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Swords Against the Shadowland | Robin Wayne Bailey | 1,998 | The Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories follow the lives of two larcenous but likable rogues as they adventure across the fantasy world of Nehwon. In Swords Against the Shadowland the two return to Lankhmar, the city in which they met and in which their first loves, Ivrian and Vlanna, met their deaths. There, haunted by their lovers' ghosts, they combat a sorcerous plague cast on the city by the wizard Malygris. |
Let My Babies Go! A Passover Story | null | 1,998 | Let My Babies Go! features the Rugrats—Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, his twin sister Lil, and Angelica—as they are trapped in an attic with Tommy's grandfather Boris. Boris explains to them the story of Passover to pass the time; as he does so, the Rugrats imagine that they are the character's featured within the story. Tommy is portrayed as Moses, as he rebels against the Pharaoh of Egypt (Angelica). Through casting various plagues upon Egypt, Moses is able to free the Hebrews and they flee across the Red Sea. |
Bones of the Dragon | Margaret Weis | 2,009 | The book begins with the land of Vindrassi suffering from a great drought that has left the land parched and game scarce. Skylan Ivorson, the son of Norgaard, the Chief of the Torgun Tribe is leading a small hunting party to try to find some food. The group includes Skylan's best friend and confidant Garn, and the brothers Bjorn and Erdmun. Skylan is a young cocky man who takes his status very seriously, as well as his faith in the Gods of Vindrassi, especially the Chief of the Gods, Torval. Garn is almost the exact opposite of Skylan, thin, quick, thinks before he acts and is logical during struggles. As the two friends are preparing to return to their village empty handed, they run into a wild boar. After Garn distracts the boar, Skylan is able to kill it but not before suffering a huge gash in his thigh. With the help of the brothers, Bjorn and Edmund, the group of warriors are able to drag the dead boar back to their village, Luda. At Luda the hunting party is met by some other warriors and Skylan's pregnant stepmother, Sonja, who upon hearing about Skylan's injuries brought him some salve. The celebration of Skylan's successful hunt is short-lived, however, as news that three Ogre ships have arrived at the village harbor. Skylan is alarmed by this news and believes he may be the reason the ships are there. Months before the book started, Skylan led a hunting party on the dragonship Venjekar to try to raid other villages for supplies and treasures. During these raids the Venjekar ran into a party of Ogre ships, forcing them to retreat without any plunder back to Luda. Now it appears that the Ogres have followed the Venjekar and Skylan back home. Skylan, always eager for a fight, is ready to charge into the village to fight off the ogres, but level-headed Garn points out that he does not hear or see any signs of fighting; the ogres must be here to talk. Garn convinces Skylan to calmly lead the rest of the warriors back into the village and see first what the situation is with the Ogres. Skylan and Garn walk into the village's Chief's Hall where they find Skylan's father Norgaard, an Ogre Shaman, three Ogre Godlords, as well as Treia the Bone Priestess of the Torgun Clan and her sister, Aylaen. Skylan, still eager for a fight, demands to know why the Ogres have come to their village. The Ogre shaman calmly replies that the Gods of the Torgun Tribe are dead, killed by the Gods of Raj. Now the Ogres would like for the Torgun village to surrender their women and riches to them. Skylan of course did not believe the Ogres and demanded that Treia summon their gods to prove they were still alive. As a Bone Priestess Treia is the chosen female of the village who has the abilities to summon the dragon that protects the Torgun clan via the remains of the dragon's bones as well as speak to the gods. Throughout the whole meeting Treia has been silent and when Skylar brought forth this challenge, she stood up and simply stated that she will go to the Shrine of Vindrash, the Dragon Goddess, for advice and confirmation she is still alive. The Ogre Godlords agree to this with confidence, giving Treia one night for her gods to appear. |
The Palace of Illusions: A Novel | null | null | : Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to the time of the Indian epic The Mahabharat—a time that is half-history, half-myth, and wholly magical. Through her narrator Panchaali, the wife of the legendary five Pandavas brothers, Divakaruni gives us a rare feminist interpretation of an epic story. : The novel traces Panchaali’s life, beginning with her magical birth in fire as the daughter of a king before following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at the brothers’ sides through years of exile and a terrible civil war. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her stratagems to take over control of her household from her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husband’s most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is a fiery female voice in a world of warriors, gods, and ever-manipulating hands of fate.Love can touch the human heart at any moment of time it happens to some and all.Draupadi was even made of flesh and bones with a human heart which experienced this feeling for Arjuna. Mere a toy in the ruthless handS of fate she had to accept four husbands and perform her duties dutifully.A tale of vision,submission, patience,sacrifice,pleasure, sorrows and punishment,the novel is a journey of a woman...someway or other which is a journey of each and every woman of modern times.It is a reflection of feminine beauty, glory and strength. |
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs | William Morris | 1,876 | The poem opens with the marriage of king Volsung's daughter Signy to Siggeir, king of the Goths. The bridal feast is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger, the god Odin in disguise, who drives a sword into a tree-trunk. Though everyone tries to draw the sword, Volsung's son Sigmund is the only man who can do it. The disappointed Siggeir takes his new wife home, inviting Volsung to visit him. When Volsung does so he is killed by Siggeir, and his sons are taken prisoner. While in captivity they are all killed by a wolf, apart from Sigmund who escapes into the forest. Signy sends Sigmund her two sons to help him in avenging their family, but Sigmund only accepts Sinfjotli, the hardier of the two. Sigmund and Sinfjotli kill Siggeir and burn down his hall, then return to their ancestral home, the hall of the Volsungs. Sigmund marries Borghild, while Sinfjotli goes abroad with Borghild's brother, quarrels with him, and kills him. On his return Sinfjotli is poisoned by Borghild, and she is turned out by Sigmund, who instead marries Hiordis. Sigmund is killed in battle, and the pregnant Hiordis is taken to live in the hall of King Elf in Denmark. There she gives birth to Sigurd. Sigurd is raised by Regin, a cunning old man, and when he grows to manhood he asks for a horse from king Elf. Elf bids him choose the one he likes best, and Sigurd takes the best horse, and names it Grani. Sigurd is now urged by Regin to attack Fafnir, a dragon who guards a hoard of gold. This treasure is a curse to all who possess it. Fafnir, Regin says, was originally a human being; indeed, the dragon was Regin's brother and thus the gold rightfully belongs to Regin. He tries and fails to forge an adequate sword for Sigurd, but Sigurd produces the shattered fragments of Odin's sword, which he has inherited from Sigmund, and from these fragments Regin forges a mighty sword, named "the Wrath" by Sigurd. Sigurd makes his way to Fafnir's lair, kills him, drinks his blood, and roasts and eats his heart. This gives him the power to understand the voices of birds and to read the hearts of men. He now understands that Regin intends to kill him, and so he kills Regin and takes Fafnir's treasure for himself. On his journey homeward Sigurd comes across an unearthly blaze on the slopes of Hindfell. He rides straight into it and comes unharmed to the heart of the fire, where he finds a beautiful sleeping woman clad in armour. He wakes her, and she tells him that she is Brynhild, a handmaiden of Odin whom he has left here as a punishment for disobedience. They pledge themselves to each other, Sigurd places a ring from Fafnir's hoard on her finger, and he leaves. The scene changes to the court of Giuki, the Niblung king. Giuki's daughter Gudrun has a dream in which she encounters a beautiful but ominous falcon and takes it to her breast. Anxious to learn the meaning of the dream she rides to visit Brynhild, who tells her that she will marry a king, but that her life will be darkened by war and death. Gudrun returns home. Sigurd revisits Brynhild and they again declare their love for each other. He then rides to the Niblung court, where he joins them in making war on the Southland, winning great glory for himself. The witch Grimhild, Gudrun's mother, gives Sigurd a potion that makes him fall in love with Gudrun. Completely under her spell, he marries her and sets out to win Brynhild for Gudrun's brother Gunnar. Visiting Brynhild again, this time magically disguised as Gunnar, and again penetrating the fire that surrounds her, he reminds her that she is promised to whoever can overcome the supernatural fire, and so deceives her into reluctantly vowing to marry Gunnar. Brynhild goes to the Niblung land and carries out her promise. She is distraught at this tragic outcome, and doubly so when Gudrun spitefully tells her of the trick by which Sigurd deceived her into an unwanted wedding. Brynhild now urges Gunnar and his brothers Hogni and Guttorm to kill Sigurd. Guttorm murders Sigurd as he lies in bed, but the dying Sigurd throws his sword and kills Guttorm as he leaves. Brynhild, filled with remorse, commits suicide so that she and Sigurd can be burned on a single funeral pyre. The widowed Gudrun now marries Brynhild's brother, king Atli, but as the years pass by her memories of Sigurd do not fade, and she longs for vengeance. She reminds Atli of Fafnir's hoard and urges him to win it for himself. Atli invites the surviving Niblung brothers to a feast, and when they arrive he threatens them with death if they do not give him the treasure. Gunnar and Hogni defy him to do his worst, and a battle breaks out in Atli's hall. The Niblung brothers are overwhelmed by superior force, tied up and killed. Atli holds a victory-feast, at the end of which he and all his court lie sleeping drunkenly in the hall. Gudrun, having lost everyone she loves, burns down the hall, kills Atli with a sword-thrust, and throws herself from a cliff to her death. |
Death by a Thousand Cuts | Timothy Brook | 2,008 | Death by a Thousand Cuts investigates the use of slow slicing or lingchi, a form of torture and capital punishment practised in mid- and late-Imperial China from the tenth century until its abolition in 1905. Lingchi involved repeatedly slicing the convict's flesh beyond the point of death. By the time of the final imperial dynasty, the punishment could be meted out for an offence as simple as striking a teacher. The authors argue that this was more than a physical punishment, as the victim was sedated with opium and killed early in the process, but about denying the victim "somatic integrity" and denying them any hope of a life after death which, the authors argue, caused them to feel shame. |
The Other Face of Janus | Louise Katz | 2,001 | Edwina Nearly finds life difficult to handle. She is happy when she enters the painting of The Garden of Earthly Delights and meets Janus. But everything goes wrong when Janus decides to visit her world and gets out of the painting. There he becomes a monster, and it is Edwina's responsibility to lure him back into the Garden. |
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg | Rodman Philbrick | 2,009 | The novel is narrated by Homer Pierce Figg, an orphan from Maine. Homer is trying to find and take back his older brother Harold, who was sworn into the Union army by a ruse. Upon his quest, he meets slave catchers, a traveling medicine show, a hot air balloonist and others — until he finally gets himself to Gettysburg. Even through a hail of gunfire, he survives and finds Harold. |
The Other Hand | Chris Cleave | 2,008 | Using alternating first-person perspectives, the novel tells the stories of Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee, and Sarah O'Rourke (née Summers), a magazine editor from Surrey. After spending two years detained in a British immigration detention centre, Little Bee is illegally released after a fellow refugee performs sexual favours for a detention officer. She travels to the home of Sarah and her husband Andrew, whom she met two years previously on a beach in the Niger Delta. Sarah is initially unaware of Little Bee's presence, until Andrew, haunted by guilt of their shared past, commits suicide. Little Bee reveals herself to Sarah on the day of Andrew's funeral, and helps her to care for her four-year-old son Charlie. Through a mutual reflection on their past, it is revealed that Sarah and Andrew were on holiday at the time of their meeting with Little Bee. The trip was an attempt to salvage their marriage after Andrew discovered Sarah had been unfaithful to him, embarking on an affair with Home Office employee Lawrence Osborn. While walking on the beach one morning, they were approached by a then 14-year-old Little Bee, and her older sister Nkiruka. The girls were being pursued by soldiers who had burned down their village and intended for there to be no witnesses left alive. The soldiers arrived and murdered a guard from the O'Rourkes' hotel, but offered to spare the lives of the girls if Andrew would amputate his own middle finger with a machete. Afraid, and believing the soldiers would murder the girls anyway, Andrew refused, but Sarah complied in his place. The soldiers took both girls away, leaving the couple in doubt as to whether the soldiers would leave one girl alive in response, as they promised. Little Bee explains that although Nkiruka was gang raped, murdered, and cannibalised by the soldiers, she was allowed to escape, and stowed away in the cargo hold of a ship bound for England. Sarah allows Little Bee to stay with her, intent on helping her become a legal British citizen. Lawrence, who is still involved with Sarah, disapproves of her actions and contemplates turning Little Bee in to the police. When he informs Little Bee that he is considering this, she responds that allowing her to stay would be what is best for Sarah, so if Lawrence turns her in, Little Bee will get revenge by telling his wife Linda about his affair. The two reach an uneasy truce. After spending several days together, Sarah, Lawrence, Little Bee and Charlie take a trip to the park. Charlie goes missing, and Little Bee calls the police while Sarah searches for him. Although he is quickly found, the police become suspicious of Little Bee, and discover that she is in the country illegally. Little Bee is detained and quickly deported back to Nigeria, where she believes she will be killed. Lawrence uses his Home Office connections to track Little Bee's deportation details, and Sarah and Charlie are able to accompany her back home. Sarah believes that Little Bee will be safe as long as she is present, and together they begin collecting stories for a book Andrew had begun, and which Sarah intends to finish on his behalf, about the atrocities committed in the Nigerian oil conflict. During a trip to the same beach where they first encountered one another, soldiers arrive to take Little Bee away. Despite being captured, Little Bee is not dispirited, and instead is ultimately hopeful at the sight of Charlie playing happily with a group of Nigerian children. |
Greylands | Isobelle Carmody | 1,997 | Jack and his sister Ellen are suffering in the aftermath of their mother's death, which has caused their father to withdraw into himself. There is some unsolved mystery which Jack tries to explore. To him, the mystery has something to do with the "greylands", a world on the other side of his mirror. Much of the action takes place in these greylands, where Jack meets a strange girl and discovers that his soul is at risk. The adventure is described from Jack's point of view, and within the context of the novel may be a true account of his experiences or a story he is inventing. |
The Power of Half | Kevin Salwen | 2,010 | The teen-age Hannah had a desire to do something to fix the world’s wrongs, and make a difference. To do that, she had to convince her family—her father Kevin (a magazine start-up founder and former Wall Street Journal journalist and editor), her mother Joan (a former management consultant partner at Accenture, who had turned to teaching English), and her younger brother Joseph. The book details why and how the Salwen family sold their home in 2006. The home was a luxurious, 6,500-square-foot (600-square-meter), 1912 historic dream-house in Ansley Park, in suburban Atlanta, Georgia. It had Corinthian columns, five bedrooms, eight fireplaces, four ornate bathrooms, and a private elevator to Hannah's bedroom. The family down-graded, by replacing their home with a house that was half as expensive, and less than half the size. The Salwens donated the other half of the proceeds of the sale of their original home ($850,000) to a charity. They chose The Hunger Project, a charity that works to lessen the hunger of 30,000 rural villagers in over 30 villages in Ghana, and help the villagers move from poverty to self-reliance. The book describes the egalitarian, one-person-one-vote, consensus-driven process that the parents and their two children used–over a period of time–to reach the decision to give away half the value of their home, and how they chose the charity from a number of non-profit organizations that they considered. Before they embarked on the project, though the family members dined together they were otherwise each busy with their own activities, and drifting apart. The New York Times Book Review described the book by saying it details how the family "became happier with less—and urges others to do likewise." Kevin Salwen admitted: "We know that selling a house is goofy, and we recognize that most people can't do it." Asked if he was suggesting that other people follow suit, he answered: "We never encourage anybody to sell their house. That was just the thing that we had more than enough of. For others it may be time, or lattes, or iTunes downloads, or clothes in their closet. But everyone has more than enough of something.” He also clarified: We want our kids to be idealistic, but we also say, ‘Let’s not go too nuts here'. We’re not Mother Teresa. We’re not taking a vow of poverty, or giving away half of everything we own. We gave away half of one thing, which happened to be our house. Everybody can give away half of one thing, and put it to use. You’ll do a little bit of good for the world–and amazing things for your relationships. |
The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China | Timothy Brook | 1,998 | The book is organized chronologically, with four sections named after seasons: Winter (1368–1450), Spring (1450–1550), Summer (1550–1644) and Fall (1642–1644). |
Bagthorpes Unlimited | null | null | The book begins with a burglary at Unicorn House, the dwelling of the Bagthorpe family. This burglary causes Grandma to decide that she needs to have her family around her, so she organizes a family reunion. When their very talented, fastidious, and religious cousins come to visit, all the Bagthorpes go on quests to obtain immortality, hoping to best their talented relatives. Meanwhile, Daisy has the wrong idea about suitable presents for Grandma. |
The Big Book | Bill W. | null | The book consists of over 400 pages. Bill's Story and Dr. Bob's Nightmare and the personal experiences of some alcoholics are detailed as well as the series of solutions which evolved to become the twelve-step program. How to use the twelve steps is explained using examples and anecdotes. Some chapters target a specific audience. One chapter is devoted to agnostics, while another is named "To Wives" (the first AA members were only men), and still another is for employers. The second part of the book (whose content varies from edition to edition) is a collection of personal stories, in which alcoholics tell their stories of addiction and recovery. Frequently mentioned sections are: * the "Twelve Steps" at the beginning of Chapter 5 "How It Works" * the "Twelve Traditions" in the Appendix * the "Ninth Step Promises" in Chapter 6 "Into Action" preceding the 10th Step. The main goal of the book, according to many reports, is to make it possible for the reader to find a power greater than himself to solve his problem. The writers indicate that an alcoholic "of our type" can under no circumstances become a moderate drinker: only abstinence can lead to recovery. By way of anecdotal evidence, the example is provided of a man who, after 25 years sobriety, began to drink moderately and within two months landed in hospital. The reasoning is: once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. In the book it is written that it is impossible to quit drinking by oneself. A new attitude or set of values also would not help. Whosoever is an alcoholic must admit that they cannot help themselves alone. Only a "higher power" can help. An example of a man named Fred is given, who had no control over his drinking, but finally leads an "infinitely more satisfying life" than before thanks to the previously unexplained spiritual principles of AA. In the introduction to the Big Book, William Duncan Silkworth, M.D., a specialist in the treatment of alcoholism, endorses the AA program after treating Bill W, the founder of AA, and other apparently hopeless alcoholics who then regained their health by joining the AA fellowship. "For most cases," Silkworth claimed, "there is no other solution" than a spiritual solution. Today "many doctors and psychiatrists" confirm the effects of AA. |
Praying for Power: Buddhism and the Formation of Gentry Society in Late-Ming China | Timothy Brook | 1,994 | Praying for Power is divided into three main sections: In Part 1, "The Culture of Buddhism", Brook reviews the development of religious philosophy and politics and the new familiarity with, and openness toward, Buddhism, in what was a Confusianism-dominated society. In Part 2, "Monastic Patronage'", the author investigates the contributions of the new elite class of gentry, made in the form of "land donations; money and materials for building and renovation; exercise of social and political influence to forward and protect monastic interests; and 'literary patronage,' the composition of admiring poems and essays or the compilation and printing of an institutional history to elevate the prestige of a given monastery." In Part 3, "Patronage in Context", the author examines in detail patronage by the gentry in three distinct counties: one poor, "where Buddhist institutions were not well developed"; a second rich, where they flourished; and a third "in peculiar circumstances that allow Brook to highlight the ambiguous position of the county magistrate vis-à-vis monastic patronage." |
Singing the Dogstar Blues | Alison Goodman | 1,998 | Joss gets partnered with an alien, Mavkel, who has somehow survived the usually fatal loss of his linked partner Kelmav. She gradually realises that she is expected to link with him, as she is the most open of all the students. They travel back in time to find out why and discover it was because the time-travelling Mavkel accidentally contaminated her as a pre-implantation embryo. |
The China Doll | null | null | After the events described in Run, Spy, Run, Carter is recuperating at home in New York from another assignment (Operation Ice Pick), when he is assigned to be the personal bodyguard for Nikita Khrushchev during the Soviet Premier’s attendance at the opening session of the United Nations (dating the story to late September 1963). Carter foils two separate assassination attempts on Khrushchev. AXE and its Soviet counterpart (known here as SIN) believe the assassinations are linked to communist Chinese efforts to destabilize relations between the USSR and USA. Carter is sent to Japan to infiltrate a Chinese communist spy ring. He is assisted by a top Russian spy (Comrade Guren). They learn that a Chinese crime syndicate called CLAW, operating from the safety of the Forbidden City in Peking, is behind the destabilization plot. Their mission is to assassinate CLAW’s leader, known only as the Mandarin. Carter and Comrade (disguised as guardsmen of the Forbidden City named Lo Mei Teng and Hong Tu Lee, respectively) leave Japan by boat and arrive in China near Shanghai. They intend to walk to Peking. By chance en route they meet Yasunara (who is Chinese despite her apparently Japanese name), the chief concubine of the Mandarin. After saving her party from an airplane attack, they escort Yasunara by car back to the Forbidden City. Yasunara sees through the disguise and Carter and Comrade are drugged, captured and imprisoned by the Mandarin in an underground labyrinth beneath the Forbidden City. Carter and Comrade are to die by being eaten alive by huge turtles. Using a small concealed knife (Hugo Junior), Carter and Comrade escape, killing the Mandarin and feeding his body to the turtles. Yasunara is knocked out and taken hostage as Carter and Comrade wend their way through the underground maze to an exit near the river. The Mandarin’s second-in-command, Chou Chang, is lying in wait near the exit with armed guards. Prepared to die in the face of overwhelming odds Carter and Comrade make a final stand. Bluffing, they start to strangle Yasunara to trick Chou Chang into revealing his location in the dimly lit underground cavern. When Chou Chang reveals himself he is wounded by a thrown knife. In the confusion that follows, Carter uses a small poison gas bomb (cousin of Pierre) to overcome the remaining guards and escape. Yasunara stabs and kills Comrade but is herself choked to death by Comrade as he dies. Carter escapes the Forbidden City dons the clothing of a guard and makes his way down to the river, where he is rescued by Julia Baron (Carter's assistant in Run, Spy, Run) and two American agents in a waiting launch who take him to safety. |
Cockroach | null | 2,008 | A man that is an immigrant from the Middle East, moves to the slums of Montreal, where he learns that he is stuck in poverty. When he tries to take his own life, a "man in a speedo" saves him. He is then sentenced to therapy, where he explains his horrid childhood and how he believes that he is a cockroach. He is also in love with a girl, Shohreh, and is friends/enemies with a man named Reza. He gets a job at a Restaurant, and can't help but stare at his boss' daughter. He also steals from every rich man and poor woman. Throughout the book the man starts to slowly change, for better and worse. |
Quelling the People: The Military Suppression of the Beijing Democracy Movement | Timothy Brook | null | Quelling the People investigates the conflict between the Chinese democracy movement in Beijing, China and the communist-ruled Chinese state's People's Liberation Army. The democracy movement began during the Beijing Spring in 1978 and the conflict culminated in a mass confrontation between the citizens of Beijing and the People's Liberation Army at Tiananmen Square in June 1989. The immediate conflict at Tiananmen Square was brought to an end by the People's Liberation Army which used force, causing the death of hundreds of the protesters. The massacre was followed by a "media silence" and the suppression of the democracy movement. In the book, which centres around a "detailed reconstruction of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 3 and 4, 1989," From the book's back cover "blurb". the author examines the confusion of, and mistakes made by, the Chinese authorities, as well as the role of the "Tank Man", the student who famously stood his ground in front of a column of four approaching army tanks. |
Isle of Fire | null | null | Declan Ross, accepting the British offer of pardons to pirates who would turn from their illegal trade, is now attempting to convince other pirates to do the same. Meanwhile, rumors have arisen that Bartholomew Thorne, formerly thought to have been killed in a flood, is alive and plotting. Cat, who has been staying with a group of monks for a time, has been offered the task of commanding a ship full of fighting monks on a mission to hunt down the elusive Merchant. He accepts, and with Ross's permission, takes Anne on as quartermaster. While Ross combs the sea for news of Thorne, Cat and Anne discover the Merchant's underwater lair. Eventually they are separated from their comrades and, in the ensuing battle with the Merchant himself, Anne escapes the lair while Cat is captured. Anne is picked up by the Robert Bruce and Cat, trapped in a cell on the Merchant's ship, is faced with a choice: become the evil man's apprentice or die. The Merchant arranges a meeting with Thorne himself and offers to return Cat to his father for a price. Bartholomew, however, hatefully refuses. Meanwhile, Lady Dolphin, Commodore Blake, and their young friend Hopper sail to an island where Thorne was reportedly last seen. There the two adults are captured by the Raukar, Viking descendants who are under Thorne's leadership. Hopper is able to rescue Blake but Lady Dolphin remains prisoner. While in Bartholomew's captivity, he and she discover that Dolphin is Thorne's daughter, the child of Heather, the wife he lost in a fire. This news confounds the terrible pirate, who, while not fond of Dolphin, now can not seem stay away from her. With a Viking army Thorne sails to London and bombs it with a destructive and mysterious weapon of the Raukar: fire rain. With vengeful satisfaction Bartholomew wipes out and cripples the British Navy and watches the British city in burning confusion. He then sails off to personally destroy the monastery Cat formerly stayed at. Ross and Anne sail to defend the monastery as soon as they learn of Thorne's terrible work. There before the monks' home they confront Bartholomew in a sea battle, which further intensifies with the arrival of the Merchant's ship and a hurricane. In the ensuing fight, Cat boldly escapes the Merchant's ship, that same vessel is sunk soon sunk, Hopper and some of Ross's crewmen rescue Dolphin, and several Raukar ships are destroyed in the hurricane. In a final confrontation on the Ross's ship, Declan, Cat and Stede together kill Thorne. The battered Robert Bruce and its crew ride out the rest of the hurricane in its eye, and then return in triumph to the monastery. As the story ends, London is struggling to recover and rebuild itself and Cat comes to Declan with A question. |
High Profile | Robert B. Parker | 2,007 | The novel begins with the discovery of a body hanging from a tree in the park. It doesn’t take long to figure out that this is no suicide, as the person had been shot several times before the hanging. After a little investigation the body is discovered to be that of libertarian national talk radio and television personality Walter Weeks. Weeks was an influential man, and personal friend to the governor of Massachusetts, so when the media finds out, Jesse Stone finds himself hounded by the governor, the media, and leading a very high profile case. Stone begins his investigation by interviewing Weeks’s ex-wives, manager, widow Laurie Weeks, and bodyguard Conrad Lutz. Before long another twist is added to the crime when the body of Weeks’s pregnant mistress turns up in the dumpster of a local restaurant. The medical examination soon discovers that this second victim was shot by the same gun, probably around the same time. As part of his investigation, Stone has Suitcase Simpson check to see if Weeks has any criminal convictions. The only one that turns up is an incident in Baltimore in 1987 where Weeks is found having sex in his car with a young woman. This seems unimportant at first, until Jesse discovers that the arresting officer was Weeks’s bodyguard, Lutz. When questioned, Lutz confirms that he had busted Weeks while working as a Baltimore police officer, but that later he and Weeks struck up a friendship which ended in Lutz becoming his bodyguard. The plot thickens when further investigation determines that Laurie Weeks was formerly Lutz's wife. He also learns that Weeks had planned on divorcing Laurie and leaving his fortune to his new mistress and unborn child. After discovering this, Chief Stone and Suitcase Simpson head up to New York to stake out the widow’s apartment. While there they see Lutz visiting her apartment during the day. They also witness Weeks’s research assistant Alan Hendricks spending the night. This is interesting to Jesse because Alan was a frequent guest host, and the one writing most of the show's material by the end of Weeks’s life. With Hendricks the heir apparent to Weeks’s media empire and expected to continue Weeks’s shows, it now appears to Jesse that Laurie is trying to secure herself a new sugar daddy. With the assistance of an NYPD officer, Chief Stone interrogates Laurie in her apartment and records the interview. She confirms that she was once married to Lutz. Stone asks her if Lutz could have held onto resentment concerning this and led him to kill Weeks. She seems to ponder it and then confesses that she believes Lutz could be the killer. Back in Paradise, Jesse confronts Lutz with the tape of his ex-wife’s accusation and Lutz leaves the station without a word. Lutz confesses everything over a glass of Jack Daniels to Jesse that evening in his apartment. He tells Jesse how after he busted Weeks, his wife convinced him to blackmail Weeks into giving him a job as his body guard. Later Weeks, a serial womanizer, took a liking to Laurie. Once again, Laurie convinced Lutz it would be for the best if they divorced and she married Weeks. Once she got his money, they could get back together and be rich. However, when she found out that he was going to divorce her and leave her with nothing she convinced Lutz to kill him. So Lutz took Weeks and his mistress for a walk through of their new home on Stiles Island, near Paradise. While there he shoots and kills them both on the beach. He then drags the bodies to the house and stores them in the refrigerator for several days. Finally he hangs Weeks on the tree in the park, and dumps the mistress in the restaurant dumpster. He does this to confuse the police and also to mess up their calculation of the time of death. He was counting on a dumb small town sheriff not knowing what to do, but he got Jesse Stone. He then tells Jesse he is going to leave and will shoot Jesse if he tries to stop him. He pulls his gun on Jesse and Jesse shoots him dead, essentially committing suicide by cop. It was Jesse’s revelation that Laurie was now sleeping with Alan Hendricks and her taped accusation that leads him to do this. |
The American Senator | Anthony Trollope | null | The novel is largely set in and near the town of Dillsborough, in the fictional Rufford County. The two principal subplots center on the courtship behavior of two young women. The heroine, Mary Masters, is the daughter of an attorney, and has been raised as a gentlewoman. Her stepmother is from a lower social order; believing it best for Mary, she pressures her strongly to accept a proposal from Lawrence Twentyman, a prosperous young yeoman farmer with aspirations to gentility. While Mary respects Twentyman for his excellent qualities, she feels that she cannot love him as a wife should a husband. She admires Reginald Morton, whose cousin is the squire of Bragton and thus one of the two major landowners of Rufford County. Reginald admires Mary as well; but for most of the novel, each is ignorant of the other's feelings: Mary, as a gentlewoman, cannot take the initiative in such a matter; and Reginald, misinformed that Mary loves another, is unwilling to make an offer and have it rejected. The anti-heroine of the novel is Arabella Trefoil. Her father is cousin to the Duke of Mayfair; her mother was a banker's daughter. Her parents are unofficially separated, and living in straitened circumstances. Arabella and her mother, Lady Augustus Trefoil, have no fixed abode; they wander from place to place, visiting people who cannot refuse them without creating social awkwardness. At Lady Augustus's direction, Arabella has spent many years struggling to secure a rich husband who will give her and her mother high social standing, an assured income, and a house of their own. She has lately become provisionally engaged to John Morton, the squire of Bragton and a rising figure in the Foreign Office. He would be an adequate but not outstanding husband by her standards; and when the opportunity presents itself, she attempts to entrap the wealthy and titled young Lord Rufford, concealing these attempts from Morton so that she can accept his proposal should they fail. John Morton falls ill and dies. Arabella, who is not altogether wicked, visits him at his deathbed despite the fact that this will assist Lord Rufford in escaping her toils. After Morton's death, she accepts an offer of marriage from Mounser Green, a Foreign Office clerk who is taking Morton's place as ambassador-designate to Patagonia. Like Morton, Green is not a brilliant match for her, but an acceptable one. John Morton's death makes Reginald Morton the squire of Bragton; at this point, when Mary Masters fears that he has moved too far above her in status, he confesses his love to her. A proposal ensues and is eagerly accepted. The American senator of the title is Elias Gotobed, who sits in the U.S. Senate for the fictional state of Mikewa. The guest of John Morton, Senator Gotobed is trying to learn about England and the English. Through his often-tactless remarks in conversation, through his letters to a friend in America, and through a lecture in London titled "The Irrationality of Englishmen", he comments on British justice and government, the Church of England, the custom of primogeniture, and other aspects of English life. |
The Chinese State in Ming Society | Timothy Brook | 2,004 | The Chinese State in Ming Society is set in the Ming Dynasty, an era in which there was much "commercial expansion and cultural innovation". The book is an "account of events and issues that engaged the members of local elites in Ming society and of the interface between these elites and the state," and the impact of the state on ordinary people in areas such as education, justice, the military and taxation. The book consists of a reworking of eight "heavily illustrated" essays which Brook has written and published separately over the years, and is divided into four main sections (parts I to IV) with two of these essays to each part of the book. The parts are named "Space", "Fields", "Books" and "Monasteries", each of which "represent important areas of intersection between the Ming state and society." Brook argues that the model of despotic government fails to account for the complex interactions between individuals, groups, communities, society and state in this period. Instead he proposes that by 1500 the Chinese had a remarkably developed system of governance, surpassing that of the European monarchs of the time, and that the developments were not the result of the isolated actions of the state, but rather of a complex interface and interaction, including local representatives of the state such as magistrates and local networks of the elite class of gentry. According to Ellen Soulliere in her review, Brook argues that "society had the [enduring] ability to constrain, limit and sometimes redirect the authority of the state, without challenging its most basic claim to be the source of all legitimate authority." |
Tancred | Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield | null | Tancred, Lord Montacute, the novel's idealistic young hero, seems destined to live the life of any conventional member of the British ruling class. Dissatisfied with his life in fashionable London circles, he instead leaves his parents and retraces the steps of his Crusader ancestors to the Holy Land, hoping there to "penetrate the great Asian mystery" and understand the roots of Christianity. He meets the beautiful Eva, daughter of a Jewish financier, and becomes involved in the political machinations of her foster-brother, the brilliant Fakredeen, a Lebanese emir. At Fakredeen's instigation Tancred is kidnapped and held captive, but is nevertheless allowed to visit Mount Sinai. Here he has a vision of an angel who tells him he must be the prophet of "the sublime and solacing doctrine of theocratic equality", a concept which Disraeli leaves somewhat hazy. Tancred falls ill, and is released at the instigation of Eva, who nurses him back to health. She teaches him about the glories of Mediterranean civilization and the debt that Christianity owes to Judaism. Tancred, in love with Eva and utterly convinced that she is right, proposes marriage, but the romance is broken off when his parents appear to reclaim their son and take him back to England. |
Collaboration: Japanese Agents and Local Elites in Wartime China | Timothy Brook | null | Following the attack on the Chinese city of Shanghai by the Japanese forces in August 1937, just before the outbreak of World War II, and during the subsequent occupation of the Yangtze River Delta in China by Japan, despite the violence of the assault, many of the Chinese elite came forward to collaborate with the occupying forces, mirroring collaboration with the Nazis in the occupied countries of Europe. Brook analyzes both Chinese and Japanese archives in order to build up a picture of the collaboration, which extended from Shanghi to Nanjing. He argues that "collaboration proved to be politically unstable and morally awkward for both sides, provoking tensions that undercut the authority of the occupation state and undermined Japan's long-term prospects for occupying China." |
The Lost Fleet: Victorious | John G. Hemry | 2,010 | Having returned his fleet to Alliance space, Jack "Black Jack" Geary is brought before the Alliance senate, and is nearly arrested as it is assumed that he is returning as a conquering hero, planning to usurp control of the Alliance as a dictator. Rather than, Capt. Geary briefs the Alliance Senate on the entire journey of the fleet, as well as the alien race that was strongly implied to exist, including the fact that the aliens have established system killing devices, in the form of every hypernet gate in existence, in Alliance and Syndic territory. A captured Syndic CEO, commanding the Syndic reserve flotilla, confirms the existence of the alien race, and that they've been responsible for the total destruction of every human they've encountered, and have begun to encroach aggressively into Syndic territory. Faced with two possible wars, the Senate elects to finally finish the Syndic war, using sword point diplomacy if necessary. Geary is promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, and charged to attack the Syndic homeworld and force a cease fire. After fighting back to the Syndic system where he began his journey, he nearly stumbles into an ambush. The Syndic Executive Council, planning to use the Syndic homeworld hypernet gate to destroy Geary's fleet, and with it, nearly sixty billion Syndic citizens, is instead deposed, and after destroying a large portion of the Syndic Home Fleet, a cease fire is drawn up. Immediately afterward, a Syndic system bordering the area of space occupied by the aliens claims an evacuation ultimatum has been issued by the aliens. The aliens are dubbed the Enigma race because despite a century of contact, not a single thing is known about the alien race: ships, resources, or the aliens themselves. Geary, realizing that the aliens taking the system would effectively condemn half of the system population to probable death, as well as allow the aliens control of an important strategic location, elects to intervene. Arriving in system, the alien armada arrives, apparently outnumbering Black Jack's fleet by 3 to 1. After realizing that the aliens had used extensive computer manipulation on the Alliance, Geary orders another computer scrub, finding that the Fleet actually outnumbers the aliens 2 to 1. Engaging them in combat after a total failure of diplomacy results in the near total destruction of the alien fleet, who scuttle every wounded ship before fleeing, leaving no possible evidence of the Enigma race. Returning to Alliance space, Admiral Geary abdicates his Admiralty, awards himself a month of leave, and races after Captain Desjani, who was returning home, unwilling to explore a relationship with Geary. After catching her, he quickly proposes to be married, citing that it was the only option to allow them to remain together. Desjani accepts, and the two plan their wedding aboard the civilian transport Desjani conveniently booked for two, and to honeymoon on her homeworld. |
The Calligrapher | Ed Docx | 2,003 | Narrated by Jasper Jackson, an accomplished calligrapher and serial seducer living off Warwick Avenue, London; it tells how his seemingly perfect life unravels when his most recent infidelity is discovered and his girlfriend Lucy leaves him. Jasper though is soon captivated by a new neighbour, Madeleine whilst he is commissioned to transcribe the Songs and Sonnets of John Donne for a wealthy American businessman. The book describes his growing love and commitment to Madeleine, illuminated by observations from the sonnets he is transcribing. But will his relationship with Madeleine last? |
Bite Me: A Love Story | Christopher Moore | null | Following immediately after You Suck, Bite Me follows Abby Normal as a wave of vampirism strikes San Francisco and she tries to protect her friends, including Jody and Tommy, from the investigations of the police and the vengeance of the vampire who originally turned Jody. |
There Will Be Time | Poul Anderson | 1,972 | Jack Havig, born in the American midwest in 1933, has a genetic mutation that allows him to travel effortlessly through time. He learns that an apocalypse will arrive around the turn of the 21st century, due to over-pollution and nuclear warfare. Farther still in the future, a New Zealand/Micronesian culture known as "the Maurai Federation" will come to dominate the world and impose their vision of a less industrialized, more ecologically balanced world. Jack reasons that there must be other people with the same ability to travel through time; to find them, he visits Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion, walking through the street singing the Greek mass. He is identified by agents of a time-traveling organization, the "Eyrie," who take him to their headquarters in the far future. At first Jack joins their group, but eventually he rebels against the group's leader, a 19th-century racist whose goal is to stop the Maurai ascendancy. To defeat him, Jack must return to the 20th century, where he locates an independent group of time-travelers, eventually returning to the future to overthrow the Eyrie. Much of the story takes place in times past, including an interlude in the Byzantine empire, where Jack saves the life of a Byzantine girl during the carnage of the Fourth Crusade and falls in love with her. |
Curse of the Spider King | null | null | Elves ruled over the land of Allyra for hundreds of years until, in a great battle, the capitol, Berinfell, was overtaken by an army of Drefids, Gwar, Warspiders, and Wisps under the command of the Spider King. Now as he rules the land, the remnant of the elven race lives, hidden, in a network of subterranean passages called the Underground. In that battle, the seven heirs to the thrones of Berinfell were captured as babies and taken to the realm of the humans, known as Earth. Disguised among the millions of people on Earth, these Elf Lords have no clue of their identity until, around their thirteenth birthdays, some strange events start happening. Some are stalked by mysterious, creepy strangers, and others receive odd books from teachers, librarians, or bookstore owners. Eventually, the people, who had given the Elves the books, reveal to the Seven Lords their true identity, and the fact that they are being hunted by villainous creatures. These assassins, once held back by an old curse, are now free to kill the Seven. This they intend to do in order to keep the teenagers from returning to Allyra and rallying the Elves against their oppressor, the Spider King. Autumn and Johnny are attacked in their house by a pack of Drefids, Jett and his family are assaulted by Cragons, and a Wisp of Jimmy's neighbor comes to the boy's school and attempts to quietly kill Miss Finney. Kat and Anna are pursued in a vicious car chase by Drefids, and Kiri Lee is later almost assassinated by Wisps of her parents in her own home. Tommy, Mrs. Galdarro and Mr. Charlie are forced to fight off another group of Drefids in an abandoned asylum while attempting to find a portal to Allyra. In the final scene, all the Elven Lords and their escorts (except Autumn, Johnny, and Nelly) have assembled for a concert in Scotland before entering the nearby portal. In the middle of the performance, attended by humans and disguised elves alike, a massive army of Gwar, Drefids, Cragons, and Wisps attack. In the midst of the chaos, Johnny, Autumn and Nelly arrive. They join the desperate rush of fighting elves attempting to reach the portal. When they arrive, it is rapidly shrinking. Unbeknownst to everyone else, at the rear of the group Mr. Wallace is killed and replaced by a Wisp. As the final few elves are diving into the portal, the Wisp kills Mr. Charlie and enters Allyra just before the doorway is completely closed. Once in the elven world, the returning group of warriors are met by Grimwarden and a team of elves, who assist the Lords and their guardians into the Underground. Mr. Wallace's Wisp accompanies them, a spy among their number. |
Secret Book Club | Ann M. Martin | null | It's summer time in Camden Falls and Flora, Ruby, Olivia and Nikki are planning what to do. But Flora, Ruby, Olivia, and Nikki don't understand it. An element of mystery is instantly added when someone - they don't know who - is leaving books on their doorstep. Each comes with a mysterious message, asking them to read the book and do something new. Before they know it, the four friends have a secret girls-only book club - and are finding out new things about themselves and one another. There are some very interesting ties between the books they're reading and the things they're facing over the summer. The girls don't need to read Nancy Drew to track down the answer, because Flora and Ruby's legal guardian and grandmother tell them and Olivia and Nikki when she and the literary benefactor think it's time to. The girls find it annoying that their parents know who the 'mystery book sender' is, but won't tell them. But they have a wonderful time reading some pleasingly wonderful books like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, etc. So Min, the girls, and the book sender travel to Sands Point as a reward. |
Bedlam | Ally Kennen | 2,009 | When Lexi Juby arrives in the boring village where her mother lives, she thinks that she will die there from boredom. But soon more happens than she'd like. While searching for her mother's missing dog, the 16-year-old got lost in the wood. Suddenly a huge wild dog with foaming at the mouth was standing in front of her, the purest tremendously! And it bites her. Despair, Lexi runs away, and reaches a half-ruined, weird building. She breaks through the rotten floor and lands in a fetid broth. Beside of her, a rat cadaver was floating. The young exhausted girl won't be able to survive in the ice cold water very long... *Unfinished Plot |
Sparks | Ally Kennen | 2,010 | When Carla's Grandfather dies, she's very sad. But then, she finds a secret letter by her Grandpa and decides to give him the end he had always wanted, a Viking-funeral, in which he would be put on a burning boat heading to the sea. Carla and her siblings start a crazy and dangerous race against the time to do the impossible. |
Choritrohin | null | null | The novel is set in Bengali society of the early 1900s. The story has four main women characters–two major, Savitri and Kiranmayi, and two minor, Surbala and Sarojini. The former two are accused of being charitraheen (characterless). It is most interesting that all four characters are totally different. Savitri is born a Brahmin, but poverty has forced her to become a servant, doing tasks appropriate only for a 'lower caste'. She is, and remains, pure of character, and devoted to the man she loves–Satish. Surbala is Upendranath's wife. She is young, pure in character and pious to the point of blind faith in religious texts. Sarojini is educated in the Western style, and is forward-thinking, but hampered by familial circumstances and a forceful mother. She marries Satish in the end. Finally, Kiranmayi is the most striking character of the novel. Young and extremely beautiful, she is also very intelligent and argumentative. Her emotions and desires have, however, always been repressed by a husband more intent on teaching her than on conjugal matters, and by a nagging mother-in-law. She surprises and impresses all the three main men in the novel–Satish, Upendra and Diwakar–but her life is ultimately reduced to shambles by these unthinking men. The three men play very important roles in the lives of the four women, but most of the time, their actions are detrimental to the women. They are orthodox, unthinking, and not in control of their emotions. Satish brings about Savitri's downfall and acts strangely with Sarojini till the end, when he brings about a final reunion of sorts on Upendra's deathbed. Upendra helps Kiranmayi initially, but thinks the worst of her relationship with Diwakar, and actually causes Kiranmayi's compulsive elopement with Diwakar. Diwakar is weak-kneed and immature. An orphan, he is delighted by Kiranmayi treating him as her brother, and eventually shirks education. He acts totally irresponsibly after his elopement with Kiranmayi. There is a redemption of all the women in the end, Savitri being considered a devi, Kiranmayi's compulsions understood somewhat and her ill-treatment regretted implicitly, Sarojini getting to marry Satish, and Surbala dying a natural death. But one feels that this redemption has come too late. Wrong done to the women cannot be righted just like that, even if the women themselves feel so. The depiction of orthodox Hindu society in conflict with Western thoughts brought in by British rule is good. |
Wonders of a Godless World | Andrew McGahan | 2,009 | "Set on an unnamed island in the near present, it is told from the perspective of a simple young woman, an orphan, mute, reared in a mental hospital and an orderly there, who forms a bond with a mysterious coma patient, a man with telepathic powers who claims to be immortal..." Throughout the book the reader can never be sure that the mute orphan narrator is a reliable narrator. The possibility that her telepathic bond with the patient is in fact a figment of her imagination is always left open. So rather than science fiction, the book could instead be read as an insight into delusion. |
Emperor Shaka the Great | null | 1,979 | The epic follows the life narrative of Shaka the Great and is narrated from a third person perspective. The book begins with the apparently legitimate love affair of Nandi with Shaka's father Senzangakhona. However, Senzangakhona mistreats Nandi, and drives her from the Zulu kingdom. She flees the kingdom and spends many years travelling amongst kingdoms friendly to her own tribe. While abroad she gives birth to Shaka and raises him. They finally settle in the kingdom where Shaka grows, quickly showing himself as having a sharp mind and military prowess. He quickly gains command of his own regiment, which he retrains in a new fighting system. Instead of fighting with throwing spears from afar, which was the traditional method of warfare, Shaka suggested that a large shield and a short stabbing spear should be used. His strategy relies on a quick approach to the enemy under the shield so that they could stab the enemy before the enemy could throw many spears. He earns a reputation as both a fighter and warrior. When Senzangakhona dies, Shaka, with pardon of the King whose kingdom he has lived in, leads a military force into Zululand. Soldiers and the populace flock to this great warrior and Shaka ascends to the throne usurping his more legitimate brothers. With his ascension to the throne Shaka radically reorganizes the military system. With this new organization and the tactics he perfected with the short spear, Shaka begins expanding into neighbouring regions, suppressing Kings and bandit armies and assimilating these peoples into the Zulu nation. Soon, the first white people come in contact with the Zulu's led by a man named King. Though Shaka does not totally trust these people, he allows them to settle in a small part of his land so that he can learn about their ways. He also sends an Uncle as a mission to King George of England. Meanwhile Shaka's mother, Nandi, dies and Shaka declares a national year of mourning. As the nation mourns, the economy begins to fall apart. Finally Shaka is persuaded to allow everyone to replant the fields and have children. Gradually, Shaka's brothers and Aunts become frustrated with his rule and plot to overthrow him. One of Shaka's most trusted advisers agrees to help them, and they kill Shaka while he is holding court. |
Secret Army | Robert Muchamore | null | Back in England, CHERUB campus has been established and Marc, PT, Paul and Rosie are in the first of two teams of six recruits currently being trained. Luc and Joel two new characters and the other two members of Group A. However, Henderson is warned that unless the first group of recruits pass a difficult training course, the programme will be shut down for good. While Group A learn to parachute and undertake a mission on British soil, Henderson must win the support of his commanding officers, while placating his unstable wife Joan. |
Henderson's Boys: The Escape | Robert Muchamore | null | Big textBig textBig textBig text In France, 1940, Hitler's Nazi armies are invading and forcing civilians to flee. Meanwhile, German agents are tracking two British children, Paul and Rosie Clarke. Charles Henderson, a British spy, finds himself trying to reach them before the Germans can. However, he finds himself enlisting the help of Marc Kilgour, a French orphan, in order to save the pair. He soon realises that children will be essential recruits if the British are to win the war. Meanwhile, Paul and Rosie find a six-year old called Hugo, who is later accidentally killed |
Finnikin of the Rock | Melina Marchetta | 2,008 | It was the best of times. The kingdom was safe, wealth was abundant, and the people were happy. At the age of nine, Finnikin sees this all torn away. The royal family is murdered. The forest people are slaughtered. Finnikin's father is thrown into jail on accounts of treason, while his beloved wife is executed. Angered by the carnage, Seranonna of the Forest People proclaims a dark curse, trapping the people of Lumatere inside. All that remains are a pair of bloody little handprints on the kingdom's door, presumably those of Bathalzar, the lost prince. Ten years pass... Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive. Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance...and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father. But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikan's faith in her... but also in himself. |
The Joys of Motherhood | Buchi Emecheta | 1,979 | Nwokocha Agbadi is a proud, handsome and wealthy local chief. Although he has many wives he finds a woman named Ona more attractive. Ona (a priceless jewel) is the name he has given her. Ona is the daughter of a chief. When she was young, her father took her everywhere he went, saying she was his ornament, and Nwokocha Agbadi would say jokingly, "Why don't you wear her aroung your neck like an Ona?" (a priceless jewel). It never occurred to him that he would be one of the men to ask her when she grew up. During one rainy season chief Agbadi and his friends have gone elephant hunting and having come too near the heavy creature he is thrown with a mighty tusk into a nearby sugar-cane bush and is pinned to the floor. He aims his spear at the belly of the mighty animal and kills it but not until it has wounded him badly. Agbadi passes out and it seems to all he has died. He wakes up after several days to find Ona beside him. During this period, he has sex with her, and after eighteen days he finds out that his eldest wife Agunwa was very ill and died later. It is thought that perhaps she became ill as a result of seeing her husband pass out. The funeral festivities continue through the day. When it is time to put Agunwa in her grave, everything she will need in afterlife having been placed in her coffin, her personal slave is called. According to custom, a good slave is supposed to jump into the grave willingly to accompany her mistress but this young and beautiful slave begs for her life, much to the annoyance of the men. The hapless slave is pushed into the shallow grave but struggles out, appealing to her owner Agbadi, whose eldest son cries angrily: “So my mother does not deserve a decent burial?” So saying, he gives her a sharp blow with the head of the cutlass. Another relative gives her a final blow to the head and she falls into the grave, silenced forever. The burial is completed. Ona becomes pregnant and delivers a girl child, named Nnu Ego (20 bags of cowries). The baby is born with a mark on her head resembling that made by the cutlass used on the head of the slave woman. Ona gives birth to another son but she dies in premature labour and her son also dies a week afterwards. Nnu Ego becomes a woman but is barren. After several months with no sign of fruitfulness, she consults several herbalists and is told that the slave woman who is her Chi (goddess) will not give her a child. Her husband Amatokwu takes another wife who before long conceives. Nnu Ego returns her father’s house. She is married to new husband whom she does not like but prays that if she can have a child with him, she will love him. She does give birth to a baby boy, whom she later finds dead. Shocked, she is on the verge of jumping into the river when a villager draws her back and comforts her. She subsequently gives birth to four children. Her husband, a laundryman for a white man, is drafted into the army during wartime, but on her own Nnu Ego ensures all her children have a good life, sending two abroad to study. After she dies a lonely death, her children all come home and are sorry they were in a position to give her a better life. She is given the greatest burial in their town. When all her children are unable to have offspring the Oracle reveals that this is because Nnu Ego is angry with them. Stories say that she is a wicked woman even in death. Still, they agree that she has given all to her children and that this is the joy of being a mother. |
Big Girl | Danielle Steel | 2,010 | Big Girl starts out with a couple, Jim and Christine, who get married at an early age. From the beginning, their morals are dubious. Jim really wants them to have a baby boy- Christine also wants a boy, but only because her husband does. They try but end up having a girl . Born to a narcisistic father who is obsessed with looks and money, and a food- and- fitness obsessed house- wife who plays Bridge, and who seems to exist to agree with her husband, both parents are disappointed in their baby girl from the moment she is born. They name her Victoria, for Queen Victoria- not because, as Victoria believed as a child, she was a Queen in her fathers eyes, but because the picture Victoria saw of her namesake depicted a 'fat and ugly old woman, who resembled one of the dogs she posed with.' As she grows older, Victoria resembles not her dark eyed, dark haired parents, but is referred to as a 'genetic throwback' to Jims great- grandmother, known for her overweight, matronly figure, fair looks and 'large nose'. Constantly bullied by her parents about her weight, everything changes for Victoria at seven years old when her mother has another baby- another girl they name Grace, whom Victoria calls 'Gracie'. Despite the obvious favouritism and constant remarks of praise and adoration her younger sister receives, Victoria shows no jealousy and is obsessed with doing everything for her sister the moment she is born. As the girls grow up and Victoria and Gracie get older, their love for each other is stronger than ever, despite the constant remarks their parents make about Victoria's weight, her chosen career as a teacher and lack of a husband or boyfriend. Victoria moves to New York and gets a job at a prestigious school, though her parents still criticize her. There she gains few friends, but they are good friends, and she tries a few tentivite relationsships, all of which fail and which she blames on her being 'too fat, too clever and unloveable', parrotting her parents' beliefs. She sees a psychiatrist, and works through some of her problems but always returns to eating when upset. When Victoria finds out her sister, who is barely as old as her parents were when they married, is engaged to a rich, controlling fiance, Victoria begins to worry her younger sister will turn into her parents... Again a girl. Big Girl is a book explaining the life of Victoria and her relationships with both her parents and younger sister. |
The Ordeal of Richard Feverel | George Meredith | 1,859 | Sir Austin Feverel's wife deserts him to run away with a poet, leaving her husband to bring up their boy Richard. Believing schools to be corrupt, Sir Austin, a scientific humanist, educates the boy at home with a plan of his own devising known as "the System". This involves strict authoritarian supervision of every aspect of the boy's life, and in particular the prevention of any meeting between Richard and girls of his own age. Richard nevertheless meets and falls in love with Lucy Desborough, the niece of a neighboring farmer. Sir Austin finds out and, disapproving of her humble birth, forbids them to meet again, but they secretly marry. Sir Austin now tries to retrieve the situation by sending Richard to London. Here, however, Sir Austin's friend Lord Mountfalcon successfully sets a courtesan to seduce Richard, hoping that this will leave Lucy open to seduction by himself. Ashamed of his own conduct, Richard flees abroad where he at length hears that Lucy has given birth to a baby and has been reconciled to Sir Austin. He returns to England and, hearing about Lord Mountfalcon's villainy, challenges him to a duel. But this goes badly: Richard is seriously wounded. Lucy is so overcome by this turn of events that she loses her mind and dies. |
Tree of Freedom | Rebecca Caudill | 1,949 | The novel tells the story of the Venable family, Jonathan, Bertha, and their five children, who in 1780 walk from North Carolina to Kentucky to homestead on 400 acres. There they build a cabin, plant crops, and raise livestock; 13-year-old Stephanie grows an apple tree which she calls her "tree of freedom". They are dismayed to discover that there is a rival claim to their land made by a British sympathizer. As the war comes closer, Indian raids increase, Stephanie's older brother Noel becomes a courier for the Governor of Virginia, and Jonathan joins an expedition against the Indians with George Rogers Clark. |
The Blue Cat of Castle Town | Catherine Cate Coblentz | 1,949 | In the early 1830s, in a small town in Vermont, a blue kitten is born. Every kitten must find a hearth, but a blue kitten has the hardest time of all, for he must learn the river's song and then teach it to the keeper of that hearth. His mother is troubled, but notices he has three black hairs on his tail and hopes she can help him evade this quest. She teaches him not to listen to the river, but eventually he cannot help but hear the river talking to him. Irritated, his mother sends him off to learn the river's song and seek his fortune. The river teaches him the history of the town and gives him much useful advice, only some of which he remembers. He first meets a barn cat, whom he ignores, and a girl who slams the door in his face. He reaches the village green, where he admires his own reflection in a well and falls in, only to be rescued by the pewterer Ebenezer Southmayd. Southmayd is old and has given up making his most beautiful work to turn out cheap, shiny trade items. Singing the river's song, the kitten inspires Ebenezer to make one beautiful, perfect teapot according to the old formula. Alas, the pewterer drops dead when it is finished, and the blue kitten must find a new hearth. Next he meets a weaver, John Gilroy, who is doing business with two women. They have brought him linen to be woven, from flax they grew and bleached and spun themselves, and though he is contracted to make salt-and-pepper cloth for Arunah Hyde of the Mansion House, he accepts the job, inspired in part by the river's song. The kitten thinks Gilroy will learn his song, but Hyde shows up, angry and in a hurry, and Gilroy returns to the more profitable work and turns the kitten outside. As his stagecoach is tearing off in a hurry, Hyde scoops up the kitten and carries him off to the Mansion House. There, Hyde is constantly shouting at people to hurry up, make more money, do things faster -- but he also plies the blue kitten with rich cream and delicious salmon, until he grows into a blue cat. Singing the river's song to Hyde, he finds that Hyde has his own song, a dark song of progress and industry and power -- and a plan to decorate the Mansion House's front window with a lovely stuffed blue cat. Fattened up on delicious food, the blue cat barely escapes. Hyde makes one last snatch for him and pulls the three black hairs out of his tail. The last bowl of cream must have had some poison in it, for the blue cat falls ill and is rescued by the very barn cat he ignored on his first visit. She is a motherly soul and a good mouser, sharing her bowl of milk and her daily catch with him, even after the birth of two yellow kittens. The blue cat recovers physically over the course of the winter, but he has forgotten his song. Come spring, he sets forth, promising to come back and repay the barn cat and the girl Zeruah, who seems sad and lonely when she brings the cats their milk. He finds the town possessed by Arunah's song, and he searches high and low for the one he has lost. Creeping into the church, he meets the carpenter Thomas Royal Dake, who has it in mind to build a truly beautiful pulpit, but has been told by the building committee to do it more cheaply. He brings the blue cat home to his wife Sally, and talks with her about the financial sacrifices they will have to make if he goes ahead with a more expensive pulpit. Dake, it turns out, knows the river's song, and the cat relearns it from him. Sally agrees that he should build the pulpit of which he dreams, even though it will be difficult for the young family. The blue cat does not immediately resume his quest, but remains with Dake through the building of the pulpit in white pine and cherry. Then he returns to Zeruah Guernsey, the sad girl on the farm, and to his friend the barn cat, who is very proud of her kittens. Zeruah is lonely and sad, and believes she is ugly. She rebuffs the blue cat at first, then allows him into the house. She listens to the river's song, but makes no move to sing it for some time. Gradually, she begins thinking and talking to the cat. She visits the church and sees Dake's altar, and passes the shop where Southmayd's last teapot still sits in the window. Finally she begins to put aside her sadness and begins work on an embroidered carpet. Into the carpet she puts flowers from the woods and from her dead mother's garden, her father's favorite white rooster, everything of her world. As she begins to create the carpet, she also tends her house and her garden, and sets a rug by the bare hearth for the blue cat. She embroiders the blue cat into the carpet, and he realizes what he must do to thank his friend the barn cat. One by one, he brings her kittens into the house for Zeruah to add to the carpet. Zeruah's carpet becomes a legend in the town, and many people stop by to see it in progress. The blue cat sings to them, and gradually Arunah Hyde's song loses its power as the townspeople rediscover the importance of making things with their hands, creating "beauty and peace and content." |
The Year We Seized the Day | null | null | What started as a travel log becomes an adventure of tragedy, triumph and fierce loyalty, as two very different writers with differing beliefs confront their pasts, their faiths and each other in an 800 km (500 mi) journey on foot along the Camino de Santiago, in pursuit of their own brand of redemption. Laced with raw humor, heartache and lashings of local vino, Best and Bowles combine candor and courage to capture the essence of modern day pilgrimage. |
Spirit Messenger | null | null | It is AD 1300. A group of Anasazi villagers are tending crops, while Indian women grind corn, children play and dogs bark, under the warm summer sun in a verdant valley of the American Southwest. Suddenly, a dazzling daystar appears in the sky above them, momentarily outshining the brilliant Southwestern sun. A highly evolved time traveler from a distant world visits Earth via a time transport. He is a prophetic messenger who views us and our world as an outside observer. He has come to bestow a gift upon mankind that will change the way we view ourselves and our place in the world. But the messenger also brings us a warning, one that tells mankind to choose correctly or suffer the same fate of another world just like our own, his planet of origin. Because of their superstitions the Indians receive him as a spirit messenger and a deity from the "Heavens of Fire." Dwelling with them for a time, he learns their language and tells them about the star system where he originated. He also teaches them to use his gateway to other worlds, and he leaves behind a token of his friendship, an unusual gold coin he gives to the tribe's Holy Man for safekeeping, promising his future return. A major time shift occurs in a historical flash forward to present day, Arizona, Navajo Indian Reservation. The time-traveler, Daniel, returns in the same place, bearing a gift he hopes will benefit mankind. The Anasazi have long since disappeared into the shadows of antiquity. Walking along Navajo Highway 160, that cuts a swath through the of primordial red rock, mesas, buttes and expansive desert landscape, the time-traveler meets a rugged, fiercely independent Navajo truck driver who offers him a ride. Daniel saves the Indian's life through the use of his unique powers, when the Indian is nearly trampled by the herd of cattle he is delivering to a stockyard in Flagstaff, Arizona. But in seeking out those on whom he will bestow his gift, Daniel becomes ensnared in a bizarre double homicide as the primary suspect. The Navajo truck driver, Zachary Thomas, knows the stranger is innocent. He was with him at the ancient Anasazi ruins the night the murders took place. He is also indebted to the enigmatic stranger for saving his life. He is willing to do anything to protect him, even if it means helping him hide from the authorities. In doing so, Zachary becomes a suspected accomplice to the murders, and he feels he must prove his innocence and the stranger's as well. But his efforts only unearth a greater, unholy conspiracy to cover up illegal activity by the Reservation's chief power broker, the Tribal Council Chairman himself, Jack McCloud. The intrigue reaches a precipice of ultimate danger and no return when Daniel asks the Navajo to bring a female archeologist to the ruins where he is hiding, hoping Tracy Baldwin and a male astronomer friend, Michael Severson can assist him in his mission to deliver his gift before he is discovered by the forces determined to seek him out and destroy him. However, Zachary Thomas has had a past romantic encounter with the seductively intelligent Anglo woman, Tracy Baldwin, and he reluctantly involves her, reigniting their affair in spite of her long-standing relationship with the young, contrastingly intellectual astronomer, Michael Severson, who is perplexed by a side of the young woman he has never seen before and doesn't understand, but is helplessly attracted to. An epic manhunt ensues on the reservation with the local authorities seeking out the suspected murderer and inadvertently discovering one of their own, the flamboyant Tribal Council Chairman, Jack McCloud is involved. In order to cover up the crime and avert possible political fallout, the police detective in charge of the investigation, Lemuel Red Feather, who is an old friend and political ally, vows to protect the chairman's good name at any cost, even if it means terminating the stranger before he can be exonerated. Zachary Thomas, the two scientists and an old Navajo crystal gazer, White Horse—an old family friend of the young Navajo—who is in possession of the original gold coin, protected and mysteriously handed down through generations by the Anasazi Holy Man, come to the aid of the one they now call The-One-of-Many-Faces, in an attempt to help him escape. But they have only succeeded in buying time for the time-traveler to deliver his message and his benevolent gift. The forces determined to eradicate him, before he can complete his mission and dramatically alter the course of human history, are growing stronger. The struggle between good and evil, man and nature, and human nature, brings all these forces to bear in a magnificently written story, an epic tale of truth and something higher than ourselves. It reveals our sense of aloneness and vulnerability within a staggeringly boundless universe, and our innate need to believe in a greater power. |
The Real Global Warming Disaster | null | 2,009 | The book consists of three parts and an epilogue. Drawing from Fred Singer and Dennis Avery's Unstoppable Global Warming, Booker presents a graph showing changes in temperature and carbon dioxide concentration over the last 11,000 years. In his analysis, rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the 1970s led scientists such as Paul Ehrlich to postulate that the earth, as a result of the greenhouse effect, may have been heating up or cooling down, either of which could have potentially disastrous consequences. Figures such as the environmental activist Maurice Strong and scientist Bert Bolin are then introduced, who would, according to Booker, "play a crucial role in what lay ahead" in influencing governmental policy and helping form the scientific basis for global warming. Booker contends that 1988 was a key year in which the IPCC was set up and James Hansen appeared at the Senate Committee of Natural Resources in Washington, where he stated that he was "99 percent certain" that man's contribution to the greenhouse effect was the cause of global warming. According to Booker, "on all sides 'global warming' became the cause of the moment" after Hansen's appearance. He then describes how: * in 1990, the IPCC published its first assessment report which made projections of future temperature rises; * at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit "politicians from 154 countries queued up to sign a 'UN Framework Convention on Climate Change'" that would "commit all the signatory governments to a voluntary reduction of greenhouse gas emissions"; * the second IPCC report (SAR) in 1995 found that the "body of statistical evidence now points to a discernible human influence on the global climate". Booker writes that the SAR was criticised by Frederick Seitz, who alleged that "more than 15 sections in Chapter 8 of the report—the key chapter setting out the scientific evidence for and against a human influence over climate—were changed or deleted after the scientists charged with examining this question had accepted the supposedly final text". Part one ends with an account of the signing of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the setting of new targets for reduced emissions. Booker begins part two by asserting that the medieval warm period "contradicted the idea that late twentieth century temperatures had suddenly shot up to a level never known before in history", and that this problem was dealt with by a 1999 graph depicting temperatures "suddenly shooting up in the twentieth century to a level that was quite unprecedented. Familiar features such as the Medieval Warm Period and the little ice age simply vanished". Booker writes that the graph became the "supreme iconic image for all those engaged in the battle to save the world from global warming". He then states that the IPCC's methods, and in particular the draft summary of its next report, came in for serious criticism from scientists such as Richard Lindzen. Booker then examines Davis Guggenheim's Oscar-winning film An Inconvenient Truth and the subsequent questioning of many of its assertions, including retreating glaciers, drowning polar bears, use of the "hockey stick" graph, the melting of the ice caps and snows of Kilimanjaro and rising sea levels. Booker begins part three by quoting the statement of the then British Environment Secretary that the IPCC's fourth assessment report was "another nail in the coffin of the climate change deniers". Booker contrasts this assertion with what he sees as evidence emerging to the contrary: that the earth had in fact begun to cool, possibly as a result of solar variation, and that may thus not be the only driver of climate change. However, the results of research into this theory by the scientists Knud Lassen, Eigil Friis-Christensen and Henrik Svensmark were dismissed by Bert Bolin as "scientifically extremely naïve and irresponsible". Booker then alleges that a "consensus" and "counter-consensus" had begun to form, and gives details of a 2007 report by the US Senator James Inhofe that claimed to list 400 scientists "now prepared to express their dissent, sometimes in the strongest terms, from the IPCC's 'consensus' view of global warming". Booker then quotes the June 2007 International Energy Agency announcement that the cost of halving emissions by 2050 (the US and UK governments were intending 80% cuts) would be US$ 45 trillion—equivalent to "two thirds of the world's entire current annual economic output". Booker sums up the book's contents in a long epilogue, which quotes Theseus in A Midsummer's Night Dream: In the night, imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear Booker contends that in this quote Shakespeare is identifying that "when we are not presented with enough information for our minds to resolve something into certainty, they may be teased into exaggerating it into something quite different from what it really is". |
The Language of Bees | Laurie R. King | null | Russell and Holmes return to their home in Sussex, England, in 1924 after seven months abroad in India, Japan and California. The novel features a domestic mystery as a hive on Holmes’s farm has been repeatedly swarming and a colony of bees is found to have disappeared. Action shifts, however, with the reappearance of Damian Adler, a talented young painter and emotionally disturbed veteran of World War I, first introduced in the second book in the series. Adler is Holmes' estranged son, born to Irene Adler in about 1895. The distraught Adler seeks the couple's help in locating his missing wife Yolanda and their daughter Estelle. Russell and Holmes separate during the investigation and Russell searches out Damian's questionable past. The search involves the British practitioners of a religious cult called The Children of Lights with roots in Shanghai, China, and features locations ranging from Bohemian London to the wilds of Scotland. Russell experiences a harrowing trip by aeroplane. A series of bodies appears, some dead by suicide and others ritually sacrificed. While the climax of the novel, in an ancient circle of standing stones on Orkney Island, brings some plot resolution, the story continues in The God of the Hive (2010). |
Miracle in Seville | James A. Michener | 1,995 | The story draws on religious themes, interweaving gypsy traditions, belief in the intervening power of The Virgin Mary, and the hope of God's forgiveness and redemption, into the Spanish tradition of bullfighting. The action occurs during Holy Week in Spain, and Michener competently captures the religious processions. He provides meticulous detail of bull fights (although some reviewers have taken umbrage at supposedly erroneous details in his narrative). The tale involves a Gypsy matador (Lazaro Lopez), his sister (Magdalena López) who reads fortunes, a cross-eyed Virgin Mary (La Bizca), the American writer (Shenstone), the Spanish bull breeder (Don Cayetano Mota) who is struggling to revive his once-famed herd, and of course the many bulls in Mota's herd. Despite his initial skepticism, the American is drawn into Mota's efforts, which involve fervent prayers to The Virgin and Herculean acts undertaken during Holy Week to prove his devotion and piety. He knows that his prayers will eventually be rewarded, and this knowledge allows him to live with the often-humiliating performance of his bulls in the arena vis-a-vis the arrogant Gómez. We learn that Lazaro Lopez is also being aided by a powerful female, his sister, who may have the ability to curse the bulls that her brother must face. She is determined that her brother must prevail. |
Rise of the Dibor | null | null | Luik is the young son of Lair, one of the minor kings of Dionia, a world where no sin, pain, or problems exist. At least, that's how it has been for centuries. When this story begins, strange occurrences are starting to befall Dionia. Malice, jealousy, greed and physical injury are beginning to mar this perfect world. The wise kings know that this is the work of Morgui, traitorous former servant of Dionia's ultimate ruler, the Most High. In response to this growing evil, war measures are taken, the chief of which is the selection of the sons of Dionia's kings to train as elite warriors. While Luik, along with the other Kings' sons, is brought by Gorn, a powerful man with experience from a past war, to island of Kirstell, his childhood friends are also experiencing changes in their lives. His talented princess friend Anorra is learning, under a separate trainer, how to physically as well as mentally fight against the coming evils. Another of his old comrades, Hadrian, is trying to cope with the loss of his father, who seems to have reverted to Morgui and has disappeared from Dionia. Lastly, young Fane is now being trained by Li-Saide, dwarf servant of one of Dionia's kings, learning to hear messages in the water and wind and being trained in wisdom. On Kirstell, a place mainly free from the spreading effects of evil, Gorn trains the eighteen boys for four years into men, warriors, the Dibor. When they are at last ready to defend their people, Gorn brings the fighters back to the heart of Dionia, its capitol, Adriel Palace. On the route they experience a skirmish in the city of Jahdan. The Dibor fight and overcome a massive army of Dairne-Reih, also known as Dairneags, demons working for Morgui. At Adriel itself, Luik and a portion of the Dibor engage in a devastating battle against the demons, while the rest, headed by Gorn, attempt to find Morgui himself. King Ragnar, the leader of Dionia's human kings, is assassinated, both Luik's father and another king perish in the battle, nearly all Dionia's soldiers present are killed, and Luik himself is badly wounded. Fane and Li-Saide, who had attended King Ragnar in his last hours - during which he named "his son" heir, much to the disbelief and curiosity of Fane, who thought the king had none - take King Ragnar's body through a secret passage and down an underwater tunnel to a secret place. While this is going on, Gorn and about half of the Dibor find Morgui's second in command, Velon. The younger warriors first break the arch from which the Dairne-Reih have been entering Dionia and then kill as many of the demons as they can. Meanwhile, Gorn kills Velon after a furious battle and the Dibor escape with their teacher back towards Adriel. As the story ends Luik, semi-conscious, is being borne on a stretcher by the straggling line of soldier and Dibor survivors headed for Mt. Dakka, the last standing greatest stronghold against Morgui. |
The Moon in the Cloud | Rosemary Harris | 1,968 | When the Lord God decides to send a flood, he instructs Noah to build an Ark and save his family and the animals. Noah gives his reprobate son Ham the responsibility of collecting two cats from Kemi, the Black Land (Egypt) and two lions, but Ham passes the task to his neighbour Reuben by promising to persuade Noah to let Reuben and his wife on the Ark. Reuben travels to Kemi with his camel Anak, his cat Cefalu and his dog Benoni. In the desert they are captured by the High Priest of Sekhmet, who is impressed by Cefalu's sacred heritage. He houses the cat in the Temple of Sekhmet in Kemi's capital Men-nofer, where Cefalu falls in love with the resident temple cat Meluseth. Reuben is presented as a slave to the music-loving King, who becomes his friend. However, he despairs of returning home until a 'supernatural' display arranged by the High Priest of Ptah backfires. Panic and rioting in the streets give Reuben a chance to escape and rescue his animals. On the way back, Cefalu persuades the lion Aryeh to come to the Ark. They meet Thamar who has camped in the desert to escape the attentions of Ham, and has meanwhile rescued a lost lion cub. They return home only to encounter treachery from Ham. However, a providential accident secures them a place of safety just as the rain begins to fall. |
Marjorie's Quest | Jeanie Gould | null | The book takes place in the second part of the 1850s and is a story of a young orphan girl; Marjorie, who on the way to the next orphanage meets a nice and concerned Judge Gray. He keeps the girl for a while at his place, where she befriends with his teenage son; Reggie. Unfortunately, Marjorie finally gets to the orphanage, but eventually does not stay there long, since a wealthy family adopts her. The family has just lost their own little girl and has a teenage son, who becomes highly jealous of his new sister. His unpleasant behaviour results in Marjorie's accident and consequently, missing. The girl loses her memory and an old begger finds her and looks after her. She turns out to have her own business in it, though. When the girl recovers, she is taken for beg by the begger because people more willingly give money to children. One day, the couple meets a young woman who takes Marjorie from the begger and adopts her. Six years later, Marjorie goes to a Southern farm, where she is a teacher for two little children. There, she meets a young soldier ... |
The Devil's Wind | null | 1,972 | Nana Saheb was the adopted son of Bajirao II, the last Maratha Peshwa, and heir to his position as "prime minister" of the Maratha lands. He is raised in an immensely wealthy family and educated as a Brahmin and a prince, although his father's power had been taken away by the British. On his father's death the British do not recognize his title, but allow him to continue in his comfortable exile in the town of Bithoor. An urbane and sophisticated man, Nana Saheb is sympathetic to the British, several of whom are his close friends, but cannot accept their right to rule and exploit India. When the mutiny breaks out in May 1857, Nana Sahib finds himself forced to accept a position of leadership. After a long and ultimately futile struggle in which both sides commit many atrocities, Nana Sahib flees to Nepal where he receives a grudging sanctuary, taking with him an English woman he has rescued and with whom he has fallen in love. Many years later, he revisits India and then travels on to safety in Istanbul, the place where he sets down his memoirs. |
Salvation on Sand Mountain | Dennis Covington | 1,995 | The book begins with Covington's first visit to a Church of God with Signs Following, located in an old gas station. It is here that he meets many of the longtime members of the church, and comes to find that the following has decreased in numbers due to the conviction of Glenn Summerford. In this first service, no snakes are taken out, but Covington does notice some peculiar things about the church such as the electric guitar and long prayer session. The next time he goes to worship here though, snakes are taken out, where one member of the congregation is described as "putting his face up to the snake's face". As the book progresses, more back story is given on the church, such as how Summerford attempted to kill his wife via snake bite and make it look like suicide, and how the church split over the issue of where the funding for the church should go. Eventually, Covington goes to a church service on the titular Sand Mountain. |
Pish Posh | null | null | Ultra snobby, Clara Frankofile has everything an 11-year-old could want. She's fabulously wealthy, she lives alone in a penthouse apartment with its own roller coaster and bumper cars... and all of New York City is afraid of her! Each night at the fashionable Pish Posh restaurant, she watches glittery movie actresses, princesses, and celebrities and decides who is important enough to stay...and who she will kick to the sidewalk in disgrace. But Clara's tidy little world is suddenly turned upside down when she discovers that a most peculiar mystery is happening in the restaurant, right under her upturned nose. With the help up whip-smart 12-year-old jewel thief, Clara embarks on a wildly dangerous mission through the streets of New York to solve a 200-year-old secret. |
The Reversal | Michael Connelly | 2,010 | Mickey Haller, who has become increasingly frustrated in his role as a defense lawyer, agrees to undertake the prosecution role on behalf of the city of Los Angeles, in the retrial of a convicted killer that had been granted as a result of new DNA evidence. His one condition before accepting the task is that he is permitted to choose his own team; he chooses his ex-wife Maggie McPherson as his co-prosecutor, and his half-brother Harry Bosch as his investigator from the LAPD. The prosecution case rests largely on the testimony of Sarah Gleason, the elder sister of the victim, Melissa Landy. The body of 12-year-old Melissa was discovered in 1986, discarded in a dumpster, only a few hours after she was reported missing. Unknown to the killer, her sister Sarah had been hiding in the garden and had witnessed her abduction. On the day of the murder, she identified Jason Jessup, a truck driver, as the man who snatched Melissa from the garden. DNA evidence subsequently showed that semen stains on the dress Melissa was wearing came not from Jessup, but from the girls' stepfather. However, the evidence against Jessup includes strands of Melissa's hair, found in the seat of his truck. Jessup's defense counsel, "clever" Clive Royce, mounts a media campaign in his client's favour, and it becomes clear that their main motivation is in obtaining a compensation payout from the state. Haller's response is to allow bail and have Jessup tailed by the police in the hope that he will return to his old ways and provide additional support for the prosecution case. Jessup is soon seen visiting various mountain trails in the Mulholland area, and on one occasion parks his car outside Bosch's house at night. Bosch and Haller, both concerned for their own teenage daughters, develop a theory that Jessup was a serial killer but are unable to investigate fully for fear of blowing the police's cover. Legal procedures require that the jury is kept ignorant of Jessup's history. Testimony given in the original trial, where the witness is no longer available because of death or infirmity, has to be read out by Harry Bosch. After Sarah Gleason admits that the dress Melissa was wearing was hers and that her stepfather was raping her, which accounted for the semen stains, the defense focuses on presenting the stepfather as the real killer and Jessup as the victim of the family's lies. The focus is to undermine Sarah's testimony, because of her a history of drug use and prostitution in the years since her sister's murder, though she has now been rehabilitated. Bosch traces Sarah's former lover, Eddie Roman, and finds that he has remained a drug addict living off a prostitute's earnings but has disappeared, presumably to testify falsely against Sarah. Locating Roman's current prostitute Sonia Reyes, Bosch persuades her to enter the courtroom at a crucial moment in Roman's testimony, which causes Roman to alter his testimony, effectively destroying the defense case. While anticipating a plea bargain offer from the defense team during a lunch break, Bosch and Haller instead learn that Jessup entered Royce's offices with a gun and killed Royce, two of his legal team and a policeman who followed him. Jessup is now at large, but the police surround and kill him at a hideout under the Santa Monica pier that had been discovered by Bosch as a result of the police surveillance activities. Jessup's death ends the search for Melissa Landy's killer, but leaves the prosecution team with a host of unanswered legal and moral questions. |
Le Chasseur Zéro | Pascale Roze | 1,996 | Le Chasseur Zéro is set in the Pacific theater of World War II, and is about a Japanese kamikaze who, in April 1945, manages to sink an American Aircraft carrier off of the island of Okinawa while flying a Mitsubishi A6M. The plot shifts to three months later, when a girl named Laura receives news of her father's death aboard the same carrier. In France, Laura's mother and her grandparents begin to grow apart, and no one will explain to Laura the circumstances of her father's death. She begins to repeatedly hear the screaming sound of the diving Zero in her head and nothing can make the noise stop. The memory of her father's death begins to upset her studies and her relationships. |
Pastime | Robert B. Parker | 1,991 | Spenser's semi-adopted son, Paul Giacomin, visits Spenser in Boston asking for his help. He can't locate his mother, who has apparently left on an extended trip without telling him. While Paul's mother is somewhat lacking in motherly skills, he doesn't believe she would voluntarily leave her home for such an extended period without contacting him. Though Paul can't pay Spenser, he takes the case anyway as a favor to Paul. Spenser takes Paul along in his sleuthing, introducing him as his "prentice", though Paul has no real intention of becoming a detective: he just wants to find his mother. |
The Last Centurion | John Ringo | 2,008 | Bandit Six, the protagonist, discusses his adventures following a withdrawal from the Middle East by US Forces in a time of chaos and disease. He commands a Stryker company that is left behind in Iran to guard a U.S. military equipment depot after a worldwide outbreak of mutated bird flu. He and his company repeat the journey of the Ten Thousand to return home, where he assists in agricultural recovery efforts and leads a military operation to regain control of a major US city. |
Eye of the Storm | John Ringo | 2,009 | Michael O'Neal, now a general in charge of removing the Posleen from conquered planets must face new challenges, both from his superiors, and a new group of races intending Galactic conquest. To face the threat, he must come to terms with betrayal and his family. |
The Grand Gennaro | null | null | The story circulates around the main character, Gennaro Accuci, and how he leaves his family behind in Italy in order to make riches in America. He takes over the business of an old friend by force, and soon rises to power and becomes an influential member of early Italian-American society in New York. After seven years of cheating on his wife, he finally calls for his family to come over to the new country. His oldest, rebellious son, is caught trying to rape a neighbor, and subsequently is forced to marry her by Gennaro, who often beats his son for being lazy. They children soon have an annulment, and the neighbor goes to a Protestant asylum where she is Americanized. She returns to her family, her parents move to the country, the oldest son (Domenico) is killed in the Spanish-American War, and Gennaro's wife dies of sadness. Gennaro then marries Carmela who is now much older, although his youngest son also has feelings for her. However, in the recession of 1907, an old enemy of Gennaro's shows up and kills him (Gennaro stole his business from him when first coming to the country in the 1880s). |
Zofloya | null | null | Victoria de Loredani is the beautiful, spoiled daughter of the Marchese di Loredani and his wife, Laurina. Victoria, her brother Leonardo, and her parents reside in a palazzo in Venice, Italy. They live in happiness until the Marchese's friend, Count Ardolph, visits from Germany. Ardolph takes pleasure in destroying the reputations of pure women, and breaking up happy marriages. Ardolph quickly sets his sights on Laurina di Loredani. Laurina's vanity makes her highly susceptible to the Ardolph's advances, and he succeeds in seducing her away from the husband she claims to love. They disappear from Venice together, which sets off a cascade of increasingly tragic events. After Laurina elopes, Leonardo disappears from Venice without explanation, leaving only Victoria and her father in the palazzo. One year later, the Marchese encounters Ardolph in the streets of Venice. They duel, and Ardolph fatally stabs the Marchese. The wound puts the Marchese on his deathbed. Laurina comes to check on him after Ardolph tells her about the duel. The Marchese’s dying wish is for Laurina to find Leonardo and reclaim her children and flee from Venice. He wants there to be forgiveness between his children and their mother. Victoria falls into Ardolph and Laurina's custody, and soon after meets Il Conte Berenza, a noble but naive Venetian man. Berenza quickly falls in love with Victoria and wants to move away with her. Laurina and Ardolph do not approve of Berenza, so Ardolph sends Berenza away by forging a letter in Victoria's handwriting and takes Victoria away to stay with family.They claim that they are all visiting Laurina’s cousin Signora di Modena, but instead leave Victoria there as a prisoner under the Signora’s tyrannical rule. Victoria finally escapes Signora’s household with the help of her servant Catau, and disguises herself as a peasant when she travels back to Venice. Upon arrival in Venice, she meets Berenza again. Victoria curses her Mother in front of Berenza. Therefore, Berenza becomes wary of her character and swears that he will never marry her, but just remain her friend and keep her as a mistress. Victoria and Berenza begin living together and Berenza discloses information about his former mistress Megalena and her jealous ways. One night, an assassin enters the home of Victoria and Berenza. He attempts to stab Berenza in his sleep, but Victoria awakens and defends her lover by taking the dagger in her arm instead. The man flees, and Berenza awakens deeply shaken by the occurrence. He is completely impressed by Victoria’s action and no longer questions the passion of her love for him. Victoria decides not to tell Berenza that she has noticed, that her long-lost brother, Leonardo was the assassin. The narrator then switches to the point of view of Leonardo. It begins with his escape after his mother abandons him. Leonardo first stumbles upon the Zappi family. Signor and Signora Zappi take Leonardo in. Leonardo falls in love with their daughter Amamia, but Signora Zappi falls in love with Leonardo. Signora Zappi professes her love for Leonardo, but he claims he could never love her. Consequently, she tears her clothes and creates a disheveled manner in order to fake the appearance of rape. She tells her husband that Leornado has raped her. Leonardo does not defend himself, but instead decides to leave their household, even though he is heartbroken. He curses his mother for all his troubles. Next, Leonardo comes upon an old woman mourning the death of her son. He offers to help her around her house in place of her son, and she takes him in. Unfortunately, shortly after the old woman (Nina) passes away, and Leonardo is forced to move again. He finally decides it is time for him to move back to Venice. On his trip home he catches the eye of the fatal Megalena Strozzi. She quickly convinces him to love her as his mistress and controls his every move. She informs him of the death of his father, and tells him to stay with her instead. One day Megelena comes across her former lover Berenza with his new lover (Victoria). Megelena is deeply affected by his new relationship and comes home to Leonardo in a rage. She tells him in order to prove his love to her, he must kill Berenza. Leonardo hesitates, but ultimately knows he must follow her commands. He comes back after stabbing his own sister instead of Berenza, and tells Megalena what happened. They realize that he left the Stiletto (dagger) there, and that Megalenas name is engraved on it. They are forced to leave civilization, due to their fear of being discovered. The narrator now switches back to the perspective of Victoria. Berenza was deeply moved by the loving action of Victoria and decides it is time for them to be married. Five years later, Berenza’s brother Henriquez comes to visit and stay with Berenza and Victoria. Victoria quickly realizes she has feelings for Henriquez, but is saddened to discover that his heart lies with Lilla. Victoria feels that she must do anything to prevent the marriage of Lilla and Henriquez, even at the destruction of lives and hearts, much in the manner of her mother. Victoria’s evil hopes of Lilla’s destruction take over her thoughts throughout the day and night. She begins dreaming about how she will destroy Lilla and be with Henriquez. During her dreams, a familiar face begins to surface. She sees Henriquez’s servant Zofloya, as her aid in the destruction of Lilla. During the day, she is intrigued by the handsome figure of the Moor Zofloya, and notices him catching her eye. Zofloya disappears shortly after, apparently having been killed, but strangely returns to Berenza and Victoria’s household later. When he returns he approaches Victoria and tells her to meet him in the garden. When they meet, Victoria eventually confesses her desires about Henriquez, and Zofloya claims he can help her fulfill any desire that she seeks. She is hesitant about taking his help, but ultimately her desires take over her body and mind. Zofloya shares his ideas about the use of poison and the two begin to plan the slow destruction of Berenza. Victoria is impatient with Berenza’s death and questions the methods of Zofloya. To prove his power, he takes the life of Signora de Lilla with poisoned lemonade that instantly kills her. After two more weeks of impatiently waiting for Berenza to die, Victoria gives him his final ration of poison, and Berenza dies; the cause appears to be a heart attack. The death of Berenza sparks suspicion in the mind of Henriquez. He begins to despise Victoria. In a desperate panic, Victoria confesses her love to Henriquez and becomes beside herself with emotion. He is harsh and cruel to her, but then realizes that she was the wife of his brother, and he should contain his hatred for her. Victoria decides the only way to win his love, is to eliminate Lilla. Zofloya and Victoria capture Lilla and tie her up in a cave. Henriquez is deeply upset when he discovers his lover is missing. Victoria decides to confess her love again, while Lilla is missing, but Henriquez still refuses to reciprocate her emotion. Victoria runs to Zofloya, upset that he hasn’t helped her attain her desires, he tells her she can have Henriquez if she appears to be Lilla. He gives her a poison to administer to Henriquez, which will make the first woman he sees when he awakens, the woman of his dreams (Lilla). Zofloya fails to mention that the allusion will only last until Henriquez falls asleep again. Victoria gets her wish of having Henriquez look at her, and hold her with love for a day, while she appears to be Lilla. When they awake in bed together the next morning, Henriquez realizes that he had been wronged, and was with Victoria all night. He kills himself in response, by jumping on a sword in his room. Victoria is upset with Zofloya for lying to her, and her passion she decides to stab Lilla repeatedly and shove her off the edge of a cliff. Victoria realizes she is in the power of Zofloya, and he seduces her with his words, she thinks they are in love, and trusts Zofloya to take care of her. He leads her to the banditti, led by the chief Leonardo (her brother). Zofloya and Victoria live among savages, and Zofloya shows his possessive evil side when he exclaims “ thou wilt be mine, to all eternity” (244) Zofloya begins showing a different side to himself, including an ability to read Victoria’s thoughts. One night, the banditti, bring a woman and man into their savage home. The woman and man turn out to be Laurina and Ardolph. Leonardo stabs Ardolph and proclaims that he has finally had his vengeance. Laurina is frightened by Leonardo's actions and, as a gasp escapes her lips, Leonardo turns back his attention to her. Her demands to know which of the banditti have harmed her and caused the bruises and cuts she suffer from, but they tell him that it was Ardolph who had been beating her and it was her cries that had called their attention. At her deathbed, Laurina begs her children for their forgiveness. Victoria refuses, but Leonardo readily forgives her. Leonardo scorns Victoria for her being so harsh on their mother and not forgiving her. All the characters and their connecting stories come together in this final scene, and their unfortunate pasts surface. Leonardo and Megalena kill themselves, and Victoria is filled with guilt for all her past actions. She turns to Zofloya to tell him about her guilt, and instead of comforting her, he unmasks himself, thus revealing his hideous nature inside and out. He declares that he is Satan, and had tempted and used Victoria repeatedly. Victoria then gets annihilated by the Devil. Dacre ends the story with a short paragraph, commenting on the novel. She claims that her story is more than a romance. She comments on the nature of humans, their passions and weakness, and “either the love of evil is born with us, or we must attribute them to the suggestions of infernal influence.” |
Saiwai Qixia Zhuan | Liang Yusheng | 1,984 | The story is set in the early Qing Dynasty during the reign of the Shunzhi Emperor. The ethnic minority tribes in northwestern China are under attack by Qing forces that are attempting to force them into submission. Yang Yuncong helps the tribal people resist the invaders and becomes a revered hero in the region. However Yang is betrayed and attacked by his junior Chu Zhaonan, who has defected to the Qing side. They encounter a sandstorm while fighting. Yang is injured and loses consciousness, but is saved by Nalan Minghui, the daughter of a Qing general called Nalan Xiuji. She nurses him back to health and helps him escape from danger. After leaving Nalan Minghui, Yang Yuncong meets "Flying Red Sash" Hamaya, a legendary heroine in the northwest. Hamaya's lover, the singer Yabulu, had betrayed their tribe and caused the death of her father. Hamaya seeks vengeance on Yabulu, captures him and brings him back to her tribe for punishment. Along the way, they are ambushed by Chu Zhaonan and Qing soldiers. Yang and Hamaya defeat and capture Chu, but Yang releases Chu on account of their past senior-junior relationship. Back in Hamaya's tribe, her fellow tribesmen find Yabulu guilty and want him dead. Hamaya suppresses her sorrow, and personally kills Yabulu to deliver justice. With Yang Yuncong's help, Hamaya emerges as champion in a martial arts contest and is elected to be the new chief of her tribe. By then, Hamaya has secretly developed romantic feelings for Yang. Yang Yuncong continues to help Hamaya and her people fight the Qing army. During this time, he meets Nalan Minghui again and they fall in love with each other. However, Yang and Nalan are not fated to be together, because they stand on opposing sides. Besides, Nalan's parents have agreed to marry her to the Manchu prince Dodo. In grief, Nalan decides to consummate her romance with Yang, and eventually becomes pregnant with Yang's child. On the other hand, Hamaya is also in love with Yang Yuncong, and she has revealed her feelings to him, but he rejects her. Hamaya is heartbroken and her hair turns white overnight, just like her teacher, the "White Haired Demoness" Lian Nichang. Without Hamaya to lead them, the tribal people suffer a crushing defeat by Qing forces. In the meantime, Yang Yuncong leaves northwestern China after learning that Nalan Minghui and Prince Dodo's wedding is going to take place in Hangzhou soon. His eventual fate is revealed in Qijian Xia Tianshan. |
The Path of Perfection | null | 2,002 | The book presents the essence of Ostad Elahi’s philosophy. Bahram Elahi sets forth the major aspects of a system of thought which aims at bringing out the conditions of man’s process toward perfection by dealing with subjects such as the specificity of human beings, the consequences of our actions, etc. As mentioned in the Preface, this work has been conceived as a concise and practical handbook. The principles stated and the resulting concepts are developed and analysed more thoroughly by the author in other books. |
Blue Screen | Robert B. Parker | 2,006 | The novel begins when Sunny Randall is approached by Buddy Bolen to provide protection for his number one client, Erin Flint. Ms. Flint is the star of the Woman Warrior movie series and future star of Bolen’s major league baseball team. Ms. Flint initially hates the idea of Sunny following her around but begrudgingly agrees to the arrangement at Buddy’s behest. Bolen’s fears seem to have been well founded when Erin’s assistant, Misty, is murdered. Because of Misty’s striking resemblance to her, Erin is convinced the killer was after her. Sunny meets Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone at the scene of the crime; however Buddy and Erin lack confidence in the Paradise police, and ask Sunny to solve the crime. Sunny travels to L.A. where she meets her friend Tony Gault, a Hollywood agent with whom she has a casual sexual relationship. He puts her in touch with a sports writer who is convinced that Erin Flint’s addition to Buddy Bolen’s baseball team is a publicity stunt. It is his opinion that the baseball team was a bad buy on Bolen’s part because they have no market or fan base. Neither does he believe that Erin will be able to compete with the male players in the major league. He does think, however, that the publicity will generate enough interest in the team to allow Bolen to dump his bad investment. He proves to be right later when Erin faces a major league pitcher and cannot hit one ball. Next, Sunny contacts Chief Stone back in Paradise who puts her in contact with his old boss, LAPD police Captain Cronjager. After some investigation with the LAPD, Sunny discovers that Erin Flint is actually Ethel Boverini, and Misty Tyler was her sister Edith. She also discovers that Erin is still married to L.A. pimp Gerard Basgall. Sunny and an LAPD detective go to question Basgall who admits to still being married to Erin and still loving her. He also admits to visiting her regularly, and that his last visit was around the time Misty was murdered. Sunny flies back to Paradise, where she reveals this information to Chief Stone. Stone then confronts Erin with the information who breaks down, but later calms down and admits that she was one of Basgall’s prostitutes, as well as his wife. She and her sister began working for him after their mother died. Further investigation, and another trip to L.A. with Chief Stone this time, reveals more information. It turns out that Buddy Bolen was looking for financing for his first Woman Warrior movie. Meanwhile, Boston mobster Moon Monaghan had a lot of cash that he was looking to invest quietly. L.A. film financier Arlo Delany puts the two together. He also sweetens the deal by getting Buddy Bolen a sister combo of prostitutes to be at his beck and call. The girls also occasionally have sex with Moon Monaghan although Moon denies it when questioned. The girls turn out to be Erin Flint and Misty Tyler. Later, Buddy decides to star Erin in his Woman Warrior movie. The movie turns out to be a big hit; however Buddy has Arlo cook the books to make it look like it made no money in order to stiff Moon Monaghan. Moon gets wind of this and has Arlo killed as a warning to Buddy of what will happen if he doesn’t get his money back. Misty gets scared and threatens to go to the police. Erin calls Gerard to come out and talk some sense into her. They get into an argument and during the struggle he accidentally breaks Misty’s neck and kills her. Chief Stone and Sunny confront Erin and Gerard about this. Gerard claims that he killed Misty, while Erin claims that she killed her. Touched by the fact that the two try to protect the each other by taking the blame, Chief Stone decides they have suffered enough and lets them go on the condition that they promise not to avenge her. |
Slow Chocolate Autopsy | Iain Sinclair | null | The book is in twelve parts, each one featuring Norton (nine of which are in the form of stories and three as a mixture of illustrations and photo-strips). His adventures include participating in the death of Christopher Marlowe, the Ripper murders, as well as more recent events that have shaped London. |
My Dead Body | Charlie Huston | 2,009 | My Dead Body brings the story arc of the preceding four books of the Joe Pitt series to a close, as the rival vampyre factions of Manhattan Island face off. |
The Day of the Troll | null | null | Siblings Karl and Katy are in an old, scary forest - Karl winding his sister up. We learn that Katy is a former "medical type", and that the two are involved in experiments - experiments that are being ruined by something. They find a geo-sensor, a stubby plastic pole, which Katy examines. It's gone offline, even though Katy checked it two hours previously. We learn the two grew up in cities, and joined a project that involved them coming to this country, unlived-in for fifty years. Karl finds an old bridge which Katy recognises. On the bank is a line of smooth earth, as though something was dragged along the ground, all the way to the bridge. Karl insists on taking a look. Katy finds that she has her own torch. She follows her brother, standing in the dried-up river. The bridge is an old railway one crossing the former river. She spots a shape under an arch, assuming it to be Karl - and then realises it's not. She runs away, colliding with someone, who grabs her. He introduces himself as the Doctor. As the sun comes up, the Doctor examines the soil. It's not a desert, but it's so dry - he assumes a drought at first, but then it starts to rain. Katy moans, having done nothing but stare all night. The Doctor examines her practical clothing, and the logo on her cap which reads "The Grange". He takes the cap and puts it on. The Doctor leads Katy away, seeing the land divided into fields, sensors in each one. He recognises it as England. We learn that Karl is an entrepreneur, funding the Grange project to work in the abandoned southern Britain to grow crops and conduct agricultural experiments. Petra Lancaster is visited by Dr Timothy Hill, a botanist who works for the project. Petra reveals their campaign for money has not as successful as necessary. They see the Doctor approach, and Petra storms out. The Doctor introduces himself, and they turn their attention to Katy - who's in a state of shock. The Doctor uses the psychic paper to convince Petra to let him lead an investigation, although she remains suspicious. The base of operations is a former country house. Katy is taken to the infirmary and examined - confirming she's in shock. Charlie Bannon, the bullish Grange mechanic, arrives with news - Karl and Katy's 4x4 is missing. We also meet Vanessa, a posh biology student. Katy speaks suddenly - she's terrified, and mentions something under the bridge. Petra watches Food Minister Hamilton Bryant on her monitor, talking from Madrid - assuring her not to worry about Karl and Katy. He threatens her not to let the world know about this by sending anyone to help them - he has a financial interest in the Grange succeeding. Petra asks about the Doctor - Bryant is clueless, but suggests she take advantage of the extra help. Charlie and the Doctor drive a 4x4 towards the bridge. The Doctor asks for details on the Grange. Charlie explains that humans used a process dubbed Global Cooling, refreezing glaciers. The ground left behind was poisonous, and food became incredibly value, leading to violence. Karl Baring started work on growing new crops, but so far, hasn't succeeded - running out of money, depending on charity. They arrive at the bridge as Charlie explains that no-one cares about the project anymore - and without Karl, they don't stand a chance. The Doctor runs for the bank and starts to investigate. Charlie follows with a shotgun. The Doctor points out the mud is undisturbed - no signs of a struggle. Someone's covered the tracks. He questions why anyone would wait until the middle of the night to kidnap Karl Baring. The Doctor dashes off. Charlie notices something caught in the ivy on the bridge. When the Doctor returns, he finds Charlie's shotgun abandoned. He's still searching for Charlie two hours later, when Petra and Vanessa arrive. Hamilton Bryant once again turns down Petra's request for help. In the common room, Petra reveals that no-one has moved in or out of Britain since a supply drop six weeks previously. Petra reveals that no help is coming. Campbell, South African overseer of the field operatives, points out Karl and Charlie only went missing after the Doctor turned up. Others, including red-haired native volunteer Sanders, disagree. However, Petra suggests it could be one of their own number. The Doctor points something out - roots on the floor, vegetable matter walked through the Grange. Tim doesn't recognise it as their own, and the Doctor tells him to analyse it. At night, the Doctor visits Katy, ignoring Petra's protests. He wants to know what she saw. Vanessa's present, taking care of her. Katy's being kept in the former Baring family nursery. All she'll say is "not under the bridge". Sanders contacts Petra to tell her the relay link's down - they can't contact Madrid. Either they were shut off in Madrid, or the local relays have been sabotaged. Recognising Katy's fear as childhood fear, the Doctor guesses whatever's here has been here all along, and that it's something from a childhood story. Vanessa spots a book called "Not Under the Bridge", which the Doctor takes and reads. He then leaves immediately. Meanwhile, Tim examines the plant matter. The Doctor arrives, and Tim explains the plant's genotype has been altered. The Doctor suspected it's been reprogrammed to move around the house - to use plants as a vehicle. The Doctor leaves as Tim discovers something else that's strange about the sample. The Doctor gathers everyone to the common room, with a screen set up for Katy. The Doctor proceeds to tell the story of Not Under the Bridge. In the story, a troll lives under the bridge, looking like it's made of twigs and rope. In years where not much corn grew, the troll woke up and found a maiden to eat. The Doctor claims a troll really does live under the bridge. Behind the Doctor, something is crawling into the room - a beast made of twigs, the size of a baby. It crawls along the ceiling. Campbell tries to jab it down with a broom handle, but the creature grabs it and starts to move down. Campbell throws it away, and it lands in Vanessa's hair. The Doctor grabs the creature, pulling it away. He places it on the table as it disintegrates into roots and berries. Petra sees something on the computer screen - something in Katy's room. The monitor goes dead as the Doctor realises the small beast was a distraction. Petra instructs everyone to lock up the windows and doors. She heads upstairs, meeting the Doctor, who’s listening outside Katy's room. He opens the door. A small man is bent over Katy's bed, covered in roots. The Doctor closes the door again, and they hear the creature hammering the door. From the room, the creature room asks them to "come under the bridge". They hear the creature escape through the window, and enter the room. The Doctor climbs over the edge of the balcony, jumping his way down, and running after the beast. Petra looks down, and sees the creature running towards the gate, carrying something like a blanket. She realises Katy's been taken. We learn that the creature escaped through the gate. The Doctor follows slowly, knowing the destination. On route, he trips over Katy Baring in a bedspread. She seems happy - she believes Karl came for her. A 4x4 approaches them from the Grange - Petra, Campbell and Sanders. Sanders is told to carry Katy back to the Grange, and the Doctor joins Petra and Campbell to head for the bridge. Near the bank, they stop and get out to walk. At the dry riverbed, Petra sees something moving in the darkness. Campbell raises a shotgun, and fires into the darkness - but it isn't the troll. Suddenly, Campbell is grabbed by the troll. The Doctor manages to grab it, and recognises its face - it's Karl Baring. They struggle, the Doctor is knocked down, and the troll attacks. Petra fights the troll off with a branch, releasing the Doctor. He tries to grab the creature with a parka, but underfoot, the ground forms tentacles which attempt to drag them under. Petra helps the Doctor trap the troll with her own coat, and the limbs disintegrate. They spot a helicopter overhead, which lands nearby. Lieutenant Chavez of the Eurozone Reaction Team, a neat young man, exits - the people at the Grange had sent him after Petra. They head back in the helicopter, taking the troll with them. Hamilton Bryant is on board. He intends to burn out the area - the helicopter fires napalm and explosives into the forest. In the common room, the Doctor and Chavez unwrap the troll. The Doctor attaches it to a robotic medical unit. Hamilton clashes with the Doctor, so Petra leads him out of the room. Tim recognises the troll as Karl. The following morning, the troll seems uncomfortable in the light. The Doctor tries talking to the troll - he knows it's being animated by some life force. He asks what Karl Baring would call that life force, and the troll replies, "Spheriosis" - that which feeds from beneath. We learn the Spheriosis landed long ago, and fed with their roots until there were no nutrients left. They had to change, to absorb oxygen and nitrogen. The troll passes out from the effort of speaking. Hamilton Bryant is with Petra in her office. She realises it was him who shut off the relay links - and Bryant reveals he has no intention of leaving without Karl Baring. The Doctor gathers everyone again. He reveals that the Spheriosis landed billions of years ago, growing enormous over eons, closer to the surface. The Doctor suggests they all leave, but Bryant refuses. Petra asks about Charlie and Campbell - and the Doctor explains they've been eaten by the Spheriosis. The troll sits up, passing through the straps which were keeping it trapped as though made of mud. It once again asks everyone to "come under the bridge", and dies, crumbling in front of them. This time, Hamilton Bryant gathers everyone. He wants Petra and Katy on a helicopter in fifteen minutes, and orders the Doctor's arrest. He instructs Tim to perform an autopsy on the troll. Everyone else is instructed to stay behind in the Grange. Chavez locks the Doctor in a dark cellar. Upstairs, Bryant's lackey Stephenson sedates Katy, ready to be taken to the bridge. Two troopers bring Tim Hill into the room - Sanders intends to walk to the coast, taking an emergency flare. Petra stands up to Bryant, telling him not to take Katy. He orders Chavez to shoot her. After a face-off, Petra stands down, and Bryant tells Chavez to put his gun away. The Doctor realises that the Spheriosis is under the house – it’s enormous. Above, he hears the helicopter being boarded. Airborne in the helicopter, Katy wakes up. Bryant tells her they’re going to see Karl. Petra insists that Karl’s dead, his body being used by something. Nonetheless, the helicopter reaches the scorched riverbank. Explosives have damaged the soil, but the bridge is still intact. They leave the helicopter, and spot a flare in the distance – Sanders, proving that the Spheriosis reaches far away. Katy starts approaching the bridge, calling for Karl. Suddenly, Petra breaks away, and runs for Katy. Chavez shoots her, and she falls down the bank. In the cellar, the Doctor hears the Spheriosis under the ground again. He jumps for the stairs, and a trunk of roots breaks through the ground into the cellar. The Doctor calls for help, attracting the trunk’s attention. It shoots at the Doctor, just as the door is unlocked. The Doctor escapes, and the door is closed by Vanessa. The Doctor blocks the door with a stack of chairs, and they run. Vanessa explains she heard sounds coming from the lab, and the Doctor guesses it had been Tim. They reach the lab, and enter. Tim is nowhere to be seen – only the remains of the troll on the table. They hear something on the floor, and find Tim entwined in roots, being pulled down a hole. The Doctor knows it’s too late. More roots crash through the ground. The Doctor realises that Karl Baring is still within the creature somehow. Later, the Doctor takes a car from the Grange. He explains to Vanessa that the troll was warning Katy away. Karl had enough influence to save her, but not to save her if she came under the bridge. He tells Vanessa to take a car to the coast and organise for Britain to be left alone, letting the Spheriosis starve. Katy runs to Petra, who’s still alive. Men gather at the top of the bank – Petra tells Katy to run. Bryant instructs Chavez to have Katy taken under the bridge before they evacuate. Corporal Stamper and Doctor Stephenson are sent to get her. Chavez follows Bryant down the bank. Katy is led over the bridge. Bryant slaps her, thinking there’s nothing under the bridge, and that Katy’s trying to trick him. As they move, Stamper stops, looking at the ground. Long, thin white arms burst from the ground, pulling Stamper underground without a trace. Stephenson runs, but is swarmed by roots, which pull him into the ground. Chavez shoves Bryant out of the way and escapes, leaving Bryant to the creatures. Bryant shoots at them with his pistol – and realises Katy is being left alone. He grabs her, while up ahead, Chavez shoots himself having been grabbed by the creatures. A car arrives on the scene, driven by the Doctor. Bryant and Katy climb aboard, and they drive away as a single gigantic tentacle bursts from the ground. He asks about Petra, and Katy tells him she was shot by Bryant’s crew. Behind them, the tentacle has stopped chasing them. It grows – as tall as a block of flats, and beyond. The Doctor realises Karl’s forcing the Spheriosis to waste its energy, to save Katy. The three of them exit the car. The ground is shaking, but the Doctor knows the power struggle is evenly balanced. A creature breaks through the ground – the troll. Behind them, Bryant takes the car and drives away. Around them, more arms break through the ground – more trolls. The Doctor guesses the way to keep Karl fighting is to put Katy in maximum danger – to take her under the bridge. Bryant speeds away, avoiding the creatures. He drives for the bank, but crashes, activating the airbag and stalling the engine. A troll attacks the car as Bryant tries to get it going again – and then a second troll, followed by a whole pack of them. Roots break into the car, spreading and growing. They fill the car as the trolls watch. Under the bridge, the Doctor sees the roots approaching, and tells Katy to talk to Karl. She tries, and attracts the attention of a troll. She continues to shout for her brother, causing the troll to double up in pain. The Doctor hauls the troll under the bridge, and throws it at Katy. She recognises Karl as he sighs, and the entire creature disintegrates – including the tentacles outside. The Doctor digs his way out of the ground, pulling Katy back after him. She tells her Karl managed to kill the creature. Metres from the bridge, they spot a half-buried Petra – still alive. Katy attends to her. The transport helicopter arrives a moment later – Petra will be saved. The Doctor announces he’s leaving. The farm will flourish now without the Spheriosis draining its nutrients. Katy and Petra will be fine. |
Seedfolks | Paul Fleischman | 1,997 | Kim, a nine year old Vietnamese girl, decides to plant six Lima bean seeds in a vacant lot in remembrance of her dead father, a farmer, and she also has two sisters. She visits every day to see the progress. She plants the beans in the hope that the spirit of her father will watch and recognize her as his daughter. Ana, a very old woman who is Romanian sees Kim bury something, and quickly assumes Kim is doing something illegal. Ana digs up the seeds in the vacant lot. Upon discovery of the Lima seeds, she feels sorry and replants them. Wendell, a man in the community, is told by Ana that Kim planted the seeds, and they are dying since Kim planted the seeds in the wrong season, so he decides to watch over them while he creates a small garden of his own in the space. Gonzalo, a Guatemalan teenager, and his uncle, Tio Juan, also add to the garden. Tio Juan was a farmer in Guatemala and finally finds a place he feels comfortable in the garden. Juan helps others with their gardens, but no one can understand him because he doesn't even speak English. Sam is a 78 year old man who is nice to everyone, and started a contest to solve the problem of water reaching the gardens. If adults can't do it, let children try! Leona also sees the progress of the garden but dislikes all the garbage. She complains to the government and wins. Curtis plants tomatoes to win the heart of a former girlfriend, Lateesha. Curtis planted it outside the fence and becomes very protective of the garden after some of his tomatoes are stolen. So he enlists Royce, a teenager who is homeless. Sae Young owned a drycleaning shop until she was brutally beaten during a robbery. Soon she becomes fearful of people. She would never go out of her house and would have everything delivered. When she goes to the garden, she begins to feel safer around people. Nora is a nurse who takes care of a man in a wheelchair, Mr. Myles, and as they walk by the garden, Mr. Myles gets excited and Nora helps him to join in planting something. Maricela is a pregnant sixteen year old who wishes her baby would die.Then she starts to realize that the miracle of life is not so bad. Amir is an Indian immigrant and owns a fabric store. He decides to plant eggplant and carrots in the garden. In the garden he meets up with someone who had insulted him in his store, and they become friends. He also assists in the arrest of a robber, along with two other men. Florence loves the garden, but she can not participate because of arthritis in her wrists. She watches the garden change, and becomes upset when nobody is there for the fall and winter. She fears that nobody will come back the following year, but the story comes full circle when she sees Kim planting Lima beans in early spring again. |
Mockingjay | Suzanne Collins | 2,010 | After her rescue by the rebels of District 13, Katniss is convinced to become "the Mockingjay": a symbol of the rebellion against the ruling Capitol. As part of the agreement, she demands that the leader of District 13, President Coin, grant immunity to all of the Quarter Quell participants , including Peeta, and that Katniss reserves the right to kill President Snow, the unquestioned leader of Panem. Much to her displeasure, Katniss is kept away from the battles and works to create propaganda for the rebels. Katniss is unable to cope with the guilt as she watches a mentally ill Peeta on television, where he is forced to provide propaganda against her and the rebels for the Capitol. Finally, District 13 leaders decide to rescue Peeta, realizing that Katniss's guilt is impeding her role as "the Mockingjay." After the rescue, it is discovered that Peeta has been brainwashed into believing Katniss is the enemy, and he attempts to strangle her during their reunion. Peeta's brainwashing deeply effects and disturbs Katniss, but he gradually improves after much treatment and therapy, including cake decorating. His childhood friend, Delly Cartwright, helps with his recovery by recounting happy events from their past. Soon, Peeta recovers fully enough to train. Katniss and her propaganda unit are sent off on a mission to the Capitol, and President Coin later sends Peeta with them in replacement of another soldier, although his many scarred memories fuel his rage. The rebels, including Katniss, gain control of the districts and begin an assault on the Capitol. A propaganda filming in a "safe" Capitol neighborhood goes wrong, and Katniss and her team flee further into the city with the intent of finding and killing President Snow. Many members of Katniss's team are killed through intense urban warfare, including Hunger Games victor Finnick Odair. Eventually, Katniss presses on alone towards Snow's mansion, which has supposedly been opened to shelter Capitol children, but is actually intended to trap the kids and use them as human shields for President Snow. As she reaches the mansion, a hover plane with Capitol markings drops supply parachutes to the children which then explode, killing many of children. A rebel medical team, including Katniss's sister Prim, attempt to provide care to the wounded children as the rest of the parachutes explode killing Prim and many others. After watching her younger sister die, Katniss is even more determined to get her revenge on President Snow. After the rebels' victory, it is decided to punish the Gamemakers, by holding a Hunger Games with children from the Capitol. While recovering from the same explosion that killed her sister, Katniss accidentally encounters President Snow who is under house arrest. Snow tells that her that he did not order the assault that killed Prim, saying he would have escaped if he had access to a hover plane. When Katniss expresses her doubts about his innocence, Snow reminds her that they had agreed not to lie to each other following the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Katniss recalls that the bombing resembles a trap originally developed by Gale Hawthorne; Gale denies his involvement but Katniss cannot help holding him responsible. At Snow's execution, Katniss thinks back to her conversation with him, and realizes someone high up would have to give permission for Prim to be on the front lines despite her young age. Making it look like the Capitol killed Prim would push Katniss's loyalty to Coin and would also drive a wedge between the Capitol and President Snow. When she is given the opportunity to assassinate Snow, Katniss raises her bow and shoots Coin instead, killing her. A riot ensues and Snow is found dead. Katniss then tries to commit suicide, but Peeta stops her. Katniss is acquitted due to her apparent insanity and sent home to District 12, along with others who are attempting to rebuild. Peeta returns months later, having largely recovered from his brainwashing. Katniss falls back in love with Peeta, recognizing she needs his hope, and strength, in contrast to Gale who has the same fire she already finds in herself. Together with Haymitch they write a book filled with the stories of previous tributes of the Hunger Games and those who died in the war to preserve their memory. In the epilogue, twenty years later Katniss and Peeta are married and have two children. The Hunger Games are over, but Katniss dreads the day her children learn about their parents' involvement in both the Games and the war. When she feels distressed, Katniss plays a comforting but repetitive "game," reminding herself of every good thing that she has ever seen someone do. The series ends with Katniss claiming that "there are much worse games to play." |
All Alone | Claire Huchet Bishop | 1,953 | Marcel Mabout is a "ten-year-old man", sent by his father with their three cows to summer pasture in the French mountains. While he is being trusted with the "family fortune" for the first time, Marcel is even more entrusted with the family creed, which also permeates his village, "Mind your own business". It is a village of friendless strangers, not neighbours. In the mountains, Marcel faces the cold, fear, and loneliness he was not prepared for. But when he hears the yodels of Pierre Pascal, a slightly older cowherd boy in the mountains, and their yodeling consoles each other. Then Pierre's cows wander over to Marcel's mountain, and he is faced with a crisis of conscience that pits his antisocial upbringing with his inner sense of righteousness. Deciding to take the risk of returning Pierre's cows, Marcel sets off a chain of events that leads to a revolution in the village. |
Hurry Home Candy | Meindert DeJong | 1,953 | Hurry Home, Candy tells the story of a young dog named Candy, chronicling his life through several traumatic and joyful events. Told from the dog's perspective, the reader experiences Candy's separation from his mother and being brought to a cold kitchen floor with the ever-present threat of being hit with a broom. Later in the story, Candy becomes a beloved pet to two small children, only to later become separated from them. His quest to survive and be re-united with his new family constitutes the rest of the narrative. |
Zero History | William Gibson | null | Hollis Henry and Milgrim find themselves in London working for Hubertus Bigend, unaware that their lives previously crossed in Spook Country. One of Bigend's current interests is fashion, particularly the intersection between streetwear, workwear and military clothing. He asks Henry and Milgrim to investigate a secret brand, named Gabriel Hounds after the English legend. At the same time, he becomes aware that a coup is being plotted within his company, Blue Ant. During the course of the novel, Milgrim is threatened by others in what is implied to be a corporate espionage plot suborned by rogue members of the United States military. A parallel subplot tracks Hollis as she tracks down Garreth, the mysterious daredevil featured in Spook Country, and the Gabriel Hounds designer, implied but not expressly stated to be Cayce Pollard. |
Furnace: Lockdown | Alexander Gordon Smith | null | Alex Sawyer is a young teenage boy who world gets flipped upside down, after he and his friend Toby are trying to rob a house. They are ambushed by large, silver eyed men in black suits. These men shoot Toby, then frame Alex for the murder. Alex is sentenced to life imprisonment in Furnace Penitentiary, a juvenile prison buried a mile underground. On his way there, Alex meets Zee and Monty, who were also framed for murder. Furnace is quickly shown to be no ordinary prison. The silver eyed men, called blacksuits, that framed Alex are guards, assisted by skinless dogs during "Blood Watches". During blood watches, prisoners are ordered back to their cells and wheezers, creatures with gas masks stitched to their faces, come to take prisoners. Prisoners taken during blood watches never come back. When Alex first comes, his cellmate, Donovan, teaches him how to survive. The prison is ruled by a gang called the Skulls, who abuse the other prisoners mercilessly. Alex finds a passage leading to an underground river, but with no holes large enough to let him through. He, Donovan, and Zee hatch a plan to put gas from the kitchen in rubber gloves, and, when enough are collected, blow and exit in the rock. Monty is taken from his cell during a blood watch, and later the guards bring out a beast sharing Monty's birthmark which they allow to kill his cellmate, who had beaten Monty. The leader of the Skulls is killed by a new prisoner, Gary Owens, who quickly reveals himself to be a psychopath without regard for human life. When Alex is almost killed by the Skulls,Donovan frantically tells Gary of their plan to escape the Furnace. Gary allows him to survive on the condition that he escapes with them. Donovan is then taken during a blood watch, putting their plans of escape in jeopardy. They try to escape before their plans are discovered. They find that Monty has become a blacksuit, but he is not fully brainwashed and allows them to continue. They blow the gas they have been collecting and jump into the underground river. The story continues in the next book in the series. |
World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King | Christie Golden | 2,009 | The book is set over an extensive period, and has many duplicate scenes from other works, including Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal, Day of the Dragon, Reign of Chaos, The Frozen Throne and Wrath of the Lich King. However, while the scenes themselves remain the same, they are experienced from alternate viewpoints. The story starts off with Arthas at the age of nine, as early as the period between the First and Second Wars, with Anduin Lothar and Varian Wrynn first arriving in Capital City bearing news of the fall of Stormwind. Arthas and Varian play together, though while Varian was trained to fight since childhood, Arthas was shielded from such teachings by his father. However, with Muradin Bronzebeard coming across Arthas fighting imaginary orcs while Alliance forces battle against the Horde on Draenor, Muradin volunteers to train him. Later, Arthas is caught up in Daval Prestor's attempt to marry Calia Menethil. The love triangle between Arthas, Jaina Proudmoore and Kael'thas Sunstrider is developed through the plot, Arthas and Jaina partaking in the festivities of Noblegarden, the Midsummer Fire Festival, Hallow's End and the Feast of Winter Veil together. Later, as Arthas starts taking on the responsibilities of a prince, he visits Durnholde Keep, seeing Thrall fight other adversaries in the gladiator arena. Quel'Thalas is visited and high elven culture depicted. Eventually, he is inducted as a Knight of the Silver Hand in the Cathedral of Light. Eventually, the Third War begins. The story covers Arthas and Jaina meeting Kel'Thuzad, Arthas calling Uther a traitor and dismissing him and the Knights of the Silver Hand from service for their refusal to aid in the Culling of Stratholme. In time, Arthas' search for vengeance leads him to Frostmourne, the (apparent) demise of Mal'Ganis and the moments leading to and after the murder of King Terenas. The storyline continues beyond this point, to Jaina and Aegwynn in Theramore. Numerous scenes from Wrath of the Lich King are included along with cameos of tuskarr and taunka. |
Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Re-Turn of Tippy Tinkletrousers | Dav Pilkey | 2,008 | The story continues where the previous book left off, with George and Harold running away from Tippy Tinkletrousers. As they are running away, the book explains something called 'The Banana Cream Pie Paradox', meaning that going back to the past and changing something will remain its changed way in the present. Meanwhile, the story switches to what will happen if Tippy Tinkletrousers did not appear, making George, Harold and Mr.Krupp to jail. Meanwhile, at the Piqua State Penitentiary, Tippy (who is also a prisoner from the fourth book) is tasked to build a statue of Warden Gordon Bordon Shmorden who is chief jailer of the prison, Tippy does the task but instead builds "a giant robot suit". On the day Tippy presents his robot suit to Gordon Shmorden, he reveals his work and climbs on to the suit and freezes everyone in his way (the same suit used at the very end of the eighth book). Tippy then grabs Mr.Krupp and forces him to get George and Harold. Tippy soon finds George and Harold and puts Mr. Krupp down, wanting information of Captain Underpants. George and Harold snap their fingers which makes Mr. Krupp turn into Captain Underpants. Captain Underpants gets chased, while Tippy is unsuccessfully trying to freeze him, soon he accidentally freezes his robotic legs and as a last resort, time travels from five years ago. The story switches to George and Harold as kindergartens who have a hard school life due to the fact that Kipper (a school bully and Mr. Krupp's nephew) bullies them along with his friends. George and Harold find a way to stop Kipper (which include the created ghost of 'Wedgie Magee') and soon scares Kipper and his gang. Kipper and his gang are very scared, that they run out of school right when Tippy arrives from his time traveling journey. Which makes Kipper and his gang even more scared until they become mental. This makes the police accuse Mr. Krupp, causing him to lose his job. Tippy then time travels back to the present time, thinking that kids five years from the past were weird. However, as Mr. Krupp was hypnotized when George and Harold were in the 4th grade, a universe is created where Captain Underpants never existed. Tippy arrives to a present destroyed and overrun by giant evil zombie nerds. At the end, Tippy gets squashed by two zombie nerds who are really George and Harold. What remains left of Tippy is a red squishy stain.In the last chapter the words say the adventures we know and love never actually happened, and then states there will be no more Captain Underpants stories (except book 10, coming January 15, 2013). The Adventures Of Dog Man The comic begins with a police guy whose partner is a special trained police dog named Greg. They are professionals on catching criminals. One day, he and Greg spotted a bomb, but it was too late to defuse it. Then they got transported to the Hospital via Ambulance. The doctor announces that Greg's body is dying and the Cop's head is dying too. Then the nurse had a great idea: that he will cut off Greg's head and sow it on the Cop's body. The doctor accepted the idea and they held a big operation. It was successful and everyone called him "Dog Man." Dog man is the best of all cops because he sniff criminals with his nose, hear crimes with his ears, and punch criminals with his fist. But he had one mortal fear: vacuum cleaners. Petey, the world's most evilest cat, saw Dog Man's weakness so he invented the evil vacuum robot. The robot stole all the money from the bank and Dog Man came to stop it but the vacuum was chasing him. The robot chased Dog Man until he reached to the corner. Dog Man knew it was death time for him until the plug for the robot got unplugged. Dog Man then destroyed the robot and followed the cord. The cord lead to Petey's hideout and arrested him. Then Dog Man celebrated the victory by drinking some none alcoholic wine. The Curse Of Wedgie Magee The comic starts with this kindergartner named Wedgie Magee who always got picked on by the bunch of bullies. The bullies also gave him wedgies and stole his money. One day, he couldn't take it anymore so he went to see a Gypsy Lady. Wedgie said that he gets wedgies all the time and she said that he is going to give him a special Potion that will help him. She was supposed to give him the Anti-Wedgie Potion, but when she forgot her glasses, she gives him a Voo-Doo Ghost Potion instead. She gave Wedgie the instruction that when the bullies come by to give him a wedgie, he has to pour the potion onto his pants. The next day the bullies came by to gave him a wedgie, and he poured it onto his pants. The pants disappeared and it became a ghost. Nobody was scared and they are laughing in hysterics. Then he died of embarrassment. On that very night when Wedgie Magee died, his pants came back for revenge. He ate the first bully on his way home from school, ate up the second bully while he was eating dinner, and ate up the third bully when he was in bed. After that, his pants are laid to rest, but he will be back to people who are mean to Kindergartners. At the back of the comic book, there is a bonus section page explaining to the reader or Kipper and his friends the ways he could get cursed and how to undo it. Here are the reasons: # You start acting all weird and stuff. # You want to play with Dolls, Dresses, and Bracelets. # You get ectoplasm and spiders on your stuff. # Awesome food like pizza tastes all hot and burns your mouth and stuff. # Your armpits get all burned and stuff. The only way to undo this curse is must undo all the bad stuff you did and never pick on anybody. |
The Adventures of Harry Richmond | George Meredith | null | Richmond Roy, or Roy Richmond, is the ne'er-do-well son of an actress and an unnamed member of the royal family. He has taken up the trade of singing teacher, and in this capacity is employed by Squire Beltham, one of whose two daughters he seduces and elopes with. Having given birth to Harry Richmond the daughter dies. Squire Beltham and his other daughter, Dorothy, obtain custody of Harry after a prolonged struggle with Roy. Harry runs away from school and ends up in Germany, where he happens upon his father, now living at the courts of various German princes, with intervals in debtors' prisons. Harry falls in love with Princess Ottilia, but he is once more returned to the care of his grandfather, who promises to make Harry heir to his fortune of £20,000 a year if he will marry local girl Janet Ilchester. Harry will have none of this, and goes back to the Continent to pursue his princess, only to find that she has married a German prince. Since Janet is now engaged to an English marquess, and Squire Beltham has left his grandson a measly £3000, Harry seems to have got the worst of both worlds. Happily, Janet has second thoughts about the marquess and marries Harry instead. The story ends with a disastrous fire, in which Roy dies while trying to save Dorothy Beltham's life. |
Signal | null | 2,009 | Owen is a lonely and bored kid who just moved to the Finger Lakes of upstate New York with his father who is a workaholic. His mother recently died, and he is trying to find something to do with his summer since he does not live in a neighborhood like he used to when he lived in Buffalo. One day, while he is running up and down a seven mile trail that he found with his Pointer, Josie. His mother used to talk to him about life on other planets, which he wonders about often. When he gets by the creek, he finds a piece of cloth with blood on it. He follows a trail of footsteps, dirt, and blood to an abandoned house where he meets a girl named Campion, (named after a flower) with very shiny green eyes who claims she is from another planet. Cam explains her parents landed and she got left behind by mistake. She explains the blood from a wound she got because of a hubcap that was thrown at her by Ray, the boyfriend of Bobbie, the woman who found her. She explains that Ray and Bobbi are pursuing her because she escaped from a hotel room they kept her in. Cam says she likes Tootsie Rolls, and agrees life on Earth really has its points. Owen kindly brings her food, water, and supplies. Owen tries to keep Cam a secret from his father, and from the "Dog People", a friendly family who has over 19 pets whom they walk down the trail daily. (The Dog People, Ernie and Charlene, explain that they wanted kids, but they never got them. So, they had to adopt dogs and cats.) Cam then says she needs him to make a "signal" in a wheat field to signal her parents so they can pick her up. Cam tells Owen that he needs to hide her for exactly four days, which is when a full moon comes, and they search during full moons. But, since they have become good friends, Cam asks Owen to come with her, and leave his boring life for her planet. Cam and Owen camp out in a tent and talk about her home planet. Cam explains her planet was once ravaged with war, and they have evolved into smarter beings. She then explains they "like dogs" and says Josie can come. Owen starts talking to his father and gets excited when he leaves a note saying he will come home early so they can talk again. However, his dad is working on a big audit, and does not make it. Towards ten o'clock, Owen cries himself to sleep. Angry, Owen gets up early the next morning and plows the signal into a wheat field with a board. Owen tells Cam he will be coming with her to her planet. They anxiously wait for the ship to arrive until Ray shows up and attacks them. While Ray is injuring Owen, Cam knocks him unconscious with the board they used to plow the field. Cam frantically shouts to the sky when she sees lights. However, it is a police helicopter searching for Owen. They give themselves up, and Cam reveals she was really Bobbi's daughter, but she ran away and imagined being from another planet. When Owen believed her, she felt it might be possible. In the end, Cam moves in with Ernie and Charlene, and Owen begins to talk to his dad. They say they are going on a hike through the Adirondack Mountains. The final sentence has Owen say: "Cam said life on Earth has its points. And I think she is right." |
Devil's Brood | Sharon Penman | 2,008 | Devil's Brood continues the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine that began in When Christ and His Saints Slept and continued in Time and Chance. Devil's Brood opens with the conflict between Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their four sons, which escalates into a decade of warfare and rebellion pitting the sons against the father and the brothers against each other while the mother spends the period imprisoned by her husband. The novel opens in 1172 when Henry and Eleanor have been married for decades and have four grown sons: Hal, Richard, Geoffrey and John. During the final 18 years of Henry's life conflict builds with Eleanor, beginning with her desire to choose her successor for Aquitaine. Henry has her imprisoned, first in France and then in England, while he goes to war against France. The four sons each want to rule a piece of territory and war breaks out among the sons as they plot with their mother and enter into a rebellion against Henry, in the process aligning themselves with King Louis VII of France—England's enemy. The consequences of Henry's sons' rebellion weakens the Angevin empire. At the end, Henry dies with only his household knights at his bedside. |
Time and Chance | Sharon Penman | 2,002 | Time and Chance is about King Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the rift between Henry II and Thomas Becket. Time and Chance is the sequel to Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept and spans a 15 year period from 1156 to 1171. Penman brings alive for the reader the period as King Henry II becomes increasingly estranged from his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (although Eleanor and Henry have eight children during the eight years), and from his close friend and advisor Thomas Becket. King Henry II's decision to elevate Becket to the Archbishop of Canterbury is a fulcrum for discord between Henry and Eleanor. Moreover, Becket must reconcile duty to his sovereign and duty to his God which ultimately leads to his death and martyrdom and stains King Henry II's reign. |
Penguin Lost | Andrey Kurkov | null | The novel follows the life of a writer, Viktor Alekseyevich Zolotaryov, in a struggling post-Soviet society. Fleeing from the mafia to Antarctica, Viktor passes some time in a polar research station, before returning to Kiev with a new identity. Back in Ukraine and needing a job, he starts work on the election campaign for a Mafia boss. In return he is given information as to the whereabouts of Misha, his pet penguin, which is said to be in a zoo in Chechnya. Thus begins another journey, this time across the former Soviet Union, in pursuit of his beloved pet. |
Evernight | Claudia Gray | 2,008 | Bianca Olivier is a new student to Evernight Academy, a Gothic boarding school with "perfect" but predatory students. She knows she does not belong but she cannot escape because her parents are now teachers at the school. Bianca believes the best of her parents and trusts them about everything even when her brain tells her not to. As school progresses, Bianca befriends Lucas, Raquel, a loner like her, and Vic, Lucas's roommate. She develops enemies, like Courtney and Erich, who are what Bianca calls "The Evernight Type". At a party, she befriends a handsome, popular, but friendly guy, Balthazar More. Balthazar asks her to the Autumn Ball. There, she, Lucas and Balthazar get into an argument, and Balthazar leaves them alone. Outside, under the gazebo, she and Lucas kiss for the first time. Bianca gives in to temptation, bites Lucas and drinks his blood. After she realizes what she did, she screams for help. Upon hearing, Courtney comes out and says "Well, it's about time you became a vampire like the rest of us." When Lucas awakens he is unable to remember the event. Lucas and Bianca declare their love for each other. Lucas eventually discovers Bianca is a vampire, but she is a child of two vampires and he accepts this. After they have been officially dating for weeks, Bianca mentions that one of Lucas's ancestors went to Evernight, but no humans have ever been accepted to the school before, except a Black Cross member (a group of elite vampire hunters). Her parents and Balthazar realize this and attack, but Lucas holds his own against two vampires and they chase him off campus. Bianca runs off with him, and even though he has been raised to hate all vampires, he still loves Bianca. They meet up with the rest of his team, and the Black Cross think that she is a stolen baby, hiding the truth she is a vampire. Bianca's parents turn up and take her back home because they do not understand. She reluctantly goes with them. A few days later she receives a letter through Vic from Lucas telling her that he will always love her and they will meet again. |
The War I Always Wanted | Brandon Friedman | null | Spanning the course of three years, Friedman tells his story through a combination of present action and flashbacks. In all, he covers events in Afghanistan (including his experience in Operation Anaconda in March 2002), the 2003 invasion of Iraq and his time in Baghdad, the beginning of the insurgency in northern Iraq during the latter half of 2003, and his re-adjustment upon returning home in 2004. |
Double Identity | Margaret Haddix | null | Bethany Cole is living a normal life until her parents, Walter and Hillary, load her into their car at midnight and drive her hours away from their home. They reach Sanderfield, Illinois, where Bethany is introduced to her aunt Myrlie Wilkers, whom Bethany had never met before. When Bethany's dad talks to Myrlie, Bethany overhears her father say "She doesn't know anything about Elizabeth." Bethany realizes that her parents are abandoning her without an explanation, but she begrudgingly settles in. Myrlie shows Bethany the way to a room for her grandchildren that has never been used. Myrlie then takes Bethany back downstairs, where she correctly guesses all of Bethany's favorite foods. The next day, Bethany tells Myrlie that she is a swimmer, so Myrlie takes her to the YMCA to swim. While they are there, one of Myrlie's friends notices Bethany and mentions that she thought Bethany was Elizabeth. This is enough to spark Bethany's interest in Elizabeth.Bethany really wants to know about Elizabeth. When she and Myrlie come back to the house, Bethany retreats upstairs to change into her clothes. When she comes back downstairs, she overhears Myrlie on the phone asking for permission from Walter to allow her to tell Bethany who Elizabeth was. When Bethany storms into the kitchen and confronts her, Myrlie says that she promised Walter that she would not tell, although she very much wants to. The next day, Walter calls early in the morning. When Bethany asks who Elizabeth was, he asks her to put Myrlie on the phone. When Myrlie finishes talking with Walter, she tells Bethany that Elizabeth was her sister who died in a tragic car crash. Hillary was driving the car and felt responsible for the crash. Joss, Myrlie's daughter and formerly Elizabeth's best friend, comes to talk to Bethany. At first, Joss mistakes Bethany for Elizabeth, noting their extreme resemblance. After a long talk about Elizabeth, they watch old videos of Joss and Elizabeth as children. When Bethany sees Elizabeth, she realizes that they are identical, except for a small scar under Elizabeths left eye. When the three of them play cards, Joss accidentally calls Bethany "Elizabeth". The next day, Myrlie receives a package with four forged birth certificates from different states and ten thousand dollars cash. A note accompanying it explains Walter and Hillary's reasons for leaving Bethany with Myrlie. Soon after, Hillary calls, asking for Elizabeth. Bethany grabs the phone and tries to reassure her mother while Joss attempts to trace the call. Hillary tells Bethany, thinking she is the dead Elizabeth, that if they save some of her cells, they can make a clone of her, so Bethany realizes that she is Elizabeth's clone, which is why she likes all the same things and looks exactly like her. Her parents even raised her in a similar environment with the same toys to try to replicate their first daughter. Over the next few days, Bethany encounters a mysterious man. First, he offers to give her a ride home after she trips and falls, injuring herself. Bethany is panicked that he knows her name, but Joss comes to find her. Later, the same mysterious man, this time identified as "Dalton," comes to Myrlie's house on Halloween and asks for Walter. A strange car also drives by the house several times. A few days later, Joss, Myrlie, and Bethany later go to the County Fair, where they see Bethany's parents. Wondering at their presence, they soon become aware that Dalton is at the fair too. It is revealed that Dalton Van Dyne gave Bethany's father money to create a clone of him self because he felt a clone would be the only person who would love him. Instead of creating that clone, Walter created a clone of Elizabeth, believing that while Van Dyne would have another chance, Elizabeth wouldn't have one. When Bethany realizes this, she tells him, but the entire town hears it as well. In the epilogue, Bethany is thirteen and living in Sanderfield. She explains to the reader that her parents made four embryos cloned from Elizabeth and implanted three of them into three surrogates and one into Hillary. The babies of the surrogates died very soon after birth, but Bethany, her mother's baby, survived. The book ends with the family planting a ginkgo in honor of Bethany next to the trees that were planted for Elizabeth and Joss, then they eat pie. |
The Heat of the Day | Elizabeth Bowen | 1,948 | The novel opens with an encounter between Louie Lewis, a London factory worker seeking self-identity, and Harrison at an outdoor concert at Regent's Park. After Harrison rudely leaves Louie he goes to visit Stella in her rented flat. He tells her of his suspicions that her lover, Robert Kelway, is a spy, while proposing that she leaves Robert to become his lover. While she is coping with the possibilities, her son, Roderick, visits her on leave from his army training. In her conversation with her son and the memories of her divorce from his father, Stella begins to doubt if she (or anyone) can ever really know anyone else. Roderick, meanwhile, is ruminating on Mount Morris, the house he has just inherited from an Irish cousin, Francis Morris. The narration goes on to recount Cousin Francis's visit to his wife, Cousin Nettie, at Wisteria Lodge, a special care house for the elderly and the insane/mad. He is using this visit as an excuse to leave neutral Ireland and reach Britain in order to offer his services to the Allied effort. He dies just before the reunion with his wife. At Francis's lawyer's request, Stella attends the funeral, and is told that her son will inherit the estate, even though Roderick and Francis have never met. Here, Harrison, who is unknown to anyone at the funeral, and Stella meet for the first time. Harrison insists on accompanying her on the train back to London. The narration then recounts Stella and Robert's first meeting two years ago and their subsequent romance. Back in the narrative present, Stella shows an interest in meeting Robert's family and so they go to Robert's family house, Holme Dene. At Holme Dene, Stella meets Robert's authoritarian mother, his managerial sister, Ernestine, and their wards, Robert's other sister's two children. His mother reluctantly allows Robert to show Stella his room, in which is a collection of photographs of Robert throughout his life. Robert tells Stella about his troubled relationship with his emasculated father. That evening they return to London. Harrison and Stella meet again. Harrison points out to her that in visiting his family, Stella is accepting the possibility that Robert is a spy. Harrison reiterates his insinuations that she should leave Robert and start a new relationship with Harrison. Stella does not accept his offer to stay the night. The narration jumps back to Louie. Louie has made friends with Connie, an air warden. Connie and Louie are both newspaper fanatics; Connie is suspicious of everything she reads, while Louie believes everything she reads. Returning to the main plot, Stella leaves for Ireland to visit Mount Morris and take care of affairs for Roderick. While there, she decides to confront Robert with Harrison's accusations. Robert and Ernestine pick her up in a car at the train station. After dropping Ernestine off, Stella finally asks Robert directly if he is a spy. Robert is angry that she could entertain such an idea, and is hurt that she has been harboring such thoughts for two months. Then he proposes marriage. She says no, after which they discuss their relationship and Harrison. Roderick, who feels guilty inheriting Mount Morris without Cousin Nettie's permission, goes to visit her at Wisteria Lodge. In the course of their conversation, it becomes obvious that Cousin Nettie is not really mad, as she is pretending to be. Her feigned insanity is her excuse to never return to Mount Morris, which she hates. Nettie reveals the true story of Roderick's parents' divorce. Everyone assumed Stella was the guilty adulteress, but in fact Victor (Roderick's father) left her for a nurse. Roderick is stunned by the revelation and calls his mother to ask her about it as soon as he can. Stella receives Roderick's call during one of Harrison's visits just before they leave for dinner. It prompts Stella to share her history with Harrison, which she hasn't done for many other people. At dinner, Harrison confirms that Robert fulfilled his predictions about exactly how Robert would change his behavior if Stella ever revealed that he was being watched. Louie happens to be at the restaurant and makes up an excuse to talk with them. In coded language in front of Louie Stella offers herself sexually to Harrison in exchange for Robert's safety. Harrison rejects the offer, and Stella and Louie leave the restaurant together. Louie is attracted to Stella, and tries to describe her to Connie. Robert goes to Holme Dene because the family has received an offer to buy the house. Mrs. Kelway and Ernestine refuse to make a decision without him, but clearly he has no real influence. He is tense throughout the scene. He returns to Stella in London and confesses that he is indeed a spy for the Germans. Robert tries to justify his actions and expounds on his fascist politics. Robert accuses Harrison of interfering in their relationship, which eventually leads to his confession. Although Stella still loves him, their relationship is marred. They know Harrison is waiting outside. Robert insists on leaving via the roof. A couple days later Stella goes to visit Roderick and reveals that Robert is dead. Back in London, she gives a report to the coroner's office in which she comes out looking like a femme fatale and Robert's treachery is hidden. Louie reads the report in the papers and (mistakenly) believes her first impression of Stella was wrong. The narrative gives a sweeping overview of the next few years of the war. Harrison visits Stella again years later during another bombing. He tells her that his first name is Robert. Their resolution of their relationship is left ambiguous. Louie gets pregnant in the course of her extramarital affairs. Connie takes care of her, and Tom dies in combat without ever knowing. Louie leaves London to give birth to her son, Thomas Victor. She retires with him to her hometown, Seale-on-Sea, with the intent to raise him as if he were her heroic husband's child. |
Fascism In Its Epoch | null | null | The book, which was translated into English in 1965 as The Three Faces Of Fascism, argues that fascism arose as a form of resistance to and a reaction against modernity. Nolte's basic hypothesis and methodology were deeply rooted in the German "philosophy of history" tradition, a form of intellectual history which seeks to discover the "metapolitical dimension" of history. The "metapolitical dimension" is considered to be the history of grand ideas functioning as profound spiritual powers, which infuse all levels of society with their force. In Nolte's opinion, only those with training in philosophy can discover the "metapolitical dimension", and those who use normal historical methods miss this dimension of time. Using the methods of phenomenology, Nolte subjected German Nazism, Italian Fascism, and the French Action Française movements to a comparative analysis. Nolte's conclusion was that fascism was the great anti-movement: it was anti-liberal, anti-communist, anti-capitalist, and anti-bourgeois. In Nolte’s view, fascism was the rejection of everything the modern world had to offer and was an essentially negative phenomenon. In a Hegelian dialectic, Nolte argued that the Action Française was the thesis, Italian Fascism was the antithesis, and German National Socialism the synthesis of the two earlier fascist movements. Nolte argued that fascism functioned at three levels: in the world of politics as a form of opposition to Marxism, at the sociological level in opposition to bourgeois values, and in the "metapolitical" world as "resistance to transcendence" ("transcendence" in German can be translated as the "spirit of modernity"). Nolte defined the relationship between fascism and Marxism as: Fascism is anti-Marxism which seeks to destroy the enemy by the evolvement of a radically opposed and yet related ideology and by the use of almost identical and yet typically modified methods, always, however within the unyielding framework of national self-assertion and autonomy. Nolte defined "transcendence" as a "metapolitical" force comprising two types of change. The first type, "practical transcendence", manifesting in material progress, technological change, political equality, and social advancement, comprises the process by which humanity liberates itself from traditional, hierarchical societies in favour of societies where all men and women are equal. The second type is "theoretical transcendence", the striving to go beyond what exists in the world towards a new future, eliminating traditional fetters imposed on the human mind by poverty, backwardness, ignorance, and class. Nolte himself defined "theoretical transcendence" as: Theoretical transcendence may be taken to mean the reaching out of the mind beyond what exists and what can exist toward an absolute whole; in a broader sense this may be applied to all that goes beyond, that releases man from the confines of the everyday world, and which, as an "awareness of the horizon", makes it possible for him to experience the world as a whole. Nolte cited the flight of Yuri Gagarin in 1961 as an example of “practical transcendence”, of how humanity was pressing forward in its technological development and rapidly acquiring powers traditionally thought to be only the providence of the gods.Drawing upon the work of Max Weber, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Karl Marx, Nolte argued that the progress of both types of "transcendence" generates fear as the older world is swept aside by a new world, and that these fears led to fascism. Nolte wrote that: The most central of Maurras's ideas have been seen to penetrate to this level. By "monotheism" and "anti-nature" he did not imply a political process: he related these terms to the tradition of Western philosophy and religion, and left no doubt that for him they were not only adjuncts of Rousseau's notion of liberty, but also of the Christian Gospels and Parmenides' concept of being. It is equally obvious that he regarded the unity of world economics, technology, science and emancipation merely as another and more recent form of "anti-nature". It was not difficult to find a place for Hitler ideas as a cruder and more recent expression of this schema. Maurras' and Hitler's real enemy was seen to be "freedom towards the infinite" which, intrinsic in the individual and a reality in evolution, threatens to destroy the familiar and beloved. From all this it begins to be apparent what is meant by "transcendence". In regard to the Holocaust, Nolte contended that because Adolf Hitler identified Jews with modernity, the basic thrust of Nazi policies towards Jews had always aimed at genocide: "Auschwitz was contained in the principles of Nazi racist theory like the seed in the fruit". Nolte believed that, for Hitler, Jews represented "the historical process itself". Nolte argues that Hitler was "logically consistent" in seeking genocide of the Jews because Hitler detested modernity and identified Jews with the things that he most hated in the world. According to Nolte, "In Hitler's extermination of the Jews, it was not a case of criminals committing criminal deeds, but of a uniquely monstrous action in which principles ran riot in a frenzy of self-destruction". Nolte's theories about Nazi anti-Semitism as a rejection of modernity inspired the Israeli historian Otto Dov Kulka to argue that National Socialism was an attack on "the very roots of Western civilisation, its basic values and moral foundations". |
Stone's Fall | Iain Pears | null | An aging BBC reporter approaching retirement in 1953, Matthew Braddock is on a farewell tour, visiting the old Paris bureau. Chancing upon a familiar name in the obituary notices, he decides to attend the funeral of an acquaintance he has not seen for many years. After the service, he is approached by a stranger who introduces himself as the deceased woman's solicitor. He surprises Braddock with the information that the firm has been holding a package for many years, addressed to him, with instructions to deliver it only after this woman's death. Later, on his trip back to London, Braddock reminisces about those days of his youth in 1909 when he met the beautiful and mysterious Elizabeth. Equally mysterious was the death (and life) of her husband, Baron Ravenscliff, born John William Stone. Later, Braddock opens the long-delayed package to find a pair of extraordinary manuscripts. These two documents, written accounts of events occurring in 1890 and 1867 respectively, follow Braddock's recollections to form the three-part structure of the historical-mystery novel Stone's Fall. Many historical-fiction novels place their fictional characters in a believable historical setting (e.g. Pears' own The Portrait), but few attempt to include actual persons and events that can be researched and verified (or not) by the curious reader. As in Pears' earlier novel An Instance of the Fingerpost, the reader is challenged to learn more about the history underlying the fiction. This is especially true in the middle (1890) section, where the fictional Henry Cort becomes involved with historical events that later came to be known as "The Panic of 1890". The next article section, Historical references, lists existing and/or historical persons, places and events mentioned in quotations from Stone's Fall, with citations or internal links to other Wikipedia articles. Page numbers are from the hardcover edition. The final section, Historical liberties, includes a listing of inconsistencies found between historical facts and the same "facts" as presented in Stone's Fall (liberties rather than errors: it is, after all, a novel). |
Santa Olivia | Jacqueline Carey | 2,009 | Set in a future dystopia United States, the town of Santa Olivia is effectively a desert war zone where people have no rights and legally no longer exist, with the town's name even being changed simply to "Outpost No. 12". The main character is that of Loup Garron, a daughter of a genetically modified father who was bred by the US military as a weapon and has since escaped to Outpost. He becomes engaged with Loup's mother, a resident of Outpost, but is forced to leave before his daughter is born. Loup grows up to become a boxer in Outpost in order to try to escape and eventually find her father. |
Hellblazer: Pandemonium | null | null | The graphic novel is a self contained story, venturing into political ground that Jamie Delano is well known for. The story starts with a scene in Iraq, where a small town was bombed. The U.S. Army manages to detain a man said to be responsible. While being interrogated, the man unleashes a supernatural power that kills the soldiers and destroys the camp. In London, chance encounter with a young Muslim girl on the tube leads a curious Constantine to the British Museum. The museum is bombed, but Constantine and the girl manage to escape. However upon reaching home, Constantine was framed for his involvement in the bombing and is captured. As a result, John Constantine is forced by MI6 to visit Iraq and investigate a supernatural entity that has been plaguing the war torn place. While in Iraq, the Muslim girl shows up again, introducing herself as Assera Al-Aswari and is an agent of MI6. The two later drive into an army camp to discuss the events. Constantine deduces that the place they were at was an ancient city, containing an ancient Sumerian temple. Aseera later explains that the place is named Kutha. In the cover of night, John uses magic to sneak out and investigate more. He later finds out that the city is actually a den of demons, before he is detained by Aseera for sneaking out. The next day, John and Aseera later visits the mysterious detainee who has been plaguing the army. John discovers that the man isn't human, but is a djinn. He later traps it inside a bottle, before the camp they were at was attacked by insurgents. John, Aseera, and the djinn escapes, but is soon stranded in the road. While waiting, John explains to Aseera that the detainee is actually a djinn, and that Kutha is actually a city that once worshiped a god named Nergal, who is also John's longtime adversary. The two was soon kidnapped by insurgents, and was handed over to Nergal. Nergal welcomes John to Hell, where he explains his involvement in the war. Nergal was actually collecting the souls of those who died, and traps them in Hell to power himself up, using djinns as his workers. John later challenges Nergal for the souls in a game of poker. Nergal and his confidants agreed, but in turn if John looses he will be "cleaning [Nergal]'s ass with his tongue". John cheats his way to victory, and Nergal is forced to free the souls with John and Aseera. With his mission completed John returns to London for his end of the bargain. In the MI6 headquarters, he releases the djinn and intimidates the MI6 officials to free Aseera in Iraq and give her a new life with luxury, while John's gain will be doubled. The officials later agrees. Upon hearing this, John walks out, happy that he straighten everything out. |
Kolaiyuthir Kalam | null | null | Ganesh and Vasanth visit a town for legal purpose involving settling down property inheritance issue. They meet a man KumaraVyasan, guardian of an innocent, amateur girl heir named Leena. According to the will the property cannot be divided, sold and it can be inherited only by the direct heirs at their eighteen years of age while close relatives are supposed to be guardians. While discussing, Ganesh and Vasanth are told that the legal heir girl has committed a murder by becoming a blood sucking vampire and he has concealed the victim's body by burying it two years ago. They were also told that there is a belief at the town that, a spirit which occurs once in two years will kill people. Ganesh not willing to accept that fact, searches for a valid explanation. He along with Vasanth visits the farm at night where they see an illusion in grey color resembling the girl Leena and some voices pointing to some names. Also many mysterious things happen at the farm house which terrorise both of them. Ganesh wanted to believe that there is no ghost but circumstanaces make him to slowly believe while Vasanth started to believe the fact of Spirit. KumaraVyasan was sure that Leena commits murders by the influence of spirit. Ganesh doubts Kumaravyasan that the incident are tricks mastered by him to eliminate Leena with motivations that he can be the heir if in case Leena dies without having children. Many murders occur during the course of investigation where Kumaravyasan is also one among victim.Circumstances point Leena to be killer but her innocence confuses Ganesh. Meanwhile all assumptions of science are collapsed and Ganesh starts to believe that the real explanation of all the incidents is the Spirit. What happens then? Does the spirit kills by taking revenge? Is spirit real or an illusion? Subsequent part of the story moves with the answers to these questions. |
Blackout | Connie Willis | 2,010 | It's the year 2060, and the history students at Oxford University are a hair's breadth away from revolting. Mr. Dunworthy keeps changing their assignments at the last minute. Michael Davies, who had prepared for a first-hand look at the events of Pearl Harbor, abruptly finds himself instead being sent to witness the response to the Battle of Dunkirk. The constant changes mean that the wardrobe department can't assemble the proper wardrobe for Polly Churchill, who plans to work as a shopgirl during the Blitz if she can avoid running into Mr. Dunworthy before her jump time. Merope Ward, embedded in the staff of an English country manor overseeing the child refugees from London, finds herself utterly unable to find the support she needs to complete her first assignment in the past. Dunworthy himself is nowhere to be found, having set off for a meeting with another academic who theorizes that continued time travel has pushed the laws that govern it safely to the breaking point. When they make it to World War II England, all initially seems fairly well. Merope excels at her assignment despite the devilish evacuated street urchins Binnie and Alf. Polly manages to secure employment at a local shop. Michael lands in generally the right place, albeit a few days late and a couple dozen miles to the south. All Clear begins where Blackout left off, with Michael Davies (as Mike Davis), Polly Churchill (as Polly Sebastian), and Merope Ward (as Eileen O'Reilly) trapped in 1940 Britain during the Blitz. Just as in Blackout, the novel switches between multiple people and times. As the novel opens, Polly Churchill, who is posing as Polly Sebastian, a shop assistant, realizes that she has a deadline. She had already visited Oxford and London in 1943. Since she was able to do that, and she now believes she is trapped in 1940, she must either have returned to the future by 1943, or died. She is convinced that she will in fact die. Meanwhile two other time travelers, Merope Ward (posing as Eileen O'Reilly) and Michael Davies (posing as an American journalist, Mike Davis) have found Polly after discovering that their drops are also unable to return them to the future. Mike originally went to Dover to observe the Dunkirk evacuation, but became an unwilling participant. Eileen began observing the evacuation of children from London to the countryside in 1939. Now together, the three believe that their own actions, particularly in Mike's case, may have changed the future so that there is no time travel, and that possibly it involves Germany winning the war. Knowing something has gone wrong which prevents them from returning to 2060 Oxford, the three time travelers attempt to determine an escape plan, but none of their efforts are successful. Gerald Phipps, who was supposed to be at Bletchley Park studying Ultra, never came through to his assignment. Due to a misunderstanding, they only realize that another Oxford historian, John Bartholomew, is also in their place and time less than a day before he will leave. Frantically they try to get to him, but the three are separated and repeatedly delayed, not helped by the fact that this is the night of December 29, 1940, some of the worst raids of the war. They are unable to find Bartholomew before he returns to 2054 Oxford. When Mike and Eileen figure out that Polly has a deadline in June 1943 – meaning that if she isn’t out by then she’ll die, since she’s already visited that time – their search for a way out becomes even more desperate. Their frustration turns into tragedy when Mike is killed during a raid. Eileen refuses to accept his death, but upon realizing Alf and Binnie’s mother has been dead for months, volunteers to raise the orphans, giving her life meaning. In 2060 Oxford Mr. Dunworthy sends himself on a rescue mission to retrieve Polly in September 1940. However, when he arrives at St Paul’s Cathedral he is unable to determine the date before the raids start. (St. Paul's, and especially one of the paintings in the Cathedral, The Light of the World, are viewed several times by most of the important characters in the book. They are either inspired or depressed by their current view of the painting.) When he realizes it is December 1940, he becomes hopeless and distraught. Polly stumbles across him in the cathedral a few weeks later. He explains that slippage isn’t a result of the time continuum trying to prevent historians from changing the past as was previously thought, but is a response to changes they’d already caused. The continuum around World War II is in such disarray that it has sealed itself off to time travel, and will engage in ‘corrections’ – likely the death of the historians and those they have influenced. Their worst fears – that they have been able to influence the past and cause discrepancies – have been realized, possibly to the point the war will be lost. However, all hope is not lost. Mike faked his own death and in 1944 is engaged in Operation Fortitude, a misinformation campaign. He is able to plant notices in newspapers hinting where Polly and Eileen are located in the hopes that someone in 2060 Oxford will find the notices and be able to rescue the girls. Another potential rescuer is Colin Templer, an overeager teenager from 2060 Oxford with a crush on Polly. He goes back to 1944 and finds Mike, right after he has been hit by a bomb and helped by a clueless 1944 Polly. Mike explains that Polly and Eileen are together and falls unconscious as Colin brings him back to 2060 Oxford. Colin also goes to the 1970s for research and 1995 to try to find someone who knew Polly. To his surprise, he meets an elderly Binnie, who tells him Eileen died in 1987. Binnie also revealed that she has learned all about time travel and has been looking for him through the years to tell him where and when he can rescue the stranded historians. Equipped with this knowledge, Colin is able to return to 1941 to rescue Polly and Mr. Dunworthy. Polly’s worries about leading to the deaths of those around her by interfering do not prevent her from saving the life of Sir Godfrey in a bombing. She finally realizes what is going on as she lies recovering in the hospital; the historians have caused small things to happen which ultimately led to winning the war. She concludes that they’re stuck in World War II not to be killed by the continuum, but because there are things they need to do so that the war is won and history is as it should be. In April 1941, an older Colin comes through at St. Paul's and finds the historians. Polly and Mr. Dunworthy leave with Colin to return to 2060 Oxford, but Eileen stays behind. She reasons that she must remain in the past so she can tell Colin in the future where to find them, and she refuses to abandon Alf and Binnie. Colin tells them that Mike had faked his own death, but died from his 1944 injuries. Finally Polly, Mr. Dunworthy, and Colin return to the St. Paul's drop and Oxford. Eileen, Alf, and Binnie stay behind to live their lives in the past. Binnie meets Colin in 1995, and gives him information that helps him plan his rescue. While waiting for the drop to open for her to return to Oxford, Polly also realizes that there is a resemblance between the grown-up Colin and Eileen, implying that she becomes his ancestor. Eileen also seemed to see this, since she called Colin "dear boy" and said "I will always be with you" before they left. Thus Eileen had another reason to remain behind in 1941. |
Abner & Me | Dan Gutman | 2,005 | The book opens up to Joe "Stosh" Stoshack's Social Studies teacher informing him about his D in that class. Later that day, Joe has a baseball game, and is about to be the winning run when the 3rd baseman, Joe's enemy Bobby Fuller, holds him back by grabbing his belt, causing him to be out in a play at the plate. |
The Unfinished Revolution | Michael Dertouzos | 2,001 | In the foreword to the paperback edition, written by Tim Berners-Lee shortly after Michael Dertouzos's death, he succinctly summarizes the objectives of the book by stating the three areas he believes computers still need improvement in: "helping us to communicate better with each other, by helping with the actual processing of data, and by being less of a pain in the process." More specifically, the book breaks this down into five buckets that need special attention and improvement: #Natural Interaction #Automation #Individualized Information Access #Collaboration #Customization Dertouzos argues that since humans are not born with keyboard and mouse inputs to interact with the world why should we be expected to interact with computers in such a fashion. Instead he states that computers should engage us through our existing five senses and goes on to mostly focus on examples for vision and hearing. His primary focus for providing input to computer systems lies in proposals within the speech recognition area but he also emphasizes the need to simplify software interface systems, while warning against reducing them down to an unreasonably small number of options (such as a car only being able to accelerate or turn right). In the area of speech recognition, he seems to accurately predict the model for systems that are the more successful and accurate implementations. Guided and limited sub-sets of buckets allow the systems to narrow down the possible responses and significantly reduce errors in interpretation. For example, automated traffic inquiry systems now commonly used first ask where the caller is, then what type of travel or road system they are inquiring about, before giving the option to name the roadway or public transportation system. While the Natural Interaction discussion does not go specifically into touch, the Apple iPod wheel interface is a prime example of a more human centric input system for a product that previously presented serious user interaction challenges. Prior digital music players generally required the user to hold an up or down button and wait as the screen scrolled through perhaps hundreds of artists or thousands of songs. The iPod wheel scroll system used a capacitive touch and acceleration implementation that was so pleasing some even described it as a somewhat addictive motion for the thumb. |
The Art Lesson | null | null | The Art Lesson is semi-autobiographical, following the character of Tommy, an enthusiastic painter and drawer. He makes pictures for his relatives and draws on the sidewalk, on bedsheets, and even on walls. For his birthday he gets a box of 64 crayons. But his new first-grade teacher rejects them, and makes him draw the same thing as everybody else in his class, with a few school crayons and on a single sheet of paper. He makes a bargain with the school Art Teacher: one page for the drawing that the rest of his class is making, with school crayons, and the second for his own crayons and his own art. |
Closer | Roderick Gordon | 2,010 | Part 1: Revelations The story picks up following the events of Freefall. In the world with its own sun in the centre of the Earth, the Rebecca twins had dived into a pool in order to escape an explosion set off by Will and Elliott, and eventually are able to survive by breathing air they find trapped in the roof of some underground workings. Chester and Martha return Topsoil, where Chester is inevitably very eager to contact his parents, but Martha won't permit this. She dotes obsessively on the boy, seeing him as a substitute for her dead son. This frightens Chester, who begins to make a plan to run away from her, but in the event doesn't dare put this into practice. Meanwhile, back in the centre of the planet, the Rebeccas come across a modern metropolis, with helicopters and other vehicles, including cars resembling Volkswagens. The point of interest flips back to Chester, when they are walking through the night. Suddenly, Martha grabs him, and Chester panics, going as far as to hit her. When he demands an explanation, she claims she was shielding him from a Bright. Under the surface, Rebecca Two sees a Limiter flare, and then signals back by blowing up a gas tank. The Rebeccas then continue to march toward the city. The story returns to Chester, who wakes up, finding Martha, who just killed a bird. He and Martha eat the bird. The Rebeccas find the city, and realise it is well maintained and populated. They frighten a small amount of people, and that results in the arrival of the local army. The people of the city are from a expeditionary force that arrived during World War II. The Limiter forces arrive shortly, and a short staredown occurs, and after a Limiter medic begins to operate on the wounded Rebecca. The other Rebecca and the Limiter General begin to talk about their identity. During the second World War, the Styx were allies of the Third Reich. The officer of the squad informs the other two that they are "New Germanians". The officer takes Rebecca and the Limiter General to meet the Chancellor of New Germania. Back Topsoil, Chester's food that Martha is feeding him makes him sick. They enter a small cottage that is unattended. They discover that it is well kept, and has various foods. Chester eats some cold beans, and takes a shower. He then returns to the kitchen, after getting some new clothes. He begins to call his parents, when he is hit in the back of the head and knocked out. The story shifts to Drake, who wakes up in a room he does not recognize. He heads to a window, and realises that he is still Topsoil. He is then greeted by his savior, a retired Limiter named Edward James Green, who believes that the Styx are taking unnecessary measures with their goal of reclaiming Topsoil. He also reveals himself to be Elliott's father. They then discuss various aspects of the Limiter, who is coined "Eddie" by Drake. After finishing, they head for a keypad-locked cellar. The story then flips to Will, Dr. Burrows, and Elliott. They discover a group of skulls, which prove that there are native inhabitants. Dr. Burrows also claims to have seen a Stuka. Elliott prepared some early warning systems in case of Limiters or other people. She also prepares a hidaway for them to run to in case of danger, and shows Will the ancient passage the Rebeccas used to enter the inner world, also finding evidence that Limiters have been there recently. Meanwhile, Eddie and Drake enter the cellar, and Drake discovers an area akin to a briefing room. He discovers various Styx elements, including a Dark Light and the device used to incapacitate him in the Commons. Eddie then leaves Drake, giving him keys to the warehouse and the apartment. Back underground, Will and Elliott find free time together, but are soon interrupted by Dr. Burrows, who is investigating the pyramid area, against precaution by Will and Elliott. Back Topsoil, Chester is held hostage by Martha, and is fed a mystery meat. Drake and Eddie eventually find him, but he is revolted when he finds he was eating meat from dead mailmen, whom Martha killed. Back in the Colony, Mrs. Burrows is kept alive by the Second Officer, but her presence in the house begins to make his family very unpopular. She slowly regains motor control of her body, but her sight has been badly impaired and she compensates this by utilising an olfactory super-sense that she finds that she has developed. The family begins to consider ways of killing her. Back Topsoil, Chester meets Eddie, and wants to return to his parents. The Prime Minister, meanwhile, is Dark Lit. The Rebeccas also convince the Chancellor of New Germania to let them use the helicopters to search for Will, Dr. Burrows and Elliott. Part 2: Contact The Rebeccas find that Tom Cox is still alive, and with them. The Chancellor then assigns Colonel Bismarck to assist them. They board helicopters, and head for the pyramids. They find Will and Dr. Burrows, and capture them. Elliott watches the scene from high in one of the giant trees of the jungle, and before Cox manages to slice off Will's fingers at the behest of the Rebeccas, she shoots and kills him. The Rebeccas are angered by this, and the shoot Dr. Burrows as retaliation. They then demand that Elliott surrenders and hands over the Dominion virus, as they found the broken phial containing the vaccine. Elliott comes up with a plan, and approaches with a suicide bomber kit. She then forces the Rebeccas to let them go, in exchange for the virus. They agree, and the exchange is carried out just as Will and Elliott are leaving on a helicopter with Colonel Bismarck. Meanwhile, Eddie informs Drake that the Styx obtain their viruses from "Plague Snails" that live in the eternal city. Chester's attempt to contact his parents goes horribly wrong as the Styx have brainwashed them to not recognize him and to call one of their agents if he appears. Part 3: Restitution Colonel Bismark cannot land Will and Elliott at their supply cache in the jungle due to one of the inner world's frequent storms, and lands them as close to the location as possible. Once landed, Will confronts Elliott, asking her why she gave the Styx the virus. She tells him that she has the vaccine that she drank it before breaking the phiall. Meanwhile, Chester and Drake deprogram Chester's parents, who've been brainwashed by the Styx. Eddie and Drake also inspect a portal into the underworld, in preparation for an underground operation. Also, the Rebecca Twins and their Limiters take the New Germanians assigned to support them prisoner as part of their plan to take over New Germania. As they brainwash the captives, it becomes evident that one of the Rebecca twins is infatuated with the New Germanian officer that they first met when they arrived at the city. Will and Elliott retrieve their weapons and supplies and start making their way through the ancient passage to the fallout shelter. In the Colony, the Old Styx tells the Second Officer that he should be prepared for the Styx to take Mrs. Burrows to the Scientists to be examined to see how she resisted the Styx's Dark Light battery for so long. Part 4 : On The Offensive Drake and Eddie leave the warehouse to place pesticides that will annihilate the plague snails in the Eternal City, leaving Chester behind to watch movies. Meanwhile, the Second Officer's family rejoices when the supposedly comatose Mrs. Burrows is taken to have her brain examined by the Scientists. Colly, the family's Hunter that Mrs. Burrows befriended, hisses at them, and they cannot understand why she is upset.Will and Elliot make their way to the fallout shelter, but are stranded there because Chester and Martha took the only intact boat. At the warehouse, Chester calls his dad to tell him that their part in Drake's plan is ready, but he finds that his Mother has disappeared. He tells him that the plan has not changed, and the last place he wants to be is at the hotel if Emily Rawls has indeed fallen under the power of the Styx. Drake and Eddie place the charges and detonate them, releasing a cloud of pesticide that will destroy the plaque snails. Chester and Jeff Rawls make their way to the portal, and Jeff goes to the warehouse after Chester has found the portal and begun to unpack the equipment Drake had him to bring with him: two bergens, some firearms, and a noddy suit. After fighting their way through a Styx patrol, Drake attacks Eddie, knocking him unconscious. He did this partly because while Eddie was working for the Styx, he tortured and killed a close friend of Drake's, and then lied about the incident to Drake; but mostly because Eddie would not consent to what Drake and Chester were about to do next. Meanwhile, the Rebecca Twins finish their takeover of New Germania. Drake and Chester make their way through the Labyrinth, and attack the South Cavern's air supply, piping in nerve gas (which was in one of the Bergens that Chester brought down into the underworld) to incapacitate as many colonists as possible, so they will not interfere in the next part of the mission. Meanwhile, the Second Officer and Colly go to the Laboratories to make a last visit to Mrs. Burrows. Drake and Chester arrive at the Laboratories, tranquilizing any colonists the nerve gas didn't incapacitate and plant explosives (which were in the other bergen) in the North Block, which specializes in weapons and biological warfare research. Drake and Chester search the building for any Topsoilers being captive in there. Chester finds the Second Officer and fights with him, as Chester believes the Second Officer was complicit in Chester's torture, and the Second Officer has a grudge against Will and his friends because Will knocked him unconscious during the unsuccessful attempt to rescue Chester from the Hold. Mrs. Burrows stops pretending to be unconscious to break up the fight, but Eddie (now recovered) locks them in the operating theater. Eddie then paralyses Drake with the Dark Light training Eddie gave him while Drake was a prisoner of the Styx. Eddie tells Drake, who is still conscious, only unable to move, that his manipulations have been indirectly responsible for most of the plotlines in the series, and that he had misjudged how events would play out. He tells Drake that he wants Drake and his friends to win so he can take control of the Styx. He then knocks Drake unconscious and leaves. The Second Officer, Chester, and Mrs. Burrows unsuccessfully try to open the door until Mrs. Burrows tells Colly to wake up Drake so he can open the door. This succeeds, and they escape the North Block only moments before it explodes. The Second Officer leaves the group, and Mrs. Burrows, Chester, Drake, and Colly head for the surface. They head to Eddie's warehouse to find that he has flown the coop, leaving behind only an unconscious Jeff Rawls. Part 5 : Reunion Drake rescues Will, Bartleby and Elliott from the fallout shelter, and takes them to the rest of the group are camping with a Gypsy band. They then leave for a safe house. Meanwhile, the Rebecca Twins return to the Colony, presenting the Old Styx the Dominion Virus, their suspiscions that Will or Elliott drank the vaccine, and the New Germainian Army. The safe house is revealed to be a country estate owned by Drake's father, Parry. Mrs. Rawls, in Highfield, is not under the influence of the Styx as it initially appeared, but is only pretending to be darklit so she can spy on the Styx for Drake. Eddie appears, foiling an attempt to make her place a bomb for the Styx, and takes her away from Highfield. Drake returns from town one morning with two things: a skateboard for Chester and a book based on Dr. Burrows's journal for Will. Will is devastated when he learns that the book, The Highfield Mole, is not a serious academic work but a novel to amuse children. In the epilogue, a news report about the closure of the three hospitals to which Drake provided samples of Elliott's blood is interrupted by a bulletin about a Styx attack on the Royal Mint, and that the police (who, along with the rest of the government, are being manipulated by the Styx) believe the mastermind behind the plot is Drake. Errata *In Freefall, the Rebecca Twin with the broken teeth was referred to as "Rebecca Two"; in Closer, she was "Rebecca One." |
The Lion Vrie | null | null | Luik slowly heals in the security of Mount Dakka, a stronghold where the remaining forces of good are attempting to gather. Luik, once healthy, sets out on a mission to find Anorra, whom no one has seen for a time. He finds her in the ruins of Adriel, almost entirely crazy as she fights off crows from her father's corpse. With his friend Luik returns to Mount Dakka, where Anorra's mind soon returns to normal. After a winter has come and gone in the mountain stronghold, Luik receives a mysterious message asking him to come to the secret dwarf city of Ot. He sets out with Anorra and, after many difficulties, locates the place and is greeted by Li-Saide and the missing portion of the Dibor, all alive and well. A day or two later, a hasty council is held to determine Dionia's new king from among the Dibor. Luik is unanimously selected, and to his double shock, Li-Saide reveals that Luik is not the son of the late King Lair at all; rather he is that of former King Ragnar. His lineage had been disguised to protect him from Morgui's attention, which would have been drawn because of a prophecy concerning Luik. Li-Sade also tells Luik of another much older, much more important prophecy; that the Most High will allow his Son to die in order to redeem the people of the alternate world Earth, and possibly those of Dionia as well, from their fallen state. When exactly this will happen, Li-Saide is not sure, but it seems that it will be soon. Linked with this prophecy is another disturbing one that Luik also will likely die. Reunited with the Dibor, Luik returns to Mt. Dakka and there receives a hero's welcome. He crowns new kings over all the territories of Dionia; King Brax of Tontha, King Jrio of Trennesol, Cage of Jahdan, Fyfler of Somahgaurd, and Gorn of Bensotha. Setting out on yet another journey, the Dibor, Kings, and Anorra travel to the city of Narin to look for survivors. Instead they find a horrible carnage, women and children slaughtered. In the midst of the terrible grief there is a spot of life; Anorra's two sisters are found mad yet alive. With these two the group returns to Dakka. Luik has been accepted, along with the other Dibor and many other valiant knights in Mt. Dakka, into the Order of the Lion, the Lion Vries. Among them is Ragnar, who was resurrected by the Most High and remains for now in hiding in a secret chamber beneath Dakka. At this unlikely time, Hadrian returns, haggard and different from when Luik last saw him. Fane seems mistrusting of their old friend, and Luik is torn between both his friends. After a slightly heated quarrel between the High King and Fane, the latter disappears from Mr. Dakka. In response to messages from some of the old cities calling for help, Dakka's armies divide into contingents. Luik's group travels for days towards the islands of Somahguard and are rapidly weakened by poisoned water. Devoid of the precious substance for days, they nearly fall into a trap of Morgui's to fall under his power. After many perils and after at last finding clean water, Luik and his army arrive at Somahguard and in enter into a fierce battle against an army of "the taken", fallen men who no longer serve the Most High. In the fight first Gyinan and then Najrion fall. The latter is the first of the Dibor to die. The remaining men engage in a furious boat race against the taken to the safe haven of Kirstell. As Luik and his men land upon the shores of Kirstell and unload their wounded, the taken who had been following behind for days come within arrow range, draw their bows, and fire a barrage of missiles at the helpless warriors. Meanwhile, at the besieged Mt. Dakka, Anorra is picking off demons and taken from a distance when she hears, via a special tool of the Lion Vrie, that Luik is dead. In sickened, mad rage she leaps onto the ramparts and fires with crazed accuracy at the enemy until, having been singled out by the enemy commander as a target, a catapult shatters the wall beneath Anorra. Broken-boned and half-dead, demons surround her. |
La Maternelle | Léon Frapié | 1,904 | Rose, a young Parisian woman with full academic training is on the eve of marrying. Suddenly her father fails; she loses her dowry, and her fiance disappears. She tries to get work, but soon finds out that her diplomas are more of a hindrance than a help. They inspire only diffidence in administrative circles. Officials always declare her too good for the position. Starvation threatens, and finally she sets to work deliberately trying to appear unintelligent and rude enough to be hired. Thus she succeeds in securing a position as "femme de service" in the "Maternelle" of the working-class quarter of Menilmontant. A "Maternelle" is a district school for children from two to six years, preparatory to the Primary school. To ease her transition to this new environment and ward off thoughts of despair she decides to keep a diary of her daily experiences. This diary shows her to be an extremely kind-hearted woman and at the same time a keen observer. Rose has the lowest tasks in the school: she dusts, sweeps the rooms, lights the fire early in the morning, and she takes care of the children physically, all day round. Although the directress and the two subordinate teachers are her superiors, Rose is the one that comes in closest contact with the children. Rose is the one to whom they go to naturally all the time, as they would to a mother; she washes them when their nose is bleeding, in her arms they find consolation when roughly handled by a schoolmate; in her skirt they hide to find protection against angry and threatening parents. The pupils belong to the working poor, and many of them are so neglected and so miserable in their homes that the school is a better place for them to be. And the school to them is Rose. The children include "mouse," the gentle five-year-old little mother with her brother, her "chickling;" Richard, who cannot imagine that there might exist anything like disinterested kindness and he conceives of every relation between two human beings as a bargain; Adam, the strong and noisy leader of the older boys and a great boaster, the girls who admire him because they are afraid of him. The cat Mistigris, who eats little birds and thereby stirs up the wrath of the children. |
Little Hands Clapping | Dan Rhodes | 2,010 | The novel centres around a bizarre German museum dedicated to suicide; Herr Schmidt, its grim grey curator; and the respectable Doctor Ernst Frölicher and his shocking secret. Various characters are appear with short lifestories including the Luciano Pavarotti-obsessed founder of the museum and her Pavarotti-lookalike husband, Hulda the cleaner who believes she is doomed to Hell, and Madalena the suicidal Portuguese student. |
Xiagu Danxin | Liang Yusheng | null | The story follows the adventures of Jin Zhuliu, son of Jin Shiyi and Gu Zhihua, the protagonists of Yunhai Yugong Yuan. At the age of 20, Jin Zhuliu leaves the island he was raised on, and travels to the Chinese mainland alone in search of adventure. He roams the jianghu as a wandering swordsman, by upholding justice and helping the poor. At that time, China is in the late Ming Dynasty and the Han Chinese face the threat of invaders from Manchuria in the north. Jin Zhuliu performs a series of heroic acts that propel him to fame overnight. Jin Zhuliu meets Shi Hongying, the younger sister of Shi Baidu, the evil leader of the Six Harmonies Sect, and falls in love with her. At the same time, he also meets Li Nanxing, the nephew of Li Shengnan, and becomes sworn brothers with him. Meanwhile, Shi Baidu pledges allegiance to the Manchu aristocrat Safuding and aims to help Safuding in conquering Ming China. Jin Zhuliu, Li Nanxing and other righteous pugilists combine forces to disrupt Safuding's birthday party and rob him of several precious gifts. Shi Baidu intends to marry his sister to the Manchu general Meng Xiong, but actually he wants to use her to lure Li Nanxing into a trap and kill Li. Li Nanxing is wounded in a battle and is saved by Gongsun Hong of the Red Tassel Society. Li Nanxing strikes up a romantic relationship with Gongsun Hong's daughter, Gongsun Yan, later. Shi Baidu is dissatisfied and tries to coerce his sister to marry Meng Xiong but Jin Zhuliu, Li Nanxing and other pugilists disrupt the wedding and seize control of Meng Xiong's city. Shi Baidu is defeated and dies in humiliation. Shi Hongying succeeds her brother as leader of the Six Harmonies Society and they join a volunteer army, formed by pugilists who have sworn to defend Ming China from the Manchus. At one point, Li Nanxing falls off a cliff and is presumed to be dead. During his absence, some jianghu lowlifes reestablish the evil Heaven Demons' Cult once more and commit evil in his name. Jin Zhuliu is surprised to hear that his sworn brother is still alive and has become a villain. He investigates the case and meets Li Nanxing, who has survived, by coincidence, and they defeat the villains together, clearing Li's name. Jin Zhuliu, Li Nanxing and the righteous pugilists combine forces to foil the Manchus' plot to trick some tribal peoples from Qinghai to attack China. The story ends on a happy note for the protagonists, who receive their blessings from the wulin, as Jin Zhuliu is happily married to Shi Hongying while Li Nanxing is married to Gongsun Yan. |
Danny Dunn and the Heat Ray | Raymond Abrashkin | null | Danny finds and uses a heat ray which Professor Bullfinch has created for the government. |
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