Using language with elements of the medieval tales which were his models, Morris tells the story of Ralph of Upmeads, the fourth and youngest son of a minor king, who sets out, contrary to his parents'' wishes, to find knightly adventure and seek the Well at the World''s End, a magic well which will confer a near-immortality and strengthened destiny on those who drink from it. The well lies at the edge of the sea beyond a wall of mountains called "The Wall of the World" by those on the near side of them but "The Wall of Strife" by the more peaceful and egalitarian people who live on the seaward side. Ralph meets a mysterious lady who has drunk from the well, and they become lovers. Together and separately, they face many foes and dangers including brigands, slave traders, unscrupulous rulers and treacherous fellow travellers. The lady is killed, but with the help of Ursula, another maiden whom Ralph meets upon the way, and the Sage of Sweveham, an ancient hermit who has also drunk of the well, Ralph eventually attains the Well, after many more adventures. The outward journey takes more than a year. Returning from the well, Ralph, Ursula and the Sage find that some of the poor oppressed folk they had helped on the way to the well have righted grave wrongs, increased prosperity and reduced the level of strife in the city-state kingdoms along the way. The wayfarers must now decide whether they can settle down to a righteous but stodgy life at Ralph''s home kingdom now that they have learned so much and become near-immortal, or are called to further heroism in the wider world.

The Well at the World''s End

The Story begins with a flashback to August 1914, where Jules Fauchard is flying his Morane-Saulnier N, mono-winged aircraft. Fauchard is heading to meet the pope''s emissary in Switzerland but as he is coming to the border and the French Alps, a squad of six Aviatik biplanes find him. The planes attack Fauchard and though he destroys four planes he is eventually shot down and killed. His plane lands in a glacial river and Fauchard along with his helmet and strong box are buried in a glacier. Cut to the present day in the Scottish Orkney Islands. A reality television show is being filmed when that evening a group of animals attack the crew and cast. Everyone is killed except for Jodie Michaelson; the only reason she is not killed is because as she was running from the creatures she fell into a deep crevace in the rocks and the animals lost her scent. At about the same time yet another plotline is developing. This part of the story takes place in Monemvassia, The Greek Peloponnese. The storyline follows Dr. Angus MacLean, a research Chemist. MacLean is on the run. He is living in a monastery on a small island in Greece. As MacLean reminisces it becomes clear why he is running. The trouble began when he was hired to research enzymes in France. As the leader of a team of scientists doing enzyme research, the hours were long but the pay was great and MacLean had no complaints. That was until he began asking questions. The owners of the lab decided to send home the scientists, telling them "not to worry." MacLean headed to Turkey to see the ruins. This probably saved his life. When he came home he was greeted with an envelope full of newspaper clippings and a telephone message from one of his former colleagues that asked him if he had been watching the news and urged MacLean to call him back. When MacLean tried to call him back he was informed that the man had been killed in a hit-and-run accident. This leg of the story ends with MacLean being kidnapped by a hit team that had been hired by the company that ran the lab. The story then cuts to the French Alps where a team of scientists is studying a glacier named Le Dormeur. The scientists, Hank Thurston and Bernard LeBlanc are accompanied by Derek Rawlins, a journalist for Outside magazine. As the three scientists are giving Rawlins a tour they get a phone call saying that a body frozen in the ice had been discovered. Two hundred feet below the surface of Lac du Dormeur, Kurt Austin and a beautiful woman named Skye Labelle are inside a submersible searching for remnants of trade routes between Europeans and the Mediterranean civilizations, when Skye is recalled back to land. Skye is an expert in arms and armour. It seems that the authorities need her help to identify the helmet found with the frozen body in the glacier. When Skye arrives where the body is frozen, she sees her arch-nemesis, Renaud. Auguste Renaud is one of the higher-ups at the State Archaeological board of France. He is attracted to Skye but she is repulsed by him. Skye is puzzled by the body. The deceased is dressed in an early twentieth century flight suit but in his possession is a very old helmet. The helmet is a riddle in itself, as it is of very high quality and very distinctive yet it isn''t like anything she has ever encountered. Needless to say Skye cannot identify the artifact on the spot. Much to Skye''s chagrin, Renaud has called a press conference in the underground laboratory to announce the discovery to the world. During the press conference something terrible occurs. A very large and muscular bald man comes up to Renaud and demands the strongbox found with the body saying, "Give the box to me." Renaud responds saying with a grin, "Not on your life!" To this the bald man says, "No, Not on your life!" and with that he pulls a pistol out of his coat and brings it down on Renaud''s hand. The large man then takes off with the box. A few seconds later the group hears a loud explosion as a barrier that holds back the glacial waters is destroyed, water is flowing into the laboratory. Then they are trapped in a flooding tunnel. When Kurt Austin hears the news, he sends a rescue team and the they start an operation. Then, another chopper lands on the shore. Austin had called Joe Zavala on his cellphone. Austin and Zavala got into the submersible and crack a hole in the flooding tunnel from under water. They got everyone safely to shore within the next hour.

Lost City

Jones and Merchant differed from some other feminist novelists of their generation (like Corbett and Lane, mentioned above) in that they made their fictional protagonist male instead of female. Their hero travels to the planet Mars in an "aeroplane." (That term had originated in France in 1879; this novel provided one of the earliest uses of the word in English.) The nameless traveller visits two different "Marsian" societies; in both, women possess greater equality with men. In one, Paleveria, women have adopted the negative characteristics of men; in Caskia, the other, gender equality "has made both sexes kind, loving, and generous." Since Jones and Merchant were primarily interested in crafting a satiric commentary of their own society, they made their Mars and Martians strongly similar to Earth and human beings. The technological level is comparable on both planets; the Martians rely on Martian horses for transport. The narrator first lands in the Martian country of Paleveria, which is a republican and capitalist state, with clear class divisions; the people are vegetarians, and dress in loose robes. Their homes (at least among the aristocrats) are classical and palatial, with marble floors and statuary, silk hangings, and frescoes on the walls. Women in Paleveria can vote, hold political office, and run businesses; they propose marriage to men, have sex with male prostitutes, and even participate in wrestling matches. The traveller stays with an astronomer named Severnius, in the city of Thursia; he studies diligently and learns the language. Severnius acts as his guide to Paleverian society &mdash; as does the astronomer''s beautiful sister Elodia. The narrator soon falls in love with Elodia, but is shocked by her liberated traits and habits. Elodia is a banker by profession; she drinks alcohol and imbibes a Martian drug, has affairs with men, and eventually proves to have had an illegitimate child. Severnius, for his part, asks the narrator about Earth, and the traveller is hard put to provide logical and acceptable explanations for many Earthly customs, mainly involving the distinctions between the sexes. The narrator is appalled by women participating in martial arts &mdash; and Elodia condemns this too; but she also condemns men''s boxing matches, which the traveller accepts as natural. The narrator is profoundly shocked when he learns of Elodia''s illegitimate daughter; he leaves for a visit to Caskia. This northern country has a more co-operative and egalitarian social and economic order than Paleveria has; its people cultivate intellectual, artistic, and spiritual qualities. Caskia approaches the status of a Martian Utopia. In the city of Lunismar, the traveller meets another Martian woman, Ariadne, who is more traditionally feminine by conservative Earthly standards. He considers her "the highest and purest thing under heaven." He also meets a venerated teacher called The Master; the two have a long spiritual conversation. The narrator returns to Earth. Unveiling a Parallel has been reprinted in several modern editions.

Unveiling a Parallel

Guardian in training Rosemarie "Rose" Hathaway and Moroi princess Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir are brought back to their school, St. Vladimir''s Academy, after running away two years previously. On returning, Guardian Dimitri Belikov, who was the leader of the team of guardians sent to retrieve the two, is assigned to be Lissa''s guardian. He offers to mentor Rose in her guardian training as he feels she has potential and with training can make up for the years she has lost. He also believes Rose can be an excellent guardian to Lissa due to the presence of a rare one-sided psychic bond to Lissa which allows her to know the latter''s emotions, thoughts, and whereabouts. Rose agrees, knowing this is the only way she will be allowed to remain, and on graduation be Lissa''s guardian. Though they soon fall into the academy life, they find that Lissa has lost her social standing among the other Moroi royals owing to her running away. They decide to keep company with Lissa''s "cousin" Natalie Dashkov, who is the daughter of sick and dying Victor Dashkov. On the very first day back they find that another Moroi student, Mia Rinaldi, who is dating Lissa''s ex-boyfriend Aaron, holds a grudge against Lissa (and by default Rose). Mia finds every opportunity to insult Lissa and is in turn insulted and threatened by Rose. Lissa finds a friend, Christian Ozera, much to the ire of the ever protective Rose. Christian''s parents had turned Strigoi (undead vampires) of their own will for immortality and had been killed by guardians. Rose mistrusts Christian because of his family history. It is also implied that she is jealous of Lissa''s interest in him. Rose, in turn, starts falling for Dimitri. Things start getting worse when Lissa finds dead animals in her room along with threatening letters. Lissa starts going into depression and engages in self mutilation. It is revealed that though she has not specialized in any elemental magic (Air, Water, Fire, and Earth), she has a miraculous ability to heal, which was witnessed by Rose and their teacher Ms. Karp two years back. Rose finds out that this gift is shared by Ms. Karp, who is then taken to a mental institution. They find out that Lissa has affinity for Spirit, that might just be dangerous for her and Rose. This incident along with her increasing depression was what had caused Rose to run away with Lissa. While attending Sunday service, Rose hears that the Moroi saint St. Vladimir could heal people, and suffered from some form of depression. Also, he was protected by his loyal companion the "shadow kissed" Anna with whom he shared a bond. On returning from a shopping trip with Lissa, Victor, and Natalie, Rose has an accident and on waking up deduces from what Dimitri tells her (that she had a miraculous recovery) that Lissa had healed her. She reaches into her bond and finds that Lissa is lying on the attic of the Church bleeding from self-inflicted cuts. Her reporting this incident causes a slight break in their friendship. Somehow discovering this, Mia insults Lissa, calling her unstable, causing Rose to punch Mia and break her nose. Detained by teachers and guardians, Rose is unable to follow Lissa; she reaches through her bond while confined to her room and finds that Lissa is being kidnapped by some guardians who assault Christian when he tries to save her. Rose tries to go and warn Dimitri and instead ends up nearly having sex with him. They stop when Dimitri unclasps a locket gifted by Victor from her neck and he manages to throw it away. It is later revealed that Victor had charmed the locket with a lust charm which causes people to act on already existing attraction, letting go of inhibitions. Through the bond Rose finds out that Victor is the one who kidnapped Lissa and plans to use her to heal his genetic disease. He reveals that Natalie was the one who left the animals in Lissa''s room to see her heal them after accidentally catching her doing so. He also reveals that Lissa had specialized in the rare fifth element Spirit, and that her bringing back Rose from the dead after the accident was what caused them to have a bond. Using Spirit is what was causing Lissa''s depression. Though Lissa heals Victor for the time being, the school guardians are able to reach the place and rescue her. On returning, Victor convinces Natalie to turn Strigoi by killing while feeding and gets her to break him free. She injures Rose who was visiting Victor, but is killed by Dimitri. Dimitri reveals that he too feels for Rose but cannot have a relationship with her because of their age difference and because he won''t be able to guard Lissa wholeheartedly if she is near him.

Vampire Academy

Mia is now a junior. She is no longer student president (with Lilly taking her place) but more problems come along as she passes through the school year. First, Michael tells Mia that he needs to spend a year (or more) in Japan. She is extremely upset about this and starts trying to find a way to get him to stay. Grandmere plants this idea in her head that if Mia sleeps with Michael, he won''t want to leave. Mia and Michael get into an argument before they can sleep together, and he says nothing about not leaving to Japan. Then to make matters worse, she learns that Michael had a friends with benefits relationship with Judith Gershner that he had never mentioned (he mentioned the friendship, but did not mention the benefits), which she believes constitutes him having lied to or misled her. This leads Mia to break up with Michael. Michael catches Mia (in a rather upset and confused state) kissing J.P. when he later comes to apologize to her. J.P. has just broken up with Lilly, and Kenny tells Lilly about the kiss. Now, her former best friend and her former boyfriend no longer are speaking to her. When Mia goes to explain what happened to Michael, his plane to Japan has already taken off. J.P. asks if Mia would like to see Beauty and the Beast with him, and she says yes. But before she goes, she emails Michael and writes "Michael, I''m sorry," the only thing she can think of to say.

The Princess Diaries, Volume VIII: Princess on the Brink

The plot occurs in Damascus, 1840. Aslan is a 15 years old religious, Jewish teen, one of the outwardly pampered sons of the Farhi family. Additionally, he is gay. Behind closed doors, he is abused and beaten by his siblings, mother and father; at school the other kids make fun of him, especially when he and Moussa, another delicate lad, are caught holding hands. The outcome of this tender incident speaks volumes about the power of Aslan''s father in the community: when this news gets out, Moussa simply vanishes. But there''s even more going on behind the Farhi household doors. When his father is away, Aslan''s mother dresses her son in her clothes, shoes and make-up - and these are their most (and maybe the only) intimate moments together. At any other time, she sides against him with the rest of the family. Miserable, Aslan grasps at anything he can to put himself out of his misery, including trying to become fatally infected when there''s an outbreak of the plague. When his father marries him off at the age of 15 to a rabbi''s daughter, things go from bad to worse as Aslan is unable to consummate the marriage. His solution involved succumbing to passions of his own, a tremulous step that takes him down a secretive road of pleasure mixed with fear. As he becomes bolder in his forays to explore and enjoy the forbidden nightlife of the city, Aslan becomes enamoured with a young woman singer, Umm-Jihan, and catches the eye of Father Tommaso, an Italian monk. Aslan''s meeting and further interaction with the monk spur on the plot, when the monk has a heart attack and dies, while Aslan''s secret makes him hide the body. That leads to a blood libel against the Jews, blaming them, with no evidence, for the murder of the monk, in a vicious trial with grim results. Aslan observes his family''s long-standing feud with a rival merchant family, and the blaming of all the community because of his secret and of his being in the closet. One of the memorable things he says is: "why is it that men cannot love one another more, instead of beating and striking, oppressing and debasing, despoiling and destroying?" Ultimately, his attempts to assert himself to his father prove terrible and tragic.

Death of a Monk

The authors argue that human beings evolved in egalitarian hunter-gatherer bands in which sexual interaction was a shared resource, much like food, child care, group defense, and so on. In this, they agree to a degree with the work of Lewis H. Morgan who proposed in the 19th century that pre-agricultural humans lived in "primal hordes" in which property and paternity was communal. They think that much of evolutionary psychology has been conducted with a bias regarding human sexuality. The authors believe that the public and many researchers are guilty of the "Flintstonization" of hunter-gatherer society; that is to say projecting modern assumptions and beliefs onto earlier societies. Thus they think that there has been a bias to assuming that our species is primarily monogamous despite what they believe to be evidence to the contrary. They argue for example, that our sexual dimorphism, testicle size, female copulatory vocalization, appetite for sexual novelty, various cultural practices, and hidden female ovulation, among other factors strongly suggest a non-monogamous, non-polygynous history. The authors argue that mate selection was not the subject of much intragroup competition among pre-agricultural humans, as sex was neither scarce nor commodified; rather sperm competition was a more important paternity factor than sexual selection. This behaviour survives among certain existent hunter-forager groups that believe in partible paternity. The authors do not take an explicit position in the book regarding the morality of monogamy or alternative sexual behaviour in modern society, but argue that people should be made aware of our behavioral history.

Sex at Dawn

The novel is set at the start of the twentieth century and deals with the orphaned boy Álfgrímur, his adoptive grandparents, and the small, tolerant community of misfits and eccentrics they gather around them at Brekkukot, their cottage on the outskirts of Reykjavík. As Álfgrímur begins to encounter the minor politicians, businessmen and social-climbers of the growing town of Reykjavík he starts to question his future as a fisherman''s grandson, and is increasingly fascinated by Garðar Hólm, the celebrated Icelandic "world singer" whose sporadic returns to Iceland encourage Álfgrímur to pursue his own personal goals of self-expression. He discovers the true value of his boyhood experiences only as he sets out on a path that will take him away from them forever. The boy''s name, Álfgrímur, is explained in the book as a compound of Álf (elf) and grímur (a poetic word for ''night'') meaning ''he who spends the night with the elves''. The original name of the book in Icelandic is ''Brekkukotsannáll'' (Annals of Brekkukot). de:Das Fischkonzert is:Brekkukotsannáll

The Fish Can Sing

For 13 years, Jody Gibson owned and operated an exclusive global escort service under the name "Super Madam Sasha", while also leading a double life on radio and television as a recording artist known as "Babydol". The book describes Gibson''s life as a "Super Madam" in Hollywood, as well as the challenges of simultaneously pursuing a career as a madam and a recording artist. Gibson evades law enforcement, but then is tried and convicted in a high profile trial and sent to prison. Gibson claims that celebrities such as Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Tommy Lasorda, CEOs and politicians used her service. She includes actual court data from her "Black Book", which was introduced as evidence at trial by law enforcement and used to convict her, and to date has never been sued over her use of that data. Gibson has appeared on television shows many times, including on The Howard Stern Show, Larry King Live, John Gibson''s "The Big Story", Geraldo Rivera, Access Hollywood, Showbiz Tonight, The Tyra Banks Show, Court TV''s "Hollywood Heat", and Glenn Beck. The book is now in development as a feature film about her life.

Secrets of a Hollywood Super Madam

The memoir starts with Archuleta describing his childhood in Florida with his family and eventually moving to Utah. He introduced his readers to his family members, including how his mother, Lupe, was born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and enjoyed dancing and singing with her sisters when she was younger. Archuleta reveals that music has been a huge influence in his family for generations and that his father, Jeff, is a jazz trumpet player and that he has been a musical influence on him because he taught him the concepts of improvisation. Archuleta also described the impact the musical Les Misérables had on him and also the influence of the first season of American Idol. He described his experiences in the Utah Talent Show, Jenny Jones'' Show, and Star Search, for which he won the title of Junior Vocal Champion. The vocal cord paralysis Archuleta suffered at a young age was described in detail, including how he felt and what the experience has done for him and taught him. He then continues to describe his decisions and various events leading up to his audition and participation on the seventh season of American Idol. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Archuleta writes about how his faith encouraged him, influenced him, kept him grounded and helped him stay optimistic throughout his challenges. Archuleta showed love for his fans by writing how much he appreciates their support and provided his top 3 fan encounters. Inspiring others to also follow their dreams and make a difference, Archuleta concludes his memoir with "And remember, even when you can''t sing, you can always plant a tree".

Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song, and the Power of Perseverance

The novel tells the story of Friedrich Löwenberg, a young Jewish Viennese intellectual, who, tired with European decadence, joins an Americanized Prussian aristocrat named Kingscourt as they retire to a remote Pacific island (it is specifically mentioned as being part of the Cook Islands, near Raratonga). Stopping in Jaffa on their way to the Pacific, they find Palestine a backward, destitute and sparsely populated land, as it appeared to Herzl on his visit in 1898. Löwenberg and Kingscourt spend the following twenty years on the island, cut off from civilization. As they pass through Palestine on their way back to Europe, they discover a land drastically transformed, showcasing a free, open and cosmopolitan modern society, and boasting a thriving cooperative industry based on state-of-the-art technology. In the two decades that have passed, European Jews have rediscovered and re-inhabited their Altneuland, reclaiming their own destiny in the Land of Israel. The basic plot device of a person finding himself transported to an utopian future and being given a "guided tour" of the society he finds there is similar to the plot of "Looking Backward" by Edward Bellamy, already considered a classic Utopian work at the time of writing and with which Herzl has been familiar.

The Old New Land

Clockers follows intertwining storylines of low level cocaine dealer Ronald "Strike" Dunham and homicide detective Rocco Klein in the fictional New Jersey city of Dempsey (Which shares many similarities with Jersey City, NJ - where author Richard Price spent extensive time researching the subject matter.) Strike works in the drug organization of Rodney Little, a friendly but violent drug lieutenant of local drug lord Champ. When Rodney Little asks Strike to kill his second in command Darryl and take his position, Strike hesitates. While scoping out Ahab''s, the fish restaurant from where Darryl wholesales cocaine, he encounters his drunk brother in a bar across the street, to whom he tells a made-up story about Darryl''s abuse of his girlfriend. Victor apparently sees through his story, and suggests that if Strike needs someone killed, he knows "My Man" who could do the job. Strike is surprised by this offer from his law-abiding, working-man brother, and responds noncommittally, thinking him to be just a drunken boast. He is shocked the next day to find that Darryl has been shot dead in the Ahab''s parking lot by an unknown assailant. Rocco Klein and his partner Larry Mazilli are assigned to investigate Darryl''s murder. They quickly deduce that Darryl was more than just a restaurant manager. Meanwhile Strike is promoted in Rodney''s organization and is introduced to Papi, a Puerto-Rican cocaine wholesaler. Rodney reveals that he has been buying cocaine from Papi and selling it behind Champ''s back, without giving him a cut. Strike recognizes that Champ will have them both killed if he discovers their side business, but agrees to participate, believing he has no other choice. Rodney brings Strike to meet with Champ at his headquarters at the O''Brien housing projects. Rodney brings an undercover police officer who he introduces to Champ as a cocaine supplier, as part his plan to subplot him and take control of the organization. There, Strike encounters Champ''s chief violent enforcer, Buddha Hat, a murderous man who cryptically proclaims that Strike is "Victor''s brother." Strike takes this to mean that Buddha Hat was Victor''s "My Man" and that he had killed Darryl. As Buddha Hat worked for Champ, and Darryl was the previous overseer of Rodney''s secret drug sales, Strike assumes that Buddha Hat will realize their treachery and tell Champ, who would have them both killed. Buddha Hat pays Strike a perplexing visit, where Strike, thinking he is about to be killed, is instead taken to a restaurant and peep show in New York, in a bizarre gesture of friendship by Buddha Hat. Victor gives a full confession to Darryl''s murder, but his self-defense story does not match witness accounts and Rocco expects that he is in fact innocent. His investigation begins to lead him to Strike, who he believes is a much more likely murderer than law-abiding Victor. Rocco confronts Strike at his drug corner and forcibly takes him in for questioning several times. Strike goes to meet Papi to pick up the week''s cocaine shipment but finds him shot to death. Strike panics, fearing that Champ is on to him and Rodney. He later learns from Rodney that Buddha Hat also went behind Champ''s back to take a bit of Papi''s profits, and murdered him when he refused to pay. When Rodney is arrested selling cocaine to an undercover police officer, he believes that Strike has been talking to police and sends his enforcer, Errol Barnes to murder him. Rocco brings in Strike for questioning, again, as well as Victor and his mother, who, already facing an inevitable life sentence, finally reveals that it was him who had committed the murder, in a moment where, hating his difficult life and ungrateful wife, impulsively decided to murder Darryl as Strike had suggested with a gun he had earlier found and kept. Errol Barnes, despite a fearsome reputation for violence, is shot and killed by Strike''s panicked young assistant Tyrone, who had been on his way to return Strike''s gun after borrowing it out of curiosity. Strike goes free, but local cop Andre "The Giant," who was a father figure to Tyrone, threatens to kill Strike for ruining Tyrone''s life unless he leaves Dempsey permanently. The novel ends with Rocco driving Strike into NYC, where, while at the Greyhound station a drug mule tries to get Strike to buy him a bus ticket. After Strike is hassled by the police, he buys a See America pass and leaves the city.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Well at the World's End

By William Morris

Lost City

By Clive Cussler

Unveiling a Parallel

No Author Listed

Vampire Academy

By Richelle Mead

The Princess Diaries, Volume VIII: Princess on the Brink

By Meg Cabot

Death of a Monk

By Alon Hilu

Sex at Dawn

No Author Listed

The Fish Can Sing

By Halldór Laxness

Secrets of a Hollywood Super Madam

No Author Listed

Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song, and the Power of Perseverance

No Author Listed

The Old New Land

By Theodor Herzl

Clockers

By Richard Price