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Thirteen Steps Down | null | null | Mix Cellini is a lonely, maladjusted young man who works for a company that repairs exercise equipment, and lives in the upstairs apartment of an old Victorian house on Notting Hill. While his reclusive landlady, Gwendoline Chawcer, spends her time reading and pondering lost loves, Mix grows dangerously obsessed with serial killer John Christie and a local model, Nerissa Nash, despite the fact that she hardly even acknowledges his existence. |
Deep Secret | Diana Wynne Jones | 1,997 | The multiverse, shaped like a figure eight, contains Ayeward (generally good, pro-magic) and Nayward (the opposite) worlds. It is the task of the magids to urge the worlds in an Ayewards direction. In Ayeward worlds, magids can operate openly. Earth is an exception; it is generally Ayeward, but magic is still difficult and mostly hidden. The narrative in this book is told variously from the point of view of Rupert Venables in his magid report, Maree Mallory's Thornlady computer files, and in an epilogue from Nick Mallory. Rupert Venables is Earth's junior Magid, though his day job is writing software. He is also responsible for the Koryfonic Empire, a collection of Ayewards worlds. The Koryfonic Empire's present emperor has made it a capital crime for his many banished children to discover their identities, and thus Rupert witnesses the execution of the emperor's eldest son for daring to discover his origins. When the Emperor is assassinated a short time later, no heir can be found and this creates a huge unwanted problem for Venables. Meanwhile, Earth's senior magid, Stan, has died. It is now Rupert's job to find a new magid. Stan has compiled a short list of five candidates for Venables to research and is allowed by the "Upper Room" to remain in an advisory role by hanging around as a disembodied voice in Venables' house and car. However, each magid candidate proves to be difficult to contact. Venables does encounter one of the British candidates, Maree Mallory, but their meeting is disastrous and he rejects her as a candidate. Using magid fateline methods, Venables draws the candidates together in an unlikely place: a science fiction convention in the fictitious town of Wantchester. Unfortunately, during the magid working to consolidate their fatelines, his peculiar inventor neighbor Andrew becomes tangled in the magical working and later accompanies Venables to Wantchester. Meanwhile, destitute Maree Mallory has been forced to move in with her uncle Ted Mallory, a horror writer, her hostile aunt Janine and their fourteen-year-old son, Nick. Ted is to be the guest of honor at the upcoming convention in Wantchester. Janine, Maree, and Nick are to accompany him, even though Venables has specifically prevented Maree from attending the con through a magic working. All arrive at the convention, where the reserved Venables is somewhat stunned at the bizarre nature of the convention and its attendees, particularly as it is housed in the strange, Escher-like Hotel Babylon, which appears to be centered on a powerful magical node. He seeks out each magid candidate, but is disappointed to find each of them entirely unsuitable. His opinion of Maree Mallory rises, however, as they encounter each other several times at the convention. Pleas for help from the unsettled Koryfonic Empire force Venables to cross over to the Ayewards world Thule to seek help from his magid brother Will. Maree and Nick unwittingly follow him through the gaps between worlds, nearly killing themselves in the process. Rupert is furious with them, but the placid Will decides to tell them all about magids and the multiverse. Afterward Will arrives at the Hotel Babylon in his car, but hits a centaur who arrives simultaneously from the Koryfonic Empire with a message for Rupert. Maree uses her veterinary skills to help heal the centaur Rob, something which reveals an unlikely bond between him, Maree and Nick. Rupert returns to the Koryfonic Empire to recover the heirs, but is thwarted in horrific ways by those who later prove to have been the emperor's assassins. What transpires after this is a comedy of mistaken identity, horrible violence and dark magic (including the increased influence of a bitter thornbush goddess), a trip into the bizarre, nightmarish land of Babylon, and the ultimate restoration of the Koryfonic Empire to its rightful ruler after his memory of himself is abruptly restored.. |
The Water's Lovely | Ruth Rendell | 2,006 | Ismay Sealand believes that her younger sister, Heather, murdered their stepfather Guy when they were teenagers. Ismay and her mother, Beatrix, returned from shopping for a new school uniform to find Guy drowned in his bath. Although both Ismay and her mother believe Heather drowned Guy - who was weak from a virus - they covered it up from the police. Ismay thinks Heather murdered Guy because he made sexual advances to her, Ismay, and Heather wished to protect her. In fact Ismay encouraged Guy's interest and hoped he would come to her bedroom and have sex with her. Now in their twenties, Ismay and Heather live in the same house, which has been divided into two flats. They live together in one, and their mother, who is emotionally traumatised and living in a world of her own lives with her sister Pamela in the other. They all remain haunted by what happened all those years ago. Ismay is desperately in love with Andrew Campbell-Sedge, who looks very like her dead stepfather, and who does not get on with Heather. Meanwhile, Edmund Litton's mother, Irene, tries to set him up with Marion Melville, a thin darting woman who has befriended a number of elderly people in the area. Horrified by this idea Edmund sets up a date with a woman who works in the catering department of the hospice where he works, Heather Sealand. Their date is more successful than expected and the two begin to fall in love. This causes a rift with Edmund's mother, especially when Edmund goes to stay overnight at Heather's flat. Ismay worries whether or not she should tell Edmund about Heather's past and, eventually, makes a tape telling him what she thinks happened when Guy drowned. She hides it in a box which formally contained the cassette 'Rainy Season Ragas' and puts it out of sight. Edmund and Heather's relationship causes another rift; this time between Ismay and Andrew. Andrew cannot stand Heather and Edmund being in "our flat". Andrew has a row with Edmund during which Edmund confronts Andrew with his knowledge of Andrew's infidelity. Afterwards Andrew splits up with Ismay and Edmund never again enters the flat. Edmund proposes to Heather and they become engaged and begin seeking a flat, staying with Irene in the meantime. Marion takes advantage of Irene's dislike of Heather and spends a lot of time with her, hoping to be included in her will. Marion has morphine sulphate in her bathroom cabinet and hopes to use it on one of her elderly "friends". Irene invites Marion for Christmas, and Marion meets Avice, an elderly lady who frets about leaving her rabbits at home alone. Marion is soon rabbit-sitting for Avice regularly. Fowler, Marion's homeless brother, sometimes visits her flat for a meal, drink or a bed for the night. On one visit he takes the strongest thing her can find from her bathroom cupboard. Edmund and Heather are married, and after a scene with Irene at the wedding, move out to a rented flat whilst they wait to complete the sale on a flat of their own. Ismay decides to destroy the recording she made for Edmund regarding Guy's death and puts it into her handbag in order to throw it away somewhere in London. Ismay is distraught, wandering around the places she and Andrew went at all hours of the night, she is also drinking heavily. She even confronts Andrew and his new flame, socialite Eva Simber and then has her bag stolen on the tube; the bag containing the tape she made for Edmund. Heather, convinced that Andrew would return to Ismay without the presence of Eva, begins to contact the young woman regularly, asking her to leave Andrew. Eva refuses to do so, although she speaks to Heather on the phone quite often all the same. Marion tries to kill Avice Conroy with her morphine, but discovers Fowler's robbery when Avice says her food tastes like cough mixture. She instead turns her attentions to Irene's neighbour, Barry Fenix, a retired 'civil servant' who loves all things relating to India. Eva Simber goes for her daily run and is murdered. Ismay discovers Heather had been in contact with her and thinks that Heather has killed Eva in order that Andrew would return to her. Ismay sits with Beatrix quite a lot whilst Pamela goes out with a man she has met on 'romance walks'. Although he will not spend any money to take her out and she does not much like his character, Pamela fancies him enough to become his lover. Marion tells Fowler that she is to become engaged and he leaves her an engagement present of a Marc Jacobs handbag he found in a West End bin and its contents, which include a tape, 'Rainy Season Ragas'. Pamela decides to end things with her lover, but when she does he becomes violent and beats her up and pushes her down the stairs of his flat. She is taken to hospital and Edmund and Heather move in with Beatrix to care for her. Ismay comes home from work to discover Andrew inside her flat, he has returned to her. She hides the fact that Edmund and Heather are currently living upstairs with her mother and the two are reconciled. Marion listens to the tape to see if it is suitable to play to Barry on a romantic evening and discovers what Ismay has said on it. She decides to blackmail Ismay, who is desperate to keep the tape's contents a secret from Andrew, who has decided to move in with her. Marion extorts several hundred pounds from Ismay and becomes engaged to Barry. When Marion boasts that she shall shortly be 'Mrs Barry Fenix', Ismay remembers the name in connection to Guy's death - Barry was the officer who led the investigation all those years ago. She tells Marion to stop the blackmail or she will tell Barry what she has been up to. Marion gives up her blackmail and she and Barry are married shortly after. Fowler blackmails Marion into giving him her flat. Following a teenager's arrest for the murder of Eva Simber, Ismay confronts Heather and asks her whether she killed Eva and Guy. Heather is shocked that Ismay could think she killed Eva but admits to killing Guy, not to protect Ismay but because he was sexually abusing her, Heather. Heather tells Ismay that Guy was no longer interested in pursuing her because she was 'obviously interested' in him and that Guy wanted someone who didn't want him, so he turned his attentions to Heather. Guy got into the bath that day and asked Heather to join him in the bubbles, saying "the water's lovely". Heather also tells Edmund of the murder she committed as a thirteen-year-old and he is deeply saddened by the information. The two head off for a belated honeymoon. Pamela is reconciled with a Michael, a former fiancé who left her after Guy's death, and the two plan to move in together and have Beatrix living with them. Ismay and Andrew get engaged and start looking for a shared home, too. On Boxing Day an earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggers a tsunami in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. Fearing for Heather and Edmund, who are honeymooning in Sumatra in Indonesia, Ismay asks Andrew to ring a friend who is a diplomat. There is a news report that four British citizens have been killed in a tsunami, but no names can be released until the next of kin have been informed. The next of kin are Heather's mother and Edmund's mother. |
Le Complexe de Di | Dai Sijie | 2,003 | The book follows Muo, a French psychoanalyst, who returns to China to rescue his university sweetheart. She is referred to as "Volcano of the Old Moon" (the characters of her family name represent "old" and "moon," and her given name is composed of the characters for "fire" and "mountain"); while her given name is never revealed, her initials are H.C. Volcano of the Old Moon never makes an appearance in the book, but is thought of often by Muo. (A reviewer noted the similarity to the device of J. D. Salinger in The Catcher in the Rye, where he refers to a Jane Gallagher who never appears.) The story is not always told chronologically. It sometimes tells where Muo is, then later accounts for how he reached a particular place. The book switches into the point of view of Muo by use of his journal entries or letters, but is otherwise written in the third person. |
The Cherryh Odyssey | null | 2,004 | The Cherryh Odyssey consists of eight analytical essays on C. J. Cherryh's works, four personal reflections, and a fifty-six page bibliography of Cherryh by Stan Szalewicz. Also included is a preface and a biography, "The Literary Life of C.J. Cherryh" by the editor, Edward Carmien. In "Introduction: What We Do For Love", science fiction author and scholar James Gunn explains how difficult it must have been for Cherryh to enter the male-dominated science fiction arena in the mid-1970s. He says that she wrote for the love of story-telling rather than for the money. Author and artist Jane Fancher, Cherryh's business and writing partner contributes a personal tribute, "The Cherryh Legacy ... An Author's Perspective" in which she relates Cherryh's childhood and her school and college years. At the age of ten, Cherryh started writing her own stories when Flash Gordon, her favorite TV program was cancelled. In this essay Fancher also analyses Cherryh's writing style, in particular a technique Cherryh calls "Third Person Intense Internal" (TPI-squared), in which the writer only narrates what the viewpoint character sees and thinks about. Betsy Wollheim, the daughter of Cherryh's first publisher, Donald A. Wollheim, gives another personal account of Cherryh in "A Pioneer of the Mind". Wollheim describes the relationship that developed between her father, also a science fiction writer, and Cherryh, and recounts Cherryh's passion for space travel that is reflected in many of her stories. In "Oklahoma Launch", author Bradley H. Sinor gives his views on Cherryh, who later became his friend and mentor. They both lived in Lawton, Oklahoma during their childhood, and crossed paths again at a University of Oklahoma science fiction club meeting. Translator and poet Burton Raffel explores the literary aspects of most of Cherryh’s science fiction novels in "C.J. Cherryh's Fiction". He describes Cherryh as "a master of detail, tone, and emotional wallop." "A Great Deal in Sand: Hammerfall by C.J. Cherryh" is an extract from author and critic John Clute's essay collection, Scores: Reviews 1993-2003. Here Clute analyses Cherryh's Gene War novels Hammerfall (2001) and its sequel Forge of Heaven (2004), and takes her writing to task, complaining about, amongst other things, the "literal back-and-forth slog through the desert" that dominates the story. Heather Stark in "C.J. Cherryh: Is There Really Only One of Her?" questions how one person can write so many books in thirty years. She also examines the ratio of Cherryh's science fiction to fantasy output, concluding that, in her opinion, Cherryh's science fiction works better than her fantasy. In contrast, academic Janice Bogstad praises Cherryh's fantasy in "Shifting Ground: Subjectivities in Cherryh's Slavic Fantasy Trilogy". Here Bogstad analyses Cherryh's Russian trilogy, Rusalka (1989), Chernevog (1990) and Yvgenie (1991), explaining how her use of magic "complicates and questions typical high-fantasy tropes, particularly wizards and magic powers." Bogstad maintains that Cherryh’s books are "satires of their respective genres due to the conveyed intensity of the mental and emotional challenges the characters face in their out-of-the-ordinary experiences." Critic J.G. Stinson explores how human characters in Cherryh's fiction cope with and adjust to alien cultures in "The Human as Other in the Science Fiction Novels of C.J. Cherryh". She shows how they "all absorb elements of the thinking, behavior, and worldview of their 'adopted' cultures", that gives readers a "highly believable window into worlds and minds outside their own." Janice C. Crosby analyses gender roles in Cherryh's four-book Morgaine Saga in her essay "A Woman With a Mission; or, Why Vanye's Tale is Morgaine's Saga". Cherryh's Hugo Award winning novel, Cyteen is the subject of two essays, "Of Emorys and Warricks: Self-Creation in Cyteen" by academic Susan Bernardo, and "Dr. Ariane Emory, Sr.: Psychopath—Or Savior?" by academic Elizabeth Romey. Both examine the relationship between a senior scientist Dr. Ariane Emory and her apprentice Justin Warrick at a research facility on the planet of Cyteen. The "Selected Bibliography of C.J. Cherryh" was compiled by Stan Szalewicz, a media librarian at Rider University in New Jersey, and is an in-depth 56-page document that comprises: *General biographical resources (interviews, essays and criticism) *Internet biographical resources *Novels, novellas and short stories by Cherryh *Other writing by Cherryh *A list of reviews of works by Cherryh |
A Man Named Dave | Dave Pelzer | null | The background childhood experiences reveal Dave's character traits as an adolescent and young man. The kind couple Dave treats as parents give him ample space to study these lessons from his past and to learn from them. It is when his father is dying of cancer that Dave attempts to reestablish contact with the man. The son's lifelong wish is to become a firefighter in the steps of his father. To accomplish that dream, Dave joins the Air Force, where he overcomes obstacles that would stop an ordinary man. But his determination pulls him past these obstacles in his quest for recognition. He becomes an in-flight fueling technician for the Air Force, a highly regarded job and, in the course of his career, he meets his first love. A rush into marriage proves disastrous, but his son, Stephen, is the result of that union. Dave's inability to trust another person is a partial reason for the failure of his marriage -- until he can finally come to terms with the facts of his childhood, he cannot give total trust to any relationship. Dave spends countless hours with his dying father, trying to untangle in his mind the web of broken family relationships. He attempts to sort out the whys of his mother's sad existence by deepening his ties to his father, but those answers do not unfold during this time. Much later, after his mother's death, Dave realizes that his mother's demonic tendencies were gleaned from her own childhood experiences. He is determined that his child will never know the exclusion he felt as The Child Called "It." |
The Keys to the Street | Ruth Rendell | 1,996 | Against the will of her boyfriend, Alistair, Mary Jago volunteers to donate bone marrow. He beats her after finding out, so she breaks up with him and goes house-sitting for a rich couple in London. Leslie Bean, an old dog-walker, comes there twice a day to take the shih tzu Gushi out along with five other dogs. Mary makes an appointment with Leo Nash, the leukemia patient whose life she prolonged. Although he's secretive about his private life and doesn't want her to see his brother she starts an affair with him, much to the dislike of Alistair. Homeless people live in and around Regent's Park, including Roman Ashton, who's actually rich but prefers the street life since his wife and children died in a traffic accident. When Effie, a homeless woman, finds a corpse over the spikes of the park gate, he makes an anonymous phone call to the police. The victim is John Dominic Cahill, a homeless Irishman known as Decker. The newspaper nickname the killer 'The Impaler'. A second victim follows: James "Pharaoh" Clancy, a homeless man who was always wearing keys around his neck. DI William Marnock starts suspecting Bean, because he has accused the victim of beating him up and had plans to pay Hob, a drug addict, to beat up Pharaoh. In the meantime Mary starts asking questions about Leo and his mysterious brother. |
Kristin Lavransdatter | Sigrid Undset | null | The cycle follows the life of Kristin Lavransdatter, a fictitious Norwegian woman living in the 14th century. Kristin grows up in Sil in Gudbrandsdalen, the daughter of a well-respected and affluent farmer. She experiences a number of conflicts in her relationships with her parents, and her husband Erlend, in medieval Norway. She finds comfort and conciliation in her Catholic faith. Kristin Lavransdatter is the daughter of Lavrans, a charismatic, respected nobleman in a rural area of Norway, and his wife Ragnfrid, who suffers from depression after the loss of three infant sons and the crippling of her younger daughter Ulvhild in an accident. Raised in a loving and devoutly religious family, Kristin develops a sensitive but willful character, defying her family in small and large ways. At an early age, she is exposed to various tragedies. After an attempted rape raises questions about her reputation, she is sent to Nonneseter Abbey, a Benedictine nunnery in Oslo, which proves to be a turning point in her life. Despite being betrothed since childhood to a neighboring landowner's son, Simon Darre, Kristin falls in love with Erlend Nikulaussøn, from the estate of Husaby in Trøndelag. Erlend has been excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church for openly cohabitating with Eline, the wife of a prominent judge; she left her elderly husband to live with him, flouting both religious and social law. They have had two children together, Orm and Margret, who have no legal rights since they were born of an adulterous relationship. Erlend and Kristin begin a passionate romance which is sealed with Erlend's seduction of Kristin and their eventual complicity in Eline's death, both grievous sins in the eyes of Church and State. Lavrans forbids their relationship, but after three years of Kristin's defiance and the death of Ulvhild, he no longer has the strength to oppose Kristin. He consents to her marriage to Erlend. Erlend and Kristin are formally betrothed, but she becomes pregnant before the wedding. Out of shame, she keeps this a secret from everyone, including Erlend, and is wed with her hair loose and wearing the family bridal crown —- privileges reserved for virgin brides. This section of the trilogy is named for the golden wreath Kristin wears as a young girl, which is reserved for virgins of noble family. It symbolizes her innocent life before she meets Erlend; after he seduces her, she is no longer entitled to wear it, but does so out of fear of her sin coming to light. The second book opens with Kristin's arrival at Husaby. She is suffering from remorse for her sins and fears for her unborn child. Her relationship with Erlend is no longer the careless one of days past, as she can see that he is impetuous and wasteful of his possessions although his passion for her is unchanged. She gives birth to a son, Nikulaus (Naakkve for short), who to her surprise is healthy and whole in spite of the circumstances of his conception. After confessing to her parish priest, Kristin undertakes a pilgrimage to St. Olav's shrine in Trondheim to do penance and give thanks for her son's birth. She donates her golden wreath, which she wore undeservedly after her seduction by Erlend, to the shrine. Over the following years, Kristin and Erlend have six more sons together and Kristin becomes the head of the household. She must deal with her husband's weaknesses while running the estate, raising her children as well as those of Erlend's former mistress, and trying to remain faithful to her religion. During these years, her parents die and her remaining sister Ramborg is married to Simon Darre, although he secretly still loves Kristin. Ramborg is only fourteen when she is married, but has pushed for this wedding as she has loved Simon since her childhood. She understands little about what marriage means, particularly to a man who has been in love with someone else for many years. Erlend, impulsive to the point of recklessness, runs foul of the political powers of his time and is imprisoned. Through the efforts of Kristin's former fiancé, Simon, his life is spared but his property must be forfeited to the crown. Husaby is lost to them. The only property left to the family is Kristin's childhood farm, Jørundgård. Kristin, Erlend, and their children return to Jørundgård but fail to gain the acceptance of the community. Hardship forges strong family bonds and highlights Kristin's sense of obligations to her family and her faith. However, she and Erlend become estranged from Simon and Ramborg after Erlend and Ramborg become aware of Simon's continuing love for Kristin. Kristin becomes increasingly concerned about the future of her sons now that Erlend has lost their inheritance. After an argument on this subject in which she compares him unfavorably with her father, Erlend leaves the manor and settles at Haugen, the former home of his aunt Aashild. He and Kristin reunite there briefly during his absence after the dying Simon extracts a promise from Kristin to ask Erlend's forgiveness for her harsh words. They conceive an eighth son together, but Erlend refuses to return to the manor, instead insisting Kristin must move to Haugen to be with him. Kristin is very angry and hurt, and when she gives birth, she names her son Erlend. This is a terrible breach of custom, as local superstition maintains that children must not be named after living relatives or one of the two will die. In this way, she demonstrates that she considers her husband dead to her. The superstition is borne out, as the child weakens from the time he is given his father's name and soon dies. Due to the jealousy of her foreman's estranged wife, Kristin is publicly accused of adultery and complicity in the death of her child. Her sons rally around her, and Lavrans rides to inform Erlend. Erlend immediately sets out for Jorundgård, but upon his return to the farm he is accidentally slain in a confrontation with the locals and dies, without a confession to the priest, in Kristin's arms after asserting her innocence. After handing the farm over to her third son and his wife, Kristin returns to Trondheim, where she is accepted as a lay member of Rein Abbey. When the Black Death arrives in Norway in 1349, Kristin dedicates herself to nursing the ill after she learns that her two eldest sons have succumbed to the plague. Shortly afterwards she herself succumbs to the plague. Undset wrote a tetralogy, "The Master of Hestviken", which takes place around the same time as Kristin Lavransdatter. Kristin's parents make a brief appearance in this book, near the end of the part called "The Snake Pit". They are depicted as young married people, playing with their baby son. They are a happy and prosperous couple at their first home in Skog, before Kristin's birth. The unfortunate life of Olav, the main character of "The Master of Hestviken", stands in stark contrast to the happiness and good fortune of the young couple, though Kristin's parents eventually lose all their sons in infancy, and suffer many other misfortunes and sorrows. |
Johnny, My Friend | null | null | Johnny, My Friend is narrated by 12-year-old Krille. Krille is a naive youth, having grown up in a safe, supporting family in 1950s Stockholm. A new boy, Johnny, appears in Krille's life, and quickly impresses the neighborhood boys with his bicycling prowess. His popularity aside, Johnny is a bit of a mystery, rarely saying anything about his life. The boys of the neighborhood do not know where he lives, and sometimes he disappears for long periods, only to turn up again without explanation. Krille determines to solve the mystery of Johnny. Johnny has got a secret, a big one, and Krill's going to discover it... |
A Fine Dark Line | Joe R. Lansdale | 2,002 | The story is told through the eyes of Stanley Mitchell, a thirteen year-old boy, the younger of two children. The Mitchells are the owners and proprietors of the only drive-in theater in Dumont. Stanley discovers a tin box containing a collection of troubled love letters that ultimately lead him to a burned-out house, the mysterious deaths of two young women and various secrets that the Dumont leaders would prefer remain buried. Stanley's ally is Buster Smith, the projectionist at the drive-in theater, an elderly black man whose attempts to drown his demons in alcohol are doomed to failure but who has a depth that only Stanley is aware of. In attempting to solve the mysteries of the deaths of the two women, Stanley exposes himself, his family and his friends, to danger. |
Simisola | Ruth Rendell | 1,994 | Dr Raymond Akande is Wexford's new GP and one of the few Black British people in Kingsmarkham. When Akande's daughter goes missing, and a body of a young black woman is found, Wexford is confronted by his own prejudices. |
The Crocodile Bird | Ruth Rendell | 1,993 | When her mother, Eve, tells Liza that she must leave their remote home, the gatehouse of a country mansion, Liza is terrified. Although seventeen years of age, she has never been on a bus or a train, has never played with a child of her own age. She has almost no knowledge of a world described by her mother as evil and destructive. Their strange, enclosed life together is over because Eve has killed a man. And he is not the first. With £100 in cash, Liza is cast adrift. However, she is not alone. There is one particular secret she has kept from her mother - her love affair with a young man who worked in the big house. With him, gradually Liza learns about the world, about herself, and must come to terms with the possibility that the murderous violence of her mother may be present in her. |
Phylogenesis | Alan Dean Foster | 1,999 | Desvendapur is an anti-social Thranx poet native to the colony on Willow-Wane who believes he can find new inspiration for his poetry by coming in contact with the physically repulsive humans, an intelligent mammal race that is unlike the insectoid thranx. Desvendapur's aspirations lead him to a secret thranx colony in the Amazon Basin on Terra where he meets a petty human thief turned murderer, Cheelo Montoya. Desvendapur is fascinated by the first native human he comes across so, with great resistance on the part of Montoya, chooses to follow the human, using him as the basis of a series of poems. The mismatched pair flee from the authorities, a pair of poachers who wish sell Desvendapur to a private zoo, and ultimately demonstrate how the two races can get along and work together on common challenges. By the end, the unlikely pair find a mutual understanding. The Thranx colony in the Amazon Basin is revealed to the Earth community and the diplomatic beginnings of the Humanx Commonwealth are greatly accelerated. Montoya becomes a celebrity despite his unwillingness to be in the spotlight and Desvendapur's poems he composed during his time on Earth become wildly popular amongst the Thranx. |
Dirge | Alan Dean Foster | 2,000 | It has been twenty years since the chance meeting of street thug Cheelo Montoya and thranx poet Desvendapur revealed the insectoid alien colony hidden deep within the Amazon Basin, and not much has changed. Humanity has recently discovered the planet Argus V, better known as Treetrunk, with the intention of colonizing the planet when their survey team is visited by a new alien race, the Pitar. At first the humans worry that the Pitar will want to lay claim to the planet, but the instead of wanting to claim territory, the aliens instead simply want to observe the humans. The Pitar are a close human analog to humans, appearing to be perfectly human except for a wider variety of hair and eye colors (including blue and violet among them) along with nearly god-like physiques. Most humans almost immediately view the Pitar as perfect. This complicated matters for the insectoid Thranx who wish to form a closer alliance with the humans. Some xenophobic humans go so far as to invade the small Thranx colony in the Amazon, killing many of the insect colonists. While this causes a political nightmare for both humans and Thranx, it also brings together the human chaplain and Thranx spiritual advisor who form the United Church. While the three races continue their political dance, a massacre occurs on Treetrunk. All 600,000 humans are killed by unknown attackers who then leave the planet. After an extensive search for the murderers turns up no clue, a single survivor is found hiding in a lifeboat on the smaller of Treetrunk’s moons. Allwyn Mallory claims to have witnessed the massacre and has proof of the attacker’s identity, a memory cube that recorded the Pitar not only killing the humans on Treetrunk, but also eviscerating the females for the reproductive organs. At first the Pitar demure the accusation, claiming that a single man’s accusations are groundless, but presented with the video proof the few Pitar on Terra at first flee, then either commit suicide when confronted or attack the humans attempting to place them under arrest resulting in their deaths. The humans form a space armada with the intention of bringing war and destruction to the Pitar’s twin homeworlds. The Pitar, while having no ambition to invade the galaxy, have thought ahead and set up extensive defensive works around their solar system. The war quickly becomes a stalemate for the humans, even with their new Thranx allies, cannot break through the Pitarian defenses. Only when the new allies develop a new weapon, the SCCAM missile—a nuclear warhead mounted on a starship’s KK-drive generator. This proves to be the tipping point of the war, though when a ground invasion of the Pitar’s homeworld was begun, the arrogant aliens refuse to surrender, fighting even when the obvious result would be death. This results in the eventual extinction of the Pitar. Only after the Pitar are exterminated, is it discovered why they had eviscerated the women on Treetrunk: the low reproductive rate of the Pitar put them at a disadvantage in comparison to other races. The Pitar sought to use human reproductive organs to supplement their own birth rates. |
Shadows in Bronze | Lindsey Davis | 1,990 | The story begins in Rome during late spring, AD 71. Marcus Didius Falco and a group of the Praetorian Guard under the captaincy of Julius Frontinus are disposing of a decomposing corpse. Secrecy is paramount because he was the victim of a discreet execution, having been guilty of treason against the Emperor. In his position as imperial agent, Falco is involved with the tidying of the conspiracy (The Silver Pigs) and the emptying of the traitor's house. Anacrites and Momus are also involved with this. When Falco and Anacrites arrive at the Palace to report to the Emperor, Falco runs into the Senator Decimus Camillus Verus and his daughter, Helena Justina. He then reports to the Emperor, who wishes to destroy any evidence that his son, Domitian, was involved with the scheme. When a freedman bursts in to inform the Emperor that the Temple of Hercules Gaditanus is on fire, Anacrites is sent to the Transtiberina to find a freedman (Barnabas) who has been following Falco around, whilst Falco is sent to investigate the arson attack. There he discovers that Curtius Longinus, who had been summoned to Rome to account for his role in the plot, has been killed in the fire. He returns to the palace to be informed that Anacrites had been unable to locate Barnabas, the freedman immediately becoming suspect in the arson and death. Falco is then sent to Magna Graecia in southern Italy in search of Aulus Curtius Gordianus, the brother of Curtius Longinus, who may also be in danger from Barnabas. Arriving in Crotone, Falco is almost immediately caught up in a brawl in the marketplace, being rescued by Laesus, a ship's captain, with whom Falco then shares a meal at the mansio. Falco finally tracks down Gordianus at the Temple of Hera at Cape Colonna and informs him of the death of his brother. While Gordianus spends several days in mourning, Falco stays on the beach with a goat previously intended as a sacrifice, before an acolyte at the Temple informs him that Gordianus has returned. Falco suggests that Gordianus accept a better post in Paestum. This would be a generous gift from Vespasian to get the senator back on side with the new regime, but it would also put Gordianus closer to Rome and make it easier for Vespasian to keep him in line in future. Barnabas is once more implicated in an attack on the Deputy Priest, apparently mistaking him for Gordianus who would normally have been conducting the ceremony, but Falco is forced to return to Rome without tracking him down. At the end of June, Falco travels to the Bay of Neapolis. This time he is travelling in the company of his friend, Petronius, and Petronius' family, as well as his own nephew, Larius. This "holiday" is in fact a cover for Falco trying to track down Aufidius Crispus, a senator who had also been implicated in the plot. His plan is to masquerade as a plumber in the company of his nephew. In that guise they travel around various country estates. One estate that they visit is that of Caprenius Marcellus. There they run once more into Helena Justina. She is visiting her father-in-law. Due to the amorous nature of their ox, Nero, Falco and Larius are arrested in Herculaneum. They are taken to see the local magistrate, Aemilius Rufus. There they again meet Helena, as well as her friend, Rufus' sister. Falco becomes a harp tutor to the sister. Falco manages to track down Aufidius Crispus at the Villa Poppaea, where the senator is hosting a sumptuous banquet in order to gain support for his future political moves. On their return they once again find traces of Barnabas, but the freedman has vanished. After several days, Falco catches up with him, only to discover that "Barnabas" is in fact Atius Pertinax, the ex-husband of Helena Justina, believed dead. It is made clear that Marcellus expects the divorced couple to re-marry. Pertinax and Crispus flee Imperial questioning on Crispus' yacht, but Crispus is killed when the yacht is rammed by a trireme under the authority of Rufus. Pertinax escapes, returning to Rome and attempting to force Helena Justina to re-marry him in order to regain his money. He is tricked and is finally killed by Falco. |
Poseidon's Gold | Lindsey Davis | 1,993 | In Poseidon's Gold, Falco returns from a six month mission to Germania Liberia, only to become embroiled in the after-effects of a scam by his, now deceased, older brother, Festus. The story recounts shipping scams, crooked antiques auctions and hired thugs, all while Falco is trying to clear his family's name and sort out his deceased brother Festus' business dealings. |
Last Act in Palmyra | Lindsey Davis | 1,994 | In Last Act in Palmyra, Falco takes on a new spying mission for Vespasian to the east of the Empire. He also plans to investigate the disappearance of a young musician, Sophrona. With Helena Justina, he travels to Petra, where they encounter a theatre group who have just lost their playwright due to drowning. Joining them, Falco attempts to fulfil his various investigations, whilst at the same time write his new play, The Spook Who Spoke. |
Diurnity's Dawn | Alan Dean Foster | null | In the third and concluding novel of this trilogy, an uncomfortable archaeological alliance of Thranx, humans, and AAnn, explores the well-kept secrets of the lost civilization of the Sauun on the frontier world Comagrave. After a series of accidents that occur where the AAnn are convenient for helping an injured or stranded human, the chief Thranx scientist starts suspecting an anti-Thranx conspiracy. Meanwhile on the planet Dawn, such a conspiracy seems to be up and running, for terrorists there plan vicious destruction to crush the infant commonwealth. Unexpected players in this engrossing drama are the padres, human and Thranx, of the anything but dogmatic United Church, which ministers to both species with a decidedly untraditional religious outlook. |
Going Wrong | Ruth Rendell | 1,990 | When he was a young man, Guy Curran led a local street gang and dealt drugs before falling madly in love with Lenora Chisholm, a much more middle-class teenager whose society minded parents naturally disapproved of him. However, despite an initially passionate romance the fairytale soon subsides, and Lenora tells a distraught Guy that she has found a new love. This announcement sets off a dark chain of events that will lead Guy into obsession, stalking and finally murder. |
The Bridesmaid | Ruth Rendell | 1,989 | The novel's protagonist is Philip Wardman, a relatively normal young man (unusually so for traditional Rendell protagonists), whose only particularly strong feeling is that he hates violence. Philip lives at home with his mother and sister, and his feminine ideal is exemplified by a beautiful statue of Flora, a nymph, in their garden. One day Philip's sister marries, and Philip meets eccentric Senta Pelham, one of her bridesmaids who looks alarmingly like the statue of Flora. The two begin a passionate affair, but Philip's world comes crashing down around him when Senta sets a test: she begs Philip that, to prove their love, they must each kill someone. |
The Veiled One | Ruth Rendell | 1,988 | The book begins when a garotted body is found in a deserted subterranean Kingsmarkham car-park. The victim is Gwen Robson, a middle-aged home help and resident of the town. However, before Wexford can investigate any further he is the victim of a politically motivated car-bomb that was intended for his daughter, Sheila, a well-known actress who has recently caused controversy with a high-profile protest on Ministry of Defence Property. With his boss out of commission in hospital, Detective Inspector Mike Burden must forge ahead alone in the investigation, and quickly narrows in on a suspect. However, without Wexford to rein Burden in, is he in danger of being too short-sighted? |
Talking to Strange Men | Ruth Rendell | 1,987 | Two plotlines run through this crime novel. The main adult protagonist is John Creevey who stumbles upon a series of hidden coded messages which he thinks must be the work of criminals or spies. John is unhappy and depressed. His wife Jennifer has left him for Peter Moran, her old fiancé, and he cannot accept that she will not return to him. He is still affected by the murder of his sister 16 years ago and Mark, her fiancé, is equally unhappy. John becomes obsessed by unravelling the codes, spending hours trying to break them. The coded messages are, however, being left by rival groups of public schoolboys. These boys are emulating the world of the 1980s spy fiction with the home team led by 14-year-old Mungo battling against Moscow Centre, run by boys at a rival school. Mungo is over six feet tall and has inherited the leadership from his older brother. The groups have moles and traitors. One of Mungo’s team is Charles Mabledene, another 14-year-old, but Mungo is not sure if he is really on their side and sets out to test him. Jennifer and Peter come round to John’s house in one of their attempts to get him to agree to a quick divorce and Colin, a friend of John’s, recognises from when he was a juror. He tells John that Peter pleaded guilty to indecent assault on a male child under the age of thirteen. John wonders how he can use this information to turn Jennifer against Peter and is also worried because a 12-year-old boy has been abducted from where Peter and Jennifer live on an afternoon when Peter was on his own. John decides to intercept and alter one of the messages and gives instructions for Peter to be investigated. The message is sent to Charles and he interprets this as being the loyalty test he is expecting. John confronts Jennifer with his information on Peter saying, “You can’t love a man who molests little boys”, but Jennifer stays loyal to Peter, to help him and to protect other boys. John then tries to cancel his instructions to Charles, but Charles ignores the new message, knows it cannot be from Mungo who is on holiday, and reads it as a trap. Charles goes to Peter’s House and meets him on the pretext of offering to wash his car. He immediately senses that Peter is attracted to him. Charles looks very young for his age and tells Peter he is just twelve years old. He is just over five foot, has blond hair, an unbroken voice and is quite aware he is very attractive. His father is always telling him not to talk to strange men. Peter suggests a meeting in town. After they sit down, he leans forward to brush ice cream off Charles’ cheek yet Charles maintains a cool exterior. On a later trip to the cinema, Peter puts his arm around the boy’s shoulder. After the cinema, they go to eat supper in a derelict building, one of the boys’ ‘safe houses’. Peter makes advances to Charles, talking about a ‘physically loving’ friendship he had when he was Charles’ age, and puts his hand on his thigh. Charles jumps up and in the subsequent panic, Peter is accidentally killed and Charles escapes, leaving a burning candle which destroys the building. |
Heartstones | Ruth Rendell | 1,987 | In a college town, two schoolgirls live with their widowed father Luke, a gentle well-educated man, meticulous and orderly. Elvira and Spinny are watchful, however, for Luke plans to remarry and has chosen Mary. The threat to the girls' world is removed when Mary falls to her death. |
Woman on the Edge of Time | Marge Piercy | null | Thirty-seven-year-old Hispanic woman Consuelo (Connie) Ramos, recently released from forced detention in a mental institution, begins to communicate with a figure that may or may not be imaginary: an androgynous young woman named Luciente. She realizes that Luciente is from a future, utopian world in which a number of goals of the political and social agenda of the late sixties and early seventies radical movements have been fulfilled. Environmental pollution, homophobia, racism, phallogocentrism, class-subordination, consumerism, imperialism, and totalitarianism no longer exist in the agrarian, communal community of Mattapoisett. The death penalty, however, continues to exist ("We don't think it's right to kill (...). Only convenient."), as does war. She is once more placed in a mental hospital after hitting her niece's pimp and her time with Luciente is one of the few solaces from her powerlessness. Connie learns that she is living at an important time in history, and she herself is in a pivotal position; her actions and decisions will determine the course of history. Luciente's utopia is only one possible future; a dystopian alternate future is a possibility— one in which a wealthy elite live on space platforms and subdue the majority of the population with psychotropic drugs and surgical control of moods, also harvesting these earth-bound humans' organs. Women are valued solely for their appearance and sexuality, and plastic surgery that gives women grotesquely exaggerated sexual features is commonplace. The novel gives little indication as to whether or not Connie's visions are by-products of a mental disease or are meant to be taken literally, but ultimately, Connie's confrontation with the future inspires her to a violent action that will presumably prevent the dissemination of the mind-control technology that makes the future dystopia possible, since it puts an end to the mind-control experiments and prevents the lobotomy-like operation that had been planned for her. Though her actions do not ensure the existence of the Mattapoisett future, Connie nevertheless sees her act as a victory: "I'm a dead woman now too. (...) But I did fight them. (...) I tried." |
An Unkindness of Ravens | Ruth Rendell | 1,985 | When Wexford does a favour for his wife - to look into the disappearance of one of their neighbours' husbands - everything he finds seems to confirm his first inkling: that this is simply another case of a bored middle-aged man having run off with a younger woman. However, when Rodney Williams is found dead, and another local man is stabbed in his car, Wexford finds himself thrown into an investigation involving a militant feministic organisation known as "Arria", who have taken the raven as their symbol. |
Forbidden | Caroline B. Cooney | 1,994 | 18-year-old Annabel Hope Jayquith is both beautiful and famous in her world of wealth and prestige. Daughter to billionaire Hollings Jayquith and the deceased artist Eleanor Hope Jayquith, as well as niece to the famous television news anchor Theodora Jayquith, Annabel is fighting internal demons of loneliness and self-doubt. While at a charity event in Manhattan, she meets and falls in love with 22-year-old Daniel Madison Ransom. Daniel is the son of Senator Madison Ransom who was assassinated for trying to reveal a corrupt industry. Along with his mother, the insane Catherine Ransom, Daniel wants to reveal to the world the real killer, whom they believe is Hollings Jayquith himself. Meanwhile, Theodora Jayquith’s illegitimate 18-year-old daughter Jade O’Keefe has discovered the identity of her real mother after the death of her foster parents, and is now on her way to Manhattan to confront her mother and gain the fortune she feels she has been denied. In another strand of the plot, a young man who goes by the name Alex arrives in Connecticut seeking to avenge the murder of his brother. Annabel and Daniel meet again at their mutual friends Venice Pierce and Michael Theil’s wedding in Litchfield, Connecticut. He's a groomsman, she's a bridesmaid, and it seems to be a night of romance. Then Daniel reveals what he and his mother want to do, expose Hollings on his sister’s own show. Annabel, too shocked to speak, flees to her home to comfort herself. However, her solace is invaded by the entrance of Jade, who has used her likeness to Theodora to charm Hollings. After a kidnapping and rescue, it develops that Annabel's father is innocent of the murder, and the story ends happily. |
Deeds of the Disturber | Barbara Mertz | 1,988 | Immediately after their adventure in Lion in the Valley, the Emersons return home to England for the summer of 1896, as is their custom. Upon their arrival, Amelia finds that her despised brother James wants to dump his two children, Percy and Violet, on the Emersons for the summer. Amelia accepts, if only to instill some higher principles in the obviously spoiled children. Kevin O'Connell enters the story as he reports on a supposed curse on a mummy in the British Museum. He's competing against a fellow journalist, M. Minton, who always seems to "scoop" him, and he pesters the Emersons for their knowledge and expertise on Egyptology and detection. Imagine Amelia's surprise when M. Minton turns out to be a young woman! Meanwhile, Ramses and Percy hate each other on sight, Violet turns out to be an empty-headed doll who overeats and throws temper tantrums, and Ramses' belongings keep mysteriously ending up in Percy's possession. The mummy "mystery" begins to take on more sinister portent as a masked figure stalks the Museum, a woman from Emerson's past turns up as the owner of an opium den, and the Emersons (including Ramses) are subjected to the usual attempts at injury and kidnapping. Eventually, Amelia, Emerson, and Inspector Cuff of Scotland Yard find themselves trapped in a cellar which is about to be flooded, with no backup and only Amelia's corset to save them... |
The Woman in White | Wilkie Collins | null | Walter Hartright, a young art teacher, is walking from Hampstead to London late one summer's evening, when he meets a mysterious woman dressed in white, apparently in deep distress. He helps her on her way to London, but later learns that she has escaped from an asylum. The next day he travels north to Limmeridge House, having been hired as a drawing master to the residents of the house; he had been recommended for the job by his friend, Pesca, an Italian language professor. The Limmeridge household comprises Mr Frederick Fairlie, and Walter's students: Laura Fairlie, Mr Fairlie's niece, and Marian Halcombe, her devoted half-sister. Several days after he arrives, Hartright is shocked to realize that Laura bears an astonishing resemblance to the woman in white, called Anne Catherick. The mentally disadvantaged Anne had lived for a time in Cumberland as a child and was devoted to Laura's mother, who first dressed her in white. Walter and Laura quickly fall in love. Laura, however, has promised her father that she will marry Sir Percival Glyde, and Marian – knowing that Laura loves Walter in return – advises Walter to forget his love, and leave Limmeridge. Anne, after sending a letter to Laura warning her against Glyde, meets Hartright who becomes convinced that Glyde was responsible for shutting Anne in the asylum. Despite the misgivings of the Fairlie's lawyer over the financial terms of the marriage settlement, Laura and Glyde marry in December 1849 and travel to Italy for 6 months. Hartright also leaves England, joining an expedition to Honduras. After their honeymoon, Sir Percival and Lady Glyde return to his family estate, Blackwater Park, in Hampshire; they are accompanied by Glyde's friend, Count Fosco (who is married to Laura's aunt). Marian Halcombe is also living at Blackwater and learns that Glyde is in financial difficulties. Sir Percival unsuccessfully attempts to bully Laura into signing a document which would allow him to use her marriage settlement of £20,000. Determined to protect her sister, Marian crawls out onto a roof overlooking Percy and Fosco whilst they plot; but it begins to rain, and Marian, completely soaked, falls into a fever which shortly turns into typhus. While Marian is ill, Laura is tricked into travelling to London. Her identity and that of Anne Catherick are then switched. Anne Catherick dies of a heart condition and is buried in Cumberland as Laura, while Laura is drugged and placed in the asylum as Anne Catherick. When Marian recovers and visits the asylum, hoping to learn something from Anne Catherick, she finds Laura, supposedly suffering from the delusion that she is Lady Glyde. Marian bribes the nurse and Laura escapes. Hartright has safely returned from Honduras, and the three live together in obscure poverty, determined to restore Laura's identity. After some time Walter discovers Glyde's secret, which is that he was illegitimate, and therefore not entitled to inherit his parents' property. This secret was known only to Anne's mother, and while Anne never knew the secret, she spoke and acted as if she did. Many years earlier, Glyde had forged an entry in the marriage register at Old Welmingham Church to conceal his illegitimacy and hence unlawful inheritance of estate and title. Believing Walter either has discovered, or will discover his secret, Glyde attempts to destroy the register entry, but the church vestry catches fire and he perishes in the flames. Confronting Anne's mother, Hartright discovers that Anne was the illegitimate child of Laura's father, which accounts for their resemblance. On returning to London to resume his battle with Fosco, Hartright marries Laura. When he secretly tails Fosco to investigate about him, Hartright also discovers that Fosco belongs to, and has betrayed, an Italian secret society (dubbed "The Brotherhood"), of which Pesca is a high-ranking member with enough authority to dispatch him. Using Fosco's weakness as bargaining chip, Hartright now has the power to force a written confession from Fosco and Laura's identity is restored. Fosco departs from England in haste, only to be discovered by the Brotherhood's agents some time later and murdered. Since Hartright and Laura have married, on the death of Frederick Fairlie, their son becomes the Heir of Limmeridge. |
The Jewel in the Crown | Paul Scott | 1,966 | Daphne Manners, who has lost her immediate family in England, comes to India to live with her only remaining near kinsman, Lady Manners. Lady Manners sends her to Mayapore to stay with her Indian friend, Lady Chatterjee. While staying with Lady Chatterjee, whom she calls "Auntie Lili," Daphne meets Hari Kumar. He is an Indian who was brought up in England and educated at Chillingborough, a public school that Daphne's own brother attended; Hari speaks only English, but his father's financial collapse and suicide obliged Hari to return to India. Daphne learns to despise the attitudes of the English in India and also grows to love Hari. Meanwhile, the local police superintendent, Ronald Merrick, has designs both on Daphne and Hari, making for a potent love triangle. Merrick, of lower-middle-class English origin, is resentful of the privileged English "public school" class and contemptuous of Indians. Hari thus represents everything that Merrick hates. After Daphne and Hari make love in a public park, the Bibighar Gardens, they are attacked by a mob of rioters who by chance witnessed their lovemaking. Hari is beaten and Daphne is raped repeatedly. Knowing that Hari will be implicated in her rape, Daphne swears him to silence regarding his presence at the scene. But she does not count on the instincts of Ronald Merrick, who, upon learning of the rape, immediately takes Hari into custody and engages in a lengthy and sadistic interrogation which includes sexual humiliation. Merrick also arrests a group of educated young Indians, including some of Hari's colleagues at the Mayapore Gazette. Daphne steadfastly refuses to support the prosecution of Hari and the others for rape. She insists that her attackers were peasants and included at least one Muslim (although she was blindfolded, she could tell he was circumcised) and could not be young, educated Hindus like Hari and his acquaintances who have been taken into custody. The inquest is frustrated when Daphne threatens to testify that, for all she knows, her attackers could have been Englishmen. Hari puzzles the authorities by refusing to say anything, even in his own defense (he has been sworn to secrecy by Daphne, and he honors that pledge to the letter). Because the authorities cannot successfully prosecute him for rape, they instead imprison him under a wartime law as a suspected revolutionary. And Daphne's refusal to aid a prosecution for rape leads to her being reviled and ostracized by the English community of Mayapore and of British India as a whole, where her case has become a cause celebre. Unbeknownst to Hari, Daphne has conceived a child; its paternity is impossible to determine, but she considers the child to be Hari's. She returns to her aunt, Lady Manners, to give birth, but a pre-existing medical condition results in her death. Lady Manners takes the child, Parvati, to Kashmir. Parvati's physical resemblance to Hari satisfies Lady Manners and Lady Chatterjee that Hari was her biological father. |
The Towers of Silence | Paul Scott | 1,971 | The novel begins with the story of Barbie Batchelor, an old missionary schoolteacher, who, after years of service to the church, decides to take her pension and retire. She finds a place as a paying guest with Mabel Layton, a member of the aristocracy of the English in India, at Rose Cottage in Pankot. Barbie and Mabel become close. Late one night, Mabel tells Barbie that she will only go to Ranpur when she's buried, which Barbie interprets to mean that she wants to be buried in Ranpur, next to the grave of her late husband, James Layton. Barbie is proud of her working class background and her simple Christianity, but she does her best to behave in a manner that makes upper-class Pankot comfortable. Unfortunately, they will never accept her as one of their own, treating her as a peculiar and unwanted intruder. In 1942, Pankot society hears about the attacks on two English women in and near Mayapore (events that took place in the first novel of the series). Daphne Manners was gang raped by a mob and Edwina Crane was witness to the murder of her Indian colleague. Miss Crane, another missionary schoolteacher, was a good friend of Barbie's, and she is haunted by the attack and by Edwina's subsequent suicide by fire. Pankot society does not know what to make of Barbie and her insistence on sharing a picture, "The Jewel in the Crown" of the title, that Edwina gave her. Pankot also rejects a theory, proposed by an officer passing through from Mayapore to Muzzafirabad, that the relationship between Daphne Manners and Hari Kumar, who has been arrested for the rape, was not a case of an innocent, inexperienced white girl being mesmerized by a crafty Indian, but rather that Daphne and Hari simply were in love, like any two young people. Just as Daphne Manners dies while giving birth to the child conceived on the night of the rape, the Laytons announce the engagement of Susan Layton and Teddie Bingham. Just then, Teddie gets a new posting and is reassigned to Mirat. In Mirat he meets his new quarters-mate, Ronald Merrick. Merrick, who is serving in army intelligence, briefs Teddie and his unit regarding the "Jiffs" or the Indians who are fighting on the side of the Japanese as part of the Indian National Army. Teddie and the other more traditional officers of the Indian Army can hardly believe their ears. They and their forebears have grown up with generations of these Indian soldiers, knowing intimately their villages and families, and they cannot believe that such disloyalty is possible. Returning to his quarters, Teddie comes across a woman's bicycle, old and battered, accompanied by a symbol made of chalk marked on the veranda, like those made in connection with Hindu religious rites. Before he can ask Merrick about it, the bike has disappeared. However, Merrick suspects that it is the work of his old nemesis, Pandit Baba, who was present in Mayapore when Daphne Manners was attacked. Merrick was the police commissioner there and took brutal action against Hari Kumar and a group of his acquaintances. The bicycle belonged to Daphne and might have served as evidence had any charges been brought in the case. Merrick informs Teddie that if he means to get married, then he had better do it quickly, because he would soon be sent to do battle against the Japanese. Teddie panics, not knowing what to do. Merrick solves his problem by arranging the loan of the sumptuous guest house belonging to the Nawab of Mirat and suggesting he then go on honeymoon nearby in the Nanoora Hills. Teddie's best friend, Tony Bishop, is down with jaundice, Merrick helps out again by being best man. The honeymoon is disappointing for Susan, who is let down by Teddie's sexual inexperience. While these arrangements are being made, the Laytons are vacationing in Kashmir, where they encounter Lady Manners and Daphne's child Parvati. Sarah without her family's knowledge defies her family by going to visit their houseboat. But Lady Manners actually proves helpful when she suggests that by way of thanks for the loan of the guest house, a volume of the poems of Mohammed Gaffur would make a nice gift for the Nawab of Mirat, since the nawab is a descendant of the Urdu poet. The Laytons return to Pankot to make preparations. Mildred disturbed by the fact that this step is being taken while her husband, Lt. Col. John Layton, is held prisoner in Germany. Barbie and Pankot society are also disappointed that such an important society wedding will be in Mirat and not Pankot. But they are consoled with the gossip of the momentous events: (1) Teddie's injury resulting from a stone being thrown at his car, (2) Susan's instinct to show obeisance to the Nawab, thus saving all from embarrassment at his being detained at the entrance, and (3) the appearance of Shalini Gupta Sen at the railway station when the couple are being seen off on their honeymoon and the scene she creates with her entreaties to Merrick which are later revealed to regard Hari's imprisonment. Barbie, wanting to show her affection for Susan with a nice wedding-cum-21st birthday gift, buys a set of silver Apostle spoons and gives them to Sarah to pass on. Mabel, while going through some old clothes, comes upon a piece of cloth that remained from a christening gown. The fabric is embedded with woven butterflies, symbolically imprisoned in the material. She gives the piece to Barbie, who is quite taken with its fragility. In order to make up for having the wedding out of town, Mildred throws a buffet luncheon at the Pankot Rifles officers' mess for Pankot society. Mabel and Barbie go together, but are efficiently separated from each other under Mildred's instructions. Barbie is puzzled that her gift of spoons is not displayed with the other wedding gifts. Susan's pregnancy is announced and, several months later, news of Teddie's death arrives. While Sarah is in Calcutta visiting Merrick, who witnessed Teddie's death and was himself injured, Mabel Layton has a stroke and dies. Susan is witness to the old lady's death and the shock drives her into premature labor. Worried about the state of Mabel's soul, Barbie worms her way into the morgue at the hospital and thinks she sees the anguish of eternal torment on the face of her dead friend. She is then shocked to learn that Mabel will be buried in Pankot and not in Ranpur, as she had wished. She barges in on Mildred to plead for her friend's last wish, but Mildred rebukes her harshly for interfering and offers a vicious evaluation of her character. Mildred gives Barbie until the end of the month to vacate Rose Cottage. Susan survives the difficult childbirth and so does her prematurely delivered son. Sarah returns from Calcutta and gives the report of Merrick's heroism in trying to save Teddie. Barbie moves in with the vicar and his wife, Arthur and Clarissa Peplow. Barbie tries hard to get back into the missionary service, but finds a position difficult to secure. She learns through Sarah that Mabel has left her an annuity in her will. Barbie is embarrassed by the gesture and predicts that Mildred will cause trouble over it. Meanwhile, Susan's behavior is troubling. She seems not to be relating to her child in a maternal way. She seems often distracted and distant. One evening, remembering a fable about scorpions committing suicide when surrounded by fire told her by Barbie, Susan pours kerosene in a ring on the grass, puts her baby in the center and lights the fluid. The baby is quickly saved by a servant. However, it is now clear that there is something seriously wrong with Susan, and she is put under the care of a psychiatrist. Mildred blames Barbie for planting the idea in her mind and returns the Apostle spoons through Clarissa. Barbie, deeply hurt by the insult, sends notes to Colonel Trehearne and Captain Coley saying that she intends to make a gift of silver to the 1st Pankot Rifles. She then sets off in search of Coley to deliver the goods. Arriving at Coley's bungalow in a rainstorm, Barbie gets no answer at the door. Finding it unlocked, she goes in to leave the gift inside. But hearing an odd sound, she investigates and comes upon the sight of Coley and Mildred Layton rutting furiously. Undetected by the lovers, she flees from the bungalow, but is caught in the rainstorm and falls seriously ill, coming down with bronchopneumonia. Fenny is visiting from Calcutta and is gossiping with the Pankot women about recent events, Susan's recovery in the hospital, and the state of the household. Fenny suggests to Mildred that Sarah is under too much stress and should be allowed a vacation. Mildred turns viciously on Fenny, telling her that she cannot believe that she could try to fool her. Fenny does not know what Mildred is talking about until Mildred informs her that for the past two months, Sarah has not been using her sanitary napkins. Fenny realizes that Sarah is pregnant and that Jimmy Clark must have been responsible for it. Mildred assumed that Fenny already knew what the situation was. Fenny agrees to take Sarah away surreptitiously for a "D&C," their euphemism for an abortion. With Sarah gone and Susan in hospital, Mildred decides to close Rose Cottage and move into Flagstaff House. Susan seems to be recovering under the care of psychiatrist Captain Samuels, the "Jew-boy trick-cyclist". Barbie, recovering from pneumonia but unable to speak above a whisper, finally donates the spoons to the regiment. She gets a letter from Calcutta, offering her a position as a teacher in Dibrapur, the site of Edwina Crane's horror. Captain Coley informs Barbie that a trunk full of her things has been found stored in a shed at Rose Cottage and it had better be removed before Mildred finds out. Knowing that she will soon be leaving the Peplows and will have enough space of her own, she goes up to the vacant cottage to retrieve her trunk. There she encounters Ronald Merrick, who is in town for treatment at the local military hospital and has come in search of the Laytons; however, no one is currently in residence. Barbie is excited to finally meet Merrick and asks him about Mayapore. She opens her trunk and presents him with her copy of the painting, "The Jewel in the Crown". Merrick recognizes it as one he saw among Edwina Crane's things and accepts it gratefully. Barbie has the tonga-wallah load the large trunk onto the tonga she is travelling in. Merrick worries that the load is too heavy, especially on such a steep road down from Rose Cottage. Barbie sets off anyway as it begins to rain. The dirt road becomes slick and the tonga-wallah loses control, dumping Barbie and the trunk in a ditch. Barbie is physically and mentally injured in the accident and ends up at a sanitarium in Ranpur. Her view is of the Parsees' towers of silence of the title. Sarah visits her, but she cannot seem to get through. Barbie dies just as the atomic bomb is exploded over Hiroshima in August 1945. |
A Division of the Spoils | Paul Scott | 1,975 | The story covers in personal terms the humbling and hasty decamping of the British: the precipitous concession of power to a country fiercely bent on division; the travails of an honorable Muslim Congressman, Mohammed Ali Kasim, and his sons, one of whom had deserted to the Japan-directed Indian National Army; the quandary of the Nawab of the small fictitious princely state of Mirat, left in the lurch by the lapse of British Paramountcy; the suicide of a dysentery-debilitated and maladapted British officer; the prowling of the haunted Ronald Merrick. The new man on the scene is Sergeant Guy Perron, once a pupil of a public school called Chillingborough which Hari Kumar (as Harry Coomer) also attended when he lived in England. It was Guy who returned in 1947/8 to be an observer of India on the eve of Independence; this assignment soon turns into a personal inquiry into the truth behind the hushed-up story of Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald Merrick's death in Mirat. The tragic consequences of India-Pakistan partition are dramatized in a horrific train massacre in which Ahmed Kasim, the son of Mohammed Ali Kasim, is targeted by rioters and chooses to sacrifice himself in order to protect the rest of the people in his carriage. |
Vortex | Patrick Larkin | 1,991 | In a tense, hypothetical 1990s apartheid South Africa, the ruling National Party and its new state president prepare to end decades of racial injustice and conflict by entering into negotiations with African National Congress officials for sweeping democratic reforms. However, beneath the surface progress has been slow, with the Soviet Union and its rivals in the West attempting to play both sides and internal pressure mounting. The ANC refuses to properly disarm and cease planning terrorist operations, while for their part even white moderates refuse to permit a total system of "one man, one vote". To complicate matters, South African commandos conducting a clandestine raid into Zimbabwe uncover a conspiracy by ANC guerrilla fighters to assassinate the reformist government. After learning of the plot, Afrikaner Resistance Movement fanatic and Minister for Internal Security Karl Vorster seeks to manipulate the situation for his personal gain, allowing the plan to proceed despite advance knowledge of its details. Hardline elements of the regime, led by its staunchest supporters of apartheid, intend to let the ANC terrorists murder their political opponents, leaving the field clear for them to seize power. With most of South Africa's moderate cabinet dead, Vorster becomes president and declares martial law. The security forces begin brutal crackdowns on anti-apartheid organizations, and those suspected of having ties to ANC affiliates are executed or moved to isolated internment camps. Suppression, torture, and state-sponsored killings became commonplace, while the South African Defence Force is ordered to invade newly independent South West Africa (Namibia) to re-establish apartheid in that territory. Cuban military personnel, however, push south from neighbouring Angola in support of their Namibian allies, halting Vorster’s invasion short of Windhoek. As the South African blitz stalls, conditions at home begin to worsen. Armed police indiscriminately massacre hundreds of white students protesting conscription at the University of the Witwatersrand, while a minority of Afrikaners, disgusted at Vorster’s abuses in power, launch secessionist movements in the Transvaal and Orange Free State. The regime is also confronted with full-fledged tribal revolts after a Zulu chieftain is denaturalised for condemning apartheid. Attempts to suppress dissension with brute force only leads to greater unrest, such as a violent uprising by Durban’s Indian population. Hoping to take direct advantage of South Africa’s internal chaos, the Cuban leadership, aided by direct military assistance from friendly African states such as Libya and Mozambique, launches an invasion of the country with logistical backing from Moscow. While Cuban tank divisions rapidly close on Pretoria, brushing aside the feeble resistance offered by reservists and local Afrikaner militias, Karl Vorster orders the deployment of nuclear weapons in a desperate attempt to save the city. His air force subsequently uses one such projectile to strafe an armoured column, eliminating three thousand Cuban and Libyan soldiers. The ensuing radiation storm goes on to contaminate much of the Transvaal, affecting combatant and civilian alike. Cuba retaliates by using chemical weapons against SADF positions, although the hundreds of innocents also killed in these indiscriminate barrages prompts the ANC to desert their communist allies. Havana goes on to authorize the use of live civilians as human shields, intending to reduce the threat posed by South Africa’s nuclear arsenal. Meanwhile, anti-Vorster factions seize Cape Town, dealing a mortal blow to their nation’s economic structure. When the skyrocketing price of precious metals begins to dampen the world economy, the U.S. and Great Britain authorize direct military intervention in South Africa. Despite suffering heavy casualties, a joint American and British task force, backed by both overwhelming air and naval support, make headway and overrun the apartheid government's stockpile of nuclear weapons. With this threat removed, the race for Pretoria is narrowly concluded after rebel-backed Rangers capture the unhinged strongman and his supporters. American air strikes demoralize the battered Cuban Army and force their withdrawal; in exasperation a humiliated Soviet leadership vows never to waste another ruble on the continent. During the following months the fall of Vorster’s illegal government is completed, although ANC units and Afrikaner secessionists remain at large, hostile towards their homeland's new masters. Apartheid is formally abolished and a conglomerate of various political parties brought to the table for establishing a new, multiracial, South Africa. |
The Winter King | Bernard Cornwell | null | The Kingdom of Dumnonia is in chaos. The forces of Dumnonia led by the Edling (Crown Prince) Mordred and Arthur (the King's bastard) have defeated the Saxons at a battle beneath the hill of the white horse, but at a terrible price. Prince Mordred was slain, leaving the Kingdom without an heir. Dumnonia's only hope is for Mordred's pregnant wife, Norwenna, to give birth to a son. High King Uther Pendragon blames his son's death on Arthur and exiles him to Armorica. Norwenna is in labor, and there are fears that she and the child may die. Norwenna, a Christian, has insisted that only Christian midwives be present. High King Uther, a pagan, finally loses patience with the midwives of the Christian God and summons Merlin's priestess Morgan to deliver the child. The pagan magic seems to work and a male child is born. It would seem the kingdom is saved. However, the child is born with a crippled foot, which is seen as a very bad omen. The High King dismisses the sign and declares that the son will be named after his father: Mordred. Mordred and his mother are brought to Merlin's hall at Ynys Wydryn (Glastonbury), where she and the child are placed under the care of Merlin's priestesses, Morgan (Arthur's sister) and Nimue (Merlin's lover). Merlin himself has not been seen in Britain for many years. Derfel is one of the orphans at Ynys Wydryn adopted by Merlin, and is in love with Nimue. Nimue binds Derfel to her by scarring both of their hands and making Derfel swear that while he carries the scar, their lives are bound and he must obey her. High King Uther summons a high council of the Kings of Britain at Glevum (Gloucester). Morgan is summoned to represent the still absent Merlin and Nimue joins her, accompanied by Derfel. The tension between the British kingdoms is made clear as King Gorfyddyd of Powys does not attend and King Gundleus of Siluria is tardy. Uther makes it clear that no man, other than his grandson Mordred, will sit on the throne of Dumnonia. Since Mordred is only a baby, he appoints three guardians (King Tewdric of Gwent; Owain, Champion of Dumnonia; and Merlin) and also a foster father to Mordred, who will marry the Princess Norwenna. Agricola, champion of Gwent, chooses Arthur, but the High King disowns Arthur as his son. King Gundleus is then appointed as Mordred's Guardian and marries Norwenna. After King Tewdric and Owain give their oaths as guardians, Uther asks Morgan if Merlin will give an oath. Morgan insists that Merlin will only take the oath if Arthur is appointed as a guardian. After Uther dies Mordred, still only a baby, is pronounced King of Dumnonia. He is not High King because that title can only be given to a King accepted as Higher than the other British Kings. Nor is he the Pendragon, as that title is only given to a High King who wins his rank in battle. Following Uther's death, King Gorfyddyd attacks Gwent. Dumnonia and Siluria rush to the aid of Gwent. Shortly afterward, King Gundleus sends news of victory and announces he is coming to Ynys Wydryn to be with his wife. Morgan and Nimue tell Norwenna that Gundleus lied and that the war is not over. Norwenna does not believe them and makes ready for Gundleus's arrival. When Gundleus arrives, he kills Norwenna and Mordred. Then, in retribution for Nimue's curse, he rapes her and plucks out an eye. Derfel rescues Nimue and while escaping runs into Morgan, who has the baby Mordred with her. She explains that the baby that Gundleus killed was the baby of the child king's wetnurse. The group flee with Gundleus in pursuit. As they reach the capital Caer Cadarn, Derfel joins Owain's army and prepares to join the battle against the Silurian army. Arthur appears with his horseman during the battle and defeats Gundleus. In the aftermath of the battle Arthur imprisons Gundleus but treats him with respect as he is a King. Arthur is very observant of the customs of the nobility. Then, much to Derfel's displeasure, Arthur gives Derfel to Owain to train, explaining that he only employs horsemen. Under Owain's leadership, Derfel learns the realities of war. Owain is dishonest and seeks war for profit. While Derfel is with him he enters into an agreement with Prince Cadwy of Isca (Exeter) to massacre the tin miners of Kernow (Cornwall) who had been working in Dumnonia at Uther's invitation. Derfel is traumatised by the unwarranted slaughter, and as a result loses faith in Owain as a leader. When Prince Tristan, Edling of Kernow, arrives in Dumnonia and demands recompense for the massacre, Owain blames an Irish raiding party. Arthur suspects Owain is lying and after speaking with Derfel, challenges Owain to resolve the matter in a court of swords, a battle to the death where the gods are called on to give victory to the truth. Arthur defeats Owain and assumes complete power in Dumnonia, he then takes Derfel into his service to spare him the vengeance of Owain's supporters. Arthur wishes to end the civil war and unite the British Kingdoms against the Sais (Saxons). To do this, he enters into a peace treaty with Powys. He will return Gundleus to the throne of Siluria and then marry Ceinwyn, the daughter of Gorfyddyd. He travels north to Powys, where he is formally betrothed to Ceinwyn. However, when Guinevere enters the feasting hall, Arthur falls in love with her. He abandons Ceinwyn and marries Guinevere, destroying any hope of allegiance and plunging Britain back into civil war. In the years following Arthur's marriage to Guinevere, Derfel grows into a great warrior and is given a second name, "Cadarn", which means "the mighty." Sagramor, Arthur's Numidian commander, initiates Derfel into the religious cult of Mithras, a Roman deity popular with soldiers. It is also at this time that Arthur receives a summons from the Armorican Kingdom of Benoic, to which he swore an oath to be the kingdom's champion. Unable to go himself, he sends Derfel with 60 men. Derfel is to join forces with Arthur's cousin Culhwch and to write to Arthur if more men are necessary. Before he leaves, Sagramor warns Derfel of the Edling of Benoic, Lancelot, saying he can be treacherous. Upon arriving, Derfel is taken to Ynys Trebes (Mont Saint-Michel, France), the island capital of Benoic. There he meets King Ban. The King is upset when he learns that Arthur is not coming, but is delighted upon learning that Derfel is a literate warrior. King Ban shows Derfel the library of Ynys Trebes, which is overseen by Father Celwin, a foul-tempered priest investigating the wingspan of angels. Later, at dinner, Derfel meets Lancelot and the two take an instant dislike to each other. Derfel is only prevented from beating Lancelot senseless by the intervention of Galahad, Lancelot's half-brother. Galahad explains in private that Lancelot will not take defeat lightly and suggests that Derfel leave Ynys Trebes immediately. Derfel takes Galahad's advice and returns to shore accompanied by Galahad, who wishes to fight alongside him. Derfel spends three years in Benoic and learns quickly that Lancelot's fearsome reputation has nothing to do with his prowess in battle and everything to do with paying poets to sing his praises. Derfel and his men begin a campaign to slow the Frankish advance. In this they succeed and become feared by the Franks. They start to call Derfel and his warriors "wolves" and Derfel and his men adopt this as their nickname and wear wolf-tail plumes on their helmets. However, their attacks on the Franks become like "a wasp attempting to sting a bull to death", and they are pushed back to Ynys Trebes where Lancelot has taken charge of defending the city. After a council of war, where Lancelot insists that the Kingdom can survive within the city's wall as the city is self sufficient, Derfel speaks to Father Celwin, who is forever irritable and has little time for small talk. Derfel explains his duty to defend the lives of the people in the city. Father Celwin responds: "Then I place my life in your hands." After several months under siege, the city falls. Lancelot is among the first to flee. As Derfel begins to escape the city he remembers the words of Father Celwin and returns to the palace, where they find King Ban resigned to his fate and refusing to leave the city. They find Father Celwin in the library frantically searching for a particular scroll and refusing to leave. As the Franks storm the palace, Derfel finally loses patience with him, screaming: "Come on you old fool!" To which Father Celwin replies: "Old, yes, Derfel, but a fool never!" as he reveals himself to be Merlin in disguise. Merlin finds the scroll he was looking for, saying that it contains the knowledge of Britain. He then leads Derfel and Galahad out of the city, as he has already planned his escape. As they arrive in Dumnonia, Merlin promptly disappears again. Meanwhile, Derfel learns that Nimue has been declared dangerously mad and has been banished to the isle of the dead (Portland Bill). Derfel assumes that this is why Merlin has disappeared. Believing Derfel and his men to be dead, Lancelot has told Arthur and the Men of Dumnonia that despite his best efforts, Ynys Trebes fell and it was the fault of Derfel. Derfel arrives in time to hear this slander, declaring Lancelot a liar and challenging him to back up his story with his sword. Arthur calms the situation, claiming that in battle men are often mistaken. Derfel is rewarded for his service to Arthur and is declared a lord, but shortly after learns that Merlin has gone north, leaving Nimue on the Isle of the Dead. With the scar on his hand reminding Derfel of his duty to Nimue, he travels south to rescue her himself. When he arrives at the Isle he is warned by the guards that he is free to enter, but once inside he can never be released. He enters nonetheless and finds Nimue at the southern tip of the isle. She initially attacks him, but he clasps their scarred hands together and Nimue's wits return. As he returns to the entrance, he finds that Galahad and his men have followed him south to ensure that he could leave the isle. In the months following this adventure, Derfel and Nimue become lovers. Nimue considers leaving Merlin and the path of the Gods, but realizes that life with Derfel is an impossible dream. She ends their relationship, only to find out that she is pregnant with Derfel's baby. She refrains from telling Derfel about this, instead claiming that the baby is Merlin's. Arthur meanwhile, is contemplating a final assault on Powys to end the war. To do that, he must ensure that the Sais, led by Aelle who calls himself the Bretwalda (Ruler of Britain), remain at peace, and only money can achieve that. On the advice of Nimue he makes enforced loans from all Christian and pagan shrines, an act which the Christians resent him for. Meeting with Aelle, Arthur negotiates three months of peace for the gold and information on how to capture the Powysian Stronghold of Ratae (Leicester). With the Eastern border secure, Arthur marches his army north into Gwent where at Glevum he holds a council of war. At the council, Tewdric suggests letting the Powysians besiege Glevum, whereas Arthur wants to attack Powys at Lugg Vale. Meurig, the Edling of Gwent, then asks Arthur why they fight at all, since Gwent's only responsibility is to ensure Mordred gets the throne - not to protect Arthur. Galahad volunteers to travel north as an emissary to King Gorfyddyd to ascertain Gorfyddyd's intentions toward Mordred. Derfel accompanies him, although his presence in Gorfyddyd's hall provokes anger, since he is sworn to Arthur. Merlin then arrives and declares that Derfel is not to be harmed. Gorfyddyd fears Merlin and obeys. Gorfyddyd tells Galahad that he would adopt Mordred himself until he was old enough to serve as King. In private Merlin tells them that Gorfyddyd is lying and comments: "He has the brains of an ox, and not a very clever ox at that." Merlin says that Gorfyddyd will kill Mordred in order to fulfill his ambition of becoming High King. During his time in Powys, Derfel meets Ceinwyn and falls in love with her. She has been betrothed to Gundleus in return for Siluria's assistance. Derfel tells her of Arthur's wish to marry to Lancelot. Ceinwyn tells Derfel that she is tired of hearing of Arthur's weird flings and dishonorable unions. Derfel makes a declaration of love, to which she makes no reaction (save a comment to her aunt that she took great pleasure in all she heard, though apparently speaking of the harpist). Derfel then swears an oath to protect her, which she accepts. Returning to Glevum, Tewdric refuses to commit his troops to the war as he accepts Gorfyddyd's assurance that Mordred is safe. Arthur, however, believes Merlin, and tries to persuade Tewdric to change his mind. Eventually Arthur gives up on Tewdric and marches north to confront Gorfyddyd alone. Derfel and his men undergo a night march to reach and capture Lugg Vale at dawn, ready to hold the position for when Gorfyddyd's main army arrives. The main army is led by Nimue, who has an uncanny ability to find her way in the dark. They succeed in taking the Vale and await Arthur there. Arthur arrives in time to destroy the vanguard of Gorfyddyd's army. He sends Galahad south in the hope that the men of Gwent will come and fight now that they know battle has begun. He then offers Derfel his unique armour so that Gorfyddyd's soldiers will think Derfel is Arthur, which will give Arthur the opportunity to spring a trap on the rear of Gorfyddyd's army and hopefully drive them into panic. Derfel accepts and Arthur rides off into position to spring his trap. Derfel is first confronted by Valerin, who was betrothed to Guinevere before she ran off with Arthur. Valerin screams at Derfel, believing him to be Arthur, that Guinevere was a whore. Derfel cannot control his temper and fights Valerin. After killing him, Derfel finds a lovers' ring on his corpse with Guinevere's symbol on it, which he throws away. The battle then begins with Derfel's troops being forced further uphill, until Morfans, another of Arthur's Commanders, gives the signal for Arthur to attack. Arthur's charge destroys almost a third of Gorfyddyd's army but the king sees the danger in time to defend against it. Arthur's trap has failed. During a lull in the fighting, Galahad returns with the bad news that no-one from Gwent is coming except for perhaps a few volunteers. However, a handful of men from Kernow led by Prince Tristan do come. Tristan wishes to repay Arthur for fighting against Owain. As fighting resumes, Derfel and his men are beaten further back. Then battle stops once again as Cuneglas, Edling of Powys, offers them the chance to surrender. They refuse. Before battle can recommence Merlin arrives. Being a druid, he can walk in safety anywhere. He commands both armies to cease hostilities because he needs all Britons to help him in his Quest for the Cauldron of Clyddno Eiddyn. Gorfyddyd is furious that Merlin might destroy his chance of becoming High King. He refuses Merlin's requests and readies his troops again for battle. Merlin, turning to Derfel, informs him that the Black Shield Irishmen currently allied to Gorfyddyd would switch sides and give Arthur victory. Sure enough, as battle resumes, the Black Shields attack Gorfyddyd and give the victory to Arthur. In the aftermath, Gorfyddyd is fatally wounded but uses his last breath to curse Arthur and declare Guinevere a whore. Arthur loses his temper and calls Gorfyddyd a liar and a thing of filth, challenging any man from Powys to defend their dead King's honour with their sword. None do. Cuneglas apologizes to Arthur for his father and swears an alliance will exist between Dumnonia and Powys against the Sais, bringing the civil war to an end. Derfel and Nimue continue into the Powysian encampment and find Gundleus barricaded in a hut, protected by Tanaburs. Tanaburs threatens to unleash his most terrible curses on Derfel and tells him that he can show him his mother, but Derfel resists the druid's power and cuts him in half. Nimue then slowly tortures Gundleus to death, attaining vengeance for her rape and lost eye. |
Enemy of God | Bernard Cornwell | null | Chapter One: Enemy of God starts off where "The Winter King" left off, with Arthur's unexpected victory over the combined armies of Powys and Siluria. Both Gorfyddyd, king of Powys, and Gundleus, king of Siluria, are dead. Gorfyddyd's son, Cuneglas, shares Arthur's desire for peace and also his dream of an alliance between the British kingdoms that will destroy their common enemies, the Saxons. Derfel is ordered to follow Cuneglas to Caer Sws (Caersws), capital of Powys, where the Edling is to be crowned king. As for the vacant Silurian throne, Arthur tells Derfel of his plan to make Lancelot king and marry him to the princess of Powys, Ceinwyn, thus cementing the alliance between Dumnonia, Powys and Siluria. Derfel does not reveal that he is in love with Ceinwyn, and want her for himself, and goes to Caer Sws, and witnesses Cuneglas' acclamation. Days later, Arthur arrives with his court, including Guinevere and Lancelot. Derfel watches with frustration Ceinwyn's betrothal to Lancelot, and her apparent happiness with the marriage. Derfel speaks with Merlin, and Merlin tells him that Arthur wants him to marry Gwenhwyvach, Guinevere's plain and apathic sister. Merlin asks Derfel to meet him and Nimue late that night on a hilltop, where Merlin has Derfel drink a hallucinogenic potion. Derfel hallucinates about Ceinwyn and sees a dark road and a ghoul, and he describes his vision to Merlin. Merlin tells him the ghoul was Diwrnach, a vicious Irish king of Lleyn, and he also asks Derfel to accompany him on the quest (which also requires the presence of a virgin) for a magical Cauldron, one of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain, but Derfel is committed to taking his men to aid Arthur in his campaign to drive the Saxons out of eastern Britain. Merlin gives Derfel a bone, and tells him that all he has to do is break it and his wish will be granted, namely that Ceinwyn will choose him over Lancelot, but warns that if he breaks it, he will be bound to Merlin's quest. |
Glory Lane | Alan Dean Foster | 1,987 | Punk rock fan Seeth rescues a stranger from arrest at his favorite hang-out, the bowling alley, only to discover that the cops are killer aliens. Seeth soon finds himself on the run, not just on the streets of Earth, but among the stars as well. Along the way he is joined by geeky bookworm Kerwin and Valley girl Miranda and the trio quickly find themselves in the middle of an intergalactic battle. |
Created By | Richard Christian Matheson | 1,993 | ~Plot outline description |
The Killing Doll | Ruth Rendell | 1,984 | The winter before he was sixteen, Pup's Mum died and he sells his soul to the devil. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to get in exchange. For the time being, all he asked for was to be happy, and to grow a bit taller. Even though she was older than Pup, Dolly was always in awe of her brother. More and more, she wanted to believe that he had occult powers and could do anything. Magic could remove the birthmark from her face and make her normal. Magic could kill their wicked stepmother, Myra. Pup laughs when Dolly shows him an effigy of Myra: a rag doll, about fifteen inches high, with knitted nylon skin and rust-coloured wool hair. Dolly sticks it full of pins. Myra dies |
The Speaker of Mandarin | Ruth Rendell | 1,983 | When Chief Inspector Reg Wexford takes a holiday to China, takes in the Great Wall, the Forbidden Palace, he doesn't expect his trip to revisit him in such a horrific way. Shortly after his return, he finds out that one of his fellow tourists from the trip has been killed in her home. A burglary, it seems like, but Wexford has other ideas. |
Pig Island | Mo Hayder | 2,006 | The novel's protagonist is Joe Oakes - "Oakesy" - a journalist who makes his living exposing supernatural hoaxes. So, when a bizarre videotape recorded by a tourist catches a glimpse of a disturbing creature, half-man half-beast, wandering the beaches of a remote Scottish island, Oaksey is just the man to investigate. Pig Island is home to a mysterious religious community, the Psychogenic Healing Ministries, and its leader Pastor Malachi Dove, and they ask him to come to the island to debunk the rumours of Satanism which are the result of the videotape. Oaksey has met Pastor Dove before, and the two have a long-standing threat to make good on. However, Oaksey's visit throws up more questions than answers. Why does the wider community not want him there? Why will no one talk about the creature seen wandering the island? What lies beyond the wood and the gorge that almost splits the island in two, with a fence that has rotting pig heads atop its posts? Most importantly, what has happened to Pastor Dove, not seen on the island for years, and why will no one talk about him? Joe's visit to the island, and its horrific conclusion, is only the beginning of the legacy that Pig Island will leave on his life. |
The Real Majority | Ben J. Wattenberg | 1,970 | The authors argued that while the Democratic Party "owned" "the Economic Issue" (a broad category encompassing such issues as Social Security and employment), the Republicans likewise "owned" "the Social Issue" (crime, drugs, and morality). They argued that whichever party could exploit their own strengths, and neutralize their opponent's, would prevail. The authors traced the dichotomy in part to voter concerns about "law and order" in the 1960s. The concern grew as disorder became associated with racial tension, activism and college radicalism; and the people associated with those issues generally had liberal attitudes on sexual behavior and drug use. The authors argued that the electorate at the time did not share this kind of liberalism. The authors noticed many Democrats took a liberal stance on what they called issues of law and order and permissiveness, and said that this could be potentially disastrous. They intended the book to be a warning to Democrats about the danger. They argued that the "real majority" was still economically liberal, but socially conservative. They advised Democrats that Republicans would increasingly garner votes based on "the Social Issue". The Real Majority is often compared and contrasted with The Emerging Republican Majority, a book by Republican strategist Kevin Phillips which was released at the same time. Phillips concluded that the majority was inevitable, a conclusion Wattenberg and Scammon reject. |
Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur | Bernard Cornwell | null | The novel begins shortly after the end of Enemy of God. Arthur has taken full control of Dumnonia, Guinevere is imprisoned, Mordred who, while still king, has had his power taken away from him. Lancelot has joined with the Saxons and Derfel is trying to deal with both his daughter's death and his service to Arthur. Merlin is preparing for Mai Dun, a pagan ceremony that is said will bring the old gods back to Britain. Before the ceremony though Derfel must go and try to make his father Aelle turn against his ally Cerdic. Upon arrival Cerdic demands Derfel's death but Aelle says his son must fight a Saxon in single combat and if he wins he will be allowed to live. Derfel wins and stays the night but is unable to get his father to stop his attack on Britain. It is finally the time of Mai Dun the ceremony is not completed though due to Arthur realising that Nimue intends to sacrifice his son to bring the gods forth. Finally the Saxons invade, Derfel, who along with Ceinwyn and Guinevere, leads a group of survivors who are trapped at Mount Baddon. Derfel is impressed by Guinevere's efforts in the battle. Eventually, Arthur arrives along with Saragmor and Cuneglas and manage to win a victory over the Saxons. Derfel eventually finds Aelle and kill him. Lancelot is caught and hanged. Cuneglas is killed in battle and thus Arthur loses one of his greatest allies, also the price Arthur has to pay for Gwent's help is giving up his power. After gives up his power he leaves Derfel and Saragmor in charge of Dumnonia's army while Mordred is given back his power. At the same time Mordred goes on war raids later a messenger says he is dying while also being besieged. Derfel trying to avoid a succession issue goes to Arthur. He learns that Arthur does not want to be king but Arthurs son does. Pleased returns to Dumnonia to find Mordred still alive and learns that he faked his injuries and plans to take revenge on both Derfel and Arthur. Derfel manages to escape with the help of Taliesin. Derfel returns to find Ceinwyn is deathly sick, he tries everything to save her, but nothing works. He is taken to meet Nimue who says that she caused Ceinwyn's sickness and will only remove it if Derfel gives her Arthur's sword and Arthur's son. Derfel, having no were else to turn, goes to Morgan who offers to remove the fever if Derfel will agree to convert to Christianity and serve her husband, Sansum. To complete the spell, Derfel's hand is cut off. Mordred comes for Arthur and faces him at Camlan where Mordred is killed and Arthur is wounded. Derfel stops Nimue by throwing Arthur's sword into the sea (The English Channel) and watches as his friend and his lord sails away with Guinevere back to Armorica. |
Fires of Azeroth | C. J. Cherryh | 1,979 | The Gates are passageways through space and time that can, if misused, destroy entire civilizations. Such cataclysms had happened in the past, most recently to the qhal, a species that at one time had enslaved other races, including humans. The Union Science Bureau had dispatched a hundred men and women on a one-way mission to destroy the Gates, closing them behind them as they traveled from one world to the next. Morgaine is the last survivor of that band. In Vanye's world, they had been opposed by an evil ancient being whose knowledge of the Gates rivals Morgaine's own. The creature had taken over the body of Chya Roh, Vanye's cousin, then fled through the Gate of Ivrel to the land of Shiuan. There, he had amassed an army by promising men and half-breed qhal a way out of their dying world. It had taken all of Morgaine's guile to force a passage for her and Vanye through the Gate of Shiuan into a third world, but they were powerless to stop Roh from following with his forces. Being two against a hundred thousand, they are forced to flee into the forests of Azeroth, finding shelter with friendly villagers. Eventually, the natives call on their qhal lord for guidance. Morgaine meets with Merir, lord of Shathan, and receives grudging permission to travel where she wills. The invading army came through the Master Gate. Morgaine heads to Nehmin, where the Gate's controls are located, but on the way, they are attacked. She is seriously wounded, but manages to flee. Vanye is captured by humans led by Fwar, who has a grudge against him. Before he can be tortured overmuch, Vanye is seized by the khal, who resent Roh's power over them. They want any information of the Gates that the prisoner may have. However, Roh is informed and rescues his cousin. Vanye finds the camp deeply divided: Fwar's barrowlanders resented by the more numerous marsh people, both groups hating and despised by the khal, nominally led by Hetharu, but themselves split into factions. Roh barely maintains control over the rabble because of his knowledge of the Gates, or Fires as they are called in this world. Knowing the situation to be unstable, Roh tries to leave quietly with Vanye and Fwar's band, but the khal are alerted and pursue. It is a close race, but some of them reach the shelter of the forest, where the few barrowlanders not caught and killed by the khal are dispatched by Roh and Vanye. Vanye guides Roh to Merir, but the lord of Shathan has no news of Morgaine. Merir decides that they must go to Nehmin for answers. There, Vanye finds Morgaine, recovered from her near-fatal wounds. The guardians of Nehmin have ignored her counsel, distrusting her motives, and now they are under siege. At last, Morgaine forces them to recognize not just the immediate danger, but the ever-present temptation of the power of the Gates; they agree to close them after she and Vanye depart, even though they are their main defense against the horde. Before she leaves, Morgaine offers her assistance against their common enemy. In the desperate fighting, Hetharu and Shien, his main khal rival, are killed. With Fwar already dead, the enemy is left leaderless; the various factions unexpectedly turn on each other, ending the threat. There remains only Roh to trouble Morgaine. Even though the Gates will be shut down, he has the knowledge to reactivate them. Vanye has discovered first-hand that the Roh he knew and admired had not been killed when his body was taken over. Gradually, that Roh has regained control, or so Vanye believes. Morgaine is not entirely convinced, but allows Roh to remain alive (though under watch) when she and Vanye enter the Fires and leave Azeroth forever. |
Gate of Ivrel | C. J. Cherryh | 1,976 | The backward land of Andur-Kursh is split into many cantons, each with ambitious clans vying for power. The loyalty of a warrior of the nobility is given to one's clan. Vanye is one of them, if only the barely tolerated bastard son of the ruler of one of these cantons, the result of a mere night's amusement by a Nhi lord with a captive from an enemy clan, the Chya. One day, he is brought before his father, after killing one legitimate half-brother and maiming the other with his sword, in a baiting that had gone awry. After turning down honorable suicide, he is made ilin, an exiled, clanless warrior akin to the Japanese ronin. Hunted by his half-brothers' vengeful maternal clan, Vanye is forced to enter Morgaine's vale, a place anyone less desperate would have shunned. By chance, he releases Morgaine, a beautiful woman of distinctive appearance, from the Gate there. Vanye recognizes her as a legend from the past. It is winter and Vanye is weary, cold and hungry. So when Morgaine provides food and shelter, he accepts them. Only then does he remember that she, alone of all women, has been given lord-right; she can and does claim a year of service from him in return for accepting her hospitality. Morgaine is determined to complete the mission she and four companions had set out on a century before: to close the master Gate at Ivrel. She explains to Vanye that the Gates that dot the land are passageways through both space and time. One hundred men and women had been sent by the Union Science Bureau on a one-way mission to close all the Gates, lest humanity suffer the fate of another species. The qujal had found the Gates and tapped their powers to rule an interstellar empire of lesser beings, including humans. But one reckless fool had succumbed to temptation and gone back in time, triggering a cataclysm that had wrecked qujal civilization. After many years, the last five Union survivors had reached this world and recruited allies to attack Thiye Thiye's-son, the master of the Gate of Ivrel. But they were betrayed and nearly their entire army was swallowed up by the Gate; only Morgaine and a few soldiers, bringing up the rear, survived. Fleeing before the enemy, she had been forced to seek refuge in a lesser Gate, there to wait in stasis until freed. She seeks aid from Clan Leth, a former staunch ally, but finds it greatly changed and its lord, Kasedre, half mad. His chief counselor, Chya Liell, comes to them late at night and warns them to leave before harm befalls them, killing a guard to give them no choice in the matter. Privately, Liell tries to persuade Vanye to desert Morgaine. Morgaine and Vanye travel into neighboring Chya lands and find themselves uneasy guests of Chya Roh, Vanye's cousin. After questioning and some rest, they are let go, only to be attacked by Thiye's men. Morgaine is forced to draw her sword, Changeling, which turns out to be more than it seems; it can tap the power of the Gates to send its victims elsewhere. The two manage to escape, but run into a Nhi band. Rather than chance another fight, the wounded Morgaine orders Vanye to bargain for shelter and protection. She is set free, though without her sword, while he is forced to remain behind by his brother Erij, now the lord of Nhi. Erij wants his brother to help him rule, knowing him to be trustworthy and bound to him by blood. When persuasion and threats alike prove useless, he draws Changeling, not knowing its powers. Vanye takes advantage of the ensuing mayhem to retrieve the dropped sword and escape to rejoin Morgaine. Roh had warned him not to trust Liell, that rumors said his body had been taken over by another. Morgaine confirms that such a thing can be done using a Gate. She knows that Thiye has prolonged his life by this method and suspects her century-old betrayer also still lives. The aged Liell's attempt to suborn Vanye suddenly takes on a more sinister aspect. After another clash with Nhi warriors, Morgaine is personally escorted by Roh out of his domain. Fearing her intentions, he knocks out a too-trusting Vanye when Morgaine is asleep and ties them both up, but his timing could not have been worse. Liell and his men easily capture all three. He takes Vanye to a Gate, intent on switching bodies. The unease of Liell's men in the unnerving presence of the Gate allows Vanye to escape. By chance, the horse he steals is carrying Changeling. But Vanye's luck still runs bad; he is caught again, this time by his brother Erij. Erij, emboldened by his possession of Changeling and for a variety of reasons, allows himself to be persuaded to go to Ivrel. After driving off Liell's men with the deadly sword, they reach Thiye's fortress. They wait for night before Erij uses Changeling to force their way in. Vanye then takes his brother by surprise and retakes Morgaine's sword. In mortal danger, Erij has no choice, but to guard his back. Inside, they come upon the aged Thiye, but before they can react, the old man is killed by Roh. Roh informs them that Morgaine is loose in the fortress and that Liell is dead. He warns them to flee while they still can, then follows his own advice. Vanye finds Morgaine and surrenders the sword to her, much to Erij's dismay. She confirms Vanye's suspicion; Roh's body now houses Liell's mind. Fearing Morgaine, Roh/Liell had sabotaged the Gate controls so that he could escape to another world, leaving his enemies trapped here. But Morgaine believes that he left too much of a safety margin before the Gates on this world close forever and that she can follow him. She departs in all haste. Erij surprisingly bids his brother to go after her and Vanye gratefully complies. Together, Morgaine and Vanye pass through the Gate. |
Well of Shiuan | C. J. Cherryh | 1,978 | Mija Jherun, a fey seventeen-year-old peasant woman, lives in a world inexorably being overwhelmed by the sea. One day, after looting a barrow, the tomb of a young warrior-king, she is chased by an armored man on horseback back to her village. He breaks into the poor home she shares with her family, helps himself to some food, and asks if anyone has seen a pale woman on a grey horse. After repulsing an attack by the men of the village, he departs for Shiuan, a richer land ruled by the khal, another race that is enough like humans to successfully interbreed. Jherun, yearning for a less bleak future than marrying the thuggish Fwar, runs after him. Instead of finding him, she stumbles upon his mortal enemies: his cousin, Nhi Vanye, and Vanye's lord, Morgaine, the pale woman. They inform her that Chya Roh's body had been taken over by an evil creature who had extended his life countless times by this means. He had betrayed Morgaine and sent ten thousand men to their doom a century before. Fleeing her, he had passed through a Gate from Vanye's world to this one, closing the passageway forever, but not quickly enough to prevent Morgaine and Vanye from following. Jherun knows of two Gates, which she calls Wells. The newcomers had emerged from one; the other is in Shiuan. Morgaine's mission is to travel from world to world, closing their Gates permanently, as they can (and have in the past) destroyed whole civilizations when their immense power is misused. She is the last survivor of a band of one hundred sent for that purpose. Vanye is a chance-met warrior, bound to obey her initially by his stubborn sense of honor and later for other reasons. As they travel towards Shiuan, it begins to rain heavily. They become separated when Vanye is knocked off his horse by an uprooted tree carried by the rapidly rising, onrushing water. He finds Jherun, but not Morgaine. Knowing that Morgaine will make for the Well of Shiuan, he heads there also, accompanied by Jherun. Along the way, Jherun persuades him to seek food and shelter at the fortress of Ohtij-in, held by half-breed khal. This proves to be a grave mistake, as Roh had preceded him there. He treats Vanye well, claiming that the Roh Vanye knew still coexists with his "murderer"; Vanye is uncertain and does not kill him when Roh deliberately gives him the opportunity. Roh has promised the khal a way out of their dying world. The old lord, Bydarra, is skeptical, but his ruthless son Hetharu is more receptive. He murders his own father and puts the blame on Vanye. He assembles his forces and heads off to the Gate with Roh. Vanye is left behind, a prisoner of Hetharu's brother Kithan, but is rescued by Morgaine and an army she has recruited from Jherun's people and their neighbors, the marshlanders. However, when they learn what Morgaine intends, they turn on her, forcing her to kill many with her advanced weapons. Morgaine, Vanye, Jherun and Kithan flee on horseback, followed by the mob on foot. They reach the control room for the Gate of Shiuan, only to find that Roh has locked the controls. He has also left a message: he will allow Vanye safe passage through, but not Morgaine. She orders Vanye to go to Roh, wait his chance to kill him, and continue on with her mission. Knowing that the two of them stand no chance against Roh's army, he reluctantly obeys, taking the other two with him. Roh sees through the ruse immediately, but still accepts his cousin. As they prepare to pass through the Gate, Morgaine attacks with the human rabble, with which she has forged an uneasy alliance. In the confusion, Vanye fights his way to her, and together they force their way through, to continue their quest on yet another world. The rest, khal and human alike, follow, save Jherun and Kithan. Then the Gate closes. |
Exile's Gate | C. J. Cherryh | 1,988 | Morgaine must meet her greatest challenge—Gault, who is both human and alien, and also seeks control of the world and its Gate. She will meet the true Gatemaster—a mysterious lord with power as great, or greater, than her own. |
Ordinary Jack | Helen Cresswell | 1,977 | Depressed at being an 'ordinary' child in a talented family, and by the failure to beat his younger sister at swimming, Jack Bagthorpe enlists the help of his Uncle Parker in hatching a scheme to become equal. Later, a series of events involving Zero (the family dog) and cousin Daisy result in the dining room being destroyed by a spectacular fire involving a box of fireworks. Jack has a clandestine meeting with Uncle Parker during which they conspire to turn Jack into a prophet or seer. His first prediction will concern Uncle Parker appearing in a lavender coloured suit. The meeting ends abruptly as Daisy, excited about the previous evening's events, dabbles with pyromania. Jack returns home to act "mysteriously", as a build up to making his first prophecy. His first attempt is disrupted when Mr Bagthorpe is goaded into attempting a headstand, breaking his writing arm in the process. Jack uses his father's immobility to corner him and make the prediction ("I see a Lavender Man bearing tidings") and shortly thereafter Uncle Parker appears in his suit to complete the prophecy. Flushed with success Jack and Uncle Parker visit a store where they purchase a crystal ball and a set of tarot cards, and plot their next prediction which will involve a red and white bubble. Life in the Bagthorpe family continues to be disrupted. Because of his broken arm, scriptwriter Mr Bagthorpe is unable to work; The arrival of a Danish au-pair causes turmoil amongst the younger family members as they squabble over her attentions; Jack makes prophesies and teaches Zero to fetch sticks; Daisy continues to set fires. As Rosie's birthday nears Mr Bagthorpe suffers further problems; twice he hides in the garden with a cassette recorder to record dialogue, and twice Zero mistakes the microphone for a stick and chews it up. Jack makes a prophecy concerning the giant bubble and bears, and worries the family by naming the date of Rosie's birthday party. Grandma chooses to interpret the bear as a symbol for her cat Thomas, previously killed under the wheels of Uncle Parker's car, and predicts his return. On the day itself, Mr Bagthorpe's literary frustrations reach a peak and he excuses himself from the al-fresco party to do some "serious reading". During his absence the prophecy is fulfilled by a giant balloon carrying two men dressed as bears; however Mr Bagthorpe returns brandishing Jack's diary containing evidence of the conspiracy, to destroy any mystical illusion. An argument is forestalled as smoke caused by Daisy's latest fire rises from the house Finally the plot is exposed. On reflection the family praise Jack for his inventiveness and fine acting. Rosie is pleased that her party succeeds her grandmother's as the most disastrous ever. Mr Bagthorpe's mood lightens as he is revealed to have found Jack's diary only because his "serious reading" involved working his way through Jack's pile of comic books, where the diary was hidden. |
Breakfast in the Ruins | Michael Moorcock | 1,972 | The novel's first chapter begins in London, with Karl Glogauer travelling through Kensington on his way to the Derry and Tom's Roof Gardens. There, on a bench in the Spanish Gardens, he fantasises about the past, trying to put "his mother, his childhood as it actually was, [and] the failure of his ambitions" out of his head with ideals of Regency-era London politics, gambling, women and duelling. His imaginations are interrupted by a "deep, slightly hesitant, husky" voice, a greeting of "Good afternoon", a dark-skinned man who spends the entirety of the novel unnamed. He first asks if he may join Glogauer on the bench, and then goes on to explain that he's merely visiting London, and that he hadn't expected to find such a place in the middle of the city. Glogauer wrongly assumes him to be a rich American tourist, annoyed to have been disturbed from his reverie. The man then asks Glogauer if he may photograph him; Glogauer, now flattered, assents. While he's being photographed, the man explains that he's from Nigeria, attempting to convince the government of England to buy copper at a higher price. Glogauer says that he's an illustrator. The man then invites Glogauer to have tea with him, and Glogauer, feeling guilty, and, despite recalling his mother's words to not have anything to do with people who make you feel guilty, agrees. After journeying through the Tudor and Woodland gardens, they dine at the restaurant. During the meal, Glogauer attempts to introduce himself. The man, however, does not respond, merely offering Glogauer the sugar bowl. He then asks Glogauer to "come back with me", to which Glogauer says "Yes". The second chapter, introducing a format that is followed by most subsequent chapters, excluding the last, begins, in italics, with a short scene in the man's hotel suite. Glogauer has taken his clothes off, and lies naked on the bed. The man touches first his head, and then his shoulders. Glogauer closes his eyes, blocking reality out, and begins a fantasy, similar to that which was interrupted by the man in the first chapter. The ending of the chapter is also another scene, in italics, that is set in the present. |
Eight Days of Luke | Diana Wynne Jones | 1,975 | David Allard, an orphan, returns to his hometown of Ashbury from boarding school to discover that his relatives-cum-guardians have nothing arranged for his summer and he will have to endure their mistreatment for his entire holiday. While walking in the garden, in a fit of frustration he makes up words to use as a curse. David's words seem to cause the garden wall to crumble, and to release a boy a year or so older than himself with flame-red hair, who identifies himself as Luke. Happy to have made a new friend, David notices Luke's odd references to being released from his "chains" and "bowls of venom". The two hastily repair the wall, and David notices that Luke's touch seems to burn the bushes growing beside the wall. Luke says ruefully that he "can't bring the dead back to life." Luke also tells David that simply kindling a flame will summon him. When David and his young cousin-by-marriage, Astrid (who seems the best of the awful relatives) are on a shopping expedition the next day, Luke duly appears when David lights a match. Luke ingratiates himself with Astrid, and when a bored David suggests it would be great if the building across from them caught on fire, the building suddenly does. People are trapped. It is only when David tells Luke that he wants the fire out, and reminds Luke that he cannot bring the dead back to life, that the fire dies down. That evening, David escapes punishment because his uncle is upset that his gardener has found another job over at Thunderly Hill. David notices more odd things about Luke; he can entertain his friend with fiery doodles. Also, when Luke is asleep, he seems ageless, and heals uncommonly quickly. In the morning, the new gardener Mr. Chew arrives. He is very interested in David, and in the place where Luke's release took place. Luke, who has slept over, seems afraid of Chew, castigating himself for his carelessness in scorching the plants. David helps Luke escape the house without Chew noticing, and they play cricket (David's obsession) down the street, where they meet a new friend, Alan. David is unable to escape the house in the afternoon, due to Chew's vigilance. David is sent again to his room without supper, though Astrid secretly brings him food. The next morning, a well-dressed man named Mr. Wedding arrives and persuades David's relations to let him take David out for lunch in a car chauffeured by a beautiful lady. He quickly gains David's trust, and David gladly tells him all the things about school he could not tell his relatives. They arrive at a green island, linked to the mainland by a long arching bridge with a rainbow-like effect. While David is served a wonderful lunch, Mr. Wedding begins interrogating David about Luke, and David admits only to releasing Luke while trying to curse. David notices for the first time that Wedding is missing an eye. Wedding tells David that Luke was imprisoned for doing something terrible. He tries frightening David, threatening to keep him captive, promising him a bribe, even shaming him. None of this is successful - David will not betray Luke - and eventually Mr. Wedding returns David home, seeming to admire David for his stubbornness. But first he makes a deal with David: if David can keep Luke free until Sunday, then Luke is safe for good. Mr. Wedding sets a talking raven to watch David, but he is able to evade the bird and summon Luke. He tells Luke about the deal, who is confident that they will win against Mr. Wedding. The next day, David is blocked from leaving the house by two ravens - until he distracts them with a joint of meat while he drives off with Astrid. Luke appears when David strikes a match for Astrid's cigarette, and is suddenly caught by a fair, strong ginger-haired individual. However, after Luke is questioned by the fellow, he is released. It seems the individual, who seems very nice, has lost something. Luke denies any knowledge. David and Luke agree that the best course is for Luke to simply vanish until Monday. But the next day, the Frys from down the street show up, followed shortly by Mr. Chew and Mr Wedding. When a confused Astrid needs a cigarette lit, the inevitable happens - Luke appears and is caught by the group. They begin shouting demands at Luke; Luke denies everything, and David defends him, saying Luke did not act out of revenge, but as a favour for someone now dead. Luke admits that he did help someone hide something so it might never be found. The crowd is grudgingly convinced that this is true, and Mr. Wedding strikes a new deal with David: since David has no idea what he is looking for, it is possible for him to find it (according to the rules of the charm Luke laid down). If David restores what the ginger-haired fellow lost by Sunday, Luke will remain free, otherwise he will be sent back to prison. Astrid has figured out the puzzle, but Luke warns her not to tell David. David convinces one of the ravens to lead them to a house on Wednesday Hill, where David should find "three Knowing Ones under the tree." It is Alan's house, and through a secret door, David and Alan find a huge tree, with three blind crones, sharing an eye among them, washing, spinning, and cutting wool at a well. They refuse to talk until David captures their eye - then they tell David to go to the place (Wallsey) where Mr. Wedding took him and ask the man with the dragon where to look. The next day, Astrid drives David, Alan, and her husband, Cousin Ronald, to Wallsey, which appears very different from when David saw it with Mr. Wedding. David searches the hall, which is filled with strong young men cheating pinball machines, until he finds what he was told to look for—a man with a dragon tattoo. By the rules, the three must run a gauntlet before having their questions answered, which the boys do courageously and Ronald does in a cowardly fashion. The dragon man admits to taking the item they sought as revenge, on behalf of a woman who blamed Mr. Wedding for something that happened. The woman can be found on Thunderly Hill, where a hospital is now built. David, Luke, Astrid, Ronald, and the ginger-haired fellow all proceed to Thunderly Hill, on the excuse that Ronald's minor injuries should be treated. When David and Luke step inside "Firestone Ward", they find themselves on a grassy hillside that burns but is never consumed. Luke admits that he set the fire, long ago, and it will burn until the end of time. David braves the flames (with Luke doing his best to suppress the fire) and discovers a cairn, on which a hauntingly beautiful lady in armour lies, not quite dead, but barely breathing. Across her chest rests a stone implement with a too-short handle. When David realizes it is a hammer, suddenly everything falls into place and he realizes who everyone really is. He returns to Luke, and is told that an entire day has passed - David has been outside time. He restores the hammer to the ginger-haired fellow, who is of course Thor. Mr. Wedding is Woden, chief of the gods. The dragon man is Siegfried, and the lady Brunhilda. Astrid reveals that (no doubt with divine interference) David's other relatives have been exposed as financial frauds, and have fled. Astrid will now be David's guardian. Luke will be around - but at the final battle yet to come, he and Mr. Wedding will be on opposite sides. |
Specimen Days | Michael Cunningham | 2,005 | "In the Machine", set in mid-to-late 19th Century New York, begins in the aftermath of a wake. Simon, a young man working in a factory had been accidentally sucked into a factory machine which crushed him to death. Due to the poverty present in the lower classes during the Industrial Revolution, Simon's family sends Lucas, Simon's disfigured younger brother, to work at the factory in Simon's place. Lucas has a strange affliction in which he intermittently and uncontrollably spouts the poetry of Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' (Lucas' favourite book). Walt Whitman was a contemporary of the time and Lucas meets him during the course of the story. Lucas is also concerned Simon has become a ghost and inhabits not only the machine that killed him but all the machines that are becoming commonplace in the city as a result of the Industrial Revolution. This concern leads Lucas to fear for the life of Catherine, Simon's bereaved girlfriend. Lucas believes Simon's ghost may try to inhabit the machines at the factory where Catherine works as a seamstress with a view to take Catherine to the afterlife by killing her through the machine's function. Lucas embarks on a mission to save Catherine by preventing her from going to work. Lucas' fear of Simon's ghost is, at the same time, a fear of the Machine and, on a larger scale, the Industrial Revolution in New York City itself. The machines replace humans, even kill them, and the industrial revolution has demeaned the importance of each human individual with its positioning of people as cogs in its own giant machine. In this light, Lucas' fears and Whitman's transcendental poetry represent the affirmation of humanity and each individual's importance. |
After the Hole | Guy Burt | null | At an English public school, five students - Liz (the narrator of many flash backs), Mike (the protagonist of most of the student's time in the titular "hole"), Alex, Frankie and Geoff - are lured into an abandoned cellar by a malevolent prankster named Martyn. All is well for the three days, in which they socialise and get to know each other better; but when three days pass and Martyn is nowhere to be seen, the group must face the possibility that they are trapped indefinitely. Flash forwards of a "dream summer" section punctuate the story, narrated by Liz, reveal that most of them got out of the hole (Liz interacts awkwardly with Alex at one point) and Mike and Liz are now living together while Liz writes a book based on everything that happened within the Hole. Liz also keeps tapes of interviews with a girl named "Lisa" who talks of her romantic relationship with Martyn. In the Hole, they become increasingly desperate for food, beginning to face up to the fact that Martyn's experiment was really to play God with all of them. Mike and Liz meet at night in the small bathroom section and talk a lot. At one point Mike believes he sees the keyhole of the trapdoor locking them in the Hole "winking" at him, but dismisses this on grounds that he is hallucinating, or so he thinks. The water supplies go off. Mike tells Liz his experience with the "winking" keyhole and from this she decides that Martyn must have bugged the main room but not the bathroom area where Mike and Liz have been talking. Liz formulates a plan to test their theory, by saying how lucky they are to have light, and see if Martyn turns off the electricity. They then sleep together. Liz follows through with it, and everything goes to plan. The electricity goes off. Liz tells the others that a friend of hers knows about the prank and if she doesn't return he will come and rescue them. Everyone rejoices, but Mike is suspicious. Lisa's story goes on in parallel to this, via the tapes Liz has made of "interviews" she had with Lisa. On the same day Liz plots this, Lisa goes over to Martyn's house and tries to break up with him. Martyn barely listens and, in anger, rapes Lisa. After this, he walks out and supposedly never returns. Lisa goes into his office, searching for him, and sees the tapes of The Hole. She realises everything that has gone on and goes to the Hole, rescuing everyone. At this point, Liz's narrative ends and there is an extremely ambiguous epilogue written by Dr. Phillippa Horwood, who casts the whole of Liz's testimony in doubt by saying that Michael ("Mike") Rollins died on the sixteenth day in the Hole, that Liz was the "sole survivor" and that no records of the infamous Martyn exist, heavily implying that Liz created Martyn in order to place blame on someone other than herself. It is also heavily implied - but never actually decided - that Liz and Lisa are the same person. |
Hostage | Robert Crais | 2,001 | The story begins when three young boys rob a minimart and the salesclerk is killed. Police chase the boys and they end up taking a family hostage. The house taken hostage was owned by Sonny Benza, a man who rules over the West Coast's most powerful Mafia empire. Sonny arranges for his men to kidnap the small town's police chief, Jeff Talley's, family. Talley goes to the location where his family is being held. A man named Marion Clewes executes Benza and his associates for their failure because Marion's employer in New York feels that Benza had betrayed the trust of Marion's employer by failing to retrieve two discs that could shut down Benza's organization and put Benza away for good. The police obtain one of the discs. Rather than killing Talley and his family, Marion lets them live. |
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit | Paula Danziger | 1,974 | The story follows Marcy Lewis, an amply-contoured thirteen-year-old freshman girl who hates her looks. She has a verbally abusive father and it seems her parents, Martin and Lily Lewis, are always fighting. She also has a younger brother named Stuart who tends to carry his teddy bear, Wolf, with him everywhere he goes. Her dad doesn't make her feel good about her excuses that result in her failing gym for the year. Marcy refuses to take gym due to her insecurity over her large figure. Marcy only has one friend, Nancy Sheridan. Nancy later admits she was Marcy's friend only because her mother told her to be, as both of their mothers were friends and participated in the PTA. Later on, Nancy grows to like Marcy as a good friend. However as Nancy was very popular Marcy sometimes got jealous of her. After going through a lot of English teachers, the school hires Barbara Finney, a teacher whose methods are completely unorthodox, and, unlike most of her teaching colleagues, was willing to listen to her students. Through a school club she sets up, called Smedley, Marcy meets a lot of new friends. She even meets a boy who seems to be attracted to her, Joel Anderson, whose attorney father works with the Board of Education. Then one day, the principal, Mr. Stone, comes to observe Ms. Finney. She teaches the syllabus material well, but the same unorthodox teaching techniques that work for the kids by Ms. Finney are abhorred by the school administrators, including Stone, and the vice principal, Mr. Goldman. Marcy and her friends suddenly find themselves coming to Ms. Finney’s defense when she is threatened with the loss of her job, mainly because she refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Marcy and her friends help start a protest and she, along with her friends, are suspended by Mr. Stone. During the situation with Ms. Finney, Marcy gains an ally in her mother, who is the president of the PTA. This pits both Marcy and Lily against Martin, who, like Mr. Stone, believes that Ms. Finney isn't a proper teacher, and is unpatriotic, and because of that, should be fired. Joel's father joins the fight and sides with his son, much like Lily sides with Marcy. Also siding with Lily and Marcy was Nancy's parents. Of the four students, besides Marcy's father, Robert Alexander's mother sides with Stone against Ms. Finney, and punishes her son for his involvement in the protest. Ms. Finney brings a legal case against her firing; once in court some of her students speak in her defense. She also brings up the legal case for refusing to say the school Pledge of Allegiance. Martin becomes impossible by trying to sabotage the family's car to keep Lily and Marcy from attending the hearing. During the School board hearing, the fiercely divided board reluctantly reinstates her due to there being a legal precedent to support her stand. However, Ms. Finney, realizing that she would be going back into an impossible situation and after seeing the community so fiercely torn apart and divided by the issue, immediately resigns. Marcy and her friends feel betrayed, but come to understand her reasons, as they eventually use her lessons as they move forward in life. The story ends with Marcy becoming closer to Joel; Lily going to night classes at the local college; Marcy's relationship with her father still strained; and for the most part life returning to normal. They get a new English teacher, who is more in line with the administration's expectations; and Ms. Finney takes classes in bibliotherapy, counseling using books and writing, which interests Marcy. |
To Catch a Thief | David F. Dodge | null | In August 1951, French police come to arrest American John Robie at his villa in Vence near the Côte d'Azur. He escapes, leaping over the garden wall. In the late 1930s, Robie was a daring, supremely athletic burglar, known as Le Chat ("the cat"), who specialized in jewel thefts from hotels and villas on the French Riviera. He was caught and sent to prison in 1939. But during the German occupation of France in World War II, the Germans released a lot of convicts from French prisons, including Robie. He and many other released convicts joined the French Resistance (the Maquis), and fought against the Germans. After the war, there was an unofficial amnesty for those released convicts who had been maquisards. Their previous sentences were not remitted, but as long as they refrained from new crimes they would be left alone. Some returned to underworld occupations, but Robie retired. He had saved some of the proceeds of his thefts, and did not need to steal. He bought his villa, tended his garden, and played boules with the townsfolk, including his friends Commissaire Oriol and Count Paul. He comforted Paul during the tragic death of his wife Lisa from tuberculosis. Then in 1951, there were new jewel thefts on the Riviera, exactly in the style of Le Chat. Robie was suspected, but he assured Oriol that Le Chat was dead - killed in the Resistance. But after more thefts, Oriol's suspicion returned, and he tried to arrest Robie. After escaping, Robie contacts Bellini in Cannes. Robie wants to leave France, but Bellini asks him to help catch the new Le Chat. The police are cracking down, threatening to send all the old ex-prisoners back to prison. The thief is using Robie's methods, so Robie can help them catch the thief, and get the police off their backs. Jean-Pierre disguises Robie as a pudgy, middle-aged man. As "Jack Burns", vacationing American businessman, Robie scouts the Riviera, visiting nightclubs and casinos. He identifies three likely targets for the new Le Chat: Mrs. Stevens, the Souzas, and the Sanfords. He works out Le Chat-style plans for burglarizing their residences. Unfortunately, Mrs. Stevens becomes attached to "Burns". He stood next to her in a casino (to study her jewelry), making small, cautious bets at roulette. Mrs. Stevens copied his bets with much larger sums, and won two million francs. She used the money to buy a pin - a diamond dog with emerald eyes. She decides that "Lucky" Burns is her personal good-luck charm. Whenever she sees him, she joins him, buys him drinks, and copies his bets, attracting attention Robie doesn't want. So Bellini provides Robie with Danielle, a pretty girl to escort "Burns" in the casinos. This annoys Claude, Danielle's muscular would-be boyfriend, but keeps Mrs. Stevens away. "Burns" has also attracted the attention of Francie Stevens, who is suspicious of men who may want to exploit her trusting mother. The thief strikes again, and Sûreté headquarters in Paris sends senior detective Lepic and additional agents. Mr. Paige announces an offer to buy back the jewels for 20% of their value - no questions asked. Then Robie encounters Count Paul in Cannes. Paul doesn't recognize him, but Robie has to stop his scouting. He dismisses Danielle. Francie Stevens has guessed that "Burns" is Le Chat. She mistakenly thinks that he is the leader of a gang, which staged all the apparent feats of Le Chat. She is excited to meet a master thief, and suggests that he rob her mother, whose jewelry is insured, except the diamond dog. But she insists that the dog must not be taken - even though this would be an obvious giveaway. Bellini provides Robie with six tough ex-maquisards, including his old comrades Coco and Le Borgne. If they catch the thief and recover the jewels, they can share the reward. Robie sets Coco and two men to watch the Souzas' cottage, and Le Borgne with two men to watch the Sanfords' chateau. He himself will watch in Mrs. Stevens' hotel. He has determined that the thief must strike by night. That night, Mrs. Stevens goes out for an all-night gambling session, wearing most of her jewels. Francie (wearing the rest) has Robie take her out for the night. He complies, since there is nothing for the thief to steal. But Mrs. Stevens loses her stake quickly and comes home early. After she goes to sleep, the thief strikes. Count Paul is among the crowd attracted by the alarm over the theft, and recognizes Robie. Paul won't expose him, but he wants an introduction to Danielle. She reminds him of his beloved Lisa, and he must meet her. Robie tells him who she is, but deliberately rejects Paul's offer to help him. Francie thinks Robie's gang stole the jewels. She demands the return of the diamond dog, threatening to expose him. Robie plays for time. Robie thinks that perhaps Danielle, who is clever, and Claude, who is athletic, are behind the thefts. Bellini investigates, and clears Claude. At the Souzas' cottage, Coco dismisses one of his crew, a quarrelsome gypsy, and Robie joins him on watch. The next day, at the beach, he introduces Paul to Danielle. Later, Robie tells her about Lisa. Francie again pressures Robie for the diamond dog, and he tells her the whole story; also, how he came to be Le Chat. His parents were circus acrobats, as was he. He was orphaned when young, came to Europe, was stranded, and took to burglary. Two nights later, Robie spots a figure sneaking away from the Souza cottage. Then Detective Lepic shoots the man dead. It is the gypsy, who tried to take advantage of Robie's Le Chat-style planning. This seems to exonerate Le Chat, but the stolen jewels are still missing. Robie is certain that the gypsy was not athletic enough to be the hotel thief. The thief is still at large, and will strike again. The target will be the Sanfords. The next weekend is their gala house party, and the guests will bring fabulous jewels. Francie wangles an invitation for "Burns". But Count Paul is also a guest. Paul demands that Robie leave, and won't listen to his explanation. Lepic and Oriol also arrive to protect the guests' jewels. Robie abandons his disguise and lies in wait for the thief on the roof of the chateau. Late that night, he pursues the thief over the roof. The police are aroused, and Oriol demands Robie's surrender. Robie catches up with the thief, who is Danielle. Reflexively, he joins her in evading the police. They slip through the window of Paul's room. Paul hides them from Oriol, and now listens to Robie's story. Danielle too was a hungry young orphan acrobat. She deliberately mimicked the famous Le Chat, and never recognized "Burns" until they met on the roof. Paul, who is in love with Danielle, asks her to marry him. He can pay what is required to save her freedom. But Robie has a better idea - since she still has the stolen jewels. Danielle and Bellini take the jewels to Paige, who tells Oriol and Lepic that the jewels have been returned and "Burns" was his company's agent. With the jewels restored, and the dead gypsy, the case is closed. Robie can now return safely to Vence, where he has everything he wants - except, he now realizes, Francie Stevens. He finds her packing to leave for America... |
Master of the Moor | Ruth Rendell | 1,982 | Columnist Stephen Walby, known as the Voice of Vangmoor, often goes on long walks through the countryside that lies outside his window. However, events take on a sinister turn when he stumbles across the body of a young woman, whose face has been badly disfigured and her hair shaven. After another corpse surfaces he finds himself under suspicion from the local police, and when he then goes on to discover that his wife has been having an affair, tragedy ensues... |
Put on By Cunning | Ruth Rendell | 1,981 | When the esteemed flautist Sir Manuel Camargue slips on a snowy path one dark night and falls into an icy river, his death seems like an open and shut case. However, when Wexford discovers that the old man's long lost daughter has just arrived in anticipation of the reading of his will, suspicions of foul play arise... |
The Lake of Darkness | Ruth Rendell | 1,980 | Martin Urban is a young accountant leading the comfortable though somewhat dull life of a bachelor. Unexpectedly he wins a very large sum of money in a football pool (104,754 pounds 46 pence), but he decides to give half the money away to the poor. Then Francesca enters into his life, a mysterious young woman who captures his heart. And when he meets Finn, the twisted son of his mother's cleaning lady, the good intentions of Martin become fatally entangled with the macabre madness of Finn, with deadly results. nl:The Lake of Darkness |
A Sleeping Life | Ruth Rendell | 1,978 | The body found under the hedge was that of a middle-aged woman, biggish and gaunt. There was nothing to give Detective Chief Inspector Wexford her address, her occupation or even her identity - let alone any clues which might lead to her killer. |
The Torments of the Traitor | Ian Irvine | 2,006 | Torments of the Traitor is also the story of a new character Maelys, whose once great family have hatched a plan for her to rescue Nish from the prison his father has set him in and to seduce him into marrying her. Maely's family hope to be raised up to their former glory if Nish rebels against his Father, and become God-Emperor, or if he joins his father and becomes his lieutenant. Either way Maely's family benefits. Nish has been imprisoned for the last ten years. His time for release has finally come. However the condition is that he must swear loyalty to his evil father, the man who had his beloved Irisis beheaded. Through Nish swore in front of thousands when he was first imprisoned, that he would never join his Father Jal-Nish after ten years, his will to fight has left him, and is unsure whether he can resists Jal-Nish Hlar's temptations. At the conclusion of the novel, the characters, who have grouped together, make the decision to seek down Irvine's mysterious boogeyman, the Numinator. |
The Last Camel Died at Noon | Barbara Mertz | 1,991 | A relatively quiet evening at home in 1897 for the Emersons is disturbed by the appearance of Reggie Forthright and his grandfather, Viscount Blacktower. The two visitors have information about Blacktower's older son, Willoughby Forth, who disappeared fourteen years ago in the desert west of the Nile in the Sudan. They tell the story of a lost civilization in the midst of the desert. Lord Blacktower's story would have been discounted, except the map he produced was on the back of a page from Emerson's own notebook, drawn by Willie Forth himself. Blacktower wants the Emersons to lead an expedition to find the missing heir, but the Emersons decline. Surprisingly, Radcliffe, Amelia and Ramses do travel to the Sudan, to excavate at Gebel Barkal and Napata, the first Nubian capital. The sudden appearance of Reggie Forthright causes them to alter their plans. Reggie is set on seeking his long-lost uncle, and when he disappears in the western wastes, the Emersons have no recourse but to go after him. But the rescuers need rescue themselves when all but one of their men desert them, and their camels die off one by one. Finally, the last faithful servant takes a chance, and looks for a promised oasis ahead. Nearly dead from heat and thirst, they suddenly find themselves in a world 3,000 years out of place. Amelia suffers the worst of it, taking weeks to fully recover. She is spurred on because they find themselves in a place where ancient Egypt is still alive and functioning. And they find that their servant was in fact one of two brothers struggling for power in the ancient land. They soon learn that anyone who thought life in ancient Egypt was simple would have been grossly mistaken. The intrigues, politics, and social mores push and prod the Emersons in ways they never expected, and they still need to discover what happened to Willie Forth, his wife, and his nephew. Dinner with princes and a queen, clandestine meetings with priestesses, and plans to escape all jumble together until the god Aminreh appears to make his decision, and all three Emersons are in the midst of the action when Aminreh makes the choice no one expected... Nefret Forth is introduced, and the source of her later wealth is established. So too is the devotion the family has to a young woman they did not know the existence of just a short while before. |
Atom Bomb Blues | Andrew Cartmel | null | The Doctor and Ace travel to a parallel universe, where they become involved in a conspiracy involving that Earth's Manhattan Project, Duke Ellington, and Japanese saboteurs. |
The Thin Man | Dashiell Hammett | 1,934 | The story is set in Prohibition-era New York City. The main characters are a former private detective, Nick Charles, and his clever young wife, Nora. Nick, son of a Greek immigrant, has given up his career since marrying Nora, a wealthy socialite, and he now spends most of his time cheerfully getting drunk in hotel rooms and speakeasies. Nick and Nora have no children, but they do own a Schnauzer named Asta. (Only in the film adaptation is she a wire fox terrier.) Charles is drawn, mostly against his will, into investigating a murder. The case brings them in contact with a rather grotesque family, the Wynants, and also with an assortment of policemen and lowlifes. As they attempt to solve the case, Nick and Nora share a great deal of banter and witty dialogue, along with copious amounts of alcohol. The characters of Nick and Nora are often thought to reflect the personalities of Hammett and his long-time lover, Lillian Hellman. Because the "Thin Man" title was used for the subsequent movies, there is a widespread misapprehension that the term refers to Nick Charles himself; in fact it refers to Clyde Wynant, the mysterious and eccentric patriarch who is the main concern of the plot. A skeletonized body, found during the investigation, had been assumed to be that of a "fat man" due to its being found in clothing from a much heavier man. This clothing is revealed to be a diversion, and the identity of the body is finally revealed as that of a particular "thin man" instead—the missing Wynant. The murder has been disguised in a way to frame Wynant, by people who have stolen a great deal of money from Wynant and killed him, on the night he was last seen. |
Fear Itself | Nick Wallace | null | It is the twenty-second century and Earth is caught in a war with powerful alien forces. Paranoia runs rampant and the Doctor is in danger from all directions. This was the only Past Doctor Adventure to feature the Eighth Doctor, as the original novels featuring that incarnation formed their own series, the Eighth Doctor Adventures. However, with the 2005 revival of the television series, and the BBC's New Series Adventures being published, the Eighth Doctor Adventures came to an end. |
City at World's End | Christopher Bulis | null | The Doctor and his two companions travel to Arkhaven. It is one of the last cities on a doomed alien planet. The city has one plan for survival, no backup. However, there are underlying plans threatening to sabotage this as various people vie for power the disaster might bring. The Doctor then must deal with the 'Creeper', an entity prowling the outskirts of Arkhaven. His companions cannot help him, as one becomes lost and the other becomes mentally ill. |
Running Out of Time | Margaret Haddix | 1,995 | Keyser is a 13-year-old girl from the village of Clifton, Indiana in the 1840s. During a village-wide outbreak of diphtheria, Jessie's mother reveals that the actual year is 1996, and that Clifton Village is actually a tourist attraction, a replica of a historical village. She secretly sends Jessie out of the village with a pair of jeans and t-shirt to retrieve a cure for the disease from a man who disagreed on having Clifton as a tourist attraction, Isaac Neeley. But Jessie has to be careful because there are a few guards that have to make sure that no one from Clifton leaves and finds out that it is really 1996 and not 1840. Miles Clifton was the creator of Clifton. Jessie escapes underground and almost gets caught by guards and almost loses her package of food and money. Not wanting others to realize she is from 1840s Clifton, she stays overnight in a restroom until she is able to leave the tourist area. Jessie is often confused at the technological advancements of the modern world. After meeting with Neeley at a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in Waverly, Indiana, she returns with him to his apartment, where Neeley attempts to drug her so he can kill her. Jessie overhears Neeley saying that she knows too much about the outside world. She manages to escape through a window in his apartment. Jessie convinces local newspapers and radio stations to attend a news conference on the steps of the Capitol building. When the media arrives, Jessie attempts to explain the situation, but faints due to diphtheria, which had infected her before she left Clifton. The "news conference" causes Clifton Village to close; it is revealed that Miles Clifton allowed Frank Lyle (a scientist and the business partner of Miles Clifton) and others to use his village to try to create a stronger human gene pool of people able to resist diseases without the aid of medicine. Jessie awakens in a hospital, where she learns that the real Mr. Neeley had died, the person she met was actually Frank Lyle. Jessie leaves her hospital room and finds him talking about the diphtheria outbreak in the Clifton Village. She discovers that several other members of the Clifton Village have been brought to the hospital. Her parents are not among those who were arrested, but they have to convince the authorities that they didn't put any of their six children in danger. Jessie's mother is allowed to visit Jessie in the hospital and explain to Jessie that her father still believes in the life of 19th century. However, she gets to live in 1996 after Clifton Village closes. |
Incubus Dreams | Laurell K. Hamilton | null | Incubus Dreams apparently takes place a few weeks after the events of Cerulean Sins. As usual, Anita must juggle several problems simultaneously. * First, in her job as an animator, Anita must respond to the request of Barbara and Steve Brown that Anita raise their dead son, Stevie Brown, a high school student murdered three years earlier, probably by an acquaintance. Anita explains that it is not possible to raise a murder victim and question them, because that kind of zombie has only one purpose (to kill the murderer), but agrees to assist the police in investigating the murder. * Second, Anita continues to wrestle with the metaphysical problems raised by her recent increase in power. She, Jean-Claude, Richard, and Damian are all experiencing unexpected increases in their magical power, with unpredictable results. * Third, Anita continues to assist Jean-Claude with vampire politics, as Jean-Claude confronts a challenge from The Dragon and her offspring, Primo and as Anita and Jean-Claude realize that the vampires in town that follow Malcolm rather than Jean-Claude have not been bound by blood oath, leaving them as essentially unrestrained predators. * Fourth, Anita's personal life becomes increasingly complex, both as a result of Anita's increasing ardeur and as a result of the personal problems of the various people involved. In particular, Nathaniel has decided that his relationship with Anita should advance to a sexual relationship, Damian continues to struggle with his role as Anita's vampire servant, and Anita's love/hate relationship with Richard remains as powerful as ever. Anita also must deal with jealousy from Jessica Arnett, a RPIT detective with a crush on Nathaniel, and with increasing distrust by various police officers as a result of her close relationship with the city's vampires and shapeshifters and as a result of her increasingly sexually-based abilities. * Fifth, Anita attempts to assist the police in solving a series of vampire serial killings, apparently focusing on area strip club workers or patrons. Unlike previous novels, although Anita resolves some of these issues by the end of the book, many remain unresolved. * With regard to the Stevie Brown murder, although Anita agrees to investigate, she is unable to make progress on the investigation during this novel, and notes in the epilogue that she intends to review Brown's personal effects with Evans soon. (Evans is a very powerful psychometrist). * With regard to Anita's metaphysical problems, she makes considerable progress. Anita learns that she can partially control the ardeur by drawing power from others' lust and by ensuring that her other desires, such as physical hunger, do not go unfulfilled. Richard realizes that a great deal of his unstable behavior in recent novels is a result of his acquiring Anita's rage through their spiritual link, and Jean-Claude begins to stabilize his own power after Anita gives him permission to feed on the lust of his club patrons. * Anita also makes progress on resolving the vampire politics issues that arise in this novel. Using her own powers and her link to Jean-Claude, she binds Primo to Jean-Claude's service, and, with her challenge defeated, The Dragon expresses interest in negotiating with Jean-Claude. Anita also accepts Wicked and Truth, two other warrior vampires, into Jean-Claude's service, greatly increasing Jean-Claude's ability to resist physical challenges. However, the issue of Malcolm's vampires remains unresolved, as both Anita and Jean-Claude believe that without a blood oath, some of the vampires of the Church of Eternal Life will eventually revert to predators. * Anita's personal life also resolves in a number of ways. She accepts Nathaniel as the fourth of her concurrent lovers, and she and Richard also agree to renew their relationship. (Although Nathaniel and Micah appear to accept or want Anita as their only lover, Anita reluctantly agrees to accept Richard's decision to date other people, and allows Jean-Claude to begin feeding his lust from others, at least spiritually). The major unresolved issues in Anita's personal life appear to be her relationship with Damian, who she attempts to offer more independence but who also wants to be one of her lovers, and her role as a law enforcement officer, which is becoming more and more difficult as she continues to identify with the "monsters." * Anita is unable to resolve the serial killer investigation fully. Although she and the police kill several of the lesser vampires responsible for the murders, the more powerful vampires escape to kill in another city, particularly their leader, Vittorio. Anita promises herself that she will track Vittorio and his remaining followers down. In the epilogue, Anita explains that she has bought gifts for her various lovers (except for Richard), and that she is committed to continuing her life as a vampire executioner, and to resolving the remaining open plotlines discussed above. |
Truth and Bright Water | Thomas King | null | The novel begins with a Prologue, which describes the setting, the physical landscape around the two towns, Truth on the American side and the reserve Bright Water on the Canadian. The two towns are separated by the Shield river, which also marks the national border, and ineffectually connected by an uncompleted bridge and a "ferry," an old iron bucket suspended over the river on a steel cable. We first meet the three central characters, Tecumseh, his dog Soldier and his cousin Lum, on the riverside. Lum is training for the long-distance run to take place at the Indian Days festival, which he hopes to win. The two boys see a truck approach the coulee; a woman emerges from the vehicle, throws a suitcase into the river and jumps after it herself. However, when the boys and the dog run down to the river to see what happened to her, she has disappeared and Soldier just finds the small skull of a child long dead. The story branches out from this point to touch the stories of other characters connected to Tecumseh, his mother, who yearns to leave Truth to move to a big city and become an actress. His aunt Cassie, his mother's older sister and sometime role-model, who left the reserve to travel the world, but who has a mysterious guilt in her past that seems to bring her back to her home. One of the most central of these storylines involves Monroe Swimmer, who refers to himself as "famous Indian artist," and who, like Cassie, has returned to the reserve. Monroe, a specialist in restoring paintings, buys the abandoned Methodist missionary church building and proceeds to paint it "out of" the landscape. The narrator leaves no doubt that the church actually becomes invisible even to Monroe himself when he is finished. Tecumseh becomes his assistant in a number of artistic endeavors (such as setting up metal buffalo statues to lure back the real buffalos chased away—or actually exterminated—by the white settlers in the nineteenth century), and Monroe is the only one of the adults who actually takes him seriously. Monroe tells Tecumseh important things about himself, even if he does it so that Tecumseh can then compose songs about his, Monroe's, heroic deeds. Eventually, Tecumseh finds out from Monroe that he not only restored nineteenth-century landscape paintings when he worked for museums around the world, he had also painted Indians "back into" the paintings and taken Native remains collected in these museums to take back. Monroe claims he is "going to save the world" (131). Another "heroic deed" of Monroe is his grand giveaway festival, to which he invites the whole town and at which he gives away all his possessions (these gifts also have symbolic meaning, e.g. Cassie receives an Inuit sculpture of a woman with a child on her back, Tecumseh gets the piano). Finally, it turns out that Monroe, wearing his characteristic wig, was the mysterious "woman" on the river and the skull the boys found one of the re-appropriated pieces of Native American history stolen from various Indian nations. Another story-line takes up Elvin, Tecumseh's father, a carpenter and smuggler, who tries to get things done and to be a good father, but who continually falls short. Tecumseh's parents are separated, but the father makes a number of ineffectual attempts to lure Tecumseh's mother back into a relationship. A chair that one of the members of the Indian band ordered, but which Elvin never gets done, is a running joke and emblematic of Elvin's inability to finish what he sets out to do. It comes as a complete surprise to everyone, including the narrator, when he drives to the Indian Days festival in the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, the car he had been promising to fix for Tecumseh's mother throughout the novel. Lum is perhaps the most tragic character in the novel. His abusive father Franklin (Elvin's brother) told him his mother was dead, but Lum does not believe him and hopes she will come back. There is a moving scene in which he talks to the child's skull they found in the river imagining "he" is crying for his lost mother: "'Stupid baby' [...] 'She's not coming back!' [...] 'She's never coming back!" (177). Franklin injures Lum so severely one day that he is unable to participate in the race that he had been training so hard for. He is aggressive and unpredictable in his interactions with his younger cousin and gruff with Soldier, but the dog is undeterred and absolutely loyal to him. When Lum finally runs off the unfinished bridge into a certain death in the river, Soldier follows him blindly, after the two boys have performed Monroe's funeral rites for "their" skull and throw it in the river. Many of the storylines remain open. There is no conclusive answer, for example, to Tecumseh's question "Who's Mia?" (55) even though Mia seems to be the key to Cassie's guilt and the reason why she came back. There is a track of clues that runs through the novel and ends at the point when Cassie burns the baby clothes from a suitcase Tecumseh's mother has given her. One of these clues is Cassie's tattoo which spells AIM (American Indian Movement), but in the mirror reads "Mia." Another clue is the strange fact that Cassie sends presents to Tecumseh, at a time that has nothing to do with his birthday, and which to him are "girls" toys, e.g. a doll and a pink box with a mirror (117). Another unsolved riddle is the identity of the woman Tecumseh and Lum observe in intimate interactions with Monroe in the church one day (both Cassie and Tecumseh's Mother had had a relationship with him in the past). In addition, Tecumseh once walks in one his mother and Cassie having a conversation whilst going through old baby clothes. Helen indicates that she had an affair fifteen years ago, at the time that Tecumseh would have been conceived (122). Also, Helen asks Cassie if she's going to "give it up?" (122), to which Cassie responds "Why not... Gave it up the first time" (122). Given the context, this conversation indicates that Cassie has returned because she is pregnant. Additionally, she had been pregnant before, and this child was given up. The name Mia is also related to her former pregnancy. Also, the novel ends with Tecumseh's mother carefully trimming a bouquet of purple freesias "until there is nothing left but the stems" (266), but the narrator never learns who gave them to her. |
Something to Answer For | P. H. Newby | 1,969 | Townrow is a 31-year-old Fund Distributor stealing from the fund he is in charge of. He is contacted by the widow of an old friend, Elie Khoury. They had met in 1946, in Port Said in Cairo after he had been thrown from a horse in front of the Khoury's beach hut. Mrs Khoury wants Townrow to go to see her in Cairo because she believes her husband was murdered. After thinking it through, Townrow accepts Mrs Khoury's offer of a plane ticket to Cairo. He stops over in Rome where he argues with two men, defending the British Government from its involvement in Nazi Germany's Final Solution campaign. The discussion ends on a friendly note. In Cairo, Townrow makes a joke about marrying Mrs Khoury for her money to an immigration officer, which leads his being interrogated. He is kept in a cell and is released once his train has departed. In Port Said, Townrow doesn't go straightaway to see Mrs Khoury, instead opting to stay in a hotel. Here he considers having no one who really cares about him in his life. Townrow visits a bar he used to frequent while serving as a sergeant. The owner of the bar, Christous, recognises him and kicks out his clientele for some privacy. Townrow asks about Elie's death. Christous tells him that Mrs Khoury, with great difficulty, took her husband's body back to Lebanon to be buried. Because of her actions, Colonel Nasser took the Suez Canal as Egypt's. it:Something to Answer For |
Shake Hands Forever | Ruth Rendell | 1,975 | Most people would have screamed. Mrs Hathall made no sound. She had seen death many times before, but she had never before seen a death by violence. Heavily, she plodded across the room and descended the stairs to where her son waited. 'There's been an accident,' she said. 'Your wife's dead.'Chief Inspector Wexford could discover no motive, no reason, no suspect - all he had were his own intuitive suspicions. Probably he was reading meaning where there was none; probably Angela Hathall really had picked up a stranger, and that stranger had killed her. But why such doubt? Was Wexford becoming cynical and untrusting - or was this simply one of the most ingenious crimes he had ever tackled? |
The Face of Trespass | Ruth Rendell | null | Two years ago he was a promising young novelist. Now he barely survives, in a near-derelict cottage with only an unhooked telephone and his own obsessive thoughts for company. Two years of loving Drusilla, but the affair is over and the long slide into deception and violence has just begun. |
Some Lie And Some Die | Ruth Rendell | 1,973 | Kingsmarkham doesn't have too many complaints about its first annual rock festival, but then in a nearby quarry two lovers find a body that makes even Reg Wexford's stomach lurch. All he can discover is that there is a strange connection with the star of the festival. |
Murder Being Once Done | Ruth Rendell | 1,972 | A girl with no name, no possessions and no past, is found murdered in a vast, overgrown London cemetery. Wexford is in the capital for a rest on doctor's orders, but is drawn into the investigation when his nephew is given charge of the case. |
No More Dying Then | Ruth Rendell | 1,971 | On a stormy February afternoon, little Stella Rivers disappears and is never seen again. Then, on a warm October day, five-year-old John Lawrence fails to come home, and evil, mad, taunting letters begin, which make the worst, unspoken imaginings a brutal reality. |
One Across, Two Down | Ruth Rendell | 1,971 | There are only two things that interest Stanley: the crosswords and getting his hands on his mother-in-law's money, which he has dreamed about for 20 years. He finally realises that he must construct a puzzle of his own in order to give death a helping hand. |
A Guilty Thing Surprised | Ruth Rendell | null | When Elizabeth Nightingale was beaten to death, it seemed a straightforward enough case. But Detective Chief Inspector Wexford discovered that beneath the placid surface of the Nightingales' lives there were undercurrents and secrets that no one had ever suspected. |
The Best Man to Die | Ruth Rendell | null | The fatal car accident involving the stockbroker Fanshawe couldn't possibly be connected with the murder of a cocky little lorry driver. But was it a coincidence that the latter died the day after Mrs Fanshawe regained consciousness? |
The Secret House of Death | Ruth Rendell | 1,968 | Susan Townsend was the only resident with no interest in the affair going on next door in Orchard Drive, or in the neighbourhood gossip about it. Yet it was Susan who found the bodies of the lovers locked in death. |
A New Lease of Death | Ruth Rendell | null | Chief Inspector Wexford had every reason to remember the Painter case - it was the first murder he'd ever handled on his own. There had been no doubts about the case, until now. Someone wants the case reopened, and they want Wexford proved wrong. |
Wolf to the Slaughter | Ruth Rendell | null | Anita Margolis had vanished. There was no body, no crime - nothing more concrete than an anonymous letter and the intriguing name of Smith. According to headquarters, it wasn't to be considered a murder enquiry at all. Chief Inspector Wexford, however, had other ideas. |
Vanity Dies Hard | Ruth Rendell | 1,966 | Alice Whittaker was 37, rich but dowdy, with no career. Her life a lonely failure, she had got by with the one thing she did have - money. Then handsome Andrew Fielding came into her life, and just as suddenly her beautiful friend, Nesta, vanished from it - leaving a trail of confusing clues. |
To Fear A Painted Devil | Ruth Rendell | 1,965 | Gossip in tiny Linchester is raised to new heights when young Patrick Selby dies on the night of his beautiful wife's birthday party. The whole neighborhood was there, witness to the horrible attack of wasps Peter suffered at the end of the evening. But did Peter die of the stings? Dr. Greenleaf thinks not. After all, wasps aren't the only creatures that kill with poison. |
The Godfather Returns | Mark Winegardner | 2,004 | The story picks up immediately after the end of the first novel. The events of the film The Godfather Part II take place within the time frame of this novel, but are only mentioned in the background. Many of Puzo's characters are expanded upon, especially Fredo Corleone, Tom Hagen, and Johnny Fontane, and new characters like Nick Geraci, Danny Shea, and Francesca Corleone are introduced. The other half of the novel goes deeper into Michael's role as Don and his dream of legitimizing the Corleone family. The novel expands on Michael's service in World War II as well as his brother Fredo's secret life. The novel shows how Sonny, Fredo and Tom Hagen join the family business, as well as the deaths of Pete Clemenza and Sal Tessio. The Godfather Returns was followed by The Godfather's Revenge in 2006, also written by Winegardner. |
The Godfather's Revenge | Mark Winegardner | 2,006 | The story begins with Michael Corleone having a dream in which his brother Fredo Corleone, whom he had killed, warns him of a coming threat. At the same time, the apparition tries to give Michael a message, which he doesn't comprehend. Michael's guilt over ordering Fredo's murder has aged him beyond his years — his hair has turned white, his diabetes has worsened, and he suffers from chronic insomnia. He is also depressed over his failing relationship with his ex-wife, Kay Adams, and his son, Anthony, who knows the truth about Fredo's death. Carlo Tramonti, a boss of the New Orleans crime syndicate, is introduced as he is deported by the INS to his native Colombia. Meanwhile, Attorney General Daniel Shea (analogous to Robert F. Kennedy) declares his war on the Mafia. Tom Hagen meets with a CIA agent named Joe Lucadello in a Protestant church in Florida. He informs Hagen that Nick Geraci, a former caporegime for the Corleones, has turned up. The book then outlines Nick Geraci's survival in an underground cave under Lake Erie, and how he gets ready to take his revenge. He contacts his father, who helps him get away, and plots his revenge with Momo Barone. Meanwhile, Hagen is implicated in the murder of his longtime mistress, which throws his personal and professional life into disarray. Meanwhile, President Jimmy Shea (analogous to John F. Kennedy), who was elected in part due to Michael's influence, is assassinated by a Cuban national. While the real reason for his murder is never made clear, the novel suggests that it was orchestrated by Tramonti, who wanted revenge for his arrest in a raid ordered by Daniel Shea. Nick Geraci reunites with his family, beginning his revenge against Michael Corleone: * He drowns Tom Hagen in the Florida Everglades. Geraci then sends Michael a package containing a dead baby alligator along with Hagen's wallet, a message similar to the one that is sent to Sonny Corleone in the original novel following Luca Brasi's death. * He meets with his old friend Momo Barone, and promises him the title of consigliere if he agrees to help. Momo agrees, and provides Geraci information on Michael Corleone's daily routine. * Geraci contacts Don Anthony Stracci and asks for his help to depose Michael as head of the Commission. Nick ultimately gets the votes to overthrow Michael. Stracci asks Geraci to meet Don Greco, the Greek, who also because of Stracci's influence was to vote against Michael. Geraci meets him at a restaurant on Staten Island. When he arrives, however, he realizes he has walked him into a trap; Michael arrives and orders Barone to shoot Geraci to prove his loyalty. Geraci grabs the gun, shoots two bodyguards and injures Al Neri, but is mortally wounded in the process. Eddie Paradise delivers the coup de grace, shooting him execution style. Michael also executes the following people: * Carlo Tramonti is shot in the back of his head and thrown off on the highway. * Tramonti's brother, who sought to re-open his brother's murder, dies of "natural causes". * Joe Lucadello has an ice pick rammed into his eye. In the novel's final scene, Michael's sister Connie tells him that Fredo had an illegitimate child with Rita, whom Michael had briefly dated before realizing that he was still in love with Kay. es:El Padrino "La venganza" it:La vendetta del padrino pl:Zemsta ojca chrzestnego |
Summer of the Monkeys | Wilson Rawls | 1,976 | Summer of the Monkeys takes place in the very late 19th century. It is about a fourteen-year old boy named Jay Berry Lee who wants a pony and a .22 caliber gun. In his first attempt to catch the monkeys, he sets the traps under a tree, hides them, and pins apples on the tree. This plan fails when Jimbo simply reaches high and gets the apples off the tree, and, when he is satisfied, he gives the rest of the apples to the little monkeys. For his second plan that day, Jay sets the traps, hides them, and places apples on the trigger. This plan also fails when Jimbo uses a stick to trip the traps. He again shares the apples with the little monkeys. Later, Jay Berry decides to take a break and heads to the nearby spring. When he gets back, he finds that the monkeys have stolen his lunch and traps. He gets angry and shoots rocks at the monkeys. The monkeys then get very angry and chase Jay home. The next day, Jay Berry goes to consult with Grandpa. Grandpa gives him a butterfly net that can open and close using two pull strings and tells him to dig a hole that night so he can hide from the monkeys to try to catch them. He catches two monkeys, but Jimbo releases them and orders the small monkeys to attack Jay and Rowdy. They come out of the fight with many scratches and bites. His sister wants to be a Red Cross nurse when she grows up so she gives Jay her "Red Cross treatment" as she always does whenever Jay and Rowdy are injured. After recovering, Jay Berry goes to talk to Grandpa again. Grandpa tells him that he wrote to the circus asking them for advice on how to catch the monkeys. The animal trainer responds by telling them to call Jimbo by his name and try to make friends with him. With this in mind, Jay goes back to the river bottoms. However, when he arrives, he is astonished to find the monkeys drunk on whiskey at a still. Jimbo offers Jay the mixture since he no longer sees him as a threat, and Jay reluctantly accepts. Jay wakes up in the middle of the night feeling drunk. He unsteadily goes home, where Daisy notices he is drunk and tells Mama and Papa. They tell Jay never to get drunk again. Once again Jay receives the "Red Cross treatment". Grandpa decides to take Jay Berry to the town of Tahlequah to go to its library and do research on how to catch monkeys. They find out to use coconuts and a trap cage, and they go to the general store for these. As they return, they stop by a spring. When they return to the buggy, they find that the monkeys have stolen the items they bought. Later on Daisy finds a fairy ring which is capable of granting wishes. The book has her wishing something, but it doesn't say for what. It turns out that she wished for Jay Berry to get his pony and his gun. Then, there is a storm. The monkeys are scared enough that they go with Jay to his house. Jay Berry gives the monkeys to the circus. The owner gives him lifetime passes to their circus and the $156 reward. This is enough to buy his pony and .22 or to get Daisy's leg operation. Jay almost buys the pony of his liking, but decides to use the money for Daisy's leg operation. During the many weeks Daisy and Mama are gone for the operation in Oklahoma City, Jay Berry and Papa miss them and struggle to handle daily chores without them. While Daisy is in Oklahoma City, she buys Jay a .22 which she gives to him during her return. Also, Grandpa buys Jay the pony that he was going to buy. Daisy and Mama come home on the train. Once they get off the train, Daisy kisses Jay Berry on the lips because she is so happy. When they all get home, She and Jay Berry run around the hills together, holding hands. |
Lion's Blood | Steven Barnes | null | The story begins with Aidan O'Dere, a child growing up in a primitive 19th century Ireland with his pagan father, Christian mother, and twin sister. Their village is attacked by Vikings and Aidan’s father is killed in the battle, while Aidan and the rest of his family are taken as slaves. They are later sold to black slave merchants in Andalus and taken to Bilalistan (southeastern North America) by the middle passage. Many die along the way and Aidan’s mother suffers a miscarriage. During the voyage, Aidan swears to his sister that if they are separated, he will find her. There at a slave auction Aidan’s sister is separated from them and sold off as a maidservant, while Aidan and his mother are sold to a Wakil named Abu Ali Jallaleddin ibn Rashid al Kushi, owner of a plantation called Dar Kush. Dar Kush is known for its lenient treatment of the white slaves, going as far as allowing them to keep native religion, culture, and language. The Wakil has three children: Ali, the oldest son; Elenya, the youngest child and only daughter; and the middle child and younger son Kai, an awkward, shy boy who feels that he will never live up to his father's expectations. One day Kai and Aidan meet and become unlikely friends. Aidan aids Kai in a prank that gets him whipped, but Kai saves him from most of the punishment and selects him as his footboy/servant. Despite their difference in status, the boys develop a strong friendship. Kai and Aidan grow up together and remain close, until a half-Andalusian Moor, half-Greek slave girl that was a gift to Kai comes between them. The break happens when the girl falls in love with Aidan, leading to a fight between the two. Though Kai is has better fighting skills achieved via formal training, Aiden is far stronger, with greater punching power and endurance, achieved from several years of grueling labor. As a result, Aidan defeats Kai. Though angry and humiliated, Kai does not punish them further, and allows the two to be together. Both boys go through several changes as they become adults. Kai converts to Sufism, begins to have feelings for his brother’s betrothed, finds himself about to be in an arranged marriage with a Zulu princess, and begins to question the practice of slavery. Aidan, finally with something worth fighting for, begins to chafe at the bonds of his slavery, which drives a wedge further between the two friends. After his (also enslaved) wife and newborn son are transferred away to the plantation of Kai's uncle, Aidan becomes involved in a slave revolt among the slaves of Dar Kush and neighboring plantations. Using the revolt as cover, Aidan and other slaves attempt to flee, but are captured and Aidan's infant son almost dies. Aidan, however, is again spared punishment by Kai, who is mourning the death of his father in the revolt. Later Bilalistan finds itself at war with the Aztecs over a treasured Bilalian landmark, Mosque Al'Amu (the Shrine of the Fathers), which stands at the border between Bilalistan and Aztec territory. Both Kai and Aidan join the army heading to meet them. During the last stand at the Shrine of the Fathers, Kai takes leadership of the armies after the Zulus abandon the battle due to the suspicious deaths of their leader, Shaka Zulu, and Kai's elder brother Ali. Promising freedom to all of the slaves who came with the army, the Bilalians manage a victory by destroying the Shrine of the Fathers with most of the surviving Aztec forces inside it. Kai, now a war hero, keeps his promise to free all of the slaves who fought along with their families. On returning home he finds that his uncle has taken Aidan’s wife as an unwilling lover and refuses to free her, forcing Kai into a duel with him which results in the death of Kai's uncle. Kai, now the only surviving male in his family, takes his place as the Wakil of Dar Kush, while Aidan and his family leave to start a new life as freed slaves. The story is set in an alternate history world where Islamic African nations are the dominant world power, with colonies in Europe and the New World, commonly referred to by the characters as Bilalistan instead of North America. The dominant nations are Egypt which is still ruled by the Pharaohs and Abyssinia which is controlled by a monarch known as the Immortal Empress. Due to the destruction of Rome by Carthage and Egypt in 200 B.C., Europe remained largely tribal while Africa advanced technologically and culturally with steamboats, rifles and airships or "flying boats" by the late 19th century. The dominant Africans consider Europeans to be inferior and treat them as a source of slave labour which is supplied to them by Viking raiders. Southern Africa is controlled by the Zulus while the Vikings control much of Northern Europe. The Middle East is presumably Islamic-dominated, with references to Egypt being at war with Persia, though a Jewish state known as Judea is also mentioned to have been established by the Prophet Muhammad in 623 AD as part of a mutual assistance pact between Islam and the Jews. The Gupta control much of India while China is ruled by Emperors and apparently has a colony on the New World's western coast. Much of modern day Mexico is ruled by the Aztecs while Native Americans compete with both Aztecs and the African immigrants. On a map of Bilalistan shown in the book, Bilalistan is divided into four provinces which include: New Alexandria, New Djibouti, Azania and Wichita. Most of the story takes place in Dar Kush in New Djibouti, around where the real world state of Louisiana lies. It is also mentioned that the African settlers have driven the Native Americans out of their territories as the European powers had done to the native populations from the 19th century. To the south lies the Aztec nation of Azteca which often fights with Bilalistan. Vikings maintain a colony in the New World known as Vinland to the north of Bilalistan and there is a Chinese colony in California. White runaway slaves often join Native American tribes, or manage to make their way to Vinland to find work as paid laborers. Christianity is also mentioned in the novel, though it failed to become a dominant world religion, with the majority of its followers being Europeans. Without the influence of Rome, Christianity is much more divided between traditional and Gnostic thought over whether Christ was divine or merely a man. The Gospel of Mary is also an important part of the Christian beliefs. Following Alexander the Great's conquest of much of the known world, Alexander made himself the Pharaoh of Egypt following a vision of Pharaoh-hood after he had lost his leg. After the death of his first wife, he married a Kush princess named Mesgana, who bore him twin sons. When his sons came of age, he set one as ruler of Alexandria with the other reigning over Abyssinia. Alexander eventually adopted the title of Pharaoh Haaibre Setepenamen which literally translates as "Jubilant is the heart of Re, Chosen of Amen". As in our timeline, Alexander's capital was at Alexandria which became the capital of Egypt. Over the centuries, history was rewritten to portray Alexander as an African to suit the perceptions of the dominant Africans. In 200 BC, the combined forces of Egypt, Carthage and Abyssinia destroyed Rome, removing the last European power and paving the way for African dominance. For a thousand years the descendants of Alexander ruled much of the known world with Egypt ruling an empire stretching from Eastern Europe to India. Egypt and Abyssinia also created a major trade route along the Nile and immense networks of canals. By 420, steamboats had been invented and were used to trade with other kingdoms in Africa. Eventually, most of sub-Saharan Africa was under joint Egyptian and Abyssianian rule. With the advent of Islam, Arabic became the dominant language of that region. In 623, Muhammad approved of a mutual assistance pact with the Jewish people which would lead to the establishment of the Jewish state of Judea. With Muhammad's death in 632, his followers fought among themselves as they did in our timeline. However, this was stopped by the intervention of Bilal. He rescued Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and fled to Abyssinia, where they were protected. Fatima continued Muhammad's teachings and her form of Islam became known as Fatimite Islam which eventually swept through much of North Africa, resulting in a unified Islamic coalition against Egypt's royal house. In the end, Alexandria was defeated through the use of a disease carried by black barges which may be an analogue to the Black Plague. This disease eventually swept through Egypt and its territories in the Middle East and southern Europe. With Egypt defeated the Fatimite Caliphate was established but both nations would remain separate. Bilal would live long enough to see the fall of Alexandria and was thus revered by the masses as the last of the Prophet's companions. He saw that politics and religion had intertwined in the Old World and that the resulting chaos of that union were beyond repair. It was on his deathbed that Bilal received a vision from the angel Gabriel who told him of the existence of a continent beyond the oceans which would be the promised land, and that the masses should colonize it for their own. By 1000, African Muslim explorers had crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the New World through the use of huge ocean-going steamboats. As the early European explorers had done, the Africans traded with the natives for gold and exotic fruits and founded cities there. The explorers would move westward and would come into conflict with the native populations there. When the last of these explorers had perished far west in Texas, their burial site became the location of the Shrine of the Fathers. By 1100, the Fatimites were trading with the Aztec/Toltec empires though Bilalistan would only be officially colonised in 1700. Like the United States of America during the 19th century, Bilalistan's society is diverse with races as varied as Egyptians, Abyssinians, Yoruba, Zulus, Arabs, Moors, Jews, Europeans, and Native Americans. Egyptians,Abyssinians, Arabs and Zulus form most of the upper class. West Africans (such as Yoruba and Igbo) and North African Moors predominate the middle and working classes, and are usually employed as instructors, merchants and slave overseers. Herding and ranching are dominated by the Maasai. The lowest jobs are taken by European slaves. Certain African groups, such as the Danakil, are not slaves, but are looked down upon by other Africans, due to their involvement in "unclean" occupations (example: training thoths). Bilalistan was originally a theocracy when first settled, though it had become a theocratic republic by 1863. The Bilalian ruling hierarchy consists of the Ulema, the religious body which is led by an Ayatollah, and the Senate, the political body which is ruled by a Caliph. Both organizations compete for control though all power lies in the hands of the Caliph, who is appointed by the Pharaoh of Egypt. The Senate is divided into a House of Lords and House of Commons. Below the Caliph are four Governors who governs each of the four provinces of Bilalistan. These Governors are also assigned or appoint Wakils which rule fiefdoms within the provinces and are apparently part of the aristocracy. Arranged marriages are practised between the Wakils. Citizens, whether male or female, are allowed to vote though slaves have no citizenship and little rights. Many slaves are forced to convert to Islam and take Islamic names. The Bilalian hierarchy ranges from the Caliph and Ayatollah, the Houses of Lords and Commons and the Judiciary which create both religious and common laws. For laws to be passed, they must be accepted by majorities in both Houses which hold legislative power and the Caliph and Ayatollah which have executive power over the state. Common laws can be overturned by a two-thirds majority within the Ulema while religious laws can only be overturned by the Ayatollah and the Pharaoh. Like the Europeans the Muslim explorers brought exotic animals to Bilalistan, most notably the Savannah buffalos, which were imported by the Zulu in order to carry out hunts. Most dogs are considered impure due to the prevailing Islamic culture, with the possible exception of Greyhounds in New Alexandria, and Zulu Ridgebacks in the Zulu kraals. However, many forms of monkeys are kept as pets. Baboons, (or thoths, as they are known), are used to track down runaway slaves, often with brutal consequences. |
The Ape Who Guards the Balance | Barbara Mertz | 1,998 | Luxor, 1906-1907. The Emerson clan is trying to determine where to dig during the upcoming season. But before they even leave England, they encounter Sethos and foil an attempt to kidnap Amelia. Suspicion for the attempt falls on Sethos, but not everyone is sure. Upon arriving in Egypt, the children, Nefret, Ramses and David, now in their early twenties but still children to Amelia and Emerson, acquire a magnificent papyrus, but are also stalked. Is Sethos behind this too? Since Emerson has managed to annoy M. Maspero to the point of distraction, he is initially not even allowed near the Valley of the Kings, where another of Emerson’s rivals and targets of invective, Theodore M. Davis, has the rights to the entire valley. Much to everyone’s surprise (and possibly with Nefret’s help), Emerson is granted permission by Davis to clean up three tombs thought to be already excavated in full, KV3, KV4 and KV5. Not only does his rival Davis find yet another rich tomb, right next to the debris-filled and empty tomb he excavates, once again somebody is still after the Emersons—particularly, it seems, Amelia. But help is on the way, from surprising, or perhaps not so surprising, quarters. |
Dante's Equation | Jane Jensen | 2,003 | The novel tells the discovery of many people, two of them physicists, that the fifth dimension obeys a (species of spiritual) law of nature where Good and Evil control the lower dimensions. This insight was first discovered by a Jewish physicist, Yosef Kobinski, who was interned in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. It is rediscovered by Dr. Jill Talcott and her graduate-student assistant. the young scientist's discovery coincides with the resurfacing of manuscripts written by the Jewish physicist. The discovery and the manuscripts attract an interest from several sources. A kabbalistic scholar becomes interested in Kobinski as well, as his name shows up in an analysis of Torah codes. A journalist is trying to track down Kobiniski too as part of the research for an article on disappearances. The military become aware of the phenomenon as well, and one agent tries to track down the young scientist and her partner in order to evaluate the military applications of the discovery. |
Family Secrets | Norma Klein | 1,985 | Leslie and Peter are childhood friends who become lovers the summer before their senior year in high school. Their romance is immediately complicated by Leslie’s discovery—by reading her mother’s diary—that her mother, Aline, and his father, Nelson, are having an affair. Before the summer is over their parents have announced their impending divorces and Leslie and Peter’s lives are thrown in disarray. The pair spends the next few months of their lives dealing with senior year in high school, the divorces of the parents, and the quick marriage that legally makes them stepsiblings. In addition, Peter is striving for early acceptance at Harvard while Leslie spends much of her time in rehearsal for her high school play for she plans on going to college for acting and drama. Peter at the start of the school year continues to live with his mother; Nelson moves into a new apartment with his new wife and stepdaughter. Leslie is upset at the new living arrangements because she is close to her father and is angry with Aline for the divorce and quick remarriage. In her struggle to deal with the divorce Peter’s mother decides to sell the family home and move to Chicago to finish her college degree. This forces Peter to move in with his father, stepmother and stepsister/girlfriend. The awkwardness of the situation causes the two to argue and abruptly end their physical relationship, having kept it a secret from their parents. As they move on with their lives, Peter and Leslie reconcile and renew their intimacy as the new marriage begins to fall apart primarily because of Nelson’s womanizing, although Aline’s emotional neediness is also a contributing factor. The novel ends with the couple planning a cross country car trip during the summer before they go off to separate colleges. No longer related, they are more comfortable to resume their relationship without the complications imposed by their parents' actions. |
The Minotaur | Ruth Rendell | 2,005 | Kerstin Kvist didn't quite know what to expect when she took up a job with the Cosway family at their odd, almost grand home, Lydstep Old Hall, deep in the Essex countryside. The family turned out to be even odder than the house: the widowed Mrs Cosway lived with her three unmarried daughters, in thrall to the old lady. A mysterious fourth daughter - a widow herself and apparently quite rich - came and went, with ill-disguised contempt for the others. More puzzling still was Mrs Cosway's son, John, a sad, self-absorbed figure in his thirties who haunted the house. "There's madness in the family", offered one of the daughters by way of explanation, but Kerstin had trained as a nurse and knew it wasn't right to be administering such powerful drugs to a vulnerable figure like John. |
The Blood Doctor | Ruth Rendell | 2,002 | Lord Nanther embarks on a biography of his great-grandfather, the first Lord Nanther, physician extraordinary to Queen Victoria and an expert on blood diseases. What he uncovers begins to horrify him as he realizes that Nanther died a guilty man - carrying an horrific secret to the grave. |
Grasshopper | Ruth Rendell | 2,000 | Blamed by her parents for the death of a friend, Clodagh has been banished from their home in the countryside to a dingy basement flat and a meaningless existence in the city. Then she meets the inhabitants of the top floor of 15 Russia Road. Charismatic Silver, brutal Johnny, paranoid Liv and exotic Wim range across a London of roofs, eaves and ledges, unseen by the ordinary inhabitants, thrilling in the freedom and danger. Clodagh, haunted for two years by the accident on the pylon, finds that running the roofs with these fascinating misfits brings her back to life, but it seems that tragedy and misfortune may not be done with her yet... |
The Chimney-sweeper's Boy | Ruth Rendell | 1,998 | When successful author Gerald Candless dies of a sudden heart attack, his eldest daughter Sarah is approached by her father's publisher with a view to writing a biography about his life. Sarah embarks on the memoir but soon discovers that her perfect father was not all he appeared to be, and that in fact he wasn't Gerald Candless at all. Candless's neglected wife Ursula gradually regains her self-confidence and begins a new relationship as she realises that the unhappiness of her marriage was due, not to her own shortcomings, but to her husband's latent homosexuality — indeed the reason itself as to why her husband became 'Gerald Candless' in the first place. |
Red Dragon | Thomas Harris | 1,981 | In 1980, a serial killer, popularly nicknamed the Tooth Fairy, stalks and murders seemingly random families during sequential full moons. He first kills the Jacobi family in Birmingham, Alabama, then the Leeds family in Atlanta, Georgia. Two days after the Leeds murders, FBI agent Jack Crawford seeks out his protégé, Will Graham, a brilliant profiler who captured the serial killer Hannibal Lecter three years earlier, but retired after Lecter almost killed him. Crawford goes to Graham's Sugarloaf Key residence and pleads for his assistance; Graham reluctantly agrees. After visiting over the crime scenes with only minimal insight, he realizes that he must visit Lecter and seek his help in capturing the Tooth Fairy. The Tooth Fairy is revealed to be a St. Louis film processing technician named Francis Dolarhyde. He is a disturbed individual who is obsessed with the William Blake painting "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun". Dolarhyde is unable to control his violent, sexual urges, and believes that murdering people—or "changing" them, as he calls it—allows him to more fully "become" an alternate personality he calls the "Great Red Dragon," after the dominant character in Blake's painting. Flashbacks reveal that his pathology is born from the systematic abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of both his sadistic grandmother and his stepfamily. As Graham investigates the case, he is continuously hounded by Freddy Lounds, a sleazy tabloid reporter. Meanwhile, Lecter's de facto jailer, Frederick Chilton, discovers a secret correspondence between Lecter and Dolarhyde, in which Lecter provides the killer with Graham's home address. Graham's wife and stepson are evacuated to a remote farm belonging to Crawford's brother. Graham tries to intercept the secret communication without Lecter's knowledge, but the doctor quickly realizes the ruse and humiliates the authorities by upping the stakes: in return for his help in capturing the Tooth Fairy, he requests a first-class meal in his cell and having his library privileges returned. Lounds becomes aware of the correspondence and tries to trick Graham into revealing details of the investigation by posing as the Tooth Fairy, but is found out. Hoping to lure the Tooth Fairy into a trap, Graham gives Lounds an interview in which he blatantly mischaracterizes the killer as an impotent homosexual. This infuriates Dolarhyde, who kidnaps Lounds, forces him to recant the allegations, bites off his lips and sets him on fire, leaving his maimed body outside his newspaper's offices; Lounds eventually dies. At about the same time, Dolarhyde falls in love with a blind co-worker named Reba McClane, which conflicts with his homicidal urges. In beginning a relationship with Reba, Dolarhyde starts to consciously resist the Dragon's "possession" of him; he goes to the Brooklyn Museum, beats a museum secretary unconscious, and eats the original Blake watercolor of The Red Dragon. Graham eventually realizes that the killer knew the layout of his victims' houses from their home movies, which he could only have seen if he worked for the film processing lab that developed them. Dolarhyde's job gives him access to all home movies that pass through the company. When he sees Graham interviewing his boss, Dolarhyde realizes that they are on to him and goes to see Reba one last time. He finds her talking to a co-worker, Ralph Mandy, a man whom she actually dislikes. Believing that Reba is being unfaithful, Dolarhyde kills Mandy, kidnaps Reba and, having taken her to his house, sets the place on fire. He intends to kill her and then himself, but finds himself unable to shoot her. After Dolarhyde shoots himself, Reba escapes. Graham later comforts her, telling her that there is nothing wrong with her, and that the kindness and affection she showed Dolarhyde probably saved lives. However, it turns out Dolarhyde did not in fact shoot himself but left behind the body of Arnold Lang, a gas station attendant, in order to stage his own death. Dolarhyde attacks Graham at his Florida home, stabbing him in the face and permanently disfiguring him. Graham's wife, Molly, then fatally shoots Dolarhyde. While recovering, Graham receives a letter from Lecter, which bids him well and hopes that he isn't "very ugly". However, Crawford intercepts the letter and destroys it. |
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | John Godey | null | It starts as a normal day on a subway, but the normality is interrupted by the hijacking of a subway train, on the number 6 train. Four men armed with submachine guns detach the lead car of the train and take it and 17 hostages into a tunnel. The hijackers are lead by Ryder, a former mercenary; Longman, a disgruntled former motorman; Welcome, a violent former Mafia thug; and Steever, a powerful, laconic brute. They threaten to execute the hostages unless the city pays one million dollars in ransom. While the city rushes to comply, transit police try to puzzle out the hijackers' plan. They don't realize that Longman has figured out how to bypass the "dead-man's switch", allowing the car to speed along the track by itself (with the police chasing it while driving on surface streets) while the hijackers escape through an emergency exit. As they prepare to leave, however, Ryder and Welcome begin to argue, ending with Ryder fatally shooting Welcome. The delay allows one of the passengers, an undercover police officer who jumped off the train as it started to speed away, to shoot Steever. Longman escapes while Ryder shoots the passenger. As Ryder is about to administer a fatal head shot, he is himself shot dead by DCI Daniels of Special Operations Division. The novel ends with Longman's arrest. |
Corpse Marker | Chris Boucher | null | Society's helpful robots are waging a second murderous spree and this one won't be covered up. |
The Dragon Can't Dance | Earl Lovelace | 1,979 | Prologue The main stage for the development of the plot, Calvary Hill, is introduced through a series of descriptive elements that portray it as being something close to a slum, favela, or barrio. The mood of the hill is described through the lifestyle of Aldrick Prospect, the novel’s main character: “[he] would get up at midday from sleep, yawn, stretch, then start to think of where he might get something to eat, his brain working in the same smooth unhurried nonchalance with which he moved his feet”. Carnival is set as the central theme of the novel and is portrayed as the only phenomenon that is able to bring the hill to life and corrupt everyday life in Trinidad. The power and soul of Carnival, however, lies in calypso, the songs that “announce the new rhythms of the people, rhythms that climb over the red dirt and stone, break away rhythms that laugh through the bones of these enduring people”. 1. Queen of the Band The first chapter follows a conversation between Miss Olive and Miss Caroline and their criticisms of Miss Cleothlida, a proud mulatto widow who owns a parlor store but runs it as “if she were doing a favour to the Hill, rather than carrying on a business from which she intend[s] to profit” (18). Miss Cleothilda has chosen her costume for this year’s Carnival and it comes as no surprise when she reveals that like every year, she will be playing Queen of the Band. Miss Cleothlida’s arrogance stems from her preserved beauty and her ability to continue to attract men at her age. Philo, a calypsonian man, has been chasing after her for 17 years without success, but with continuous temptation. The neighbors note that Miss Cleothilda only treats people well during Carnival because of the natural ambiance of the Hill and so she can defend her insults throughout the year. As soon as Carnival is over, she will continue to look down upon the people who are blacker than her and the Hill will return to its slumber. 2. The Princess At 17 years of age, Sylvia is the most desired woman on the hill. The novel moves back in time to reveal how she has constantly been a symbol of temptation and sexuality. When Miss Olive fails to come up with money to pay the rent, Sylvia is asked to go up to Mr. Guy’s house and perform sexual favors. However, as hard as many men have tried, Sylvia has outsmarted all of them and has managed to retain her virginity. The men on the Hill are aware that this year Sylvia does not have a man or a costume for Carnival. Mr. Guy is quick to promise her any costume she desires in an effort to become her man, however, his attempt is interrupted by Miss Cleothilda, who is aware of the situation and purposely intrudes by offering Sylvia one of her old dresses. That night, Sylvia creeps out of her house in the middle of the night. Aldrick is able to observe her silhouette in the dark from his window, but hesitates to approach her as he believes that she is the most dangerous women on the hill because she has the ability to “capture him in passion but to enslave him in caring, to bring into his world those ideas of love and home and children that he [has] spent his whole life avoiding” (31). Nonetheless, their first verbal exchange is full of desire and temptation as she questions him about love and reveals that Mr. Guy will be the one buying her a costume that year. While the conversation drags on regarding costumes for Carnival, the real meaning and significance is of Sylvia and Aldrick revealing an attraction for one another 3. The Dragon Aldrick is in his small room working on his dragon costume, which he recreates every year for Carnival. While at work, thoughts of Sylvia keep coming to his head, when all of a sudden she appears at his doorstep. Her visit represents an invitation for him to take her as his woman, however, Aldrick nervously refuses to acknowledge her and instead continues working on his costume. The impasse is broken by Philo’s arrival to the scene and his desire to touch Sylvia forces her to leave the scene. It is getting late and Aldrick forces Basil, a boy who always sits by him and helps him create his costume, to go home. When the boy refuses to leave, Aldrick learns that his stepfather, Fisheye, constantly abuses him at home. Aldrick’s knowledge of Fisheye’s violent reputation makes him hesitant to intervene, but the boy’s refusal to leave forces him to walk him home and confront Fisheye. 4. The Bad John The novel jumps back in time to reveal Fisheye’s violent family history, describing them as “tall strong men who could handle their fists, and were good, each one of them, with a stick, since their father, before he became a preacher, was a champion stickfighter who had himself schooled each one of them in the art of stickfighting”. Fisheye’s family injected so much fear into society that no one dared to call them anything more derogatory than John. Through Fisheye’s character, we see the introduction of musical bands, whose behavior emulates street gangs. Fisheye becomes the center of the Calvary Hill steelband, and as their leader, he attempts to unite several bands so that instead of fighting one another, they can unite and “fight the people who are keeping down black people…the government”. While Fisheye is able to get the bands to sign peace, it never produces what he had envisioned, as this only ends the nature of violence between them without joining them in movement and opposition against the government. The spirit of peace is short-lived as Fisheye’s warrior spirit emerges once the white bands come into the streets and Carnival begins to become commercialized. At the beginning, Fisheye does not mind that some of the “light-skinned” bands become sponsored, however, once the Desperadoes and Calvary Hill consider the option, he begins to fight again in an effort to drive away possible sponsors. Fisheye learns that senior members of the Calvary Hill band are considering his expulsion, and while he waits for them to approach him, the novel jumps back to the point when we see Aldrick coming to deliver Basil home. Aldrick knows that Fisheye is not in the mood for joking, but he addresses the issue with humor and avoids an altercation. On his way back home, Aldrick’s mind is occupied with Silvia, when he is approached by Pariag, the Indian outcast living on the hill. 5. The Spectator Even after two years living on the Hill, Pariag, is still seen as an outsider. Pariag migrates to the city with his wife Dolly from the New Lands in an effort to break away from the country lifestyle and become part of something bigger. The novel jumps back in time once again, this time to reveal the entrepreneurial spirit of the Indian outcast. Pariag’s first job in the city involves buying empty bottles and re-selling them to Rum companies. Initially, he enjoys the task because he is able to talk to people and demonstrate that he is more than just a simple Indian boy. After realizing that this job brings him no meaningful social interactions, he ventures into selling roasted peanuts and boiled and fried chenna at the race track on Saturdays and at football games on Sundays. In an effort to become noticed by others on the Hill, Pariag buys a bicycle a week before Carnival, a very exciting time for people on the Hill. Pariag’s new acquisition gets him the name “Crazy Indian” and makes people in the neighborhood nervous about his ambitions. 6. A Call to the Dragon The buzz of Carnival and Pariag’s new acquisition have the people on the Hill gossiping. Miss Cleothilda approaches Aldrick and expresses her concerns regarding Pariag’s bike, signaling that his ambitions would soon lead him into buying a parlor. Mr. Guy also approaches Aldrick with the excuse of Pariag’s bike, but his real intentions are to collect the month’s rent. By the time Philo approaches Aldrick, Aldrick is fed up with the gossip about the Indian and the bike, however, Philo simply invites Aldrick for a drink so that he can listen to the new calypso he will be singing that year, "The Axe Man". The following morning, hung-over from a night of drinking with Philo, Aldrick notices Pariag at his door asking him to paint a sign on a box for him: “Boya for Indian Delicacies, Barra, and Doubles!!!" Aware of the conflict that will soon arise on the Hill and wanting to remain neutral, Aldrick dismisses him with the excuse of being tired and asks him to come back later. 7. Norman “Tex” at the Carnival Fete It is Saturday night of Carnival and the music is flowing in the air. Norman “Tex” has been playing the saxophone all night with great intensity, and Philo is enjoying a night of popularity thanks to "The Axe Man". Aldrick manages to temporarily forget about Sylvia amidst the smoke, rum, and ambience of the night. However, when morning hits and he finds himself out in the Yard with a girl named Inez, the thought of Sylvia’s costume returns to hunt him. Nonetheless, he chooses to bring Inez home and make love to her until morning. 8. To Be Dragon and Man It is Carnival on Monday morning and the Hill begins to ready itself for a big day. Aldrick follows a yearly ritual of putting on his costume and entering a new mental state with a dragon mask that gives him a mission of upholding an unending rebellion. However, this year he feels as if he is the last symbol of rebellion and threat in Port-of-Spain. Fisheye is under orders to not misbehave and Philo has stopped singing calypsos of rebellion, which forces Aldrick to question if he still believes in the dragon anymore. Yet, as soon as he steps outside, Carnival hits him and he suddenly feels tall and proud: “No, this ain’t no joke. This is warriors going to battle. This is the guts of the people, their blood” (123). Aldrick becomes the dragon of Port of Spain for two full days. He feels joy when he sees terror in people’s faces after gazing at him: “he liked it when they saw him coming and gathering up their children and ran”. On his way home, Aldrick stumbles upon the Calvary Hill band that refuses to end Carnival and wants to continue dancing. Aldrick slowly works his way to the front of the band towards Sylvia, who has been dancing wildly to the rhythm of the steelband. After observing her for a while, he reaches out to touch her but she spins out reach and, facing him, delivers a vocal blow: “No mister! I have my man!” (128) Suddenly, Guy appears behind her and caresses her towards him, leaving Aldrick frozen in the moment, dwelling in pain as Sylvia dances away with another man. 9. Ash Wednesday Aldrick awakes on Ash Wednesday and emerges from his room to look out at the yard with Carnival still swimming in his mind. He inhales deeply and the stench of poverty hits his nostrils for the first time in his life. He looks over all of the “pathetic and ridiculous looking shacks planted in this brown dirt and stone, this was his home”. With Sylvia’s rejection still fresh in his mind, he says, “I have to learn to feel.” This marks his acceptance of Calvary Hill as his home, and his life. Meanwhile, Miss Cleothilda recognized, for the first time, a change in the yard that threatens her position of queen: a combination of Philo’s new found success, her inability to convince Aldrick to do something about Pariag’s continued presence, and most of all, Sylvia’s new man, Guy. Guy could “keep her in style”,(135) and if she became ambitious, could become the new "queen". As a result of all this, Miss Cleothilda begins to use Miss Olive as a way to create a friendship with Sylvia so that she could mold her as she saw fit into the new "queen" of the yard. Her relationship with Philo causes a stir in the yard and people begin to question whether or not it is intimate. If so, it brings a more human side, a weakness, in Miss Cleothilda. A shyness comes over Aldrick and he begins to feel he is not the dragon he once was, and pines for Sylvia. One morning, the yard wakes to Pariag screaming over his mutilated bicycle. 10. Friends and Family Pariag marches his bicycle down Alice street in a funeral procession-like manner, while Fisheye, Aldrick and some other youth from around Calvary Hill watch closely from the corner. The close attention he receives marks one of the first instances where he appears “alive” to others, connecting with them in a humane way. In the days after the bicycle accident, Pariag thinks deeply of his existence and purpose in his life, and because he steps back to view himself, it brings him closer to his wife, Dolly. They decide one night after seeing an Indian film in San Juan to visit their family up in the country on their day off. While there, the family’s hospitality mimicked that of a host treating a guest, and they felt instantly like outsiders on the farm. But to his nieces and nephew’s he represented a wider world, of something more than their village existence. His wealthy uncle calls for him and criticizes his decision to move to Port of Spain: “Is so you want to live, among Creole people, like cat and dog, and forget your family. You have family boy. Next thing you know, you leave your wife – who you didn’t bring to see me." Pariag returns home that night to Calvary Hill feeling that his mind is made up on where he was going to be in life, and his finality makes him feel at peace. 11. The New Yard By August, many things, such as relationships, have changed around the yard. Miss Cleothilda has decided she is to be "queen" once more, but with a more gentile superiority complex. Philo had made it inside her home weeks earlier and is now her man. Sylvia is her protégée. Miss Cleothilda becomes giving and inquisitive around the yard and shows off the belief that “all o’ we is one” when Dolly becomes pregnant and she leads her baby shower. Miss Olive and Miss Caroline also accept her on a more human level because she is with a lower caste black man despite her mulattoness. For them, the relationship unites her more closely with the people of Calvary Hill. Meanwhile, Aldrick sits in his doorway, thoughtful. He has become a quiet man and has little interest in, yet again, being the dragon of carnival. He feels like he has outgrown this costume and role. 12. Outcasts Aldrick, Fisheye and a few other young men have begun assembling at the corner more and more, not in the same company, but occupying the same space. They are men who no longer partake in carnival, especially since Johnson and Fullers began sponsoring their steelband. For them, the true renegade spirit of masking as timeless warriors of generations past has been overrun by modern forces such as business and tourism. One day, Aldrick calls out to a passing Sylvia telling her that it’s her life and she doesn’t have to spite him. He warns her of her choices early on and how they carry residual consequences for the outcome of her life. Of course, he is referencing her relationships with Miss Cleothilda and Guy. Philo comes by later and takes Aldrick out for a drink. Philo is hell-bent on proving that his recent success in calypso music hasn’t changed him, that he is still an integral part of the hill. Fisheye does not like Philo hanging around and confronts Aldrick about their friendship. One day at the corner, Philo drops by with a bottle and two girls to say hello and have a couple drinks. Fisheye says to Philo: “Philo, you ain’t have no friend here. You is a big shot.” Philo looks at Aldrick, who tells him to go. When Philo offers the bottle, Fisheye throws it to the ground and hits one of his girls. “Is war, Philo.” Philo, in retaliation, makes a hit calypso that is played all over the island about the hooligans in Port of Spain. Meanwhile, everyone is gearing up for carnival and Aldrick just looks on from his spot at the corner, feeling odd. He dreams of dragons every night but never starts working on his costume. While police begin to crack down on public loitering, Fisheye plots an attack against the police. 13. The Dragon Dance Fisheye comes to the corner one day with a pistol and tells the eight of them there that they are not to part when the police come around to kick loiterers off the street. His plan is that two of them will begin fighting when the police come, and when they get out to break it up, “they will see”. When the police come by and break up Crowley and Synco’s brawl, they cuff the police at gun-point, put them in the back and speed off in the squad car. They go to Woodford Square, the political centre of Port of Spain, where speeches and rallies are always held. Over the megaphone they proclaim: “This is the People’s Liberation Army.” At one point Aldrick takes the microphone and says: “make no peace with slavery…make no peace with shanty towns, dog shit, piss. We have to rise up as people. People”. Before this point, it had not been fully understood that Aldrick or any of these men, except for maybe Liberty Varlance, had any political motives behind their rebellious lifestyles. Crowds assemble to watch the chase, and it ensues for a couple of days, as the police figured they were not a threat to anyone’s safety and they would eventually tire themselves out or run out of gas. 14. Prison Dance Their defense attorney in court is a young man with passionate radical views and is very eloquent in his defense of the Calvary Hill nine (as papers had dubbed them). But in the end, it is not enough and they are all to serve sentences of a few years. Aldrick serves six years. While in prison they spend much of their time at the beginning sitting and discussing what they really expected from their stint in the police car, and in the end it seems it was all for show, a bluff, a dragon dance. After a while, during their prison sentence, they all drift apart and have no intention of continuing from where they left off once they get out of jail. 15. The Dragon Can’t Dance Aldrick returns to Calvary Hill after six years in prison and is greeted like a hero, yet he feels more like he is being received by a band of deserters that have long made peace with the enemy. He meets a new girl in a bar, named Molly, and she tells him of the two thousand people playing devil in the upcoming carnival. Aldrick gets temporarily excited that perhaps times haven’t changed, until she says they are “Fancy devil, with silk and satin. Pretty Devil”. He tells her of his time as dragon, a real dragon breathing fire and wearing long claws. The next day, he visits Sylvia for the first time in over six years and finds that she has matured. Sylvia recounts her confusion during the days he was in the police car, while Aldrick looks around her house and sees that Guy has provided her with many luxuries: a television, stereo, refrigerator, etc. Miss Cleothilda comes in and shakes his hand, she has aged considerably. She tells Aldrick about the degradation of the neighborhood, namely crime by young men whom she thinks were inspired by Fisheye’s police jeep hijacking. Guy has become a city councilor and because of this news, Miss Cleothilda challenges Aldrick: “What you could give her?” Shortly after, he realizes that Sylvia will soon be getting married. When Aldrick leaves her home, he realizes that maybe Sylvia had her life in control from the beginning, and that it is not so much that she chose Guy as she resisted the impotence of dragons. And with this, Aldrick feels at peace with the chapter of his life where Sylvia might have become a part. He walks by Pariag’s new store and is tempted to go in a talk to Pariag, but instead he walks on, disillusioned by his past and what the future holds. 16. The Shopkeeper Pariag had seen Aldrick stop outside of his shop, and it troubles him greatly that he (Aldrick) did not come in to speak with him. After all these years, Pariag still has not established any sense of belonging in Calvary Hill, and as a result of his ongoing isolation has more or less concluded that he is done with Creole people. Even with a shop, Pariag still did not acquire any degree of superiority in relation to others around the neighborhood, saying “shop don’t make a man”. He wishes, for the sake of the hill, that life was better for everybody, and that there was more unity between peoples. He lies with Dolly and they discuss their life together, remembering their life back in the country and his first meeting with her when he said that she would have to accept living in Port of Spain. 17. The Calypsonian Philo stands out on his verandah in Diego Martin, an affluent neighborhood of Trinidad, and looks out at the homes of people he thinks he has just figured out as being uniformly successful but also unfulfilled as human beings. From this revelation comes a new tune and he goes in to write it down, and there on his desk he finds the wedding invitation for Sylvia and Guy. As he thinks about Sylvia’s position in the yard as the symbol of youth and hope, he remembers Aldrick’s love for her, but also Guy’s taste for young women and his ability to get what he wanted. Philo thinks to himself: "Marriage to Guy was a horse of different colors.” He remembers a discussion about Sylvia and Guy that he had some time ago with Miss Cleothilda, and her undying faith in their life together. Cleothilda explains some of Sylvia’s side love interests, one man whom identified strongly with Africa, another that spoke passionately about Cuba, Vietnam, China and Trinidad’s potential for revolution. The youthful exuberance of these boys always enticed Sylvia greatly. Remembering the yard troubles Philo while he waits for one of his young girls to come by. He looks back on his youth, his family. She arrives and Philo decides to be forward with her and asks to fuck. Afterwards, he feels guilty for being so straight with her. Later that night, he decides to drive to Calvary Hill to see everybody. He is greeted warmly at a bar near the yard, and later decides to go and see Miss Cleothilda. She meets him at the door and tells him to come inside, that he knows where the bedroom is, but, even him forgetting that wouldn’t surprise her very much “with the way the world is going”. |
Tomb of Valdemar | Simon Messingham | null | The Doctor's quest to fix the Key of Time is interrupted by a complex conspiracy to bring back Valdemar, an ancient being that can change reality. |
Grave Matter | Justin Richards | null | The Doctor and Peri arrive on a fog-shrouded island, not even aware of which century they have landed in. They soon discover that they are on a remote island of the coast of Britain where the local people have put aside modern inventions and lifestyle. However, when a dead body rises from its grave, and the local school children display uncanny adaptivity, the Doctor must discover the secrets of the scientific research carried out by the island's benefactor. |
The Door | Magda Szabó | null | A childless woman writer, Magda, hires an older housekeeper, Emerence, who behaves oddly, but eventually they develop a kind of friendship. |
Island of Death | Barry Letts | null | Jeremy Fitzoliver and his friend Sarah Jane Smith encounter a 'New Age' cult; typical work for investigative journalists. They are surprised that the cult worships a demon like figure. The Doctor and UNIT also become interested in the cult. This situation soon reveals the involvement of government ministers, alien drugs, a remote island in the Indian Ocean and official conspiracies. Even the Royal Navy gets in on the action. It soon becomes a race against time to avert disaster. It has been suggested that this is a version of a third proposed radio play following on from 'The Paradise of Death' and 'The Ghosts of N-Space'. |
Ancestors of Avalon | Marion Zimmer Bradley | 2,004 | 2500 years BC, Tiriki, Priestess of Light and of the Earth-goddess Ni-Terat, and her husband Micail, Priest of Light and Prince of the Atlantean state Atharrath, have to save themselves from the destruction of Atlantis and are forced to board different ships to the Isles of Tin (Britain). When they finally reach the British coast, they are far away from each other and they both believe that the other one is dead. Tiriki and other Atlanteans who came with her, settle down in the swamplands surrounding the Holy Mountain (which is later going to be called the Isle of Avalon). She realizes that the cult of the Great Goddess is much stronger here than it was in Atlantis, so she and her companions start living with the indigenous people and build up a new religion, where the Atlantean knowledge and the Old Faith of the British people merge. Micail and Tjalan, Prince of Alkonath, on the other hand, try to rebuild the lost glory of Atlantis and start building a huge stone circle -which will later be known as Stonehenge - in order to turn the people of Britain to slaves by using its tremendous powers. When Tiriki and her followers finally come in contact with the other Atlantean settlement, conflicts arise immediately. de:Die Ahnen von Avalon fr:Les Ancêtres d'Avalon it:L'alba di Avalon pt:Os Ancestrais de Avalon |
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