returns to Imber. Michael takes her back up to the house, and on the journey back they see Toby naked by the lake. The scene is described to us as though it were the garden of Eden. Michael is woken by a nightmare which is repeated later on in the book. A meeting is held to discuss important issues such as the arrival of the new Bell. During chapter seven we learn of Michael's past homosexual relationships. We then discover that he used to be a Schoolmaster and had a relationship with Nick Fawley. Nick eventually told the headmaster what happened, ending Michael's dream of wanting to become a priest. Despite this we still get the impression that Michael is still partly in love with Nick. In this chapter, when Dora expresses her disbelief at Catherine wanting to join a convent, she tells her that often the best things in life are things "one doesn't choose", which Dora interprets as her being forced to become a nun. Toby decides to explore a new part of the lake and discovers the old bell at the bottom of the lake and decides that he will come back at another time to see it in greater detail. Michael then takes Toby with him to go and collect the mechanical cultivator, which is being held for them in Swindon. On the way back they stop at the pub where Michael gets slightly drunk. During the drive back to Imber Michael feels a great deal of responsibility and tenderness towards Toby. When they reach Imber Toby wants to see if human eyes reflect car headlights, but as he reaches the car Michael leans out of the window and kisses Toby. Just after this has happened Nick walks up to see what's going on, before Michael swiftly retreats back to the house, worrying if Nick saw what happened. During the next few days both Michael and Toby are very confused and upset and avoid speaking with each other. Michael then decides to apologise to Toby who in turn agrees to bury the matter. During which time, Toby decides to enter the abbey; however he is caught by two nuns who politely show him where the exit is. In the next chapter Dora decides she will go to London to show Paul that she is an independent woman, and visit Noel Spens. Dora and Noel talk about the events of Imber before they both end up dancing together. Dora then leaves Noel to visit the National Gallery where she seems to have a religious experience when admiring the paintings that have become so familiar to her. Dora then decides to return to Imber but when she returns the community are listening to a Bach recital. Toby sees her outside and comes to join her. Toby then shows Dora the bell who decides that they should bring it to the surface and substitute it for the new bell during the ceremony in an attempt to trick the community that a miracle has happened. Michael preaches his sermon before going to see Nick who is fixing the lorry. The conversation between them is awkward on Michael's behalf as Nick appears to be mocking him. We also get our first inkling that Catherine is in love with Michael. Toby and Dora meet to haul the bell out of the lake. Toby successfully does this by using the tractor, and drags it into a nearby barn. Toby then embraces Dora and starts to kiss her before they roll into the bell making it ring. Michael is awakened by the noise and goes outside to see what is going on. He meets Paul who is looking for Dora and both go to Nick, who tells Michael that he saw them kissing in the woods. Noel turns up to Dora's horror intent on doing a report on the new bell shortly followed by the bishop. A small ceremony is held for the community during which Dora breaks out into uncontrollable laughter and drops a note, addressed to Toby which Noel picks up. Nick stops Toby leaving the house and a short scuffle breaks out, after which Nick explains that he knows what Toby has been doing and that he must confess it all to James. The day of the ceremony arrives and goes badly. The bell ends up falling into the lake as Nick has sawed through part of the causeway, perhaps to stop his sister entering the abbey. Catherine then runs off pursued by Dora. Catherine tries to drown herself and Dora tries to save her but cannot swim, and both end up being rescued. The Straffords then take Catherine off to a clinic in London. James tells Michael that Toby confessed what went on between them and that he has sent Toby home. Michael says he will step down from Imber. After this conversation takes place they are alerted to Nick's house where it has soon become apparent that he has shot himself. The community soon breaks apart until Dora and Michael are the only two remaining. They get on well and Dora decides she will not return to Paul but instead will go and stay with her friend Sally. Michael then leaves, making Dora the last person at Imber. |
Dead Cert | Dick Francis | 1,962 | Admiral should have won his race at Maidenhead, but an unexpected fall gave jockey Alan York and his mount the win instead. But Alan recognized sabotage when he saw it, and was not about to let a murderous act go unpunished, even if it meant risking his own life to bring his friend's killers to justice. |
Turn Coat | Jim Butcher | 2,009 | Nearly a year and a half after the events in Small Favor, Dresden's nemesis, Warden Morgan, shows up and asks for protection from the other Wardens. Morgan remembers going to sleep two days ago, waking up in Edinburgh today, and standing over LaFortier’s corpse with the murder weapon in hand. Dresden and Morgan agree that someone may be eliminating wizards who have hindered their schemes. When asked about pursuit, Morgan reveals he was given a favor by the Summer Queen which he exchanged to muddle the tracking spells of the Council. The faerie spell masking Morgan from the Wardens will expire in about 48 hours. While obtaining supplies, Dresden spots a naagloshii, a 'skinwalker' following him using his Sight. The psychic trauma of seeing incapacitates Dresden, who crashes his car. After Dresden recovers, he enlists the Alphas to help investigate the naagloshii, which ambushes them, killing one of the Alphas and putting another in ICU. The remaining Alphas are shocked, and demand to be given more information in the future if they are to help. While investigating a lead at the Zero nightclub, Harry learns from Justine that Morgan is being hunted by supporters via a Craigslist ad, before being interrupted by Madeline Raith, who tries and fails to seduce Harry, and threatens Justine's life. Thomas incapcitates his cousin and holds her down for Justine, who tortures Madeline with her touch leaving her wounded and burned. Outside the club, captain of the Wardens Anastasia Luccio appears and interrogates Dresden about consorting with the vampires, and tells him about LaFortier’s murder. She was worried that Morgan escaped to kill Dresden - thinking that Dresden was LaFortier's true murderer. She knows Morgan didn't do it, because she has known him for over a hundred years, him having been her apprentice. While Dresden is at the night club, Molly arrives at the apartment for her potions lesson, becoming legally enangled and agreeing to help care for Morgan. They move Morgan to a magically-warded storage unit in an upscale neighborhood with frequent police patrols. Dresden goes to council headquarters in Edinburgh, where he informs the Merlin that he wants to find the killer, who quietly accepts his help. Once Dresden is back in Chicago he enlists the help of Murphy to accompany him to the storage unit. The hideout is attacked by Binder, a mercenary named for his use of bound demons. After a large attack and outnumbered, Dresden draws a circle around Murphy and himself for protection from the demons. While occupying Binder, Molly and Morgan, veiled, draw out a circle around the demons defeating them and turning into Ecto-Plasm. In the confusion, Thomas disappears. Now cornered, Binder begins to run away as Murphy runs him down tackles him and arrests him for questioning. Dresden takes the others through a Nevernever shortcut and they head back to the safety of his apartment. Dresden invites Luccio to accompany him on a visit to Lara Raith and accuse her of complicity. Before Lara can retaliate, the mansion is attacked by the Naagloshii who trashes the mansion and exterminates Raith's entire security team. Facing Dresden and Lara, it demands Morgan in exchange for Thomas' safe return. Realizing he needs far more strength to combat the skinwalker, Dresden decides to perform a Sanctum Invocation to the mysterious island of power in Lake Michigan (site of the finale in Small Favor). The Sanctum Invocation involves summoning and fighting the spirit, genius loci, of the island. After besting the spirit, Dresden conducts the ritual and names the spirit "Demonreach". Despite this, Dresden, aware that he can't fight each fight one at a time, calls the Council, House Raith, and the Naagloshii, convincing each that Morgan is on the island or that the island is where they will meet to discuss further strategy. On the island, Lara Raith and the representatives of the senior council (Ebenezer McCoy, Listens-to-Wind, and Ancient Mai) are displeased to see each other. Before Dresden can explain the complex chain of cats-paws, they are attacked by Madeline Raith, Binder, and Binder’s demons. The murderer is on the island, but is working with someone else on a second front on the island. Dresden uses his connection to Demonreach and the island to direct the Wardens and vampires in combat. Dresden and the Alphas are ambushed by Madeline and Binder, but are supported by Lara, who kills Madeline. Dresden defeats Binder, who gives him Madeline's cell phone. In exchange, Dresden lets Binder go free. While fighting the Naagloshii, Thomas is thrown into the cabin with Molly and Morgan. Tortured by the Skinwalker beyond his energy reserves, Thomas is starving. Molly activates a crystalline force field to prevent Thomas from eating them. Dresden puts up a fight that keeps even the Naagloshii on the defensive but eventually collapses from exhaustion. Listens-to-Wind then arrives and drives off the Naagloshii. Lara collects Thomas, promises to take care of him, and leaves. Since the White Council didn’t actually see the murderer, it is still politically expedient to charge Morgan for the crime. Dispirited and out of options, Morgan surrenders. Dresden attends Morgan's trial, held in the underground of Scotland. He testifies that the Nevernever gateway into Chicago was staked out by his dog, Mouse, and a private detective who photographed everyone entering and leaving. Since Mouse is a Foo dog, Ancient Mai and others on the Council accept Mouse as a reliable, incorruptible witness. The photo shows a very highly-placed clerk named Peabody coming through the gateway. Dresdeen reveals that Peabody has also been influencing virtually everyone on the Council by use of magically poisoned ink. At this, Peabody smashes a jar, releasing a Mistfiend spirit mixed with mordite. The spiritm, drawn to the light that many wizards summon by reaction, kills everyone it touches. In the panic, Peabody escapes using safe words he implanted in minds of the recently-recruited wardens, rendering them mute and paralyzed. Dresden pursues Peabody as the Merlin contains the Mistfiend. Attempting to escape, Peabody opens a Way into the Nevernever. Overpowering Dresden, Peabody is about to kill him when Morgan arrives and kills Peabody with Luccio's gun, but the strain reopens Morgan's wounds fatally. Morgan then explains that it was Anastasia Luccio who actually killed LaFortier, under the influence of Peabody, and Morgan acted to protect her. Morgan then passes away. In the aftermath, Gregori Cristos fills LaFortier’s Senior Council seat. The Merlin had rigged the election to appease Cristos and his faction and prevent a Council schism. Since Cristos is probably a member of the Black Council, they managed to place one of their own on the Senior Council despite everyone’s efforts to the contrary. During a respite, Luccio approaches Dresden, and reveals that her romantic feelings for Dresden were most likely manufactured by Peabody’s subtle influences, and ends the relationship. Murphy runs the numbers on Madeline’s cell phone. There are repeated calls to restaurants in Algiers and Egypt - probable locations of Black Council activity. Dresden and Ebenezar speak after the Council meeting. Ebenezar is slowing drumming up support, quietly, from those who believe in the Black Council. They have to be silent since the Merlin denies the existence of such a group and proposing such a thing could be considered treason. They accept this and then decide to call themselves the "Grey Council". Dresden contacts Lara and asks to see Thomas, who explains that the Naagloshii had tortured him, and forced him to fatally feed on several women. After repeated fatal feedings, he now views everyone as food, and comments that his sister is proud of him. However, Thomas still has feelings for Justine and smiles at Harry before he leaves. |
Dead Sea | Brian Keene | 2,007 | The story follows Lamar Reed, a young black gay man living in Baltimore. One day in New York rats come up from the city, not just rats but dead and rotting rats. Any person who is bitten or gets any blood or saliva into an open wound or orifice dies very shortly after and rises from the dead craving human flesh. The media refers to it as Hamelin's Revenge after the town from the Pied Piper myth. Lamar is flushed from his house as Baltimore is slowly burning to the ground. He encounters several other survivors and the fight their way to the harbor where they are rescued by the USS Sprattling. From there they set sail out to sea realizing that the land now belongs to the dead. |
Faithful unto Death | null | null | When local housewife Simone Hollingsworth doesn't show up for bell-ringing practice, nobody even raises an eyebrow, let alone suspect anything sinister. However, after her suspicious neighbours, the elderly Brockley's, notice her husband digging holes in his garden late one night, they call in Chief Inspector Barnaby for help unearthing his dark secrets... |
Death of a Hollow Man | null | null | While attending an amateur production of Amadeus with his wife, Joyce, Chief Inspector Barnaby witnesses the gruesome, all-too realistic murder of an actor on stage, after the fake prop knife used to slit his character's throat is replaced with a real one. As he investigates the shocking crime, Barnaby unearths a whole host of dark passions and resentments nestling beneath the surviving cast's genial facade... |
Death in Disguise | null | null | In a country manor house currently owned by a New Age cult of mystics, the mysterious death of member William Carter stirs all the local gossips into a frenzy of speculation. However, the rumours of sinister goings on are confirmed when the so-called Master of the Lodge also dies, after somebody throws a knife his way during a psychic regression. Meanwhile, untrustworthy financier Guy Gamelin tries reconciling with his estranged, cultist daughter Sylvia, now called Suhami, and Chief Inspector Barnaby finds himself lost amidst a labyrinthine puzzle of deception, evil and pseudo-supernatural forces... |
A Place of Safety | null | null | Ferne Basset vicar's wife Ann Lawrence accuses Carlotta, a young homeless girl her husband has taken in, of stealing her precious heirloom earrings. Their argument escalates and the pair end up fighting on the area's picturesque bridge, when Carlotta falls off into the river below. After her body doesn't re-surface, witness Charlie Leathers begins blackmailing Ann for money, until he's found garrotted and his pet dog, Candy, left savagely beaten. However, still another blackmail demand arrives and this time Ann won't pay. Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Barnaby peels away at the wholesome veneer of Ferne Basset in his hunt for a dangerous and sadistic killer... |
The Fate of the Phoenix | null | null | Klingons and Romulans are gearing up for war again and the Enterprise must face the threat of Omne. He is a man who cannot die due to having perfected a cloning process of advanced complexity. |
Seventeen Against the Dealer | Cynthia Voigt | 2,002 | Seventeen Against the Dealer is the final novel in the seven-part Tillerman Cycle. The novel takes up the story of Dicey Tillerman, now 21, who has dropped out of college despite a scholarship in order to start her own business building wooden sailboats. Dicey is the eldest of the four Tillerman children, whose journey to Crisfield, Maryland and subsequent life there with their grandmother, Abigal Tillerman, or Gram as the children call her, is described in the preceding novels Homecoming, Dicey's Song, and Sons from Afar. As a continuation of the preceding Tillerman novels, this novel contains characters developed in the previous Tillerman books, notably Dicey's siblings James (now 18), Maybeth (16), and Sammy (15); her boyfriend Jeff Greene (23); her friend Mina Smiths (21), and Gram, the Tillerman's maternal grandmother with whom they have lived for 8 years. The book is set in around 1986, and the events of the novel take place over a short time-span, between New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day. At the start of the novel, Dicey is just beginning her new boatbuilding business, which she has dropped out of college to start. To learn the trade, she has worked hard in a series of low-paid jobs in Annapolis and Crisfield and now she has built up a small amount of savings that she hopes will enable her to start realizing her dream. Dicey becomes increasingly absorbed in and even obsessed by her work, to the detriment of her relationship with Jeff, who asks Dicey to marry him at the start of the book, explaining that he does not want to have a casual relationship with her. Dicey makes some crucial mistakes in her new business, including failing to take out insurance on the tools and equipment in her workshop. When the workshop is broken into, she loses all she has and cannot make it up, despite help from Jeff. Increasingly desperate, Dicey takes help from a smooth-talking drifter who turns out to be a con artist. Eventually Dicey stacks the odds against herself and has to close up shop. As Dicey's preoccupation with her work increases, her family and friends fade from the pages of the novel, reflecting her neglect of them. Eventually, after a series of crises culminating in Gram's serious illness, Dicey realizes that her relationships are as important, if not more so, as her work. Also Dicey has her shop broken into. The novel also develops, albeit in a lesser way, the characters of the other three Tillerman children, now young adults. James is a stellar student at Yale but as in previous novels experiences problems associated with reason and ethics. He has made close friends - including with Toby, whom he meets in Dicey's Song and is a chess aficionado. Maybeth has grown into a beautiful young woman, who has many female friends and is attractive to men - yet she is still studying hard and failing most classes in school. As she is courted by older men, the novel is haunted by the danger that she could repeat the mistakes of her mother, who left home to pursue an affair with a drifter twelve years her senior. Sammy is a hardworking young man who has a part time job pumping gas in a service station; he has learned to take apart engines and helps the Tillermans buy their first car. He is a budding tennis star and wants to attend an expensive tennis summer camp. The Tillermans' home has grown from an isolated place into a centre for social activity - on New Year's Day, for example, a tradition has grown up whereby family and friends gather at the Tillerman home, and a festive meal is eaten with singing and merriment. Gram is a central part of this, having grown considerably since her days of extreme isolation and loneliness. Although Voigt's characters grow and learn over the course of the novel, the ending does not provide any definite resolutions or total closure. The characters still face difficulties and problems, and it is not clear how marriage to Jeff, for example, will bring Dicey, a hardworking and independent young woman, a resolution to her need and desire to express her independence through work. |
The Starless World | Gordon Eklund | null | The Enterprise is sent to investigate Klingon activity in the galactic core. They encounter a shuttlecraft piloted by Thomas Clayton, from the long-lost ship, the USS Rickover. Clayton is also an old friend of Kirk's, a former roommate from his time at Starfleet Academy. Kirk is prepared to dismiss his unfortunate friend as a madman until a mysterious force seizes control of the ship. Clayton declares the Enterprise is now going to meet his new god. |
Blood Noir | Laurell K. Hamilton | null | Blood Noir appears to take place a short time after The Harlequin; however it is not noted exactly how much time has elapsed. There are a few main themes in the novel, which are mostly resolved by the end. * In Jason's hometown, one of his ancestors had more than his fair share of offspring. Hence, Jason's features are repeated in various cousins and other relatives. During high school Jason was always confused with two of his cousins who happen to be twins. Keith Summerland used the confusion to his benefit a few times, tricking people to believe he was Jason or letting Jason get the beating for Keith's deeds. ** As soon as Jean-Claude's private jet lands in North Carolina, Jason is confused for Keith. The local and national media is interested in Keith Summerland because he is getting married and his father, who is currently a governor, is thinking of running for the Presidency. Meanwhile, Jason's father has been given only weeks to live, so time is of the essence. In addition, Jason has rented a hotel room in the same location that Keith is supposed to stay in and where the bridal party is taking place. ** Keith Summerland is in trouble again, he's fallen for a vampire and would rather marry her than the girl his father wants to marry him to. However, the vampire is already married and her husband does not take kindly to Keith trying to take his bride. * In The Harlequin Anita was given a charm that is supposed to keep Marmee Noir away. When Anita meets a tiger that calls to one of the tigers inside her, the charm fails or perhaps the Mother of Darkness overpowers it. Previous books have had Anita give her beast to someone else since she cannot shift with a fair amount of success, however Jason would only be able to help Anita if her inner wolf was giving her trouble. Marmee Noir uses Anita to send out a call to every unattached tiger in the nation. ** Specifically, two tigers in the area come to Anita, and Jason, instantly and are essentially raped by her for two days. One is Crispin from Las Vegas (who broaches the rape issue), a stripper and the other is Alexander Pinn, who is a closeted reporter. Crispin is from a white tiger clan, while Alex is from a red tiger clan. ** Once again, Anita could be pregnant. Jason tells the possible-daddies-to-be tigers that the would-be baby is probably his and they then allow her to get a morning-after pill. Otherwise, either tiger would have happily married and taken Anita back to his clan. Crispin appears to have been rolled by Anita and is rather heartbroken when she sends him away, while Alex had a harder time fighting Anita's call. ** Marmee Noir may be thousands of miles physically from Anita, but she can still reach out and touch the necromancer. When Anita loses consciousness, Marmee Noir wakes her and slashes her shirt open despite being so far away. However, she does not reveal why she is so interested in Anita. It could be that she wants Anita for her own human servant, as other Masters of the City may as well. When the link between Anita and Jean-Claude is broken, they believe that Anita may have been marked by Marmee Noir, but once Anita reclaims her anger from Richard the link is back. Marmee Noir cannot understand Anita's rage because it belongs to Anita and was not passed down from her to any of Marmee Noir's vampire descendants. * The last theme is the desire to be "normal", which most of the main characters admit to wanting. Normal as in what society says most humans want: find a true love, meet the family, get married, have kids, live happily ever after. Unfortunately for Anita, her life is anything but normal, but she's the only one who appears to accept that. When Jason takes Anita home to meet his family, Jean-Claude and Micah both express the desire to do that as well. ** Jean-Claude is jealous because while he would want Anita to meet his family, they have all died so long ago that no one knows him from when he was human is left. Anita tells him that she has in a sense met his mother, she's in some sense met Belle Morte and he replies that she is not 'his people.' Belle Morte may be the head of Jean-Claude's bloodline but she is not the matriarch of his family. ** Micah broke his ties with his family to keep them safe. When Chimera was alive, he would use family against the members of his pard. With Chimera dead, Micah expresses the desire to introduce Anita to his family. However, Nathaniel is also a part of Anita's and Micah's life which leaves Micah uncertain if all three of them should visit. Nathaniel's role in their life is not so clear and simple nor "normal" as the roles of 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend.' ** Richard also wants his life to be normal, he wants Anita to be his wife and to live essentially behind a white picket fence. They have quarreled about this many times in many books. When he finds Anita has gained two more lovers to her list or bed post, Richard is distressed. Once Anita takes away her rage from him, he gains a new talent. The talent is the ardor and unfortunately, there is a learning curve to it and at first he tries to use it against her until Jason calls him on it and then Richard simply leaves Anita alone. ** Jason's desire to be normal shows in trying to appease his father one last time. To try to convince him that Anita is his girlfriend is the least he can do, while he still has time left to say goodbye to his father. A media frenzy of poor timing and rumors will not stop him in visiting his abusive father in the hopes for that one perfect moment of acceptance that he never had when he was growing up. Jason had no desire for athletics and his choice of theater was not what his father wanted for him. In fact, nearly everything Jason has tried to do to please his father has failed. It is not until the end of the book, when Jason is nearly taken away from his family that Franklin Schuyler realizes exactly how much Jason means to him. |
Spy Story | Len Deighton | 1,974 | The story opens with Armstrong and his colleague Ferdy Foxwell returning from a six-week mission aboard a nuclear submarine during which they gathered data on Soviet communications and electronic warfare techniques in the Arctic Ocean. He and Foxwell visit "The Bonnet", a rural Scottish public house. On returning to London, Armstrong's car breaks down on his way home and he decides to use the phone in his old flat, for which he still has the key. He is surprised and disturbed to discover that the flat has been refurnished, including photographs which he owns, but with an unknown individual replacing him in the images, and clothes identical to his own. He also discovers a door hidden in the back of the wardrobe leading into the adjoining flat, which has been fitted out as some kind of medical facility. When he leaves the flat thinking that a taxi he ordered has arrived, he is confronted by Special Branch officers who have a former member of the Studies Center verify who he is before releasing him. While they have been away on their six-week mission, the Studies Center has acquired a new boss, the abrasive American Charles Schlegel, a former Marine Corps Colonel. Foxwell and Schlegel do not get on at all well, and even less so when Schlegel makes Armstrong his Personal Assistant. Shortly after his return, Armstrong is about to leave his flat when it is ransacked by KGB Colonel Oleg Stok and two assistants, who even blow open a safe left by the previous occupant. They offer no explanation for this, leaving Armstrong yet more puzzled. At a party at Ferdy Foxwell's palatial London house, Armstrong learns that Foxwell is close to MP Ben Tolliver, and has even been passing him classified information. Foxwell shows him a photo of Rear-Admiral Remoziva of the Soviet Northern Fleet, who Armstrong immediately recognises as the person who had been inserted into the photographs at his old flat. Also at the party is Dawlish, the head of the intelligence organisation WOOC(P) of earlier books. We learn that Armstrong worked for Dawlish before deciding to quit intelligence work altogether. Dawlish tries to recruit him, but Armstrong turns him down. Tolliver has a suspicious car accident returning home from Foxwell's party. Armstrong traces the woman who was reported to be with him to a small French restaurant, where he discovers photos of Remoziva and a Soviet Admiral's uniform being made. He returns to the restaurant later to discover it deserted. Breaking in, he discovers all traces of what he had earlier seen have been removed along with all paperwork. Leaving the restaurant, he is met by a high-ranking police officer who escorts him to Battersea, from where a helicopter takes him to Heathrow Airport, from where in turn he is flown north in a small single-engine aircraft. It takes him to a remote location in the West of Scotland, where he finds Toliver and his co-conspirators. It appears that they have been running their own unauthorised intelligence operation to arrange the defection of Admiral Remoziva, who will die within a year if he does not receive treatment for a kidney condition. The plan is to meet the Admiral on the Arctic ice, and leave a corpse in his place. They had planned to keep him at Armstrong's former flat, and use the adjoining medical facility to treat his condition. Armstrong receives a message from an unidentified member of the clique advising him to leave, which he does. After a nightmare journey through a snow storm, he reaches a road, where he finds Dawlish and Schlegel waiting. They tell him that the defection is still to go ahead, though using a USN submarine instead of a British one. Out on the Arctic ice, they make the arranged rendezvous with Remoziva's helicopter, but it turns out to contain Colonel Stok. After a brief struggle the helicopter takes off with one of Stok's men holding on to Foxwell. Armstrong grabs Foxwell's legs and is also hauled aloft. He fires at the man holding Foxwell and they both fall to the ice. He manages to lift Foxwell and staggers off to where their submarine has surfaced, but by the time he reaches it Foxwell has died. At the end of the book it is revealed that the scheme's real intent was to discredit Remoziva and, by association, his siblings; his sister was playing a crucial part in talks to unify Germany and is forced to step down, causing the talks to collapse. |
The Conscience of a Liberal | Paul Krugman | 2,007 | The book is a history of wealth and income gaps in the US in the 20th century. The book documents that the gap between rich and poor declined greatly in mid-century—he refers to this as the "Great Compression"—then widened in the last two decades to levels higher than those in the 1920s. Most economists—including Krugman himself—have regarded the late 20th century divergence as resulting largely from changes in technology and trade, but now Krugman writes—particularly in Chapters 1, 3, and 4—that government policies—particularly the establishment of, and subsequent attacks on, the social safety net or "welfare state"—has played a much greater role both in reducing the gap in the 1930s through 1970s, and in widening it in the 1980s through the present. He talks about the history of American conservatism, both, in Chapter 2, pre-New Deal conservatism—dominating the period between the American Civil War and the Great Depression (which he calls the "Long Gilded Age")—and, in Chapter 6, modern-day "movement conservatism";—he argues—particularly in Chapters 5, 6, and 9—that the subtle exploitation by movement conservatives of racial and cultural resentments through small-government rhetoric (see "dog-whistle politics") and of national-security fears were key in the movement's ability to win national elections—even though its policies concentrating wealth at the top should be deeply unpopular. He talks extensively, in Chapter 6, about William F. Buckley, Jr.'s, Irving Kristol's and Ronald Reagan's role in building the movement—and, in Chapters 7 and 8, about the role of "institutions [particularly labor unions] and norms [particularly corporate policy]"—vis a vis government policy—in increasing or decreasing economic inequality. He rebukes the George W. Bush administration for policies that were currently widening the gap between the rich and poor. Nevertheless, Krugman expresses optimism in Chapter 10 that demographic trends—particularly on race and culture—and what he sees as conservative overreach during the Bush years—are creating a new center-left political environment and are slowly undermining the conservative movement. (He references John Judis and Ruy Texeira's book, The Emerging Democratic Majority.) Krugman proposes, in Chapters 11 and 12, that Democrats propose a "new New Deal", which includes placing more emphasis on social and medical programs—particularly universal health care—and less on national defense. Finally, in Chapter 13, he talks about what it means to be a "liberal", about the rise in new progressive organizations—which, unlike conservative think tanks, publications and other organizations, are actually more de-centralized and independent-thinking,—and how many more people appear to support "liberal" policies than are prepared to use that word to describe themselves. |
Dear Mr. Henshaw | Beverly Cleary | null | Dear Mr. Henshaw begins with the book's main character, Leigh Botts, writing a letter to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw. He continues to write him letters occasionally until the sixth grade when he is expected to write a report on an author. Naturally, he chooses to do it on Mr. Henshaw, and writes him a series of questions. Mr. Henshaw writes back with silly responses some questions for Leigh to answer. At first Leigh is reluctant to reply to Mr Henshaw, but his mother finds out and demands he reply because the author answered his questions. Through his answers to Mr. Henshaw, Leigh's personal matters are revealed, such as his struggles with his parents' divorce, his complex relationship with his father, as well as his being the new kid in school. Later, Mr. Henshaw encourages Leigh to keep a diary of his thoughts and feelings, and the book then switches from a letter format to a diary, in which Leigh writes to Mr. Pretend Henshaw. By writing to Mr. Henshaw, Leigh Botts must learn to accept that he cannot change parts of his life. For example, his parents may never re-marry, people will continue to steal his lunch, and that he can never count on his father to be available when he is needed. He must deal with problems that many other children also have to cope with: feeling lonely because he is new in town, school assignments, etc.Plot summary from Bookrags.comPlot summary from Scholastic Books |
This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall | Gordon Korman | 1,978 | The two main characters, Bruno Walton and Melvin “Boots” O'Neal are two small-time troublemakers who share a room at the boarding school Macdonald Hall. Across the road is a girl's boarding school, Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School For Young Ladies. Best friends, they play mischievous pranks on the school, faculty and other students. They are constantly under the watch of Headmaster William R. Sturgeon, nicknamed “The Fish” due to his surname but also due to the trademark stern, fishy-like stare he implores on his students whenever he disapproves of them. Following the abduction of an overweight cat mascot of a rival hockey team (in an attempt to demoralize them), Sturgeon comes up with the decision to forbid them from seeing each other and separating them completely. Bruno moves in with the school genius, Elmer Drimsdale, while Boots is placed with wealthy hypochondriac George Wexford-Smyth III. The two both realize they can't stand their new roommates and decide to meet at a cannon at night to discuss ways of getting back into their old room together. The two prominent ideas they have, including having both Elmer and George complain to the headmaster to get them to move elsewhere, and then framing their roommates to have themselves moved away from them, only get them into more trouble. Eventually they come up with the idea to study hard to get into the Honor Roll to show they're capable and should be able to move back in together as a reward, but the plan backfires after Sturgeon attributes the boy's resulting high marks as the result of him separating them. In desperation they meet again, but while en route to the cannon, they spot an entangled hot air balloon stuck in a nearby tree and find a boy stuck up there. They rescue the boy (named Francisco) using a volleyball net and take him to Sturgeon, who realizes he's the son of an important Ambassador from Ottawa who got lost in a balloon during the day. They are then interrupted by Elmer Drimsdale, who had witnessed the balloon in his telescope and had concluded it was a UFO. He goes off and causes a massive disturbance between both schools. The next morning, the Ambassador arrives at the school to retrieve his lost son and goes on to honor the people responsible for rescuing him – Bruno, Boots, and Elmer, who receive medals from the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police, and from the Ambassador himself, who is ironically representing the country of Malbonia, the country of which flag Bruno and Boots had used in a prank earlier on in the novel. For Macdonald Hall to honor them, Elmer receives a new telescope and Bruno and Boots get their wish – to share a room again. |
I Want to Go Home | Gordon Korman | null | The novel revolves around its central character, Rudy Miller, who on the advice of the guidance department at his school is sent to an athletic camp (which is situated on an island) against his wishes, and his attempts to escape it. While there, he befriends Mike, who has similar views and attitudes of camp and sports. |
Dragon: the Old Potter's Tale | Ryunosuke Akutagawa | 1,919 | The story revolves around a practical joke played by the monk E’in. E’in erects a sign next to the Sarusawa Pond reading "On the third day of the third month, the dragon of this pond will ascend to heaven". However, though E’in intended the joke to affect only those in his immediate area, his sign ends up attracting many from miles around, including many influential lords and his superstitious aunt. A numberless crowd watches the lake faithfully as E’in both scoffs their ignorance and marvels at the turnout. Eventually, the sky darkens and everyone gathered, including E’in, believe they see a dark powerful dragon ascending towards the sky. Afterwards, no one will believe E’in’s claim that the sign was a practical joke; even E’in, the instigator, believes a dragon from the pond actually flew towards his home. |
The Valley | Barry Pilton | 2,005 | Those living in the insular Nant Valley believe they are immune to the changes going on in the outside world. However, outsiders have discovered the rural idyll and are moving in to enjoy its benefits. Dafydd, the ubiquitous postman, is uncertain the Valley is ready for newcomers. The mysterious Stefan buys a derelict manor house and tries to become a squire - but finds his money impresses no-one and can't even get a drink in the pub as Gwillim the landlord hates all customers. Jane and Rob, artistic but impoverished urbanites, want to live The Good Life, but their passion for alfresco nudity has tragic repercussions for the farming community. Gradually the fabric of rural life comes undone as local and outsider collide with dramatic results... |
Lee and Grant at Appomattox | MacKinlay Kantor | 1,950 | The plot of Lee and Grant at Appomattox is centralized around the surrender of the Confederate States of America to Union soldiers. In specific, it portrays the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, helping to bring about the end of the American Civil War. Kantor mainly discusses the feelings of each army, both victorious and shellacked, and pays special attention to the history and interaction between Grant and Lee. The story also addresses the lasting bitterness between the North and South for years following the Civil War. |
The Disappearing Dwarf | null | 1,983 | Professor Wurzle, a know-it-all scientist, inveigles Jonathan, the master cheeseman of the High Valley, into accompanying him on a trip downriver. Wurzle's real plan is to revisit Hightower Castle, from which the heroes routed Selznak in the previous novel. There the pair discover a treasure map and encounter Miles the Magician, a travelling wizard, in a nearby inn. Miles alerts them that the Squire, a linkman they befriended in the previous novel, has disappeared. Learning that Selznak was seen nearby at the time they fear the worst. The trio travel to the Territory, ruled by the Squire's father. There they once again encounter linkmen poets Bufo and Gump, as well as Twickenham the elf, who flies the mysterious elfin airship. Twickenham and Miles determine that the Squire has accidentally activated the Lumbog Globe, a magical paperweight allowing travel into the land of Balumnia. Balumnia can also be reached through magical doors, using one Jonathan, Ahab, the Professor, Miles, Bufo, and Gump enter Balumnia. The group has adventures as they make their way to Landsend, a major port and subject of the treasure map. The dark presence of Selznak and an omnipresent, sinister witch is mitigated by light encounters with an inept stage magician, and an extraordinarily extended panegyric to the virtues of coffee. In Landsend the adventurers encounter the natural fool Dooly with his grandfather Theophile Escargot, who trades in Balumnia using his marvellous submarine. After searching for the treasure, the group splits and Jonathan, Ahab, and the Professor find themselves once again menaced by the evil Selznak, who is plotting to use the Lumbog Globe to terrorize the High Valley. As in the previous novel, however, unexpected allies such as the Strawberry Baron and Cap'n Binky of the magical blend prove crucial in resolving the plot. |
The 47th Samurai | Stephen Hunter | 2,007 | The story begins with Bob Lee now living in Idaho. There along with his wife, former wife of his spotter Donny Fenn, he is cultivating his land by using a scythe. The story starts while Bob Lee is cutting away at his land with the scythe while an expensive car pulls up. Bob Lee is aggravated by this, since his previous encounters with such cars and men in them have led him into troublesome situations. Having this predisposition to the men within the car, Bob Lee confronts them to make them leave him and his family alone. Instead he finds a man roughly the same age as himself, looking for Bob Lee, since he is the son of the man that killed his father during the battle of Iwo Jima. Here the book changes to the situations that led to the awarding of the Medal of Honor, to Earl Swagger during a battle on Iwo Jima. |
His Little Women | null | null | The story is narrated by Nell Pearlstein Berman, daughter of the legendary movie producer, Sam Pearlstein. Nell is Sam's second daughter; Sam left his first wife and daughter, Louisa, to marry Violet, Nell's self-absorbed movie star mother. The book opens as fifteen-year-old Nell describes her life. Her parents have been divorced for nearly four years—Sam having left Violet and fathered two other daughters, Sonny and Liane, with his third wife, Lynn. Nell has not seen or spoken to Sam in all that time. Nell lives in Beverly Hills with her mother and stepfather, Tony, a native of Italy. After initially ignoring Tony, Nell bonds with him, listening to opera records with him. When Tony dies unexpectedly, Sam re-enters Nell's life, even agreeing to escort Violet to the funeral. At the funeral, Nell is approached by Louisa, her New York-born half-sister, whom she has never met before. She agrees to take a ride with the twenty-something woman and the two sisters get acquainted. After the funeral, Nell moves in with her father. Later, Louisa escorts Nell to the reading of Tony's will in which he deeds his record player and opera records to Nell. It is there that she meets Tony's daughters and their husbands for the first time. Louisa, whom Sam can't stand, becomes a frequent visitor at his house. She spends most her time talking to Nell—the only person in the family that will tolerate her. After a particularly tense visit, Sam demands that Louisa leave the house. Nell feels bad about what happened so she agrees to visit Louisa at her house. Louisa, who works for a soft-core porn magazine that Sam owns, lives in the old magazine headquarters. She suggests a visit to the I-Land, an island getaway modeled after the Playboy Mansion. While Louisa is busy talking with the operator of the I-Land, Nell wanders around. While strolling around the pool, she sees a man who looks like Jack Campbell, her stepsister's husband. Although she isn't sure, she thinks that he is having sex with one of the many women who are partying at the mansion that night. She leaves hurriedly and mentions what she saw to Louisa. Nell graduates from high school and goes to Barnard College. She meets Saul Berman, a Columbia student from Atlanta who is active in the Students for a Democratic Society. The two fall in love, attend law school together, and get married. The couple then moves to Atlanta to be closer to his family. The marriage falls apart in a few years. Nell, who was never an observant Jew, has a difficult time fitting in with Saul's family, which is staunchly Orthodox. She is also unable to find work as a lawyer and is not interested in having children. The couple divorces and Nell returns to New York. Not too long after landing in New York, Nell learns that Louisa, who has abandoned a five-year-old son at the beginning of the novel, has had another baby, a girl she named Penelope. She and Louisa renew their acquaintance and Nell, who had never had strong feelings about feminism, agrees to do legal work for Louisa's feminist magazine. Nell also makes a visit to the West Coast where she is horrified by the condition her family has fallen into. Sam, who has had cosmetic surgery, is suffering from diabetes and is noticeably less than healthy. Lynn has had a nervous breakdown after the failure of a film she has produced and can barely function. Sonny and Liane—who are now in their teens—are both addicted to drugs and are highly promiscuous. In fact, Sonny, who had always been difficult to manage, has also had a nervous breakdown. Sometime later, Louisa is sued by Jack Campbell for libel; he feels that the plot in her new bestseller too closely paralleled events in his own life for it to have been a coincidence. With Nell's help, Louisa is able to defeat Jack Campbell in court. At a party to celebrate the victory, Sam who has not been adequately managing his illness, collapses. He spends the last three months of his life slipping in and out of a coma. When he dies, Nell and Louisa's relationship becomes strained. Louisa is angry at what she feels is an inadequate inheritance. Nell, who is beginning to realize how much she allowed her father to monopolize her life, begins a memoir detailing her life with him. She contacts Shimmy, an old friend of her father's, for information about Sam's pre-Hollywood life. Shimmy makes an unsuccessful attempt to seduce Nell. Nell, who is initially horrified, finds herself attracted despite their considerable age difference. After a disastrous fling with another lawyer, Nell decides to date Shimmy. She makes arrangements to come to California to be closer to Shimmy. In the final chapter of the book, Louisa and Nell have a final falling out over the apartment that Sam bequeathed to her. Louisa wants Nell to sign it over to her as Nell is moving. Nell stands firm, telling Louisa that she plans to keep it no matter what. This angers Louisa; she writes another novel that casts Nell in a negative light. Nell completes her own book. At the end, Nell states that she has come to believe that "there is some complicity between reader and author in an account that makes no claim to the truth" and that "it goes without saying that I would like the reader to regard my own account as an exception to this truth." |
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey | Trenton Lee Stewart | 2,008 | The story starts when Kate, Reynie, and Sticky meet at Kate’s farm to go to Mr. Benedict’s house. Mr. Benedict is planning to send the children on a huge treasure hunt. When they arrive, they find out that Mr. Benedict was kidnapped by his evil twin, Mr. Curtain. In a letter, Mr. Curtain explains that he needs a certain rare plant and that a person extremely close to Mr. Benedict knows where to find it. He also says that Mr. Benedict and his assistant, Number 2, will be in danger if he doesn’t get this info. Constance, Mr. Benedict’s adopted 3 year old genius, soon reveals that Mr. Benedict gave her a letter to open when the others came. The letter has a riddle in it,and when they solve it, it leads them to a dictionary, then a journal with another riddle. After solving this riddle, the children realize that they are supposed to take a ship called the MV SHORTCUT, the fastest ship in the world. So they sneak off to the ship and find new info. That leads them to a castle in Portugal. There, they find evidence that leads them to a library in a city called Thernbaakagen. There, they learn that the rare plant is called duskwort and might be extinct. It has the power to put an entire city to sleep and also has the power to cure narcolepsy (which Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain are suffering from). They rest at a hotel that evening but are found by Mr. Curtain’s agents called Ten Men, but are rescued by Milligan, Kate’s recently found dad, and go to the island that was referred to in the library to have the remaining duskwort in the world. On the island, they find Number 2, who tells them that Mr. Benedict is on the top of the mountain on the island. When Milligan tries to rescue Mr. Benedict, the children are attacked by Ten Men. Milligan comes back and saves the children by fighting the Ten Men while the children escape. Later, they find Mr. Curtain, who tricks the children into being captured also. After Mr. Curtain leaves to run an errand, Mr. Benedict tricks S.Q., their guard, and they get away. As the climb down the mountain, Mr. Benedict falls asleep due to his narcolepsy and the children carry him down the mountain. They soon find Milligan, who is extremely injured from the battle, and after Mr. Benedict wakes up, they run to the bay and are soon surrounded by Ten Men. But just in time, the Shortcut and its crew come to save them. Everyone runs into the security hold of the ship and try to hide from the Ten Men, but the Ten Men find them. Just as the Ten Men plant a bomb near the hold, the Royal Navy shows up. Kate throws away the bomb and Mr. Curtain escapes,but the children make it back home to their families. They all safely arrive at Mr. Benedict's house without any troubles. |
Echo Round His Bones | Thomas M. Disch | null | The story revolves around Captain Nathan Hansard, an officer of the United States Army in the near future. In this future a machine has been developed to transmit matter instantly. The United States has created a Mars base, Camp Jackson Mars, to which supplies and personnel are transmitted regularly. Captain Hansard, stationed at Camp Jackson Earth, is going to be stationed there and thus is transmitted. At that moment Hansard discovers an unknown side effect of the process. He finds himself not on Mars but remaining on Earth, except in a phantom state, unable to be perceived by anyone in the original world and able to walk through buildings and swim through solid ground with minimal effort. The only items he can fully interact with are other copies of people or items sent through the matter transmitter. Air and water are available, in the vicinity of another transmitter that sends these to Mars, but he has no food and finds himself pursued by a group of soldiers in the same situation who have turned to cannibalism, waiting near the transmitter to kill other newly-created duplicates. Hansard is saved when he finds a friendly group comprising two duplicates of the transmitter's elderly and wheelchair-using inventor, Panofsky, and three of Panofsky's wife Bridgetta (who has adopted various distinguishing roles as Jet, Bridget and Bridie). They explain that each time anyone is transmitted, a copy (or "echo") of that person is made. The group is being provisioned by the original Panofsky, who believes on theoretical grounds that this copying process is taking place and is sending the group food and drink by repeatedly transmitting it on the pretext of testing the effect of transmission on foodstuffs. Together they are able to avoid the soldiers looking for them. Eventually, however, they are found and a showdown takes place where Hansard kills the leader of this group, at the expense of the death of one Panofsky duplicate and of one of the Bridgettas, whom Hansard was about to marry (it having been explained to him that the original Panofsky/Bridgetta marriage is purely one of convenience). Meanwhile the original world is faced with nuclear disaster. A order has been sent to Mars with the original Hansard (Hansard 1) to launch nuclear weapons on to Earth at certain date. Hansard's copy (Hansard 2) and Panofsky 2 decide that this must be stopped at all costs, but they need to be able to communicate with someone in the original world. They determine that this might be done by a copy occupying the same space as the original and subtly affecting the original's mind during sleep. Hansard 2 transmits to Mars (creating a Hansard 3 echo who dies) and links up with Hansard 1 to communicate a plan to avoid the destruction of the Earth. Hansard 1 is able to build some transmitters himself and place them in specific spots on the Earth, transmits it to the other side of the sun to avoid the nuclear weapons. To atone for his guilt about killing a child during the Vietnam War, Hansard 1 chooses not to be transmitted and dies, left behind in space. The Earth's echo, Earth 2, becomes solid for Hansard 2. The novel ends with Earth 1 and Earth 2 safe, with Panofsky 2 making plans to retrieve the Moon, left behind when Earth 1 was transmitted and which is no longer orbiting the insubstantial Earth 2. Multiple weddings take place between the three Hansard and Bridgetta duplicates on Earth 2. They are transmitted to different destinations for their respective honeymoons, creating further, tertiary, duplicates. Panofsky wishes the latter, via a note, "Happy Honyemoon". |
The Other Queen | Philippa Gregory | 2,008 | The Other Queen begins with Mary Stuart, cousin to Queen Elizabeth, arriving in England after having fled her country, expecting Elizabeth to restore her to the throne of Scotland. She has lost the love and support of her people by marrying the man believed to have killed her previous husband. Elizabeth, however, puts her in the custody of George Talbot and his wife Bess of Hardwicke as a result of Mary's repeated attempts to claim to English monarchy for herself. Mary is indignant at the captivity, repeatedly stating her claims to royalty, and is upset when she is given some of the reigning queen's gowns to wear, saying that they are "hand-me-downs." She is unafraid of punishment for any reckless or insulting behavior she makes to her cousin, believing that one would never execute a fellow monarch. Most of the novel centers around the first few years of Mary's Stuart's imprisonment, during which time she makes several failed escape attempts and almost immediately begins to seduce the earl. George slowly begins to feel his loyalty to Elizabeth fade, replaced by a strong attachment to the captive queen. This results in marital problems with Bess, who ultimately separates from him. The last chapter takes place fifteen years after the previous one. It is narrated by Bess, who reveals that Mary has recently been executed for participating in a plot to steal the throne of England. George watched the beheading in tears and was bankrupt from the years of expense to house her. Bess ends the book saying that she is well off, wealthy and prosperous, and that her granddaughter Arbella is an heir to the English throne. (However, this claim was not acknowledged, and James I was crowned after Elizabeth's death in 1603.) |
Mistress of the Empire | Janny Wurts | 1,992 | In the last novel of the series, Mara's actions in the first two books come back to haunt her. Although revered by the general population as the Servant of the Empire, her enemies plot revenge. Mara's son and heir Ayaki is killed by the Hamoi Tong in an attempt on Mara's life. Although the tong is known for secrecy concerning its employers, a token of the Anasati house is found in the assassin's hiding place. With her heart set on vengeance, Mara, as leader of Clan Hadama, calls for war with Clan Ionani, of which the Anasati, led by Lord Jiro, are a member. The Assembly of Magicians, "Great Ones" tasked with protecting the Empire, forbid the war, claiming the conflict would tear the Empire apart. Two years later, an assassin of the Hamoi Tong poses as a Midkemian trader and poisons Mara with a chocolate drink. Mara's Spy Master Arakasi ruthlessly tortures the apothecary who sold the poison in order to find an antidote, and her husband Hokanu, although ambushed by assassins, manages to survive and return with the recipe. Mara survives, but her unborn child dies, and it is discovered that Mara will be able to bear only one more child. As she recovers, Arakasi is given the task of destroying the Hamoi Tong by stealing its records. Mara gives birth to Hokanu's daughter, who is named Kasuma. Arakasi infiltrates the tong, killing its leader and stealing the records. On delivery, it is discovered that the death of Hokanu's father, Kamatsu, had been paid for by Jiro. Mara realizes that the Great Ones forbade the war against the Anasati as a result of a centuries-long policy of keeping Tsurani culture in stagnation, as well as a fear that she will be responsible for a radical upheaval in society. Hoping to find a way to resist the Assembly, Mara commits her children to the protection of the Emperor and journeys to the heart of the Thuril Highlands and Chakaha, the city of the cho-ja, where she convinces the cho-ja to aid her. Two cho-ja magespowerful creatures whose presence in the Empire is forbidden under the terms of an ancient treaty between the Tsurani cho-ja and the Assemblyreturn with her to her estates, where she immediately learns that the Emperor Ichindar has been assassinated and that all the Houses of the Empire are mobilizing for war. Mara quickly realizes that her enemies, the Anasati foremost among them, seek to claim the Emperor's Golden Throne and that it is Jiro's intention to marry the late Emperor's daughter, Jehilia. Mara's children, trapped in the Imperial City of Kentosani, represent major threats to anyone who wishes to take the throne; in particular, because of her adoption into the Imperial Family in Servant of the Empire, Mara's twelve-year-old son, Justin, is Ichindar's closest living male relative. Allies of the Anasati are situated within immediate range of Kentosani, and although the Acoma army is able to block reinforcements, neither Mara, Hokanu, or Jiro can initiate the conflict without incurring the wrath of the Assembly. Fighting breaks out amongst other Houses, but without the involvement of the Acoma, Shinzawai, or Anasati, no definite conclusion can be reached. Mara and Jiro are summoned to Kentosani by the Assembly; Jiro, who is several days closer, orders his allies to attack the city once he is inside, while Mara devises a way to disrupt his plans. She takes ten guards and makes her way toward Kentosani, while her oldest advisers and a large honour guard provide a distraction on the main roads. At the same time, she commands her army to attack the Anasati army, and though the Acoma are the larger force the battle is interrupted by the Great Ones, who force a withdrawal and, after questioning her Force Commander, begin to suspect her alliance with the cho-ja. They set out to find her, but in an expensive sacrifice the decoy force succeed in taunting a hot-headed Great One into destroying them all, allowing her time to avoid an Anasati ambush and enter a cho-ja hive. Hokanu launches a mounted attack on Jiro's own honor guard, who prove ill-prepared to fight against men on horseback. Hokanu strangles Jiro, then proceeds toward Kentosani. The Great Ones, angered by Mara's new alliance, inadvertently break their treaty with the cho-ja in an attempt to kill her, and the cho-ja mages are able to transport her to the Imperial City. A marriage is hastily arranged between Justin and Jehilia, which takes place as the Great Ones try to breach wards set by the cho-ja. Justin's coronation is completed just as the Great Ones are about to break through, but, faced with a new emperor who holds the support of the temples (and the Gods), they are forced to accept Mara as Regent as well as the introduction of a new social order. The series ends with a reunion between Mara and Kevin of Zūn, who returns to Tsuranuanni as an ambassador from The Kingdom of the Isles, unknowing that he has fathered a child, and shocked to find his son upon the Imperial Throne. Kevin and Mara, who has divorced Hokanu, quickly resume their romance. Arakasi, Mara's Spymaster, is focused upon more in this novel: he falls in love whilst infiltrating the Hamoi Tong, and his struggle to reconcile his emotions and his profession form a running subplot. |
Servant of the Empire | Janny Wurts | 1,990 | Having risen in wealth, power and social standing but still threatened by powerful enemies, Lady Mara of the Acoma is in as much danger as ever after her triumphs in Daughter of the Empire. Lord Desio of the Minwanabi, son of the defeated Lord Jingu, swears an unbreakable blood oath to the Red God of Death that he will destroy the Acoma or end his own bloodline. He enlists into this cause his cousin Tasaio, the cruel military genius who had managed to send Mara's father and brother to their deaths without breaking any laws or losing honor. Though challenging the norms of Tsurani society had served her well, Mara is still a product of her culture and does not question many of her beliefs and conventions. Through the eyes of her Midkemian slave Kevin of Zūn, she begins to see the flaws, contradictions, limitations and potential of the Tsurani Empire—and finds Kevin, a love like she has never known. The Minwanabi plot to kill the Acoma military commander Keyoke and then force Mara into a campaign in the faraway desert lands of Dustari. Thanks to Mara's cho-ja warriors and Kevin's innovative "barbarian" tactics, Mara and her ally the Lord of the Xacatecas manage to overcome a Minwanabi ambush and secure an unprecedented treaty with the desert chiefs of Dustari. Tasaio is exiled for his failure against Mara, but ascends to Lord of the Minwanabi after Desio's death in battle on the barbarian world of Midkemia. Mara barely survives an extended overnight attack orchestrated by Tasaio in the Imperial capital of Kentosani, and continues acquiring allies and favors toward an endgame she knows is unavoidable. Her hopes of freeing Kevin from slavery are dashed by a proclamation from the Emperor Ichindar forbidding such practice, and soon she is even forced to relinquish Kevin for an Imperial exchange of prisoners with the Barbarian King. However, Mara manages to influence Ichindar and manipulate the High Council to thwart Tasaio's ambitions and destroy the Minwanabi once and for all. Mara—pregnant with Kevin's child—is named Servant of the Empire. |
Daughter of the Empire | Janny Wurts | 1,987 | At age 17, Mara's ceremonial pledge of servantship to the goddess Lashima is interrupted by the news that her father and brother have been killed in battle. Now Ruling Lady of the Acoma, Mara finds that not only are her family's longtime enemies, the powerful Minwanabi, responsible for the deaths of her loved ones, but her military forces have been decimated by the Minwanabi betrayal and House Acoma is vulnerable to utter destruction. An immediate assassination attempt thwarted, Mara relies on the loyalty and advice of her military commanders Keyoke and Papewaio, her former nurse Nacoya, and her own wits to find solutions that will stave off the enemies who would see her ruined. Mara bends tradition to suit her needs by contriving a way to recruit grey warriors — the former soldiers of fallen Houses, traditionally outcast — to bolster the ranks of her army. Among them is the Spy Master Arakasi, whose network of informants had failed to save his former Lord from destruction at the hands of the Minwanabi, but remains intact and at his disposal. Mara makes an alliance with the Queen of a new colony of cho-ja, an insectoid species comprising both fierce warriors and gifted artisans, improving both her military might and potential wealth from cho-ja exports. Mara also arranges a political marriage with her family's second most powerful enemy, the Anasati. Given a choice between the second and third Anasati sons, she makes the surprising choice of Buntokapi, the third son, generally regarded as incompetent and brutish. After their marriage, Buntokapi reveals himself to be a strong military leader and much smarter than others have given him credit for, but also proves to be both an abusive husband and a somewhat inept ruling lord. Mara becomes pregnant with an heir, securing her alliance with the Anasati, and sets in motion the rest of her plan; falling prey to her machinations, Buntokapi finds himself forced to commit ritual suicide to save his honor. Finally, facing Lord Jingu of the Minwanabi himself on his own estates at a celebration attended by the many noble families of Kelewan, Mara avoids assassination and turns the tables to contrive Jingu's own "honorable" suicide, avenging her father and brother. |
Murder at School | James Hilton | null | Oakington is one of the lesser-known public schools in England, and Dr Roseveare, its headmaster, has been trying hard for seven years to improve its reputation. When, in the winter term of 1927-1928, one of the pupils is killed in his sleep by an old gas fitting falling down from the ceiling he contacts Colin Revell, an Old Boy, to discreetly investigate the matter. Not entirely convinced that there was no foul play involved but unable to pin down a motive on anyone, Revell leaves again after a few weeks, and most of the evidence is destroyed by the installation of electricity in the whole building. A few months later Revell is shocked to learn that the deceased boy's brother has also died under mysterious circumstances—he seems to have jumped into the school's indoor swimming pool late at night after the water had been drained—and travels to Oakington of his own accord. Now it turns out that the closest relative of the two brothers, who have been orphans for years, is actually a teacher at Oakington, and that he stands to inherit a small fortune. At the same time Revell falls in love with that teacher's beautiful young wife. |
Zombies Calling | Faith Erin Hicks | null | Joss, Sonnet and Robyn are all dorm-mates at London University, a university in southern Ontario. Joss is studying for exams, but while on a snack run, she's nearly overrun by zombies. Initially afraid, the "First Rule of Zombie Movies" kicks in for Joss: confronted with zombies, ordinary people will transform into tough, adept and ruthless fighters. Joss survives the attack and runs back to her dorm in a panic, but Sonnet and Robyn don't believe her. The zombies have since dispersed, and are nowhere to be seen. Later, during the exam, the zombies return. Joss gets Sonnet and Robyn, and they barricade themselves in their dorm, since the nearest mall is too far away (another Zombie Rule: "Never leave the mall"). The phones are out, according to another Rule, so they remain in the dorm room. Meanwhile, the Canadian Army are figuring out what to do about the zombies. A high-ranking officer mentions that his son, Robyn, can "turn the tide of a Zombie invasion". The next morning, the zombie epidemic is just as bad. Joss wants to stay in the dorm and await rescue, but Sonnet and Robyn know another Rule: no one ever rescues the survivors. They make a break for it, armed only with a spork. Soon, however, they're surrounded. As the Zombies close in, Joss' English professor emerges, and explains that he created the zombie epidemic by poisoning the coffee at the campus coffeehouse as a statement about the cheapening of higher education: few university students care any more about education, and would rather just pay for a degree. They are figurative zombies, so the professor has turned them into literal zombies. Just then, the Army launches air strikes to purge the zombies. Joss, Sonnet and Robyn still need to get away, however, so Joss follows another Zombie Rule: sacrifice yourself to lead the zombies away. The zombies corner her in the university library, which is then bombed. Joss survives the collapse, and wakes up a few weeks later in the hospital. The university is in ruins after a large portion of its student and faculty population became zombies and were purged. Mortified to hear this, Joss decides to vacation in England. The Canadian government has paid for Joss' trip to England. There she meets a boy wearing a Canada t-shirt, and they go walking along the Thames together. |
Waiting for the Galactic Bus | Parke Godwin | 1,988 | The tale begins with two college-age brothers, Barion and Coyul, members of an advanced alien world. Their race is endowed with the power to manipulate physical matter with their minds, a power which is exploited incessantly by the young adults. An accident strands the brothers on Earth, which at the time has no human race. The brothers hope for rescue, but eventually grow despondent. In their free time, they cause a series of evolutionary changes in the indigenous primates of Earth, which eventually lead to the blossoming of human civilization. The brothers grow fond of their project, which they ardently monitor, intervening when necessary. With all the progress they are able to endow humans with, they are never able to rid them of the dim memory of primal darkness, causing a permanent schism between intellect and emotion, which is termed "spiritual schizophrenia". Humans have an insatiable need to decipher the meaning of life, a thirst which leads to stubborn belief systems and immense amounts of violence. Eons later, the brothers' creation is in danger due to an unlikely courtship. Charity Stovall is a passionately religious young woman from a small American town. She is poised to marry Roy Stride, a violent young fascist. The young couple is oblivious to the fact that if they were to bear a child, it could possibly be more destructive than Hitler to human culture and possibly humanity itself. Subsequently, the two brothers literally put the duo through hell to keep them apart, subjecting them to outrageous scenarios beyond their control. |
Stormchaser | Chris Riddell | 1,999 | Set two years after Beyond the Deepwoods, the protagonist, Twig, is a full member of his father, Cloud Wolf's, sky ship the Stormchaser. When a disastrous encounter (made worse by Twig) with a league ship forces the crew to dispose of their precious cargo of logs, Cloud Wolf has no option but to return to Undertown and arrange a way to repay his debts to Mother Horsefeather, a greedy, selfish shryke who had paid for the repairing of the storm chaser after it became infested with woodbugs. Meanwhile, in the floating city of Sanctaphrax, stormphrax and phraxdust supplies are running low, threatening to leave the floating city able to break free of its chains and fly into open sky. Also, if phraxdust supplies run out, the already dirty water in Undertown would become even more polluted and undrinkable. Against the wishes of the Most High Academe Vilnix Pompolnius, a deal is struck between Cloud Wolf, Mother Horsefeather and the Professor of Light (Cloud Wolf's former mentor in the prestigious Knights Academy) to erase Cloud Wolf's debts if he successfully chases the predicted Great Storm and retrieves some of the sacred substance stormphrax. Without this stormphrax, both Sanctaphrax and Undertown cannot survive. Though Cloud Wolf forbids Twig to set sail with the rest of the crew on this dangerous voyage, he is willingly smuggled on board the Stormchaser by the mutinous quartermaster Slyvo Spleethe and his accomplice Mugbutt. On approaching the Great Storm, Spleethe and Mugbutt are killed by the result of a failed mutiny and the Stormchaser becomes badly damaged. Cloud Wolf is injured while fighting Sylo Spleethe. The crew abandon ship into the Twilight Woods below, except for the Captain Cloud Wolf, who stays with his ship. On landing, Twig reunites the crew and prepares to take over his father's mission. Although Twig tries to maintain his crew's sanity in the mystical Twilight Woods, Tem Barkwater and Stope Boltjaw are overcome by the disorientating golden mists and are lost to its madness. Other members of the crew were badly injured in the crash, but the extent of their injuries are not to be revealed until they enter the mire, and the immortal effects of the Twilight Woods wear off. Twig and the remaining crew make it to the Mire, where they are lured in by the treacherous guide Screed Toe-taker, an ancient Knight Academic driven mad by the Twilight Woods himself in his quest to retrieve stormphrax and complete his quest. Hubble's injuries were internal and prove to be fatal as he collapses during the long journey across he mire. Spiker is murdered by Screed. As Screed attacks the Stone Pilot, he is confronted and killed by Twig, who then helps the injured Storm Pilot to a shipwreck, which turns out to be Screed's old storm-chasing ship. They discover a chest of sacred stormphrax, gathered by the insane Screed from each small speck of stormphrax filed from the toenails of Screed's unfortunate victims after they had trekked through the Twilight Woods. The Professor of Light's injuries also prove to be fatal, but not before he realises the secret of safe production of phraxdust (which has hitherto been kept secret by Vilnix Pompolnius, as it was the source of his power, although we later find that Vilnix's first success in creating phraxdust was fluke and he doesn't actually know anything about it - he is a fraud). Twig discovers that the Stone Pilot is an unturned Termagent Trog named Maugin (he has a special affection for unturned trogs, due to his experiences in the previous book), who helps Twig to rebuild Screed's old ship, the "Windcutter." During this time, the two form a bond, which is revealed in a later book to be a romantic interest. With a plentiful supply of stormphrax they rebuild the ship and its flight rock with plans to return to Sanctaphrax and overthrow Vilnix Pompolnius. With the help of the Professor of Darkness they deposit the stormphrax in the treasury, saving the city from breaking its moorings and flying into open sky. The secret of safe phraxdust production is revealed to Undertowners one and all and the rivalry and monopoly over phraxdust ends. The story concludes with Twig getting a ship of his own, the "Edgedancer", and also a new crew. Led by the Caterbird (introduced in book one), they travel over the edge into open sky, farther than any sky ship has ever ventured before, to save his father Captain Cloud Wolf. |
A Picture of Freedom | null | 1,997 | The book is written in the form of a diary kept by Clotee, a young slave girl on a Virginia plantation in 1859. Clotee secretly taught herself to read and write while fanning William, her owner's young son, during his lessons with his mother Mistress Lilly. Clotee is discovered by Mr. Harms, who is actually an abolitionist working to help slaves escape on the Underground Railroad. When Clotee is given the opportunity to escape, she must decide whether to run away to freedom or stay behind to help other slaves escape. Clotee's best friend on the plantation is a very strong girl named Spicy. Spicy desperately wants to change her name to Rose (the name her mother picked out for her), but must is forced to accept the name her owners gave her. Clotee later writes in Spicy's Bible, the only keepsake that Spicy has from her mother, that Spicy's name is actually Rose. Clotee and Spicy are the property of "Mas' Henley," a cruel man. While Master Henley never whips or beats Clotee in the book, he does strike Spicy across the face in the final chapter. Mistress Lilly Henley is a weak, foolish woman and an uninterested mother. Clotee's mother was Lilly Henley's personal maid, but Master Henley forced his wife to sell her maid; Clotee's mother later died far from her daughter. Clotee's father is not present in the story " he drowned in the river before she was born. Mistress Lilly often tries to make Clotee her little pet, claiming that Clotee's mother was a very good friend of hers. Clotee always finds a way to decline and Lilly soon gives up, taking another housemaid under her wing and trying to turn the household servants against each other. When Ely Harms is driven off the Henley Plantation, Clotee takes his place as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Clotee eventually runs away; we later learn that she has become a teacher. She also keeps up correspondence with William Henley, who becomes an abolitionist as well. Clotee dies at the age of 92, and the book ends with the quote from her gravestone: "Freedom is more than a word". |
Tom Swift and His Air Scout | Victor Appleton | 1,919 | World War I still rages on in Europe, and Tom Swift is still inventing wartime technology, but inspiration comes in the form of infatuation: while taking Mary Nestor for a brief flight, he is unable to communicate due to the noise of the engine, which sets Tom onto the track of developing a totally silent airship. While Mary Nestor was the spark, Tom intends to offer this to the United States government for use on the western front. While this is still a germ of an idea, Tom is approached by Mr. Gale and Mr. Ware, representatives of the Universal Flying Machine Company, a competing airship manufacturer. Tom is offered a lucrative salary to join the firm, but Tom is uninterested in the money. Tom's refusal infuriates the men, and events are set in motion, which include the (accidental) kidnapping of Mr. Nestor, Mary's father. |
The Riddles of Epsilon | null | null | The Riddles of Epsilon focuses on the character of Jessica (‘Jess’), who moves with her mother and father to the fictional island of Lume, far from the mainland (Scotland), after being expelled from school. While speaking to her friend Avril in an internet chatroom, Jess encounters the mysterious character of ‘V,’ who begins to warn her of an impeding danger, relating to Lume’s distant past. Later she dreams of a boy named Sebastian, who she realizes lived in the same house as her nearly one hundred years previously. As the story progresses, events in Jess’s life begin to parallel those of Sebastian’s, particularly the fact that both the children’s mothers seem to be acting incredibly strangely. Much of the exposition in the novel is handled by way of riddles and clues, which take the form of puzzles and images, through which Jess discovers, with the help of ‘V,’ the truth about the strange events taking place on Lume. Jess, having recently moving house to the Island of Lume after being expelled from school, is talking with her friend Avril in an internet chatroom, when someone called V also appears in the chatroom, who kicks Avril out of the chatroom. He talks about her being on Lume, despite her not mentioning the name to Avril. Later, exploring the island, Jess discovers a small cottage in the forest near the "Big House", where she now lives. On the black obsidian doorstep are carved symbols and the words "WHERE _ _ SILON DWELLS". She goes into the cottage, where she thinks she sees a tall shadowy dark man standing by a rocking chair, but when she blinks, he is only an old coat with the sleeve resting on the chair. She attempts to explore the house, but then sees the rocking chair moving by itself. Terrified, she rushes out into the garden, where she discovers an arrow carved on the garden wall, pointing into the ground. She digs down at the place specified and discovers an old bucket, with a symbol like "half a feather, on its side" and the word "EPSILON" carved on its base. In the chat room that evening telling Avril about it, the mysterious V appears and tells her to put the bucket on her windowsill. Later investigating, Jess finds that she can find no trace of "V" in the chatroom history or on the print-outs of her conversations with Avril. As V told her, she puts the bucket in her window and finds that somehow 37 symbols are projected on the walls of her room, despite there being nothing on the bucket for them to reflect off. She copies them down, and upon entering the chatroom, is told by V to use the symbols on the black doorstep at the cottage to translate them. She questions him as to how he knew the black doorstep was there, but he logs out of the chatroom. She uses the English words on the doorstep to translate the symbols from the bucket when her parents are out which turns out to be the verse, "With a mirrored dream A followed sound Thus let it begin." Before she can puzzle this out any further, her parents return from their walk, having found a "whole belemnite, whatever that is". Later that night she has a dream about a boy, sleeping in her attic bed, who wakes in the middle of the night and scribbles on a piece of paper before rushing outside, drinking from a water pump and then following the sound of a flute down towards the cottage. Jess wakes up herself, writes about her dream in her diary, before realising she too can still hear the flute music, which she follows down to the cottage. She walks in the door, and the flute music stops, the flute itself falling to the ground, as if whoever had been playing it had literally just dropped it. She picks it up, and finds it dusty and ancient, with Epsilon's symbol carved on it. She tries to blow it, and blows out a piece of paper stuck inside it. The paper is a sketch of her, sitting in her attic bed, reaching out for her globe lamp, and also a diary page written by a boy called Sebastian Wren. The diary page is apparently what she saw Sebastian writing in her dream before he went down the cottage, and in it he talks about just having a dream himself about a girl who follows a flute down to the cottage (Jess). He talks about her nose ring being a sign of the 'Borus, which Jess does not understand, and also that Epsilon has told him to write the diary. He signs it, using the words "as Agapetos is my witness", and the date, 1894. Jess is bewildered, but realises the words a "followed sound" mean the flute music, and the "mirrored dream" is what she and Sebastian have just experienced: "I drew him, just as he looked when he woke after dreaming of me. He drew me, just as I looked when I woke from a dream about him." But she doesn't know what will now begin. The next day Jess falls ill, and her Mum, concerned, gives her the belemnite she found, which Jess does not appreciate - ")Oh wow. A baby stone carrot. Why can't she give me a CD like other mums?)" The doctor, Dr. Parker, also comes to check her over, and tells her that it is probably just running about in the heatwave, and that even in the early mornings when she goes out she must be careful. She spills out all her woes to Dr. Parker, but feels protective when he picks up the bucket off her windowsill, and feels like something is flowing out of it. He invites her to his garden party, the Greet, next week, and leaves, but when Jess checks the bottom of the bucket again, the base is bare - Epsilon's name and symbol have gone. In the chatroom, Jess works out that V is actually Epsilon, as he gives her the riddle "V is a letter that is not a letter". The letter V actually corresponds to the Roman numeral 5, E is the fifth letter of the alphabet, and in Greek the letter "E" is called "Epsilon". Epsilon tells her that her mother is in danger, and that she shouldn't trust Dr. Parker. He also tells her that someone evil is watching her, whom he calls the "Eye of Miradel". Jess becomes exasperated with him and leaves the chat room. She later goes down to the cottage, where she spots the tall, dark man again. She opens one of the drawers in the desk, to find 3 boxes, only the first of which she can open. In it she finds another diary page from Sebastian. He has discussed the girl he saw in his dream (Jess) with Epsilon, and the whole village is getting ready for the Greet. His mother is behaving strangely, collecting hundreds of shells from the beach, which she has dumped in his father's hollyhocks, which has made him angry; Epsilon has warned Sebastian to look after her. He also writes down the "Ballad of Yolandë", which he has heard the carver of the may pole (or the Coscoroba), Jerry Cork, singing. Epsilon also warns him that this ballad is not all it seems and gives him the clue "V then V then V then V", which Sebastian does not understand. He has also heard his mother singing this ballad in the middle of the night, which worries him. Jess reads the ballad and cannot understand what Epsilon means about it, as it seems perfectly innocuous. But then, in another chat Jess has had with Epsilon, when Epsilon said goodbye, E, "Or should I say V." At this she realized there were 5 V's, not four, and this is what she finds out from "The Ballad of Yolande" (every five words): "I awake in the time of dark choices I stir in my wrath For the treasures of the deep Are hidden from my eyes. The workers of my enemy are busy. I will call my faithful out From east, west, north and south. I sip weakness like nectar - Crush honesty to dust. My bone hands bring lies and death. I must possess! My black heart sows ruin; To ruin is my delight. Mark my chanting, travellers -- Flee from my song of beauty!" She was appalled at this, and went on the greatest, biggest adventure of her life, to save her mother, and herself, and destroy the evil beings. But is Epsilon a bright or an evil being? Jess has yet to discover this . . . |
Evil Always Ends | Joseph Payne Brennan | null | The novella is a supernatural detective story set during the World Fantasy Convention in New Haven, Connecticut. |
The Gypsy Morph | Terry Brooks | 2,008 | Angel Perez is found by Kirisin and Simralin, and brought to the blind elven tracker Larkin Quill for healing. Leaving Angel, Kirisin and Simralin use a hot-air balloon to travel to the elven city of Arborlon where they discover a demon army hiding outside the city, waiting for the order to attack. The two manage to evade the demon army and enter the city where they gain an audience with the elven High Council. The King is still skeptical about the danger awaiting Arborlon until it is violently revealed in the Council that the elven tracker Tragen is a demon in disguise. Tragen is killed and the elven King is finally convinced that the Arborlon and its guardian tree, the Ellcrys, must be transported within the Loden Elfstone to a safe location. Meanwhile, the Ghost tribe is reunited with Hawk, Tessa, and Cheney. Hawk uses his magic to heal the comatose Logan Tom who has a vision in which he is instructed to help the elves bring the Loden to safety. Logan leaves the ghosts and, with the help of an Owl named Trim, finds Arborlon. There, he meets, and falls in love with, Simralin. Kirisin then uses the magic of the Loden to encase the entire city and most of its inhabitants within the small stone. Simralin, the King, and a small contingent of elves hold off the demon attackers so that Logan can help Kirisin escape with the stone. Simralin and her companions are separated from Logan and Kirisin, but not before Kirisin gives Simralin the blue Seeking Elfstones for protection. Kirisin is later captured by flying demons called Skrails, but manages to drop the Loden before he is taken to the demon camp. After a frightening interrogation by the demon commander, Findo Gask, Kirisin is rescued by Logan. They then make their way to the camp of refugees led by Helen Rice. After being healed by Larkin Quill, Angel and Larkin encounter a monstrous demon called the Klee which was sent by Findo Gask. The demon kills Larkin then suddenly flees. Angel leaves and travels towards the refugee camp. As the Ghosts move eastward Tessa reveals that she is pregnant with Hawk's child. After a skirmish with some militia, they are then attacked by the Klee. Hawk finds he can use his magic to make himself invisible, and after a struggle with the ghosts, the Klee flees again. The Ghosts eventually return to the refugee camp, with the Klee secretly following. Logan, Angel, and the Ghosts are reunited at the camp. Logan and Angel leave in search of the Loden, which they find in the grasp of a fallen elf comrade. They return to the camp and make preparations to defend the main bridge across the Columbia River against the advancing demon army. They hope this will give the refugees time to put some distance from their demon pursuers as they escape. After defending the position as long as possible, the order is given to blow up the bridge. However, the detonation mechanism fails. Fixit, a member of the Ghosts, manages to repair it and is killed instantly in the following explosion. While searching for the Klee, Logan Tom finds Simralin, who recounts her narrow escape from the demons. They affirm their love for each other and return to the camp. The Klee, meanwhile, using its shape shifting ability tricks Hawk and Tessa to leave the camp to kill them. Candle senses the danger and brings Angel Perez, the wolf-dog Cheney, and several Ghosts to the rescue. Together they succeed in destroying the Klee. Catalya, a human who is slowly turning into a Lizard due to radiation exposure, decides to leave the camp and travel the world on her own before she completes her transformation. She is worried that the Ghosts will reject her in her misshapen form. Panther uses Cheney to track her, and the three ultimately decide to travel north together on their own, choosing to live their lives in the wilderness. When the demon army eventually catches up with the refugee caravan, Hawk uses his magic to create a massive earthquake which swallows the demon forces. Findo Gask, riding a Skrail, confronts Hawk and Angel and cripples both. Logan and Simralin return in time and Logan engages Findo. Just when it seems Findo has won, Simralin uses the Seeking Elfstones to weaken him, giving Logan the chance to deal the finishing blow. The caravan continues eastward towards the mountains for weeks, picking up equipment and groups of travelers, including various mutants, along the way. They finally arrive at a pristine valley and release Arborlon from the Loden. Hawk then leaves his friends and climbs to a lookout point where he uses his magic to generate a mist that encapsulates the entire valley, enveloping him as well. The refugees are protected from the nuclear winter that occurs when a military officer, gone mad from being trapped within a nuclear missile bunker, launches all of the weapons. The world outside Arborlon is devastated, while the refugees remain safe in the valley within the bubble of Hawk's wild magic. An unknown time later, Hawk emerges from the mist, now drained of his magic powers, and heads back into the valley in search of his old life. |
The Soft Whisper of the Dead | Charles L. Grant | null | The novel concerns vampires in the Connecticut town of Oxrun Station, a suburb of New York. |
Romance of Two Worlds | Marie Corelli | 1,886 | A Romance of Two Worlds starts with a young heroine, in first person, telling her story of a debilitating illnesses that includes depression and thoughts of suicide. Her doctor is unable to help her and sends her off on a holiday where she meets a mystical character by the name of Raffello Cellini, a famous Italian artist. Cellini offers her a strange potion which immediately puts her into a tranquil slumber, in which she experiences divine visions. Upon wakening, she craves more. Later, she meets her guardian angel named Heliobas, the hero of the story, who whisks her through infinite solar systems faster than a shooting star while human spirits fly by like gossamer silk. He shares the truth of religion and the secret of human destiny, but still she longs for more. She comes to understand God as pure light and pure love, but it's not enough that she should see and hear these things from the touch of an angel. She wants to master this ability on her own and seeks a oneness with God through a series of meditative disciplines while locked away in a monastery. |
Threshold | Sara Douglass | 1,997 | Set in the Egypt-like kingdom of Ashdod and primarily narrated by the glass-working slave Tirzah, the novel takes place during the final stages of the construction of the titular Threshold, an enormous glass-clad pyramid. Designed by the Magi, an order of mathematically-obsessed sorcerers, it is meant to open a gateway into Infinity, allowing the Magi to pass through and unite themselves with the One, an abstract proto-Platonic ideal of perfection. When the pyramid is activated, however, it instead allows the demonic entity Nzame to cross from Infinity into Ashdod, taking control of its people and turning most of the land into stone and black glass. Among those who escape are Tirzah, who is secretly a "cantomancer," able to communicate with the spirits of objects, principally those of glass, and her former master, the conflicted Magus Boaz, who may hold the key to the destruction of both Nzame and Threshold. Characters Tirzah Magus Boaz |
Maigret at the Gai-Moulin | null | null | Jean Chabot and René Delfrosse plan to hide in the cellar and rob the till at the Liege nightclub, Gai-Moulin. After the nightclub closes for the night, they venture out of the cellar and stumble on the body of a Greek man. Frightened and in shock they run away from the nightclub. Jean, who has been taking money from the petty cash at the office where he works, needs to return the money before the books are closed and so René steals cash from the till at his uncle's chocolate shop. When they find that they are being followed, they decide to throw the money down the toilet but Jean is arrested before he can do that. He insists he is innocent but the stories of Adèle, a dancer at the Gai-Moulin, Victor, a waiter at the Gai-Moulin, and Gennaro, the proprietor all seem to point at the guilt of the two boys. However, some suspicion also centers on a Frenchman who arrived in Leige on the same train, was staying at the same hotel as the murdered man, and who was at the Gai-Moulin at the same time. Inspector Delvigne does not know what to think when Maigret makes a surprising appearance on the scene. |
The Snow Empress | Laura Joh Rowland | 2,007 | The prologue begins in autumn of AD 1699, with the murder of an unidentified woman in Hokkaido, followed by the kidnapping of Sano Masahiro, son of the Shogun's Lord Chamberlain, Sano Ichiro, at the autumn festivities at the Zōjō Temple in Edo city. Several months later, Sano is summoned by the shogun to undertake a mission. Lord , who administers the country's northernmost domain, has failed to report to the capital as scheduled, and messengers despatched to Hokkaido have not returned. With tensions rising between Sano and his rival, Lord Matsudaira, the last thing Sano wants is to leave Edo, but Matsudaira produces the piece of a toy sword belonging to Masahiro: it seems Matsudaira's agents have sent Sano's son north, leaving him no choice but to go to Ezogashima. Left with little choice, Sano departs, accompanied by a small retinue, including his wife Reiko, his chief retainer , and "The Rat," an Ezo migrant to Edo. Hirata had been training with an ancient martial arts mystic when he sensed Sano was in trouble. He also sensed that the attainment of the next level of mastery which had eluded him would be found in the mission. The mission was almost over before it began when their ship was wrecked off the coast of Hokkaido. The survivors were found and sheltered by local natives who refer to themselves as the Ainu instead of the derisive term Ezo used by the Japanese. The Ainu were much spiritually closer to their natural world than the Japanese, and in there Hirata sensed the key to his breakthrough. When Sano finally managed to get an audience with Lord Matsumae in his court at his castle in Fukuyama, he found the daimyo half-mad with grief at the unsolved murder of his favourite concubine, who was an Ainu native. In order to locate and rescue his son, Sano agreed to investigate the murder to find the real culprit. He was simultaneously assisted and hindered by the daimyo's retainers, who on the one hand had little regard for the concubine for her perceived barbaric background, and on the other hand, desired their master's return to normalcy. As the story developed, Sano and his friends got a first-hand glimpse on the little-known effects of the impacts and clashes of the "civilised" Japanese people intruding into the lives of the natives who were of very different backgrounds and views of the world. |
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia | Greg Rucka | null | Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia is a modern Greek tragedy of duty and vengeance. When Wonder Woman partakes in an ancient ritual called the Hiketeia, she is honor-bound to eternally protect and care for a young woman named Danielle Wellys. But when the Wonder Woman learns that Danielle has killed the sex-slavers/drug dealers who murdered her sister, she suddenly finds herself in battle with Batman, who is searching for the female fugitive. Caught in a no-win situation, Wonder Woman must choose between breaking a sacred oath and turning her back on justice. In the climax, as Wonder Woman and Batman duel by the top of a cliff, Danielle finally decides to sacrifice herself and leaps. She dies in Wonder Woman's arms and tells her that she has released her of the Hiketeian ritual. |
Widow's Walk | Robert B. Parker | 2,002 | Boston bank manager Nathan Smith has been shot through the head while lying in bed. His new wife Mary, is the chief suspect, although she swears she was watching television at the time and never even heard the gunshot. Despite mounting evidence against her, and a prosecution witness who claims Mary hired him to kill her husband, the defence make a last-ditch attempt at proving her innocence by hiring Spenser, the Boston based P.I. However, everyone Spenser speaks with are systematically murdered. |
Maigret Has Scruples | Georges Simenon | 1,958 | On one of those rare days when all is quiet at the Quai des Orfèvres Maigret receives a visit from the mild-mannered toy salesman (at the Magasins du Louvre) Xavier Marton. Marton thinks that either his wife is trying to poison him or he is just crazy. Then Mme. Marton also shows up leaving Maigret rather bemused. Worried about his own wife's health and musing over his marriage, Maigret decides to investigate despite an order from the public prosecutor not to. When a body finally shows up, the reality is a surprise to everyone. |
The Empress of Mars | Kage Baker | null | The story follows Mary, a woman who owns the only bar on Mars. After being let go as the xenobotanist for the British Arean Company, she and a few loyal supporters work very hard to create not only a bar, but a business empire that deals in everything from barley to diamonds. |
To the Stars | L. Ron Hubbard | 1,950 | Protagonist Alan Corday is a young engineer, and is kidnapped from a spaceport called "New Chicago" and taken aboard the interstellar trading starship Hound of Heaven. The ship is commanded by a charismatic leader named Captain Jocelyn, who tells Corday to use his skills to help the Hound of Heaven in its travels between Earth and space colonies in other star systems. On the first page of the book's prologue Hubbard cites "the basic equation of mass and time.... AS MASS APPROACHES INFINITY, TIME APPROACHES ZERO", meaning that interstellar travelers at near light speed experience time relative to their environment, and when they return to their home star will find that decades or centuries may have passed. Six weeks of time aboard the ship amounts to roughly nine years experienced by those on Earth. Corday resists mingling with the culture aboard the starship, but when he returns home after travels with the Hound of Heaven he finds that his fiancee has aged and has trouble with her memory. Corday realizes his only home has become that of the starship. Captain Jocelyn is killed in an ambush on a dystopian Earth, and Corday takes command of the ship. |
Yellow Men Sleep | Jeremy Lane | null | The novel concerns the adventures of Con Levington, a Secret Service agent, who travels to the Gobi Desert searching for the source of the drug Koresh. There he discovers an ancient civilization. |
The American Claimant | Mark Twain | 1,892 | <!-- ===Chapter summaries=== |
The Hundred-Year Christmas | David Morrell | null | The novel concerns the friendship between Father Christmas who lives for 100 years and Father Time who lives for only one. Each year Santa Claus watches a new version of his friend grow old and die, before being replaced, however Santa's hundred years is up and it is now his turn to find a replacement. If he fails then no one will be around to take care of the infant Father Time and time itself will stop. |
The Eyeless | Lance Parkin | null | The Doctor, now on his own, is drawn to the ruins an ancient weapon at the heart of a destroyed civilisation. There he discovers survivors from the world before, people who were children when the weapon fell out of the sky and destroyed the great city, now adults heading a small tribe with offspring of their own. The tribe rests far beyond the city, away from the dangers of the decayed buildings and the ghosts of those who once lived in them. But there are new dangers arising. A race of glass conquerors calling themselves 'The Eyeless' have also been drawn to the ruins by the ancient power of the weapon, and the Doctor must venture deep into the centre of it to uncover why it suddenly appeared, and why it destroyed everything... |
The Story of Martha | Dan Abnett | 2,008 | The Story of Martha details Martha Jones' journey around the Earth during the Master's reign. Along the way, she encounters different people who survived the initial decimation of the Earth. The book goes on to divulge that while on the run from the Master and his armed forces, the stories Martha tells these people provide them with hope that she and the Doctor can defeat the Master; which eventuates in the television episode "Last of the Time Lords". The story ends at the point where "Last of the Time Lords" begins, with Martha meeting Tom Milligan on the shore of Britain. This book includes four short stories as well as the ongoing narrative of The Story of Martha. "The Weeping" is written by David Roden. This story is one which Martha tells to a little girl who sees past her perception filter near the beginning of the book. It tells of The Doctor and Martha's journey to a planet called Agelaos, after receiving a warning signal. As the population lived near a wormhole; they developed a degree of psychic ability. The Doctor and Martha meet an old man named Waechter, who saves them from an unknown beast and leads them to safety. It's revealed that Waechter is the guardian of the Beacon on the planet, the only person left on Agelaos. He is being kept alive by a circuit wired into his neck. He is also revealed to retain a psychic ability himself, shown when the Doctor's psychic paper and his mind clash. The Doctor agrees to take Waechter away with them on the TARDIS, and transport him to another planet; when suddenly he begins to die on board as Waechter's link to Agelaos is still transmitting through the chip in his neck. After an inspection of the chip, the Doctor comes to the realisation that the population of Agelaos hasn't disappeared; but merely evolved into the creatures from who they were trying to evade in the beginning. The chip was just holding Waechter's humanity in balance. The Doctor provides Waechter with the choice of destruction of the chip and transformation into the alien creature, or leaving the chip and living alone on Agelaos as a human. After seeing his future in the psychic paper, Waechter decides to become one of the alien creatures as a way of never being lonely again. After imparting his thanks and some final psychic predictions to Martha and the Doctor, Waechter leaves the TARDIS to be with his people; as the Doctor and Martha set off on another adventure. "Breathing Space" is written by Steve Lockley & Paul Lewis. The second story in the novel; Breathing Space is told to a group people in a survivor camp in France. After spending time on a resort planet, the Doctor and Martha are once again pulled to a location after the TARDIS intercepts a 'whale song'. They arrive on a space station in 2088, looking over the Earth and also strange looking signals. They meet Professor Conrad Morris; of whom the Doctor seems to be a big fan. Introducing themselves as John Smith and Dr. Martha Jones, they are told about the Benefactors; a solitary race, supposedly the salvation of mankind. They sent a broadcast to the people of Earth, offering salvation from global meltdown from the effects of global warming and atmospheric pollution. The Doctor immediately recognizes the Benefactors as an alien race called the Cineraria; who steal planets and proceed to wipe out all lifeforms and resources in existence. However, Morris and the Head of Security, Daniel Grant; refuse to believe the Doctor's warnings. After escaping from Grant and his guards, the Doctor sends Martha to run and lead them away from the TARDIS as to give him more time to fix the problem with the Cineraria. Grant however, catches up with Martha and forces her back into the control centre, where the Doctor suddenly appears from the TARDIS on the centre's monitors. He explains that the 'whale song' is actual a group of encoded signals which are transmitted between each of the signals outside as way of updating the Cineraria of gas levels stored. Using the sonic screwdriver, the control centre begins to drop towards the Earth as the creatures on the outside take a protective position around it. Appearing in the control centre, the Doctor and Martha notice that the creatures prepare to kill the population of Earth below. The Doctor states that it could all end if Professor Morris asked the Cineraria to stop. They'd have admitted defeat in this sense because they act on stealth; and the Doctor had unconvered their plot. As the Cineraria depart, the Doctor reveals to Professor Morris that he believes that the human race is amazing in itself and they can fix their own problems without the help of an alien race. Inside the TARDIS, Martha asks the Doctor to take her to Earth, ten years in the future; so she can see how the world has managed to sort itself out. The Doctor reassures her that everything will be brilliant and they depart. "The Frozen Wastes" is written by Robert Shearmen. The Frozen Wastes is the first of two stories Martha tells while she is captured and sent to a labour camp in Japan. This story tells how Martha had always wanted to be a doctor since she was a child, after becoming fascinated with the her bones' healing process after she broke her arm. The tale then goes onto detail an adventure wherein the Doctor and Martha join a French Arctic Expeditionist named Pierre Bruyere in 1890, on his maiden voyage. Pierre had planned to fly a hot air balloon to the North Pole as a way of fulfilling a childhood dream. As Pierre spoke to the Geographical Congress, the Doctor explains to Martha that Pierre disappeared after he took off in April, 1890. Martha remarks that they are in June, 1890, to which the Doctor replies that Pierre doesn't seem to know he is a dead man. The Doctor, Martha and Pierre set off in the balloon successfully; with the Doctor remarking on Pierre's brilliance along the way. Martha recalls the happiest times of the expedition which were when the trio would come together as team and sing songs. As Martha slept, she dreamed of being a Doctor once more; and hearing a voice coming through when she was sitting her exam. She is shaken awake by the Doctor to find the balloon is losing height; and the team begin to throw their luggage out in order to lighten the load. Averting disaster, Martha found herself dreaming of her medical exam again; the voice asking for details about her bones. The three would share their dreams, the Doctor becoming interested when Pierre mentions he dreams of nothing but white. The Doctor denies that he dreams anything; however he tells Martha that he dreams about the unknown and the dangers of it. When Pierre awakes, he states that they have reached the North Pole as they have been travelling constantly for about five months. Martha believes it to have been only a fortnight, and the Doctor reveals that they have in fact been travelling for years because they were frozen in time. Using the sonic screwdriver, the Doctor causes the balloon to pop; only to reveal to Martha and Pierre that they were being suspended in mid air. The Doctor explains that Pierre had been caught in a time loop as a result of his journal; sending him back to redo the expedition again and again, always doomed. Pierre becomes disturbed by the revelation when he sees one of his many counterparts alongside his own. Draining the life of his counterpart by holding his face; the Doctor realises that Pierre has been overcome and forces him to do the same to him, thinking that the vast amount of knowledge he retains will weaken Pierre. The Doctor was mistaken, as Pierre's hunger was too insatiable; and he cries out for Martha. She does the same thing and holds the Doctor's face to give him warmth, which unfreezes time to leave the two alone, holding each other. On board the TARDIS, The Doctor remarks that they never did get to the North Pole; and he takes Martha there to be the first human to set foot in the region. Then covering her tracks as to not interrupt history, the Doctor takes Martha to the North Pole, 200 years in the future; where the region had an interactive museum. He tells her of his dreams; that when he was a child, the Doctor had wanted to be an explorer. But he knew it could not be because his people had already discovered everything. They advised him not to leave Gallifrey as there was no point, but the Doctor found one; and whenever he'd dream, he'd see it. "Star-Crossed" is written by Simon Jowett. The final tale Martha tells is again to her fellow prisoners inside the labour camp in Japan. The tale picks up where Martha has her hands held behind her back as the Doctor regains consciousness in a room full of armed men. The Doctor tries to talk to the men, but is struck hard on the head by one named Breed as the man holding Martha strengthens his hold, almost choking her. The Doctor orders them to cease, but Martha is dragged away as the Doctor intervenes in a non-violet fashion to prevent them attacking Breed and possibly harming Martha in the process. In flashback, the Doctor and Martha discover a room full of empty cryogenic units. This leads the Doctor to conclude that they are on a generation ship full of frozen colonists. They will thaw and awake when they reach the target planet. And, as the ship they are on has yet to reach its target, the cargo should still be dormant. This flashback is revealed to be a part of Martha's memories, as things begin to happen which she knows did not occur first time around. Martha regains consciousness, revealing the flashback to have been a dream-memory, and comes face to face with a young woman and Breed. They are not alone. The room is paced with other people, all wearing Breed's face. Elsewhere, the Doctor meets the Head of the Steering Council, Treve; who with along another group, had been hunting Breed. It is revealed that Treve and Laine, the leader of the smaller group, had been frozen themselves; and had been awake for two years. Breed was classed as an Artificial, genetic clones made to perform maintenance checks and to deal with emergencies. Treve states that Breed and the other Artificials have changed their designations and given themselves human names. Breed now calls himself Edison. Becoming individuals themselves, the Breeds had developed beyond their original function. Meanwhile, Martha discovers that the Steering Council want Edison dead because he fell in love with the young woman, Romea. Romea states that Edison didn't mean any harm but the Artificials were stronger than the humans. Edison and Romea had broken the rules by fraternising together and so they were both on the run. A fight breaks out between the Artificials and the Colonists as Martha tries to reach the Fabricator, which would provide everything needed to colonise the target world. As the fight continues, Martha is thrown against a wall after being caught in a collision between a Colonist and an Artificial. As Romea runs to her aid, she is held back and a Colonist approaches Martha with a large spanner. An Artificial protects her and Martha screams out for the fighting to stop. The Doctor arrives and orders the same thing and the fighting stops when he takes order of the ship. The Doctor reveals that he'd seen the Pilot's log and discovered that the Artificials were linked to the Pilot System. They'd be created when there was a problem; for instance the cyro-system failure which had apparently killed half the Colonists. The Doctor remarks that ALL of the Colonists were killed, meaning that everyone bar them on the ship was in fact an Artificial. Around them, the Artificials slowly comfort each other to Martha's amazement. The Doctor tells her that everyone is an Artificial now, but love is real. After providing the ship with enough energy, Martha asks what the Doctor had done in the corridor when he'd been confusing the armed men. The Doctor remarks that he was using Amtorian jiu-jitsu, revealing that that he'd never taken his final rank grading; and that it can take place at any moment. Upon hearing a noise, Martha asks if he's told the Amtorians he wasn't going to take the grading to which the Doctor urgently assures her before pushing her into the TARDIS, and setting off. |
General Winston's Daughter | Sharon Shinn | 2,007 | Averie is thrilled to visit Chiarrin, a colonized land her father oversees as general of the Aebrian military. As the foreign rhythms of her new life sweep her along, the general's daughter begins to question the ethics and wisdom of colonial governance, depicted as a rough parallel to British rule during empire days. She delves into the culture, strains against the fussy restraints of her era and social class, and finds herself drawn to an officer of non-Aerbrian descent. But it is an interesting young woman from the marketplace, Jalessa, who truly opens a window into Chiarrizi culture. As political resistance begins to threaten colonial rule, security becomes tighter and tensions rise. |
The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel | Michael Scott | null | Sophie and Josh Newman – 15 year-old twins – are in Paris with the alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, and his friend, Scathach. They now face Niccolò Machiavelli and his colleague, but also rival, John Dee, both work for the Dark Elders. Machiavelli is plotting to capture the twins and Flamel with the missing pages of the Codex – or Book of Abraham the Mage – before Dee can arrive in France from San Francisco. The twins seek out a friend and student to Nicholas, Comte de Saint-Germain, who teaches Sophie to use the elemental magic of Fire. Saint-Germain's wife, Joan of Arc, helps Sophie to learn to control her aura and to sort out the Witch of Endor's memories from her own. Josh is given the legendary stone sword Clarent, twin blade of Excalibur, by Nicholas. Clarent is an ancient Fire Elemental sword. Josh, Joan, and Scathach encounter three Disir, more commonly referred to as Valkyries. The Disir are ancient enemies of Scathach and bring along the soul-devouring Nidhogg, a ferocious monster once trapped in the roots of Yggdrasil – the world tree. The monster was freed after Dee destroyed Yggdrasil and attacks Scathach but fails to slay her. Instead, it captures Scathach in its claws, but flees with Scathach when the ancient sword Clarent, wielded by Josh, wounds it. Meanwhile, Nicholas' wife, Perenelle Flamel, who had been captured, is taken to Alcatraz as a prisoner. While Josh is fighting Nidhogg, Joan of Arc and Sophie are busy fighting two of the Disir. After a lengthy battle, Sophie manages to freeze the two in an iceberg. They chase after Nidhogg. As Nidhogg flees, Dee, Machiavelli and Dagon (Machiavelli's assistant), who are watching, express remorse at the Disir's failure. Machiavelli then allows Dagon to chase Nidhogg and kill Scathach if the beast fails to do so. The monster escapes through the streets of Paris, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. One of the trio of Disir, as well as Josh (who is still trying to save Scathach) follow. They arrive on the banks of the Seine and, with the help of Dee, Josh manages to stall the Disir and escape. He then leaves with Dee and Machiavelli. Sophie, Joan, and Nicholas arrive, defeat the Disir and Nidhogg, and save Scathach. On Alcatraz, Perenelle is helped by the ghost of Juan Manuel de Ayala, a Spanish sailor. Sophie, Joan, and Nicholas are talking to Scathach when Dagon erupts out of the river and drags her back in with him. The group miss Scathach, but decide to go after Josh, and, by using Sophie's aura, they track Dee and his comrades to the catacombs of Paris. There, Josh's magical ability is awakened by Mars Ultor and he is given a special "gift" similar to what Sophie received from the Witch of Endor – Josh now has Mars' military knowledge. When Sophie, Josh, and the rest escape from the catacombs, Dee and Machiavelli have set a trap, making the gargoyles and statues of Paris come to life and attack. Josh, Sophie, Saint-Germain, and Joan of Arc combine powers to destroy the statues. Flamel and the twins escape via a train and head for London. Perenelle is still stuck on Alcatraz and fears recapture. |
Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang | Joyce Carol Oates | 1,993 | The book takes the form of a memoir by Madeleine "Maddy" or "Monkey" Wirtz. Maddy is a fifty year old astronomer's assistant, but as a young girl was one of the five original members of Foxfire. This group included Betty "Goldie" Siegfried, Loretta "Lana" Maguire, Elizabeth "Rita" O'Hagan, and their leader, Margaret "Legs" Sadovsky. The girls all grew up together in the fictional town of Hammond, New York (the same setting Oates used for her 1990 novel Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart). Legs is an athletic, charismatic girl with feminist ideals about female pride and solidarity. She holds a Foxfire initiation ritual on January 1, 1953, involving secret tattoos of the gang's symbol, a red flame. Soon afterwards, Legs announces her first plan for the gang: the public humiliation of their high school math teacher. Mr. Buttinger has taken an inappropriate interest in Rita, often mocking her in class and requiring her to stay after school for "disciplinary" sessions where he gropes her breasts. This first Foxfire adventure is non-violent; the girls paint graffiti messages on Mr. Buttinger's car such as "I TEACH MATH & TICKLE TITS". His secret now public, Mr. Buttinger is openly laughed at in school and quickly retires from teaching altogether. Encouraged by this first victory, Foxfire becomes increasingly bold in their activities. Although much of their early activities involve small-scale vandalism and shoplifting, they also brutally beat Maddy's uncle after he sexually assaults her. Yet Legs also insists that the gang take an interest in charity, anonymously donating money to needy people in their community. They also successfully protest a local pet shop to end the cruel treatment of the animals for sale there, in the process acquiring a "silvery-haired raccoon-faced husky" named Toby who becomes Foxfire's mascot. Foxfire begins to gain attention in school and around town. Several other girls ask to join the gang. One day, Foxfire members are involved in a schoolyard fight with boys from another gang. The girls run from the school and wind up going for a joyride in a car they find left with the keys in the ignition. This leads to a police chase that ends in a crash for the Foxfire girls. None are seriously injured, but Legs is sent to Red Bank, a girl's correctional facility. The other Foxfire members involved in the incident are placed on probation. Legs spends more than a year at Red Bank. After her release, Legs manages to rent an old house outside town and dubs it the "Foxfire Homestead". Most of the gang members move into the house, but they have difficulty earning enough money to support themselves with their legitimate jobs. The gang eventually begins stealing and extorting money from older men. Eventually, Legs comes up with a plan for the "final solution" of their financial problems: the kidnapping for ransom of a wealthy local man. When the kidnapping plan goes wrong, it results in the breakup of the Foxfire gang and the mysterious disappearance of Legs herself. |
The Scourge of God | S. M. Stirling | null | Rudi Mackenzie and company stage a rescue of Mathilda Arminger, Odard Liu, and Ingolf Vogeler from High Seeker Kuttner. They manage to free their companions and kill Kuttner, but not before he becomes possessed and almost strangles Rudi. Following their victory, Frederick Thurston decides to travel with Rudi to Nantucket instead of staying in Boise to fight his brother Martin Thurston. Back in Twin Falls, the Prophet Sethaz orders High Seeker Twain and Major Graber to kill Rudi. Rudi meanwhile comes upon a group of Mormon rebels, including Rebecca Nystrup and her brother. They join up with Rudi and reach the Deseret town of Picabo, now occupied by Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT). Ingolf, Rudi, Edain Aylward, and Odard pose as slavers, with Rebecca acting as one of their slaves, in an effort to infiltrate the town. In order to preserve their cover, however, Edain is forced to attempt to shoot an apple off of Rebecca's head. He misses, killing her. Ingolf's plan goes off the night before the CUT forces leave but it is interrupted by Graber, who wounds Rudi. Ingolf manages to lead the party to safety while the Mormon rebels go into the wilds. Still chased by Graber, Rudi's company attempts to find a place they can hole up so Rudi can heal. While unconscious, Rudi has an out-of-body experience in which Odin tells him he will not die of his wounds but instead will die in an act of self sacrifice for his people. Ritva Havel is ambushed by a CUT scout while hunting. Ritva barely defeats him; in return for his life, he warns her that High Seeker Twain has captured her twin sister Mary. Ritva rescues Mary and kills Twain, but not before Mary loses an eye. The whole company is later discovered by a group of Buddhist monks and they winter in their monastery. While at the monastery, Ignatius receives a vision from Mary telling him to look after Mathilda. After leaving the monks, the company is joined by Virginia Kane. As the group enters Sioux territory, they are greeted by Sioux chief Red Leaf and his soldiers who demand that they leave. However, Virginia is the daughter of a prominent local rancher who was Red Leaf's blood brother. Her father was killed by a rival and his CUT allies. For Virginia's sake, Red Leaf gives the group sanctuary, but they run into the group of ranchers chasing her, along with Major Graber. Graber and Rudi fight; Rudi is victorious, but spares Graber. The ranchers and the CUT are driven away after the two forces accidentally upset some lions. Rudi and his group stay with Red Leaf's tribe, but leave just before Graber returns with reinforcements. With the help of Red Leaf's son, they manage to get on the other side of a huge stream of migrating buffalo, thus losing Graber. Rudi and company make it to Iowa and, thanks to Ingolf's connections with a local influential farmer, are able to make it to Des Moines, where they hope to finance a trip into the eastern deathlands. The group, however, is ambushed by the State Police. Rudi, Ingolf, Mathilda and Odard are captured. It appears that the Bossman of Iowa is angry with Ingolf for not completing a salvaging expedition he had paid for into the eastern deathlands. Rudi volunteers to retrieve the goods that were abandoned in Illinois. The Bossman agrees on the condition that Rudi must do it alone in one month. As Rudi continues his quest, events back in Oregon come to a boil. The leaders of the Meeting agree that the CUT threat is too great to ignore. They decide to attack Pendleton. An army is formed, led by Astrid Larsson with Lady Tiphaine as second in command. As the army marches toward Pendleton, Astrid leads a black op to capture the Bossman of Pendleton and his family. With the help of a spy in the service of Sandra Arminger, Astrid, Eilir Mackenzie, Alleyne Loring, John Hordle and other members of the Rangers, sneak into the city and get access to the Bossman's palace. Meanwhile, BD, a merchant in the service of the Meeting, gets invited to a party the Bossman is throwing. While there, she sees that both President Thurston and Sethaz are present along with soldiers from their respective nations. Astrid captures the Bossman and his family, but Sethaz incites the crowd to attack the Rangers, who are forced to flee with only the Bossman. Tiphaine is able to rescue them but Astrid has been injured and has to cede command of the army to Tiphaine. Thanks to a traitor from Boise, Tiphaine knows she is outnumbered by the combined forces of Boise, CUT, and Pendleton. She attempts a fighting retreat in an effort to buy time for the infantry to escape. Chuck Barstow, commander of the Clan Mackenzie forces, is killed during the battle. He awakens in an idyllic afterlife. The Bearkillers' commander Eric Larsson loses his hand and almost his life except for quick action by Mike Havel Jr., but the army succeeds in breaking contact with the enemy. Back home, the Mackenzies and Bearkillers mourn their dead. Oak vows in front of Juniper Mackenzie to not rest until the killers of his father are defeated. At Larssdalen, Mike Jr. is promoted to the rank of A-lister and is offered the position of his late father, Lord Bear. He respectfully declines saying he has much to learn before he can accept. |
Starting With Alice | Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | 2,002 | The book begins with Alice moving from Chicago to Takoma Park, Maryland with her single father, Ben Mckinley, and older brother, Lester Mckinley. As the new girl in school, she doesn't know a single person except for her next-door neighbor Donald Sheavers, who is not only a boy, but also seems to be a little bit peculiar. She gets off to a rough start when she meets three snooty girls, Jody, Dawn and Megan, whom Alice nicknames "The Terrible Triplets" after they make it clear they don't want to get to know her. Along the way, she makes some new friends, gets a cat, attends a wedding, attends a funeral, confronts bullies and continues to learn about the world around her. |
Grail Prince | Nancy McKenzie | 2,003 | Before his death, King Arthur sends young Galahad the oldest son of Lancelot and Elaine on a quest to find the lost treasures of an ancient king — a Grail, a Spear, a Sword — which will safeguard Britain’s future. For Galahad the search becomes a transforming journey into manhood. |
The Dark Cry of the Moon | Charles L. Grant | null | The novel concerns werewolves in the Connecticut town of Oxrun Station, a suburb of New York. |
Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality | Andrew Sullivan | 1,995 | The book presents the reader with four groups of citizens who view homosexuality in a specific manner within American society, criticizing the arguments: Prohibitionists, Liberationists, Conservatives, and Liberals. The Prohibitionists comprise Thomas Aquinas and strict followers of the Bible. They believe that "homosexuality is an aberration and that homosexual acts are an abomination" and that homosexuality should either be punished or "cured". Sullivan asserts that there is inconsistency with Prohibitionists that use Biblical and moral arguments against homosexuality yet not against other conditions many Christians find sexually immoral. In order for Prohibitionists to have effective policy, they have to be hypocritical in their denial of marriage to gays yet not to infertile couples (because they claim marriage's sole purpose is procreation). However, if the Prohibitionists are consistent (i.e., "no one can marry unless the wife will become pregnant from the man's seed"), then their views are too marginal to be accepted by society at large. The Liberationists are epitomised by Michel Foucault and Queer Nation. They believe, like the Prohibitionists, that no one is "homosexual" but for a different reason. To a Liberationist, the words "homosexual", "homosexuality", "gay", "lesbian", etc., are just tools that the straight majority use to oppress the gay minority. An example of this would be that a gay man who feels sexual attraction for a particular woman would be limited by the chains of his "sexual orientation". Sullivan claims their flaw to be that liberationist policy, by rejecting the notion of limiting oneself to words, fails to improve the plight of the gay community. Conservatives, unlike the former two, don't believe that everyone is essentially heterosexual. They acknowledge the existence of a gay minority. However, they believe that homosexuality should be only a private matter and kept silent in public matters. They further believe that gays should not seek to change public acceptance of homosexuality because social change will come with time, just as it has for other minorities. Sullivan says that the problem of the Conservatives is that as gays gain increasing acceptance in Western societies, they are faced with two alternatives. The first is a path of "increasing isolation and uncomfortable hostility to homosexuality". The second is to incorporate homosexual trends into their conservatism, as those originally opposed to women's suffrage eventually accepted the notion of women contributing to the conservative tradition of democracy. The Liberals seek to apply liberalism as has been applied to other minorities to the gay community. Sullivan argues that the liberals want to apply a cookie-cutter agenda of "liberalism" that would render many gays as permanent victims of civil rights abuse. He says that the liberals are guilty of "trying to use easy remedies for a problem that knows no easy remedies; using the language of rights in an area where it is impossible to avoid the language of goods; encouraging an attitude among homosexuals that might actually increase their isolation rather than undermine it". They are said to limit the freedom of the majority to give rights to minorities. Sullivan also adds that anti-discrimination laws are reifying. Finally, Sullivan concludes on gay marriage, arguing that it would be a good thing as it would be both a humanising and traditionalising effort. He also advocated the repeal of Don't ask, don't tell, which was still in effect when he wrote the book. |
In the Courts of the Crimson Kings | S. M. Stirling | null | The novel begins in 1962 where several famous science fiction authors are watching an American space probe as it lands on an inhabited Mars. They watch as human-like Martians arrive in a "land ship" and take the probe with them. In 2000, both the US and Sino-Soviet "Eastbloc" have bases on the planet. The US has their base off in the wilderness away from the major cities while the Eastbloc have placed their base inside the remnants of the Tollamune emperor's realm within Olympus Mons, a ruling dynasty that once ruled all Mars. Although in decline, Martian civilization is considerably older than that of Earth and has considerable expertise in genetic engineering. Archeologist Jeremy Wainman is sent by the U.S. Aero-Space Force to explore the lost city of Rema-Dza out in the "Great Beyond", or the Martian desert. The USASF also hires a female Martian mercenary, Teyud za-Zhalt, who leads the expedition to the city. While fighting a pack of feral engines under the city, Jeremy and Teyud fall in love. It becomes apparent that there is more to Teyud than she initially recounts. When the expedition discovers the lost "Invisible Crown" of the Tollamune emperors, a symbol of authority that gives the wearer immense power, everyone is startled to find that Teyud can wear it even though only someone from the Tollamune dynasty is capable of doing so. Teyud admits that she is the illegitimate daughter of the current emperor. Now the former mercenary commands the power of an ancient technological artifact allegedly created by the aliens that terraformed Mars and Venus, and seeded them with life from Earth. Jeremy and Teyud soon discover that there are Tollamune dynastic factions who know of Teyud's ancestry and are looking to either kill or capture her. Jeremy himself is captured while attempting to protect Teyud. This forces her, with the help of her father's soldiers, to attempt to rescue him from the fortress of a potential usurper, who had been displaced from the imperial succession after the Emperor recognises his daughter's legitimacy. The Crown Prince is later defeated after playing a game of Atanj (Martian chess), using people as the pieces, including Teyud and Jeremy. Teyud's father also dies passing the title of emperor to her. With the Crown Prince dead and a Tollamune once again ruling all of Mars, Teyud takes Jeremy as her prince consort. The couple are visited by an ancient alien computer program which cryptically announces that they will proceed to the next stage. Though both are unsure what this means, but they soon discover that three interdimensional "Gates" have opened up on Earth, Venus and Mars, each leading to another world. The book ends with Teyud and Jeremy visiting "Vow'da" (Moon-World) the new colony on the other side of the Martian gate. |
The Undying Land | William Gilmour | null | The novel concerns the adventures of Starrett, an aviator who is becomes lost in Africa and discovers a lost civilization. |
Asterix Conquers Rome | null | null | After a Roman centurion is continually defeated by the Village of Indomitable Gauls, he concludes that they must be gods. Julius Caesar sets twelve tasks that only gods could perform, similar to the twelve tasks of Hercules, to prove that the Gauls are mere mortals. If the Gauls succeed, he will admit defeat and let the Gauls become the rulers of Rome, but if they fail, they will become his slaves. The challenge is accepted and Asterix and Obelix are chosen to represent the village, eventually succeeding in all tasks. At the end Caesar admits the Gauls' superiority. He is shown living in retirement married to Cleopatra, although it is explained that the ending is what it is because it's just a cartoon film, so "anything goes". |
Academ's Fury | Jim Butcher | 2,005 | Approximately two years after the events in Furies of Calderon, Tavi is attending the finest school in Alera, The Academy. His patron, the ruler of Alera, has generously paid for his schooling and employed him as a page in the capitol. He still has no furies and remains the only Aleran to have no furycrafting ability. He struggles to deal with his perceived disability while training to be a Cursor of the crown, the First Lord's messengers and covert agents through the realm. Tavi must confront his peers and enemies alike as Alera is quietly being invaded by the Vord, his Aunt Isana in danger, the First Lord's failing health, and all with the threat of civil war looming over their heads. |
Captain's Fury | Jim Butcher | 2,007 | Two years have passed after the Night of the Red Stars and the Battle at the Elinarch (in book three of the Codex Alera, Cursor's Fury). Rufus Scipio/Tavi had been repelling attacks from the Canim forces for two years and the war against Kalare raged on. Senator Arnos who is in charge of the war committee is pushing for the destruction of all of the Canim forces in Alera. Isana is faced with telling Tavi of who his father is and confronting her own abilities. Tavi must find a way to end the conflict between the Canim and Alera or it may mean the destruction of all of his forces. Gaius Sextus, and the Count and Countess of Calderon take on a secret mission to stop Kalare. Senator Arnos comes to the Elinarch to take over command of the battle against the Canim. Senator Arnos is working with Invidia Aquitaine to remove Tavi as leader of the battle and eliminate him entirely. Arnos is accompanied by several singulares who are a constant threat to Tavi and who attempt to eliminate him through the book. Isana, after several attempts of trying to tell Tavi that she is his mother and that his father was Gaius Septimus, was unable to do so. Araris delivers the message instead. Tavi has a meeting with the Canim leader, Nasaug, where he tells Nasaug that he knows that the Canim are trying to build ships to get them back to their homeland. He strikes a deal with Nasaug that he would help them but Nasaug says the only way that a deal can be struck is if Tavi returns Ambassador Varg to them. Arnos spies on this meeting and through the plotting of Arnos, Invidia and Marcus/Fidelias Tavi is removed from his command as Captain for conspiring with the enemy. Prior to leaving Tavi places Crassus in charge of the Alerian forces. Tavi escapes from the prison and with Isana, Kitai, Ehren, and Araris they board a ship to take them to Aleria Imperia. During that voyage they are attacked by Arnos’ singulares and the group uses furycrafting to board the enemy ship and kill the witchmen that are hiding their presence from the leviathans. The enemy ship is destroyed by leviathans but Arnos’ singulares escape. During this battle, Isana’s powers grow and she is able to heal Araris who was seriously injured without a bathtub which is only performed by the most powerful healers and high lords and ladies. Gaius takes Amara and Bernard into Kalarus’s lands as he tells them that Kalarus has woken one of the Great Furies in the Kalare mountains and if Kalare is killed the mountain will erupt and kill everyone in the region, Gaius intends to disarm the Fury. During their journey Gaius cannot use his powers as this will signal Kalare that he is on Kalare’s lands and ruin their mission. Gaius gets an infection as his feet blister from walking 300 miles to the mountain and he must be tended to along the way. As they approach the mountains the group is discovered by a legion of Immortals led by Brencis Minoris, Kalarus’s son. Gaius heals himself and destroys the legion. He then releases the great fury which destroys Kalare and all who reside in the area. Amara, who is angry at the First lord for lying to her, throws her silver coin in his face and leaves him. At the same time Tavi is able to free Varg from the Grey Tower and returns him to the Canim forces. He then announces his identity as Gaius Octavian and challenges Arnos to a Juris Macto. Pharygiar Navaris, who is the deadliest cutter/sword in all of Alera, represents Arnos in the duel. Marcus (Fidelias) is instructed by Invidia to kill both Arnos and Tavi after the duel, using a balest, to make it look like a Canim attack. Marcus aims the balest and is able to strike both Arnos, as he tries to escape after Tavi wins the duel, and Invidia who Arnos grabs for protection. Invidia survives the initial injury but has the poison of the garic oil in her system. Tavi is able to strike a deal with Gaius Sextus allowing the Canim to return home and to send a cohort with them to ensure their safe passage and assist them in destroying the Vord that have taken over their lands. In the end it is also revealed that Tavi is now able to furycraft. |
The Princes of the Golden Cage | Nathalie Mallet | 2,007 | Prince Amir lives in a lavish and beautiful cage. He lives in a palace with hundreds of his brothers, all barred by law from ever leaving the palace until he, or one of his brothers, becomes the next Sultan. Living under constant threat of death at the hands of his scheming brothers, Amir has chosen a life of solitude and study. His scholarly and alchemical pursuits bring him under suspicion when his brothers begin to die from seemingly supernatural means. Amir finds himself thrown together with his brother Erik, the son of a barbarian princess. Together they must discover the dark secret that is stalking the halls of their golden cage. |
Marianne and Mark | Catherine Storr | 1,960 | Now aged fifteen Marianne returns to Brighton, where she recuperated from her illness at the end of Marianne Dreams, when she was ten. Much to her disappointment she finds Brighton a lonely and boring place, and she tags along with local girls Alice and Josie despite having little in common with them. One evening Josie's friend Billie tells the girls of a visit to a local fortune teller who apparently gives remarkably accurate readings. Reluctantly, Marianne joins the girls on a trip to the fortune teller and there she is astonished at how much the woman guesses about her life, including details of her illness five years ago. The fortune teller assures Marianne that she will not be lonely for much longer and that soon she will experience romance. Spurred on by this Marianne accepts a date with a boy called Alan, whom she doesn't realise is Billie's former boyfriend. This inadvertent betrayal alienates Marianne from the few friends she had, and after Alan also deserts her she is left on her own. It is then that she meets Mark, a boy from London who, it transpires, is the same boy with whom she shared a tutor but never met in Marianne Dreams. The two enjoy the last few days of the holiday together and promise to meet again in London. |
Shesher Kobita | Rabindranath Tagore | 1,929 | The novel recounts the love story of Amit Ray (pronounced "amito rAy"), a barrister educated at Oxford, whose virulent intellectualism reveals itself in its opposition to all forms of tradition. He meets Labannya in a car accident and the romance builds up in the misty hills of Shillong. Though the novel is primarily set in Shillong, it was written when Rabindranath was in Bangalore. Amito's iconoclastism meets Labannya's sincere simplicity through a series of dialogues and poems that they write for each other. The novel also contains a self-reference of significance in Bangla literature. By the late 1920s, more than a decade after his Nobel Prize, Tagore had become a towering presence in Bengal, and was facing criticism: :A younger group of writers were trying to escape from the penumbra of Rabindranath, often by tilting at him and his work. In 1928 he decided to call a meeting of writers at Jorasanko and hear them debate the issues. Shortly after this meeting, while writing this novel, Tagore has Amito railing against a much revered poet, whose name turns out to be Rabi Thakur - Rabi is a common short form of Rabindranath, and Thakur is the original Bangla for Tagore. Amito remarks: "Poets must live for at most five years. ... Our severest complaint against Rabi Thakur is that like Wordsworth, he is illicitly staying alive." These remarks aroused much mirth among the reading public, but the novel is also a serious attempt at demonstrating his versatility, at age 67. Even the theme was novel - after building up their affair and obtaining the blessings of Labannya's employer Jogmayadevi (Labannya served as her daughter's governess but they shared a very close relationship and she was considered Labannya's real guardian), the lovers decide to marry other suitors, without the air of tragedy. In the text, the reason appears to be that they feel that daily chores of living together will kill the purity of their romance: :Most barbarians equate marriage with the union, and look upon the real union thereafter with contempt.... ketakI and I - our love is like water in my kalsi (jug) ; I fill it each morning, and use it all day long. But Labannya's love is like a vast lake, not to be brought home, but into which my mind can immerse itself. However, this surface text is subject to many interpretations. Rabindranath biographer Krishna Kripalini, writes in the foreword of his translation of Shesher Kabita (Farewell my Friend, London 1946): :[Labannya] releases [Amit's] own submerged depth of sincerity, which he finds hard to adjust to... The struggle makes him a curiously pathetic figure... The tragedy is understood by the girl who releases him from his troth and disappears from his life. The poem "Nirjharini" from the book was later published as a separate poem in the collection of poems known as Mohua. A film adaptation of the book is in production. It will be directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay and will star Konkona Sen Sharma as Labannya and Rahul Bose as Amit Ray. You can see a full radio play of Shesher Kabita on YouTube. It was performed at the lawn of Sir. P.C. Mitter's heritage house on Elgin Road on 1 April, 2012 . |
Crusader | Edward Bloor | 1,997 | The central character in Crusader is 15-year-old Roberta Ritter, who lives in south Florida with her widowed father. Roberta is an aspiring journalist, but works after school and on the weekends at Arcane, the virtual-reality arcade run by her father and uncle. Roberta is not content with her life so far; her father barely seems to notice her, instead spending much of his free time with his new girlfriend, Suzie. Roberta doesn't approve of the games offered in Arcane, which are all filled with over-the-top violence and racial overtones, nor does she like having to deal with the arcade's often unsavory clientele. Roberta deals with coming of age problems, criticized by her cousin's popular friend Nikki for her disinterest in make-up and never having menstruated. She also is forced to come to terms with finding many of the people around her to be motivated by self-interest and the deaths of both an elderly friend and her mother. Roberta takes it upon herself, with the occasional help of some friends and her high school journalism teacher, to investigate a series of incidents at the mall where Arcane is located. These incidents range from hate crimes perpetrated against vendors, to rumors that the mall developers are planning to have the mall demolished. She also begins to dig into the facts surrounding her mothers murder. Roberta likes the idea of mud-raking as a way of unveiling hidden injustice, but also becomes disillusioned with both her teacher and the local news station after witnessing the inability to pursue real journalism. |
Kushiel's Mercy | Jacqueline Carey | 2,008 | Upon reaching the City of Elua, Sidonie and Imriel find that there are many people awaiting them. Some, like the Yeshuites and the Tsingani, are there simply because Imriel was foster-son to Phèdre nó Delaunay and Joscelin Verreuil. Also there are small knots of people, each wearing black armbands around one of their arms, signifying death. They all hold out their fists, thumbs pointed downward. Imriel later learns that these people are the families of his mother, Melisande Shahrizai's, victims. In the City, Imriel parts ways with Phèdre and Joscelin, declining their offer to stay at the townhouse in favor of confronting Queen Ysandre. Upon reaching the palace, Imriel comes to find that the Queen has seemed to have cooled off since he had last seen her. His room are ready for his use and he takes the opportunity to have a much-needed bath. Hearing a commotion outside his door, he allows his cousin, Mavros Shahrizai, to be admitted to see him. Mavros comes in and begins berating Imriel for not sending word and worrying him. His anger melts away, though, and he sits and listens to Imriel's story - of Imriel's hunt for Berlik, how he was captured, how Berlik wanted to die, and how Imriel made it back and buried Berlik's head at Dorelei's feet. The conversation eventually drifts to Imriel and Sidonie, and Mavros offers the support of House Shahrizai, though he warns that it may not count for much. Imriel is then summoned to a meeting with the Queen in her private chambers; the attendance of her Secretary of the Presence, however, showed that this was an audience of state and not a family chat. The Queen thanks him for avenging Dorelei's death, then promptly dismisses him, telling him they'll talk about the "other matter" at another time. She also tells him that a Priest of Elua would be by to see him soon. One of Sidonie's personal guard finds him after the audience, and tells him that the Dauphine has requested to see him. He follows and tells Sidonie about the upcoming meeting with the priest. Sidonie says that she had to prove her love for Imriel to the priest, and now Imriel must convince him. The Queen, as a way of delaying her decision, decides to treat Imriel and Sidonie's love like it does not exist. Eventually, the summons from the priest comes. Imriel asks Sidonie what she had said to convince the priest. She says that she spoke of how, sometimes, it isn't the person who choses but love itself. She had said that her mother would have allowed her anyone else, but that then she would have learned nothing of the power and might of love. More than that Sidonie does not mention, saying that she wants Imriel's reactions and replies to be genuine and not appear rehearsed. The next day, Imriel goes to see the priest. He is escorted to the large common area and finds that there are priests of all of Elua's companions except Cassiel, there to decide on the sincerity of his love. Imriel tells the priests and priestesses of how he loved Sidonie, how he would do anything for her, how others had been hurt because they had defied Blessed Elua's precept. Even though Irmiel can not explain why, he does his best to make his feeling known. The Kusheline priest is the first to declare that he believes Imriel. The priestess of Namaah and priestess of Eisheth both voice their approval at exactly the same moment. After some discussion, the opinion is shared by Shemhazai's priest, Anael's priestess, Azza's priest, and the priest of Camael. The priest of Elua verifies with his counterparts and informs Imriel that he will deliver their opinions directly to the Queen. Finally the time has arrived for Ysandre to deliver her decision on Imriel and Sidonie's relationship. Before a packed Hall of Audience, Ysandre asks both Sidonie and Imriel if it is still their wish to be united and acknowledged in the eyes of the realm and the throne. Upon their consent, Ysandre declares that she will not forbid their relationship because the priests declare their love to be genuine and she must abide by Elua's precept, "love as thou wilt." BUT, their relationship is causing much turmoil in the kingdom and verging on civil unrest. So, if Sidonie declares Imriel her consort, Ysandre says she will not acknowledge it and thereby give it no legal binding. If Sidonie marries Imriel, Ysandre states she will disinherit her and her title to the throne will go to Alais. The only way around this vow, unofficially understood, is for Imriel to find and bring his mother to justice - the execution she managed to escape from twenty-one years ago. Following this declaration, Imriel, Sidonie, and a few of their closest, most trusted friends hold a conference of their own to decide what to do. Sidonie immediately dismisses the idea of setting off to find Melisande anytime soon, on the ground that she wants Imriel to be around as long as humanly possible. Imriel proposes the idea of asking The Master of the Straits for assistance, by searching with his mystical sea-mirror. That night, Imriel realizes that he has to tell Sidonie about a shadowy part of his history - his involvement with the Unseen Guild. He speculates that could find his mother's whereabouts by contacting them, but to do so, he has to tell Sidonie of the dangers they present. Once she is informed, she goes to find her mother and have a talk about the situation. During this time, Imriel is asked to see Claude de Monluc, the captain of Sidonie's guard. It appears that Claude de Monluc is worried that Imriel might be after his post. Imriel manages to allay his fears and they come to an understanding. Upon her return from her talk with her mother, Sidonie tells Imriel that her mother already knew of the Unseen Guild, from Phèdre. Though Imriel had told Phèdre a year earlier, he did not know that she had told the Queen. In the months that follow, they settle into a routine. There are Parliamentary decisions to made, parties to attend, plans to be made. Finally, word comes back from The Master of the Straits: Melisande is not on Alban or d'Angeline soil. She is somewhere else. Imriel realizes that he will have to call upon the Unseen Guild and decides to contact Diokles Agallon, who had approached Imriel for a favor on the Guild's behalf a couple years before. Before he puts that plan into motion, however, he decides to get as much out of his situation as he can. The Longest Night is approaching, and he and Sidonie decide to attend it together. Calling on Favrielle nó Eglantine, the two decide on their theme for their costumes - Night and Day. Imriel would be Night and Sidonie Day. The Palace Ball goes smoothly, except, however, for a minor lord from one of the estates bordering one of Imriel's holdings. The lord, who is more than a little drunk, begins to insult Sidonie publicly. It becomes clear that the lord has been put up to this by Barquiel L'Envers, who still has a deep-seated grudge against Imriel. Both are promptly thrown out by Ysandre herself. Finally, with the arrival of winter, the time had come for Imriel to put his plan into motion. He writes to Diokles, being very vague and suggestive in his letter. Once sent, he settles into his other problems. When spring arrives, people began to wonder at Imriel's lack of action. Sidonie dismisses the guards in her service who have been gossiping about her and Imriel's relationship, and finds that there are many more who apply to take these positions. Upon choosing the replacements, she finds that they want to dote on her. Soon after, Imriel decides to keep his long-standing promise to Alais and goes to Montrève to select a new puppy for her. Sidonie goes with him, and they pass several days of happiness and peace with Phèdre and Joscelin at Montrève. At long last, Imriel's response arrives. But it was not what he had expected. To all outward appearances, the letter seemed to be a love note from a besotted peer. Upon further inspection, however, Imriel finds the note contains a hidden message, similar to the medallion Canis had given him in Kushiel's Scion. Upon research, Imriel learns the message says that Diokles does not have the answers Imriel wants but someone in the Carthaginian entourage does. All Imriel had to do is push for their delegation to enter the City of Elua and the answer will present itself to him. There has been a Carthaginian delegation awaiting approval for entry into the City of Elua for a weeks now, with no decision having been made yet. The new general of Carthage, Astegal of Sarcal, wishes to make alliances and become better friends with his neighbors, and he claims he is enamored with Terre d'Ange. The Queen is cautious, however, because Carthage and Aragonia seem to be having tense relations, and it is clear that Carthage wants to occupy Aragonia. Aragonia is a long-time ally of Terre d'Ange, including through marriage via Nicola L'Envers y Aragon, and sent a squadron of their best archers to help defend Terre d'Ange at the Battle of Troyes-le-Mont. Upon this news from the Unseen Guild, Imriel and Sidonie go to speak to the Queen. Ysandre does not seem too upset about the proposal, but is curious and cautious. Soon after, as planned, Ysandre convenes a session of Parliament with the intent to decide on whether or not to allow the Carthaginian delegation into the City. After hearing the long list of tribute General Astegal has to give them, Parliament, almost unanimously, votes to allow them entry. Imriel, however, feels uneasy about the prospect and worries about what the Unseen Guild has to do with all this. About two weeks later, six Carthaginian ship sail into the City's docks. As the tribute is being unloaded, Astegal of Sarcal comes to speak to Ysandre, Drustan, Sidonie and Imriel. He says many flattering things and actually seems genuinely interested in the City of Elua. He also brings news from his horologists that a great occurrence in the skies will happen soon. He has even brought his horologists with him to show the entire city a "marvel", which can only be seen when the moon falls under the world's shadow and the planets are aligned just so. That night, the Queen throws a fête in honor of the Carthaginians. It is at this celebration that a man named Sunjata, an apprentice to a Carthaginian jeweler, comes up to speak to Imriel. Imriel learns that Sunjata is a eunuch and it seems that they have somewhat in common, both having been abducted by Carthaginian slavers. Just before parting, Imriel discerns that Sunjata is a member of the Unseen Guild but he is separated from him before he can ask anything else. Soon after, another man, Gillimas Hiram, approaches Imriel bearing an offering from the Council of Thirty as an apology for Imriel being abducted by Carthaginians. Imriel notices the gift contains the symbol of the Unseen Guild, the inverted lamp. Gillimas also says that, should it catch his fancy, Imriel should make a journey to the isle of Cythera, where the wood to make the gift had come from. It was thus clearly hinted by Gillimas that he is also a Guild member. However, no more than this is exchanged and Imriel unfortunately loses track of him before the end of the party as well. The next day, Imriel hears that Astegal wants to experience the pleasures of the Night Court and wishes Imriel to accompany him. During the excursion, Imriel learns from Astegal, which he had already heard from Sidonie, that Astegal had made a bid for Sidonie's had in marriage. Imriel dismisses this as politics and it seems that Astegal does not know of Imriel's relationship with Sidonie. Upon arriving at Jasmine House, Imriel sees an opportunity to gather more information about the Unseen Guild; Gillimas has joined the group going to the Night Court, gotten very drunk, and has taken a liking to one of the adepts. Imriel asks the Dowayne to have the girl seeing to Gillimas to come and get him once he had passed out. She does and Imriel sneaks into the room. He sits on Gillimas, ready to strangle him, and threatens him to get him to talk plainly. While this is all a ruse, Gillimas falls for it and is frightened enough to tell Imriel that his mother is indeed on the Isle of Cythera, the mistress of the lord of Paphos. After all have been sated at Jasmine House, Imriel goes back to the castle and Gillimas tells no one what happened. Imriel tells Sidonie what he did and she wonders at the safety of the attempt. The next day, however, the horologists' spectacle is to take place, so the incident will have be discussed later. Imriel keeps having a sense of impending trouble about the horologists' "marvel" but without any real reason. He goes to look at the progress of the set up; large mirrors are being carefully placed all around the walls of the city, being headed by Astegal's half-brother, the scholar and mage Bodeshmun. While the city will be well protected, Imriel's gut feeling still says that something is very wrong. Imriel and Sidonie quarrel for the first time about this. They go to the Queen and tell her privately of his feelings, but since he has no good reason to call it off and no proof of something wrong, they all agree that spectacle will have to go ahead. The city is well guarded and the preparations have been closely watched including by D'Angeline horologists, who have no idea what this "marvel" behind the lunar eclipse could be. On the evening of the spectacle, everyone in the City is gathered around Elua's Oak in the central square to watch the show. Just before it begins though, Sunjata reappears and asks for a private word with Imriel. Though reluctant, Imriel is sure that it must be related to the Unseen Guild and his mother and thereby is very important. The show is nearly beginning and everyone is looking into the sky and mirrors. Alone and off to the side under the large oak, Sunjata leans in and tells Imriel somewhat before stabbing him with a long needle. Imriel falls to the ground in agony, with no one noticing, as the "marvel" begins. Sunjata tells Imriel that he is sorry and that it is hard serving two masters. He tells him that the fever will break in a month, that he is lucky his mother loves him, and that if he wished to undo what has been done, he must go to Cythera and speak to Ptolemy Solon. Sunjata then steals his ring - the simple gold ring with a knot in it, of which Sidonie has the matching one and is a token of their love - and leaves. Writhing on the ground, confused and alone, looking at all the city staring at the sky, Imriel sees a green flash, then passes out. Imriel wakes up in a bed, feverish and not knowing who or where he is. Slowly, his sense of self returns, but he does not know anyone around him. All he knows is that he must reach Cythera. He shouts obscenities and threats at the people caring for him, not knowing who they are. He is tied to the bed and writhes against his bonds, giving himself lasting scars, flailing like a madman. This lasts for what seems forever. Then all at once, at the touch of the full moon's light on his skin, the madness vanishes and Imriel comes back to himself, weak and disoriented. Phèdre is next to his bed, dozing in a chair and looking clearly haggard. Imriel speaks to her and, realizing he seems sane, she calls Joscelin. Imriel convinces them that he is all right. He realizes that it was Phèdre and Joscelin who had taken care of him in his madness and all of the truly horrible things he said to them. They easily forgive him, knowing it was the madness and not him. He realizes, however, that he remembers nothing of Sidonie coming to see him or take care him. He asks how she is and why she didn't come, and Phèdre and Joscelin look clearly puzzled. After a few moments he begins to realize that, even though he has overcome his madness, they all seem to be clearly mad and confused. They do not remember his relationship with Sidonie, and during his trying to remind them, it reaches the point where Phèdre and Joscelin begin to think Imriel is still insane, even though he is quite himself. They tell him that Carthage is a very close friend of Terre d'Ange and that Sidonie has happily gone off to marry Astegal nearly a month ago! Trying to regain his strength (for he ate little during his madness and strained his muscles nearly constantly), and remembering what Sunjata said to him, Imriel begins to think of ways to get out of the city and go to Cythera. He overhears a conversation between a guard and a chambermaid that Barquiel L'Envers and Ysandre had been in a shouting match, with L'Envers telling her she is mad to align with Carthage. And then it occurs to him: everyone in the city seems to be under the same madness as Phèdre and Joscelin, but L'Envers had not been in the city that night. He thinks that this must only be affecting those who saw the "marvel", of which no one can seem to explain what they saw and what it was other than that it was amazing. He sees a thread of hope and gets up, leaving the room, and demanding to speak to L'Envers. After a bit of a scuffle, Barquiel agrees to see Imriel, realizing that they both are not under the madness that has gripped the City of Elua. Imriel tells him everything - including the bits about the Unseen Guild and Cythera. Barquiel implies that he had heard of the Guild years ago, but dismissed it without evidence. He also tells Imriel that Ysandre was even considering sending the D'Angeline army to the Aragonian border in support of Carthage's new war on Aragonia! Barquiel L'Envers and Imriel quickly realize, grudgingly, that they must trust each other despite their long history of animosity, for the good of Terre d'Ange. Imriel asks Barquiel to help get him out of the city and to Cythera. During their discussion, Imriel realizes that, if he makes it to Cythera, the price for Solon's help will likely be a pardon for Melisande. Barquiel is reluctant at first, but Imriel says that he still has to try. He also tells Barquiel that, one way of diverting at least some of the madness, would be to send to Alba for Alais and try to talk some sense into Ysandre and Drustan. She would be the only one capable of sitting the throne, Imriel reasoned, and Barquiel grudgingly agrees that it might actually be plausible. Barquiel agrees to assist Imriel but also swears a vow to him: if he proves false or fails, Barquiel will make it his life's work to hunt Imriel down and kill him. Imriel agrees, and the plans are set. Imriel takes a trip to the Temple of Eisheth, under the guise of a "healing journey." While alone, one of Barquiel's guards comes to get him and, under a heavy cloak, escorts him to a carriage. Imriel soon arrives at the City's wharf, where Barquiel has found a barge willing to take Imriel down the Aviline River on the way to Marsilikos. Imriel is then on his own to find his way to Cythera. Imriel's horse is waiting on the barge - he insisted he must have "the Bastard" with him - and those working on the barge have not been affected by the city's madness and are thereby willing to help him and stay quiet about what they do. One piece of information catches Imriel's attention - Jeanne de Mereliot, the daughter of the Lady of Marsilikos, was not in attendance at the "miracle" in the City of Elua. Upon his arrival in Marsilikos, under an assumed guise, Imriel sends her a message. A reply comes back swiftly; a meeting is arranged and Imriel goes to see Jeanne, whom he has met before. During this meeting, Imriel tells her all that has happened to him. She decides to research a bit about the needle and why Imriel went mad for a month. She learns from a Hellene book, "To induce madness, forge a needle of silver that has never seen daylight, one hand-span's length. Bathe it in the sweat of a lunatic's brow mixed with the effluvium of a horned toad. For one year, expose it to the light of the full moon. When plunged into the vitals, it will induce madness for the duration of the moon's cycle." After talking with Jeanne, Imriel manages to secure passage on a ship bound for Cythera. As it so happens, the ship that would be carrying him and his horse, the Bastard, to Cythera was none other than the Aeolia, the ship that had carried him to Tiberium and back a couple years earlier (see Kushiel's Scion). Without any incident, they made it to Cythera, and the next stage of Imriel's journey. Imriel finds his way to a villa and sends a request for an audience with Ptolemy Solon, called the "Wise Ape" for his vast brilliance and unbelievable ugliness. The next day, Imriel receives his summons, and meets with Solon. Solon knows who Imriel is, even though he had been traveling under the name "Cadmar of Landras". Solon tells Imriel that Melisande is indeed on Cythera, but in her own private villa, and that he wanted to talk to Imriel alone first. Solon asks Imriel whether the needle had worked or not, and also says that he is undecided on whether or not to help him. He does tell Imriel, however, that the most likely way to sway him would be to commute Melisande's sentence from execution to exile. During this conversation with Solon, Imriel also learns that Sidonie has actually married General Astegal, some two weeks before Imriel arrived on Cythera. Also, Solon says that Carthage should be preparing to launch its invasion of Aragonia soon. Solon asks Imriel if he would willing see his mother, and Imriel agrees to do so. They have another intellectual discussion, and then Imriel is sent to bed, so that he may see his mother the next day. Imriel, while practicing his Cassiline swordsmanship, meets Leander Maignard, who is clearly of Kushiel's line and a distant kinsman, there to take Imriel to his mother. Once at his mother's villa, Imriel meets her for the first time in many years, and is at a loss for what to say. He tells her that her sentence will be commuted to exile if Solon helps Terre d'Ange, and Imriel is successful and he will do anything she asks to obtain her help. She thanks him for the offer, but asks only that he talk to her for a while. She assures him she will talk to Solon and request his assistance, for she does care for Terre d'Ange deeply, but that she can not assure him that Solon will decide to help. They talk for the rest of the day and Imriel realizes he cannot hate his mother, and even comes to care for her in some small way. He feels she is repentant for what she has done, somehow, though that can not make up for the lives she has ruined. The next day, Imriel again meets with Solon. Solon says that he had enough information to hazard a guess at what Carthage means to do, but he makes Imriel tell the tale, over and over and over again. After many, many tellings, Solon sends Imriel away to begin working on figuring out how to unravel Carthage's spells. During this time, Imriel spends more time talking to Melisande and Leander, learning about them and what has happened since Melisande escaped the Temple of Asherat in La Serenissima. Finally, Solon sends word that he has found the key. Solon tells Imriel that there are several spells at work: one bound to Terre d'Ange and one bound to Sidonie. Imriel learns that there is malevolence at the heart of the spell that binds Terre d'Ange, a bound ghafrid-gebla, or desert spirit also called an elemental. The way to end the spell would be to free the ghafrid, but to do so, Imriel must find the vessel it is bound to and how to open it. Second, to free Sidonie, he must retrieve his gold knotted ring from Astegal, who now wears it to hold Sidonie's love to him. There is only one way to do both of these: Imriel must sneak into Carthage. But everyone knows who he is, so he will have to go under the guise of a glamour. The only troubling part is Astegal's brother, the great sorcerer, will not be fooled by any casual disguise. A simple glamour will not work. Imriel must believe he is this other person. The person chosen for Imriel to become is none other than Leander Maignard. Solon warns Imriel of the risks, but there is no other solution, and Imriel is sure that the love between him and Sidonie will be felt through any spell and help them to succeed. Later, Solon performs the rituals, weaving the glamour into all of Leander's clothing and personal items. The only way anyone will see Imriel as Imriel would be if they saw him mother-naked. Then Solon submerses Imriel's consciousness into himself, making him believe he is Leander. To help with the effect, Leander tells his life story to Imriel while he is in trance, making Leander's story his own. This spell will only be reversed, making Imriel become himself once again, when he kisses Sidonie on the lips. With everything in place, Imriel, thinking himself Leander, sets off for Carthage, to be Solon's ambassador to Astegal and help the Unseen Guild, or so he now believes. (Note: because of the hypnosis and spells, Imriel now thinks of himself as Leander, and shall be referred to as such until he is returned to himself) Leander arrives in Carthage, and quickly integrates himself into the scene. He rents a house, with full staff, and goes to the slave market to purchase some bearers for his palanquin, which every noble "needs" to have in Carthage. Being on a diplomatic mission from Cythera's ruler, Ptolemy Solon, he is adequately endorsed to afford all he needs. At the market, Leander sees an Aragonian boy being sold, spoils of the war with Aragonia, which upset him for some unknown reason. He quickly dismisses it, however, in favor of finding his bearers. He picks an older Hellene wrestler, two Carthaginian brothers, and an Amazigh, a man of the southern tribes of the desert. Once back at his house, Leander lays out his plans to them and promises to set them free once he has accomplished his goals, thereby managing to secure their loyalty. First, Leander has the old Hellene wrestler, Kratos, learn the streets of the city so that he may find his way around more easily. Leander then goes to see his friend from Cythera, Sunjata - the same Sunjata who had stabbed Imriel with the needle - under the guise of needing a new gemstone for a damaged ring. Pretending they do not know each other, a deal is struck. Sunjata is later sent to see Leander and show him some of the gems. Leander greets Sunjata and takes him to his room. It becomes clear that they had been lovers in Cythera and Leander flirts with Sunjata asking how much time until he has to get back. He also gives him a letter from Melisande that he has sworn not to read. In the letter, Sunjata is clearly told of the spells on Leander - or Imriel. He asks Leander to get naked, which he does happily, including taking off his ruby earrings that he always wears. Sunjata stares at him for a while, now seeing him truly as Imriel, but says nothing. Feeling hurt, Leander asks what is wrong and Sunjata demurs, telling him nothing of the spells. They make love and afterward Leander tells Sunjata his plan. Sunjata is cautious but does as the letter from Melisande clearly must have instructed him: go along with it and help Imriel. In the streets of Carthage, Leander goes to Astegal's house to see the royal escort and palanquin with princess Sidonie in it. She is always escorted by four Amazigh but is still trying to interact with the townsfolk who have come to see her, feeling that she is well-loved. Leander is struck by her beauty and becomes enamored by her though he knows he can never have her, given that she is a princess and now married. Still, he has overwhelmed by his desire to see her, which catches him entirely by surprise. Sunjata, who was with him, is surprised as well but makes sure that Leander stays on course and does not embarrass himself. Leander soon learns that, to see the D'Angeline princess Sidonie de la Courcel, he must go through Bodeshmun, the hologist half-brother of Astegal. He plans a meeting with Bodeshmun where he sends his compliments from Solon and flatters him greatly about his magical skills. Leander says he wants to see Sidonie in order to see the power of the spells and figure out how they work; only because it is an intriguing puzzle and because Leander and Solon want to learn the 'marvel of Bodeshmun's magical knowledge'. Bodeshmun, feeling very proud but still cautious, after much consideration consents to allowing Leander to see princess Sidonie but threatens to mortally injure him if he upsets her in any way or reveals that she is under a spell. Leander agrees. The first time Leander goes to see Sidonie he makes a bit of a fool of himself while trying to flirt with her. She is charmed, however, perhaps by his very foolishness and he is told to come to see her the next day, so that they may get to know each other better over chess. On his way home, Leander finds he cannot stop thinking about her and wonders what is wrong with him. The next day, he presents himself at Astegal's home to play chess with Sidonie, as they had arranged. Their sessions continue for several days. During the time, Leander is secretly looking her over to see what she wears that is the same every time, to find her item that binds her to the love-spell connection with Astegal. He makes a gambit, thinking her ring might be it, and finds out it is not. The puzzle continues but at least he knows one side of the spell; Leander has Sunjata make a replica of Imriel's gold ring, that Astegal now wears, to begin the other phase of his plan later on. Similarly, Leander gets his Amazigh slave to get him one of their traditional outfits -blue flowing robes that cover all but the eyes- and teach him how to tie it and wear it. This he does and Leander hides it in the bottom of his trunks. Over the course of their meetings, Leander comes to realize that he might be falling in love with Sidonie. Sidonie also comes to realize that Leander is discouraging her from talking about Terre d'Ange, which he was told to do by Bodeshmun, and this unnerves her. During one of the meetings, after Sidonie has discreetly questioned Leander about why he is acting strange and why she can not know anything about Terre d'Ange, she invites him to go with her to New Carthage (Aragonia), which she would be departing for shortly in order to be with her husband, who is eager for heirs. Leander agrees, as it would progress his plans. He also finally comes to realize he is deeply in love with Sidonie. Before setting off for New Carthage, Leander releases his slaves. All but Kratos leave him to find their ways in the world but Kratos likes him and stays on as a loyal man. Upon arrival in New Carthage (Aragonia), Leander manages to secure lodging in the palace from Astegal, who had been convinced to do so by Sidonie, and sees Leander as a harmless friend. Also, Leander meets an old friend of his from Cythera, Justina, who also works for Melisande and perhaps the Unseen Guild as a spy. Later, she makes contact with him in the palace, and finding out that Astegal takes her to bed sometimes, Leander asks her to try to switch Astegal's ring with the fake one he had made. Leander and Sidonie resume their games of chess while in New Carthage and learn more still about each other. After one such match, Leander finds a message from Justina awaiting him, and goes to see her, finding that she could not do as he asked and she returns the fake ring to him. Kratos, however, saves the day by presenting an alternate plan with the same outcome: have one of the Aragonian servants in the public baths switch the ring while Astegal is being massaged. Thus, Leander compels into his service a young girl named Esme, who hates Astegal and is more than willing to help him. It is decided between Leander and Esme that she will steal the ring and switch it for the fake that Leander gives her. As it turns out, the gambit pays off. Esme is able to steal Astegal's ring, replace it with the fake, and deliver the real one to Kratos, who takes it to Leander. Unplanned by Leander, he witnesses an argument between Astegal and Bodeshmun; Astegal is shouting at Bodeshmun about Sidonie, who has regained a bit of herself (which Leander knows is because Astegal's magical ring was taken) and had spoken to the Aragonian King, who is being held in the palace. She learned some very strange things and is realizing that some of her memories are disjointed and don't make sense. During this time, a bond of trust has sprouted between her and Leander, though he is still being very cautious and she is never left alone with him. Due to Sidonie's discussion with the King of Aragonia, Sidonie is now even more puzzled and beginning to get suspicious of those around her (except "simple harmless Leander"). In her discussion with the King, he said that they had been allies and that Terre d'Ange had betrayed them to Carthage, but her memories tell her otherwise. Bodeshmun is angry because he had instructed the Aragonians not to talk to her and not talk about the past. As punishment, Bodeshmun summons the Aragonians in front of an audience, including Leander, but without Sidonie. Bodeshmun takes a powder out and places it in his palm. A young Aragonian noble, who had spoken out in defense of his King, is told to step forward. Bodeshmun blows the powder in his face and suddenly the man begins to suffocate. He dies of suffocation in front of all watching as an example to obey Bodeshmun. This frightens everyone and disturbs Leander greatly. Finally, Astegal sets off to conquer the rest of Aragonia and leaves Bodeshmun in charge of Sidonie. Sidonie continues to endeavor to find a time when she and Leander can speak in private. They try taking a walk, but Astegal's Amazigh guards tail them relentlessly. On their way back to the castle, having given up, an Aragonian gardener tries to attack Sidonie. Leander protected her faster than the guards and Sidonie seizes her chance. Bodeshmun calls Leander before him and compliments him on his reflexes with the princess. He also, in a conversation with Sidonie's physician, alludes to the possibility that she might be with child. A few hours after Leander is dismissed from Bodeshmun, Girom, the physician, comes to tell Leander that the princess is deeply bothered by the attempt on her life and feels that no one can keep her safe except Astegal, who is not there, and Leander. The physician says she will not take a sleeping draught without Leander there to protect her and that she can not be reasoned with. Leander goes with him immediately to Sidonie's apartments. Once there, Sidonie makes Leander promise to stay until she falls asleep and then guard her door while she sleeps, to which he readily agrees. The physician then tells her to take the sleeping draught, in front of him to make sure she has taken it, and she does. The physician then agrees to leave them alone, as she had asked, and that he will wait outside until Leander comes out. They are finally alone. Sidonie, who evidently was pretending to be more bothered than she is, says that the sleeping draught is very powerful and they don't have much time. Quickly, she asks Leander to explain himself and why they are irresistibly drawn to each other, but instead ends up kissing him. This triggers the return of Imriel to himself, coming quickly and shockingly. Now realizing who he is and what has happened, he tries to convince Sidonie that she is under a spell. Having forgotten all about Imriel, she asks who he is, still thinking he is Leander. He explains to her why some of her memories don't make sense and gets her to listen to him. They come to some small understanding of the situation, but, not wanting to push her and knowing the draught will take effect in soon, Imriel leaves to guard her door as he had promised. He tells Girom outside of her room that she sleeps, and Girom leaves. Imriel knows that all others still see him as Leander because of the spell woven into the clothes, but this will not fool Bodeshmun. He is scared that he will run into him any time and hurried to his rooms. Once back in his rooms, he sees Sunjata and realizes what had happened back in Carthage and what Melisande's letter must have said. Sunjata has always known and seen him as Imriel. Sunjata, seeing that Imriel knows this and has come back to himself, takes out the trunk that Melisande had had Leander (Imriel) deliver to him in Carthage. In the trunk are Imriel's weapons and bracers and some clothing. Imriel tells Sunjata that he must leave and that his debt to help Imriel has been paid; Imriel will not have his death on his hands. Sunjata agrees and says he will be gone in a day, back to Carthage. Kratos later appears and Imriel tries to explain the situation to him, and to send Kratos away with Sunjata because Imriel is afraid that Kratos will be harmed. Kratos chooses to stay, saying he doesn't care who Imriel is, that he is an interesting fellow, and that he wants to see where this story goes. Thankful, Imriel and Kratos begin to set their plan into motion: rescuing Sidonie. Kratos finds a way for them to escape and learns the patterns of the Amazigh guards while Imriel stays hidden in order to avoid Bodeshmun. That evening, Imriel goes to see her, as she has asked for him again and he had said the night before that he would watch her again if she wanted. Once alone with her again, he learns that she has drugged the guards to buy them some time. They had decided that he would prove who is to her, so he begins to remove all of Leander's clothing, keeping only a pair of pants (that he wore underneath) that were his own. She sees the truth of who he is and realizes that, somehow, she "knew" him but could not "remember" him. Believing his story that she is also ensnared and that she must be wearing something to tie her to Astegal, she removes all her clothing. Nothing happens. As she turns, Imriel sees that the spell was not in the clothing; she has been tattooed in the middle of her back with the seal of House Sarkal. She does not remember this at all and adamantly tells him to cut it out of her. He does so, feeling sick, but tells her to try to hide how much pain she is in, otherwise he will not be able to do it. Once it is done, she is back to normal and swearing to kill Astegal herself! Then she looks at Imriel, and asked how she could have ever forgotten him. Imriel explains that she hadn't, that she had found him inside Leander, and they had simply fallen in love all over again, proving that Elua always has a purpose and a power when he unites people together. She stops his explanation with a kiss, and then asks him to erase every trace of Astegal from her flesh and soul. Imriel does so, and they make love with all that they are. Afterward, Sidonie asks Imriel to explain what is plan is to save Terre d'Ange, which he does. During the bandaging of her wounds, Imriel voices her concerns over her being with child, although he adamantly swears he will love any child of her blood. She explains that she couldn't be, for she and Astegal had been married in the Carthaginian fashion, with no prayers to Eisheth to open her womb, and perhaps in that way she had always known that their relationship was not right. And so the last part of Imriel's plan is put into motion. He and Sidonie come up with a plan to free her. That night, Imriel waits outside her door, dressed again as Leander, and communicates with the Amazigh that he won't tell anyone they fell asleep, and that Astegal and Bodeshmun will never know their shame. The next night, Sidonie goes to Bodeshmun and tells him she is with child. They have a toast, as he is the only family she has to celebrate with now, but she has drugged the drink with some of the sleeping draught. Meanwhile, Imriel has disguised himself as an Amazigh warrior, and dispatched one of the Amazigh guards on his way to Bodeshmun's quarters. He sneaks in and finds both Bodeshmun and Sidonie asleep. But as he moves, Bodeshmun wakes. He takes out the powder but Imriel is quicker. Imriel blows and Bodeshmun suffocates, like the Aragonian noble, on his own powder. Before he dies, Imriel whispers, "It is not wise to meddle with D'Angelines in the matters of love." Imriel takes the talisman that contains the key word to the ghafrid-gebla, from Bodeshmun and then sits with Sidonie for hours, hoping she will wake. When she does not - time is running out, and someone is bound to check on them - he is forced to roll her into the carpet and carry her out through the wine cellar, hoping she does not suffocate. This was their plan, but she was not supposed to be unconscious! After a long and agonizing walk, he reaches the ship that had brought him from Cythera. The captain (who at first does not believe Imriel and thinks that Sidonie is being kidnapped), waits until he receives the order from Sidonie herself to set off. She, who has just woken up, does so, and they are off to Marsilikos. Once at sea, Imriel tells Sidonie, at her request, how Bodeshmun died. In the master cabin, he inspects her wound and finds that it is starting to become infected. Soon, however, they realize they are being pursued by swifter ships and being herded back to New Carthage. Someone in New Carthage had caught on and sent a ship after them. Realizing they could not get away, or reach Marsilikos in time, Kratos proposes a drastic plan. They have no other choice and it is put into motion. They go toward the still free city of Amilcar. It is blockaded by Astegal's navy. Once close enough to the blockade, they set fire to the ship. Not wanting to catch on fire themselves, the Carthaginian ships spend all their efforts trying to move out of their way, without enough time to fire at them. They sail through most of the blockade and then switch to a rowboat, barely making it through, leaving their burning ship behind. They are taken into custody by the soldiers in Amilcar. Once everything is taken care of, the sailors and Kratos, who has suffered severe burns and a broken rib, along with Sidonie, all are seen to by a chirurgeon. Lady Nicola L'Envers y Aragon comes immediately to see them. She tells them that her son, Serafin, has taken over the rulership of Aragonia in the absence of the king and they set off to see him. At a council, Imriel and Sidonie explain their story and Imriel, still under Solon's spell, reveals himself to dramatic effect and thereby proving the truth of his hard-to-believe tale. After the council, Sidonie receives a poultice for her infected wound, but is told not to move for two whole days. She dislikes this greatly, but abides, with Imriel's help. Eventually, Serafin calls the council to discuss what is to happen. After a moving speech by Sidonie, they decide to assist Sidonie and Imriel but only if they can get Euskerrian troops to come to their aid and help fight the Carthaginians. Euskerria, a small country that is composed of land of both Aragonia and Terre d'Ange, has long wanted to be independent of Aragonian rule. Aragonia has refused this and Terre d'Ange will not give over Euskerrian territory without Aragonia doing the same. Aragonia agrees that, if the Euskerri help them, they will give them their territory and self-rule. But how do they get out of Amilcar? Serafin can not send many men to help them get past Astegal's siege army camped outside their walls, but he commits some and gives them a brilliant plan. Before they depart, however, to raise spirits and so as to help give the impression to Astegal's forces that the Aragonians would be drunk and disoriented and thereby not give an offensive the next morning, Nicola throws a fête. During this party, Imriel meets his kinsman Marmion, who expresses his desire to see things set right and his happiness at the prospect of having Sidonie as his near-kin by marriage to Imriel. The next night, the secret mission is launched. Imriel, Sidonie, and a single guide manage to get past Astegal's army amid the planned chaos caused by the Aragonian soldiers. They make it to Roncal, the easiest-to-reach Euskerri settlement, within several days. But they are being pursued by Astegal's Amazigh, three hundred strong, though they are a few hours behind. Quickly, Imriel and Sidonie persuade the people of Roncal to fight but they force Imriel to fight with them as a sign of commitment. The Amazigh are slaughtered with minimal loss on the Euskerri side. Now, Janpier Iturralde, the closest thing to an ambassador the Euskerri have, convenes a meeting of all the villages in Euskerri. Within a few days word has spread and the village representatives, which is nearly everyone, arrive. After incredibly long discussion, they come to a decision: the Euskerri will help Aragonia and take their sovereignty, but only if Imriel and Sidonie go with them. They are highly displeased by this for they are only a couple days from Terre d'Ange which is still ensnared in Bodeshmun's spell. They do not even know what the state of their country is and are eager to heal their country. After much debate between Imriel and Sidonie, they decide they little other choice and cannot make it through Euskerria without the consent of the Euskerri. They swear to go with them. All the Euskerri settlements are alerted and it is expected that some six thousand will show up at the decided location. Imriel and Sidonie, who is well trained in war tactics, plan their siege of Astegal's forces. Given that the Eukerri do not entrust war to women, however, Imriel presents the plan. The Euskerri like it, though it is very different from their own tactics, and the plan is put into motion. Imriel has three hundred Euskerri don the Amazigh's garb, to try to draw Astegal's forces out. This group leads a portion of Astegal's forces into an ambush, the favorite tactic of the Euskerri, killing all of them but not without heavy losses. At the same time, Serafin launches his own attack and the battle breakes out. The other Euskerri attack and the Amazigh-group, led by Imriel, later make it back to the battlefield. Once the fighting finally stops, Imriel learns that Astegal has been captured alive, much to his and Sidonie's delight, but then learns of the losses incurred in the battle: of the six thousand Euskerri who had come to help, only fifteen hundred remain. Still, they had held up their end of the deal and Aragonia gives them their sovereignty. All that remains is Astegal's execution. The next day, as Astegal is being walked to the block, he breaks his bonds, steals the executioner's sword, and takes Sidonie hostage. Imriel, who suffered from a wound taken the day before, offers him a deal: fight him one on one, and if Astegal wins, he will get a fast horse and an hour's lead. Astegal accepts, despite Imriel's insistence that he will not win. During the fight, Astegal tries to upset Imriel by telling him of things he had done to Sidonie, but gets no reaction. In his arrogance, he lets his guard down and Imriel stabs Astegal in the stomach. Imriel then tells Astegal what he had said to his half-brother Bodeshmun, "It is not wise to meddle with D'Angelines in the matters of love." But before the killing blow, Sidonie asks to share the death. She places her hand on Imriel's, over the hilt of his sword, and together they drive it through Astegal's heart. With the loss of their leader, the Carthaginians flee back to New Carthage, where they will hopefully be easily overrun, especially once Terre d'Ange comes back to Aragonia's aid. Finally, it is time to return home. Sidonie, Imriel, and Kratos board a ship captained by the same man who had brought Imriel from Cythera and head for home. On the way to Marsilikos, Imriel suddenly remembers that anyone affected by the spell who leaves the shores of Terre d'Ange would be outside of the spell's range and regain their wits but, once back on the shores of Terre d'Ange, they would lose them all over again. He speaks to Sidonie about it but they have no idea what to do. Upon reaching Marsilikos, they are stopped by a ship from Admiral Rousse's navy, but who is loyal to Alais. They explain what has happened and the details of the spell. Apparently, the more one tries to talk sense into the people affected, the more belligerent they become, and things in Terre d'Ange have taken a serious turn for the worse. They must go see Alais. Sidonie is also desperate to see her sister, but she cannot step on D'Angeline soil. Imriel, however, gets an idea. Imriel decides to cast the spell that was cast on him by the ollamh in Alba in a last-ditch effort to keep Sidonie sane. He gets all the components needed and does the binding ritual. They step onto the land of Terre d'Ange, and the bindings seem to have worked, though for how long, they do not know. They are secreted to Turnone, where Alais, Barquiel L'Envers, and a shadow Parliament are ruling everything outside of the City of Elua. They make it inside and meet with Alais and Barquiel. During their time in Euskerria, Sidonie and Imriel had sent a messenger to warn Barquiel of the dangers of the spell, and what bound it - a green gemstone - with instructions to look for it. Upon arriving, Imriel learns that, despite a thorough search, no gemstone had been found. After only a short while, for they want their presence to remain a relative secret just in case, they meet with the shadow Parliament, giving them hope. They also learn that Ysandre, seeing plots and deceit everywhere, has decided to declare war on Alais and Barquiel and vowed that, after one month to think about it, she will begin to sack one town every day until they kneel before her and surrender. Horrified, Sidonie hatches a quick plan: she will take Imriel and Kratos into the City with her, with her as the grieving widow, Kratos as her husband's most loyal bodyguard sworn to protect her, and Imriel as her still-mad cousin who seems besotted with her, but eases her soul. They set their plans into motion and leave, secretly again, on the same barge that had carried Imriel out of the City, back into madness. It is also clear that Sidonie's bindings fade with time, and they do not know how long she will remain immune. Reaching the City, they are admitted readily once the guards realize who Sidonie is. Ysandre and Drustan await them, and they listen gravely to her story. It is clear that those in the City have been deeply affected by the spell. Violence is far more commonplace, as are severe punishments. Phèdre now treats her servants as non-equals, Joscelin has sworn that if Ysandre seems to be losing, he will perform the terminus for her, and Mavros has blood-lust and has joined the military. Truly, the spell has evil at the heart of it. Sidonie, at the funeral for Astegal, proposes to the whole City that they scour the City for a green gemstone that Bodeshmun gave Terre d'Ange to protect its borders. After five days of nothing, tempers begin to flare. In a dinner one night, with nearly all of House Courcel gathered, Imriel offers a suggestion to Ysandre and Drustan. They overreact and throw him out, forbidding him to call on Sidonie and thus ending their contact for the time being. The next day, Ysandre declares an official end to the search for the gem. Several days later, staying with Phèdre and Joscelin, Imriel awakes to a summons to the palace. There is a delegation from Alais. At the hearing, Imriel sees that Sidonie has removed her bindings, but still seems to trust and rely on Kratos. Ysandre, after hearing that Alais is not going to surrender, again overreacts and throws Alais' delegation into the dungeons. After leaving, Imriel again goes to Elua's Square, where he is certain the gem is hidden, to see if he can find it. The flagstones had been ripped up already and the City had been mercilessly searched. After a fruitless search, he prays to each of Elua's Companions, hoping they will grant their city mercy. He returns to the palace, where Ysandre and Drustan are preparing to declare war. A day later, Ysandre and Drustan declare war on their "traitorous daughter". At the declaration at the palace, which is a public affair, Imriel, filled with divine presence, walks up to the front of the Hall of Audience, giving an empathetic speech: "Your majesties, you must not do this thing. The gods themselves forbid it." Joscelin, protecting the Queen, however, comes from behind and knocks him unconscious. When he awakes, he re-sees a picture, made of jewels, which was presented to the Queen by Astegal on his visit to the city. The picture is of Elua's Square, and in the picture, inside the tree in middle of the square, is a green gem. He had looked at the picture a number of times, but it was only clear from this new angle; "the God answer your prayers, sideways." He stands up and tries to leave, but Joscelin blocks his way. Kratos, who had stayed with Imriel, fights with Joscelin, being a former champion wrestler. Kratos, being a star wrestler, overwhelms Joscelin, who is used to sword and dagger combat, and knocks him unconscious. Kratos and Imriel then hurry for Elua's Square, following the Queen and her entourage to the general public announcement of war in Elua's Square. He reached the Square and, before everyone, scales the tree, searching for the gem. Just as he is about to give up hope, he finds it in a mud-covered hollow and removes it, attempting to break the spell by saying the word of power. He tries and tries several times, but nothing happens. Meanwhile, Joscelin, who has awoken and made it to the Square, is alerting the guards. Kratos is trying to guard him and the guards are slow to the scale the tree, but Imriel must hurry. In desperation, he takes Sidonie hostage. He speaks to her of his love for her, tells her to look into her heart for the truth, to forget her memories, feel her love for Imriel. He gives her the stone and tells her to read the word of Bodeshmun's talisman. After a pause, with a whisper she reads it. Imriel throws the stone away and it suddenly explodes, showering many people with shards of emerald. Imriel protects Sidonie, shielding her with his body, but receives many shards of emerald in his back. The demon bursts from the stone and shoots through the city towards its home, now free to return to it. In the aftermath of the spell's release, confused and horrified at their behaviour while under the spell, everyone looks to Sidonie and Imriel for answers. Ysandre, ashamed and horrified with herself, tries to abdicate the throne and give it to Sidonie, but she refuses, saying she had fallen under the spell's influence, the same as everyone else, and that there is no fault in it. She does, however, agree to serve as regent for the duration of one month while Terre d'Ange is brought back to order. During her time as regent, things return to a semblance of normalcy. Imriel, as Sidonie's consort, is treated as co-regent and, with his battle-knowledge, a military figure as well. The castle guard and the Royal Army consult him on matters of defense and his word is seen as interchangeable with Sidonie's. The shadow of doubt about "Melisande Shahrizai's son" is completely gone; the people of Terre d'Ange trust and respect Imriel as a saviour. A delegation is sent to bring back Alais and Barquiel, and reunite the realm and House Courcel. A week later, they arrive, with Hyacinthe in tow. At a ceremony in Elua's Square, Ysandre presents the Medal of Valor to both Alais and Barquiel for holding the country together in its time of need. Months pass and things in Terre d'Ange are righted. Alais, always displeased with the way things had been run in Alba, ends her engagement to Talorcan and asked to become an ollamh. This will give her nearly as much power as the Cruarch and is accepted by her parents. Ysandre resumes the throne from Sidonie. Imriel and Sidonie's betrothal is announced throughout the realm to a happy reception. The wedding date is set for one year later, the next summer, so as to give the land some time to heal and also to allow the occasion to be as joyous as possible. Word comes from Aragonia that the Carthaginians had surrendered. Drustan returns to Alba, but before he leaves, there is a small gathering for the family, where Imriel finally fulfills his promise to Alais by bringing her new puppy. The seasons change and slowly Terre d'Ange heals. A year later, as is tradition, Imriel and Sidonie are separated before their wedding. Two days before the wedding, Imriel finally sees Sidonie and learns something she had done. With the help of Amarante, she has turned her scar from the removal of Astegal's tattoo into a marque; a sunburst. She tells Imriel it is his mark, as she belongs to him, wholly and completely. That night, Imriel and Sidonie make love like they had on her seventeenth birthday; he, binding her with silk rope. One day before the wedding, Imriel hears that Sidonie has been taken to the Temple of Eisheth, that she might ask the goddess to open the gates of her womb so that she may bear children. The day arrives. Imriel is fussed over for a long time by Favrielle no Eglantine's apprentices, until he finally shoos them away as Phèdre and Joscelin arrive to escort him. He arrives to crowds, walking towards Sidonie, glorious in her white dress, at the altar with flower petals falling all around them. The priest and Amarantes' mother, the Priestess of Naamah, evokes Elua and speaks the vows. They seal it with a kiss and the celebrations begin. At the celebration, Imriel sees and speaks to many of his friends: Lucius of Lucca, Eamonn and Brigita, Maslin de Lombelon, Urist of Clunderry, even Leander Maignard appears, hoping to see Sidonie and report back to Melisande. Sidonie is amused to meet the real Leander, and seemingly to stir up trouble, kisses him passionately enough to unnerve him, to Imriel's entertainment. The night ends as Imriel, who is full of more happiness that he has ever felt, picks his new wife up in his arms and set off towards the palace, whispering his love for her, trailed by many, many friends and loved ones. |
The Onion Girl | Charles de Lint | 2,001 | Jilly is struck by a car and becomes paralyzed on her right side. She discovers she can dream herself to the spirit world like her friend Sophie has long known how to do. Her physical body remains in the hospital bed while a dream version of herself, young and not paralyzed, traverses the spirit world. There she meets her friend Joe Crazy Dog, who can travel to the spirit world while awake. He tells her he has sent for a pair of "crow" girls who might be able to cure her condition, but only after she deals with emotional wounds from her past. Somebody breaks into Jilly's studio and destroys many of her paintings. Her friends keep seeing on the streets a woman who looks just like Jilly. They wonder if a shadow twin might be behind both Jilly's "accident" and the vandalism. Jilly meets in the dreamlands a young man named Toby. He is an Eadar--a fictional character who acquires a physical presence in the spirit world, but whose existence depends on there being people who believe in him. Together they spend several nights climbing a big tree to get some magical twigs that may help both of them. In flashbacks, the book gradually reveals details of Jilly's past. As a child, she was repeatedly raped by her brother Del. She finally ran away from home and by her teens was a junkie and prostitute living on the streets, until a kind cop named Lou rescued and rehabilitated her. Back at Jilly's former home, Del turned his attention to her younger sister Raylene, who never forgave Jilly for abandoning her. Raylene finally stabbed Del and ran away with her best friend Pinky. To make money, they performed badger games and ended up killing a dirty cop. Pinky eventually became a pornstar, while Raylene started working in a print shop. There she fell in love with one of her coworkers, who taught her how to use computers, but finally died in a shootout. Pinky served several years in prison for assault, and during that time she and Raylene began having shared dreams in which they were wolves hunting unicorns. Raylene found out her sister's whereabouts from an article. On the day of Pinky's release, Raylene bought a pink Cadillac and the two of them rode off in search of Jilly. That's when Raylene destroyed Jilly's paintings, and continued to stalk her. In the hospital, Jilly and Sophie discover that they can share their dreams as well, and when they find themselves in a forest, they encounter a pack of wolves, one of whom Jilly recognizes as her sister. She realizes that Raylene must be the lookalike who destroyed her paintings. Raylene is upset that Jilly has now invaded her dreams. She wants to find a way into the dreamlands while awake, so that she can avenge Jilly there. She sees Joe on the street and recognizes him from his Don't! Buy! Thai! T-shirt as he slips into the spirit world. By watching him, she figures out how to enter the spirit world herself. She and Pinky kidnap the sleeping Jilly and carry her body into the spirit world. The dreaming version of Jilly has reached the top of the tree and found the twigs, which have made Toby no longer an Eadar, but which have no effect on Jilly's condition. But because Jilly's physical body has entered the dreamlands, she feels pulled toward it, and she must climb down the tree to reach it. When she reaches Raylene, they begin talking. Raylene realizes how silly it is to hold a grudge against her sister for something she did when she was a kid just trying to survive. Unfettered, Pinky points her gun at Jilly and fires--but Raylene places herself in the line of fire and dies. Joe arrives at that moment with a pitbull, which kills Pinky. Toby reaches the clearing with a wreath of the twigs, now powerful enough to cure Jilly's paralysis. Jilly instead uses it to bring Raylene back to life. Because Raylene killed all those unicorns, she must never return to the dreamlands, or else Joe's friends will hunt her down. The crow girls visit Jilly and tell her that they cannot cure her condition, but they give her feathers so that she can call them anytime she wants. |
Tom Swift and His Undersea Search | Victor Appleton | 1,920 | A Mr. Dixwell Hardley approaches Tom with a proposition to help recover sunken treasure. Mr. Hardley was on board a ship which was carrying gold to help finance an illegal revolution. When the ship sank, Mr. Hardley overheard the captain recording the coordinates. Now he wants Tom's help to recover the gold, under the guise of both financing the expedition as well as rewarding Tom with a portion of the recovered treasure. Unfortunately for Tom, after agreeing to the expedition, he learns that Mr. Hardley is a con-artist, who recently scammed someone out of the oil well rights. Making matters worse, the victim is Barton Keith, a relative of Mary Nestor. Rather than cancel the expedition, Tom decides to carry on in the hopes of restoring Mr. Keith's claims to the oil wells. |
Winter Reckoning | Noel-Anne Brennan | null | The novel concerns the adventures of Molly Kerbridge, a member of the Planetary Federation, on a world called Tringe. There she encounters the Fnick, a reptilian race intent on conquest. |
If It Was Easy | Stewart F. Lane | null | Legendary producer Steve Gallop, suddenly down on his luck, is seduced by the charms of a beautiful showbiz columnist, Randi Lester, who’s betting she can improve Gallop’s Broadway track record with a musical based on the life of Frank Sinatra. The idea is to attract front page attention around the world; hundreds of Sinatra wannabes swamp Gallop’s offices. Investors plead for a piece of the action. Not among the pleading masses is mobster Joey Fingers, whose “family” knew Frank, and who naturally expects to bankroll the entire show. Opening night, it looks like curtains for the whole cast until Joey gets an offer he can’t refuse. |
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