Two parents who are completely unprepared for parenthood bring home their newborn baby. The two cannot seem to name the baby. John thinks the baby is a boy, but Helen says the doctors said they could decide later. When the baby cries, the two cannot quite decide what to do. To their rescue comes Nanny – who enters their apartment as if by magic, and is full of abrupt shifts of mood, first cooing at the baby soothingly, then screaming at it. In subsequent scenes, John and Nanny have an affair, Helen takes baby and leaves, only to come back a moment later rain-soaked and unhappy. By the time the baby is a toddler, Daisy has finally been named. At this age Daisy has a penchant for running in front of buses and for lying, depressed, in piles of laundry. The audience hears an alarming essay Daisy has written in school, and the principal, the terrifying Miss Willoughby, is oblivious to the essay’s cry for help, and instead gleefully awards it an "A" for style. Years later, Daisy enters dressed as a girl, but obviously a young man. The audience follows his years of therapy, where he alternates between feelings of depression and anger, and is unable to complete his freshman essay on Gulliver’s Travels despite having been in college for five years. In a scene reminiscent of the beginning of the play, Daisy (who has since chosen a new name) and his young bride fondly regard their own baby, determined not to repeat their parents'' calamitous mistakes.

Baby With the Bathwater

The novel begins on a Family estate at Kethiuy on Cerdin, where the Sul sept of the Meth-maren House is attacked by the rival Ruil sept, with the help of Red and Gold Majats. The Ruil sept is seeking to wrest control of the Blue Majat from the Sul sept. A young Raen a Sul hant Meth-maren is the only survivor, and she seeks refuge in the nearby Blue Majat Hive. There she persuades the Blue Queen to help her regain control of Kethiuy. The Blue Warriors and their azi succeed in destroying the Ruil sept, but the Blue Hive is decimated and Raen is captured and brought before the Kontrin Council. Moth, the second oldest Kontrin, protects Raen from the Kontrin conspirators seeking to destroy her, and Raen is banished from Cerdin. Raen adopts a low profile and drifts from planet to planet in the Reach. She survives several assassination attempts but never gives up her desire for revenge against the Kontrin Council and those who destroyed her family. After Council Eldest Lian is assassinated, Moth takes control of the Council. She watches Raen''s movement but does not interfere. Raen''s final move is to board a Beta passenger spaceliner, Andra''s Jewel bound for Istra, the only planet in the Reach accessible from the Outside. Istra has no permanent Kontrin presence, only Betas, who deal with Outsiders and the Majat, who were brought here by the Kontrin hundreds of years previously. To amuse herself on Andra''s Jewel''s long voyage, Raen plays Sej, a dicing game every night with a ship azi named Jim. They agree that at the end of the voyage Raen will buy his contract, and if Jim is the overall winner, he will be a free man, but if he loses, he will become her azi. Jim narrowly loses and serves her for the remainder of the story. On Istra, Raen and Jim, now her second in command, establish a presence on the planet. She manipulates the Betas and gains control of their affairs. She also allies herself with the local Blue Majat Hive. But the Majat Hives are restless and soon turn on each other. The Blue, Green and Red Queens are killed and the surviving Gold Queen unites all the Hives under her. The Hive revolt spreads to all planets of the Reach and all the Kontrin perish, except for Raen, who now lives with the Majat on Istra. With the Kontrin Company no longer in control, the Betas take charge of the Reach. All the azi are gone, having self-terminated at their maximum age of 40, and no new azi are created. Jim, however, at Raen''s request, is given immortality by the Majat and lives with her in the Gold Hive.

Serpent''s Reach

The first strand of the novel follows Hollis Henry, a former member of the early 1990s cult band The Curfew and a freelance journalist. She is hired by advertising mogul Hubertus Bigend to write a story for his nascent magazine Node (described as a European Wired) about the use of locative technology in the art world. Helped by curator Odile Richard she investigates Los Angeles artist Alberto Corrales, who recreates virtually the deaths of celebrities such as River Phoenix. Corrales leads her to Bobby Chombo, an expert in geospatial technologies who handles Corrales'' technical requirements. Chombo''s background is troubleshooting navigation systems for the United States military. He is reclusive and paranoid, refusing to sleep in the same GPS grid square on consecutive nights, and only consents to talk to Hollis due to his admiration for The Curfew. Tito is part of a Chinese Cuban family of freelance "illegal facilitators", as Brown describes them – forgers, smugglers, and associated support personnel based in New York City – and is assigned by his uncles to hand over a series of iPods to a mysterious old man. Tito is adept in a form of systema that encompasses tradecraft, a variant of free running, and the Santería religion. It is alluded that the old man may have connections to American intelligence circles and Tito hopes he can explain the mysterious death of his father. When the old man calls in a favour, his family dispatches Tito on a dangerous new assignment. Tracking Tito''s family is a man known as Brown, a brusque and obstinate lead covert operative for a shadowy organization of unclear connection to the U.S. government. Of neoconservative orientation, Brown appears to have a background in law enforcement, but little training in tradecraft. Brown and his team attempt to track the activities of the old man and Tito with the help of Brown''s captive Milgrim, whom he has translate the volapuk-encoded Russian used by Tito''s family to communicate. Milgrim is addicted to anti-anxiety drugs, and is kept docile and compliant by Brown, who controls his supply of Rize. Brown believes that Tito and the old man are in possession of information that would, if revealed, undermine public confidence in the U.S.''s participation in the Iraq War. In his attempts to capture them and their data, however, Brown is instead fed disinformation through the old man''s intricate schemes. The three strands of the novel converge on a shipping container of unspecified cargo that is being transported via a circuitous route to an unknown destination. In Vancouver, the old man''s team, with Hollis in tow, irradiate the shipping container, which is revealed to contain millions of U.S. dollars diverted from Iraq reconstruction funds.

Spook Country

Darashikoh, or Daru as he is referred to, is a mid-level banker with a short fuse. His aggression had served him well as a college-boxer but an out-of-character outburst gets him fired. The loss of income brings to the fore a widening gap between him and his classmates, and Daru exposes his bitterness to the wealthy in his commentary. This contrast in income, though present through their years at school becomes evident to Daru only now as he comes to realise that money and wealth mean more than his personal traits can offer. He is content to interact with his rich friends all the same, and finds comfort in the arms of Mumtaz - Daru''s best friend''s wife. Mumtaz falls for Daru too, but unlike Daru she is not an idealist. This mismatch of thought comes to the forefront soon after the long and rocky affair begins. While cuckolding his best friend, Daru is content to sell him drugs, which are socially acceptable among his friends. This life of duplicity leads to spiralling loss of control in his life.

Moth Smoke

In Greenville, Mississippi, the office of Jewish lawyer, Marvin Kramer, who is active in Civil Rights work, is bombed. He is badly injured but survives. His two young sons are killed. Sam Cayhall is identified, arrested and tried for their murder. His trial is engineered by his Klan-connected lawyer and is declared a mistrial. The second trial finds him not guilty and Sam is a free man. Several years pass and the FBI pressures a suspected associate, Dogan, to testify against him. He does so, and is later killed, almost certainly by the Klan. Sam, an unrepentant racist and Klansman, is convicted of murder and sentenced to death by gas chamber, 20 years after the bombing. He is sent to the Mississippi State Penitentiary, and placed on Death Row. Now without a lawyer, he becomes a pro bono case for several anti-death penalty lawyers; ironically from Krawitz and Bane, a largely Jewish law firm in Chicago. Sam''s son, Eddie, has fled to California, where his son Alan grew up under the name of Adam Hall. After his father''s suicide, Adam starts to learn something of the violent Cayall history. Now working as a lawyer at Krawitz and Bane, he persuades them (with difficulty) to allow him to represent Sam, even though Sam has managed to terminate the representation. He journeys south from Chicago to the Memphis office to represent Sam in the final month before the date of execution. Despite his lack of death-penalty experience, Adam is determined to argue a stay for his grandfather. Despite Sam''s violent past, he is one of the few living links to Adam''s history. Sam''s daughter, Lee Cayhall Booth (Adam''s aunt), an alcoholic who has worked hard to conceal her past, slowly reveals the sad, brutal history of their family. Initially uncooperative, Sam eventually opens up to Adam and reveals a remarkable depth of hard-won legal knowledge, regularly preparing his own briefs and court motions. Adam interviews the FBI agent who worked the original case, and it becomes apparent that Sam almost certainly did not commit the actual crime for which he has been found guilty, although he was present. Nevertheless, he has a long and largely secret history of Klan-related crime and has killed several times. One of his associates (Dogan) is now dead, and Sam will not reveal if another associate exists, thus not violating his Klan oath of loyalty. Adam desperately files motion after motion and argues some of them before judges. He seeks to persuade the state Governor to grant a reprive, knowing full well that such a move is politically impossible. And Sam has forbidden such a move, as he suspects the Governor of using him for politcal gain. All appeals are finally exhausted. Sam is now repentant, but does not want Adam as a witness to the execution. The sentence is carried out. With Sam and Dogan dead, no-one knows that Roland, the third man, who prepared and set off the bomb, is still free and living nearby, under a false identity and observing the progress of the case. Adam, sickened but fascinated by the experience, quits the law firm to accept a poorer-paid position with an group of anti-death penalty lawyers.

The Chamber

The book tells the story of Victoria Cope, following her experience of hosting a home child - an orphan from England sent to Canada by Barnardo''s, essentially as a servant, receiving care and education in exchange. The Copes end up with a girl one year older than Victoria, named Marianna Wilson. She tells Victoria about her life in England, and as they become friends Victoria becomes more aware of some of the discrimination that Marianna faces from the local children, as well as from members of Victoria''s own family, notably her oldest brother, David. Something seems to be distracting Marianna and one night Victoria wakes up and finds Marianna in the barn with her younger brother, Jasper, who had escaped from the home where he was placed after his guardian whipped him and broke his arm. The family must decide what to do with Jasper, which is made difficult by David''s attitude towards the home children. The book ends with an epilogue detailing where Marianna and Victoria went in their lives, and explaining how the home child program worked. The orphan becomes rich and famous.

Orphan at My Door

The story begins in the Changbai mountains in northeastern China during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing Dynasty. It follows the classical unity of time, taking place on a single day, which is the 15th day of the third month of the Chinese calendar, in the 45th year in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (i.e. April 19, 1780 in the Gregorian calendar). A group of jianghu pugilists unearth a treasure chest and begin fighting for it. The reason for them doing so is deliberately kept from the reader at this point of time. Midway during their tussle, they are overpowered and coerced by a highly skilled monk called Baoshu to travel to a manor at the top of Jade Brush Peak (玉筆峰), to help the manor''s owner drive away an enemy called Hu Fei, also known as the "Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain". They start telling stories concerning the origin of a precious saber in the chest, their mysterious foe (Hu Fei) and slowly reveal each others'' personal secrets. The saber''s story dates back over a century ago to the feuds of the four bodyguards under the warlord Li Zicheng, who led the rebellion that overthrew the Ming Dynasty. The four guards'' family names were Hu, Miao, Tian and Fan. Owing to a massive misunderstanding, which lasted several generations, their descendants had been slaying each other in a vendetta that prevented any one of them from discovering the truth. The Hu clan was opposed to those from the Miao, Tian and Fan families, the latter three which were allies. The people gathered at the mountain manor are either all descendants of the four bodyguards or are otherwise embroiled in the feud. Hu Fei''s father, Hu Yidao, was a male descendant who became involved with Miao Renfeng, a descendant from the Miao family. Both were masterful martial artists without peer. Miao Renfeng, Hu Yidao and his wife developed an uncommon friendship and grew to admire each other, but Hu Yidao and Miao Renfeng must fight unwilling duels to avenge their parents'' deaths. Under the schemes of the villain Tian Guinong, Hu Yidao was slayed unintentionally by Miao Renfeng after his sword was smeared with poison by Tian. Hu Yidao''s infant son, Hu Fei, was smuggled away and raised by a waiter named Ping A''si. Hu Fei eventually grew up to become the "Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain". The various scheming pugilists are eventually punished by their greed. Hu Fei makes an appearance midway in the story. The conflict reaches a climax when Miao Renfeng challenges Hu Fei to a duel owing to a misunderstanding that Hu Fei has intentionally molested his daughter Miao Ruolan and both of them fight for several rounds but neither emerges the victor. They are stranded on a cliff about to collapse under their weight and the novel comes to its climactic end. Hu Fei has an opportunity to attack Miao Renfeng and knock him off the cliff, but he hesitates as Miao may be his future father-in-law. If he refrains, both of them might fall to their deaths, otherwise he will certainly die as Miao will kill him. The novel ends in a deliberate cliffhanger, leaving the conclusion to the reader''s imagination.

Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain

The morning after a violent thunderstorm, a thick unnatural mist quickly spreads across the small town of Bridgton, Maine, reducing visibility to near-zero and concealing numerous species of bizarre creatures which viciously attack anyone and anything that ventures out into the open. The bulk of the story details the plight of a large group of people who become trapped while shopping in the town supermarket, among them a commercial artist named David Drayton (the protagonist and narrator), David''s young son Billy, and their estranged neighbor Brent Norton who accompanied them into town after Brent''s car was smashed by a tree. Amongst others trapped in the market are a young woman named Amanda Dumfries and two soldiers from a nearby military installation, home to what is referred to as "The Arrowhead Project". The two soldiers'' eventual joint suicide lends some credence to the theory of this Project being the source of the disaster. Soon after the mist comes, something plugs the store generator''s exhaust vent. When a young bag boy named Norm steps outside to fix the problem, he is pulled into the mist by a swarm of tentacles. David and Ollie Weeks, the store''s assistant manager, witness Norm''s death and try to convince the remaining survivors of the danger lurking outside. Norton and a small group of others refuse to believe, accusing David of lying. They venture out into the mist to seek help, where they are killed by a huge, unseen creature. This, along with a deadly incursion into the store by a pterosaur-like creature and a disastrous expedition to the pharmacy next door, lead to paranoia and panic consuming the remaining survivors. This spiraling breakdown leads to the rise to power of a religious zealot named Mrs. Carmody who convinces the majority of the remaining survivors that these events fulfill the biblical prophecy of the end of times, and that a human sacrifice must be made to save them from the wrath of God. David and Ollie attempt to lead their remaining allies in a covert exit from the market, but are stopped by Mrs. Carmody, who orders her followers to kill her chosen victims: Billy and Amanda. However, Ollie, using a revolver found in Amanda''s purse, kills Mrs. Carmody, causing her congregation to break up. En route to David''s car, Ollie in turn is bisected by the claw of a very large creature looking similar to a giant lobster or crab. David, Billy, Amanda, and an elderly, yet tough, school teacher Hilda Reppler reach the car and leave Bridgton, driving south for hours through a mist-shrouded, monster-filled New England. After finding refuge for the night, David listens to a radio, and through the overwhelming static possibly hears a single word broadcast, "Hartford". With that one shred of hope, he prepares to drive on into an uncertain future.

The Mist

Power grows, rebels face a choice: give in... or fight. Some form pockets of resistance on battleground planets . Some go undercover, trying to fight the Empire from the inside, and others watch and wait. For Ferus Olin, hatred for the Empire is personal. The things that have been closest to him have been destroyed. The order he once belonged to has been decimated. And the future isn''t looking much brighter... Unless a true rebellion can be born. Ferus Olin is so decimated by Roan''s death that the only thing that keeps him going is the fact that the Emperor has promised to teach him in the ways of the dark side. He believes that this will make him strong enough to kill Darth Vader. He only lives for Revenge. The Emperor has also put him in charge of finding possible Force adepts. During their last mission, in which Roan was killed Amie Antin was captured and this has left Wil, the new leader of the eleven heartbroken. Ferus arranges a plan to have her taken back before she is transferred off planet. He calls his own strike force of Ry-Gaul and Solace formerly known as Fy-Tor-Ana. Clive Flax is also on the team. Ferus goes through lesson one which Palpatine does not attend. He tells him he does not need a lightsaber; only to let his anger flow through him instead of accepting it and releasing it like a Jedi would. He destroys the room much like Vader did after he learned of Padme''s fate. Vader meets with the evil scientist Jenna Zan-Arbor because he has learned that she has found a way to erase memory. She can erase certain memories and Vader wants the ones of Padme and Obi-Wan erased. She was always greedy and she accepts Vaders High price. Trevor Flume has enlisted in the Naval academy that Lune was taken to. Lune is a Force adept and naturally landed in his advanced class. Trevor is there to get him out, but during their escape they are caught and Lune is taken to his dad, Bog Divinian. Bog offers Lune to be used as a test subject for Zan-Abor''s experiments, because he was to get in good with the Emperor and he also wants Lunes memories of his mother, Astri Oddo, erased. The instructor Maggis, helps Trevor escape because he is sick of the Empire. They ultimately save Ferus and Lune at the medical facility. Ferus was promoted to Head inquisitor and was sent to work over Hydra, the former head after Ferus took Malorum out. He gets a look at the list of possible Force adepts. He finds promising subjects and ignores the report about the little girl on Alderaan. This is probably Leia, but Ferus does not know it. Ferus first had to see Roan''s family and tell them of his death. Contrary to his belief they did not blame him, but took him into consideration as well. Overtaken by grief, Ferus leaves the room and is met by Roan''s first cousin. He learns that she turned down a job at a large medical facility. He asks her to take the job because he believes he can get information on Vader''s identity. He believes this is the key to defeating him. She takes the job and gets him in. This may be the same facility that Vader was created at, because there was said to be a terrible scream at the end of the Clone Wars. Ferus lets his anger get to him and almost turns his back on Lune! He used the Force to distract Zan Arbor and escapes with the boy. He returns him to his mother back on Coruscant. Amie was successfully rescued, but Flame was injured in the process. Clive thinks hes seen her before and does not trust her. He ventures to her homeworld to find some answers but before he can get them, his contact was killed. He asks Astri to help him, and she accepts the distraction. Ferus makes a contact with Obi-Wan by which he is instructed to file a report dismissing the importance of the little girl on Alderaan. He does not want to waste his time because, again, he does not understand and Obi-Wan won''t tell him. And in order to file the report he has to go to Alderaan and pretend to investigate. But he feels the pain in Obi-Wan''s heart and decides to leave immediately. es:Against the Empire

The Last of the Jedi: Against the Empire

Amélie, a young Belgian woman who spent the first five years of her life in Japan, signs a one-year contract as a translator at the prestigious company Yumimoto. Beginning at the bottom of the corporate ladder, Amélie manages to descend even lower. At her arrival to the Yumimoto company she is puzzled as she is apparently not assigned any actual work to do, so she first kills the boredom by memorising the company''s list of employees and then she decides she could deliver company''s mail, only to find herself later scolded for taking initiative and "stealing someone else''s job". Later her departmental manager asks her to copy a thick pile of documents, which, as she later realises, are the rules of his golf club. When she accomplishes the work, the manager returns it to her saying the copies are off-centered and asks her to re-do the job not using the feeder. Copying the pages one by one, Amélie is approached by Mr. Tenshi, the manager of the Dairy Products Department, who wants to use her knowledge and asks her to draft a report about the new method of manufacturing reduced-fat butter developed in Belgium. Next morning, when the manually-done copies are rejected by the manager again even without looking, she does the third batch of copies using the feeder and sets out writing the report for Mr. Tenshi. She researches the Japanese market, contacts the company in Belgium and obtains documentation from them, and continues writing the report overnight at home. The report turns out to be a big success, but she asks Mr. Tenshi not to reveal who the real author is. Her transferring to Mr. Tenshi''s department is imminent as Mr. Tenshi plans to present the report to the company''s president. However, Amélie''s line manager Miss Fubuki Mori feels offended as this constitutes a violation of the company''s hierarchy and exposes everything to the vice-president, who scolds severely Mr. Tenshi and Amélie, and sees to it that Amélie is not writing any more reports but strictly sticks to doing duties assigned by Miss Mori. Although advised by Mr. Tenshi not to do so, Amélie decides to confront Fubuki and talk to her personally. This encounter can be seen as the main breakpoint of the novel, as both characters feel the other should apologise but at the same time each of them fails to recognise why she should apologise herself. The main difference is that while Amélie feels her progress in her carrier from useless work to the place where she actually can use her skills has been hindered for no other reason than maliciousness, Fubuki feels Amélie''s move being against her as she was trying to overpass her thus violating the subordination. Fubuki had to suffer and work hard for years to achieve her position and it was inconcievable to her to imagine that Amélie would achieve the same level of hierarchy within only a couple of weeks. From that point on, the relationship between them turns from a fairly good one (which, though, only Amélie would describe as ''friendship'') to animosity, although still accompanied by respect and admiration from Amélie''s side, which Fubuki either fails to notice or choses to ignore. Amélie prooves herself useless at the tasks she is subsequently asked to do at the Accounts Department, as she apparently suffers from dyscalculia to some extent, while Fubuki thinks Amélie is doing mistakes on purpose to sabotage the company and the manager herself. Another dialogue reveals the differences between the different concepts of responsibility in Japanese and Western cultures. While for Fubuki the manager is directly responsible for the mistakes of their staff (you made the mistakes deliberately only to expose me to the public ridicule), Amélie thinks everybody is responsible for their own mistakes (I ridiculed only myself, not you). The biggest mistake however Amélie does after Fubuki is being severely abused by the vice-president in front of all the department. When Fubuki, not having shown tears to her colleagues, goes to the bathroom to let her feelings out in private, Amélie follows her to console her. While from Amélie''s point of view Fubuki is not in a shameful position and offering a consolation like that is only a good-hearted gesture, Fubuki feels utterly ashamed to be seen showing her feelings and mis-understand Amélie''s following her as vengefulness and hostility. The next day Amélie is assigned the job of a bathroom cleaner by Fubuki. Six more months of her one-year contract to go, Amélie decides to endure until the end, which might be shameful from the Western point of view, but actually means not losing her face from the Japanese point of view. After her contract finishes in January 1991, she returns to Belgium and starts publishing: her first novel Hygiène de l''assassin appearing in 1992, she receives a brief congratulations note from Fubuki in 1993.

Fear and Trembling

Chasing the Shaido Aiel, who have crossed over the Spine of the World and are pillaging Cairhien, Rand al''Thor, the Dragon Reborn and the Car''a''carn, leads his Aiel over the Spine as well. The two Aiel armies meet in the Second Battle of Cairhien, which is by far the largest battle in the Westland since the time of Artur Hawkwing, 1000 years past. At the start of the battle, Mat Cauthon saves some troops from a Shaido ambush. Guiding these troops throughout the day, he wins numerous battles using the memories of past generals he received in The Shadow Rising. He personally kills the Shaido leader, Couladin, in battle, and the Shaido Aiel retreat in defeat. Falsely believing Queen Morgase Trakand of Andor died at the hands of the Forsaken, Rahvin, who is masquerading as Lord Gaebril, an angry Rand prepares to Travel to Caemlyn with a small Aiel strike force. Before he can do so, Lanfear, learning that Rand slept with Aviendha, is furious with jealousy and attempts to kill them. Moiraine Damodred grabs Lanfear and both topple through the doorframe ter''angreal that Mat used in the waste. After they fall through, the ter''angreal is damaged by fire and destroyed. Both Moiraine and Lanfear are presumed dead. Rand attacks Caemlyn, and Mat, Asmodean and Aviendha go with him as well. Shortly after arrival, Rand''s companions are killed by Rahvin''s wielding of the One Power. Rand begins a desperate, fury driven chase to eradicate Rahvin in Tel''aran''rhiod, after the Forsaken opens a portal of sorts leading to there. After a lengthy chase and duel, Rand destroys Rahvin with a tremendous burst of balefire, erasing Rahvin''s actions he undertook whilst killing Mat, Aviendha and Asmodean. Afterwards, Asmodean is killed by an unknown figure right after a shock of recognition. Meanwhile, Nynaeve al''Meara and Elayne Trakand travel through lands filled with Seanchan left behind from the battle at Toman Head, Dragonsworn, bandits, and Whitecloaks, attempting to find the base of the rebel Aes Sedai. Nynaeve finally remembers that the rebel Aes Sedai are in Salidar; after they arrive, Nynaeve is able to trap the Forsaken Moghedien in Tel''aran''rhiod with the use of an a''dam. In Tel''aran''rhiod, Nynaeve goes to Caemlyn where she finds Rahvin. She distracts him with fire until Rand appears and finishes him off.

The Fires of Heaven

The story is set in an unnamed American city at about the time of publication. There are several mentions of how beautiful the weather is. Oliver Wilson is renting an old mansion to three vacationers for the month of May. He wants to get rid of them so he can sell the house to someone who has offered him three times its value, provided the buyer can move in during May. His fiancée, Sue, insists that he arrange for them to leave, so that he can sell the house, giving them enough money for their impending marriage. The tenants are a man, Omerie Sancisco, and two women, Klia and Kleph Sancisco. They fascinate Oliver with the perfection of their appearance and manners, their strange connoisseur''s attitude to everything, and their secretiveness about their origin and about their insistence on that house at that time. Oliver''s half-hearted attempts to evict them founder when he becomes attracted to Kleph. The mystery deepens with remarks she lets slip, with the unspectacular but advanced technology of things she has in her room—including a recorded "symphonia" that engages all the senses with imagery of historical disasters—and with the appearance of the would-be buyers, a couple from the same country, who plant a "subsonic" in the house intended to drive the residents out. Hearing Kleph sing "Come hider, love, to me" from the Prologue to Chaucer''s Canterbury Tales, Oliver realizes that she and her friends are time travelers from the future. He traps Kleph into admitting they are visiting the most perfect seasons in history, such as a fall in the late 14th century in Canterbury. At the end of May, more time travelers visit the house. A meteorite lands nearby, destroying buildings and starting fires—the "spectacle" that the time travelers wanted to end their visit with. Oliver''s house survives, as the visitors had already known it would. The time travelers leave for the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, except Cenbe, the genius who composed the symphonia Oliver had experienced. In conversation with Oliver, Cenbe admits that the time travelers could prevent the disasters they savor but do not do so because changing history would keep their culture from coming to be. Oliver goes to his room, feeling ill. In a short scene set in the future, the final version of Cenbe''s symphonia is performed, including a powerful image of what is apparently Oliver''s face in the "emotional crisis" induced by his conversation with Cenbe. Oliver writes down a warning about the time travelers, which he hopes will change history. However, he dies of a new plague, and the house and the unread message are destroyed in a futile effort at quarantine.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Baby With the Bathwater

By Christopher Durang

Serpent's Reach

By C. J. Cherryh

Spook Country

By William Gibson

Moth Smoke

By Mohsin Hamid

The Chamber

By Enric Tremps

Orphan at My Door

By Jean Little

Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain

By Louis Cha

The Mist

By Stephen King

The Last of the Jedi: Against the Empire

By Judy Blundell

Fear and Trembling

By Amélie Nothomb

The Fires of Heaven

By Robert Jordan

Vintage Season

No Author Listed